TITLE: "RUNNING" -- Chapter 10 of many more :o)
AUTHOR: Daasl
RATING: PG-13
DISCLAIMER: The characters of Dominic, Leon, Mia, etc.
are not mine. All other characters are mine all mine, though. Any
copyright infringement is unintended.
ARCHIVE: Yes. Please. Drop me a line and we can talk.
FEEDBACK: Yes! I want to know what you think. But please make
it constructive and friendly.
When the door to the office slammed behind me, it made me jump. I hadn't realized just how affected I was from lunch until I sat down behind the desk. Tears began to swell up in my eyes. Nice going Sarah! Thankfully no one came into the office and bothered me. I was able to regain my composure and start working on the books again within a few minutes. I forced Leon out of my mind and focused on the numbers. I calculated and crunched numbers for hours until I heard the office door creak open. At first I didn't even look up. I knew someone was there, staring at me. I was paranoid that it would be Leon. I was afraid to look at him and bring him into my reality again. I let out a long sigh and slowly raised my head. It was Dom. Thank GOD!
"How you doing in here?"
"OK. I got the first part done. You want to take a look?"
"Sure." He said, wiping his grease stained hands on his dirty overalls. He walked over to where I was sitting and bent down with one arm holding the desk for support. He was huge. Bigger then Anthony and more intimidating. I tried to act casual.
"I..uh..I" I began to stutter as I shuffled the papers in my hand. Just his size made me uneasy. He must have found my shyness amusing because I heard a faint laugh from behind me.
"Relax.I don't bite"
"Do all you guys use the same lines?" I questioned, still not daring to make eye contact. The only response was another deep chuckle echoing behind me. I pulled out my work and laid it out on the desk for Dom to see.
"It's kinda hard to read, but these are the figures you should be most interested in."
"What am I looking at here?"
"Well. this is how much you've been spending; at least how much you spent last quarter. This one over here is how much revenue you've been bringing in."
"These can't be right!" His sudden anger made every muscle inside me tense. I counted to three before I answered.
"Sorry, but you're overspending. Plus you have no write-off's, and no payroll. Now that's easy to fix."
"But there are no set pay scales for this garage" his tone turning from angry to serious.
" You don't necessarily need them. You could pay them on commission. You know -- keep a certain percentage of whatever they work on."
" Yeah but one person doesn't do just one car. I have V and Jess working on the Civic, but I know Letty put some wrench time in on it too."
I tried to think of another way the payroll could work for the garage without too much change. Wracking my brain, I sat back in the chair only to sit straight up and gasp when I felt Dom's hand on my back.
"You all right?" he said. I felt his hand rubbing my back gently. I knew Dom was just showing concern, but it made the whole moment even more uncomfortable. I tensed up even more and clenched my jaw shut. The panic began to rise up in me, and even though I tried to play it cool, Dom must have noticed. I felt his hand leave my back and I watched as his other hand disappeared from the desk.
"Forget about this shit for now." he said, collecting all my work off the desk.
"But-" I tried to protest.
"No Buts. You're coming with us to the race tonight."
"Oh, no! That's ok. Really. I was just gonna-"
"You wouldn't turn down the man that's putting a roof over your head, would you?" he said sarcastically. Once again he won, and all I could do was shake my head and smile.
"What time is it?" I asked.
"Almost nine. You can take me back to the house. We gotta get ready."
"Where's everyone else?" I said trying to collect the work I was doing.
"They left a while ago. You leave these things. They'll be here tomorrow." he said taking it all back out of my hands. "You ready?"
"Yeah." I said as I followed him out of the garage and over to my car. After he locked up he jumped over the door and slid into the passenger seat, just like Leon had earlier. I couldn't help but laugh.
"What's so funny?" he asked.
"The two of you are more alike then you realize." I said pulling out. We were back at the house in a few minutes, and to my thankful surprise, Leon and V were nowhere to be found. Before I could find out where they'd gone off to, I hurried up the stairs and knocked on Mia's door.
"C'mon in." I heard her call out.
I cracked the door open and slid in quickly, a look of despair washing over my face.
"Sarah, wassup?!"
"Mia, um. I don't have anything to wear that's.appropriate" I said looking down in shame
"Oh girl, relax, I think I got something for you."
She went to her closet and began pulling everything out. We finally decided on a pair of leather pants with a cut out flare, and a matching black halter top with most of the back intact. It was perfect. At least Mia thought so. I thought it did its job of covering me well, and showing off my curves at the same time. Mia was a natural at making you look good. I could tell that about her as soon as I met her. She didn't just make you look good, she made you feel good about yourself too. Soon, I was sitting down and she was doing my hair. I had forgotten about the mishap at lunch, and figured that if Leon didn't make an issue out of it, neither would I.
"So you like it here?" Mia asked me.
"Hell Yeah, I love it"
"What about the men?"
"Oh, I'm not really looking for any men right now, I'm just trying to get my feet on solid ground first you know."
"Yeah, well, sometimes a good man can help you get there faster you know."
" Yeah, a good one. Trouble is I don't know any."
"Well, you know four actually" she said laughing.
"Oh you mean your crew? Yeah, they are nice guys, but that's not what I meant."
"I know what you meant Sarah, and I know of at least ONE guy that would take his time with you."
I turned around on the bed to face Mia with a determined look. She still had the hairbrush in her hand, and tried to turn me around to finish, but I stopped her.
"What are you talking about Mia?!"
"Oh, nothing, just that you're not as alone as you might think."
"Has...anyone.said anything to you about me?" I asked.
"Anyone in particular?" Mia teased me.
"Allright, spill it!"
"Well, nothing was actually said directly to me, but I can tell certain things about my boys you know: how one in particular is in a better mood now; how he hasn't left your side since you got here; how he was worried about you when you first came here to meet us; how he let you sleep in his bed."
By the time she was done, my face had turned bright red. I couldn't help but smile. I knew she was right. Leon hadn't left my side since I got here. And he always had this look of concern when I was not in the best of moods. I felt so responsible for his attitude today, and my smile quickly faded.
"Yeah, Mia, but today, I uh. I don't know. It's like we get to a point, and then I back off and run in the other direction. It's too soon for me to commit -- to him or anyone right now. But, I'm afraid if I push him away now, he won't be there when I am ready." My head hung heavy in my hands.
"You don't know Leon very well. I agree with you too. Don't rush into anything you're not ready for. He's my friend, but if he isn't willing to wait, then he's not worth it Sarah."
She turned me around and finished doing my hair. It was half up and half down, with little curls framing my face.
"I left it down so.." she trailed off.
"It looks great. Thank you Mia." I said
"EVERYONE"S WAITING!" Dom's voice boomed up the stairwell.
"You ready?" she asked. I could tell she was pleased with her work. I let out a deep sigh.
"As ready as I'll ever be." I said, taking one last look in the mirror.
"You look great. C'mon!."
I followed Mia down the stairs and saw Letty and Dom first. Letty was wearing a black mini skirt with a red halter top and thigh high boots. She looked awesome. Better then me! Dom was wearing his usual classic tank top and dark blue jeans, with his timberlands on. A chain with a cross swayed casually across his chest. I was just about to say something to Letty when I felt a warm hand run across the small of my back.
"You look beautiful" Leon whispered in my ear as he turned me around. We made eye contact for a moment, and I couldn't help but smile. Every time I looked into his eyes it was always the same reaction. But before I was able to lose myself in them, Dom spoke up.
"Ok, you all know the drill. Mia you ride with Letty; Jesse, since your car ain't done yet, you ride with Vince. And Sarah, you ride with Leon." He had this planned!
"Where's Brian?" I asked.
"He'll be around later." Dom said as he walked Letty out the door. We all piled in and made our way out to a commercial district, to what looked like an abandoned warehouse. As we pulled up, I noticed a big swarm of people buzzing around. Cars in all colors and shapes were on display like a car show. Women dressed in underwear prancing around and tugging on men who were tweaking their engines. Switches and sounds were all around me. Bouncing cars and beats filled my soul as we stopped the car. I felt like my eyes were going to bug out of my head, so I shook it off and looked over at Leon.
"You having fun yet?"
"Oh this is great!!" I said bouncing in my seat. I could barely contain my excitement!
"C'mon, I want you to meet some people." he said.
We got out of our cars and a small crowd flocked around Dom as soon as he stepped out. Women were pushing each other, just to get close to him. I glanced over at Letty and I saw a small scowl on her face. But it changed to a smile when Dom reached over and grabbed her, pulling her in close and landing the most passionate kiss I've seen in public. The crowd cheered and the girls backed off, as Letty playfully hit Dom on the arm and walked back over to the rest of us.
"He's such a pig!" Letty said wiping her lips
"Yeah but you love it" Leon said pulling me past the girls and up to Dom. A Mexican Kid came over and hugged Dom, then shook Vince, and Jesse's hands before stopping at Leon.
"Wassup Dawg?" Leon said, shaking the guy's hand. "Hector, I want you to meet Sarah."
Hector stopped and looked me up and down before smiling. "Umm, Pleasure is ALL mine Sarah."
A small giggle escaped me. "It's nice to meet you." I said shaking his hand
"Damn, Leon, got yourself an angel, huh?"
"No doubt." Leon smiled.
I looked up at Leon as he draped his arm over my shoulder, then looked back at Mia who was standing off to the side. Her smile stretched across her face and I saw her mouth the words "I told you so." at me. My natural responses took over and I wrapped my arm around Leon's waist as we walked over to another group of guys. A shorter black kid came up and took Leon's free hand.
"Leon, wassup my man?"
"Chillin, Edwin. You racing tonight?"
"Naw, she still needs a new intake, so I'm here for the views." he said spanning his arms over his head. "This is a nice one here" he said nodding at me.
"Edwin, meet Sarah." Leon nodded.
"How are you sweetheart?"
"Just fine. It's nice to meet you." I said extending my hand. Instead of shaking my hand, Edwin turned it over and kissed the back. Leon raised his eyebrows at Edwin and swatted him away.
"Hey now. Don't get too comfortable Dawg."
"Just showing the lady a little courtesy. No disrespect Dawg" grinned Edwin.
"Yeah, whatever." Leon said, half laughing and half serious.
We walked through the crowd a little further, Leon introducing me to people here and there. Every time we would walk away, he would tell me the scoop on everyone.
Hector just got caught with his girlfriend's sister 2 weeks ago. Since his girl was living with him, she got kicked to the curb, and he moved her sister in. Edwin was a player, and everyone knew it. He had a few girls, and they all knew about each other. But Edwin couldn't race for shit. At least that's what V and Jesse think.
Dom called us back over and informed us of the place and the buy-in for the race. "3G tonight Dawg." he said as he walked back to the car.
"3G?" I asked, climbing into Leon's car.
"Yeah one race. 3G to buy into it." Leon answered.
""It costs 3 thousand dollars to race?!"
"Sometimes. Sometimes 2. Sometimes 5G."
"Holy Shit!" I yelped.
Leon just laughed and followed the crowd of cars to a highway on the outside of town. We split from the rest of the team and parked across a side street, blocking the way in or out.
"Why aren't we with the team Leon?"
"I'm the. Well, you and I are going to be the ears and eyes for everybody." he said, switching on his scanner and pulling out his two-way radio.
"Here. Hold onto this for me." he said, passing me the two-way. He played with the scanners and listened for anything that gave an indication they would be ready. I sat back in the car discouraged, I couldn't see the cars from where we were parked! Leon looked over and saw my disappointment.
"Go sit up on the roof. You can see from there." he said. I smiled and climbed out and up onto the roof with my legs still dangling in the window. I heard Leon give the all clear and saw Hector throw his hands down. Dom was in the car closest to me, and I saw the fire as he took off. No one was even close to him. Within seconds he was over the finish line. I was cheering and screaming. It was all so exciting. I got down off the car and jumped through the window into Leon's arms.
"He won! He won!!" I yelled, wrapping my arms around Leon.
"He always does!" Leon laughed as he pulled back and looked at me. I didn't know whether it was the rush of the cars, the thrill of the victory or the combination of both, but as soon as Leon looked at me I attacked him. I just started kissing him. For a second I think he was caught off guard, but then he responded by pulling me in closer and returning the kisses. Our kisses grew hungry and passionate, and I never wanted to stop.
There is reported street racing, send all units.
Leon pushed me off of him and grabbed the two-way.
"We got cops cops cops! GO!!" he screamed in the mike.
I sat up in the seat and pulled on my seat belt, just as Leon turned on the car and punched the gas. Within seconds we had two cops right on our tail.
"Leon!!"
I screamed out loud as he turned a sharp, right corner that threw me into the window.
"Hold on baby!" he yelled, as he tried to lose the cops, who were gaining on us.
Baby! He just called me baby. I'm about to go to jail and I'm on cloud nine because he called me baby!
Leon took another sharp left into a parking garage but over-compensated and smacked broadside into the wall. He managed to pull us out of view, but I could tell he had hurt his arm.
"FUCK!" he shouted as he popped his dislocated shoulder back into place. I got out of the car and went over to his side. The door was smashed; the mirror was gone, and the rims were all scratched up, bad.
"Move over!" I said prying his door open.
"What?" Leon growled.
"Just MOVE!" I insisted, pushing him into the other seat and getting behind the wheel.
"I ran too. I can handle this." Leon just looked at me and then slid over. I put the car in reverse, and sped out of the parking garage. As soon as I took the first corner, I saw another cop tailing us. He began pursuit and the chase was on.
"You gotta tell me where I'm going." I yelled, taking a hard right and just missing a station wagon as the cop rounded the corner behind me.
"Third block up, hard left" he said, still holding onto his arm. I took the turn and looked over at him.
"You ok?" I shouted.
"Yeah. Just had to pop it back into place. Second block, hard right." he yelled.
I swerved the car into the alley and floored it. Within 5 seconds I was out of the alley and on Dom's street.
"Hey I know where I am now." I said, shifting gears and punching the gas even harder. I pulled up in front of Dom's house. We had no where to stash the car. So instead of waiting for the cops to find us, I pulled up and over the front lawn and parked the car around in the back yard. I shut off the engine and looked at Leon. He was staring at me in shock.
"What?!"
"Where in the hell did you learn how to drive like that?" he asked.
"Did I do something wrong?"
"Hell no! You just saved our asses!" he grinned.
One by one the team came out back and looked at us, still sitting in the car.
"What the hell happened?" Vince yelled as he clattered down the backstairs. "Where's your mirror?!"
"Sarah! Leon! You ok? " Jesse exclaimed, running to our car.
Leon and I slowly got out and looked at the damage.
"What did you do?!" Letty said looking at the car.
"I over-compensated on a sharp turn." Leon said. "Sarah got us outta there though."
Letty looked at me. "Damn girl. I didn't know you had skills like that!" she said, swatting me on the back as Dom came outside.
"Do I even want to know?" he asked, looking first at the steaming car, then Leon, and then me.
"Dom, relax. The car we can fix." said Leon.
"I know that. Did anyone see you pull into my backyard?!"
I tried to hide my laughter, so I ducked my head.
"You think this is funny Sarah?"
Before I could answer, Vince and Letty exploded in laughter, holding their stomachs and doubling over.
"We do have a driveway you can use next time." growled Dom.
"But Dom --" I said, trying to plead my case " It was full, and if the cops went by, they would have seen us!"
"Yeah Dawg. She did good. Let her be." Vince laughed, walking back up the stairs.
Dom just sighed and looked at the door on the car. "Leon you're doing this repair yourself." he said, pulling Letty into the house with Jesse in tow. Leon and I looked at each other and then followed them inside, sharing one last laugh.
"C'mon, lets go party and celebrate our freedom." Leon said, pulling me close, his arm around my waist.
We made it into the kitchen and Leon pulled out a Corona for himself, and then one of the bottles of wine from last night that I hadn't touched.
"I need to talk to Dom for a minute. You be ok?" he asked, kissing me on the forehead.
"I'll be fine." I said, opening the bottle and taking it with me to the couch. I sat down and poured myself a glass, watching the party around me. Hector came over and sat with me for a few minutes. Then Edwin, and Mia came over to talk. I was happy then, just sitting down and watching the world around me. I had finally found a place where I could be myself. I was comfortable and relaxed. I couldn't have been happier.
When the door to the office slammed behind me, it made me jump. I hadn't realized just how affected I was from lunch until I sat down behind the desk. Tears began to swell up in my eyes. Nice going Sarah! Thankfully no one came into the office and bothered me. I was able to regain my composure and start working on the books again within a few minutes. I forced Leon out of my mind and focused on the numbers. I calculated and crunched numbers for hours until I heard the office door creak open. At first I didn't even look up. I knew someone was there, staring at me. I was paranoid that it would be Leon. I was afraid to look at him and bring him into my reality again. I let out a long sigh and slowly raised my head. It was Dom. Thank GOD!
"How you doing in here?"
"OK. I got the first part done. You want to take a look?"
"Sure." He said, wiping his grease stained hands on his dirty overalls. He walked over to where I was sitting and bent down with one arm holding the desk for support. He was huge. Bigger then Anthony and more intimidating. I tried to act casual.
"I..uh..I" I began to stutter as I shuffled the papers in my hand. Just his size made me uneasy. He must have found my shyness amusing because I heard a faint laugh from behind me.
"Relax.I don't bite"
"Do all you guys use the same lines?" I questioned, still not daring to make eye contact. The only response was another deep chuckle echoing behind me. I pulled out my work and laid it out on the desk for Dom to see.
"It's kinda hard to read, but these are the figures you should be most interested in."
"What am I looking at here?"
"Well. this is how much you've been spending; at least how much you spent last quarter. This one over here is how much revenue you've been bringing in."
"These can't be right!" His sudden anger made every muscle inside me tense. I counted to three before I answered.
"Sorry, but you're overspending. Plus you have no write-off's, and no payroll. Now that's easy to fix."
"But there are no set pay scales for this garage" his tone turning from angry to serious.
" You don't necessarily need them. You could pay them on commission. You know -- keep a certain percentage of whatever they work on."
" Yeah but one person doesn't do just one car. I have V and Jess working on the Civic, but I know Letty put some wrench time in on it too."
I tried to think of another way the payroll could work for the garage without too much change. Wracking my brain, I sat back in the chair only to sit straight up and gasp when I felt Dom's hand on my back.
"You all right?" he said. I felt his hand rubbing my back gently. I knew Dom was just showing concern, but it made the whole moment even more uncomfortable. I tensed up even more and clenched my jaw shut. The panic began to rise up in me, and even though I tried to play it cool, Dom must have noticed. I felt his hand leave my back and I watched as his other hand disappeared from the desk.
"Forget about this shit for now." he said, collecting all my work off the desk.
"But-" I tried to protest.
"No Buts. You're coming with us to the race tonight."
"Oh, no! That's ok. Really. I was just gonna-"
"You wouldn't turn down the man that's putting a roof over your head, would you?" he said sarcastically. Once again he won, and all I could do was shake my head and smile.
"What time is it?" I asked.
"Almost nine. You can take me back to the house. We gotta get ready."
"Where's everyone else?" I said trying to collect the work I was doing.
"They left a while ago. You leave these things. They'll be here tomorrow." he said taking it all back out of my hands. "You ready?"
"Yeah." I said as I followed him out of the garage and over to my car. After he locked up he jumped over the door and slid into the passenger seat, just like Leon had earlier. I couldn't help but laugh.
"What's so funny?" he asked.
"The two of you are more alike then you realize." I said pulling out. We were back at the house in a few minutes, and to my thankful surprise, Leon and V were nowhere to be found. Before I could find out where they'd gone off to, I hurried up the stairs and knocked on Mia's door.
"C'mon in." I heard her call out.
I cracked the door open and slid in quickly, a look of despair washing over my face.
"Sarah, wassup?!"
"Mia, um. I don't have anything to wear that's.appropriate" I said looking down in shame
"Oh girl, relax, I think I got something for you."
She went to her closet and began pulling everything out. We finally decided on a pair of leather pants with a cut out flare, and a matching black halter top with most of the back intact. It was perfect. At least Mia thought so. I thought it did its job of covering me well, and showing off my curves at the same time. Mia was a natural at making you look good. I could tell that about her as soon as I met her. She didn't just make you look good, she made you feel good about yourself too. Soon, I was sitting down and she was doing my hair. I had forgotten about the mishap at lunch, and figured that if Leon didn't make an issue out of it, neither would I.
"So you like it here?" Mia asked me.
"Hell Yeah, I love it"
"What about the men?"
"Oh, I'm not really looking for any men right now, I'm just trying to get my feet on solid ground first you know."
"Yeah, well, sometimes a good man can help you get there faster you know."
" Yeah, a good one. Trouble is I don't know any."
"Well, you know four actually" she said laughing.
"Oh you mean your crew? Yeah, they are nice guys, but that's not what I meant."
"I know what you meant Sarah, and I know of at least ONE guy that would take his time with you."
I turned around on the bed to face Mia with a determined look. She still had the hairbrush in her hand, and tried to turn me around to finish, but I stopped her.
"What are you talking about Mia?!"
"Oh, nothing, just that you're not as alone as you might think."
"Has...anyone.said anything to you about me?" I asked.
"Anyone in particular?" Mia teased me.
"Allright, spill it!"
"Well, nothing was actually said directly to me, but I can tell certain things about my boys you know: how one in particular is in a better mood now; how he hasn't left your side since you got here; how he was worried about you when you first came here to meet us; how he let you sleep in his bed."
By the time she was done, my face had turned bright red. I couldn't help but smile. I knew she was right. Leon hadn't left my side since I got here. And he always had this look of concern when I was not in the best of moods. I felt so responsible for his attitude today, and my smile quickly faded.
"Yeah, Mia, but today, I uh. I don't know. It's like we get to a point, and then I back off and run in the other direction. It's too soon for me to commit -- to him or anyone right now. But, I'm afraid if I push him away now, he won't be there when I am ready." My head hung heavy in my hands.
"You don't know Leon very well. I agree with you too. Don't rush into anything you're not ready for. He's my friend, but if he isn't willing to wait, then he's not worth it Sarah."
She turned me around and finished doing my hair. It was half up and half down, with little curls framing my face.
"I left it down so.." she trailed off.
"It looks great. Thank you Mia." I said
"EVERYONE"S WAITING!" Dom's voice boomed up the stairwell.
"You ready?" she asked. I could tell she was pleased with her work. I let out a deep sigh.
"As ready as I'll ever be." I said, taking one last look in the mirror.
"You look great. C'mon!."
I followed Mia down the stairs and saw Letty and Dom first. Letty was wearing a black mini skirt with a red halter top and thigh high boots. She looked awesome. Better then me! Dom was wearing his usual classic tank top and dark blue jeans, with his timberlands on. A chain with a cross swayed casually across his chest. I was just about to say something to Letty when I felt a warm hand run across the small of my back.
"You look beautiful" Leon whispered in my ear as he turned me around. We made eye contact for a moment, and I couldn't help but smile. Every time I looked into his eyes it was always the same reaction. But before I was able to lose myself in them, Dom spoke up.
"Ok, you all know the drill. Mia you ride with Letty; Jesse, since your car ain't done yet, you ride with Vince. And Sarah, you ride with Leon." He had this planned!
"Where's Brian?" I asked.
"He'll be around later." Dom said as he walked Letty out the door. We all piled in and made our way out to a commercial district, to what looked like an abandoned warehouse. As we pulled up, I noticed a big swarm of people buzzing around. Cars in all colors and shapes were on display like a car show. Women dressed in underwear prancing around and tugging on men who were tweaking their engines. Switches and sounds were all around me. Bouncing cars and beats filled my soul as we stopped the car. I felt like my eyes were going to bug out of my head, so I shook it off and looked over at Leon.
"You having fun yet?"
"Oh this is great!!" I said bouncing in my seat. I could barely contain my excitement!
"C'mon, I want you to meet some people." he said.
We got out of our cars and a small crowd flocked around Dom as soon as he stepped out. Women were pushing each other, just to get close to him. I glanced over at Letty and I saw a small scowl on her face. But it changed to a smile when Dom reached over and grabbed her, pulling her in close and landing the most passionate kiss I've seen in public. The crowd cheered and the girls backed off, as Letty playfully hit Dom on the arm and walked back over to the rest of us.
"He's such a pig!" Letty said wiping her lips
"Yeah but you love it" Leon said pulling me past the girls and up to Dom. A Mexican Kid came over and hugged Dom, then shook Vince, and Jesse's hands before stopping at Leon.
"Wassup Dawg?" Leon said, shaking the guy's hand. "Hector, I want you to meet Sarah."
Hector stopped and looked me up and down before smiling. "Umm, Pleasure is ALL mine Sarah."
A small giggle escaped me. "It's nice to meet you." I said shaking his hand
"Damn, Leon, got yourself an angel, huh?"
"No doubt." Leon smiled.
I looked up at Leon as he draped his arm over my shoulder, then looked back at Mia who was standing off to the side. Her smile stretched across her face and I saw her mouth the words "I told you so." at me. My natural responses took over and I wrapped my arm around Leon's waist as we walked over to another group of guys. A shorter black kid came up and took Leon's free hand.
"Leon, wassup my man?"
"Chillin, Edwin. You racing tonight?"
"Naw, she still needs a new intake, so I'm here for the views." he said spanning his arms over his head. "This is a nice one here" he said nodding at me.
"Edwin, meet Sarah." Leon nodded.
"How are you sweetheart?"
"Just fine. It's nice to meet you." I said extending my hand. Instead of shaking my hand, Edwin turned it over and kissed the back. Leon raised his eyebrows at Edwin and swatted him away.
"Hey now. Don't get too comfortable Dawg."
"Just showing the lady a little courtesy. No disrespect Dawg" grinned Edwin.
"Yeah, whatever." Leon said, half laughing and half serious.
We walked through the crowd a little further, Leon introducing me to people here and there. Every time we would walk away, he would tell me the scoop on everyone.
Hector just got caught with his girlfriend's sister 2 weeks ago. Since his girl was living with him, she got kicked to the curb, and he moved her sister in. Edwin was a player, and everyone knew it. He had a few girls, and they all knew about each other. But Edwin couldn't race for shit. At least that's what V and Jesse think.
Dom called us back over and informed us of the place and the buy-in for the race. "3G tonight Dawg." he said as he walked back to the car.
"3G?" I asked, climbing into Leon's car.
"Yeah one race. 3G to buy into it." Leon answered.
""It costs 3 thousand dollars to race?!"
"Sometimes. Sometimes 2. Sometimes 5G."
"Holy Shit!" I yelped.
Leon just laughed and followed the crowd of cars to a highway on the outside of town. We split from the rest of the team and parked across a side street, blocking the way in or out.
"Why aren't we with the team Leon?"
"I'm the. Well, you and I are going to be the ears and eyes for everybody." he said, switching on his scanner and pulling out his two-way radio.
"Here. Hold onto this for me." he said, passing me the two-way. He played with the scanners and listened for anything that gave an indication they would be ready. I sat back in the car discouraged, I couldn't see the cars from where we were parked! Leon looked over and saw my disappointment.
"Go sit up on the roof. You can see from there." he said. I smiled and climbed out and up onto the roof with my legs still dangling in the window. I heard Leon give the all clear and saw Hector throw his hands down. Dom was in the car closest to me, and I saw the fire as he took off. No one was even close to him. Within seconds he was over the finish line. I was cheering and screaming. It was all so exciting. I got down off the car and jumped through the window into Leon's arms.
"He won! He won!!" I yelled, wrapping my arms around Leon.
"He always does!" Leon laughed as he pulled back and looked at me. I didn't know whether it was the rush of the cars, the thrill of the victory or the combination of both, but as soon as Leon looked at me I attacked him. I just started kissing him. For a second I think he was caught off guard, but then he responded by pulling me in closer and returning the kisses. Our kisses grew hungry and passionate, and I never wanted to stop.
There is reported street racing, send all units.
Leon pushed me off of him and grabbed the two-way.
"We got cops cops cops! GO!!" he screamed in the mike.
I sat up in the seat and pulled on my seat belt, just as Leon turned on the car and punched the gas. Within seconds we had two cops right on our tail.
"Leon!!"
I screamed out loud as he turned a sharp, right corner that threw me into the window.
"Hold on baby!" he yelled, as he tried to lose the cops, who were gaining on us.
Baby! He just called me baby. I'm about to go to jail and I'm on cloud nine because he called me baby!
Leon took another sharp left into a parking garage but over-compensated and smacked broadside into the wall. He managed to pull us out of view, but I could tell he had hurt his arm.
"FUCK!" he shouted as he popped his dislocated shoulder back into place. I got out of the car and went over to his side. The door was smashed; the mirror was gone, and the rims were all scratched up, bad.
"Move over!" I said prying his door open.
"What?" Leon growled.
"Just MOVE!" I insisted, pushing him into the other seat and getting behind the wheel.
"I ran too. I can handle this." Leon just looked at me and then slid over. I put the car in reverse, and sped out of the parking garage. As soon as I took the first corner, I saw another cop tailing us. He began pursuit and the chase was on.
"You gotta tell me where I'm going." I yelled, taking a hard right and just missing a station wagon as the cop rounded the corner behind me.
"Third block up, hard left" he said, still holding onto his arm. I took the turn and looked over at him.
"You ok?" I shouted.
"Yeah. Just had to pop it back into place. Second block, hard right." he yelled.
I swerved the car into the alley and floored it. Within 5 seconds I was out of the alley and on Dom's street.
"Hey I know where I am now." I said, shifting gears and punching the gas even harder. I pulled up in front of Dom's house. We had no where to stash the car. So instead of waiting for the cops to find us, I pulled up and over the front lawn and parked the car around in the back yard. I shut off the engine and looked at Leon. He was staring at me in shock.
"What?!"
"Where in the hell did you learn how to drive like that?" he asked.
"Did I do something wrong?"
"Hell no! You just saved our asses!" he grinned.
One by one the team came out back and looked at us, still sitting in the car.
"What the hell happened?" Vince yelled as he clattered down the backstairs. "Where's your mirror?!"
"Sarah! Leon! You ok? " Jesse exclaimed, running to our car.
Leon and I slowly got out and looked at the damage.
"What did you do?!" Letty said looking at the car.
"I over-compensated on a sharp turn." Leon said. "Sarah got us outta there though."
Letty looked at me. "Damn girl. I didn't know you had skills like that!" she said, swatting me on the back as Dom came outside.
"Do I even want to know?" he asked, looking first at the steaming car, then Leon, and then me.
"Dom, relax. The car we can fix." said Leon.
"I know that. Did anyone see you pull into my backyard?!"
I tried to hide my laughter, so I ducked my head.
"You think this is funny Sarah?"
Before I could answer, Vince and Letty exploded in laughter, holding their stomachs and doubling over.
"We do have a driveway you can use next time." growled Dom.
"But Dom --" I said, trying to plead my case " It was full, and if the cops went by, they would have seen us!"
"Yeah Dawg. She did good. Let her be." Vince laughed, walking back up the stairs.
Dom just sighed and looked at the door on the car. "Leon you're doing this repair yourself." he said, pulling Letty into the house with Jesse in tow. Leon and I looked at each other and then followed them inside, sharing one last laugh.
"C'mon, lets go party and celebrate our freedom." Leon said, pulling me close, his arm around my waist.
We made it into the kitchen and Leon pulled out a Corona for himself, and then one of the bottles of wine from last night that I hadn't touched.
"I need to talk to Dom for a minute. You be ok?" he asked, kissing me on the forehead.
"I'll be fine." I said, opening the bottle and taking it with me to the couch. I sat down and poured myself a glass, watching the party around me. Hector came over and sat with me for a few minutes. Then Edwin, and Mia came over to talk. I was happy then, just sitting down and watching the world around me. I had finally found a place where I could be myself. I was comfortable and relaxed. I couldn't have been happier.