Chapter Three: The Day After
Nikki drove around aimlessly in her car. She was thinking about how she had fucked up
royally this night. She felt miserable
and guilty for thinking that her brother would betray in such a way. "God!" she yelled in frustration, "I'm such
a fuck-up!" Not even music helped to
comfort her.
She didn't know what to do. But somehow, Nikki had to make things right. If Dominic believed what she had said about
Brian, he'd probably ask him himself, and sooner or later Dominic would get the
answer. Nikki's biggest fear in that
was that she had misjudged Dom in his reactions. She began thinking that Dominic would go so far as to kill her
brother.
But then Brian was still there, endangering everyone. Nikki felt like she was being torn in
two. She had to confront both of them,
but who should she see first? Nikki
mulled over what she should do as she drove around. She finally decided on a plan of action: She'd go and talk to Dominic in the
morning. By that time she was near her
own home, and it was morning, the very early hours perhaps, but still
morning. Nikki walked in the front
door, yawning. Gia was nowhere to be
seen; Nikki guessed she was asleep somewhere. Nikki wasn't tired though. She
sat on the couch and turned on the television set.
For the next couple of hours, she channel surfed. She wasn't really looking for anything to
watch. Instead, Nikki was trying to
think of what she'd say to Dom. Around
ten, Chad woke up and came to the kitchen. He, Nikki, and Gia all lived together.
"Mornin,' sunshine," Chad greeted her as he pulled out
some bread and the toaster. "Where you
been?" Chad asked. He wasn't angry, or
deeply concerned about it; he simply wanted to know.
"Drivin,'" Nikki answered, sitting at the table. She decided she'd some breakfast, then go on
over to Toretto's to talk to its owner. But before I go anywhere, I better change clothes, she thought,
realizing she was still wearing the same outfit from last night. As she went to her room she pulled off the
bandana she was wearing. Nikki came out
wearing a different pair of black pants and a strappy black tank top that laced
up the sides. She had brushed through
her hair quickly and left it down.
"Where you goin'?" Chad asked when he saw Nikki. He was buttering a badly burned piece of
toast.
"Out," she answered flatly. "I've something to take care of." Nikki went to the door to leave. She opened it and was met by her brother. "Brian?" she asked, hoping for an explanation for his presence.
"I'm here to see…Gia." He looked past his sister into the room. He hadn't expected to see her here. Brian didn't even know she lived there.
"I think she's asleep," Chad said, standing up from the
kitchen table. "Did you come to see
her?" He grinned. Gia had told him about the other night, but
mostly about Nikki's brother. Brian
nodded, watching his sister. He could
tell she was getting pissed. "I can go
wake her up for." Chad started to
leave.
"No, no," Nikki interrupted. "Let her sleep. Me and
Brian are gonna go for a little walk." She never took her eyes off him as she spoke. Feeling he had no other option, Brian agreed and they walked out
the door.
"What do you want?" he asked as soon as they were outside.
"Nothing. I just
want to have a pleasant walk with my big bro." She punched him 'playfully' in the arm, even though it nearly knocked
him over; Nikki meant it to. "It's a
beautiful day, idn't it?" It was
a really nice day so far.
"C'mon, Nikki," Brian pleaded. "No games."
"Did you tell her yet?" she asked him suddenly. Nikki was angry with again, because she
suspected that the answer to her question was "no." But she wasn't as mad as she had been.
"Tell who what?" Brian looked at her in confusion.
Turning, Nikki answered with, "Tell Gia you're a cop. Or am I the only one who knows?" She looked into his eyes to make sure that
whatever answer he gave it was truthful.
"I like Gia," he said. "I really like her. But if I
tell her that I'm a cop, I'm afraid of what she'll do. I'm afraid she won't want to see me anymore,
even if I tell her how I feel about her. She might think I'm only trying to get to Dominic through her."
"I would, too." Nikki never even stopped once. She kept walking. "But then,
again," she commented, "isn't that what you have Mia for?"
"I like Mia, too," Brian confessed.
"Decisions, decisions," Nikki muttered. "You better decide soon, before you make
things even more dangerous for yourself."
"What do you mean?" Brian stopped and waited for her answer.
Nikki halted and turned to face him. "You're playin' with fire, Brian. And if you ain't careful, you're gonna get
burned. So, some words of advice for
ya: watch where you're steppin'. You
got trouble on all sides, Brian. Any of
the guys find out that you're a cop, you very well could get killed. You use Mia to get to Dominic, he will
kill you, no questions asked. And," she
finished, "I'm not gonna tolerate it if you use Gia to get to him." She turned and continued walking.
Brian stood there, watching her. "Remember," his sister called without turning, "watch where you
step."
***
Back at the house, Gia was just waking up. "Brian stopped by," Chad told her. He was watching some cartoon show.
His comment really woke her up. She just about jumped on him. "Really?!"
"Yeah. He came to
see you." Chad didn't sound at all
enthusiastic; he was more interested in the TV. But that didn't matter to Gia.
"Did he leave already?"
"Sort of. He and
Nikki went for a walk or something. I
was gonna wake you up."
"Is he coming back?" Gia asked excitedly.
"Uh…I dunno," Chad said after a minute. "I should think so, though. He didn't tell me to tell you anything, so I
think he will come back."
"Yes!" Gia screamed. "Oh my god!" she added. "I gotta
get dressed in somethin' 'suitable' then!" She looked down at her pajamas and then ran to her room. She rummaged through her room looking for
something to wear. Gia finally decided
on a short black skirt and a red and black tube top. Ironically, as soon as she came out of her room, the doorbell
rang. "I'll get it!" She ran to the door and greeted Brian. "Hey, long time, no see."
"I just wanted to tell you," Brian said, "I got some stuff
to do, so I'll call you. Okay?"
"Yeah." Gia
nodded. She was a little
disappointed. "Okay. See ya later." She shut the door and plopped down on the couch next to
Chad. She let out a heavy sigh.
Sensing her distress, Chad said, "Guess what?"
excitedly. Gia looked at him. "Race Wars is only a couple more days
away!" It worked in cheering her
up. They started discussing what needed
to be done to their cars and when they could do it.
***
Nikki, on the other hand, was just walking into Toretto's
market. Mia was working behind the
counter. Nikki walked up to her. They had nothing against each other. Mia was actually a little regretful that
Nikki and Dominic were no longer together. "Hey," Nikki said, "is your brother here?"
"Yeah," she answered. "Want me to get him?" she asked. "Or is this one of those things you'd rather do on your own?" She smiled a little.
"Kinda." Nikki
returned the smirk. "He's in
back?" Mia nodded her head and Nikki
headed to the office. She leaned in the
doorway. "Dom?" He was sitting down doing some paperwork or
something. He never looked up. "Can we talk?"
"No."
His flat out refusal took Nikki aback. She took a deep breath. "I just wanna…" She didn't know what to say. All that thinking earlier had proved useless. "The shit I said about my brother last night…" she began again.
"Your brother? Brian?" Now he looked up at
her. Nikki nodded her head. "You kidding me? You think I'm supposed to believe your bullshit? Your name's O'Connor. He's Spilner." Dominic stood up. "Now
get out." He pointed to the door.
"Our parents are divorced," Nikki explained. "He is my brother."
"That's great to hear," he said. "Now leave." He sat back
down and continued his work.
"Can we just talk?" Nikki nearly screamed. Dominic didn't say anything. "Oh, for God's sake, can't we end this? This is so…so…stupid. It's so immature."
He got up and put his arm around her shoulders. "Yeah, we can end this," he said. He started leading her out the door office
and then through the building and outside. "We can end this now, because now you go back to your house." Mia watched with a look of worry on her
face.
Nikki spun around. "What if we have a race?" she blurted out. Shit, she thought as soon as the words left her mouth. Look what you've gotten your ass in
now. God, I hope this works.
"What are the terms?" Dominic could never resist a challenge.
"I win, we talk."
"And if I win?"
Nikki thought for a minute. "You don't ever have to worry about me bothering you again. So how about it?"
Satisfied, Dominic answered, "Fine. I'll see you as soon as the sun goes
down." He turned and went back inside
to finish working.
Good going, stupid, Nikki told herself as she walked back home. Now you gotta beat him in a race.