A/N – Sorry its taken me so long to update, R/L has gotten in the way of my writing, plus I've had a hard time getting this chapter down on paper. I hope you like it. Please R/R. Thanks to Frgt/10 and darkdestiny2000 for your reviews! You're keeping me motivated.
Disclaimer: I don't own the situations or characters from The Fast and The Furious. We're all just getting together to form a symphony orchestra. Vince is quite an amazing piccolo player.
Ro stood in the living room, peering out the window and waiting for Jarod to pull up. She kept glancing at her watch, nervous. It was 11:22, only two minutes after she had asked Jarod to pick her up. If she had been in her right mind, she would have realized that two minutes couldn't really qualify him as being late. Unfortunately, she wasn't in her right mind. All she could think about was the fact that her family was at the races, and she wasn't there to make sure they were all right.
Ro picked up the two way radio she had brought downstairs with her. She flipped the radio on again to check the batteries though she knew it was unnecessary, she had just put fresh batteries in. She flipped off the radio, and set it down next to her keys so she wouldn't forget it.
She glanced out the window again onto the dark street. She saw the lights go off in the kitchen of the house across the street. She glanced down at her watch again. Only twenty seconds had passed.
She looked around the room, noticing for the first time the popcorn bowl sitting virtually empty on the coffee table, the few unpopped kernels in the bottom the only sign of what had been filling it. She picked up the bowl, carried it into the kitchen, dumped the kernels into the trash and set the bowl in the sink, then went back into the living room. She picked up a throw pillow off the floor, set it on the couch, and then fluffed the cushions on the chair that Aunt Mia and Uncle Brian had been cuddling in.
Ro could hear the faint sounds of pounding base in the distance, and she knew instinctively that it was Jarod turning from the main road toward her house. She groaned allowed, suddenly aware that the neighbors would hear the noise. Not that the neighbors were strangers to pounding base coming from cars. After all, her family played the radio's loud in their cars. The difference was, Ro was not usually sneaking out of the house to get into one of those cars when she was grounded.
"Still." She reassured herself. "The neighbors don't know I'm grounded."
Rosa watched as Jarod pulled up in his Honda Civic. She could hear laughter emanating from the car, and realized with a groan that Jarod had brought his two best friends along with him.
Ro grabbed her keys and the two way radio and left the house.
As the teenager walked to the driveway, she couldn't help but examine Jarod's car with an eye trained by fifteen years of living and breathing racing. She noticed everything, the tires, which were a bit to narrow to have good tread for street racing, she heard the rumble of the engine, and the pounding of the base.
"The stereo must be in the trunk." She thought, as she opened the door and slid in the passenger seat next to Jarod.
"Hey." She said. "I thought you would be coming alone."
"Are you kidding?" Jarod asked from behind the wheel as he began to back out of the driveway. "Pink and Frankie were with me when I got your message."
"Who beat you up?" asked Pink with sickening glee from his spot in the back seat.
"Nobody beat me up." Ro replied defensively. "Mike was getting too big for his britches. I just decided to bring him down a peg."
"Wait." Said Frankie. "You did that to Mike Sullivan?"
"Yeah."
"Nice." Frankie replied.
Ro grinned at the impressed tone of his voice, then quickly schooled her features. Just being with these three made her nervous, and she really didn't want to give them any ideas. She quickly gave Jarod directions that would take them about a mile from the meeting point.
"Nice car." Ro said as they drove. She meant it, to some extent. Civic's could be great cars, if they were worked on properly.
"Thanks." Jarod replied.
"Like you would know." Pink said from the back.
"Listen Pink." Ro was speaking at a deliberately slow pace, like she was trying to explain something to a small child. "I've been working on cars since I was four years old. If you spent every evening for the next three years with your arms up to the elbows in engine oil, instead of playing video games, you just might learn a fraction of what I already know."
"You know," Pink replied. "Your parents may own a garage, but that doesn't make you an expert."
"I never claimed to be an expert. I just claimed to know more than you."
Pink's face darkened and he muttered something under his breath. Next to him, Frankie chuckled softly to himself.
"Jarod, what kind of work have you had done on this?" Ro questioned.
"I got the best that Honda had to offer so that I wouldn't need to have any work done." Jarod replied pompously.
Ro nodded and turned to peer out the window. "This guy doesn't stand a chance." She thought.
"Listen, if we do this, you're all going to need to follow my instructions." Ro said ten minutes later when they reached the intersection she had directed Jarod to. The streets were quiet and empty.
"Why would we do that?" Jarod questioned, looking over and glaring at her.
"Just think of this as a tryout. You want to get to the races, you have to come through me."
"Who put you in charge?" asked Pink.
"My family."
"What gave them the power?" Pink pressed.
"They run the races here. They decide who races, when they race, and who they race against."
"Who did they kill to get that job?" Jarod asked.
Rosa couldn't believe what she was hearing. These guys knew nothing about her family, yet they were being total jerks. They needed to be brought down a peg.
"You know what? Just forget it. Stop here and let me out. I'll find my own way home." Even as Ro said it, she knew it was a gamble. If they let her go, she would be stuck here, possibly miles from the actual site of the races, without any way to get back home. Oh, she could always call a cab and pay for it when she got home with money from her allowance, but she would have to walk a couple of miles to the nearest pay phone. If she did that, her parents would beat her home, and she really didn't want to have to explain what she was doing far enough from home that a taxi back would cost her life savings.
"Oh, sensitive, aren't you?" Pink sneered. Jarod laughed. In the back seat, Frankie glanced at Rosa to see her reaction.
"No, I just have better things to do than listen to you guys knock things you don't understand." Ro replied, evenly.
"OK," said Jarod from the driver's seat, though his tone was anything but complacent. "We'll do it you're way."
"Good. I need you to turn off the music."
"Why?" Jarod asked.
"So that I can hear this." Rosa said, pulling out her two way radio.
Jarod gave her a questioning look, but reached over and turned down the music. Rosa waited until the music was completely off, then turned on the radio and set it to the proper channel. There was silence, both over the radio and in the car, for a full minute before Jarod spoke.
"What are you waiting for?" he asked impatiently.
"They're not at the races right now. They're at the warehouse district about a mile from here. They meet there, decide who's going to race and where the race will be, then they all head out. They'll announce where the race is going to be and we'll head that direction." Ro answered.
"I thought you're parents ran this thing."
"They do."
"Then why didn't they tell you before where the race was going to be."
"They wait and see who is going to race, then decide the track." Ro replied matter-of-factly. "If there are only two people racing, they choose a narrower road. It keeps things more exciting that way. The more people racing, the wider the road. Sometimes they will hold the races over railroad tracks, which add an element of excitement as well."
"How do you know they didn't announce it before we got here?" Pink questioned.
"Because there's no one talking. This channel is only silent when they are deciding where to race, and when they're waiting for the OK to race. Other than that, there's always people on it."
"Why does everyone stay off it then?"
"No one wants to miss the announcement." Ro answered.
As soon as she finished saying this, the radio squawked to life.
"Let's all head to Slips." Leon's voice was heard.
"Great." Said Ro, as she reached down and switched off the radio to save the batteries.
"Wait, that was it?" Jarod asked.
"Yep." Ro said.
"But there was no address."
"They don't announce addresses over the radio. That would give away where they're going. They don't want any unexpected guests. Don't worry, I know where we're going. Just turn right at the next light."
"So you know where Snips is?" said Jarod as he pulled away from the curb.
"It's Slips, and yes, I know where it is."
"Why do they call it Slips?" Frankie asked.
"The first time my Uncle Brian raced, he used the pink slip to his car to buy in. Apparently he was so desperate to win, he ignored the warning signs and caused some pretty major damage to the car." Rosa had heard this story so many times she could almost picture it happening. "My Dad won, but for some reason, I'm not sure why, the car couldn't be fixed. Uncle Brian owed my Dad a ten second car. He bought a beater, and they fixed it up together. That's how they became friends. The road they raced that night became known as Pink Slip, and later just Slips."
"That's lame." Pink said dully. Rosa ignored him and kept giving Jarod directions.
"Are they all named after events?" said Frankie.
"Not all of them, but a lot of them. For instance one of the roads is known as View Point. One racer got nervous on his first race, and swerved. Unfortunately the race was over a bridge. He got high centered on the edge and teetered there for about twenty minutes until they could get a tow truck to pull him back. He never made that mistake again."
Frankie laughed, Pink rolled his eyes, Jarod asked where he should turn next.
"Right up ahead, there's a parking garage on the left. Drive up to the top floor. It's overlooking the road, we'll watch from there."
"You know Jarod," said Pink. "We know were the race is going to be tonight. We don't need to hide, we can just watch from down here."
Ro was starting to think that this whole thing was a bad idea. She probably should have just stayed home. She was tired of having to deal with Pink. The guy was so obnoxious. She was about to say something when Frankie chimed in.
"That won't work, Pink. Mr. and Mrs. Toretto will never let Jarod race if he just shows up. Which Ro pretty much already said."
"Whatever." Said Pink.
Jarod turned into the parking garage just as Ro heard the sound of approaching cars.
"Sounds like the party has arrived." She said. "Let's get to the top floor as quickly as possible. As soon as they get the road blocked off and get the all clear from Leon, they'll start the race."
Ro turned the two way radio back on and they were immediately bombarded by the incessant chatter of a bunch of ditsy women.
"Did you see what he's wearing?" asked one
"Oh yeah, he bumped into me and he smells so good."
"He bumped into you? You're so lucky."
"What's that?" asked Jarod.
"Mating call of the pathetic and desperate." Ro replied with an edge to her voice.
"What?"
"They're the skanks who hope to sleep with the winner, though its not gonna happen."
"Why not?"
"Because, my Dad's racing tonight. The only one going home with the winner, is my Mom." Ro answered with pride. "Don't worry, they'll shut up in just a minute."
As if on cue, the chatter slowed to a halt and Leon's voice could be heard over the radio.
"Let's spread out and cover all the side streets. The last thing we need is some bike messenger dodging out in front of the racers." He said.
Ro chuckled to herself. Leon had recently taken it upon himself to name a new and strange way the race could be interrupted. Last week he had said something about a lawyer getting lost on his way to the court house. The fact that it was now approaching one in the morning, far too late for any bike messengers to be out, made no difference.
"Come on!" said Ro, excitedly as they reached the top floor of the parking garage. She opened the door, and jumped out before Jarod had gotten the car to a complete stop. The air was filled with the sound of engines, squealing tires, and pounding music. Ro felt like she was home.
She rushed over to the side of the building with the boys right on her heels. There was an electric energy that was unmistakable.
Eight stories below them, cars were streaming onto the street from all directions. Ro knew they had taken different routes to try and avoid attracting unwanted attention from the cops.
Ro gazed down looking for cars she recognized.
"They look so small." Frankie said.
"I know, like toys." Ro added, she heard a distinct sound and looked over to the left to see her family drive up in V formation. Dom was in the lead, followed by Letty and Vince, then Jesse and Leon and finally Brian and Mia.
"That's my Family." Ro explained to her companions. "My Dad's in front."
"Oh, isn't that sweet. The King is leading in his court." Pink said sarcastically. He was really starting to get on Ro's nerves.
"No." Ro answered, more sharply than she would have liked. "Dad's in front because he's racing today. If the Mad Scientist were racing today, he'd be in the lead." Rosa didn't add that as the teams good luck charm, she always rode in the lead car on the way to the races.
"The Mad Scientist?" Jarod questioned.
"Jesse. He's the best mechanic I've ever seen. He's made repairs that no one thought possible, and left the car running better than ever before."
"Sounds like someone has a crush." Said Pink.
"Not likely." Ro countered. "He's like my uncle."
Pink opened his mouth to make another smart remark, but was interrupted when the radio squawked to life again.
"You're listening to KCOP channel nine, it's cop watch." Leon said in a goofy announcer voice. "No news right now, alls quiet, too quiet. But its only a matter of time. I'll be reporting back shortly with an update. Back to you Jim."
The radio fell silent.
Down below, cars were blocking off the streets and forming a barricade on both sides of the street as people got into position to watch the race. At both ends of the mile long stretch, women ran across the road, spray painting starting and finishing lines on the street. Spectators poured out of vehicles and began socializing.
Four cars pulled up to the starting line, and Ro immediately recognized who they belonged to. Getting caught up in the excitement, she immediately began to tell Jarod, Frankie and Pink about the drivers. She considered telling them about the cars as well, but decided against it. She didn't want to give Jarod an edge, if he ever found his way in to try racing.
"The near car is Kay's. This is only her fourth race, and she's come in last in her first three, but she's getting better." Ro said. She had a lot of respect for Kay, because she was one of only two women who race. The other was Letty.
"Why doesn't she just quit?" asked Jarod. Ro ignored the comment.
"The driver in the next car is Edwin. He's been racing almost as long as my family. Of course, he does it for the women. I don't know why though, he rarely gets one of them."
Frankie laughed loudly, and Rosa immediately looked down for her family, worried that they might have heard. Logic immediately took over, and she relaxed, realizing that there was no way they could have heard laughter eight stories up over the roar of engines and the talking and cheering of so many people.
"The third car belongs to Damon Odes. He's rules the streets in his podunky little home town so about every six months he gets up the nerve to come here and play with the big boys. Last time he got nervous, clipped his bumper on a wall, and went spinning across the finish line. He was so embarrassed, he didn't even get out of the car. He just got the wheel straitened out, and drove away not making eye contact with any of the spectators."
This time, all three of the boys laughed, and Rosa started to relax.
"My Dad is in the last car." Ro said simply, with pride in her voice.
As soon as she said this, Leon's voice could be heard over the radio again.
"We've got an armed robbery in progress! The cops are tied up. Let's Roll!"
An excited hush fell over the crowd, in direct contrast to the noise of the drivers revving their engines. A woman stepped out in front of the crowd. Her name was Rebecca, but she had started calling herself Bubbles about six months ago. Ro wondered what kind of idiot would willingly choose Bubbles as a nickname.
Bubbles raised her right arm over her head, and waited until all of the drivers were focused on her.
"She probably thinks that makes her the center of attention." Ro thought, knowing it wasn't true. Bubbles was no more the center of attention than a traffic light was at an intersection.
There was a tension filled pause, and Bubbles dropped her hand.
The air was filled with blue smoke as the racers rammed their feet down on the accelerators. Dom the first to break into motion and immediately took the lead, with Edwin hot on his bumper. Kay moved smoothly into third, while Damon spun his tires and fishtailed before gaining purchase and rocketing forward.
Kay continued to gain on Edwin for a couple of seconds, and Damon kept pace with her. Suddenly Damon lurched forward and overtook Kay then Edwin.
"Way too soon!" Ro exclaimed.
"What…why?" asked Jarod.
"Just watch." Ro answered.
Damon was already falling back. He was easily overtaken by Edwin, then Kay. Edwin was gaining on Dom now, with Kay following closely behind. The finish line was looming in front of the racers, and Kay must have gotten nervous, cause her car put on a sudden burst of speed, passed Edwin, and caught up with Dom before fading back some.
"Wait…wait." Ro mumbled to herself. "NOW!" she slapped her hand down on the concrete wall she was leaning over, as if she were pushing an invisible NOS button. As if on cue, both Edwin and Dom leapt forward and crossed the finish line a mere quarter of a second apart.
Spectators rushed forward to congratulate Dom on his win. Ro watched him get out of the car, run up to Letty, pick her up, and spin her around in the air before setting her down and giving Mia a hug, then shaking hands with Brian, Vince, and Jesse.
Ro had to fight off the urge to run down there and join in the celebration. She loved these minutes after the race when her family were all hugging each other and glowing from their win. They knew that even though Dom had driven, they had all helped to build the car, and offer him advise about the competition. In their own small ways, they could share the win. For the first time, Ro felt like she wasn't a part of that.
She watched her Dad pull out his cell phone and enter one of the speed dial numbers. He held the phone to his ear and listened for about fifteen seconds, got a look of confusion on his face, the shrugged and ended the call.
"That's it?" Jarod said next to her, breaking her away from the scene below her. "I could do that, easily. I'm not sure what all the fuss is about, actually."
"Really?" said Ro, bitterly. "Then I'll just tell my dad that you don't want to race after all."
"No, I still want to race. I just don't think it'll be that hard to win." Jarod said.
Rosa grinned and how quickly he had back pedaled. She was about to comment on this, when Leon screamed over the radio.
"Cops! Cops! We've got cops! Go...go...go…go!"
Ro immediately turned and ran full tilt to the car.
"Where are you going?" asked Jarod.
"Didn't you hear him? The cops are on the way. We have to go!"
"Uh, no we don't. We're eight stories up. I really don't think the cops are going to drive all the way up here when they have everyone down there to chase. Right now, I'm going to stay out of it. I can't afford to get another ticket, or worse, arrested."
Ro opened her mouth to protest, then thought better of it, and shut it. As much as she hated it, Jarod was right. Yes, she had planned to get back to the house before her parents did, but it would be worse if she had to call them from jail because her ride had been arrested. She slowly nodded her head, then walked back over to the side of the parking garage, and looked over the edge.
She had seen this before. People rushing to their cars, and pulling away in all directions as the police screamed around corners into the thick of the action with their lights flashing and sirens wailing. She had never seen it from this perspective before. She had always been down on the street, rushing to a vehicle with the nearest team member and keeping an eye out for cops. From this distance, it looked like a chase scene from a bad B-movie filmed from above. Bright colored matchbox cars running from the black and whites. If she hadn't been so worried about her family, she might have started laughing.
It was then that she realized that's exactly what Pink and Jarod were doing. Frankie on the other hand was looking at her with concern. As soon as he saw her return his gaze, he looked away.
"Stop here. I'll walk the rest of the way." Said Ro. An hour and a half had passed since the end of the car race. The four teenagers had waiting on top of the roof until well after the last siren had been silenced. Jarod wanted to make sure that no one would be hanging around with they left the parking garage.
"Why?" asked Jarod.
"Because." Ro answered, thinking quickly. "My parents don't want to meet you until they get a chance to talk to me."
Apparently this was a good enough answer for Jarod. He pulled over, and let her out.
"Later." She said, and started to walk away.
"Hey!" Jarod stopped her. "When am I gonna find out if I get to race?"
"As soon as I do." Ro answered.
She hurried the last block to her house, then stopped outside and looked up at the house. The lights were on, but she couldn't see anyone moving past the windows. She took a deep breath to stop the guilty butterflies in her stomach, then walked up the steps and opened the door.
"Rosa?" Dom asked, hurrying in from the living room.
"Yeah, Dad."
"Where have you been?" His voice was stern, and his eyes dark.
"I just went for a walk." Ro was surprised by how easily the lie came out. Until that moment, she had no idea what she was going to tell her parents.
"At two in the morning?" By this time Dom had been joined by Letty. Ro could hear the rest of the family talking in the living room.
"Well, I'm used to going to the races with you guys. I wasn't tired, so I thought some fresh air would help me sleep."
"Why didn't you leave a note?"
"I was planning to be back before you got home, but I lost track of time."
Dom and Letty considered this for a moment. They weren't sure weather they should believe her. Still, she had never lied to them before.
"You could have been hurt, Rosa." Said Letty. "You're fifteen. You shouldn't be walking around alone at two in the morning, no matter what the reason."
Rosa nodded and looked at the floor. After a moment, the silence became uncomfortable.
"How was the race?" Ro asked, trying to sound more cheerful than she felt.
"Dad won." Letty answered proudly.
"I tried to call you after the race to tell you." Dom said. Ro remembered him on his cell phone. "I figured you must have been thinking about me, and I wanted to thank you. See, you're still my good luck charm, Pazzesco!"
"Congratulations." Ro said, softly. "I'm going to go on up to bed." She slowly walked up the stairs.
Letty and Dom exchanged concerned looks. That wasn't the reaction they had expected.
"Maybe she's just upset that she missed it." Said Letty.
"Maybe." Dom said, though he didn't sound convinced.
Ro walked into her room, and collapsed on the bed with silent tears running down her cheeks. She had thought she was making the right decision by going, but now she wasn't so sure. Her parents still trusted her, but the guilt was gnawing at her horribly. She lay down on top of the covers, and cried herself to sleep.