Chapter 10- Diamond in the rough
"Hey Dom, we're gonna take the kids to the beach. What do say, are you up to it?" Mia shouted from the back door.
"Sure, just let me finish change the tail lights on Rosa's car, all that money and she still drives Vince's Shit ass car." Dom replied, lowering his voice at the end of his statement incase Rosa heard him.
Brian laughed, "Alright man, Mia will be glad."
"Is she still worrying over the picture thing?" Dom asked with a look on his face that indicated he knew his sister all too well.
"Yeah... And to be honest, I'm a little concerned myself. I mean we all loved Letty, but what you both had was different man. I'm just saying..."
"I'm fine" Dom cut Brian off before he could finish.
Brian noticed that it still hurt Dom to talk about Letty's death rather than her life.
"Dom, think about Elena, it's not fair to her that you're still in lov..."
Dom grew angry at Brian persistence
"Still what Brian? Still in love with her, still dream about her being burned alive; still smell her in my house. I did it Brian, I killed her, the moment I laid eyes on her in my father's garage I sealed her fate." Dom got furious and threw the screw driver he was hold in the floor and now spoke with gravel in his voice:
"She gave up everything for me, her parents, college, her freedom, and what did I give up?" Dom gave a pathetic chuckle with glassy eyes looking up at the ceiling. "Nothing, I could even remember her birthday sometimes. I constantly let her down and she always took me back. I did what I should have done years ago a little too late. Letty would still be alive if I had let her go a long time ago."
"Dom, you know if you could ask her now if she would do things over, differently, she would say no, and that is what matters. Sure you were a Shity boyfriend, I mean who loves someone and abandons them 3000 miles away alone." Brian noticed that his words sunk deep into Dom's heart, "but that's also how you love Dom. You loved her so much that you would leave to keep her safe and she knew that, that's why she did what she did. She knew that love was worth fighting for." Brian's words were probably true but had no impact. The guilt Dom felt was strong and the only thing that could help him was Letty's forgiveness. The reality of that never happening was all too obvious to him.
"Yeah, and being the fighter she is, she died fighting, ride or die right? Dom said as he shook his head in disappointment.
While Brian's words calmed Dom to an extent he still blamed himself for the death of his love.
Dom changed his mind and decided not meet them later, Brian knew Dom needed more time to deal with Letty's death since two years had passed and he never saw such a reaction from Dom.
"Hey Dom, I made your favorite, Fried barbeque chicken," Mia said, excitedly and obviously cheerful. However it was short lived as she noticed Dom's expression as he walked straight past her.
"That was Letty's favorite, not mine"
Mia hadn't heard Dom mention Letty in over a year. She turned quickly only to notice the look on her brother's face as he walked up the stairs in a angry yet muscular way.
"What did you say to him Brian?" Mia snapped at Brian as he entered the kitchen seconds after.
"What makes you think...?"
"Because you don't think Brian" Mia didn't give Brian the benefit of the doubt as she cut him off.
"Mia, he needs to deal with it, she's gone, what would Letty say if she were here?" Brian raised his voice, obviously offended by his Girlfriends remarks.
"Nothing, but she would kick your ass" Mia raised her voice also now turning the conversation into an argument.
"Where are you going?" Brian shouted as Mia started to storm off.
"To check on my brother." Mia spat back as though Brian didn't matter to her.
Mia ran up the stairs and walked quietly towards the room where Dom stayed. As she quietly pushed the door she saw Dom sitting on the edge of the bed staring at the picture of Vince and Letty they had found in the box.
"I asked her to be my girlfriend that day"Dom spoke knowing that Mia was behind him. He knew the sound of her footsteps.
"She got mad and told me that I had to be crazy to think that she could trust me with other girls. She said no but we made love that night." Dom gave a low chuckle as he reminisced.
"And then she could control you with a look." Mia added. Mia and Dom laughed as he knew it was true. Dom's laughed then turned into a masculine cry.
"I miss her like crazy. I didn't even say goodbye. She died alone Mia, alone because of me."
Mia knew no words would help her brother so she just embraced him. Dom put his face on her stomach as she stood in front of him and broke down into tears. Mia feeling her brother's pain tried to hold back her owns tears to be strong for him.
Much to Mia's protest that day Dom insisted that Brian not let his sister stay at home to babysit him. She finally and reluctantly agreed to leave only after hearing her brother laugh at her and Brian arguing.
Dom finished Rosa's car and decided to take a shower and join his family at the beach. After showering he noticed the box of Vince's stuff on the ground by the window. He sat on the edge of the bed with his towel wrapped around his waist. He began sorting through the stuff and came across a cell phone. Rosa must have gotten tired of telling callers that Vince's was dead so she took it off and put it away. Dom remembered when he found Letty's phone. Did she ever call Vince looking for him, did Vince ever call her, what did they talk about? Dom's curiosity got the better of him as he put the phone on. He noticed that Vince still had Letty's number stored. Dom pressed the talk button, it didn't ring because Dom had disposed of it about a year ago, but the voice recording still worked. A familiar voice began: you've reached the voice mail of Leticia Ortiz."
Dom's voice interrupted and he was taken back to that day...
"And Dominic Torreto"
"What? no, no this is my phone, you leave you own voice mail," Letty grunted as she pushed Dom's head away from the still recording phone.
"Like I was saying ...and Dominic Torreto, please leave a message after the tone, oh... Unless you're a guy...then you better not leave a voice mail cuz there ain't a place to hide if you're calling my girl" Dom ignored Letty and continued recording her voice mail intro.
"Dom stop...it's only sixty seconds" Letty ordered, her face now growing stern. She hated when Dom didn't take her seriously.
"Unless this is Vince, Jesse or Leon, even then still don't leave a message." Dom continued. Letty was now pissed off.
The sixty seconds were up, but still caught the start of Dom and Letty arguing over her phone.
"Man you're crazy, don't you trust me?" Letty said accusingly as she sat on the kitchen counter.
"Of course I trust you but I'm a man and its men I don't trust. Besides, I bought you that phone so technically it's ours." Dom said, again ignoring Letty's serious tone and expression.
"You know what keep you freaking phone cuz I'll have you know, I don't come with a price." Letty threw the phone on the kitchen counter as she jumped off and stormed away.
"Letty ... Letty don't be like that" Dom called after her as she made her way out of the kitchen.
Dom yelled after Letty as she went upstairs to his room. Vince, Mia and Leon was watching TV but turned to look at Dom. Mia shook her head like she was saying "not again."
"What?" Dom yelled defensively as the stares continued.
Dom left the sandwich he was making for Letty and followed her upstairs.
It had only been about five minutes but Letty had managed to pack what little clothing she had in Dom's wardrobe, her condiments, even her toothbrush. Dom's heart began to pound at the sight of Letty packing. He quickly grabbed the bag from her and threw it in the corner of the room knowing she would have to get past him to retrieve it.,
"What the f**k Let? What's this?" Dom looked so mad that Letty had to seem angrier than him if she stood any chance of leaving that room.
"Give it back Dom" Letty demanded.
"No... You are leaving here, over my dead body" Dom moved his face close to hers as he spoke those words.
"You know that could be arranged" Letty responded being the "bad ass" she was.
Letty made a dart in an attempt get past Dom but failed. Dom stepped backwards not wanting to take his eyes off Letty, and bolted his bedroom door.
"Oh... Nice, now I'm a hostage?" Letty asked with much attitude. "Oh no wait, maybe I'm your pet, some animal that you keep locked up or on a leash."
"If you wanna behave like one then be my guest, but you are not leaving this house."
Letty made another attempt to get her bag, this time Dom grabbed her by the waist. Letty struggled to break free but Dom was too strong for her. Dom began threatening her to stop fighting or he would lock her in the room until she calmed down. This made her even more mad. Letty started yelling and hitting Dom anywhere her hand managed to reach, in the chest, face, neck, her knees even managed to get him in the family jewels but Dom still didn't let go.
"Leave me alone please, stop it, you obviously think I can't be trusted, why are you still with me?" Letty was tired of fighting and tried to talk him down so she could leave, "or are you even with me? Maybe you're so insecure because you're the one that unfaithful... Huh Dom? Who is it, Stacy, Jessica oh...? Oh maybe the bella twins...get off me you ass hole." Letty lashed out once more realizing she was not making no progress and she was almost to tears now. Dom had her pinned between the wall and his chest. Her words hurt him only because it was true to some extent and it was obviously hurting Letty. Dom couldn't stand to see her cry so he let her go. Letty quickly grabbed her bag and exited to room.
Letty had been gone for the entire day and without her phone Dom couldn't reach her even if he tried. Dom was going crazy not knowing where she was that day. This was the purpose of the phone, Dom finally realized the true reason he had bought her the phone. It was to keep tabs on her whereabouts. He realized that Letty had every right to be mad. It was about 10pm now and Dom was pacing the living room waiting for Letty but she never showed. He started to feel nervous and worried. That was when he realized something else... He loved her deeply and couldn't sleep until he knew she was safe. Dom felt different after admitting that to himself and quickly grabbed his car keys off the table and headed for the garage to go look for Letty.
As he entered to garage, about to open his car door, his heart raced at the sight he beheld. Letty was fast asleep on the old couch in the garage, her hair partly in her face as she hugged her bag pack. Dom walked over to her dropped to his knees, tightly close his eyes and thanked god she was safe.
Hr gently move the hair from her face with his fingers. Letty still slept. He then put his hands and cupped her face. Her eyes then fluttered from the suddenness of the touch. She opened her eyes and saw Dom crouched on the ground beside her. She sat up on the couch her eyes gazing at the ground as she still couldn't look Dom in the eye. That didn't stop him though as she had never looked more beautiful to him. Her thick curly hair draped to one side, messy but very sexy in a way. He realized that Letty had fallen asleep with a piece of gum in her mouth as she immediately started chewing again as she got up. Letty only chewed gum when she was angry or sad. She said it kept her from crying. Dom realized this to be true when her father died. Letty had gon through an entire pack of gum by the time the funeral was over.
"That mad huh?" Dom teased.
Letty realized what gave her away and feeling embarrassed, remove the gum from the mouth.
"Where are you going?" She asked as she noticed the car keys dangling in his hand.
Realizing what gave him away Dom stood up and put the car keys in his pocket.
"To look for you" Dom searched her face for a reaction. Letty looked surprised.
"Me?" She asked, unbelieving.
"Yeah... You see I have this condition" Dom said. He would usually try to make Letty laugh before he told her something serious. That way he didn't seem so soft.
Letty gave a smirk realizing where this was going
"Condition?" she asked, playing along.
"Yeah... Um... You see I can't sleep unless the air smells like coconut."
Letty couldn't hold back her laughter anymore.
"Coconut?" she asked, still chuckling as she played along.
"I'm serious, you see my girlfriend washes her hair with this coconut shampoo and it seems that I developed an addiction to the smell at night. So if I don't get that smell I may never sleep again."
"So, if another girl used that same shampoo would be able to sleep next to her then?"Letty asked, knowing that she wanted an answer to this question.
"I don't know I never tried that" Dom said this indicating that he was never unfaithful to Letty. Dom flirted a lot with other girls, even made out with them when he and Letty had fights, but he never took any of them to bed."But if you want to try...you know...I'm just saying..." Dom continued to tease.
"Oh... Your just saying?" Letty replied with sarcasim.
There was a dead silence and Dom smiled at Letty.
"What are you smiling at?" Letty asked as he was making her uncomfortable
"You smiling" Dom replied staring into her eyes.
Letty blushed even though she didn't want to.
Dom leaned closer and kissed her on the forehead. She looked up, his lips were still so close that it brushed her eyes, her nose and finally he tasted her lips with great anticipation. Letty inhaled deeply as Dom pressed his chest against hers forcing her to raise her arms and placing them around his neck. Dom broke contact and looked her in the eyes; her hair was almost in her eyes and moved every time she blinked.
"Baby I'm sorry." Dom fingers brushed across Letty's forehead, placing the hair behind her ear.
"I was wrong to do what I did. I trust you. It's just that you deserve better and I'm afraid you might realize that I'm no good for you."
Letty bowed her head and laughed while blushing. But she said nothing. Hearing Dom speak like this was rare and she didn't want to interrupt.
"Babe the thought of you with another man...I ... I'll go crazy."
Letty realized that Dom loved her more than he wanted to admit and she promised herself that she would never let him. Knowing how he felt was enough. Letty could feel the passion building between them in the garage. She grabbed Dom by the neck and kissed him seductively. Dom felt his chests tighten causing him to take short breaths.
His hands lifted one of Letty's thighs against his hips and lay her on her back not before removing her jacket. Dom never had to look to know what Letty was wearing or how to take it off, his hands did all the seeing. She wore a black sleeveless button up blouse. The first button was missing but made a very provocative fashion statement as it revealed her inner breast curves. Dom loved it when she wore it since he enjoyed teasing her by slowly unfastening each one. Sometimes he took so long Letty would have to undress herself if she wanted any action. Dom however didn't waste any time this night. The exploration of her body was his trade mark. If Letty didn't know better she would assume he was looking for any sign of infidelity. However this turned her on greatly so she allowed him to do his body search. Dom caressed every inch of her upper body, never once breaking the kiss she had him locked in. His hands caressed her abs with the intention of eventually unfastened the bullet hole belt that held her mini skirt very loosely on her hips. However this was interrupted by a loud growling sound...
"What was that?" Dom asked while laughing.
"Oh my god, I'm so hungry, I'm sorry baby there's no way I can concentrate now..." Letty wined.
"Well if someone had stayed today when I asked..." Dom was very reproachful at times.
Letty was now rolling her eyes, hoping that Dom would shut up.
"They would have enjoyed a tasty bar barbeque grill sandwich which I was making especially for them. But...
"Okay Dom I get it shut up... Please"
Dom smiled and kissed Letty on the stomach.
"Come on babe, let papi wow your taste buds."
"Wow my what?"
"And then I'll make you say hmmm"
"Talking big papi, that better be one hell of a sandwich."
"Oh... You got jokes"
Dom threw Letty over his shoulder and carried her in the house...
Dom's phone rang, bringing him back to reality.
"Hey! How you doing?" Dom answered as he struggled to get his mind off Letty.
"Fine. I'm fine... Hey remember your invitation. I can be there tomorrow night. Great news huh?" It was Elena. She was trying not to make her trip to Brazil less suspicious.
"How did you get time off so soon?" Dom asked disappointed a he was now starting to deal with Letty's death and he realized that the time alone is what he needed.
"I ...I had some days left so I applied."
"I thought they were short staff"
"What is this, an interrogation? I thought you would be happy to see me." Elena said realizing she would soon run out of rsponses.
"No... It's not that,"
"Then what?"
"I don't think now is the best time for you to be here?"
"But you said..."
"I know what I said but some stuff came up and we're trying to keep a low profile." Dom was not good at lying but had no choice as he couldn't let Elena know the real reason he didn't want her there.
"Stuff like what?"
"Business, you know I'm trying to get into the car import business, I'm just saying I don't want anything to jeopardize that. You understand right?"
"Yeah...Talk to you later" Elena hung up and Dom knew she was upset but he was going through something even he couldn't understand. He never dealt with Letty's death and it was starting to affect him. However he couldn't understand why here, why now and why is he feeling so close to her when she has been dead for two years. All Dom knew is that he needed to be alone for a while.