Me: Hey guys! Here's Chapter Three – I know I made you wait really long for it, and I'm terribly sorry. I had a research paper due last Friday which I managed to finish on Thursday, and my English teacher was loading assignments on us like there was no tomorrow. It was nuts! Plus, my finals start tomorrow (bleh) so I've gotta get to studying. And this weekend I've got my karate exam which I wanna do really good on (I'm an orange belt now, so I'm going to get my green, or if I'm extremely lucky, my blue), and the stuff takes up a good chunk of the weekend. Plus I gotta study lots and lots for my Science exam, so… to put it bluntly, I'm might not get a chance to post a new chapter for another couple weeks. Gomen nasai! (I'm sorry)
Shi: clears throat Now that she's done ranting… Remember, this story takes place before, during, and after The Fast and the Furious, and may persist through and after 2 Fast 2 Furious if there is enough interest in the story and she doesn't get a writer's block. Now, on with the fic!
Chapter Three
Meeting Old Faces and New
The ride back to the garage was not silent, by any means. Letty didn't think that she would be the best choice to care for the teenage girl, especially seeing as they hadn't seen or talked to each other in five years. And besides, she figured that her sister was still mad at her for abandoning her. "Why couldn't you stay at the house with Mother, or go with Marcus wherever the hell he is?" she inquired.
"Marcus is just like Dad," Isabelle informed her, "so he would've kicked me out of the house, completely ignored me, or something like that. Besides, I think he moved to like… Canada or something. All I remember is that he knocked up some girl, and he was abusing her and all that shit, and then he moved away. And Mom… Mom moved in with Uncle Mike, I think she finally went into rehab. Either that, or she found a new drug dealer that didn't ask for as much money and was pretty easy to get a hold of."
The elder sister shook her head in disappointment at this. Her mother was probably still on drugs… the last time they'd seen each other, she'd promised she'd quit, for the sake of Isabelle. She highly doubted that her mother would've gone into rehabilitation, as that would've been 'too boring and draining' in her mom's eyes. "How long has it been since she left to live with Michael?"
Without a pause to think about the answer, making it seem that she knew her sister was going to ask that, Isa replied, "A week from tomorrow. I think she knew the Father was going to flip soon, because she'd just found out about him and she knew Father was bound to find out. So, she flew out to Uncle Mike's, knowing full well he would take care of her. She didn't bother to take me with her, didn't even tell me she was leaving."
Mia sat silently, driving back to the garage (and purposely taking the long way back) while listening to the sisters' conversation. 'Damn,' she thought to herself, 'that chick's been through hell.' She knew that the child hadn't had a five-star life, because Letty as a child hadn't had shit, but she never realized how bad things were. She still didn't, but she knew it wasn't much better than Letty's. "So," Mia piped up, "this boyfriend of yours… how cute was he?"
Letty shook her head… Mia was always like this. A hopeless romantic, she called her sometimes, because she could never get her mind off of the topic of boys. She hoped that someday the younger of the Toretto siblings would find a nice boy that would care about her more than anything else, and they'd settle down.
"He was cute," Isabelle replied with a smile, "probably the cutest boy in my grade. Well, the cutest one that would actually talk to me… most people kept their distance."
Mia let out a small chuckle. "Must be a sister thing, then. Everybody was scared to hell of Let when she was in school – especially when she started going out with Dom. Jeez, I think the only friends Letty did have were… well, us!"
Letty gave her a punch in the shoulder, along with a playful glare. "For your information, Mia, I had plenty of friends. I just didn't talk to many people because I spent all my time with you and Dom and Vince." She turned around to look at her sister, informing her, "You're going to have to watch yourself around the house. It's asshole-ridden. We're the only girls in the house, and there's four guys there –" she notice the interested look on her face "– but they're all out of your age range – well, maybe accept for Jesse, he's only a few years older than you – don't get any ideas!"
The teenager just shrugged; she didn't think she'd be interested in anybody for a while, much less somebody her sister was friends with. Her sister didn't have the best choices when it came to people she hung out with – Mia was about the only exception. "Are you still going out with Dominic Toretto, then?" she inquired, knowing the answer but wanting to assure herself.
"Damn straight," replied Letty, a grin threatening to break across her face. "Hey, kid, I just thought about something… we're going to have to find you a school to go to, aren't we?"
Isabelle frowned and leaned back in her seat, causing her sister to laugh at her. "Do I have to go back to school? I mean, it's so bloody boring, and it's pointless – I can't learn in there anything about what I want to do, and I know most of what they teach us anyway. Can't you just, like, take me outta school or something?"
They turned onto the street where the garage was located as Letty replied, "Nah, sorry chika, but we've gotta put you into school. It was part of the forms they made me sign, and plus you know I gotta get rid of you during the day or else you'll annoy the hell outta me! But maybe I'll give you a couple free days, then enroll you on like, Wednesday or something. That fine?"
"Yeah," Isa responded sadly, knowing she had no choice in the matter, "I guess so." She leaned against the window and looked up the road, spotting some care with people walking around them. "Damn, sis, d'you see those rides? That's RX-7's sweet…"
Mia sighed, and said, "Goddamn it, Letty's, she is freakin' mini you! What the hell did you teach that kid before you moved out?"
A grin crept over both sisters' faces as the older replied, "Everything I knew back then. I had her rattling off engines before she could walk. Besides, didn't I already tell you about how much I taught her? Remember the minion conversation on the drive to the station?"
"I thought you were kidding," Mia admitted, pulling into the parking lot of the garage, where a welcome crew was waiting. She got outta the car in synchronization with Leticia, and Vince was there to help her out of the car. She waved his hand away, and after shutting her door opened Isabelle's.
Isabelle walked out, not really conscious of everybody watching her as she was mesmerized by the cars. Glancing through them, she recognized each one and mentally told herself what it was, then saw the one she knew was Letty's – a Nissan 240 SX. She looked over at Letty momentarily, inquiring, "Oh, seriously, you've gotta be kidding me… You work in a garage, got a beautiful car, and live with your best friends?"
Letty grinned as she walked around the car to throw an arm across her sibling's shoulders. "Yeah, Isa, you have a problem with that or something?"
"No, none at all. I just wanna know how the hell it is that you had the shittiest life growing up, but you ended up getting everything," she informed her, scanning over the Nissan Maxima.
The older sister simply smiled, indicating Dominic, while replying, "Dom did this all. Shit, I'd probably be living in a crappy little apartment and working as a waitress if he didn't take control the garage. Besides, chika, you can work here whenever you want – for your allowance or something. You fine with that?"
Isabelle nodded and hugged her sister before the two noticed that everybody was watching them – or rather, confusedly watching Isabelle. Shyly, which was highly unusual for her, she shoved her hands into the pockets of her hoodie and stared at the pavement. She heard her sister laugh at her reaction, followed by a little chuckle by Mia.
"Guys, I'd like you to meet my little sister – Isabelle Maroulis," Letty said, a wide grin across her face. She forces Isabelle to look at the guys in the parking lot, all of whom were looking at them, confused, as well as giving the youngster a once-over. "She's going to be living with us for a while. Anybody have any objections?"
Vince, Leon, and Jesse instinctively swirled around to look at Dominic, who simply shook his head, and then they guys imitated him. Leon piped up, "Are we allowed to know why she's staying with us?"
After getting the go-ahead from his girlfriend, Dom gave a simple explanation of, "Her father beat the shit out of some kid and ended up in jail. Letty got custody of her."
There was silence before Leon smiled and said, "Letty's got parents? Damn… all this time I was thinking that Dom just found her under a rock or something."
Letty grinned as everybody else, while giving a playful threat to him. Isabelle looked into her sister's eyes, and she found something that, on some level, surprised her – she saw that her sister felt these people were family. Isa bit her bottom lip, suddenly feeling very uneasy at her presence in her sister's life – Letty had gotten over her, she'd moved on, and now she had come running back in, asking for everything.
"Yo, yo, shut up!" Letty called over the laughs. "Isabelle, I would like you to meet Vince Lopez, whom you must avoid at all costs –" she motioned towards V, who growled at Letty but gave a small smile and a wink to the teenager. "And Leon Velasquez, who thinks he's all pro at video games," she indicated Leon, leaning against the side of his Skyline, who gave a little salute to the girl. "Jesse Simmons, our little mad scientist and computer genius," she pointed towards the former youngest, who removed a cigarette from his mouth to voice a greeting. "Oh, and I know you haven't forgotten Dominic." Dominic smiled at the child. "Now! Intro's are done!"
Isabelle smiled at each of the guys, mentally connecting the names to the faces for future reference. She waited for somebody to say something, but through the silence she studied the half-dozen cars that lay dormant in the lot. Her eyes began to examine the Mazda RX-7, and she began to wonder who owned it. It obviously wasn't Leon's, because he was leaning against his, and she was positive her sister owned the Nissan 240SX, and Mia own the car they'd driven to the garage in – that left Dominic, Vince, and Jesse.
Vince looked her over once again and inquired, "How the hell can you where that hoodie in this weather?"
Shrugging, she replied, "I'm used to it. I wore stuff like this all the time where I used to live – Florida." She made her way passed the boys and over to the RX-7, running her hand along the sleek frame of it, and a smile began tugging at the corner of her lips. "Damn… how fast does she go? Twenty seconds? Fifteen?"
Dominic laughed. "Girl, if she was running fifteens, I'd throw her ass in the junk yard and steal Mia's car. Mine goes ten seconds at most," he informed her, leaning his arm on the RX-7. "So, I'm guessing you know a little bit about cars, do you? Letty's personal student?"
"I don't know a little bit about cars, I know a lot. Letty had me studying for my test to get my permit since I was seven," she told him, grinning.
A chuckle came from Leon's direction, and the little girl turned to look at him. "So," he said, running a hand through his hair, "since you were seven? How old are you now, twelve? Still got a couple years of studying, I suppose… but a week or two with us and you'll know more than most people who've had their license for a dozen years."
"I'm sixteen, thank you very much, and I've got my permit already." She reached into the back pocket of her jeans and hauled out a driving permit with her picture on it, along with her name and any other information it needed.
Letty was shocked by this revelation, and it showed. When had her sister become sixteen? She definitely didn't look it, and… she was her sister, she wasn't allowed to have her permit yet! Isabelle was supposed to go over everything with her and take her first driving lessons together… The older of the sisters watched her sister with wide eyes for a moment before inquiring to her sibling, "Has Dad taught you to drive yet, chika?"
Isabelle looked over to her sister and sadly shook her head. "He said he didn't want to, that if I wanted to drive I should teach myself or wrap the car around a telephone pole trying. And he said he'd never let me near his car, unless he was piss-loaded drunk and needed a lift home."
Everybody save for the youngster exchanged excited glances, causing Isa to give them all odd, 'what are you plotting' looks. "Listen, kiddo," Dominic said, resting a hand gingerly on her shoulder, "you have just become the luckiest kid in Los Angeles. You've got the best drivers in the city teaching you the tricks of the trade."
She looked up at Dom, surprised that he would just accept her so quickly and without question, and that he'd do something so nice for her. "Seriously? You'd do that?"
"Well, what else am I going to do? Let some driving school asshole teach you? Nah, you're learning from us, and before you know it, you'll be driving circles around everybody at school. Besides, it'll be fun," he said, grinning at her. Dominic looked around at all of his teammates and announced, "Well, I'm sure this break has been really exciting for everybody, but you all have to get your butts back to work, or else I'll kick everybody out of the house for a week."
The three girls laughed, but Vince and Jesse practically whirled around and bolted into the garage. Mia walked into the building with her brother's arm around her shoulders, and Letty turned around to watch her sister for a moment. Leon waited for the older of the Maroulis sisters, as she called to her sibling, "Yo, chika, something the matter? You look out of it. Do you want to go back to the house or something, maybe get some rest? You look kinda pale."
"I'm fine… I'm just… shocked, I guess. Never thought Dad would flip out that much… never thought I'd get to come back here… never thought I'd get to see my big sister again," she said, her tone depressed, but then she perked up. She smiled, which made the bruise on her cheek stand out a bit more. "Thanks! You can go on inside if you want. I'll stay out here a while."
Leon stared at her for a moment, and then decided to walk over to her. Running a finger along her cheek, he inquired, "How did you get this, Isabelle?"
She shivered at his touch, causing him to quickly draw away. "A fight at school," she told him, covering up for her father. She didn't know why she did, she despised the man, for what he'd done to Damien, and for despising her ever since Letty left. "Yeah… to say the least, I didn't really get along with many people back at my old school."
He suspected that she wasn't being entirely truthful, but didn't press the matter, as he knew Letty would have his ass if he did anything to make her sister upset. Leaving her to think things over, he walked over to the elder of the sisters and threw an arm around her shoulders. "Damn, girl," he told her as they walked back into the garage, "your dad sounds like a real jackass."
After a couple hours of chatting, helping out on the Mustang, and watching television, the workday was over. The owner of the car came and retrieved it, and then the group made their way back to Isabelle's new home. Her bottom jaw nearly dropped at the sheer size of the place, which made Mia laugh. She ordered the guys to bring in the bags the young girl had brought while she showed her around the house, and to her room.
"Damn this place is huge…" Isa said as they finally reached her new bedroom.
Mia laughed again at the child's reaction and pulled her into a hug. "It's not that big when you consider that six – now seven – people live in it. Anyway, I'll go get some sheets for your bed, and some other stuff you'll need – when Vince yells out for me show him which room you're in, all right?"
The teenager nodded as Mia exited the room, and flopped onto her bed before glancing around the room. Sure, it wasn't the biggest thing in the world, nor the most elegant, but she was positive that, after a while, it would become something that she could call her own. She strolled over to the window opposite her door and looked down, to find that she had a perfect view of the driveway. Leaning out, she watched as Vince took one of the bags from the trunk of Mia's car and walked towards the front. Grinning as she ran, she made her way down the hall and descended the stairway to arrive at the door just as Leon and Vince, carrying one bag each, were about to come in.
"So where's your room, kid?" inquired Leon, leaning his frame against the wall. He and Vince followed the girl as she led the way up the stairs and down the hallway to the other end of the house, closest to the driveway. "Hey, how come the new girl gets the one with the good view?" he whined, but there was a grin on his face so she knew he was kidding.
A voice from the doorway replied, "Because she's the little sister of the girlfriend of the man of the house." They all whipped around on their heels to see Mia standing in the doorway, holding a bunch of sheets. After a moment of silence, she held the sheets out and inquired, "Someone wanna take these?"
Isabelle jumped to her feet from where she'd been sitting on her new bed and rushed over, graciously taking the bedsheets. "Thanks a lot, Mia."
"No problem," she replied, leaving to get more stuff for the girl's room. Vince followed after her, but Leon flopped down onto the bed, beside her.
He smiled. "You look troubled, kid – something wrong?" he inquired. She still looked a bit pale, which he thought was a bit odd for somebody who'd lived in Florida, but she wore Hoodies, too, so he knew she was strange. He looked into her pretty blue eyes as she looked up at him and saw himself in her eyes.
She grinned slightly, answering, "Yes – well – no – um – no. Everything's perfectly fine!" The teenage girl widened her grin and sent her arms around him, pulling him into a quick embrace, which he returned. "Thank you for being so nice Mr. Velasquez!"
Leon laughed. "No problem, Miss Maroulis." With that he got up and left her to straighten out her things, giving her a little wave as he exited.
Outside the room, Mia put an arm around him and, after he did the same to her, she informed him, "You know, Letty's gonna be mad if you start hitting on her sister."
He gave her a strange look and snapped back, "I was not hitting on her! I was being nice!"
"Come on, Leon, besides with Letty and me, the only times you were ever nice to a girl were when you could get her into bed. And you even tried to do that to Letty and me when you first met us! Face it, Le, you're a player," she said, laughing.
The male would not give. "I wasn't hitting on her, Mia. How could you get me flirting with her out of what I did?"
Jesse popped up behind Leon and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Oh, you look troubled," he said jokingly, imitating Leon's voice, "is something wrong? Poor kid…" He and Mia cracked up laughing, earning him a smack in the stomach from Leon, just as Letty walked towards them. "Hey Letty."
She stared at them suspiciously, asking, "Damn, what are you guys high off of? What going on?"
The three gave quick glances to each other before answering, in unison, "Nothing!"
"Whatever… Anyway, supper's ready. Get your butts outside. I'm gonna go get Isabelle…" she informed them, pushing passed the threesome.
Me: So? What did you think? Want me to keep going? How about reviewing, you wanna do that? Please? Flames are accepted and, though not welcome, will be used for burning my notes from school. Thank! Buh-bye now! I'll try to post ASAP!