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Chapter 31-Right Hand Men and Illnesses

Vince's POV

From the races, everyone went back to Jesse and Di's house (they insisted) for the after party. It's been a while since we had one, and I knew it wouldn't be right without the whole Team. But we needed a little break from playing heroes. Leon and I were sent on beer runs while Tej ordered about fifteen boxes of pizza. We went to the corner liquor store and bought several cases of Corona.

I bought a bottle of tequilla for myself. I figured I'd need it if I wanted to take my mind off my family for a bit. I was constantly thinking about them and it was making me sorta on the depressed side. How could I be away from them for so long? It was driving me crazy, though we had only been gone for a few days. Then Dominic almost getting shot over me. Then finding out the news from the Buster that he locked up a pissed off Cuban. This liquor was going to pull me away from all of it.

I was sitting in the Maxima waiting for Leon to come out with the last case of Corona. I pulled out my cell phone.

"When are you coming home?!"

"Well I miss you too Sasha. How are things?"

"Good V. Desmond misses you. I miss you too. When are you coming home?" her voice seemed desperate.

"We'll be back on the road tomorrow evening," there was so much I wanted to say to her. So much I wanted to ask her. I wanted to discuss all of our problems right now and get it out of the way. But I couldn't.

"Ok. How's Jesse? He ok?"

"Jesse's fine. When we get back home, we're gonna get him some help," I paused, trying to hold the tears back. I didn't realize how much I missed her until I heard her voice. "Sasha is everything okay? I mean with us, everything's fine isn't it?"

"Of course V. I love you and you love me, so why wouldn't everything be okay?" she replied.

"Well because you called me the other night upset about something and I thought I was doing something wrong. You'd tell me if I was ... wouldn't you?"

"V, you know I would," she laughed, trying to lighten the mood. "Vincent Antonio Palmeriti, you are the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. Yes, we fight a lot and have our problems, but what married couple doesn't? I was upset the other day over something with ME. It had nothing to do with you okay babe. I was just dealing with my own demons. I got over it and now we're fine. But I have to get D to sleep so call me tomorrow before you guys leave," she said.

"I will honey. I love you Sasha. Tell Dez I love him too."

"We love you too Vince. Bye baby," with that, we hung up.

Leon came out the store after I hung up my cell. He tossed the last case in the backseat and jumped in the passenger seat. He looked at me concerned.

"You aight dawg? You look shaken up a bit," he asked, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"I'm good. Let's head out," I said, pulling off back for the house.

We got back to the house about five minutes later. The party was already starting, even without the beers. Several guys were getting into an argument that looked like it could escalade any second. Leon walked past them, beer in hand, but I stopped.

"Yo knock it off! We came here to party, so do that. If you can't play nice, get the fuck out," I yelled, continuing my walk to the house.

I spotted Brian in a corner talking to Roman. I sat the beer case down in the kitchen and walked over to him. "Yo Buster, help me with the beer," I said, walking away. I assumed he followed. I reached into the back seat of my car and grabbed the next case of beer. I handed it to him behind me, but held onto it. "You know O'Conner, I had you wrong this whole time. I thought you tried to be on the Team to take my place. I thought you wanted to screw some lives up, and you did. But you also saved mine," I started.

"More than once too," Brian interrupted, smirking. I just glared at him.

"Like I said, I had you wrong. You were out to fuck up people, you just wanted somewhere to belong. Somewhere you can stay and have a family," I finished, glancing down the road.

"How do you know?" Brian asked. I reached in the back and grabbed another case of beer.

"Because I used to be that person," he just stared at me, trying to read my eyes. "C'mon, let's go party." I sat my case on top of his and grabbed the last one from the back seat.

Dom's POV

I carried a sleeping Elijah upstairs to Diana's room. Apparently, he had fallen asleep right after the race had gotten started. In the room, Cupcake was lying in the middle of the bed, sleeping. I slowly laid Elijah down next to her, not wanting to startle her.

"You sure the party's not going to wake him? We could do this some other time," Diana said, standing in the doorframe.

"No, it's okay. This kid could sleep through a train wreck. He'll be out for a while," I said, tugging off his shoes.

"If you say so. I'm gonna go next door to check on Jessica. Don't let the guys get too rowdy please," Diana said, leaving the room.

I nodded and sat on the bed next to Elijah. It had been one wild day. I experienced more today than most people will in their lives.

Almost getting shot. When I heard that shot go off, I had no idea who was hit. I felt pain, but didn't see blood. The look on V's face when he saw my body lying on the ground was still haunting me. He was pale and was on the verge of tears. I had never seen Vince that hurt before. Seeing Jesse bawling, bundled up into a ball. It was horrible. I would never wish that on anyone. The pain my boys had felt when they thought I had died. Thankfully I only dislocated my shoulder.

Racing the King of Miami. I never thought I'd say it, but Brian almost had me. Hell, he did have me. The better racer would have won tonight. He showed a lot of heart during that race. We both did. Brian O'Conner: ex-cop, ex-fugitive, my brother, husband, and father; was a better racer that Dom Toretto. Who would've known.

I smiled and ran my hand over my head. There was a knock at the door.

"Hey brotha, want a brew?" Vince asked, holding up a Corona longneck.

"Come here V," I said, waving him in. I took the beer from his head as he took a seat at the desk in front of me. "I know I don't act too grateful, but I am. You've been there since the day we met and never turned your back on me like so many others. I know I put you threw a lot of shit, and if I could take it all back, I would brother. We've been through some good shit. We've had our share of mischief also," we laughed, remembering all the trouble we got into as teens. "I've never met anyone as loyal as you though V. You're my right hand man for life brother," I finished, holding my hand out to him. The biggest shit-eating grin I've seen crossed his face as he took my hand. We pulled each other in and hugged.

"Always brother. Let's go have a couple beers and celebrate, eh?" he replied, slinging his arm over my shoulder. I laughed as we exited the room.

Later that night...

Leon's POV

It was coming up on 3:45 in the morning. The party was starting to wind down and more and more people were leaving. Bottles were scattered everywhere and pizza boxes (the majority eaten by Vince and Rome) were in every corner. There were at least five beers left, but I didn't think my stomach could hold anymore. With a little mix of Vince's tequilla, I was completely trashed. Dom had turned in early with Elijah, and Diana had picked up Jessica and went to bed herself. I noticed a few people passed out on the floor by the couch. I kicked one of the guys' feet.

"Yo dawg you gotta go. Get up, it's time to get out," I said, stirring them. The men stood and stumbled out the house. Now that the house was cleared, I had to get rid of the last two sleeping drunks; Vince and Jess.

Vince was sitting in the recliner chair, his head hanging off the back. He was snoring like a train and drooling a bit. I walked over and kicked his feet. He grumbled something, then flipped over.

"V, get up brother. Go to your room man," I said, shaking his shoulder. He mumbled something or another and stood from the couch. He staggered his way to a room down the hall, next to the bathroom.

Next was Jesse. We kept his drinking to a minimum and spaced. He had only four beers, one every thirty minutes. I made him drink two glasses of water in between every drink. Now, he was sitting at the bar in his kitchen, his head down on the top. I walked over and tapped his shoulder. He groaned a bit and lifted his head. His beanie was halfway off his head and his shirt was twisted up his chest.

"C'mon, let's get you to bed. We gotta be out by tomorrow evening," I said, lifting his arm around my shoulder. I lifted his body into my arms horizontally and carried him to the stairs. I kicked open his bedroom door and laid him down in bed next to his daughter and wife. They looked so beautiful. Like a TV family. I pulled his Vans off and his beanie, tossing them to the floor. Just like old times, I thought. I turned the light off and walked down to my room, which I was sharing with Vince. I peeled off my clothes and camped out on the floor.

The next day...

No POV

Around 12:45, Diana decided to wake the boys. Everyone had still been asleep, with the exception of Elijah and baby Jessica. The three were in the kitchen, Diana cooking breakfast.

"Go get Dom and tell him to get the guys up will ya?" Diana asked Elijah. He smiled and jumped off the stool, running down the hall. He jogged as fast as his little feet would let him up the stairs and down to Dom's room. He burst threw the room and jumped on the bed.

"Daddy, Aunt Di said it's time to get up," Elijah said, pulling up one of Dom's eyelids. Dom nodded and sat up.

"Go get Uncle V up bud," Dominic said, his voice deeping than usual in the mornings.

Elijah nodded and made his way back downstairs. Dominic grabbed his cell phone from his bag and walked to the bathroom. He punched in a number.

"Hello?"

"Mia, what are you doing there?"

"Hey Dom. Letty got sick and needed me to come over for a bit," Dom felt himself wake up suddenly.

"What's wrong with her? Is she okay? Put her on," Dom rambled.

"Calm down Dominic, she's fine. She's resting. She got food poisoning, that's it. She'll be over it soon. How are the guys?"

"Everyone's good. You know Mi, you really got a good guy. O'Conner -- Brian's a good guy."

"I know Dom. I really love him a lot," Mia's voice was full of sincerity.

"I know," Dom paused, "well I gotta go. We'll be home sometime Monday night. Bye Mi," Dom waited until she responded before he hung up.

He sat his cell phone on the sink. He used the bathroom and stripped from his clothing. Dom turned on the hot water and flipped the shower knob, the liquid steaming. He stepped in and let the shower wake his muscles.

Downstairs, V was finally waking up. The smell of pancakes woke him from the bed like a zombie. Before he even made it to the door, he felt the contents of last night resurfacing. He just barely made it to the toilet, emptying his stomach of Corona and cheese pizza. He rinsed his mouth off and exited the room.

"What took you so long Pumpkin?" Leon asked, shoveling pancakes into his mouth.

"Shut up," Vince snapped, taking a seat next to Jesse, who's face was stuck in a mug of coffee.

"Geesh Oscar, where'd you leave your trashcan? Calm down," Diana said, smirking at Vince.

"Enough, it's too early. Guys, eat fast and get your shit. We're leaving early," Dominic announced, walking into the kitchen. He dropped his and Elijah's bags at the entrance of the kitchen. He kissed Diana on the cheek, giving Jessica the same treatment.

"Why? I thought we were leaving this afternoon?" Jesse asked, lifting his face from his mug. He had been having one helluva hangover.

"We were, but Letty's sick and we gotta get back," Dom replied, taking a few pieces of bacon and some coffee.

"What's wrong with her? She okay?" Diana asked, taking the pictures from the wall. She pushed them into a box and taped it.

"She has food poisoning. Plus, I miss my daughter. Let's getting moving," Dominic said. The guys groaned and stood from their seats, taking their food with them.

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I know, not very exciting. I'm trying to hurry back to California so Sasha and Vince can deal with the whole Ricky thing. Yes, it will be dealt with. A little bad news though: someone will die in one of the upcoming chapters. Read&review to see whom.

-Kita