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A/N
Thanks to sissy-sara88, RedHotLatina, JC, La Mamasita Loca, Olivia, SpoonGirl1, Green Bird 2071, Frgt/10, darkdestiney 2000, and Maliek for you reviews. I'm so excited!
Disclaimer: Guess what? The characters of The Fast and The Furious don't belong to me. I just invited them over to drag race in front of my house. Unfortunately, that's not working out so well, cause I live on a one lane dirt road full of pot holes. Ah well.
Rosa set a bowl of potato salad down on the table next to the salad and steaks, licked some off her thumb then took her seat next to Vince while Mia brought out the corn on the cob and sat next to Brian.
There was a pause, as everyone waited for someone else to start serving so that they wouldn't have to say grace. When it became clear that no one was going to go first, everyone burst out laughing.
"Sorry Dom." Said Letty. "It doesn't look like you're going to get you're prayer tonight."
"Nonsense." Dominic Replied. "Ro, it's you're turn."
"What?" said Ro, surprised. "Why me?"
"Because I saw you licking potato salad off your thumb, you started eating first." Dom replied with a grin.
Rosa opened her mouth to protest, realized that it wouldn't work, closed her mouth, and bowed her head.
"Dear heavenly spirit." She began, while casting around for something to say. She suddenly remembered her physics teacher's latest random science fact. "Thank you for helping Nicholas-Joseph Cugnot to invent the first self propelled road vehicle back in 1771. Though this vehicle was flop, only going a pathetic 2 miles per hour, it paved the way for the modern cars, which already go much faster, and can be improved on, if you know how. Amen."
There was a soft chorus of Amens from around the table.
"Good job, Ro." Said Vince.
"A history lesson, not bad." Added Mia.
"It's good to remember our roots." Said Dom, proudly. "I think that's the best we've heard in a while."
Rosa grinned at her father.
"Hey Dad, can I go to the races with you?" she asked.
"Not a chance, Ro." Dom replied, without changing his proud tone.
Ro sighed and reached for the potato salad. She had been trying to get her parents to change their mind about the races ever since they first told her she had to stay home. She hadn't missed a race in two years, and she didn't want to start now. They thought she just didn't want to miss the excitement, and to some extent that was true. She loved the races. She had been going to them for as long as she could remember. She knew everyone there, from the mechanics, to the dreamers who hoped to be able to race one day, to the women her mom referred to as "the skanks".
The thing was, she had her own reasons for wanting to be there. Since Rosa grew up around the races, she had seen a couple of bad accidents and a few close calls. They didn't happen that often, but they did happen. Rosa was secretly terrified that something would happen to someone in her family. If she was at there, she could see for herself that they were alright.
Rosa had thought about telling her parents about her concerns, but she knew that they just wouldn't understand. After all, no one could beat their team at racing, other people won, occasionally, but it didn't happen very often. Plus, they had been racing for years, and they hadn't gotten hurt yet. Even if something did happen, there wouldn't be anything she could do about it. Rosa had gone over all of the arguments in her head, and she knew they wouldn't accept them.
She made her decision; she was going to find her own way to the races. If she stayed just out of sight, she would be able to make sure everyone was OK, and she wouldn't get in trouble. If her parents called and wondered why she didn't answer the phone, she could just tell them she must have fallen asleep.
Ro was wakened from her thoughts when Vince nudged into her.
"What?" she asked, suddenly realizing that her Mom had been trying to get her attention.
"Are you OK?" Letty asked, concerned.
"I'm fine." Ro answered, trying to look casual, though her voice trembled and she felt like they could all hear what she had been thinking. "I must have just zoned there for a moment."
"I guess." Letty replied, with a snicker. "Nice sculpture you've got there, though you should probably eat it, and we'll get you some clay this weekend."
Ro looked down in confusion, only to realize that she had been unconsciously arranging her potato salad into the shape of a car, with cherry tomato's from her salad for wheels. Ro blushed, stabbed the front wheel with her fork, and ate it.
When dinner was over, Ro did the dishes, waving Uncle Brian away when he offered to help by saying that it would give her something to do before she went back to her room, since she wasn't allowed to watch the movie everyone had just turned on. The truth was, she just wanted to be alone to think. She didn't have much time to come up with a plan.
Since she couldn't drive, she wouldn't be able to get their on her own, and Liz, the only one of her friends with a drivers license, wasn't allowed out of the house after 11:00, so there was no way Ro could catch a ride from her, no, it was time for desperate measures.
Rosa dried the last knife, dropped it in the drawer, hung the dish towel on the cabinet door under the sink, and headed for her room, not even pausing in the living room where one of her favorite movies was playing. This didn't go unnoticed by Dom and Letty, who knew that Ro always tried to figure out some way to stay down in the living room when she was restricted from the television. Once she had even watched from the kitchen using a hand mirror when she was supposed to be doing homework. They watched their daughter leap up the stairs two at a time and looked at each other, shrugged, and turned back to the movie.
Up in her room, Ro was turning on her computer, while listening for any sounds of someone walking upstairs. She pulled out the laptop that Jesse and Leon had given her for her last birthday, and began to type out an email.
Hey Jarod. You keep telling me that you want to go to the races sometime, and asking if I would take you. I know I said there was no way, that my parents wouldn't let me. Well, this may be your chance. If you don't have plans tonight, let me know. You'll need to pick me up, but I can take you to the races. For this first time, we'll have to watch from a distance. Sorry we can't be in the thick of things, but this is all my Mom and Dad would agree to. If this works out, maybe we can get closer to the action next time. Let me know.
Ro considered how to close the email. 'Sincerely' sounded too formal, not to mention the entire email was totally insincere. 'Your Friend' was out, if she had a choice, she would never so much as speak to Jarod, but desperate times called for desperate measures. In the end, she just signed Ro Torretto then pressed send.
Ro closed her laptop, hoping that Jarod would get her email soon, so she would know if she had to come up with another plan. Not that she could think of some other way. She had already considered taking a cab, but if they got any where near the races, they would be turned away, plus there was a good chance that someone would see her, and she definitely couldn't have that happen. Jarod on the other hand was desperate to get into racing and would follow her directions to the letter if she told him it was what he had to do.
For a moment Rosa had a momentary twinge of conscience, knowing that she was using Jarod and that he had absolutely no chance of getting started racing through her, on the other hand, the guy had been pestering her for the last year, ever since he had overheard Mark Sullivan say something about her parents' street racing. Ro still grinned when she remember how she had knocked Mark flat after that comment, luckily it was while they were playing football and their gym teacher just thought she was caught up in the game. Maybe if Jarod thought she was being rude, he would finally give up and leave her alone.
Ro could hear Jesse and Mia laughing at something on the movie and she relaxed and pulled out the book she was reading. She figured that she would finish the chapter she was on, and then check her email to see if Jarod had replied.
A few minutes later, there was a soft knock on her door.
"Come in." she called.
Letty opened the door and peaked in at her daughter, who was stretched out on her bed, book in hand.
"How are you, Poco Amor?" Letty asked.
"Fine, why?"
"You just seemed…distracted at dinner. I worry about you."
"Mom, I'm ok, really." Rosa hated lying to her parents, but she didn't see any choice. She just couldn't tell her Mom what she was planning on doing. If she did, her parents would truly flip out.
Letty walked over and sat on the bed and ran her hand over her daughters forehead, smoothing back her hair.
"Sit up." She said.
Ro sat up and scooted in front of her mother, who used her fingers to gently comb and smooth her daughter's hair. Rosa felt kind of silly letting her mom play with her hair, after all, she was fifteen. On the other hand, she always found the touch soothing.
People at the races had this idea that Letty Toretto was always tough, never let her guard down, and was a person you didn't mess with. Ro knew why they had that idea. Though she had never seen her parents fight, she had heard the stories. Apparently Letty had once cold cocked Lance Tran with one punch. Even now, Letty didn't let anyone push her around. She didn't need to fight anymore. She had earned too much respect for anyone to even start anything. Dom had the same respect.
Rosa didn't really understand that side of her parents. She had seen it, of course, but she saw things differently. Letty always knew when something was bothering anyone. She would stick up for anyone, and she had shown Rosa that she shouldn't let herself be pushed around. Then there were moments like this, when they would sit together and talk, Letty would braid her hair, unbraid it, and braid it again. Ro secretly loved these times. There were very few times when she would let herself be girly. She really liked doing "guy stuff". She loved to work on cars, and play sports. This meant she was usually wearing jeans and a tank top, something that could get dirty and she wouldn't care.
Ro had heard people talking about Dom at the races. To most of them, he was almost and idol. Ro couldn't remember her dad ever losing a race, sometimes the races were close, but every true racer knew that it didn't matter how close the race was, winning was winning, period. Ro knew her dad was cocky. She had seen people come to him for advice about racing, and heard him tease them, or flat out refuse.
Ro saw a different side to her dad. She saw a man who would do anything for his family and friends, even if it was morally wrong. She saw someone who wasn't afraid to stick up for the underdog, even if it went against his friends and family. She saw someone who was always there for her when she was down, and she saw someone who would take in a complete stranger if they needed help.
Yes, Dom and Letty Toretto were tough, but they were also undeniably kind hearted.
Letty finished braiding Rosa's hair and wrapped a rubber band around the end of the braid to hold it in place.
"I'm going to go down and watch the end of the movie." She said. "Are you sure you're alright?"
"I'm fine, Mom. Really."
Rosa forced herself to look at her Mom as she said this, knowing that if she was studying the blanket, as she wanted to, Letty would immediately know she was lying and stay there until Ro spilled the beans.
Letty studied her daughter, knowing instinctively that Rosa was holding something back. Still, Ro deserved some privacy. Letty just hoped that the girl would come to her if something was really wrong.
"I love you, Ro." Letty said.
"I love you too." Ro replied.
Rosa waited until the door was closed and she had heard her Mom retreat down the stairs, then hopped up off the bed and went over to her laptop. Flipping it open, she quickly pulled up her email account. There was a response from Jarod waiting for her and she quickly opened it.
Ro,
I knew you'd come around one of these days. I have to say, took you long enough, though I don't see why we have to watch from the sidelines. What do they think I'm gonna do, huh? What time do ya need me t'pick you up?
Jarod
Ro clicked reply and typed out a brief response telling Jarod to pick her up at 11:20. That would give her parents and the team plenty of time to leave before he showed up. She gave him the address, and clicked send.
That done, the girl pulled out her fiddle and began to tune it. She began to play through the classical tunes that they were working on in her orchestra class. She was having trouble with one of the songs because of a particularly difficult passage with sixteenth notes. Getting frustrated, Ro turned away from her sheet music and began to play fiddle.
Fiddle music was her passion. She liked playing classical, and it was how she had gotten started playing to begin with, but last year, she had started taking fiddle lessons. The style didn't matter to her, Irish, Scottish, Bluegrass, Old Time, Blues, she played it all. The classical stuff she played in school had to be perfect, and played as the sheet music was written (and Ro took this as a challenge each time a new song was handed out) but fiddle music was more free. Once you knew the basic tune, you could add ornamentation in to make it your own. Ro was still learning how to do this, and she messed up more often than not. But she just loved it.
Before she knew it, there was a knock on her door.
"Come in." she called, tucking her fiddle under her arm.
The door opened, and Dom entered the room.
"Sounding great." He said.
"Thanks."
"Is that a new song?"
"Yeah, it's called 'The Lock in the Morning'. It's not up to speed yet, though."
"Well, that takes time, doesn't it?"
"I guess."
"Well, I just wanted to let you know that we're heading out now."
"Last chance to take me. You know I can't be your good luck charm, if I'm not there." Rosa said this more as a joke than anything else. She knew her dad would probably be suspicious if she didn't make one last effort to go to the races. Honestly though, she didn't know what she would do if he said yes. Jarod hung around with a pretty nasty crowd, and Ro really didn't want to piss him off by not being there when he arrived. She knew she could probably take him, but she figured that getting into two fights in a row would probably get her grounded until she left for college.
Not that sneaking out and going to the races when her parents had expressly forbidden it was less likely to get her into trouble.
"Then I guess I'm going to have to rely on my amazing skills." Dom replied with a grin.
"Yeah…yeah." Ro said. "You racing tonight?" she asked.
"Yep. I wasn't going to, but I just found out that Damon is back in town, and he thinks he's going to take over here. Someone needs to put him in his place."
"Shut him down, Dad."
"Will do, Pazzesco." Dom said, he reached over and ruffled Ro's hair, then turned and left the room.
Dom had been calling Ro, Pazzesco since she was seven years old and she had beat the Sullivan twins in a bike race by slaloming through some trees. That was back when they were still inseparable. It had taken Rosa four years to find out that the word meant crazy.
Ro shouldered her fiddle again and began to play, this time a softer, slower waltz. She continued to play as she heard Leon and Jesse ask her Dad if she was doing alright. She heard footsteps as everyone walked down the porch, as the front door closed and she heard Vince's heavy steps down the porch. She heard the cars all start, and listened as they pulled away from the house, almost as a unit. As she heard the cars turn on the main road, she abruptly stopped playing and put her fiddle back into its protective case.
It was time to get ready.
Jarod was supposed to be here in fifteen minutes, and Ro didn't want him to see her in her in the oil covered jeans she was still wearing from the garage.