"So did you guys make it home with no bullshit? Those cops came out of nowhere. I got my money and bounced." Reggie asked the crew as he bit into his chicken. He was hosting a small barbecue outside his home. He and his family were still celebrating his release. Most of the neighborhood was in attendance, including the children from down the street. It resembled the barbecues Tony would throw after church when they were younger. It gave Dom a sense of nostalgia he could not quite shake.
"Don't even get me started with that shit." Dom told him.
"Yo what happened?"
"What always happens."
"They catch you with anything?"
"Nah, they just ran their mouth. I almost lost my cool, but whatever."
"Yo, we went underground through the fucking tunnels and shit. They didn't even know we were there." Reggie informed them with a proud smile.
"You lucky. It was just headache after headache."
"Were you alone or with Vida Loca over there?" He questioned motioning to Letty who was getting some food by the grill with Mia.
"You gotta stop calling her that. It's starting to stick and she's taking it out on me."
"It's fitting. It's not like I'm exaggerating." Dom shook his head and smiled. Reggie was not wrong.
"How about you guys?"
"It was close, but I lost them in the swarm." Vince told him.
"Yo Reg you got your money though?" Leon asked.
"Man I'm hood rich!" They all laughed. "I got enough for two months and for buying my baby new shoes."
"Hey man why haven't we done that shit?" Jessie asked Dom.
"I'm not trying to have shit like that go down in my house. You saw how crazy it got." Letty came up beside him and handed Dom a plate of food.
"Thank you baby."
"You're welcome."
"Damn Vida Loca, my man got you trained and shit?"
"Fuck you, Reggie. Stop calling me that!"
"Why don't you come stay with me? I didn't know you were house wife material."
"I don't deal with baby mama drama."
"You don't need to be dealing with anybody." Dom interjected as he ate.
"Then check your friend."
"Oh, so now I'm just his friend? That's how you do me? Aight, I see you." Reggie told her.
"Why don't I call Sheranye over into this conversation Meech?" She threatened.
"Nah cool it girl."
"Don't try me."
"How's the kid anyway?" Vince asked deviating the conversation.
"She's sleeping inside. It's crazy how much you miss in three years stuck in a box." They all nodded solemnly. "All I know is I ain't ever going back. I rather die then times than go back in there."
"Word." Dom affirmed. "I'd probably get myself killed before they'd get me in hand cuffs man." Letty smacked him upside the head. "Ow, what the fuck?"
"Ain't you boys hungry?" Reggie's mother yelled over the grill.
"Nah Mamma J, I'm good." Leon answered.
"I'll grab some seeing as I don't have my own maid." Vince said looking up at Dom.
"And you wonder why I don't do nice things for you." Letty told her boyfriend.
"They're just jealous baby. Let them hate. At the end of the day only I can tap this." He said giving her ass a small squeeze.
"Behave." Letty warned him and Dom gave her a wink.
"Can I get another beer?" He asked her.
"Your legs work."
"Come on Let, please! You're already up." Letty pursed her lips in annoyance but went to go get him a Corona anyway.
"I gotta get mine to do that." Dom laughed at Reggie.
"It ain't that hard."
"How long you been together now?"
"A while."
"Which means?"
"Almost six years."
"God damn! Don't you get tired? They talk so much, you know? 'You never take me shopping. We don't go out anymore. Who you talking to on the phone? Make your own food' It's like, shit, I just wanna sit and watch tv." The guys laughed at Reggie's imitation of his girlfriend.
"Yo, I've only been with mine for a month and she already driving me crazy. All she ever wants to talk about is bullshit and she always trying to track me. I'm like damn Ma let me breathe; but you know she's hot so it makes up for her yapping." Vince said.
"Eh, this one doesn't talk too much or too little." Dom said in a poor attempt to remedy their views of women.
"How many side bitches you got?" Mike asked Dom.
"Zero. I wouldn't be alive if I had side bitches."
"I always have at least two, you know? You got your clean girl and you got your dirty girl." Mike said with a smirk.
"My girl does both." Dom said with a shrug. "I can't complain."
"She still suck the tip? It's the ill struggle to get my girl to do that shit anymore." Reggie asked. Dom gave him a smirk.
"Yup."
"You lucky bastard." The boys abstained from their conversation as they saw Letty approach.
"Toma." (Here) Letty said walking up to him and handing Dom his beer.
"You're the best." He beamed at her.
"I know. You're blessed."
"Vida Loca, can you do me a favor and go tell Sheranye to suck my dick?"
"What the fuck is wrong with you? I told you to stop calling me that!"
"My boy just told me you do it so now hook a brother up. I know you girls talk to each other and shit." Letty glared at Dom.
"You told him that shit?" She said smacking the back of his head with every word. Leon and Jessie broke out in laughter.
"Chill, chill. He asked me a question. I answered yes." Dom said holding her hands in place.
"Come on. Please!" Reggie begged.
"If she's not sucking your dick it's because there's something you ain't doing."
"All you girls do is bitch and complain, expect us to buy you shit, and eat you out too. Damn, that's just too much."
"When was the last time I asked you for something?" She asked Dom.
"Never." It was true. Letty had never asked him for objects though she did suggest several items in passing over the years. All his gifts were of his own will, and she was not the type of woman to demand material possessions. This quality was one of the many things he appreciated about Letty. She was down to earth and able to discern between what truly mattered and what did not.
"What was that you said again you dumbass?" She said to Reggie before storming off.
"Why the fuck are you messing with my tranquility?" Dom accused.
"Hey man it was worth a shot. She's probably gonna at least mention it to her. I'm trying not to cheat on my girl, but she's making it really hard."
"You're a punk for that. You're lucky you're fresh out the joint or I would have kicked your ass."
"You wanna go? Let's go?" The men playfully wrestled each other.
"Are you like twelve?" Mia asked walking past them in her bathing suit. It was a basic black bikini, but her body did it wonders and the boys ogled her as she stood before them.
"This is coming from the girl who is about to jump in the miniature pool full of children." Dom pointed out.
"I'm making sure they don't drown. It's actually very adult of me."
"Right." Dom said sarcastically as his little sister walked away to play with the kids in the small pool. "So help me God if you all don't stop staring at my sister my foot is going to be so far up all your asses that you'll need to surgically remove it."
"Chill dog. We're just admiring God's amazing art work." Leon told him. His gaze never left Mia as he spoke his words.
"You'll be first Leon. I promise you." Dom threatened. They all snapped their heads back in focus. The boys continued to talk about everything and anything from cars and sports to girls and family. People from all over the neighborhood and neighboring towns dropped into the festivities, including Hector and his crew.
The girls were off mingling among the guests when Letty was side blinded by a squirt of water. "Tito! I know it was you! I don't even have to look!" She yelled at Hector's thirteen-year-old cousin.
"It wasn't me! I swear! It was me last time, but not this time." He yelled from behind her.
"Yea right!" She said turning around and stared him down. "What you got behind your back, huh?"
"Nothing just some food, a little bit a water. You know, this heat gets me kinda thirsty."
"Thirsty huh? Hmm, I think I got something for that." Letty had anticipated this altercation and had safely hidden her weapon of choice, a massive water gusher with amazing range. She and the young boy had had an on-going battle of wills. She pumped the gun a few times and aimed it at Tito. He exposed his piece and fired it at her in return.
"Ahhhh!" He yelled rubbing his eyes.
"It's on sucker!"
"Is that hot sauce? That shit burns."
"You bet your ass papito."
"Damn that's dirty! But I respect that." The boy said with admiration. Letty laughed and chased him down the street. Within a few minutes a full-blown war had broken out among the guests at the cook-out. They had completely split in half, boys versus girls.
"You ain't ready for all this!" Letty yelled at Jessie.
"Boys rule girls drool!"
"Nuh uh! Boys have coodies!", said one of the young girls as she attacked Jessie with her small water gun.
"That's right girl you get him!" Mia encouraged.
"Not before I get you!" Dom said pulling her over his shoulder.
"Dom! That's not fair!"
"Who ever talked about fair?"
"You think you can come here to my house and wet me?" Reggie yelled at a small girl who was tauntingly laughing at him. She could not have been more than ten years of age. "Nah homie, fuck that. Mike clap back. We about to set it off." He announced. Everyone began to run, hiding behind lawn chairs, tables, and corners. Some of the neighborhood kids had the advantage of speed on wheels and used it at every chance.
"I need more water!" Vince hollered.
"Get these damn children away from my grill!" Reggie's father bellowed. "Now that's enough. You should be ashamed of yourselves. Grownass men acting like fools." Just then Reggie and Mike poured the melted water cooler over his head. "Get over here boy Ima whoop you into next week."
"Damn that's a lot of beating." Leon commented. Many of them laughed as they watched Reggie's father chase him and Mike with a spatula.
"This shit's getting crazy." Marisol said behind Letty.
"That's enough now. You gonna throw your back out." Mamma J yelled after them.
"Just like old times, right Dom?" Vince said gripping his shoulders with a large smile plastered across his face.
"Yea, that used to be me, you, and pops." Dom responded with a sad smile as he put Mia down.
"Yea, Mom wouldn't let me play because she didn't want my sunday dress getting wet and dirty."
"You were always the princess."
"I am the princess. Don't get it twisted." Mia corrected with exaggerated sass. Everyone settled down eventually. They were all mutually exhausted by the day's activities. As the sun set families left to their homes, and the young adults gathered by the large picnic table. Letty sat on Dom's lap lovingly caressing his neck and shoulders. His hand lay on her thigh while the other nursed the Corona they were sharing. They were increasingly becoming more outwardly affectionate towards each other in public social settings. Their actions were not out of possessiveness as they had been in the past, but rather pure infatuation of the other. Their guards were still up in places of business such as the garage and race nights, but on happy familial occasions such as the current one they felt free to love openly. Though very much wrapped up in each other, they were actively engaging in the conversation at hand.
"But for real you can't trust anyone anymore." Reggie urged.
"He was a cop? I can't believe that shit." Leon commented.
"Twenty years to life because that motherfucker ratted them out." Mike confirmed.
"No new friends that's for sure." Vince advocated.
"God damn, six months of bullshit. You think you bring someone in, you trust them with your shit, and then they turn on you. That's all kinds of fucked up." Letty said.
"Ultimate disrespect." Dom stated.
"And you gotta be careful who you fuck with." Hector began as he passed along a joint Jessie had rolled earlier. "Mad shit be popping off lately. I heard Tran is in some deep shit and looking for partners in action." Dom and Letty both tensed at the sound of the name. Too many unresolved complications came with it, and it made them uneasy to speak about anything associated with Trans.
"That punk is probably the biggest rat." Vince argued.
"Rich spoiled boy trying to play gangsta" Dom added.
"Those are the worst because they are just so damn ruthless. It's not like when shit go down around here. You know? People out here are broke and desperate. Most of the people I met inside never wanted to do half the shit they did. It was all about necessity. You feel me?" Reggie said. Everyone nodded in agreement.
"It's just a shame. It's like we're in bottomless pit." Marisol commented.
"Well not all of us." Letty said turning to Mia. She was the only one with real aspirations and a possibility of an actual breadwinning career.
"We all have options guys. We just gotta choose the right ones." The young Torreto said in attempt to uplift moral among the comrades.
"That's nice hun, but survival is a game of chance. You know how lucky we are to make it to our twenties? Shit I don't even know how many homeboys I've seen rolling in the wind." Hector countered.
"I know that's the truth." Letty agreed. "To be honest, I didn't think I'd live this long."
"What the fuck you mean? You're only twenty-one." Dom said questioned her.
"I thought I was gonna die a long time ago. We've all done some reckless shit."
"She's right." Vince began. "Sometimes I think of the shit we've done and it's like damn God must love me." They all laughed at his statement.
"Life's short, we got a shitty deal but we still gotta live it to the fullest, right?" Leon bellowed out raising his beer bottle and they all followed suit.
"Ride till you die." Dom said with a smirk.
"That's what's up." Reggie agreed. They sat around talking for hours until Dom decided to call it a night. He and Letty left ahead of the others and cuddled up on the couch.
"Are you ok? Every time I looked at you today, your eyes were telling me something." She asked sensing his out of character domineer.
"Yeah, I just really miss my dad today." He informed her quietly.
"I miss him too." She said snuggling into his side. "Remember all the times he would yell at us for making out in his charger?" Dom chuckled.
"It was always the last place he ever looked. My favorite spot." He said kissing her forehead.
"Yea, that backseat has seen a lot of action." Letty said. Dom smiled pensively.
"What haven't we done in that damn car?"
"I'm sure we can find new things to do." Letty suggested. She puckered her lips and they met in a long enticing kiss.
"I bet we can." Letty gave him mischievous look and stood holding her hand out to him. Dom stood and swooped her up in his arms. She wrapped her limbs around his torso, and gazed into his eyes. A smile crossed her face as she stared at the man she treasured so dearly. Being in his arms made her feel so complete and fulfilled. She never wanted anything more than what they were sharing in that moment. It was so simple yet so valuable. Letty leaned in to kiss him once more.
"I love you." She told him dreamily. "I really do."
"I love you too." Dom told her nuzzling her neck.
"I think I love a little more."
"Is that so?"
"Mhm." She told him kissing his nose.
"Why are you so cute?"
"I don't know. God just made me this way."
"You were the best thing he ever gave me." Letty smiled genuinely, and leaned in to trace his lips with hers. She embraced him for several minutes knowing he truly needed to feel loved and safe. Her warm caress were innate needs for Dom. It was a feeling of reassurance only she could give him in a time when the future seemed so bleak.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed. This chapter brought back some fun childhood memories. The hot sauce was actually a popular tactic. Shout out to peaches2421 who inspired this chapter. Give me ideas guys! I want elongate this golden era for as long as I can.