So, I've realized that, no matter how much I feel like writing, I only end up doing so if I have something to put off. During school, I spend my time avoiding homework, ergo, I write. During the summer... I think of ideas the whole time while I'm at work (slacking), and then when I get home I end up NOT writing, because I have nothing that I want to put off. I'm allowed to be lazy, so that's what I do.
And upon realizing this the other day (and here we see that I've actually procrastinated on WRITING for the simple reason of... nothing) I've decided that I will work harder to fix the problem. Sorry for the wait.
Emma woke slowly the next morning, tangled tightly in the blankets of her bed. Tye was passed out half on her stomach, and she looked around in confusion.
How did I get here? Last I remember was Kyle and Jenny leaving the club.
It had been a long time since she drank enough to black out.
"Hopefully I didn't do anything stupid," she grumbled thickly, wiping a hand over her eyes. A half empty glass of water was on her bedside table, and she fished blindly through the small drawer of it, finding the bottle of aspirin she knew was there. She downed three, spilling some of the water onto her shirt as she took a sip.
With a loud sigh she put the cup back on the table and fell to her pillow, waiting until the pain killers too effect.
"Yeah, I'd feel like shit too if I drank as much as you did."
Emma weakly threw a pillow towards Kyle's voice.
Pathetically it fell several feet short and nearly two feet wide.
"Hey, I helped carry your sorry ass down here," he informed her as he crossed the room, taking a seat at her normally abandoned desk chair. "A little more respect isn't out of line."
"I'm sorry," she lied, throat tight. "Your voice is just so irritating right now."
"Fine, I'll take your water back."
A groan was all she could do to object, though Kyle had not moved.
"Letty said she'd be over around one, to check up on you," he then tried. "Take you out for a bit of fresh air, see if you can recover."
Emma struggled to raise her head, squinting at the green glow of the alarm clock.
12:38
With a grunt she rolled over, pushing her body off her bed. She sat up slowly, legs folded to her chest. Her eyes watered as she blinked rapidly around the room.
She rubbed her eyes violently before opening them again.
"Fuck it," she muttered, stumbling to her feet and into the bathroom. Bracing herself against the sink, she searched the small cabinet behind the mirror, finding both her contacts case and her glasses. With practiced ease, even only half coherent, she took both lenses out (they were extended wear) before rubbing her eyes again.
"I'll let you get ready," Kyle offered, and she heard him disappear up the stairs. With a sigh Emma started the shower, planning on a quick one before she stepped under the warm spray. She spent nearly ten minutes simply standing there before she hurriedly cleaned up and got out, going to her room and donning a pair of light blue jeans and a white Cami. She returned to the bathroom to brush out her hair, letting it air dry, and grab her glasses. The frames were rectangular and thick, the maroon tint seemed to bring out the color of her eyes; the lenses were just as thick, correcting the astigmatism that plagued her.
Slowly she thumped her way up the stairs.
"She lives," Letty's raspy voice teased when she made it to the kitchen. Emma fell into a chair, leaning against the table as though it was the only thing holding her up.
In all respects, it probably was.
"And she's blind," Kyle added.
Emma did not have the energy to even scoff.
"Brought you a present," Letty slid the cold can of iced tea across the table.
Arizona. Her favorite.
"Thank you," Emma managed, with a surprisingly large amount of sincerity.
At this point she would be grateful for almost anything.
"Well, I'm off to work, so be good for the babysitter," Kyle gave her a pointed look, enjoying his stabs at her while he could still get away with it.
Emma simply grunted, watching him leave.
"Jerk."
Letty's laughter drew her attention.
"We can go visit him," the Latino suggested. "Keep him company while he waits on us."
There was a slight glint akin to cruelty in her eyes.
For the first time all morning, Emma slowly grinned.
"I love the way you think."
A half hour later found them sitting at a small booth in the downtown restaurant.
"What can I get..." Kyle started as he came over. Realizing just who was at the table, he hesitated. "Oh it's you two," he continued, voice dropping. "What do you want?"
Emma shot him a bright smile.
"Well, my good man, I seem to be having a problem with this menu."
Emma saw the blonde's jaw work, before he nodded.
"That's because you're reading the adults section."
Emma's eyes narrowed.
Kyle 1, Emma 0.
"I don't like your tone. Is your manager around?"
Kyle rolled his eyes.
"Well not that I would tell you if he was, but no."
"Maybe you should write up a complaint," Letty suggested. Emma nodded.
"I might just do that."
"What can I get you wonderful," the blonde's voice was forcefully cheerful at this. "Oh so wonderful, ladies to drink? We have water, sweetened and unsweetened iced teas, warm tea, coffee, milk, chocolate milk, and all Coke products."
"Water."
"Root beer."
Kyle did not even bother to write down the orders, but simply rolled his eyes as he turned to walk away.
"He is a very rude man."
Kyle shook his head at Emma's comment, but returned with their drinks moments later.
"Now, should I get a translator for you," he asked Emma.
Letty ducked her head, to hide her smirk, but watched the interaction with amusement in her dark eyes.
Kyle 2, Emma 0.
"You have one on hand? That would be great, because whoever wrote up these menus made a lot of typos and grammatical errors, it's simply impossible to decipher anything."
A lie, but Kyle ran his tongue over his teeth as he allowed his shoulders to drop just slightly.
"That would be me."
"That would explain it, wouldn't you say?"
Letty could not help but to go along with the brunette.
Kyle 2, Emma 1.
"Your orders?"
"Anything meat," Letty said.
"Anything fried," Emma added.
The pair looked at each other with a grin before Emma continued.
"You know the menu well enough. Pick something good for the both of us," she ordered, shooing him away with a flapping motion of her hand.
Snatching up both menus, Kyle returned to the kitchen, placing two orders.
"I do think our mission is successful so far."
"I would have to agree."
Letty studied Emma as they left the restaurant towards her Nissan. Her friend seemed to have pulled a 180 since that morning; smiling and more relaxed.
"Feeling better?"
Emma nodded.
"So much."
"What do you want to do next?"
Emma shook her head, sliding into the passenger seat.
"Something that doesn't require too much energy."
"Movies?"
"What's playing?"
Letty shrugged.
"Let's go check."
So they did. Once at the cinema, the pair studied the listing of movies.
"Saw?"
Letty nodded.
"Seen the first one, might as well continue."
Emma nodded.
"Saw it is."
They bought their tickets and made their way to the theater to wait and guess at the trivia questions. The film was not set to start for another fifteen minutes.
"This stuff is fricken brilliant," Emma breathed to herself later, once the movie was well underway. Though she was not spoken to directly, Letty could only agree. The tests the poor people had to go through were pretty intricately thought out.
In a decidedly dark and twisted way.
"You just can't beat that shit, you know?" Emma asked as the two walked out of the theater.
Letty smirked, shaking her head.
Good old Emma, the Latino thought, releasing a small sigh. She unlocked her car, and both girls clambered in.
"Now what?" she asked, starting the engine. Emma was silent as she mulled over the question.
"I think I want to play a video game."
Rolling her eyes, Letty started towards the Toretto house.
There was a distant pounding on the door.
Letty rolled over, sitting up with a mask of confusion on her face. She crawled off of her bed, stumbling through the hall and down the stairs. Undoubtedly Mia had already left for the store, and the boys for the garage. Why they had not woken her was puzzling, but she did not think on it too long.
Reaching the front door she turned the knob, pulling it open before blinking in confusion.
"Mia Toretto?"
Letty looked between the two men and the black, unmarked car.
"No."
"Leticia Ortiz?"
Letty nodded this time, affirming their question.
"Is everything okay? Who got hurt?"
Panic was slowly setting in.
What if there was an accident at the garage? she worried.
"No accidents ma'am, don't worry about that. Officer Davis and I would like to ask you a few questions, if we may."
The worry faded, but the panic remained. They were dressed in a business casual manner, most likely detectives, Letty guessed.
"Look, I didn't do it."
"It?"
"Whatever you're here for. It wasn't me."
"No one is accusing you of anything. We'd just like a friendly talk."
Letty managed to not snort at their promise. It was not convincing, but she figured she would probably have more luck if she did not try to argue. She stepped out onto the porch, shutting the door behind her.
"So, let's talk," she said, voice more confident than she felt.
"So, what were you up to last night?"
"Nothing. I was here. All of my house mates were. Together."
"Uh-huh. Right."
Letty scowled at the doubtful tone in his voice.
"Look, can you just get to it? I have some stuff I need to do."
Continue sleeping, she added silently with irritation, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Oh, stuff, huh? What kind of stuff?"
"Yeah, I have this thing, you may have heard of it. Most people call it a job," the Latino woman explained, as though describing a foreign concept to the two officers.
"Jobs, yeah. There are a lot of different types of jobs, aren't there?" the one introduced as Officer Davis asked his partner.
"What kind of job?"
"Are you kidding me? Like you don't already know from your fancy files that I work in a garage. I'm a mechanic."
"Uh-huh," the first officer nodded, clearly uninterested.
"Can any one else vouch that you and your house mates were here last night?"
"Yeah. A couple of friends."
"Good friends? Known them a while?"
"Good friends, and not too long. They moved here from Mass a few months ago."
Davis hummed, as though put off by her answer.
"So do you boys mind telling me what this is all about?"
"We have on record that you and several of your house-mates were possible links to multiple truck hi-jackings a few years back."
Letty's blood ran cold.
"None of us were ever brought to trial," she quickly defended herself and the boys.
Dom was all on his own.
"So the files say. The case was dropped after the lead suspect, Mr. Dominic Toretto, evaded law enforcement and eventually disappeared, correct?"
Hesitantly, Letty confirmed their statement with a nod.
"Yeah. Dom's gone. Haven't seen him in years."
"Indeed."
Letty narrowed her eyes at their tones, suggesting doubt.
"You still haven't told me what this is about," she pointed out.
"This morning, at approximately 0216 hours a trucker called in to report an incident. An incident that seems to be very similar to the incidents that happened all those years ago. Involving Mr. Toretto and a group of cohorts."
"Someone jacked a truck?" Letty asked after a moment, having let the statement settle in. "And you think it was us?"
"I don't recall saying that."
"It simply makes sense that, with such similar cases, we start where the previous one ended."
Letty shook her head.
"Well boys, you're just gonna find sand here. No gold."
The officers shared a look, before turning to the offended woman.
"Well, if you do hear anything, give us a heads up, will you?"
Fat chance in hell, she thought vindictively. She settled on raising an eyebrow at the pair, her posture alone dismissed them.
"Have a good one."
"I doubt it, but thanks," she said, not even trying to fake politeness. She watched them get back into their car and drive off, before she let herself in the house, all but slamming the door behind her before she leaned against it, squeezing her eyes shut. The team had been at the house all night, Kyle and Emma did not even leave until nearly three in the morning, which was well past the reported time frame.
But the law officers did not believe it, that much was clear.
Oh fuck.
Ohh, betcha you didn't see that one coming, eh? And I know this is actually... a pretty short chapter for me, but it is mostly just a filler one. And to get stuff OFFICIALLY kicked off, as I really was struggling to think of a decent plot line to make this more than just... a boring story about several people. I promise the next one will pick back up again as the drama ensues! Oh la la. Très amusant, n'est pas? Oui... c'est vrai.
Sorry, summer tends to make me have conversations with myself. Ignore the babble. Hope you enjoyed! I will work harder on the next chapter!
