Good Morning.
I'm a little late on the posting this week but I can only ask for forgiveness and hope some drama mends the relationship.
I guess this chapter is a little something special for all those with siblings. I am one, and I can say this is entirely within the realms of possibility.
Chapter Twelve; Burned
Letty had spent the night on the sofa with Mia, in pyjamas and watching movies with the boys until they all fell asleep anywhere comfy. Mia had had the logic to move herself to bed to sleep at some point. Letty hadn't.
She'd woken with the buzz of Jesse's alarm on his phone, as had the rest of the gang and the bathroom battles had begun.
Needless to say, it was all hands on deck in the garage since Dom wasn't there.
Vince had announced the lawyer was all over it as Letty was elbow deep in the bucket of nuts and bolt spares, but said nothing more.
The Lawyer made a lot of money from the boys, no doubt. Leon said the guy had gotten most of them out of a court sentencing at some point. They had no doubt Dom would be home by tea.
Letty on the other hand, was being buried alive by her worry.
Mostly: was Dom still prepare to 'give it a go' as he said yesterday, or had this arrest changed things?
Her arm was bruised blue when she woke up. It would be an un-necessary reminder to Dom and nobody else had a right to know, so she'd pulled a long sleeved top two sizes too big out and was constantly reminding herself not to roll it up as she dove into oil once more.
Time dragged slowly, there was still jobs to do, more so than usual. But without Dom's presence, without the office door constantly in swing with a huffing sigh of annoyance, it wasn't the same. Vince had tried to take Dom's usual office jobs, but Vince had an undying love for engines, he couldn't sit still for 5 minutes before the call of the hands-on demanded he answer.
Jesse, Leon and Vince were still battling down long lists by the time Letty's hours finished and Mia was waiting hands on hips.
"Dad's coming home early." Mia announced softly as Letty pulled off the coveralls and cradled her sore arm away from Mia's eyes. "The lawyer rang him, something about payment and Dad found out. He said he left as soon as he found out, even missed the morning race that was scheduled." Mia scratched at her chipping nail polish. "He'll probably be home in half hour or so."
"He gunna be mad?" Letty had never seen Mr T mad.
"He doesn't get mad. He just gets quiet… and then he looks at you and you start spilling your guts." Mia explained, having had the experience a few times before when she'd broken something of Dom's and hidden it. "I'm thinking I might see if I can cook him something before Dom gets released, maybe put him in a good mood." Mia suggested, her phone already out and googling recipes no doubt.
"Oh, I guess I should go home and…" take pain killers probably. Maybe start the washing machine. Create another food shopping list. Change the bedding? She couldn't remember what state she'd left the house in.
"No. You were there, dad will want to know everything from you too."
"I didn't really… I mean, I wasn't there."
"Of course you were." Mia scoffed a laugh and started walking out of the garage, knowing Letty had grabbed her gear to walk home too. "He probably won't ask much."
"There's nothing to tell, really. Maybe leave it until Dom gets back."
Desperate to change the conversation, Letty turned to something she needed to know but hadn't been able to ask with the male ears around. "Are you okay after what happened last night?"
"Oh my god, Letty. I was so scared, I thought he was going to drag me away."
The girls launched into a play by play. Letty insisted upon telling Mia several ways to damage a male predator so they wouldn't stand back up for a while and Mia repeated her pacifist views and belief of misunderstanding over and over.
It wasn't until they were 10 minutes away they realised the smoke clouds in the air were not the factories in the next neighbourhood, but were coming from Mia's road.
"Are you neighbours really bad at barbeques?" Letty joked, they could smell the smoke from here.
"Mr Key sometimes burns incence for the bugs in his garden, but it's never this bad."
"Didn't you say he had dementia?" Letty asked, worried.
"Oh, yeah."
"So, is he perhaps burning his garden shed?" Letty prompted, suddenly looking for fire engines.
"I dunno." Worried, Mia quickened her pace. Mrs Key wasn't very mobile, if her husband started a fire, she'd need help. Letty kept the quick pace, but as they neared, Mia was in a flat out run, the smoke not coming from Mr and Mrs Key but from the spectators in the street crowding her house, it was coming from the very home she grew up in.
Letty and Mia skidded through the curious neighbours to where the fire was burning in the old washing machine drum upturned on the drive.
From Mia's window, Dom's arms were appearing, loaded with dresses, skirts and tops, all of which were being very skilfully aimed into the trashcan.
Mia's scream was enough to disturb the rest of the neighbourhood that hadn't turned up, she ran for the fire to save the ice-blue halter neck she'd scored for a tenth of the online price. The bolt of female fury was only saved from singed hands by Letty's arms tugging back around her waist, her squeal of pain completely lost in the situation.
"Are you fucking insane?!" Mia screamed up to her brother who simply carried on raiding his sister's room. "I hate you!"
"I'll cry myself to sleep." Dom replied sarcastically.
Letty was quick on Mia's heels as she stormed inside, grabbed the first thing she saw that could cause damage, the sewing scissors left on the side from dramatic clothing alteration needs, and sprinted upstairs fully intending assault and battery.
Of course, Dom had put her wardrobe in front of her bedroom door and all Mia could manage was a wiggle in the doorframe and a banshee scream that could wake the dead.
Before Mia could start hacking at her door with the brandished scissors, a better idea came across. She almost ran into a dumbstruck Letty as she wheeled into her brother's room, the scissors taken to all of his tank tops and every other article she could find until nothing but shreds were left.
Letty remained on the top of the stairs as she heard the screams of abuse and hate pass backwards and forwards (mostly from Mia, Dom was stoically sarcastic in responses).
That was until she heard the familiar rumble of the engine on the driveway.
Letty figured it was time to leave this to a family matter and slunk downstairs.
She found herself collared by a very irritated patriarch though.
"Ah, ah." he collected her and turned her back to the kitchen. "You wanna explain why my children ar-"
"I swear to god Dom, dad's going to kill you when he gets home." Mia screamed.
"And when he hears about your slut parade of dresses?" Dom snapped back.
Letty looked from the stairs back to Mr T, pleaded for release.
"I think I might be able to figure this one out myself. Why don't you run on home, Letty?" Mr T suggested with a tired smile. "Mia can text you when she's paid penance."
"Slut parade of dresses? What about your sluts in general?!" Mia snapped back. "Does dad know how many skank's thongs are under your bed?! You can't find an incinerator big enough to burn the skank out of your room."
"Mia, get the fuck out of my room!" The wardrobe could be heard being moved.
Mr T rose a finger to the stairs and gave Letty a quick smile as he made his way to the stairs to intercept the physical fight about to descend.
"I hope you burn yourself so bad no skanks want to come anywhere near you!"
"I'd burn you if dad wouldn't complain about the smell!" Dom whipped back.
"DOMINIC ANTHONY TORETTO!"
Letty scurried out the front door as the neighbourhood recoiled in fear, returning quickly to their houses as the fire continued to burn.
Letty didn't hear from Mia. From the silence, she presumed Mia's phone had been taken from her, probably until she replaced what she had destroyed.
So she wasn't sure what she was walking into when she made her way over to the Toretto household Sunday.
"Where the fuck are my keys, Mia?!" Dom yelled, standing on the bottom of the stairs.
"Why should I tell you?!" the familiar voice of her friend replied.
Letty had noted the absence of the flaming drum on the drive, but the scorch marks obviously remained on both stone and the family relations.
"Mia. My keys! Now!" he repeated.
Letty winced, she was surprised there wasn't a noise complaint from the neighbours.
"No!" Mia screamed back. "You can walk your fat ass to work!"
"Morning Letty." Mr T greeted calmly and quietly from where he sat with cereal and toast at the dinner table. Letty was still on her usual Sunday programming, not expecting Mr T to be home until later for church. Certainly not expecting him to be calmly reading the paper while his children raged at each other. "Apologies that Mia hasn't been able to text you back." He pulled Mia's mobile from his pocket. "She'll get around to it when things are sorted." He smiled and sipped his coffee like it wasn't world war three in his house.
"Do you want me to kill you today, because that's what I'm hearing from you!" Dom shouted back "Where are my keys?!"
"I hope you get crushed by a car today!" Mia quipped back from inside her room.
"That would need me to have my keys!" he called.
"You're not having them!"
"Mia. God save you if you don't tell me where you've put my keys!"
"If you had half a brain you'd already know. It's the exact same place as they always are. But you're always too stupid to find them!" she smarted.
Letty stood jaw agape at the father figure that took no interest in the death threats between his children. She had never seen them like this.
"They'll burn themselves out, Letty." He smiled at her, noticing her lack of comfort. "How's work going? I trust you weren't too overburdened without Dom yesterday?"
"Ummm. No. Vince pulled extra." she answered, still lost in the situation. Where was the strong fatherly hand to support and guide?
"I guess I was lucky you never bothered to play hide and seek with me!" Mia continued. "With your stupid thick brain I'd still be lost!"
"Give me my keys before I come up there and rip your throat out!"
"You looking for a ride to work?" Mr T asked politely.
"Dom usually takes me." Letty stated, but uncertainty was flowing in.
"Perhaps you'd be willing to lend a hand with his keys before I have customers stating I haven't opened on time. I do hate to disappoint my customers." He grinned.
Letty took herself into the kitchen, opening the lower cabinet with the aged shoe polish and uncapped the red leather polish. It was the same place Mia always used. Usually Mr T saved them for his son. Letty knew it well enough though. She went to the bottom of the stairs, unsure how to approach Dom. For how angry he was, it all seemed very trivial as he fired off threats to his sister's life, his anger seemed nothing compared to how he was with Letty in his car.
She shuffled her sleeve down, conscious of the memory it brought.
Dom had turned to the new presence only to catch the rubbing of her arm, the jingle of his keys in her fingers.
Dom said nothing, just took the keys as she extended them out.
Letty followed him past his father's kind words for both of them to have a nice day and took seat in the passenger side of his ride.
Dom started the car before she even had a chance to click in her seatbelt and for a split second Letty feared she'd be taken for another round of punishing therapy.
Instead, he said nothing, just shifted gears and kept the car at the speed limit as he drove in silence to work.
"You okay?" Letty dared herself to ask as they neared the garage and their time alone kept shrinking.
"Yeah." he answered short, quick. Blasé like. Like he wasn't even listening.
"You seem not."
She wanted to ask him about what he said. She wanted to ask what was happening with the lawyer, what he was being charged with, what would happen to her.
She wanted to know if she was the reason he'd burnt all of Mia's clothes.
She wanted to know if he would finally kiss her again.
But her questions were all cut off with his short and conversation ending reply.
"I'm fine."
Letty went back to mentally planning the things she needed her mother to do the upcoming week, most prominently; new clothes for school.
Letty didn't expect Mia to turn up to the garage at 5pm. Her mobile in hand and happily texting someone. Bets went to Alex.
"You seem happier."
"Dad took me out shopping." Mia grinned. "I got new clothes."
"Oh, okay."
"And, I mean I did have to spend my own money to replace some of Dom's. But I got him the cheap shit anyway, so it doesn't matter."
"Okay…"
"No honestly. Dad's taken Dom's paycheck to buy me all the clothes today."
"Right." Letty tried to keep up with family logic, but apparently destroying your sibling's clothes was fine, as long as you replaced them? Letty found herself happy to be a single child.
"So, where is the asshole?"
"Out getting parts." Letty answered. "Some wannabe came in and wanted everything Dom had. Jesse said he was overpaying for it all as well." Letty grinned.
"Another stupid asshole." Mia commented, but kept her smile as she tapped away on her phone.
"They're doing it tomorrow." Letty complained.
"Yeah, and no matter how much you beg, answers not gunna change." Vince butted into the conversation. "Hi Mia."
"Oh, hey." Mia greeted politely and turned back to her phone.
"They won't let me come in because it's Monday." Letty concluded with a sour pout.
"Ah little monkeywrench, don't worry. Dom'll race the little shit for slips and then you can play with the car as much as you want."
"It's not fair." Letty whined.
"Get used to it. Life ain't." Vince grumbled on, turning back to the Chevrolet that he was invested in.
"Men." Mia grumbled.
"How's…" Letty wiggled her eyebrows to replace the name she couldn't speak in the garage of Toretto male alliance. "dealing with the phone ban?"
"23 missed calls. Two potential threats to report me missing to the police. 46 texts of desperation." Mia grinned. "And one picture of a huge teddy bear who says he missed me more than life." Mia cuddled the phone to her chest. "I explained everything and he offered for his brother to come and beat up my brother."
"And you declined?" Letty asked, curious about the big smile.
"Of course, things have settled with my new wardrobe financed by my dear big brother." Then Mia seemed struck by an idea. "Did he take the truck to get parts?"
"Yeah, why?"
"No reason." Letty watched confused as Mia walked into the Toretto office for all of three seconds before exiting with a giant smile. The reason became clear as they walked from the Toretto property. Her fingers uncurled to show the very keys Letty had had in her hand that morning.
"I though you guys had settled."
"We have, but that doesn't mean I forgive him." Mia laughed. "I mean seriously Letty, I'm so glad you're getting over my brother, could you imagine being with an asshole like he was last night?!"
Letty laughed over the pain the words caused her. "Anyway, I'm thinking of going over to Alex's tomorrow, you good to cover me?" The meaning was clear, Mia had already arranged to see Alex, she just needed a lie to tell her father and brother.
"Yeah." Alone on Monday evening again, Letty concluded pitifully to herself. At least her Netflix queue was getting shorter.
"Fantastic! I love you Letty!" Mia hugged her as they walked. "We can go shopping on Friday too!"
"You've just been shopping."
"Yeah, for dad-approved stuff. I need to get back in my own style." Mia complained. "We could get you some stuff too!" Newly enthused, Mia danced down the street, weaving a story about a dress she'd seen, mourning the loss of her previous loves and planning for new heartbreakers.