Chapter 14 - Stubborn Man.
The team had been hijacking trucks with high priced merchandise for about 3 months now. This would be the fourth job for them and because of it they all had a lot of money in the bank. It was relatively easy money for them. They had a contact at the shippers who told them what truck was their target when they'd find it and where to look. Their contact got what was really a small share of the money then the team split the rest 5 ways. Dom, Letty, Leon, Jesse and Vince.
Dom and Vince took one car and it was their job to get in front of the truck. Then Vince used a spear gun to pop out the window of the truck, then another one to repel up to the cab. Once there he put the driver out with a tranquilizer dart and drove the truck. Leon and Jesse ran inference and manned the scanner listening for police and Letty also ran interference to keep the truck going their way. She served as a distraction to the driver as Vince did his part. Each job netted them about 2 million split 5 ways.
Letty wanted to stop. She said they had enough for a lifetime of easy living now. She'd seen her own bank balance grow and she knew each of her friends had the same amout. Letty had started to think getting more was pushing their luck and getting greedy. Something was bound to go wrong. The guys got off on the rush and the money. There was a big job on the horizon and getting Dom to stop before then was just not going to happen. Dom rationalized that he had to take care of Mia. She had big plans in school and Dom was determined to see her make her goals without worrying about how to pay for it all.
They drove 3 Honda Civics for the jobs. Dom kept them stashed outside of Thermal. Mia knew he was up to something. She was a smart girl and might even have figured out what by now. She knew about the Civics. Dom was concerned by times she might tell Brian something about it. He liked Brian but he didn't trust him yet. He knew Vince had never told Nyssa anything. The day would come when she would have to know but until her and Vince were officially a couple she didn't need to know.
He was proud of the way his Letty could drive. She was the most daring driver among them bar none. She pulled stunts that the guys wouldn't dream of. Like driving under the trailers of the trucks when she had to. Hell, when she wanted to. She got off on the trick driving the same way the guys got off on the thrill of the chase. Dom could imagine Letty making a living doing stunt driving for shows and movies if she wanted to. She had a talent for it that he himself did not.
Vince went to bed and set his alarm. He hoped the alarm didn't wake Nyssa. He was quick at turning it off so it should be ok. Half the mornings he ended up getting up just to wake her and send her off to school because he heard the alarm and turned it off before she ever woke up. He went to sleep without trouble. He didn't worry about what they were doing. He was competent at his part and he trusted Dom implicitly to keep him safe.
The alarm went off some hours later and he turned it off right away. Nyssa made a murmur and snuggled closer to him but she didn't wake up. He slid out of bed, careful to slide a pillow into her arms to replace him and keep her asleep and dressed in his normal outfit for the activity in the dark. Blue jeans went on first, carefully so they wouldn't make any noise and a black tee shirt with a black mesh tank top over it. His flack jacket and repelling gear were stashed in the civics along with the spear gun. He looked down at Nyssa sleeping so contentedly in his bed and hoped everything went well with more feeling this time. He didn't want to think of what would happen to her if he never came home.
Would the team still accept her if he weren't around?
Would it be Dom or Leon who got to finish teaching her to drive her car?
Would she get over him and fall for Leon or Jesse?
He didn't want to think about it. He quietly let himself out of the room and the team took off. He hoped to be back in bed by 7am, long before the alarm went off again to wake Nyssa for school. They drove to their cars and headed after the truck in the darkness. Vince's hand hurt like hell but he didn't want to tell anyone in case they thought he could not do his job. He just did what he always did. He kept the pain inside and used it to focus on the job at hand. He knew too much was riding on him doing what he had trained to do to let the team down now.
Nyssa rolled over in bed with a groan and half opened her eyes. Half awake, Nyssa looked over at the clock. She realized it was only 5 am. She had no idea why she was awake. She groaned. She really didn't want to be awake. She had two and a half more hours of sleep before she had to be up. After realizing she was sprawled on her back in the middle of the bed and she hadn't heard Vince complain about a fist to the face when she'd done it she figured she must be alone in bed. She sat up and looked around the room, and he was no where to be found.
Where the hell was Vince? Nyssa always had to go to the bathroom when she woke up or she couldn't go back to sleep. She wandered to the bathroom and on the way she saw that Jesse's door was cracked open. She could swear his bed looked empty but she didn't want to be nosy in case he was in there so she just used the bathroom and headed back to bed. She was sure Vince would have a good reason for being missing at 5am. She fell back asleep quickly and deeply, hugging Vince's pillow.
When the alarm went off at 7:15am, Vince shut it off like he always did. She was awake this time though; he didn't have to wake her up like he normally did. If it pissed him off to wake up this early every day even though he didn't have to, he never let on to her. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and went and took her morning shower. She came back and just got dressed. She was pretty well beyond caring if Vince watched her or not. She always took clean underwear to the bathroom with her so it wasn't like he ever saw her naked or anything. She picked out an outfit and started to get ready. When she was ready she sat on the bed beside him.
"You go back to sleep V?" She asked softly.
"Not yet." He said in that deep, gravely, I'm so not awake, morning voice she loved.
"So am I to take it that I'm taking your car to school again today?"
"Sure, I'm gonna sleep in today."
"Where were you last night baby?" She brushed some hair off his face, feeling a protective instinct she couldn't explain.
"Couldn't sleep so I went for a drive to try and unwind some. Some times I just can't sleep when I'm too tired. But I think I could sleep for a few more hours now."
"Oh, poor baby. You sleep now and I'll see you this afternoon. Just let me see that hand before I go." Nyssa waited expectantly. Vince tried not to comply but he finally accepted she wasn't going anywhere till she saw what she wanted. So he showed her and there was some blood on the bandage now. "See what I told you about takin it easy? You opened this up just goin for a drive. You shoulda stayed here and watched TV." He grunted. She laughed softly at his expressive nature, and kissed his forehead then his hand and stood up.
"I'da rathered watch you sleep." He mumbled, almost back to sleep, and then added a garbled "good bye" and she let herself out.
Nyssa found Dom sitting at the kitchen table. He could never go back to sleep after a job. No matter what he did, it was always the same, he was up for the day. Letty was sleeping like a baby upstairs but Dom was stuck up, bleary eyed and in a bad mood. Dom spotted Nyssa trying to make a quiet exit from the house and decided not to let her off that easy. He wasn't a fun man to be around while he was in a bad mood.
"Where you sneakin off to?"
"I'm not sneaking anywhere." Nyssa answered, her eyes giving away her caught state. "I got school."
"Yeah, where's V? Doesn't he normally drive you there?"
"Yeah, but he had some trouble sleeping last night and he's stayin in bed."
"You need a lift?" Dom sighed and moved to get up. He had no desire to drive anyone anywhere.
"I'm good. I'm gonna take his car to class today."
"What's wrong with him that he can't get up and drive you to class?"
"Nothin. Well, not nothing I guess. He was cutting something yesterday and the knife slipped and he cut his hand pretty bad. I told him to take a few days off and not do anything with it so it'd have time to heal but he didn't listen to me and he opened it up on his ride last night. I mean, I washed it really well and wrapped it but I hope it's not infected. You might tell him to clean it again if he gets up later and you see him, aye?"
"If I see him I'll remind him." Dom fought a grin, thinking to himself no one would get away with telling ol' coyote what to do except the slight girl who apparently had some sort of immunity from his wicked temper.
"Alrighty then, I'm off to school. Check on V later, ok Dom?" Nyssa felt funny asking but she couldn't fight the feeling something wasn't right with Vince. She couldn't leave without knowing someone would look in on him, that he'd be ok.
"Yeah. I'll check on him later. You're gonna be late."
"Shit, so I am. Bye!" Nyssa took off for the driveway and took off for school at a breakneck pace that even a few days ago it would never haven entered her head to attempt.
Dom sat at the table a few minutes after Nyssa had gone, just lost in thought. He liked that she worried about Vince. Lord knew Vince hadn't even mentioned he had cut himself let alone that it was that bad. Dom was glad the job went off without a hitch, since Vince was kind of the most important player. Vince would never admit he was sick or injured.
There had been this one time he had been hurt as a kid he kept saying it was fine, fine fine. Finally Mr. Toretto had insisted that Vince go to the hospital and it had turned out Vince had a broken wrist. He was always the tough guy.
Nyssa hit McDonald's for breakfast on her way to school. She almost turned the car around and went back to bed with Vince. She couldn't shake the thought that all was not well with her coyote. She reminded herself less then a month and she was done of school for good and she really couldn't afford to miss the time. After all in a short month it would be summer. Then she had nothing to do all day but drive her car and Dom was going to put her to work part time in the garage as an errand girl and working the desk, booking appointments and answering the phone. She was cool with that. She hoped Vince was ok with it though. They spent a lot of time together as it was and she didn't know if he would be all that thrilled that he would now be working with her too.
She was listening to the local radio station when the news came on. She figured she was a bit out of touch since she'd moved to Dom's and turned the news up. The story of the day was about a daring robbery of a transport truck. It seemed that three Honda Civics had swarmed the driver, knocked him out and hijacked the truck. They took the truck somewhere and unloaded the cargo onto what police assumed was their own truck and when the driver came too he was left with his truck in a strange place with no cargo. It was the fourth such robbery in the last few months and it was the same group of people doing them all. Same precision driving and black Civics with green underbody neon kits, and the same tires on all the cars, same skid marks at every scene.
In that second Nyssa knew it was Vince and his team. It had happened last night right in the time Vince claimed he couldn't sleep. He'd done something tough enough to open his cut, and he was dead tired. It had to be them. She knew they all had the driving skills to pull it off.
Wow, she thought, it was straight up crazy. Not that she really cared when she thought about it. She thought it was sorta cool. Just like a modern day western. Her friends were like highwaymen from the old days. She'd known Vince was some sort of criminal but nothing like reality. Instead of finding out he was a drug dealer it turned out he was pulling some pretty hi tech stuff.
She knew couldn't let on she knew or Dom might think that Vince had told her and get angry with him. Then one or both of them might even kick her out. Now she knew why Vince was so worried that Brian was a cop. A cop around was the last thing they'd want. It made her feel special they hadn't told her to get lost.
She decided to go visit her dad that evening and tell him what happened in regards to her living situation. As far as he knew she still lived with Ed. She figured that she owed him to update him on her situation. Plus she missed him and she figured he should know where his only child was living. She also had a few favors to ask him.
She got to school and ran into class. Manda was already there, wonder of wonders. Manda was never on time. Nyssa sat down just under the late bell. Her morning classes seemed to fly by. She and Manda decided to take Vince's car out to lunch. They took two other girls with them and hit a Wendy's that was close to the school. They laughed and talked girl stuff over lunch and the other two girls Marie and Kelly, had to know all about Vince since he had such a nice car and he let Nyssa borrow it. Nyssa went on about how he was awesome and so good looking, and very nice. Manda just rolled her eyes, still not seeing Vince how her cousin saw him.
They got back to school and Nyssa groaned. There was Ed, waiting by the door to the school. She turned to get back in the car and just bounce but she really didn't want to miss school. She also didn't want to deal with Ed's shit.
"Manda, hold up and wait with me. I don't know why he's here but it can't be good."
"No kidden." Manda agreed and leaned back onto the car, watching Ed approach.
"Hello Nyssandre."
"It's Nyssa, you ass, and what do you want." Nyssa sneered down her nose at her step father and his use of her full name.
"I just want to tell you that you can move home if you want. I miss you."
"Sure you do. You just want to try to get your hands on my car."
"That's not true. Where is your car? This's not the car you told me was yours."
"No, it's not. It belongs to my friend Vince. You know him. The guy you were so scared of you nearly shit your pants when he just looked at you. The guy you told the cops was a pimp and a drug dealer, and that he kidnapped you poor underage step daughter."
"Well I was just worried."
"No need Ed. I'm happy and safe with Dom and his family. You know the cops don't like it when you lie to them Ed."
"I thought the guy was Vince." Ed looked at Nyssa in speculation, clearly confused about the living arrangements and trying to figure if there was anything in it for him.
"It is. I live with his friend Dom and Dom's sister. And well Dom's girlfriend and Vince and Leon and Jesse. So don't start shit. There are always big guys around to look out for me. And Letty could kick your ass too. Plus I'm going to see daddy tonight and tell him all about what you did."
"You bitch." Ed made a move to hit her.
"Ah ah ah Ed. I have a witness and I'll send Vince after you again."
"You win this time but you better watch your back."
Nyssa only laughed as Ed went over to his Cavalier and left.
"That guy is creepy." Manda said.
"You got that right. Let's get to class before we're late again." Nyssa armed the car and they headed in to class.
After school she headed back to Dom's and straight down the stairs to what she was fast thinking of as 'their' room. She found Vince still in bed. She crawled across her side and peered down at him, sitting on her knees by his side. He looked like he was asleep. She put a hand on his forehead and he felt overly warm. She shook him by the shoulder. "Vince." He didn't respond. "Vince. Baby. Vince sweetie, wake up." He groaned but didn't wake up. She shook him some more and he came too. He looked up at her and his eyes looked kind of glassy. "You ok baby? You don't look good."
"I don't feel good either Nys. My head hurts and I'm so hot."
She peeled the covers off him and he had all his clothes on. He was dressed to go out. "How'd you end up in bed with all your clothes on?"
"I started to go to work this afternoon and I felt like shit so I laid down for a second to just take a few minutes rest and then I fell back asleep. I never had the energy to get undressed again."
Nyssa helped him out of his soaking wet shirts and pants and after covering him back up with the blanket took his hand into her lap and undid the bandages. His hand was most definitely infected. She swore softly under her breath, figuring she'd have to dress him in clean clothes and take him to a doctor. She predicted world war three even as she stood up and started rooting in his drawers. "Well babe, your hand is infected. You need to see a doctor and get put on antibiotics for it. You likely need stitches too."
"No way, no doctors." He barely croaked out, looking at her out of narrowed eyes that were barely coherent.
"Vince, you're burning up, the cut looks awful and you're a total space cadet. You need to go to the hospital."
"No, I hate the hospital. I won't go and I'd like to see you make me."
"Yes you will. I'm going to try to get your fever down first but if you're still this feverish and out of it in 30 minutes that's it. I get Dom to help me get you to the car then we go."
"No." He said but it came out as a deep moan. He was really out of it and in pain. She shook her head. Stubborn man. He overdid it with the injury then got mad when he got sick. She got a bowl of ice water and a cloth and wiped him down with the cold water. The fever never came down but the chills set in. She knew then that he had to go to the hospital or he was in danger of ending up really sick. She ran upstairs looking for Dom or Leon. She found Dom.
"Dom did you check on Vince at all today?" Nyssa asked with a touch of reproach, her worry for Vince overriding her normal cautiousness around Dom.
"No, I just figured he was tired. Why?"
"Cause he's really sick and we need to take him to the hospital I think. He has a bad fever and I can't get it down and now he has chills. He is hardly coherent and I don't think he can get to the car on his own and I can't move him for sure. I need your help to move him to the car then I'll take him to the hospital."
"Come on, I'll come with you."
She was glad for the company. Dom was shocked to see the state Vince was in. He had thought Nyssa was over reacting but she wasn't. Vince was burning up. Dom helped her put a clean tank and jeans on him and they started up to the car. On the way up the stairs Vince was still protesting that he didn't want to go.
"I don't need the hospital. I'll be fine in a day or two. I'm too old for you guys to force me to go."
"No you aren't. You're going and it's too bad that you don't like it. Be quiet and get in the car." They decided to take Vince's car as it still had a full back seat. Nyssa got in the back with Vince and Dom drove. He drove at the speed of light but they never saw a cop anywhere.
