Chapter Two: Party Crasher
But back to the present now. Nikki turned to her brother.
"So how's it feel to lose?" As
kids, Brian had always won over Nikki, no matter what it was. A game, or an argument, or dibs on car
seats. That was short-lived for both of
them, though. Their parents got
divorced; Nikki stayed with their mom and moved to L.A. and Brian went with
their dad. That's how Gia never met
Brian before.
Brian was about to say something when Leon shouted, "Cops,
cops, cops!" Everyone ran to their
cars.
"Fuck!" Nikki
pounded on the steering wheel of her car as she drove away. Once she thought she had eluded the cops she
loosened her white-knuckle grip on the wheel.
She bit nervously on her thumb as she thought. It finally clicked.
"Brian." She breathed out her
brother's name. Holy fuck, she
thought, Brian, you lying bastard.
It struck Nikki that it may not have been just coincidence that Brian
was most likely working undercover and that the cops had come.
Nikki had become so caught up in her thoughts as to what
to do, say, whatever to her brother that she didn't notice the police car
sitting in a dark alley to her left.
The first thing she saw where the flashing blue and red lights in her
rearview mirror. "Fuck me!" she cried
out. Nikki considered her options and
the only one that she saw was flight.
She took a deep breath and put the pedal to the metal.
The car raced forward and for a split second the police
car in Nikki's rearview mirror shrank as it got farther behind her. Then it began to catch up to her. "Goddamn pigs," she said through clenched
teeth. She shifted gears quickly and
put a little more space between her and the cop car. They sped along the street.
There weren't many cars this late, but the drivers of the few that were
on the road had a pleasant surprise.
Nikki swerved in and out between the cars, giving the police officer
chasing her a "fun ride" as Nikki would have called it.
Nikki looked around for any means of escape. She found it. A truck up ahead caught her eye.
Nikki tightened her death grip on the steering wheel as she prepared to
do a death-defying stunt. She sped up
along side the driver's side of the truck and cut in front it, inches from
hitting the bumper. Nikki stayed in
front of the truck for a split second; she had to judge her next move
carefully. She cut across so she was on
the passenger side of the truck, and making sure she was clear of the bumper
slowed down. The truck's trailer would
hopefully hide her from the cop long enough for her to turn off into an alley
or side street.
By God's good grace or skill, or maybe a mix of both,
Nikki succeeded. She sighed and took a
couple deep breaths. The victory she
felt didn't last long though; Nikki soon realized why the cops had come in the
first place. "Brian," she whispered
aloud. You goddamn, fuckin'…I'm
gonna…shit, I dunno even know what I'ma do to him. She drove along a quiet street,
thinking. Nikki slowed down as she
approached a large house. It was
Dominic Toretto's and it looked like he was having a party. "Goddamn bastard," she muttered bitterly.
Deep down inside, a lot of Nikki still liked Dominic. Of course, she'd never admit to it, at least
that's what she thought. Suddenly, she
parked the car across the street from the house. She had an idea that would surely get rid of her brother and possibly
put her back in Dom's good graces. If
she told Dom that Brian was a cop, Dom or word that he knows might put enough
fear in her brother to make him leave the racing scene. And by being the one to warn him, Dominic
might forgive Nikki for what happened in the past.
Mustering up all her confidence, Nikki got out of her car
and crossed the street to Dom's house.
She knocked on the door. None
other than Dominic Toretto himself answered it. When he recognized who it was he started to shut the door. "Dom!" Nikki yelled, putting her foot in the
door. "I gotta talk to you!"
Dom paused for a second, then continued to shut the
door. "You had your chance," he said
darkly.
"That's not what I wanna talk about! I don't give a damn about that shit
anymore," Nikki lied. "Listen, there's
something you should know about Brian."
Dominic stopped and waited for Nikki to speak. "He's a cop," she said simply, that's all she could say.
Dominic glared at her.
Letty appeared behind him. His
face became hard. "Bullshit. Get the fuck outta my house." He didn't raise his voice, but that made him
seem even more threatening.
"Dom," Nikki protested.
It was almost like deja vu.
"Get the fuck outta my house!" Dom roared.
"Just hear me out!" Nikki yelled back. "I know Brian personally. And he's a cop, Dom, a cop."
"I have to agree with her, brotha," Vince chimed in. Dominic gave him a look that could kill and
Vince didn't say anything more.
"He is a cop, Dom." Dominic turned back to Nikki when she spoke. "And you know what the means," she added.
"Yeah," he said.
Letty remained silent. "Get
outta my house." Nikki finally left,
disappointed, annoyed, angry, aggravated, and a whole list of other
things. She left, not knowing that
Brian was present at the party. Just as
she was getting into her car, though, someone called to her.
As afore mentioned, Gia's brother was Leon and since he
was one of Dominic's team, Gia knew the rest of them pretty well. Nikki would've too, if she wasn't stubborn
and refused to go with Leon and Gia anytime they visited the others. Gia had become especially good friends with
Vince. Anyways, Gia showed up at
Dominic's with Leon that night. She saw
the whole scene with Nikki and Dom. As soon
as Dom was gone, Gia ran out the door after her best friend.
Nikki looked out her window and saw Gia running toward her
from the house. She rolled down the
passenger window and Gia leaned in.
"Nikki," she said. "C'mon and
join the party. Letty's takin' care of
Dom, so you can enjoy the party for while."
"Thanks for the invitation, girl," Nikki said, "but I
don't belong there." She put the key in
the ignition.
"Brian's there," Gia blurted out. That's all it took. Nikki pocketed the keys and got out of her
car.
"Where?" she asked.
Gia led the way through the house to where Brian was
at. He was chatting with Dom's sister,
Mia. "Excuse us," Nikki said, none too
politely.
"Family matters," Gia explained with a smile. "I take it you two would like some privacy?"
she asked once Mia had left. Nikki
nodded, and Gia left the two of them.
"You got some explainin' to do, Brian," Nikki said,
pointing her finger at him.
"Explaining what?" Brian asked. He grabbed a Corona, cracked it open, and rested his back against
the wall.
"Don't act like you don't know." Nikki shook her head.
"You fucking called the cops."
"No," Brian said calmly, "no, I didn't."
Nikki glared at her brother long and hard. Finally, she shook her head, and as she
stormed away, muttered, "Fuckin' liar," under her breath. She had originally planned to just leave,
but then she heard a familiar voice.
"Hey, Spilner. You
enjoyin' this?" Vince asked.
"Yeah," Brian answered plainly. He'd had trouble with Vince earlier. Ever since he met him actually.
"Good. Cuz you
ain't ever gonna show your face here again.
Got it?"
"What're you trying to tell me?"
"You don't belong here.
These ain't your people."
Nikki sighed heavily and shook her head in disgust. She spotted Gia among the crowd and made her
way over to her. Nikki simply tapped
Gia on the shoulder and said to her, "Take care of that, will you?" She nodded her head toward Vince and Brian
who were getting in each other's faces.
"Jesus H. Christ!" Gia exclaimed when she saw them. She ran over to them and, not knowing what
else to do, jumped on Vince's back.
"Gimme a piggyback ride!" she cried.
"No," Vince said flatly.
"Now, get down." Instead, Gia
reached down and grabbed someone's Corona.
She waved it front of Vince's face.
"Mmm…You know you want it," she coaxed. She could always make Vince laugh. He started chasing after it, but Gia held it
just out of his reach.
Meanwhile, Nikki was standing by Leon and Jesse. Her original plan had been to leave, but
then Jesse approached her with a beer, and she couldn't turn it down. Might as well, she thought.
Now, you remember Rhett. The bitch of Nikki's team.
Well, he showed up at Dom's, too.
He was standing by the stereo when "You Give Love a Bad Name" by Bon
Jovi came on. Rhett knew for a fact
that Nikki absolutely hated the song.
He wasn't too clear on why, but from what he heard, Dominic had once
told Nikki that it reminded him of her.
Rhett was always looking for a way to cause trouble, so he turned up the
volume on the stereo.
As soon as Nikki heard the music, she set her beer down
and without excusing herself headed for the door. Just as she reached the door, Dominic was coming down the
stairs. Their eyes locked, but their
moment didn't last long. Gia heard the
music from the kitchen, where she was still on Vince's back. "Motherfucker!" she screamed. She knew exactly who was to blame for this.
Gia marched out to Rhett.
She grabbed Rhett by his shoulder and spun him around to face her. Gia pulled her fist back punched him in his
face with all her force. Rhett went
falling over backwards. Gradually,
everyone around the action noticed and started cheering. Gia had jumped on Rhett and was presently
beating the living shit out of him. She
cursed at him between punches, calling him every possible name that existed.
Brian noticed the commotion. He forced his way through the ring of people surrounding Gia and
Rhett. Instinctively, he grabbed Gia
and pulled her off of Rhett. She fought
him and tried to get at Rhett still.
Vince joined in holding Gia back, too.
"You stupid fucker, Rhett!" she screamed. "I thought you more mature than that!"
Gia and Rhett's fight distracted Dominic. He turned to see what was happening and
Nikki took the opportunity to slip out the door to her car. Dominic came down the stairs and walked to
where the fight had been. Letty
followed. "What the hell's going on?"
Dom asked.
"It's taken care of," Brian said.
"Now who the fuck let her in?" Dom nodded his head toward the door, referring to Nikki. No one answered right away. Dominic looked around the room.
"It doesn't matter.
She left. Forget it." Vince placed his hand on Dominic's
shoulder. He finally consented and the
party returned to how it had been.
Brian was still holding on to Gia. "You can let go now," she told him.
"Oh!" Brian seemed
slightly embarrassed, but let go of Gia nonetheless. "I'm Brian," he introduced himself.
"I know," Gia said.
"You're my friend's brother. I'm
Gia." She offered her hand and Brian
took it. They locked eyes and that
handshake seemed to last for decades.
