Chapter 2

I leaned over the steering wheel of my car as I tried to fight the tears that were threatening to spill. It was only a job interview, what the hell is wrong with you? There are so many others out there. I took a deep breath in and closed my eyes, removing myself from my surroundings. Leaning back in my seat I looked out to the horizon, before I started my car and drove down to the Torettos.

It was only 10.30am, but there were still a few cars scattered around the street from last night. The party had obviously died down, and only empty corona bottles and a few hard liquor bottles were left on the lawn. The front door was wide open and I could see Dom sitting casually on the front steps. Behind him on the wooden bench, somebody who was passed out lay sprawled over the seat. He saw my car pull up and he smiled and raised his hand lazily trying to pass it off as a wave. I got out of the car and hopped up the stairs and sat next to Dom.

"Good morning. Sleep well?"

"Oh yeah, with the party still going on at 8 in the morning, I slept like a baby"

"Now you know why I leave early" I snorted and looked inside through the open door. When I saw five more people passed out on the floor, ladies underwear hanging off the stair railing and about a million more corona bottles lying around I couldn't help but burst out in laughter, leaning on Dom for support.

"What the hell are you laughing at?"

I pointed inside, trying to catch my breath. "THAT"

Dom turned to face the mess as well, and as soon as he saw the extent of rubbish there was his face seemed to drop. "I'm gonna have to clean that up"

"Oh my god, you will. I'd better get out of here before you ask me to help" I quickly got up and pretended to make a run for my car, but fell backwards back onto the stairs when Dom pulled the back of my shirt towards him.

"You're staying right here to help, at least clean up what mess you made"

I thought about it for a bit then smiled. "OK, I'll clean up the same amount of mess I made last night" I searched the porch for an empty corona bottle and picked it up, then threw it into the open rubbish bin. "I'd better be off now" I laughed as I clapped my hands together, like I was brushing the dust off them.

"You know what I mean"

"No I don't, I'm not as smart as Mr. Toretto" I mocked playfully.

Dom punched me playfully in the arm. "Be quiet"

I ran my fingers over my lips, as though I was zipping them closed and smiled playfully. Dom just shook his head; he was amused, but just too tired to laugh. I slapped my hand across his thigh, griping on it, and then pushing myself up off the stairs. "Where's Letty, Mr Clean?"

"Upstairs, still in bed" He placed his head in his hands, rubbing his eyes with his palms.

"Thanks" I bounded up the remaining stairs, slapping the back of Dom's head as I did. As I walked into the house, I looked around the hallway, down to the kitchen and across in the adjoining living room. "What a mess" I sucked in a breath through my teeth, the air feeling cool against my gums and slowly blowing it out, steadily shaking my head. There was one guy passed out at my feet, face down. Drool was hanging from his mouth, his hand still clutching onto an empty corona bottle as though he was gripping it for dear life. I resisted the urge to kick him.

Looking across to the living room again I saw two girls passed out on the couch, one on top of the other. I shifted my head to get a better look at their faces; it was the two girls Leon and Vince were with for most of the night. The guys must have got one hell of a show last night. I huffed in laughter, disturbing the guy at my feet. The urge was too strong. I slowly placed my foot under his shoulder and gave him a little push. When he just shifted slightly, mumbling incoherently, I did it again with a little more force almost causing him to roll onto his back. He still didn't move. I don't think I want to fully roll him onto his back, he might choke and die. I snorted and looked at the railing. A red lace g-string was placed precariously on the wooden ornament. If one small breeze was to come past, it would surely blow it off. I picked it up, pinching it between my index finger and thumb, and then dropped it onto the guy who was laying on the floor, rolled over halfway, making it land over his face. "Clean up after yourself you slob"

I shrugged and climbed the stairs as quickly as I could to get away from the mess downstairs. At the top of the stairs there were a few more empty bottles, but the mess wasn't as extreme as it was downstairs. For one, there were no people passed out on the floor.

I walked up to Letty's bedroom door and knocked lightly. No answer. Slowly I opened the door, the sound of the shrill creaking echoing around me. I didn't open the door any further and peeked inside to see if Letty was awake. When I saw her still lying in bed, staring at me with her middle finger up in the air I pushed the door open all the way.

"My, isn't everybody in such a chirpy mood today?"

"Fuck off"

"Not just yet, I need your help"

"Can it wait?"

"Eh. It can but it can't" I closed the door behind me and walked over to sit next to Letty on the bed.

"You're not a very patient person are you?" She groaned as I sat on the bed, causing the mattress to dip, taking her with it.

"You know I'm not" I smiled innocently, and pushed Letty slightly "C'mon get up, it's like 3pm"

"WHAT?" Letty shot up in bed, to an upright sitting position.

"Oh my God, Letty, relax ... jeez ... it's only like 11"

Letty punched my arm, and fell back onto the bed. She brought her hands up to her face and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes with her knuckles, letting out a yawn. "You're such a bitch, you know that"

"I learned from the best, now get up" I got up from the bed, as Letty rolled over to face the wall. "I'll go get the cold water" I said, as I sighed mockingly.

"Ok, I'm up ... I'm UP" Letty swung the covers off her body and slid herself off the bed, mumbling to herself. "Bitch" I made a kissing sound as I walked out of the room.

………

By the time Letty and me had gone downstairs, Dom had cleared out most of the mess.

"At least he got rid of the people who were passed out" I shrugged and followed Letty into the kitchen.

Sitting in a half-conscious state at the table was Vince and Jesse.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Letty grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge as I sat at the table, opposite Vince.

"You guys don't look so good. What happened last night?" I asked Vince and Jesse the question, but directed it more in Letty's direction seeing as those two were definitely not in a state to answer any questions.

Vince looked up at me, his eyes half closed. His breathing was low and almost non-existent. His eyes were puffy and red, with bags slightly appearing underneath them. Slowly he lifted his hand up to my face, pointing his finger at me.

"You ..." he started, his breath reeking of alcohol "... missed a hell of a party last night." Obviously.

I rolled my eyes and mimicked his actions, bringing my hand up to his face, pointing one of my fingers at him, "You ... really need to brush your teeth."

Vince dropped his raised hand over mine, pushing it to the table, slamming my knuckles against the hard surface. OW! "You ..." he started again, "... need to tell him."

I raised my eyebrows questioningly. "I need to tell who, what?"

Letty walked up and sat next to Vince at the table, patting him on the back. "Here we go again" She sighed. I heard Jesse giggle next to me.

"What? Why? Who?"

"He's been doing that all night" Jesse said before he let out a loud hiccup, followed by a giggle. It was the first time I'd heard Jesse speak in two days. His speech was slow and slurred. He too reeked of alcohol.

Vince huffed in frustration and pointed at me again, this time poking me on the shoulder. "YOU!"

"Yeah V, I get that part ..."

"NEED to tell HIM!" He emphasised the words 'need' and 'him' by dragging the words out.

"V," I started slowly, "Who, is him?"

Vince rested his hand lazily under his chin and sighed. "Don't act all stupid with me missy. You know I'm talking about who!" He glared at me, and I couldn't help but laugh at his mixed up sentence. He opened his mouth to say something more, but Dom walked through the door before his attempt.

"Oh, so he found his next victim" Dom came and sat on one of the free stools.

"Next victim? Ok I really should stay at the party's just so I know what's going on the next morning"

Letty chuckled and finished her bottle of water. "He was bugging all of us last night saying we need to tell somebody something ... we still don't know what he's talking about"

"I was not buggin' ... I was jus' statin' the fact tha' she should tell him she likes him, an' he should get over himself and tell her that he likes her" he pointed to me again, pointing out that I was the 'she' "... and all of you's ..." he waved his hand around in the air above his head "... should see that ... and tell em that"

Riiiiiiight.

Letty shook her head and looked to Dom. He nodded and stood up, extending his hands out from his body, and intertwining his fingers, cracking his knuckles; the cracking echoing through the small room. "C'mon V, you're goin' to bed, ma' man"

Vince slapped his hands on the table, palms down and stood up. "You talkin' to me asshole?"

"Yeah DeNiro, let's go" Dom pinched Vince by the back of the neck and dragged him upstairs. With Jesse hot on their heels.

Both Letty and I watched them as they walked off; silently waiting for some reassurance that they had indeed gone to bed. The room was quiet for a minute or two, before we heard two loud thuds come from the room directly above us; Vince's room. Our eyes quickly shot to the ceiling, as though we would be able to see through the thick layer of concrete somehow. We waited for any other noises.

When nothing came, we both shrugged and looked at each other.

"So, what do you need my help with?"

I sighed and shifted my feet slightly. Letty knew something was wrong straight away. The way her eyes played over mine showed it.

"Cass? What's up chica?" She leaned forward in her seat and placed her hands on the table.

"It's nothing big. Really. Just, my dad's invited me to some dinner he's got planned"

"What? What kind of dinner?" She was becoming angry and was raising her voice, irritation surging through the words.

I shrugged slightly and played with my fingers in my lap, letting my eyes drop to the floor. "Some dinner, with some people from where he works"

"So why's he calling you?" Letty scoffed "I mean, why NOW? You haven't heard from him since that time at the café"

I shrugged again, more nervous about the whole situation, and feeling like I wanted to cry. "I think he wants to offer me a job." I could feel my eyes and cheeks begin to burn; the feeling sending my body into a downward spiral. I suddenly felt overwhelmed and I felt weak; out of control.

Letty brought her hands up to my face and ran her fingers along my cheeks. I didn't know I had actually been crying until I saw the water on her finger.

"You don't have to go. You know that don't you?"

I nodded and brought my eyes back up to face Letty. It was then I knew she truly cared for me. My pain was being reflected back at me through her ebony eyes, and I could see she was feeling my pain. She brought her hands down to cover mine, over my lap. The warmth she was emitting instantly making me feel safe.

I tried to speak, my voice becoming stuck in my throat. "I ... know that I don't have to go," I took a deep, jagged breath, "but I feel like I should go"

"I'm not going to argue with you. I know the consequences of that," we both chuckled, lightening up the atmosphere a little "but then, why do you need my help?"

"I need some reassurance that everything's going to be ok, and ... well, I don't know what to wear."