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Chapter 10 - Where is Letty?
Los Angeles, 1995
Tony Toretto returned home very late from his poker game that night. He was exhausted, but exhilarated because he'd won several hands of poker…and a lot of money from his friends that evening.
Tony smiled as he remembered their shocked faces as he laid his winning cards down. A full house! He'd won another hand…and all of the money in the pot on the table. Carlos vowed to win his money back from Tony the next time that they played. Tony had no doubt that he would win again, next time.
Toretto was happy to see everything cleaned up and in order when he arrived at home. It didn't even seem that there had been a party there that night. He knew that Mia was responsible for this and smiled.
Tony noticed that Vince was asleep on the couch. Tony expected this and he really didn't mind if Vince stayed there. He liked Vince. The boy had been Dominic's best friend, since childhood. He'd rather the kid stay there than risk trying to get home after a night of drinking and partying, anyway.
Tony went upstairs, looking forward to crawling into his bed and getting a good nights sleep, but he stopped dead in his tracks when he heard nervous voices coming from inside of his room.
Tony didn't recognize the voices until he came closer to the door. Soon, he had no doubt about who was in that room.
Tony slowly opened the door and his eyes widened in shock when he saw his son, Dominic, desperately trying to button up Letty's shirt as she looked desperately at the door. Tony could see the panic in her face.
"Dad…!" Dom started to say but he paused…he wasn't sure what to say. Tony didn't give him a chance to finish. "I want you both downstairs in five minutes!" Tony promptly turned around and left them alone in the room and closed the door.
Dom finally finished buttoning Letty's top. Undressing her was easy, but helping her to get her clothes back on... under so much pressure was proving almost impossible.
"Dom, what are we going to tell him?" Letty worriedly asked.
"I don't know!" Dom replied as he pulled his own shirt back on.
Letty nervously tried to put her hair back in place. Dom had really messed Letty's hair up with his hands. "We have to figure something out quick, Dom!" Letty's voice was trembling now. "I'm sure he's figured out what happened here!"
"Of course he knows, Letty!" Dom yelled at her.
"So what are we going to say?" She insisted.
"Damn it, Letty! I don't have any f*cking idea what we're going to say to him! You started it anyway!" Dom snapped.
Letty looked at him with fury in her eyes and shouted. "If you don't want me to kick your ass right now, Dominic Toretto, then you better not talk to me like that again! You understand me? Yes, I wanted to f*ck you… but you wanted to f*ck me, too! So are you going to stand there and deny that that you wanted it too, you bastard?"
Dom realized how upset she was. He also noticed that she had tears in her eyes, even though he knew that she'd never cry in front of him.
"Are you sorry about what we did?" Letty nervously asked. Her lips were trembling. Dom felt a little guilty, but he'd never be sorry.
"No! Never Mami!" Dom quickly said as he pulled her close to him and held her. "You at least had the courage to tell me what I've wanted to tell you for a long time, now, Baby."
Dom tenderly kissed her lips. "Everything is going to be alright. If my father wants to kill us…then I swear, Baby, we'll die together!"
Letty laughed and relaxed a little. "Ok, he can kill us… but your father better leave something for my godfather… because he'll want to kill you, too! Especially if Mr. Toretto tells him what we did…do you think he'll tell him, Dom?" Letty was getting worried again.
"Our five minutes just ended." Dom quietly said as he held Letty's hand.
They walked down the stairs together in silence. They found Tony sitting at the kitchen table waiting for them. "Sit down now!" He demanded.
Dom and Letty sat down and Tony started his interrogation. "Ok, tell me…did I get home too late to stop you both from committing this madness, or what?"
"Dad! I'm not a damn kid!" Dom tried to defend himself but Tony cut him off.
"That's the reason that I'm so damn disappointed in you, Dominic! You're 20 years old! A grown man! So what the hell were you thinking…. having sex with a sixteen year old girl? And not just any girl…..but Letty! Her godfather is one of my best friends!"
"Mr. Toretto… it wasn't Dom's idea… it was mine!" Letty volunteered, trying to protect Dominic.
"Mmm…I can just imagine!" Tony said doubtfully. "What now? What do you two have to say to me? What…that you couldn't control your damn hormones? And you did in my room of all places! You should both be ashamed of yourselves!"
"Dad, I'm sorry…" Dom sheepishly said.
"This wasn't supposed to have happened Dom…not anywhere under my roof. Not as long as Letty is a teenager and my responsibility. It's our responsibility to take care of her when she's in this house! You should have taken care of her, too, Dominic…. not take advantage of her! God! Did you at least remember to protect her?" Tony angrily asked.
Dom couldn't look at his father at that moment, because he'd just realized that he'd had unprotected sex with Letty. He was so excited that he'd totally forgotten about using a condom to protect her.
Tony became even more disappointed with his son. "What about everything I taught you, Dom? Was that just sh*t for you?"
"Of course not, Dad!" Dom snapped.
"You know you'll be responsible for her if she gets pregnant don't you? Letty isn't like those other girls from the track that you sleep around with!" Tony calmly stated.
"Mr. Toretto, please don't talk about me like I'm not here, ok?" Letty said a little embarrassed at being the center of such a conversation.
Dominic held her hand under the table and caressed it to calm her down before he said. "Dad… I really like Letty…I care about her… and like you said I'm a man now… so from now on, Letty and I are officially dating. She's my girl no matter what! I know she's not like those other girls from the races or parties… and I don't need you to remind me about that!"
Letty thought she was going to fall off her chair when Dom said those words. But her reaction wasn't what Dom had been expecting.
"Who the hell do you think you are, Dominic Toretto? What makes you think that I'd want to date you or be your girl?" Letty yelled at him as she rose from the table. She promptly left the kitchen and slammed the door behind her as she left the house.
Dominic was surprised with Letty's reaction and immediately ran after her. "Letty, come back here! Where are you going?"
Dominic hadn't taken the time to notice before he ran after an angry Letty, but his father couldn't control his amusement with the couple anymore and burst out into laughter.
Tony knew that this would have happened sooner or later. He'd been watching their passion for each other grow…even before they'd realized it themselves.
Present day
"It's not her!" Dominic quietly announced with conviction after the curtain was closed. Then he proceeded to leave the room without saying another word. Mia had been waiting outside for them.
"Dom!" Brian called after him. "How can you be so sure? Mia saw the body this morning and she wasn't even sure!"
"Dom….are you saying that it's not her?" Mia hopefully asked when Dom came outside of the room. Dom nodded.
"If you want to go ahead with an autopsy O' Conner, then fine! But I'm telling you that that girl in there is not Letty! I know Letty… I know every little inch of her…and that's not her in there!" Dom stated.
"I've known her since she was a scrawny little ten year old… following me around… pestering me… calling my a name thousand times… Dominic! Dominic! She used to drive me crazy with a million questions about car and engines. That's my Letty! Not that poor girl in that room!" Dom explained.
Brian remained silent and just listened as Dom continued talking. "My girl is unique, Brian. The only mistake that she made was getting involved with you and your ridiculous scheme. I'll find her my way, got it? Let's go, Mia!"
Mia followed Dom, but before they got to the elevator Brian said. "You know she did it for you, right?"
Dom didn't answer him. He just glared at Brian as the elevator door closed between them.
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Vince cleaned up the rest of the empty beer bottles and empty Chinese Food containers that had accumulated under his kitchen table. He put them all in garbage bags that his neighbor had given him.
Vince had ordered a pizza for himself and Letty. Leon was also coming over soon. Vince had called Leon and told him that Letty was in town and staying at his place, but he failed to mention that she hadn't returned alone. Vince thought that it would be better if his friend discovered this for himself.
When Vince had finished cleaning up the kitchen, he noticed that Letty was standing there, yawning and rubbing her eyes. "Sorry, I fell asleep." Letty said.
"The baby is ok?" Vince asked.
"Yeah. She's sleeping." Letty smiled. "She was grumpy because of the new place and the long trip, but she's going to be ok."
"I ordered a pizza and Leon is on his way over." Vince said.
Letty smiled and said. "Thanks, man."
"No worries, girl. I'm glad you're back." Vince smiled back at her. They remained quiet for a few seconds before Vince finally pulled Letty into a big bear hug. Vince wasn't usually an emotional guy, but sometimes he could surprise his friends.
Letty remained quiet in the comfort of Vince's strong arms for a few minutes. It felt so good to be embraced by a friend, especially after everything that had happened to her. She felt like she was home…almost safe.
Vince kissed the top of her head and reluctantly let go her before asking. "What about Dom? Does he know he's a daddy?"
Letty shook her head and sighed. She slumped down into one of the kitchen chairs and said. "I haven't seen him in about a year, Vince. I couldn't find him after you and Leon left the Dominican Republic."
"And you were there all this time… raising your baby alone?" Vince curiously asked.
"Yeah." Letty said. "But I was in LA a few months before she was born. I stayed with Mia for a little while. I didn't even know I was pregnant, yet."
"Why didn't you look us up when you were here? And why did you go back to The Dominican all alone, Let? You should have stayed here with Mia. We would have helped you with the baby." Vince explained.
"I know Vince, thanks….but I came back to L.A. to try to help Dom. I wanted to clear his name…so things could be the way they used to be. So… I called Brian and…" Letty tried to explain.
"You talked to O'Conner? Why the hell would you go and talk to that pr*ck? He's a f*cking cop!" Vince snapped.
"Don't forget that he saved your ass, man! If it wasn't for Brian, you'd be f*cking dead!" Letty yelled.
"Yeah, but he only saved my life so that he could keep f*cking Mia… and in the end he was the one that got screwed because Mia didn't want to talk to him anymore!" Vince said laughing.
"Vince!" Letty snapped losing her patience.
"Okay, okay! I'm not going to talk about that *sshole anymore. Tell me what he said to you when you went to talk to him." Vince had calmed down somewhat.
"He told me that he could clear Dom's name, if I helped him with a case that he was working on with the police. The plan was to infiltrate a big drug trafficker's organization. I'd become a driver for Arturo Braga. Do you know him?" Letty explained.
"F*ck, Letty! I've heard a lot of serious sh*t about this guy. I heard that he's a psycho…a real bad*ss. Let me guess, you managed to become one of his drivers, and in the end you got yourself into big trouble, right?" Vince said.
Letty nodded and said. "Vince, you're right. This guy is a psycho! He sent his right hand man, a guy named Fenix, to lure us out into the desert. We crossed the border to transport his sh*t back to the U.S. from Mexico." Vince was shocked at her confession.
"When we got across to the other side, this Fenix and his thugs started shooting us. Execution style, one by one. I tried to escape with a guy that I met there… Diogo… but Fenix killed him…shot him in the head without thinking twice, you know?" Letty was becoming noticeably upset at having to relive that moment.
"I was f*cking dead meat for sure…but I managed to get into my car and I ran…I wasn't even thinking about the baby I was carrying…you know…. I just wanted to get my *ss out of there. I flew out of there, but that bastard got me. He chased me and my car flipped. I still don't even know how I managed to escape that wreck. It was a miracle!" Letty explained.
Vince was shocked with Letty's story. "So where'd you go, Let? To Mia's? You must have been hurt!"
"Yeah, I was hurt bad Vince, but I was saved by a couple who happened to be passing by. Thank God they were there. They took me to the hospital. I was banged up pretty bad, broken arm…I almost lost my baby..." Letty sighed and became visibly shaken again.
"I stayed there for awhile. I called Mia and I told her what had happened… including the fact that I was pregnant. She helped me with my medical bills and some survival money that Dom had left for me. When I was well enough to get the hell out of there, I bought a ticket to The Dominican using a fake name. I knew that they'd still be looking for me…but I had to protect my baby…all I could think about was getting as far away from here as possible." Letty paused before continuing.
"But… I lost all of the money that Dom had left me…at the airport. Braga's people were waiting for me and they took a couple of shots at me….I dropped everything and ran! It's been tough surviving without that money…but me and Nina… we did ok." Letty explained.
"So they know you're still alive!" Vince concluded. "Damn it Letty, those guys are probably still looking for you!"
"That's right, V! They know I'm still alive and that's the real reason that I stayed in hiding in The Dominican for so long…. because I had to protect my baby girl. But I've decided to come back to LA now, because I want to fix this situation for Nina. She deserves a better life."
"Vince! Letty! Are you guys here?" Leon shouted as he entered the house and walked into the kitchen.
"Leon!" Letty gasped when she saw him coming into the kitchen.
"Baby, is it really you?" He said. "I can't believe it's you!" They hugged each other.
"Look at you! Gorgeous as always!" Leon said. Letty just smiled and said. "It's good to see you, too."
"If I knew you were here, I'd have put your name in for the race tonight. It's going to be a crazy race!" Leon said.
"Well, Leon, I haven't raced in a long time, now." Letty replied.
"What?" Leon replied surprised. "I know that there's gasoline in your veins, baby. What about Dom? Did he finally stop playing hide and seek and decide to come back to LA with you?"
"What the hell are you talking about, man?" Letty asked confused. "I haven't seen Dom since…" She started to explain but the sound of a crying baby interrupted her. Leon froze in his place.
"Did I just hear a baby crying or is it my imagination?" Leon asked in shock.
The baby cried again, and Leon looked over at Vince. His eyes were wide. "Vince, man, why didn't you tell me…"
"You haven't told him, yet?" Letty asked Vince.
"Tell me what?" Leon asked confused.
"I thought it would be better if you told him, Let." Vince said. Letty just rolled her eyes and left the kitchen.
"Vince, brother, what's happening? Where did you get this baby?" Leon smirked.
Letty quickly returned, carrying a crying Caterina in her arms. She tried to sooth her baby.
"We woke her up by talking so loudly." Letty said annoyed. "And she hates to be woken up."
Leon looked at the tiny baby in Letty's arms. She was a cute little girl. She had lots of dark hair and she was dressed in a yellow sleeper.
"Wow!" Leon exclaimed. "Vince, why didn't you tell me that you're a daddy, now? I heard some people talking at the last race that you and Susie…so did you get her pregnant and she dumped the baby off on you? I know she's not the mothering kind …"
Letty just sighed and shook her head.
"Are you insane, Leon? Sh*t, man! I didn't get Susie pregnant! I'm usually the slow one understanding things around here… not you! This baby belongs to Letty and Dominic!" He explained.
"F*ck!" Leon exclaimed and Letty angrily said. "Hey you two, watch your mouth in front of my baby!"
"Holy sh*t! Dom's a daddy? Damn…. I'd have never imagined it!" Leon said smiling
Caterina was still screaming. Letty rocked her and talked sweetly to her daughter. "It's okay, mi cielo (my sweetie), you don't need to be so upset!"
"What's her name?" Leon asked.
"Anna Caterina." Letty proudly said. "But I call her Nina."
"Hello, little Nina!" Leon softly said as he talked to the baby. "Let me hold her. I can stop her from crying."
"What are you going to do, dude?" Vince asked. "Put a cork in her mouth? Man you don't know 'nothing about babies."
"Shut up, Vince!" Leon snapped. "You wouldn't know it… but kids love me. Nina is such a cute little baby, isn't she?" He cooed to her. Nina stopped crying and seemed to focus her dark little eyes in Leon.
"Oh yeah, you love me, don't you, baby girl? Come with Uncle Leon." He said carefully taking her from Letty's arms. Letty was surprised. Nina seemed to really like him.
"Okay, I got ya, baby! Now you get comfortable with your Uncle Leon. You don't need to cry anymore little Ms. Toretto. You're tough like your papi, aren't you precious?" Leon continued to babble sweetly to Nina.
"Leon, what do you mean…did Dom stop playing hide and seek with me?" Letty suddenly asked him.
Leon looked over at her and then back at Nina and said. "Oh sorry…didn't I tell you? We're all going to have a family reunion over at Blonde's garage. I was on my way over here tonight, and I stopped in at the garage and found out that Dominic had been there earlier today. Dom left his Chevelle there to be fixed. So I, naturally, thought that you two were back together."
Letty felt her heartbeat accelerate. Finally, Dominic was back!
What a coincidence that they chose to come back at the same time!
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"Dom what did you mean, when you told Brian that you'd find Letty your own way?" Mia asked him as she drove through the streets of Los Angeles.
"You know what I mean, Mia." Dom said frowning.
"Dom, you know you can't just stay… hanging around! The police will find you, and they won't think twice about sending you back to Lompoc." Mia explained.
"I need to find her, Mia! Letty is missing and I won't rest until I find her, no matter what you say. I know she's out there somewhere." Dom said.
"How can you be so sure?" Mia skeptically asked.
"Damn it, Mia! I just feel it. You know I love her, don't you?" Dom quietly asked.
Mia stopped the car and tenderly looked over at her brother. It was a very rare thing to hear Dom talk about his feelings.
"I know." Mia said. "I love her, too, Dom" Dom kissed Mia's forehead before opening the car door and stepping out.
"Where are you going?" Mia curiously asked.
"Like I said, I'm going to find her my way. I'll see you later." Dom closed the door and started to walk away.
"Just be careful!" Mia shouted after him and Dominic nodded and continued walked away.
Dom walked through the neighborhood for over thirty minutes. He wasn't very far from his father's house. Dom hoped that they still lived there.
Dom slowly walked up to the front of a white house and stopped. It was a very simple white house, but with a beautifully tended garden out front. An elderly woman was in the front yard, kneeling down on the lawn, planting roses.
Dominic slowly approached and almost whispered. "Hello, Mrs. Ortiz."
The woman looked up and stared at him for a few seconds before saying. "It's been a long time, Dominic. I haven't seen you since your father's funeral."
"I've been gone a long time. I'm sorry." Dominic said. She smiled and gave him a kiss on his cheek.
"Come inside." She said as she led him through the balcony of the house.
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Gisele slowly sipped from her whiskey glass. She threw the dart that she had been holding in one hand and hit the target squarely in the center. The phone rang and she answered. "Yeah? It's me."
"He's in town!" A voice said on the other side of the line. "I just heard he took his car in to be fixed at the Blonde's garage.
"Great." Gisele said. "I'll tell Braga."
To be continued…