Thanks and e-hugs to all my reviewers.
AshantaliyahT
foxy-latina
hiya17735
Meg
Purple-Crane05
VinsBaby1989 ( and to answer your question, T.J should be about seventeen and Lee should be about fifteen)
Miss_Streets ( I am aware that Dom was Italian, being partly Italian myself, I recognized the last name, but he HAS been living in a mainly Latino neighborhood for sixteen years and so he has learned Spanish ( at least in my story) and Letty, I think was partly Latino. Also there actually is a genetic way for them to have a blue-eyed child, cuz if both the parents have brown eyes, the kid has a fifty percent chance at having blue eyes. Believe me, I did this in gr. 8 science.)
LittleLetty( Unfortunately I don't speak Spanish and I am not Latino. I am your average white girl with a mixed European background. I just use a translator for the Spanish, since I only speak English and some French. Oh well, maybe I can learn Spanish.)
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With a wild whoop, Lee leapt off the back steps of the house and dodging around Leon, danced past the grill to the picnic table. Dom playfully tussled her hair as she boogied past.
"Watch out for the pops will you ? We don't want them to break."
Lee flashed him her trademark grin that would have dazzled even Miss America and pretended to drop one, but caught it before it hit the ground.
"No worries, Papi. I got it."
"Go check on how your Aunt Mia's doing with the salad, 'kay ?"
"Yeah. 'Kay."
There were four identical thumps as T.J and his friends jumped from his bedroom window onto the garage roof and then down into the yard. Dom let the other three teenage boys hang around the house and the garage, because they always sort of reminded him of himself, Vince, Leon and Jessie.
Miguel and Tulio were half-brothers whose mother had been a prostitute. Miguel's dad had been white so he had light blue eyes and dark blonde hair, but had dark skin. Tulio looked sort of like any other guy you could find in their neighborhood, with dark skin and greasy black hair. The third guy, Wes was Polish-Italian and had pale skin, but dark eyes and dark curly black hair.
Tulio and Miguel lived in the house next door, but could often be found at their house whenever meals were being served. Tulio was the older one by a few months, but Miguel was the first to drop out of school, because he suffered from ADHD and so could never pay attention to anything but cars long enough to actually learn something.
Dom didn't know much about Wes, except for he had turned up at their garage a few months ago looking for a job and when Dom had found out he had no place to live, invited him to stay at their house.
Lee tried to dodge past the boys with a bowl of potato chips in one hand, but T.J snagged her as she tried to get around his arm
"Whatcha got there lil'sis ?"
"Nothin' for you."
"Yeah right."
Lee rolled her eyes and snorted derisively. "Do you do anything but eat ?"
"I build cars."
"Other than that."
"I don't know. What do you think ?"
"You're stupid."
T.J laughed and turned his sister loose with a playful tug on her ear.
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Vince couldn't believe how big Dom's kids had gotten. He'd never met them before, but Dom and Letty always brought pictures when they came to visit. That was before they broke up, though.
He noticed how much more T.J looked like Dom than Lee did. He had the dark, brooding looks and the dark, brooding personality to go with it. Lee looked at lot like Letty, but acted more like a combination of Jesse and Mia. She was fun-loving and crazy about cars, like Jesse, but had a maternal instinct to take care of everyone, like Mia.
Vince took another swig of his Corona and settled back into the lawn-chair he was seated on.
It sure is good to be back, he thought.
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Pretty soon they were all settled around the picnic table, which was piled high with steaming food.
Miguel threw himself into his chair and reached for the chicken , but Dom stopped him with a light smack across the knuckles.
"Miguel, you know the rules. Whoever reaches in for the food first has to say grace."
Miguel cursed under his breath in Spanish, but dutifully bowed his head and pressed his hands together, as the others followed suit.
"Our Lord, who art in heaven. Thank you for the food tonight and for family as well as .......................( names various car parts that the author has no clue what they are ) Amen."
Everyone else chorused amen and then began reaching for the various platters of food.
"Dude, you are so praying to the wrong god." T.J laughed as he stripped a piece of chicken off a wing that he held in his hands.
"Whaddaya mean ?"
"You got to pray to the Great Lords in the big car lot in the sky. Haven't you ever heard of them ?"
"No."
"I'll tell you about 'em after dinner."
" 'Kay."
Lee had been thoughtfully poking at her salad, but then she turned to Dom.
"Papi, did you ever know a guy named Brian O'Connor ?"
Dom face grew dark and he carefully set down his bottle of beer on the table.
"Why do you ask ?" He was trying to keep his voice calm, but Vince and Leon could tell he was really pissed off.
" 'Cuz he came to the diner today and was asking if you still owned the place and I asked him why he wanted to know and he said that he used to know you."
Dom looked at the beer bottle and seemed to study the label intently for a long time before speaking.
"Yeah.....I did used to know him, but it's been a while. So you're saying he's back in town then ?"
Lee was getting nervous and she looked around the table for support. Her papi only talked in that eerily calm voice when he was about to get really mad at someone. Catching her eye, T.J slipped a comforting arm around her thin shoulders and Wes grabbed her hand under the table, giving it a small squeeze to let her know that he was there for her.
"Uh, yeah. I guess he's back. I dunno."
There was a small clatter of metal against plastic as Mia drooped her fork onto her plate.
"I-I'm sorry. I've got to be going now." Mia practically jumped up from her seat and dropping a small kiss on Dom's cheek, almost ran out of the yard.
"Why don't you guys go upstairs now ? I've got to talk to your uncles for a bit."
"What about the dishes ?"
"We can pick them up later. Go on now."
Trading nervous glances, the boys and Lee picked up their plates and disappeared into the house.
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"I don't like this."
Lee rested her elbows on the edge of her window as she peered out it.
"What ?"
T.J was leaning against the wall at the head of her bed and Wes was seated cross-legged in between them, while Miguel draped himself over the stuffed arm chair in one corner of her room and Tulio threw himself onto the floor.
"I think I shouldn't have said anything to papi. He must really not like this guy to get so pissed off so fast."
Wes threw a friendly arm over her shoulder and she leaned back into his chest.
T.J tried to ignore the casual intimacy between his sister and one of his best friends and instead intently studied the stuffed cow, sitting on the bed next to him.
"Yeah and what about Aunt Mia ? She ran out of here pretty fast."
"I don't know. Maybe they all used to be friends and he did something bad."
"Maybe."
"I just hope he never comes around the diner when Papi's there or he'll kill him......."