A New Life – Chapter 10

After two hours of planning and preparing, the team finally made it to the beach. The girls and Vince were enjoying the water, while the others watched from the blanket. "How bout you and I go join them?" Leon asked Akisha.

"Sure I'll race you," she said as she got up and ran.

"Hey come back here," Leon said as he ran after her. He finally caught up to her as she reached the water. He scooped her up in his arms and carried further in, before tossing her in. He waited patiently for her to come up but she didn't. He started looking around for her, afraid that she'd been caught in an undertow. Suddenly he felt something grab his leg and pull him under. He came back up coughing up water and Akisha laughing beside him.

"Are you okay?" asked Akisha as she watched him spit up water.

"No I'm not okay, what are you trying to do, kill me?"

"Well you deserve it for tossing me into the water."

"You know it was a joke?"

"Yeah I knew I was just getting you back."

"Why you little…" he said as he grabbed her and pulled her back down. When they came back up, they were both laughing. Akisha looked around and saw some people surfing; her heart sank as she watched them. It reminded her of her father; he'd been a really good surfer back then and was starting to teach her as a child. It all stopped when she almost drowned and he decided that she was too young and it was dangerous. If he'd know she had turned to racing, he'd be even more upset.

"Why don't we join them?" she asked pointing in the direction of Vince and the girls.

"Sounds good to me," Leon replied as he took her hand and led her to them. They frolicked in the water for an hour before heading out of the water for lunch.

As the team ate lunch, everyone wanted to know if Leon and Akisha had settled with a wedding date and where it would be. Leon said no but said they were still thinking about it. Letty made a joke that by the time they came up with a date they'd all be old, Leon gave her a glare. "Hey guys how bout a game of volleyball afterwards, Dom Letty and Vince against me, Leon and Akisha?" asked Mia

"I'm up for it," said Letty.

"Sounds like a winner, let's do it," said Vince.

"I don't know if it's such a good idea once we're done eating," said Leon.

"I agree, let's wait about an hour before we do, let's enjoy the sunshine instead," said Mia.

"That sounds like a good idea, I could use a good tan," Letty said smiling.

"So could I," said Akisha, "I need to get to a nice shade of brown."

"You guys do whatever, it's all good to me," said Dom.

"Then it's settled," said Letty. They finished eating and went on their separate ways. The girls including Akisha went to their towels and began spreading lotion on their bodies. Vince went back to the water, while Leon and Dom cleaned up.

Everyone did their activities for the next hour before coming back and meeting at the blanket. They grabbed everything and headed over to the volleyball courts. They found an empty court and split into their teams. Dom took the ball and served it, the game was on. They all played for the next couple of hours before everyone stopped for a break. Dom asked if they wanted to stay longer or should they head home. The team agreed to stay for another hour before heading home. Everyone except for Leon and Akisha decided to head back to the water. The couple went to sit on the sand, while the others played in the water. As they sat and held hands, Leon and Akisha talked about how the past four days had been. They had been through both exciting and tough times, but they were happy that everything was going well. "So where do you wanna have it?"

"What?" she replied confused.

"The wedding, I would like to have it outside somewhere and small."

"Me too and I want it to be very exclusive, just people we really know. I would really like to have Benny and the others there and my mom too."

"Of course, I would dream of not having them there."

"Well at least one person won't be there and I'm glad for that," said Akisha with a look on her face that Leon could read well. He knew of the person she was talking about and it was Rico.

"Hey don't even think about him, you know that he's safely locked up and there's no chance of him coming after us."

"Yeah I know, but still…"

"Hey look at me, he said as he took hold of her chin, "don't worry about it, we're going to be okay and have no more interruptions."

"Okay," she replied smiling.

"That's my girl," said Leon as he softly kissed her on the lips. He turned to see the others head towards them. "Well it looks like it's time to go, the others are on their way here."

"Let's start packing up," said Akisha as they got up from the blanket and began folding it. The others soon arrived and helped to finish cleaning up. They piled into their cars and headed home.

When they got back to the house they put everything away and went to change into their regular clothes. When they were done they all met back in the living room to discuss what they'd be doing for the evening. Vince suggested a movie night since it was half-off night at the video store. When the others agreed, he and Letty went off to grab some movies, while the others went to go get some popcorn. While they waited for the popcorn, the other four talked about Leon and Akisha's relationship and how they met. Mia thought it was really amazing how their relationship survived through all the hardship they had been faced with. Akisha even confronted Leon about the dinner he still owed her. "And what dinner would this be?" said Mia as she hopped up onto the counter.

"We had a race back to the house after working on our cars, with the loser buying the winner dinner," said Akisha.

"And let me guess you won?" said Dom with a smile

"Yep so as a result Leon owes me dinner, so I was thinking that he could pay up tonight and take me out."

"I know the perfect place for you two, it's called Cha-Cha-Cha, and Brian took me there when he was here."

"I was thinking of the same thing, it's small, intimate and the perfect place for us," said Leon.

"Well you two better get going, don't worry about the others wondering where you are, we'll let them know," said Dom.

"Cool thanks," said Leon as he and Akisha left the house and headed for his car. They got in and were on their way.

Ten minutes later they arrived at the restaurant and were seated at a table outside. They both ordered enchiladas and a Corona. While they waited for the food to arrive they talked some more about the wedding and what would be a good time to have it. Akisha thought that the summer would be a great time and she would love to have it on the beach. Leon figured that she'd choose the beach since it was here favorite place and where they'd often hang out. As he held her hands, he looked into her big brown eyes and smiled. "I love you so much Akisha and I want you to know that I'm happy to be spending this time with you. I know we're gonna be happy for the rest of our lives, and maybe have children some day."

"If we have kids, you know what that means?"

"Yeah I know we might have to give up racing."

"And also find a place of our own; I don't think they'll be able to sleep with all the noise."

"Don't worry I've thought about that as well," he said softly chuckling. A waitress arrived with their food and drinks. The couple smiled and began eating their food. "I was thinking of going for a walk on the beach when we're done."

"Sounds good and very romantic to me," she said as they continued with dinner.

Back at home the others were in the living room watching the movies and eating popcorn. Vince and Letty had come back with a couple horror and action movies. Vince at first wondered why Akisha and Leon were gone, Mia explained where they were and he smiled. It was funny how their first dinner out was the same place that Mia and Brian went to on theirs. Deep in his heart Vince had a thing for Akisha, but knew that he'd never have a chance with her since she was engaged to Leon. He also knew that if anyone ever found out, especially Leon, it would be the end of him. He also knew it would be hard but better to just drop it and forget about ever having anything to do with her; they could be nothing more than friends. Just at that moment the phone rang, "I'll get it," he said as he ran to the phone. "Hello?"

"Yeah is Leon or Akisha there?"

"Nope 'fraid not," he said.

"Well let them know it's Big Ben just saying hello and I hope to hear back from them." Big Ben was a nickname the team in San Fran had given Benny. It was part of an inside joke and the name stuck.

"Sure will do."

"Thanks," said Benny as he hung up. Vince hung up and headed back to the living room.

Back at the restaurant Leon and Akisha had finished their meal and now were sharing a bowl of fried ice cream. They each took turns eating and feeding each other, while talking some more about the wedding ideas. They soon were interrupted when Hector spotted them while walking by with his hommies. "Yo Leon what's up man, out with Akisha I see."

"Yeah Hector I am, just going over stuff."

"Cool man, by the way congratulations on the engagement."

"Thanks Hector," said a smiling Leon.

"And to you mamasita, congrats on beating Dom," he said smiling at Akisha, "it took some skill beating him.

"Gracias Hector, it certainly was a difficult race, it's good to be a winner elsewhere."

"Well I guess I better let you two go then," he said as he waved goodbye and walked away.

"He's right you know about it taking skill to beat Dom."

"I know it did and I was glad to. It proved that I'm just as good of a racer here as I was back in Frisco."

"Yeah it did, you showed them how tough you really are. Let's finish this and head back home."

"I thought you wanted to go for a walk on the beach?"

"It's late and I'm a bit tired," said Leon as Akisha gave him a sad look. They finished their dessert, paid and left for home.

Back at the house the gang was watching another movie except for Vince; he was outside on the picnic table drinking a beer. Mia saw him sitting there and wondered why he'd been so silent lately. Ever since the big race, Vince had been very quiet and distant from the others. She got up from the floor and headed out of the house. She walked up to him and sat down beside him. "You okay Vince, you seem down about something?"

"I'm fine Mia everything's okay," he replied taking a sip of beer.

"It looks like something's on your mind, are you sure everything's okay?"

"I'm sure Mia, I just feel like being alone right now."

"You've been feeling a lot like that lately and it's gotten everyone worried. Dom thinks you're hiding something."

"Has he…"

"…said anything, no but I can see it when he looks at you."

"I know he's thinking that, he's talked to me about it. It's a problem I'm facing and I just am scared that if I tell my secret, it'll hurt a lot of people."

"What is it Vince, you can tell me. I promise I won't tell anyone unless you want me to?"

Vince looked at her and gave a large sigh. "Mia, I've fallen in love with Akisha."

To Be Continued