September 1, 2000
Dom woke up at six-thirty in the morning, which was the same time his father used to get up. He looked over in his bed and had to grin because Letty was at her most vulnerable when she slept. She cuddled into his side, her arm possessive over his stomach, her hair spread across the pillow like a black sheet. He kissed her cheek and then her mouth until she woke enough to return the kiss, and then to finally flip over to continue sleeping. He rose and brushed his teeth. As he brushed he looked himself over in the mirror, he'd had to have Letty or Mia shave his head tonight.
He made his way through the house, checking on Mia, who was sleeping soundly on her bed, her text book still open. He opened the door to the attic, heard Vince's snore and nodded to himself, the old coyote had made it through another night. Finally he walked into the kitchen, two women were just leaving, either Leon had scored a double or Jesse had finally sealed the deal. He rarely went into the two bedroom basement, afraid even he might be traumatized by the sights.
In the back shed he lifted weights on the old weight set his father had bought him in 1990. He lifted until the tension in his muscles told him that he was done for the day. After toweling off he returned to the kitchen, pushed the button on the pre-filled coffee pot, and enjoyed his first cup of coffee in the silence of his house. Unfortunately that was when the stress of their life began to set in. They were still barely holding on despite Dom's best intentions and efforts to swing them into the positive. Everyone counted on him and he found that the stress was alternately stifling and fulfilling.
"Good morning," Mia grumbled as she walked into the kitchen and pulled out a frying pan.
He grinned at her, "morning, baby sister."
"Feeling emotional this morning," she teased him.
"Can't feel happy to see my sister," he wondered.
"Own your feelings. That's what I'm learning in Psych," she replied.
"God damn it all to hell," Vince's loud, brash voice thundered down the stairs. Dom and Mia looked at the ceiling as they heard his loud footsteps walk toward the stairs and finally down the steps. He walked into the kitchen looking angry and oddly repentant in his plaid pajama pants.
"What happened," Dom asked.
Vince pointed to the ceiling, "Letty needs to learn how to use the locks! I walked into the bathroom and who do you think is stark naked as the day she was born?"
Dom couldn't help but grin. Anyone else, even Jesse and Leon, and he probably would have thrown a fit of some sort, but with Vince it was just too funny. It was comparable to Dom seeing Mia naked, just…yucky. Mia must have agreed because she laughed out loud as Vince stomped toward the downstairs bathroom.
"They are just like us," Mia spoke his thoughts out loud.
"Family isn't all blood ties," Dom repeated the words his father used to chant like a mantra.
Mia nodded, recognizing immediately that he was speaking their father's words, "do you miss him?"
"Everyday," he coughed gruffly.
"Me too," Mia admitted quietly. They didn't speak again while she cooked, both caught up in their own thoughts.
XOXO
"Say that to me one more time to my face," Vince challenged. He threw down the dirty rag in his hand and puffed out his chest, menace written all over him.
"I said," Letty didn't know it but she had bobbed her head and put a hand on one hip, the classic ghetto fabulous Latina, "that you wouldn't know your way around a V8 engine with guided directions, comparable to the guidance you require to get a woman off!"
"Letty," Vince warned, telling her how close to losing his temper he felt by simply saying her name.
"Vince," she replied, obviously deciding that either she didn't give a damn about his temper or was willing to chance it.
"Dom, you better come get your girl," Vince warned over his shoulder.
Dom continued to tighten the piston rings in the V8 engine being discussed without a word or look toward the two. As a rule he didn't get involved with the squabbles between the team. Especially Vince and Letty. Their relationship had evolved while he was in prison. Now more than ever they were siblings if not in blood then heart. They argued as heartily and fearlessly as he and Mia did. They both knew that no matter what they would be there for one another.
"Dom, you better come get your boy," Letty taunted.
"Little girl, I will lay you over my knee if you don't learn to shut your mouth," Vince warned her.
"You try and pull me over your knee and I'll break both of them," she stepped closer, ready to make this a physical fight.
Vince finally threw up his arms in surrender, "whatever, I didn't want to be in this hot ass garage all day today anyway!"
As he was walking out Letty ran up to him and shoved him. He turned, surprise written in his eyes, "what now?"
"Don't be mad, coyote. See you at your gig later all right," her temper was gone in a flash.
"Yeah, Let, see you there," he agreed and all was forgiven.
XOXO
Dom walked into the store, greeted Ms. Estevez, a retired widow who he'd known his entire life. He'd given her a part time job to help supplement her income since her grandson had come to live with her. He sat down heavily into his chair in the back room and prepared himself to go through the books for the month. Seeing the truth in black and white was hard for him. Some months he didn't know how they were going to get by. It didn't help that half the time he was feeding Sunday dinner to the entire block, a tradition his father had set before him. He could personally account for the ridiculously large amount of food teenagers ate.
"Hey man," he didn't look up when he heard her walk in or when he heard her words. She knew he copped a big attitude when he was running the books. He heard her sit across from him and saw her boots in his peripheral vision as she propped them on the other end of the desk.
"Get your feet off my table," he growled.
"Make me," she replied. She knew he wasn't going to do a thing which was why she tested him.
"You know what I'm in the middle of Let, why are you messing with me?"
"Maybe you need to be messed with," her quick and low reply.
Dom finally looked up, irritation written on his face. He looked her over and realized exactly what was going on. The signs had all been there; turning away from him that morning, forgetting to lock the bathroom door, getting into a fight with Vince for no reason, and now purposely pushing him. Letty always acted out of character when she had big thoughts on her mind.
"You're in," he asked.
She dropped her feet, and sat forward until her elbows were resting on the table. To anyone else she would have looked completely at ease, to Dom she looked tense and uneasy.
"I'll follow you into hell with a big grin on my face Dominic Toretto," he knew that was the closest version to 'I love you' that he'd probably ever get.
Their relationship was tumultuous, full of arguments and sex and laughter. Although they both knew where they stood in each others lives they didn't often verbally express the sentiment. She didn't because somewhere deep down she believed voicing the intensity of what she felt would immediately have Trouble knocking on their front door. He didn't because somewhere down the line, probably in prison, he had determined that his actions would always speak louder than his words. So the concession that Letty had allowed pushed Dom to respond. He put his pen down and sat back in his chair, "I'd kill for you in a minute, and die for you in an instant."
Letty nodded in agreement, saying in that movement that they understood one another, "you have a plan right? A damned good plan?"
"Yeah," he nodded and then rubbed a hand over his head, a move that Letty found reminiscent of his father, "I have a plan. If we play this right, if we train and execute every move perfectly, then it should be one year and then we're done."
Letty moved back and put her feet onto the desk again, "ride or die."
Dom nodded his agreement and ignored the goose bumps on his neck telling him something big was coming, "ride or die."
