Chapter 2- Slipping Away

"Mija! What do you think you are doing? Get up! You have chores to do! Move!" I felt hands grip the edges of my comforter and jerk it off of me and then I felt my mom grab my sore wrist and yank me out of bed. She knew that wrist was sore. That's why she went for it. I yelped out and fell to my knees, cursing softly.

"Jesus Mama, I'm up!" Cursing was a big mistake. She bent down and backhanded me across the cheek. I guess she felt that cursing was for everyone but 13 year old girls.

"Curse again, Leticia and I'll wash your mouth out with soap. Get up and do your chores before your father comes home." She walked out of my room, leaving me to sit there rubbing my burning cheek. I fought back the tears that were threatening to spill from my tired brown eyes. I heard a faint creaking outside and I quickly got up, thinking it was my mother coming back to force me to get started but instead it was my oldest brother, Carlos. He glanced over at my tender pink cheek and shook his head. I glared at him and pushed past him, heading for the bathrooms. I was in charge of cleaning all the bathrooms, sweeping the front and back porches, taking the trash out, and doing the laundry. My brothers were in charge of cleaning their rooms and straightening up the living room. That was it.

I hurried and cleaned the bathroom upstairs and downstairs and then I moved off to clean the porches. I grabbed the broom from the upstairs closet and then made my way downstairs but before I could take a step, my mom came up behind me and pushed me, forcing me to tumble down the hard stairs. I landed hard on the bottom and on my side and cried out, while my mother just picked up the broom and threw it at me. I didn't know why she hated me so much but she did. If she didn't have to worry about being locked away for life or even charged for the death penalty, she'd kill me. If it were legal, she would kill me in the blink of an eye. I guess envy could do that to someone. Turn someone into an abusive and emotionless being.

I got back up on my feet, staggering a bit before limping off to sweep the porches. I was crying the whole time. It hurt every time I swayed my arms left and right. I think I really did do something to my ribs. The pain was almost unbearable.

I heard a soft whisper coming from the side of the house and I looked up, seeing Mia and an annoyed looking Dom standing by the bushes. When Dom saw my tear-stained cheeks he immediately stood up straight and looked curious. I wiped the tears away quickly and straightened up, trying to pretend that I was okay. I walked over to them, managing to keep my limp unseen, and frowned. Mia shouldn't be here. She was going to get me in trouble.

"What do you want?" I said in a shaky voice, my brown eyes looking back and fourth between the two.

"Letty, I want you to come over and spend the night."

I glowered at her, gripping the handle of the broom tightly in anger. "I told you Mia. I—"

"Letty, what happened?" Dom stepped up to me and raised a hand to trail a finger over my pink cheek, but I flinched and pulled away. I shouldn't have done that because Mia immediately spoke up.

"Letty, you're coming over. Now!"

I tried hushing Mia but it was too late. My mother's voice sounded out and she soon stepped out onto the porch, looking over at us. She put on a fake friendly smile and approached Mia, flashing her that sweet smile that made my stomach turn every time I saw it.

"You didn't tell me you were expecting company, Leticia." She said, not taking her eyes off of Mia and Dom. I moved over to stand beside her and smiled weakly.

"They were just stopping by—"

"Can Letty spend the night tonight, Mrs. Rodriguez?" Mia chimed in, smiling cutely. Dom just stood there, rolling his eyes in disgust.

My mom looked over at me and then smiled, lightly patting my tender cheek (she touched it on purpose). "If Mr. Toretto doesn't mind…"

"He doesn't mind at all." Mia reassured her, eyeing my mom's patting hand carefully. My mom smiled and gently took the broom out of my hands.

"Run upstairs and pack, then. I'll tell your father when he gets home."

I didn't even hesitate. I walked inside the house and ran upstairs, wincing the whole way there, and into my room. I quickly packed an extra pair of clothes in a bag along with some car magazines and then walked back downstairs, skidding to a halt when I saw my mom standing in front of the closed door. She came over to me looking livid and threatening.

"Make sure you tell Mr. Toretto thank you, Leticia. Be home early tomorrow afternoon, understand?"

I nodded, unable to talk due to the huge lump that caught in my throat. My mom grabbed me by the chin, jerking my head up to look at her.

"I got it, Mama! I understand!" I said quickly.

She released me and I pushed past her, heading outside to rejoin Mia and Dom. I was kind of mad at Mia for coming over but then again I was very grateful. I would have had to tolerate another good 30 minutes of my mother's beatings before my father would come home and put a stop to it all. The first few seconds of the walk was quiet but then I spoke up, wanting to know. I needed to know.

"Does he know?" I asked referring to Dom. Mia nodded her head slowly. I felt Dom looking at me but I couldn't bring myself to look back at him. I was ashamed. Humiliated. Crushed. He must think I am the world's biggest weakling.

Mia saw the sad look in my eyes and smiled weakly. "Dad knows too."

I stopped dead in my tracks. I looked up at Mia, my mouth dropping open. I didn't know why I was even surprised. I knew she would tell them. Mia tells her family everything no matter how many promises she makes to tell no one. I guess I was just worried that Tony would judge me. Think poorly of me. Hate me. Thanks a fucking lot, Mia.

"You told him, too? Mia you promised! You promised me in the bathroom! This is just great. Just fucking great!" I looked over at Dom and let out a shaky sigh, tears cutting their way down my cheeks. "Go ahead. Call me a weakling. Call me a crybaby."

Mia looked over at Dom who just stood there in shock. He looked hurt. No, that must have just been a trick of the eye. Dom didn't care. Or did he? He took a step forward and ran his right thumb along my right cheek, wiping away a tear. I felt his left hand rest at my side. I wanted to hug him. I wanted to just break down right then and there on his shoulder but I didn't. I was too scared that I might be stretching it and he'd just push me away.

"Letty you're the strongest girl I know. I'd never call you those things."

Mia stepped up and put a hand on my arm, ushering me further along on the walk. My spirits were slowly beginning to pick up. Dom didn't see me as a weakling. He had no idea how much that boosted up my self-esteem. If I wasn't still sore from falling down the stairs, I probably would have been strutting along, acting like a cocky lil' bitch.

We got to their house and walked around to the back. Tony got up from his patio chair and came over to me, lifting me up in his strong arms to give me a great big hug. I let out a shaky whimper and he quickly put me down, frowning. Vince got up from his seat and came over to us, curious to know what was going on.

"Letty, what hurts?" I don't think I've every seen his eyes look so sad before.

I couldn't believe that I just blurted out what happened so casually…so easily.

"My mom pushed me down the stairs…" I started to cry. Vince whispered a quiet "Holy shit" which received him a slight nudge in the gut from Dom. "My ribs hurt so bad, Tony. It hurts to move." I continued ignoring the looks I was getting from Vince.

Tony gently picked me up in his arms in a cradling position and carried me inside. He laid me down on the couch gently, kneeling beside me. The others were right behind him.

"Letty, I need you to take off your shirt for me. I'm just going to look and make sure nothing is broken."

I nodded and began lifting up my shirt with Tony's help because I couldn't stretch to lift it over my head. I almost forgot Dom and Vince were in the room until I heard them gasp and scoot closer. For a minute there I thought they were being immature and just being dicks since I was just wearing a sports bra now but when I looked harder I noticed they weren't staring at my undeveloped chest. They were looking at my sides. I looked down at myself and nearly fainted. My skin that was once a beautiful light bronze, was now black and blue. I closed my eyes concentrating hard. Maybe if I wished really hard, the bruises would go away. I opened my eyes and looked back down.

"Dammit!" I cried out.

Tony caught on to what I was trying to do and smiled. "I wish this was a dream too, Letty. Now I need you to hold still."

Mia knelt down next to Tony and gripped my hand. I squeezed it gently while Tony painfully poked around; checking for any unusual bumps or indents anywhere. He double checked to make sure he didn't skip over any areas and then stood up, smiling down at me.

"Nothing's broken, you've just really taken a hit on those stairs. I'm going to give you some ice to get rid of the swelling, okay?"

I nodded and went to grab for my shirt but Tony stopped me. I sighed and looked over at Dom and Vince who were staring down at me, looking my bruises over. I felt so small. In a way, I was small. You know what I'm talking about. I was 13 years old and completely undeveloped. I've seen the girls Dom and Vince hang out with and date. They're so beautiful and developed. I envy them. I don't want to be them; I just wish I had their body.

"I'd feel better if you took your eyes somewhere else." I snapped at them.

Dom smiled and let out a teasing wolf whistle before nudging Vince to follow him upstairs. "Yo Letty, if you need anything from me, let me know okay? Same for Vince."

"Yeah, whateva."

Tony came in with two bags of ice wrapped in a thin towel. He placed one on each of my sides before walking away leaving Mia and I to talk. He was just in the other room, the kitchen, just in case I needed him.

Mia sat Indian style on the floor and leaned against the couch, looking up at me with dreamy eyes. I cocked a brow, scoffing lightly. Why the hell was she looking at me like that?

"What?"

"Oh come on. You know what."

"No, I don't. Fill me in." I smirked, prodding her shoulder gently. She squirmed and scooted away some and then explained.

"My brother was so checking you out."

I nearly fell off the couch laughing. I winced in pain but I couldn't stop laughing. This girl was clueless. She knew I had a thing for Dom but she also knew that Dom didn't even notice me half as much as I noticed him. And even that was an overstatement.

"Mia, I've told you. Dom would never and probably never will give me the time of day to check me out. Just look at me, girl! I have nothing for him to check out. I have no ass and no tits."

Mia broke out laughing and I did too. It really wasn't that funny because it was true, but shrugging it off was all I could do. I just had to laugh off my flaws and move on with life.

Mia and I talked the night away. By the time we stopped talking and started yawning it was a little past midnight. Tony came in every now and then to check up on me and refill the bags with ice. It was going on 1 o'clock when the phone rang. Tony came downstairs and into the kitchen, answering it. I didn't pay much mind to the conversation. I was too tired and groggy to understand the words he was saying.

When he came into the room Mia and I looked over at him and immediately I knew something we wrong. He looked so sad…the way he did when he hugged me and I pulled back.

"What's wrong?" I asked first since I had a feeling I was in relations to whatever was wrong.

Tony took a seat beside me on the couch and sighed sadly. He looked so pale. I sat up, ignoring the sharp pain that plagued my sides.

"What's wrong?" I asked again more demandingly.

"Letty…" He trailed off, looking over at Mia. "Mia could you give us some time alone, please?"

Mia got up, hesitated, and then walked upstairs. She was probably going to tell Dom and Vince that something was wrong. This girl had the biggest mouth on her.

"Letty…" Tony started off again but the following things that tumbled out from his lips weren't to tell Mia to go upstairs. They were to tell me what was wrong."…Your brother Carlos just called. Your father is in the hospital."

I breathed out a small gasp. Any minute now I was expecting a "Just kidding. I got you good, kid." Any minute now I was expecting an "April Fool!" even though it was in the middle of May.

"He had a heart attack tonight… The doctors aren't sure if he's going to make it through. He had a weak heart even before the attack."

I already knew that. My father, when he was younger, had to have open-heart surgery because the doctors found two holes. They managed to close up one but the other was too risky. He was alright with the hole there as long as he didn't work himself too hard and didn't smoke or drink. He must have over worked himself. Immediately I knew what happened. He had to have been fighting with my mother. Every time my parents got done yelling, my father would always be out of breath, sweating like a pig, and gasping for air. How could my mother do this to me? Why was she doing this to me?

"Letty?"

She did this on purpose. She wanted him gone so she could beat me whenever she wanted to. With him out of the way, I was an easy 24/7-access target. My father was the only one who would stop her from hitting me and now…

I heard the steps creak and I knew the others were eavesdropping but I didn't care. I quickly got up and put my shirt on.

"I have to go to him. I have to see him. He needs me." I frantically searched around for my shoes. "Shit! I have to go!" I spotted them and quickly stepped into them.

Tony got up and grabbed his keys and then ushered me out the door. On his way out, he looked towards the stairs and over to Dom.

"All three of you, get dress and meet us at the hospital. I have a feeling we won't be staying long, but come anyways."

He then walked out and together we got in his car and sped off towards the hospital. The whole ride there I kept telling myself that my dad wouldn't be this cruel and leave me in the hands of my mom. He wouldn't give out on me. He couldn't.

We got to the hospital and made our way to the Emergency section. Tony asked for the location and soon we were both jogging down the blinding white halls towards my dad's room. My mother was sitting outside with my three brothers. I ignored my mother's sad gaze and stormed in, dashing over to my father's side. Tony stayed by the door watching me sadly.

I took a seat by my father's side, looking him over. He looked so pale and fragile just lying there. The beeping monitors were weak and slow. He really was dying. I slipped my warm hand in his limp hand and squeezed lightly. I softly kissed his forehead and cried.

"Te amo, Papa. Te amo muy mucho. Don't leave me." I looked up in the doorway and saw that Dom, Vince, and Mia were standing there beside Tony. I looked back down at my father and noticed that his eyes were barely open. I smiled weakly and kissed the top of his hand. I wasn't going to give up on him. I wasn't.

"Come back home, Papa. Please?"

My mother walked in and made her way over to me. I glared up at her and stood up, pushing her away. She didn't deserve to see him—to touch him. Tony came over but I just continued to push my mother who was trying to maintain her balance while also trying to hit me.

"Get the fuck away from him!" I screamed. Tony grabbed my mother and managed to pull her out of the room. "Get the fuck out!" I screamed at Mia, Dom, and Vince. I didn't mean to yell but I wasn't seeing them. I was only seeing my mother. In my eyes, I was seeing three of my mother yelling and screaming at me. I saw three left hands raise up to hit me…to strike me.

"Get the fuck out!" I screamed again and they all turned and left. I cried and sat back down next to my father, shaking there as I broke out in a cold sweat.

"I'm so sorry Papa. I'm so sorry." I gripped his hand again, hanging onto him for dear life.

Just then, the background changed. The constant beeping became a constant flat ring. I looked up and saw that he was no longer breathing. His heart had stopped and it was then that I knew that his heart had taken its last and final beat.

My father had slipped away through my fingers like water. He slipped away quietly; so quietly.