The next afternoon in Niema's driveway

Niema was halfway under her car when her housemate came out of the house. "Yo, Ni! Somebody named Jesse is on the phone for you," she called from the porch. Niema slid out and sat up. "Thanks, Pris. Just set it on the railing," she answered, getting to her feet and wiping off her hands. Pris grinned and held the receiver up to her ear. "She'll be with you in just a second." Niema laughed and reached for the telephone. Her friend handed it to her and leaned on the railing.

"Hey, Jesse. 'Sup?" Niema asked, crossing her eyes at Pris. On the other end, she could hear loud music in the background. "Hey, Ni. I was wondering if you could help me install that Pattern 4 tonight?" he asked her, speaking loudly over the music. "Sure. Bring your car over and we'll get it hooked up, kid," she replied, raising her middle finger at Pris who was making kissy faces at her. "What's the address?" She laughed softly. "1735 Drayton. Know where it is?" "Hang on a sec. Leon, knock it off, man. Hey, you know where 1735 Drayton is?" she heard him ask. "Yeah, it's not too far. Why?" she heard Leon say in the back. "Never mind. Niema, I'll be there in about 15 minutes. That cool?" "Yeah, Jesse. I'll be waiting." "Cool. See ya." "Bye." Niema hung up and handed the phone back to Pris.

"So who's Jesse?" she asked, eyeing Niema curiously. "I met him last night at the race," Niema answered quietly, knowing that Pris was going to be upset. "Is that where you were last night? Damn, girl, I wanted to go too. You know that." She held up her hands in a placating gesture. "I know, Pris. But I needed to race last night. And I did." Pris smiled. "Did you win?" Niema nodded and grinned. "Hell yeah. Beat Dominic Toretto, too," she responded, wiggling her eyebrows. "Ooohh, I'm scared. I've heard he's the king of the street races. How did he take it?" Pris asked gleefully, her brown eyes dancing. "He seemed to take it well. Of course, that seemed to change during the party at his house. I was out on the porch talking to Vince when he came out, got pissed and then I came home," she told her, shrugging her shoulders, wanting to forget about it.

Predictably, Pris jumped to her defense. "What the fuck was his problem?" "I don't know, Pris. I was just sitting there with Vince and talking. He came out, called my name and when he saw me with Vince, he got pissed and went back inside. Whatever his problem is, he'll get over it," Niema said in irritation. "Well, he'd best not try that shit around me. I'll wrap a hubcap around his head. This Vince, who is he?" Niema smiled slightly. "Coyote." Pris snorted. "You mean the slut? How many times he try to get in your pants last night?" "He didn't. That surprised me. He actually seems kind of nice." "I'll believe it when I see it," Pris stated, her eyes clearly showing that she didn't believe it at all. Niema shook her head. "The only thing I'm thinking about right now is helping Jesse get his hood lift installed. Do me a favor, would you? Try to be nice for once." Pris pouted prettily. "I'll be nice, Mom." Niema let loose a snort of laughter. "I'll believe it when I see it," she said, using Pris's own words. "You'll see," was all she would say.

At Dom's house

"Leon, come with me, huh?" Jesse asked, pacing back and forth in front of the couch. Leon tilted his head slightly and looked at his friend. "What's wrong, little man?" Jesse shook his head. "Nothin'. It's just that the chick who answered the phone sounded hot and you know how I get around chicks sometimes," he explained, desperately hoping Leon wouldn't choose now to make fun of him.

Leon grinned. "Tell you what, man. I'll go with you and keep this other chick busy. Sound like a plan?" he suggested, getting to his feet and clapping Jesse on the back. The look of intense gratitude on his friend's face was answer enough. "Let's go get your hood lifted, Jess." Laughing slightly, Jesse and Leon headed out of the house after telling Mia that they'd be back later.

Niema's house

Music blasted out of the windows of the house as Niema leaned over her engine. Pris was dancing from the garage to her own car with a toolbox in her hands. She stopped in her tracks when a white Jetta pulled into the driveway and parked next to Niema's Supra. She watched two men get out of the car, one tall with dark brown hair and the other a skinny, nervous looking blonde. The tall one looked real good to her.

"Hi, Jesse. Leon, you protecting his honor?" Niema teased, raising up and grinning at both of them. "You bet. Gotta keep the ladies off the studmuffin, y'know?" Leon laughed as Jesse blushed. Niema smiled. "I've got the kit in the garage, Jess. You can help me carry it out here. Pris, pick up your chin and bring the tools, would you?" she said, grinning at her friend. Pris shot her the finger and dropped the toolbox next to the Jetta. Niema laughed and had Jesse follow her into the garage.

"So you're Leon," Pris commented, folding her arms over her chest and looking him in the eyes. "Yep. That means you're Pris. What kind of name is that, anyway? " he asked, leaning against Jesse's car and looking at her speculatively. She rolled her eyes. "It's short for Priscilla. But don't ever call me that or you'll die a slow, painful death." Leon grinned. "I'll just call you Pris then." Pris nodded. "Smart boy." "Actually, I'm a smart man but I'll let your comment slide." "Well, I'm a smartass so I think we'll get along just fine." He smirked and tilted his head a little to the left. "It's a nice ass, too," he complimented her. "It looks better if you get the full effect," she teased, turning her back to him and leaning her upper body against Niema's car. Leon groaned softly. "Damn, baby. Mmm mmm mmm," he chuckled, grinning broadly when she turned back around. Pris just winked at him.

Niema stood in the doorway of the garage, watching Pris and Leon. She started to laugh as Pris did her trademark 'porn pose'. "What's so funny?" Jesse asked, coming up beside her. She could only point. Jesse followed her finger and watched Leon checking out Pris's ass. He laughed as well and picked up one of the boxes next to Niema. She picked up the other one and they carried them down to Jesse's car. "Get a room," was all Jesse said and it was enough to make both Leon and Pris laugh.

Niema and Jesse were almost finished with the installation when tires squealed around the corner. She leaned up as did Pris and groaned audibly when she saw that it was Dom. "That Toretto?" Pris asked, her eyes narrowing. "Yeah, why?" she asked, noticing the flathead screwdriver in her hand. "No reason," Pris lied cheerfully before leaning down and popping off a hubcap. Niema sighed heavily. "I really don't need this shit," she mumbled, setting down her ratchet and stepping away from Jesse's car.

Jesse saw Dom's car and his jaw tightened. Dom had been pissed since last night and he and Vince had pretty much been snarling at each other all day. Leon came over and stood next to Jesse. "Relax, man. Everything's cool," he told his young friend softly. "Yeah, right. And I'm a normal guy," Jesse retorted, feeling the need to start pacing.

Dom's car squealed to a stop and he was out of it before it was completely in park. He looked highly pissed. A slender redhead stepped in front of him, hubcap in hand. "Step off before I wrap this around your big, bald head, Toretto. You're on my property now so you'd best keep your ass in the street," she threatened, deftly flipping the hubcap like a baton. Dom stared at her like she'd sprouted a second head. "Leon, Jesse! Get back to the house," he ordered, anger rolling off him in waves. To his utter surprise, Jesse shook his head. "Ni's helping me install a Pattern 4 and I'm not leaving until it's done," he told Dom, though he was shaking. Leon nodded. "And I leave when Jesse leaves. Y'know, I hope that whatever's up your ass gets removed soon, 'cuz you're embarrassing Jesse." That seemed to have an effect on Dom. "I'll see you at the house, Jesse," was all he said before he turned and got back into his car.

Burning rubber as he took off, Dom couldn't believe what Leon had just said to him. He'd always been funny about his team embarrassing him and here he was doing it to one of them.

Niema smiled at Jesse, though the smile looked painful. "Let's get this done, huh, Jess?" she suggested quietly, turning back to the car. He softly touched her shoulder. "What's going on , Ni?" he asked softly. "I don't know, Jesse. He gave me attitude last night because he found me out on the porch with Vince. We were just talking and he got pissed about it," she replied softly and gave him a weak smile. Jesse shook his head. "It couldn't be that. I mean, it doesn't make any sense," he said. "Don't worry about it, okay? I'm not," she told him. "Let's get this done." Dropping the subject, Jesse got back to work on the hood lift.

Niema and Jesse finished installing the Pattern 4 and then he and Leon left. Without a word to Pris, Niema walked into the house and straight to her room. The door locked behind her, she refused to come out even when Pris told her that dinner was ready. That was when Pris knew that something was seriously wrong.