Thanks for the reviews. I made a bit of a mistake in the Battle of the Legends chapter. Vince's Maxima wasn't supposed to be with him, but it was. I didn't realise it until this chapter. Please excuse my error.
Chapter 34-Secrets & Promises
No POV
It was around eight p.m. that night when the Team closed the garage. Sasha offered Monty to come over and have dinner with them, but he had to get to the club for the night. Lily went home to change, then made her way to the Toretto house. Jeremiah was at a friend's house. They were having a sleepover. Tony and Brianna went back to Senia's house to get showered and changed. They had a college party to head to. Jayden sat outside the garage, watching the cars fly by. Sasha closed up the store and loaded Desmond and Bam in the Maxima, then pulled it over to the garage.
"You want to come back to our house? We're watching movies and having pizza for dinner..." Sasha asked, trying to coo her into it. She didn't want her to be doing anything that could harm her well-being. Or anything illegal at that.
"You sure? I could just go home. It's only a few blocks-" she started, standing from the ground.
"Get in the car girl. Come on," Sasha said, nodding her over. Jayden walked over and got in the passenger side.
"So you drive a Maxima?" Jayden asked her on the way to Blockbuster.
"No, my husband does. I drive a Porsche," Sasha said proudly.
"Wow. Where's it at? And you're married?" Jayden asked.
"Yeah, I am. My car is at home. I live a few blocks away from the garage."
"Can I see it?"
"If you come back tomorrow," Sasha replied, pulling up to the Blockbuster. Jayden nodded happily. "Ok. Would you mind going in and picking out a few movies?" Jayden nodded again. Sasha handed her a Blockbuster card and some money. "Get some good ones eh?" Jayden smiled and ran in the store. A few minutes later, she ran back to the car. "Whatcha get?"
"Um ... Gone in Sixty Seconds, Girlfight, and Jeepers Creepers," she read off the movies.
"Ooh nice," Sasha said, reversing out of the parking lot.
"So why are you so nice to me? I mean, no one is usually this nice to me," Jayden asked after about five minutes of silent.
"Why would I have any reason to be anything but nice to you? You said you didn't have many friends. Well neither do I," Sasha responded, pulling down Echo Park.
"What about the people back at the garage?"
"They are my family. I love them a lot. I just don't have many friends," Sasha said, pulling into the driveway behind Mia's Integra. Jayden's eyes went to the cars parked near the house. She was almost drooling. "Let's go meet the rest of the family."
When they got into the house, they found the family sitting around the living room, already eating. Letty was sitting in the recliner, a glass of soda in hand. She looked like shit. Mia was sitting on the couch reading through a tabloid magazine. CJ and Angel were on the floor stuffing their mouths.
"Hey everyone," Sasha said, letting Bam's leash go as they stepped inside. "Letty you look like shit," she smirked.
"Thanks sis," Letty said sarcastically, "don't you think she's a little young for you?" she said, nodding to Jayden. Sasha shot her an evil glare.
"Shut up stupid. Guys, this is Jayden Parish. Found her at the store," Sasha smiled, nudging Jayden a bit. She gave a nervous smile. Sasha unbuckled Desmond from his carrier and sat him on the floor next to Angel.
"Hi Jayden, I'm Mia. I drive the Integra. This is my daughter Angel," Mia introduced, shaking her hand.
"Hello," Angel said, smiling sweetly at her.
"Hi sweety. The car is awesome," Jayden responded.
"The corpse over there is my sister, Letty. She drives the Lexus. That's her daughter, CJ," Sasha introduced. Letty gave a rude nod and tipped her glass to her face. Sasha looked at Mia. Mia gave her an 'I'll explain it later' look.
"Hey Jayden," CJ said, not bothering to look up from her cars.
"Hiya. What kinda cars you got?" Jayden asked, sitting on the floor next to her. Casey explained her H3 Hummer, Corolla, and Toyota Celica.
"Where's Lily?" I asked Mia.
"In the den on the phone with Rome. They just made it into Mississippi," Mia answered, standing from the couch. She gave me a stern look, then walked in the kitchen.
"C'mon Letty," I pulled her off the chair and into the kitchen with us. Mia sat at the table while Letty jumped on the counter. "So why were you at the hospital today?"
"Why you bringing home strangers?" she fired a question back.
"I asked first. What's wrong with you Letty?" Sasha asked, her voice full of concern.
"She's pregnant," Lily burst into the kitchen.
"WHAT?" Sasha said, her lips slightly grinning.
"Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up. Guys, I don't know what to do. Do you think Dom will want another kid?" Letty asked.
"Uh, yeah!" they all said together. A rift of laughter filled the room.
"Letty, my brother wants millions of kids. He always has. He'll just die when he finds out," Mia reassured.
"Well he won't. Guys, I don't want him to know yet. Not yet. Not until I'm sure what I want to do," Letty said, jumping down off the counter.
"Letty you can't be serious..." Sasha said.
"Yeah, well I am. I'm not ready for another kid just yet. I mean, I'm struggling to take care of CJ and Elijah right now. If you guys haven't noticed, we are kinda running low on money," Letty said, flying open the fridge, it almost bare.
"Letty we'll help you. That's what family's for. We're here to help each other. As long as we're alive, we'll never let you guys starve," Mia said, cupping Letty's face with her hand. Letty's eyes were pleading. "Okay, we won't say anything. But when he starts becoming suspicious and you still don't tell him, I will," Mia said sternly. She only nodded.
"So who's the girl?" Mia turned her attention to Sasha.
"She came to the store today. She and some friends were skipping school-"
"Dude, school's not today," Lily said, chuckling.
"Only school today is the alternative one for the fucked up kids," Letty said, her eyebrows nearly touching. Mia shot her a glare and a mouthed 'stop it'.
"Tillerman Reform, I know. She's not troubled or anything. She's ... she's like us okay. People don't understand her," Sasha tried to explain.
"And you do?" Letty asked.
"Sorta, yeah. Her mom's a drug addict and she doesn't know her dad. She's lonely and wants somewhere to belong guys. Let's just give this a chance okay. You guys did it for me and Di," Sasha reminded them.
"That's when we didn't have responsibility. We didn't have kids then Sash. This isn't a homeless shelter for Christ sakes!" Letty yelled.
"She's got a point Letty. We did help them out. Jess and Leon too. If this girl needs help, we should help her Let. Stop being selfish," Mia wanted to help the girl as much as Sasha did.
"Fine. But she's staying with you. We have no room here," Letty gave in, walking back into the living room.
The other ladies followed her. Mia walked over and picked Desmond up, carrying him with her into the den. Letty reclaimed her seat on the recliner, laying her head on the back. Lily flopped down on the couch, stretching out. Jayden was drawing something on Angel's coloring pad. CJ was still playing with the cars. Sasha grabbed the movies from the floor and read them to the room.
"Gone in Sixty Seconds," they all agreed. Sasha took the DVD out the case and put in the player.
A little while later...
By the time the ending credits started to scroll, the majority of the room was asleep. It was ten-fifteen, a little past the youngins' bedtime. Letty was absentmindedly staring at the screen. Lily was sleeping on the couch, slightly snoring. Both CJ and Angel were laying with their heads together, both asleep. Jayden was still drawing in the pad, using the little light from the screen.
"What are you drawing?" Sasha asked her, startling her. She jumped, then looked at her.
"I didn't know you were awake. I'm not even sure if Letty's awake," she joked, looking over at Letty. "But um, it's a picture of my car I drew," she said, turning the car to Sasha. It was a S15 Silvia Convertible.
"Yours?" Sasha asked.
"Well, not yet. But I wanna own one when I get older," Jayden corrected.
"Yeah. Well I think it's about time I get you home. You can leave that here and finish it tomorrow," Sasha said, standing from the recliner. "Mia, I'm taking Jayden home," she yelled into the den.
"K. Desmond's already asleep," Mia replied.
They exited the house, walking down the driveway. They got in the Maxima and drove down the road. Jayden gave Sasha directions to her house, which was just a few blocks over from the warehouses. It'd be a fifteen minute drive.
"So why do you go to Tillerman? I mean, you don't seem like a bad kid," Sasha asked.
"I'm not. It's just, I got in with the wrong crew. My friends, they're bad. They steal, fight, curse like sailors. I do none of those things. But I made the mistake of rolling with them one night and they ended up jumping a kid. Instead of sending up to juvy, the judge sentenced us all to Tillerman Reform," Jayden said, never looking from out the window.
"How long you been there? More importantly, how long have you been skipping?"
"This is my fourth time skipping. If I miss more than ten days, they'll kick me out and I'll have to go to juvy. Been there for about three months. I have to finish my high school years there unless my mom goes to the Board and fight my case."
"Which she won't?" Jayden nodded. "Wow. I'm sorry you have to go through that. But I have an idea." Jayden looked at her. "You go to school everyday from now on, and you can work in the garage whenever you like."
"Really?" Jayden lit up with happiness.
"Yeah, sure. You gotta promise though," Sasha said, pulling down a street Jayden described as Walkens Drive.
"Yeah, I promise. That's it right there," she responded, pointing to a small two-story house. It was painted a brick-red. The grass looked like it hadn't been cut in years. The house looked abandoned, to be honest.
"You sure you gonna be okay?" Sasha asked before she got out the car.
"Um-hm. I'm going straight to bed. Night Sasha. Thanks again," Jayden said, getting out the car. Sasha nodded, waiting for her to get into the house. After she was in, a light in the upper room, which looked to be the attic, came on. A few minutes later, it went out. She sleeps in the attic for Christ sakes.
Sasha shook her head and drove off.
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Two up in one day, that's a record for me lol. I'm going for three, so it might be up sometime early morning. Review in the morning if you can't wait. It doesn't matter when you review, as long as you do :)
-Kita