Chapter Ten

So the next few weeks passed in a blur, Rome going to the races with the team and Brian, while Antoinette and Ashton stayed at home hanging out with each other and finishing up the decorating. They'd decided that it'd make more sense for them to finish with that as soon as they could, both knowing that it'd never get totally finished unless they kept on it until the last wall had been painted. When they were completely finished the end results had been the house looking like a different place, color replacing the plain white walls that had been in every room. The last rooms that had been done were the girls' bedrooms, and the only two that had worked on them were Anni and Ashton. The girls had decided to leave Rome to decorate his room himself. Ashton's room had been painted a deep red, the accent color black. The two had repainted all of the furniture that wasn't already black to match. The bed frame was made of wrought iron, and the bedding was black, except for the sheets and a few of the pillows which were red. She had two bedside lamps that Antoinette had given to her for Christmas, that were silver with Chinese dragons engraved into them. One sat on either side of her bed.
Antoinette's room had been painted a soft peach color, which they had then taken a glaze over leave the wall to sparkle with small flecks of silver. The accent color had been a deep, dark green. All of the furniture in her room was antique and made of a rich dark wood, and was all very heavy. The girls had needed Rome to help them carry it into the room. Her sheets, as well as half the pillows on her bed were the same soft peach that was on the walls, while the comforter and the rest of the pillows were all dark green. On her dresser there sat an antique silver mirror, brush and comb. She also had and antique mirror hanging over her dresser. All of these had been given to her by her aunt who always seemed to be buying things from antique shops and thrift stores. Her excuse was always it could be useful someday, and so far almost everything she'd bought had been used.
Things between Antoinette and Brian were getting steadily better after the Saturday he came over, and they weren't trying to avoid one another anymore. Neither he or Ashton would go around the other by themselves though, proving Anni's theory further. She didn't have much room to say anything, considering she still hadn't told Rome how she felt. She just wasn't sure how to approach the subject, and didn't want to rush things and risk ruining her friendship.
On this particular day she was going over these thoughts while she sat at the counter of the café staring off into space. Ashton was busy making the sandwiches for the team, who had called and told them that they were going to need one of them to bring the food by because they had so much to do. As she laid a slice of tomato on the turkey sandwich she was making she looked at her friend and saw that her eyes were glazed over and she had a lost look in her eyes. Waving her hand in front of Antoinette's face she said,
"Hey anyone in there? You wanna help me make these sandwiches, cuz you know your brother and everyone are waiting on them."
"Oh yeah sure, I'm sorry I just got sidetracked for a minute." Anni said snapping out of her own little world of thoughts.
"Its fine girly, besides you get the amazingly fun chore of taking them their food."
"Excuse me if I don't jump for joy, but ya know they tend to attack food like rabid animals sometimes."
"Yeah I've noticed. Why do you think I'm making you go?"
"Right, well let's hurry and get this over with so I can get them their food. I'd like to live a long happy life."
"Aww are you scared?" Ashton asked in a teasing tone.
"Hell yeah I'm scared. They may get so hungry they turn to cannibalism and eat me." Antoinette answered in a very convincing voice that made Ashton laugh. As soon as she got herself under control she managed to get out,
"I promise if you're not back in an hour I'll call the police." Before bursting into laughter again, this time joined by her friend. As they continued to work Thalia sat in the office playing with the Barbies she'd brought with her for the day. The two women were almost finished when they heard the little girl scream. Dropping what they were doing they ran into the office, where Talli was on the floor crying. Getting down on her knees next to her daughter, Antoinette looked at her and asked.
"What's wrong baby?"
"I was brushing... her hair... and her head... came off!" Thalia answered in between sniffles, tears still making their way down her face, and held the doll in one hand with the head in the other to show them.
"Aww sweetie, its okay. We can fix it I promise." Anni said trying not to smile as she pulled the little girl into her arms.
"Really?!?"
"Yep, really. Here give me the Barbie and her head." As soon as she had both in her hands she quickly popped the head back onto the body. "There ya go, see it's as good as new. Just be more careful when you're brushing their hair."
"Otay Mommy. I'll try, I promise."
"Kay now that we got that fixed, you ready to go finish those sandwiches up?" Ashton asked as Antoinette stood up.
"Yeah I guess. Hey Tals, do you wanna go see Uncle Rome and everyone else at the garage when I take them their food?"
"Yeah! Can I take my Barbie?" She said looking up briefly before going back to her doll.
"Sure why not. I'll come get you when we're done." And the two women left her in there completely absorbed in what she was doing at that moment. Soon they were finished with the sandwiches and Antoinette and Thalia were driving the five minutes it took to get to the garage. When they got there Thalia decided that she wanted to help, so her mom gave her the lightest bag and the two walked into the garage where music could be heard blaring through a radio. Everyone was so involved in their work that they didn't notice them walk in, so Anni decided to walk over to the radio and shut it off. Immediately heads popped up and you could hear Vince from under the Supra he was working on say,
"Who the hell turned the radio off?"
"Well damn, I guess if ya'll don't want the food we brought we can leave c'mon Tals." Antoinette said, knowing that before she got anywhere near the door she was going to be stopped by someone. That someone was Jesse this time.
"No one ever said we didn't want the food. Vince just doesn't know how to keep his mouth shut." He said as he grabbed a bag of food looking for his.
"Fine then V can just go without." Antoinette told him.
"What was that?" Vince asked from right behind her.
"You heard exactly what I said."
"Sure you don't wanna rethink that?"
"Yeah why, what do you think you're gonna do about it?"
"This." He said and began to try and tickle her. This only made her smile before she turned around and looked him in the eye.
"Vinny, I haven't been ticklish since I was sixteen. Ask Rome or Brian, it just stopped affecting me one day."
"Well that sucks." He responded then looked down at Thalia before picking her up and asking, "And what's this little cutie been up to?"
"Nothing Uncle Vinny. But my Barbie's head came off today!"
"So I'm Uncle Vinny now huh?" he said throwing an accusing glance at Antoinette, who quickly busied herself with passing out the sandwiches in an attempt to hide the smile that had appeared as soon as the words fell from Thalia's mouth, "And what about this Barbie? Did you have to operate?"
"No silly! Mommy just put her head back on see." She answered and held the doll up so he could look at it. Soon the two finished up the conversation when Thalia got down and stood by her mother. Seeing that there was only one sandwich left in one of the bags and only one person missing she looked over to Leon.
"Hey Le! Where's Dom at?" Antoinette half yelled across the garage.
"He's in the office Anni." He said while pointing at the door, his food in the other hand.
"Alright thanks. Tals c'mon, let's go take your Uncle Dom his lunch. You can tell everyone about your Barbie later."
"Kay." She said then looked back at everyone standing near her, "I'll be back in a minute." Before running to catch up with Antoinette, who was standing in one spot wait for her. As they reached the door, Anni told her daughter to be quiet by pressing a finger to her lips and saying 'Shhh', and then opened the door. Dom had his back facing them, and was on the phone with a customer. The two just stood there waiting for him to hang up. As soon as he did Thalia said,
"Hi Uncle Dom, me and Mommy brought you lunch." He swiveled his chair around quickly before holding his arms out to the little girl and saying,
"C'mere munchkin, I want a hug." She immediately ran towards him and wrapped her small arms around her neck. Watching the exchange between her older brother and daughter, she couldn't help but grin and thought to herself, 'He acts so tough, but this just proves what a softie he really is. Damn I'd pay for the people at the races to see him like this.' As she continued viewing them she was reminded of when she was a little girl. That in turn made her relive some of those moments and her eyes soon got the far away look that seemed to be more permanent than usual. She found it odd how the two of them resembled her and her father in many of the pictures in the attic at Dom's. Dom taking the place of her dad, with the exception of the lack of hair, and Thalia her in nearly every way possible. It wasn't until Dom came up to her and draped an arm around her shoulders she even noticed he had moved. Looking up into his face, she saw the look that said he wanted to talk, which to anyone else was like a session of twenty questions gone wrong, and the first word that came to mind was 'shit'. Going over to Thalia he sent her over to Rome and Brian who were getting ready to get back to work, having almost finished eating. As he went around giving orders, as usual, Antoinette made her way to his chair. If she was going to have to sit through and interrogation she was going to be comfortable damn it. Soon he had the office door shut and had turned around to look at her. 'And so it begins.' She thought sardonically.
"We need to talk, Tiny." He told her as he pulled a chair around the desk and sat it in front of her before taking a seat.
"Bout what Dom?" She said, opting to play dumb for as long as she could.
"Well damn let's see you got one of two choices, I'll let you pick since I'll get the answer to both eventually. Now, A: we can talk about who Talli's father is, or B: we talk bout what you've had on you mind since you moved here."
"I think that we'll go with the second one." Acting as if it was a tough choice.
"Why are you being so stubborn about not telling anyone who her father is?" He asked a little angry that she was hiding it from everyone.
"Nope, I'm not even gonna answer that. You said I got to pick the topic and I did so deal." She answered not about to fall for the sudden change of subjects, in hope she'd let something slip.
"Fine, what's been with you lately? You're not the sunny, happy-go- lucky person you usually are."
"I've just got things on my mind Dom, I'm fine really. I just need to sort some stuff out and everything will be gravy."
"Spill. I want to know what kind of 'stuff' needs to be sorted."
"Dom if I haven't even told the person that it involves most, what the hell makes you think I'ma tell yo' ass."
"The fact that I'm your big brother should be enough but I can tell that it obviously isn't."
"Oh hella no, Dominic Anthony Toretto. You are not gonna sit here and try to lay a guilt trip on me cuz, lemme tell ya boy, it ain't gonna work. I'm not the fifteen year old girl I used to be. I'm a grown adult and fully capable of handling my business. You best remember that."
"So we're using full names now, Antoinette Sophia Toretto. I'ma tell you something, I'm still your big brother, and you best remember that." He said standing up. He was getting angrier as each second passed. "You may think you're a grown adult but a grown adult wouldn't be hiding who the father of her child is."
"He knows about her, he might not have until recently, but that's because I couldn't get into contact with him. So before you go criticizing me you better make sure you have all the facts. I'm not hiding shit. Just because I won't tell you who he is you're gonna be in a pissy ass mood, well guess what Dom, right about now I could fuckin' care less about you mood swings." She said, standing up, her temper beginning to flare up at his words. Looking him directly in the eye she said her voice in a calm, controlled voice, "I'll tell you when I'm good and goddamn ready to. Until then you can continue acting like a jackass or grow up and get over it." And she walked out of the office, leaving him there gaping at the spot she'd been in.
As she stormed into the garage, Rome looked up and recognized the expression on her face. Something had pissed her off severely and he knew she was gonna need someone to rant about it to. Leaning to the side of the car where Brian and Thalia were, he wiped his hands off on a rag and said to him,
"Yo bra, I'll be back in a minute. Keep an eye on Tals." And walked straight for the door. When he found her she was kicking the front tire of her car repeatedly. Going up behind her, he put his arms around her, resting his chin on the top of her head. "What's wrong girl?"
"Stupid ass brothers who feel the need to know every goddamn detail in my life." She answered as she relaxed, and sunk back into his chest. "Ya know I love him and all, but he's an ass. I don't know how Letty puts up with his shit."
"C'mon Anni, let's sit down and you can tell me what happened." He said and led her to the sidewalk, pulling down next to him when he sat. Placing his arm around her once again, she leaned into him, and he said, "Alright, now tell me what ya'll were fightin' about in the office."
"It didn't start as a fight; he just wanted to talk, right? Well he gave me the choice between Talli's dad or why I've been outta it lately and when I didn't pick what he wanted to talk about he got pissed. So then he tries to lay a guilt trip on me, and I shut that shit down as soon as I could." At this point she was clenching her fists in front of her, as her arms rested on her knees. As she continued telling Rome the rest of the story, he shook his head. He couldn't believe that her brother had actually had the balls to say what he had, knowing the temper that Anni had. "So basically I've decided that my brother is an egotistical, arrogant asshole."
"Well can't say much other than I'm sorry babe, but I can do this." He said and turned her head so that she was looking at him. Holding her chin up with the side of his right index finger so she continued looking at him. "How bout me and you go to the races tonight. I know you and Ashton made that deal a few weeks ago, so hold her to it. Leave Thalia with her and let's go out and have some fun." (A/N: Hehe I bet ya'll thought they were gonna kiss, huh?)
"Yeah, I need to get outta the house. I'll tell Ash when I get back to the café, I'm sure she won't mind watching Tals."
"Aiight, then it's settled. You and me are gonna go to the races and then we'll head to Dom's and party."
"Kay, well I hate to do this and all but I should prolly to the café, either that or Ash might call the police."
"And why would she do that?"
"It's a long story. I'll tell ya later. C'mon I gotta find my daughter." She said as she stood up and offered him her hand. As he took it, he pulled himself up and they started back for the garage.
"I wouldn't worry bout it much. She should be with Bri if he actually watched her like I told him to."
"I'm sure he did, and if not I'll be kicking his ass before you even get the chance Romey Rome."
"I know ya will." Soon they were back at the car which Brian was currently standing over, Thalia standing next to the tool box. Handing her the socket wrench he was holding he watched as she put it where it belonged. Looking up he saw Anni and Rome, and grinned,
"Ya know I didn't know a toddler could be so useful in a garage."
"Of course she's useful in a garage. She's my child isn't she?" Antoinette said like it should have been obvious. Then turning her head to look over at the tool box. "Talli, babydoll, we gotta get going, Aunt Ash is gonna start to wonder where we are."
"Kay Mommy." And picking her Barbie up from the spot on the floor where she'd laid it, she walked over to where her mother was standing. Picking her up, Antoinette said a quick goodbye to everyone, and they went back to the café. The rest of the day seemed to pass by quicker than normal, and before she realized it, she was at home and looking for the phone so she could call in a pizza. No one felt like cooking tonight, and she was in a hurry. By eight, they had all eaten, and Anni was headed up the stairs to get ready. Taking a long shower, she threw on a robe over her bra and underwear, before taking the towel off her head. Deciding to wear her hair down, she brushed it out, applied frizz-ease knowing that with the humidity her hair would stick out in all directions, and left it to dry naturally in soft curls. She then went to her closet to pick out her clothes before she did her makeup. Pulling a pair of low-rise faded jeans off their hanger, she nodded her head in approval and tossed them on the foot of her bed. Going through her shirts she finally chose a low cut black tank top that stopped at the top of her belly button, and had a silver tiger printed on the front. After changing she went back to bathroom, she put on her ever present black mascara, and a shiny skin toned eye shadow. On her eyelids she drew a thin line of silver chrome eye liner and rimmed her inner eye with black. Quickly coating her lips lightly in a pink melon flavored lip gloss, she stuck it in her back pocket, and walked to her dresser. Opening her jewelry box, she pulled out the silver cross that her mother and father had given her for her eleventh birthday. It never came off unless she was going swimming or taking a shower. Not finding any earrings that she wanted to wear, she grabbed her white gold ring and slipped it onto her right ring finger. Before leaving her room completely she grabbed the tan Lugz that she was going to wear tonight and looked at the clock. Seeing it was already ten thirty, she slipped on her shoes, and practically ran down the stairs.
"Hey Rome, you ready to go?" Antoinette asked as she walked into the living room. Both he and Ashton turned to look at her, slightly shocked by her sudden appearance. Letting out a low whistle, Ashton said,
"Damn girl, Ro's gonna hafta watch yo' ass. Those boys are gonna be getting grabby."
"The first one that does is gonna get the shit kicked outta him too. I didn't take that shit in Barstow and I sure as hell ain't gonna take here."
"That's good to know, but if anyone pulls any shit, you best tell me what happens when I see ya in the morning."
"Have I ever not told ya Cheer Two?"
"Nope so ya better not start now."
"Are we leavin' now?" Asked Rome, itching to get to Dom's so that they could leave for the races.
"Yep, whose car are we taking?" Anni asked, not really caring.
"It don't matter to me, as long as we get there."
"Let's take mine then, they've already seen yours, plus I wanna shock the hell outta some people."
"Aiight, let's roll."
"Kay, I love ya Cheer Two and I'll see ya in the mornin'."
"Love ya too Cheer One. See ya then." Ashton answered and watched them walk out the door. Getting in on the driver's side of her RX-7, she put the keys in the ignition and started it. She had just redone the paint on it a week ago, airbrushing a design onto it instead of just using decals. On the hood there was a pale pink and white tiger its eyes a deep violet, crouched down as if it were getting ready to pounce on unsuspecting prey, a lavender mist floating around it. The mist continued to trail down the side of the car, small specks of white every now and then to make it look like light glinting off a bead of water. Under the door handle on each side it read 'Tigress' in a graceful flowing script.
As she pulled out of the drive way, and began to drive to the house, they both remained quiet. Finally getting tired of the silence Antoinette turned the radio to hear her favorite song, 'If I Ain't Got You' by Alicia Keys blaring through the speakers. Soon she was singing along, totally unaware that Rome was watching her as she did. As the song ended she decided to start up a conversation, not wanting to be surrounded in silence again. It made her uncomfortable, and she wanted to relax and let go tonight.
"So Rome what do ya think of the L.A. racing scene?"
"Ah ya know, its aiight, better than Barstow. Ain't really much compared to Miami though. It was off the hook down there." He said looking over at her.
"Well damn then, you're just gonna have to go on a vacation soon. Take me and Tals down there wit ya. You got me curious."
"Ha-ha how'd I know you were gonna say that?" He asked a smile on his face.
"Cuz you know me too well boy. Besides eventually you're gonna have to tell me what kinda trouble you got into down there, and then I'ma have to meet the people who were around to see it."
"Me? Trouble? Girl you gotta be trippin'."
"Yeah fucking right Rome. Don't even try that innocent shit... you forget I'm the one who taught it to ya."
"Ah damn that's right. Guess I'm fucked then."
"Yep, pretty much. But that's okay cuz I still love ya anywayz." By this time they were driving down the road the house was on and getting close. As they stopped on the side of the road, Anni pulled the parking brake, and killed the engine. Getting out of the car she shut the door and started walking across the grass to the porch, Rome a few steps behind her. She opened the door not even bothering to knock, and nearly fell when she tripped over a pair of shoes in the middle of the floor. Looking at them she noticed they were a girl's, and they sure as hell didn't belong to Letty. Then she realized that Mia's car had been in the driveway.
"Mia quit leaving your fucking shoes in the middle of the damn floor!" She yelled, not sure where her sister was at the moment, and walked into the living room. Walking over to the couch, she grabbed Leon's corona out of his hand and took a drink.
"What the hell? That's mine!" He said trying to grab it back as she held it out in front of him.
"Not no more. Not keeping a good grip on your beer around me usually ends in me taking it from ya." She said and took another swig, making him glare at her while the other five men laughed. "Where's Let and Mia?"
"Upstairs getting ready. Where else would they be?" Vince said, holding his corona a little tighter.
"Chill V I already took Le's. I won't need another one for a few minutes. I'll be up there if ya need me."
"See if ya can get them to hurry, we need to get outta here." Dom said, careful of his words.
"Yeah alright, I ain't making any promises though. I remember how hard it is to get Mia stop looking in the mirror." And saying that she went upstairs, Leon's beer still in hand. Figuring they were both in Mia's room, she pushed the door open and walked in. Letty, was the first to notice her, seeing her in the mirror.
"Hey chica how ya doing?" She said looking at the younger female.
"I'm fine, and my guess is Dom told ya bout earlier or you wouldn't have asked."
"Uh huh, he knows he fucked up girl. He feels like a complete ass."
"Good, he should. He had no right to say what he did."
"Anni, you know how Dom is." Mia said to her little sister, not sure what their brother had done, but knowing it'd probably been something stupid.
"Yeah I do know, and I know that he needs to learn that he ain't always gonna get his way. Oh and by the way, in case ya didn't hear me yell- "
"We heard ya girl, as loud as you were how could we not?" Letty said, grinning. Anni just flashed a sarcastic smile towards her and stuck her middle finger up.
"Dom says to hurry yo' asses up."
"That's all Dom ever says, so what's new?" Mia said rolling her eyes. "Well that and threatening to leave us here. Hasn't yet."
"Yeah and he won't either if he wants to live much longer than he has." Letty said making Antoinette laugh.
"Let, he's already proved he don't care about hazards to his health, he pissed me off, remember?"
"Too true girl." She answered putting the finishing touches on her make up. "You done yet Mia, you've been at this longer than I have."
"Yeah I'm ready c'mon let's go before the boys start yellin' up the stairs." As soon as she'd said that they all heard Dom yell,
"Hurry up you three or we're gonna leave your asses here!" Looking over at each other, Letty and Antoinette said at the same time,
"Too late." And burst into giggles. Getting control over themselves they walked down the stairs, and Anni walked up to Leon.
"Here you can have your beer back." Handing him the empty bottle and walking away from him. Letty laughed as he sent a scowl in her friend's direction. "C'mon now guys, you wanted to leave so bad so start movin' yo' asses out the door." As soon as they got out the door she held her keys up, "So who's riding with me? How bout you Vinny?"
"Hell no. Ain't no way I'ma be caught riding in that barbie car."
"Aww what's the matter, afraid if the chasers see ya they'll think you stuff socks in yo' shorts?" Hearing this Letty snorted while Mia tried, but failed miserably, to mask her laughter by coughing. He knew that the only way to keep Mia and Letty quiet would be to ride with Anni. Sighing he said,
"Fine I'll ride in your damn car."
"No one's forcing you to V." She said grinning, knowing that she'd won this and that he was unhappy about it. As they got in the car and left for the races she could hear him grumbling about it.
Arriving at the races in the normal 'V' shape as always, Antoinette could see the curious looks her car was getting, especially since it was in Vince's spot. As she stepped out of her car she walked over to Letty and Mia, not wanting to deal with the chasers, or answer questions she knew she would get if she was up by the guys. After talking to them for a few minutes she spotted Hector, and told them she was going over to say 'Hi'. It wasn't until she was too far away to get her attention they noticed that she was going straight for the Trans.
"Shit!" Letty muttered before running over to the guys with Mia. "Ya'll might wanna start over towards Hector, now."
"Why would we wanna do that?" Dom asked looking at her funny.
"Cuz that's where Anni's headed and she'll be going by the Trans on her way there."
"Oh fuck. C'mon I might need some help with her." And all of them began following her.
Antoinette was walking straight for Hector not noticing who she was passing. She couldn't wait to see the look on his face when he realized it was her. They'd been pretty close before she left, and she hadn't gotten the chance to see him yet. It wasn't until she was walking by a group of various Honda's and crotch rockets that her focus was turned to anything else. As she walked past them she heard one say,
"When you're done with Toretto's crew give me a call. You need a real man." And then he grabbed her ass. She immediately stopped, and balling her fists up spun around, facing none other than Johnny Tran himself.
"Bitch, I know you didn't just grab my ass." She said through clenched teeth.
"Yeah babe I think I did." He said still not recognizing who she was. "What do you think you're gonna do about it?"
"This." She said simply, and making it look like she was going to walk away, threw her whole body into the right hook she landed on his jaw. "Ya know Tran I'da thought that by now you'd have learned not to fuck with us Torettos. Touch my ass again and you'll be lucky if you don't end up in a body bag." Walking away, towards Hector again, she was stopped when he grabbed her wrist and turned her back around.
"That was a big mistake you bitch." He said, rage in his eyes as he raised his arm to hit her. He was stopped by a hand grabbing his own wrist. Seeing the smirk that had formed on Antoinette's face, he turned his head and saw Dom.
"Tran I know you weren't planning on hitting my sister were you? Cuz you know I'd hate to have to kick your ass again like I did at Wars. Only this time everyone will know who you are." Letting go of her wrist, he sent a dirty look which she returned before holding her middle finger up and turning, walking over to Hector. Looking down at Tran Dom said once more, "You better watch yourself." And followed his sister with the team over to Hector.

A/N: Okay so there's Chapter Ten!! Yay... I know ya'll are thinking... It's about damn time, huh?? But yeah at first I was having computer difficulties... then I just wasn't sure what to write... evil writer's block. So yeah I know that this kinda sux ending it here but I'm splitting it in half cuz it'd be way too long if I didn't!! It's barely under 10 pages already!! Not including this A/N... so yeah... plus I'm planning to update this again sometime next week along with my other fic!! Woohoo!! So thanx to all my wonderful reviewers!! I luv ya all!! To my girls... I luv ya tons and ya know it!! You're all amazing writers and great friends... I'd be lost without ya... Chels... I luved having our conversation on hair... and ya know I gotta agree its funny how you can start talking bout something unimportant and it goes to something really deep. Wellz that's bout it but before I go I gotta advertise... go check out mine and PrincessHermione's new WWE fic!! It's called New Diva's Change Everything and our penname is CenasSmackdownTwins... we've worked really hard on it so far and would love to know what you think. Later ya'll and don't forget to click that wonderful little REVIEW button!! I'll luv ya forever if you do!! Bye.

Jess