Chapter 38

Brian stood in the kitchen, still wheeling from the shock of Mia's outburst. After a while, he left the house and went out into the back yard. Mia was sitting on the wall, facing the row of cars. He walked slowly over to her and jumped up onto the wall beside her. Mia lifted her head, looked at him, then turned away again. "So" he blew out in a breath. "So!" Mia huffed. She was playing with a set of keys in her hand. Brian put his arm around her waist and pulled her over onto his lap. She didn't resist. Instead she hung her arm round his neck. "Look," he paused before continuing. "I know something's wrong. And its obvious you don't want to tell me. But it's cutting me up seeing you like this" he told her. Mia pouted her lips and looked away towards the cars again. She knew that she couldn't keep it from him for much longer. Brian reached out with his hand and brought her face round to meet his. "I'll try and sort it out with Letty when she gets back." She sounded with a forced smile. "Promise. I can talk to her if you like!" "No, it's OK. This is between me and her. I'll sort it out. Promise" She quickly jumped in after him. Mia didn't want Brian to speak to Letty, in case she told him about the baby. "Sure" he agreed. Mia fiddled with the buttons on his shirt, then looked up at him. "I'm gonna take a drive in V's car!" she told him. "I need time to think." Mia slid off his knee and landed on the ground. "OK. Need any company?" Mia shook her head. "I'll be OK. Just need to drive for a while!" she explained. Brian watched her walk over to the blue Maxima, get in, and drive away. He knew that it wasn't only Letty that was upsetting her, but it was a start.

Mia changed up to fifth gear and let the car climb to 70 before curbing the power. Buildings, houses, people and cars went by in a blur of colours and blobs. Her thoughts were racing at the same speed of the car. She saw the turning she was looking for and gently touched the breaks. The beach was deserted, apart from two people walking at the far end. She pulled the car over just as it hit the sand, and got out. The heat hit her as she climbed onto the hood and crossed her legs in front of her. This was the place she liked to be to think about things. Before Brian came back, she was down here almost every day. "Dammit" she swore as she thought of the situation she was in. If she told Brian about the baby, he wouldn't have his mind focused on the race. But he knew somethin' was wrong anyway, so he wouldn't be focused either way. Mia sat for two and a half hours, debating with herself about what to do. She thought of the reasons why she should tell Brian, but thought of more reasons why she should wait till after the race. She sat and watched the sun set, her dark, wavy hair blowing in the cool breeze. Finally, she jumped down off the hood and opened the driver's door. Before she got in, she heard a woman laugh and looked over the roof of the car. A man and a woman were standing outside an ice-cream shop. They were cradled over a stroller, and the woman was laughing at her toddler. The kid had smeared ice-cream all over her face, and the man, she presumed him to be the husband and the father, was wiping it off. Mia smiled, as if it were happening to her. At that moment she clutched her stomach and looked down at where her baby lay. When the couple with the kid moved off, she got into the car and started the engine. "Well. Here goes!" she sighed as she pulled away from the beach and headed home. She knew what she had to do.

By the time Mia pulled up outside her house, she could see that Brian and everybody else were already home. Vince appeared at the door, and ran down to her. When she got out the car, she threw the keys over to him. He caught them in the chest. "Thought it'd been nicked when I got back. I gotta tell ya, I panicked like hell!" he laughed at her. "Sorry V. Just needed to think somethin' through. Didn't think you'd mind" she explained to him as she crossed her arms. There was a chill in the air. "Since it's you I don't mind," he smiled at her. "Is it this thing with Let?" he asked. She nodded her head and walked past him towards the house. "I'm gonna go sort it out! You comin' in?" she asked over her shoulder. "Sure!" Vince activated the alarm, then jogged to catch up with her. As Vince closed the door behind them, everybody turned and looked at her. "Hey stranger! Where you been?" Dom asked her. "Just driving!" She looked over and saw Letty sprawled out on the floor playing the PlayStation. "Hey Let, can I talk to you for a minute?" she asked over at her. Letty acted like she didn't hear Mia speak to her. Dom looked down at Letty and nudged her with his boot. She slammed down the controller and looked at Dom. He motioned with his head at Mia. She looked at him, then got up and headed over to where Mia stood. "Yeah. Sure. We can talk in ma room!" she answered Mia as she led her upstairs and into her room. "Dammn dawg," Leon sighed. "Think they'll sort that shit out?" He asked the guys. "For their sake, and ours, they'd better!" Dom answered for everyone.

"Mia I don't want to argue with ya' anymore. Aight?" Letty said as lay down on the bed. "I don't want an argument. I want your advice!" she told Letty. Letty gasped and laughed at the same time. "You want my advice. On the baby thing?" she looked at Mia with doubt. "Yeah" Mia agreed. "What for? I don't know nothing about baby shit or shit like that. You should know that more than anyone!" she pointed out. "No, not with the baby. About whether or not I should tell Brian tonight?" Mia corrected her. Letty stopped flicking through her magazine and sat up next to Mia. "You know how I feel about that one girl. Tell him straight." Mia paused then walked over to Letty's wardrobe where there was a photo, similar to the one Mia had, of the old gang at Race Wars. They were all sittin in front of the van they dragged around with them. "Would you tell Dom if it was you?" she asked as she lifted the photo and stared at it. "Don't even jinx me like that. I enjoy my sex far too much to think of what could come out of it!" she laughed. "Letty c'mon! I'm being serious here," she pleaded, putting the photo back down. Letty stopped joking around. "Aight, if it was me, ermmm" she paused before nodding her head, "yeah, I'd tell him." "Why'd you say that?" Mia expected Letty to say she'd get rid of it or something. "Put it this way. Say something happened to him in the race. Not that something will or anything!" she jumped in before Mia could start panicking. "But if somethin did, then don't ya think he should know he's gonna be a father?" Mia sat down beside Letty again. "Yeah, your right!" she concluded with a smile and a giggle. "I should tell him." Letty nodded her head, showing her agreement. Mia stood up and walked towards the door. Before she opened it, Letty stood up. "So, that mean we're good again?" she asked. Mia smiled broadly. "Yeah we're good." She gave Letty a hug. "Thanks for your help." "You gonna tell him then?" She nodded her head. "Yeah, I'll tell him tomorrow. Before the race." Mia opened the door. "You go girl! Oh and can you send Dom up. Just tell him I need a hand to.." "Don't tell me anymore! I don't need to know. I'll tell him." Mia cut her off knowing fine well what she meant. Letty gave her a menacing smile, then closed the door. Mia headed downstairs, smiling to herself. "Dom, Letty needs you. She says she needs a hand with something" she passed on the message to Dom as she stepped off the stairs. "Hey hey hey, that's my call guys!" he said leaping off the couch and running up the stairs, sending Mia spinning. Mia raised her eyebrow at her brother's eagerness to get upstairs. Turning back, she walked slowly over towards the couch where Brian sat staring at her, his mouth curled up in a smile at the corner. Vince and Leon looked briefly at each other, and made their selves scarce. Mia waited till they had left before sitting down next to Brian. "You and Letty sorted now? For good?" he asked her. She leaned into him, stopping a few inches from his face. "Yeah, we're sorted!" she told him through one of her sassy looks. "That's..very.good" he said slowly. He kissed her quickly, then swooped one arm under her legs, and another around her back. Brian lifted her off the couch and carried her upstairs. Once the door to Mia's room was closed behind them, she softly ran her hand down his face. "So your still gonna race him tomorrow?" she sighed gently. Brian put her down, then pushed a strand of hair away from her face. "You know I am. So let's not argue about it. OK?" he whispered in her ear. "I'm not gonna argue. Just promise me you'll be careful!" she asked him. He nodded his head, kissed her softly on the mouth, and gently laid her on the bed.