Chapter 7: Blame

Mia didn't know what was going on and she didn't want to. She turned a blind eye to everything that went on around her. Last time around, it came in handy, the police couldn't prosecute her for something she didn't even know was going on. She just kept smiling and accepting the money Dom kept giving her. Knowing very well that they weren't pulling in that much money on their own.

She didn't ask any questions- until now that was. And even now, she still wasn't asking, but she was taking notes. On everything and everything. By now, Mia had everything and everyone planned out. She knew who Dom was getting the information from. She knew exactly how they did it. How it was Dom climbing on to the trucks now. How Vince was too much of a pussy to do it himself anymore. How Letty still kept doing stupid tricks. How they were now driving different cars. Like as if no one would guess it was them.

Then again, they had been getting away with it this far. Until the next cop came around.

And that's what scared Mia the most. Another cop in their home. Another cop in their ranks. And this time it wouldn't be her that they could blame. It would be V.

They could blame V.

She made breakfast like she did everyday, but this time she made sure Dom go the message. We need to talk. She needed to tell him that something wasn't right. That something was different. And this time it wasn't her fault.

"Why the secrecy, Mi?" Dom whispered, as they stood on the side of the house.

Mia looked around to make sure no one was around and turned towards him, a serious look on her face. "This new chick. The one Vince brought back from the races last night. There's something off about her. She's a cop, Dom. I know it."

And that's all Dom needed to hear. That's all he needed to be said in order to scare the living shit out of him. That's all he needed. Everything had been going good so far. The money was practically falling in their laps. Nobody was sniffing around. Everything was good. Until now.

Mia fought hard to keep the smile from sliding on to her face. She almost lost it when she saw the vein in Dom's neck start to throb. But as soon as Dom turned and headed inside the house, she couldn't help but double over in laughter.

Her plan had worked.

And now they can blame V.

"This chick. Hector's cousin. What do you know about her?" Dom said, stepping inside Vince's room. He found Vince stretched out on his bed, reading a car magazine. He shrugged and focused back on the magazine, figuring the conversation was over.

"I'm getting a bad vibe from her man. She could be a cop for all we know."

Vince threw the magazine to the other side of the bed and stood up, rolling his neck out.

"Why? Because I brought her home from the races instead of you?"

"Just check her out, will you? We fucked up once because we didn't listen to you. We don't need or want a repeat of that shit again!"

"Did Mia put you up to this? Your fucking sister is crazy!"

"Vince. Check her out. Or I will. And it won't be pretty if I have to do it."

And with that Dom left the room, leaving Vince staring a hole into the back of his head. It didn't matter was Dom said to V. He could smell a cop a mile away and Jackie was no cop. She can't be a cop! She doesn't act like one. She's Hector's cousin. She's not a cop. Mia needs to stop talking shit. Dom needs to get his head out of his ass.

But it didn't matter. The idea was now in Vince's head. The idea had been planted and now it would grow. Into one big conspiracy that would drive him mad, unless he checked her out.

He blamed Mia.

"Did you check her out?"

"She's not a cop. I followed her the entire day. She woke up. Got breakfast at the local diner. Went to work. Spent the entire day there. Went back to the diner for dinner. Home to her shitty apartment. She spent the entire night there sewing lace onto some fucking hot pink shit. Then she went to bed after doing thirty minutes on her treadmill. Waste of my fucking day!"

"I had Jesse check her out. She's clean. Squeaky clean. Too clean."

"She's not a cop. She's Hector's fucking cousin! He wouldn't introduce us to somebody if he didn't think they were legit."

"We thought Spilner was on our side of things."

"Spilner came the fuck out of nowhere. This chick is Hector's cousin. We went to high school with her. She just didn't show up out of nowhere."

"We can't be too careful."

"She's not a cop."

"Do me a favor. Take a page out of Spilner's book. Make this chick fall. Hard."

"What?"

"We'll lay low until then. When you're not at the garage, you're working this girl. From every angle."

And now they would all blame him.

Especially her.

Letty shook her head and sighed. "It's a good plan, V. That's how we got caught up. Just don't go falling for this chica. We still don't know her from a hole in the wall," she said, snuggling into bed.

She was still living in Vince's room. No matter how hard Dom tried to patch things up, she wouldn't give him the time of day. It's not that she didn't want to, but every time she approached him, her throat would close. And no matter how hard she tried, she still couldn't get those words out of her mouth, she still couldn't confirm or deny. She was still scared and lost.

"I just gotta think up a way to get into the picture. I just need an in. Something that won't make me look suspicious," V replied, from his position on the floor. "Throw me some cash tomorrow and I'll get you the in you need sometime this week, just don't make any plans for Saturday."

"Aight," he replied, reaching underneath the bed and pulling out a small brown paper bag. He shoved it Letty's way and scowled. "Stop acting like it'll go away on it's own. You're starting to show," he whispered.

She sat up in bed and matched his scowl, reaching for the bag. "I'm scared, V. What if I'm pregnant? What the fuck am I supposed to do then?" He shrugged and sat up also, facing her.

"You got two options. You have the kid or you get rid of it, Let. I can't tell you what to do, it's all up to you. Ultimately, this will be your baby to care for. Ultimately, this is your decision."

" We rob trucks and race for a living. I know nothing about raising a baby. What I do know consists of cars and more cars. That's it. Nothing in my resume will help raise a baby. Jesse can't google how to raise a child in mechanic terms."

"You're babbling, Letty. Just go and take the damn test. Then you can freak out all you want."

She groaned and climbed out of the bed, heading for the bathroom. Vince said a silent prayer, realizing that she was right. They just got back from being on the run. They were still robbing trucks. They were still criminals. They were still being the team.

He knew how Letty felt about the team ever since the heists went wrong. He knew that her eyes were open. She was seeing things differently and she didn't like any of it. V knew about her secret bank accounts. How she was working like a slave and saving money. Saving and planning to get away from it all. To get away from them. To get away from him.

By the time Letty had returned from the bathroom, V had turned off the bedroom light and settled in for the night. The soft pitter patter of her bare feet against the hard floor woke him as she entered the room, shutting the door softly behind her.

"So?"

"It's negative. I'm not pregnant, thank God."

"Nice."

If the lights hadn't been off, he would've seen the truth. It was written all over her face. That was something that no matter how hard she tried, she wouldn't have been able to hide from any one, let alone V.

And he would blame her.

And she would blame herself also.

Letty walked into the shop, a small scowl in her face. She was instantly uneased by her surroundings. The bright colors. The smiling people. This was not her scene.

"Can I help you with anything?" A rather ordinary woman said to her. She was within inches from Letty's face, a shit eating smile on her face. Her voice was high pitched and she could hardly stand still. Her name tag read Samantha, but her body language read one too many cups of coffee before work.

Letty took a step back, putting some distance between her and the woman, the one that reminded her of Jesse. "I'm looking for Jackie," she said, as sultry as ever. Samantha nodded and motioned to the back of the store. "She's right back there setting up one of the new displays."

Letty smiled weakly and headed for the back of the store, weaving through all the stick figure mannequins and the tall displays of clothing. She found Jackie wrestling with a mannequin trying to get a barely there dress on her.

She watched as Jackie cursed, struggling to pull the waist of the dress down. She sighed and threw the mannequin on the ground, before giving it a swift kick, it's head popping off. "Nice. I like your style," Letty said, leaning against one of the tables. Jackie turned around, her face red at being caught acting so unprofessional.

"You gotta do what you gotta do," she said, walking over to her, a smile on her face. "Hey, what brings you to this side of the neighborhood?"

Letty shrugged and glanced around the store. "Actually, you do. I wanna break some necks at the races tonight. The only other female I know is Dom's sister and the racer chaser that is always on his dick," she replied.

Jackie nodded and chuckled. "Lemme guess. Trouble in paradise, and Mia's too much of a goody two shoes to dress like and you're definitely not trying to dress like a skank."

"I admit it, you got style, chica. Would you mind sharing?" Letty said, reaching into her back pocket and pulling out the wad of cash Vince gave her this morning.

"Your money isn't good here, boo. I'll take you on pro bono."

"Nice. What do I owe the pleasure to?"

Jackie shrugged and waved her hands in the air. "I dunno. There's just something about you," she replied. Letty nodded and stretched her hand out, a smirk on her face. "Alright. Fine, you don't charge me, but we go to the beach on Saturday. My treat. I need some time away from the house. We'll make it a girls day out," she said.

Jackie cocked her head to the side and smiled. She placed her hand in Letty's and winked. "Now, do you trust me? Because I'm gonna turn your world inside out and Dom is gonna shit himself," she said, dragging Letty towards the dressing rooms.

Two hours later Letty entered the house, several shopping bags in tow. She knew Dom would be shitting bricks by now. She was late. Dinner was probably over by now. The team was probably getting ready for the races. Which meant that she would have to work twice as fast and hard. She would have to try to remember all the things Jackie had taught her over the last several hours in mere minutes.

She couldn't ask Mia for any help. She had to do this on her own. She had to prove to herself that she could do this. Clothes, makeup and hair was something that she never concerned herself with before. She didn't need to. All she needed was coveralls, work shirt and boots to work at the garage. That's all she ever needed in her closet.

But Letty was all about making moves right now. Making moves and making changes. I gotta figure out this life shit on my own. I won't be in Dom and Mia's shadow forever. I have to stand on my own two feet. Show the both of them that I don't need them. I don't need anybody.

She was glad that when she got downstairs to the basement, Vince wasn't there. After a quick shower, Letty began to talk herself through the entire process. The makeup, the hair. She repeated what she could remember from Jackie's mini class this afternoon in her shop. The rest she remembered from watching Mia do it to herself for so many years.

With the last flick of her mascara, she rushed out the door, she wanted to be the first one out. The first one in her car. She didn't want anyone to see her makeover until she got to the races. Until she could make her big debut. Shock them all at once.

She couldn't wait to see their faces.

Especially Dom's.

You couldn't blame her.

Letty didn't understand what her sudden fascination with Dom was. She felt the bond between them fading, but the weaker it got, the more she wanted to make sure that he missed her. The more she wanted him to know that he'll never find someone like her. That no matter how many skanks he had and lied to her about, she would always be the one he really wanted. The one he had lost. His white pony.

And as the team sped through the streets towards the races, her heart sped up at the idea of having Dom lusting after. At the idea of being the one thing he wanted, but couldn't have. She laughed.

They pulled into the warehouses in their usual V formation. They parked and the crowd surrounded them like usually. They all ate it up, everyone except Dom. As he turned to glance at Letty, he did a double take.

Letty stepped out of her car, a shit eating grin on her face. She could feel the eyes, the drools, the focus on her. And she loved it.

Could you blame her?

She was currently clad in a pair of skin tight, dark blue, low riding jeans and a pair of gold 5 inch pumps that matched her big gold hoops, bracelets and rings. Her hair was pin straight and flowing down her back, while her tight white halter top made her skin glow. Letty had figured out what she had found to be the complicated process of blending eye shadows and had managed to blend her browns and golds into a combination that resembled what Jackie had shown her to do.

It didn't matter. She was there. She was the center of everyone's world right now. Especially Dom. She turned towards him and found him staring at her, his mouth slack.

Could you blame him?

Mission accomplished.