Disclaimer: Don't own The Fast and the Furious. 'Nuff said.
A/N: You might recognize some lines from The Fast and the Furious though. It had to be done. Still don't own 'em.
Chapter 9: Segregation
"Jesse, this is the last time I'm ripping these tires off," I warned, staring him down to get the point across.
"Um ok," Jesse said distractedly dismissing my statement as quickly his mind would dismiss anything not related to math or cars. I shook my head.
"Why are we doing this?" Leon asked, finally removing the last tire from his Skyline. Mia strutted past him, shoving an old newspaper in his hands. Leon sighed then started covering the rotors near the calipers. I shook my head before diligently doing the same.
"I think this will look great. Make the cars look faster," Mia chirped out, slapping the last of her papers into Vince's chest then making her way back to the Acura.
"You're the only one who needs to look faster," Leon countered. Mia stuck out her tongue at him and he replied in kind. I grinned. The build up to Race Wars had brought me out of the mood I'd been in since Letty left LA. I let the preparations become the focus of my life. I planned upgrades with Jesse. I practiced with Vince. I talked strategy with Leon. I assisted Mia with the details: sleeping arrangements, food, and when we would close the shops.
Jesse was already putting paint on his calipers by the time the rest of us grumbled to a start. I dipped the brush methodically in the glossy black paint, trying to picture how this was worth our time. I fixed my mouth to complain and then I got a glimpse of Jesse going to help Mia. His tongue was sticking out the side of his mouth as he concentrated on getting the baby blue paint evenly onto her calipers. The complaint died on my lips. He'd suggested we all do our calipers to give our cars some flash and I think it was his way to include Mia in the festivities. I wouldn't make him feel crappy about this mindless task. We each had a Corona while we waited for the paint to dry, then came the task of putting the wheels back on the cars. It was worth it to make Jesse happy. It was worth it to make anyone happy these days.
Two days later I was glad that we had listened to Jesse. By Friday the roads had become a river, the cars flowing to join the sea that was the abandoned Air Force base where the races would take place the following morning. I allowed myself to get caught up in the visual variety of all the cars that made up the sea, noting the racers cocky enough to pop the hood for people to get a peek. I'd ask Jesse to give them a look if I ran into him. I also noticed the way some of the racers had used their cars more as an artistic canvas than for just manufacturer decals. One girl had an elaborate dragon painted from hood to rear bumper that made me thankful that our plain-by-comparison cars had paint on their calipers.
I was surprised at how fast the team had disbursed into the crowd, leaving me wander alone. For a moment I thought that I would get a chance to be anonymous but that was quickly dispelled when I heard my name. I turned to find Jackson from San Francisco smiling at me. I grinned. The guy had been really cool when he came to race me a couple of months ago, taking the ribbing from the LA crowd in stride. I strode over to Jackson, giving him a hand shake and quasi-man hug.
"Heard you're still the racer to beat in LA," Jackson said conversationally, offering me a beer which I took more out of politeness than desire to drink. I usually stuck to Corona's exclusively.
I choked down a swallow keeping my voice light, "You'll have to race me to find out."
Jackson laughed, "I'll make sure to do that."
"Hmm." We fell into a comfortable silence sitting under the tent he had erected to shade his crew from the desert sun.
"So where is the rest of the Toretto clan?"
I waved the bottom of my bottle to the flowing waves of people making their way around the site, "Somewhere in all of this."
"Well feel free to chill with us," Jackson said, offering me another beer which I declined for water instead. Inebriation would not help me win races tomorrow. We started talking about cars and people that we knew were showing up to race, the crowd milling around thinning and thickening as time rolled on. Three hours later I was still hanging out with Jackson, none of the team bothering to look for me or call.
We started playing poker for fun with two more members of his crew and soon the trash talk had attracted more of his friends. I let myself relax and get into being around people that didn't know any more about me than the fact that I was a street racer. Someone found some chips and so we could play for bragging rights to keep things friendly. More people started to show up including Jackson's girlfriend and her entourage. I was offered another beer which I turned down.
"Come on man, have one more. We need you to level the playing field," some guy named Kessler said, raising the stakes.
I sighed looking at my royal flush, "Tell you what, you find me a Corona and I'll drink it." I didn't think anyone would find it so I was surprised when a girl with curly blond hair came to stand behind me, a Corona ready for me in her outstretched hand. I took it giving her an appreciative glance from head to toe. She was pretty but not overdone. My glance was enough encouragement for her to stand behind me and start rubbing my shoulders. Jackson gave me a lopsided grin which I casually returned, shaking my head. Sometimes women made it so easy. We started playing another hand.
"I'm Mindy and I would love for you to pop my clutch," the girl purred low, her breath tickling my ear. The line was lame but I gave a tiny laugh that shook my shoulders. Jackson grinned wider at me. He and the rest of the guys could tell she was trying to pick me up. I paused to turn my face to her and she responded by moving her lips a quarter inch away from mine.
"I bet you do," I smirked, turning my face away to keep up the pretense. Mindy, feeling that she had me claimed for the night, proceeded to prop herself on the arm of the chair with her legs in my lap and her arms around my neck. I was forced to play around her while she whispered naughty jokes in my ears and proceeded to share my Corona with me. Even with her added distraction I was able to keep my mind in the game long enough to win a few more hands.
That's how Joi found me as the sun started to set: five cards in my hand, a stack of chips in front of me, and a girl sprawled across more of me than the chair, her slender arms resting on either side of my neck holding a Corona someone had found for me. We were all just having a good time. I could barely remember the name of the girl. Cindy, Wendy, or whatever her name was must have recognized Joi's glare as a warning to back away from me quickly because she swung her legs off the arm of the chair and moved swiftly over to chill with Jackson's girlfriend. I expected a yelling fit but what I got was something else. Joi gave me an over the top smile then turned to stalk away. You know, just when you think you can predict what someone will do…
I finished playing two more hands then trudged across the field to the camper Mia and I had purchased second hand for this occasion. I was dead tired, having kept up the charade that I wasn't feeling thrown off by Joi's reaction. Jackson promised to seek me out for a race the following morning so I allowed myself to push my girlfriend woes out of my mind. I was very glad I did the following day. I raced Jackson, Kessler, and a bunch of other guys, making headway into winning the jackpot. I was proud of Jesse. He managed to win his first race but lost his second. He wasn't a very skilled racer which didn't seem to bother him at all.
"Sorry I lost the money Dom," he said sheepishly. I ruffled his mousy brown hair.
"It's cool Jes," I told him. And it really was cool. I was getting caught up in the euphoria of being at a race where I didn't have to fear getting busted by the cops. It was fun having a wider range of competition too.
"Yeah Jesse," Mia threw in, entwining their arms together, "besides your best work is under the hoods of our cars."
"Well, every car but yours you mean," Jesse said laughing. Mia gave him a light punch in the arm. They laughed before joining the queue of people watching the races. Leon and Vince eventually joined us, each advancing to the same level as me by winning five races a piece. Five more wins stood in between us and winning the large jackpot. To celebrate I broke out the grill and we invited our friends to an impromptu party at our camp. The booze started flowing and people started to dance. I started looking for Leon to ask for his help with the grill when I saw Joi sauntering up to me. I didn't know how to play off what she'd seen the night before but Joi surprised me by coming to my side, reaching on the tip of her toes to kiss me on the cheek.
"Baybee! You were so great today," she told me, her heels returning to the ground, her arms wrapping around me waist.
Instinctively I wrapped my right arm around her waist then bent to give her a long peck on the lips. She threw herself into the kiss and soon we were making out, my mind vaguely remembering that I might want to come up for air to turn the burgers before they burned.
"Damn, if you're getting this much attention for making it to day two, imaging if you win," Kessler's voice sounded from nearby.
I broke the kiss to flip him a cocky half smile, "Burger or chicken?" He laughed at me, realizing this was as much acknowledgement I would give his comment. I didn't miss the slight tightening of Joi's arms around me.
Jackson met up with us then, "Don't mind Kess, he's smarting 'cause you flattened him in his fourth race." Kessler scowled but I let my grin widen by an inch.
"Yeah, well finish cooking and we'll find out if I can't make your luck change," Kessler challenged as he pulled a deck of cards out of his pocket.
"You're on," I said pointing at him with the spatula. He grinned and the two of them walked away to gather more challengers for poker.
"Baybee," Joi whined. My eye started to twitch. "I was thinking we could really celebrate alone."
"But what about our guests?"
"They can wait," she told me, trying to interject seduction into her voice.
I bent to nip her ear, pulling her even closer to me, "Don't worry, we'll celebrate alone after a few hands."
Joi pulled away from me then, her face turning into a frown. I ignored her, knowing that she was well on her way to a full pout. I just wasn't in the mood today. I wanted to continue feeling the euphoria from winning all my races today. I pulled the last of the burgers and chicken off the grill, taking a few more moments then necessary to dampen the coals so they would burn out then grabbed her hand, making my way towards the table of guys waiting to start playing poker. Joi noticed the direction we were walking in then dug in her heels. The pressure made me stop and turn to look at her, an eyebrow raised.
"What?" I asked sharply.
"No. I am not going to let you ignore me again like last night," she said equally as sharp, her voice getting loud. Some of the guys turned to look at us. I approached her then gripped her face between my hands, planting a kiss on her pursed lips.
"Joi, I don't want to fight. Not tonight."
"Then pay attention to me."
"I am, and I will later too."
Her eyes narrowed and her voice got hard, "I'm your girlfriend. I should always come first."
"But you're not," I countered. I'd let her figure out whether I was dumping her or putting her off for the moment. I turned then joined the crowd at the table. Vince dealt the first hand and we started to play. I never noticed when Joi left but I assumed she must have because the blond from the night before showed up at my side offering me a Corona with a wide smile. Kessler just raised an eyebrow and I rose my bottle to him in mock salute.
The following morning I woke up with the blond sprawled across my body. I stretched and she shifted, the covers falling to reveal her naked body to me. I thought I had sent her home. Huh, guess not. I looked over at the clock and saw I had about ninety minutes before I needed to be at the line. Lindsey, or whatever her name was, would need to go. I started rubbing her shoulders to wake her up when I noticed something shift in my peripheral. Turning my head I saw Joi sitting on a chair across from me, her face set into a hardened mask. We stared at each other for a few moments before the girl woke up, diverting our attention to her.
"Mmmm, hi," she purred sleepily, clearly not noticing that there was someone in here besides me and her. I looked at her for a moment before I reached for her dress from last night. Joi threw it at us, drawing the attention back to her presence. The girl frowned then sat up, straddling my hips with no shame. She grabbed her dress, taking her time to shake it out before lazily pulling it on. She climbed off my body taking time to strap on her heels before striding to the door.
"Don't forget your panties whore," Joi called out viciously.
The blond girl looked at Joi loftily before replying calmly, "I wasn't wearing any sweetie." She left, her head held high. The slam of the door returned us to the staring contest. After a few moments I decided to get up, pulling on clothes in a slow careful way that told her I was wary but not scared of her. I made it though turning my back and brushing my teeth before Joi got up to stand in my face.
"So did you remember her name or did she even get a chance to tell you?" Joi asked frostily.
"It's Mandy," I made up on the fly. I know she'd told it to me but I couldn't remember it.
"Tell me something, was it worth it?"
"Was what worth it?" I started pulling on my shoes. I wanted to be able to walk away as soon as possible. I didn't want to dignify this relationship with an argument. I think I was actually happy that I was getting an easy out. Frankly Joi's behavior had been grating on my nerves for months.
"Dom, I am not going to stand for you cheating on me," she said changing tactics, seeing that I wasn't going to fight.
"I don't expect you to."
Joi looked at me angrily, the dismissal in my tone rubbing her nerves the wrong way. She bent her head to the side, her eyebrows drawing in closer together, "Are you breaking up with me?"
"I'm just doing what I should have done a while ago," I stated honestly. I should have broken up with Joi after the first couple of weeks, when she started strangling my free time. Selfishly I'd held onto Joi to keep myself from feeling lonely. But I had also kept her close because I knew dating Johnny's sister was probably the biggest blow I could land on Letty. Joi exploded, the shrill yelling almost as shocking as her stamping her foot and flailing her arms wildly.
"You're not breaking up with me! I'm not letting you! You think I'd just slink away like some tramp then you're wrong! I am not going to be embarrassed this way. I JUST WON'T!"
I took a step back, shocked at her tantrum. It was like nothing I'd ever experienced before and it was a huge turn off. Her face got really red, her eyes were half crazed. I worked to placate her.
"Joi, I think it would be more embarrassing for me to date other girls while we're still together," I said evenly. It was if she hadn't even heard me.
"I refuse to have you screwing tramps, picking tramps, over me. OVER ME!"
"I'm not choosing anyone over you. I don't think this," I pointed my finger between the two of us, "is going to work." I started walking towards the door, hoping that my dismissal would end the yelling but it didn't. She followed me to my car, throwing one of her shoes which hit me square in the back. I turned slowly. I was not going to acknowledge it. She deserved to be a bit peeved after what I had subjected her to in the last two days.
"Fine, go back to Letty. I should have known if you couldn't keep that skank you would be worthless to me." I closed my eyes, gathering my strength to keep calm. I picked up the shoe and started to cross over to Joi. I felt like clubbing her with the stupid thing.
"Dom, don't," Mia yelled. I stopped mid-stride. I looked to my left and saw Mia, Jesse, Leon, and Vince staring at us. I guess they heard the commotion Joi had stirred up and had come to investigate.
"Let him come, let him try," Joi said in a mocking voice. I started towards her again.
"Dom," Vince warned starting to move towards us but I held up a hand, reaching Joi to hand her the shoe with more force than was necessary.
"We're done," I said angrily. She threw the shoe back at me, hitting me hard in the chest. I grabbed her shoulders, picking her up off her feet, turned her around to face away from the camp then set her down. I picked up her shoe and tapped her behind before I put it in her hand and walked away.
"See you at the line?" Leon asked cautiously. I didn't even answer him but drove off in the direction of the line to wait out my turn in peace.
I wasn't really angry with Joi. She was hurt and I could understand why. I really hadn't been a very decent boyfriend to her at all. But I think that I could have felt bad for her if she hadn't insulted Letty. I didn't have time to contemplate why the insult about a woman who had walked away from me more than once should raise my blood pressure.
I felt relief when it was finally time for me to race. It allowed me a chance to focus on something other than my female problems. I put one opponent then another into the rx-7's dust, my elation escalating. Three more races between me and the top prize. In between races I watched as Leon and Vince moved up too. For a moment I thought about how weird it would be to race Vince or Leon for the title and then Leon lost his third race of the day to Johnny Tran. Crap. That left me and Vince in the running, both of us winning our third races.
Vince was slated to go up against some dude from kid from Arizona in the next heap so I joined Mia, Jesse, and Leon at the sidelines to watch the race. We were all carefully avoiding talking about my messy breakup, keeping the atmosphere light. Vince's race was next up when I felt a strong arm on my shoulder turn me around before the punch landed on my cheek.
Angrily I started throwing punches and the fight broke out. It took me a minute to realize that I was rolling around on the ground trading blows with Johnny Tran, his boys being held off by Leon and some security guards. I struggled to stop Johnny, finally getting him in a head lock before one of the guards broke through to break us up.
"What the hell man?" I spat, feeling blood drip from my split lip.
"I thought you'd learned your lesson in high school Toretto. Disrespect my sister and you disrespect me," Johnny threw back, still spoiling to fight.
"Your sister disrespected herself when she threw a fit outside my door this morning," I said hotly. I was really irritated that we were fighting over my breakup with Joi.
"You didn't have to hit her Toretto," he said angrily. What?And then I looked over at Joi, her face smug and I took in what he was saying to me. That little wench had lied on me.
"I never touched your sister," I said turning to walk away. I would need some ice for my nose. It stung.
"Don't you turn your back on me," he yelled at me.
I paused and turned back to him, pointing at him incredulously, "We're not on your block. Watch how you talk to me." The crowd around us 'oohed' in unison.
"That's how you're going to play it?" he mocked me. I nodded. "No problem Toretto. You make sure when we're in LA you stay on your block and I'll stay on mine."
"You stay away, I'll stay away," I agreed. Shaking off the guard, Johnny and the rest of the Tran entourage turned and headed away. Joi had the audacity to wink at me before she slunk of behind them.
"Yo brotha, what the hell was that all about?" Vince asked, grasping that the fight had ended more than my relationship with Joi. He clearly had finished the race but not made it back in time for the fisticuffs.
I sighed, "I'll tell you later." Vince nodded and I knew he would badger me about it later at home. Mia, bless her, slapped an ice filled zip lock bag in my hand and a wet rag in the other. I cleaned my face as best I could before placing the ice on my nose. Although I hadn't been punched in the eyes, I felt the bottom halves of each swelling slightly courtesy of the blow to my nose.
"Uh Dominic, are you gonna be able to race like that?" Jesse asked timidly, his Boston accent really thick after all of the excitement. Oh yeah, I needed to finish racing.
Leon grabbed the keys to the rx-7 then proceeded to wait in the queue as it slowly wound its way to the line, buying me time to keep the ice on my swollen nose and eyes and long as possible. But it was no use. As I took my place in the car I felt distracted by the implications of what had gone down and my messed up face. I could see the guy count us down then wave us off. I felt myself shift, first into second, second into third, but I couldn't keep it together. I lost.
I didn't bother to stay with the team to watch Vince in his last race. I just wanted to get out of there. I made my way back to the camp and started to pack as quickly as possible. That's how they found me an hour later, the camp dismantled and my car already loaded to tow back to the garage. We made our way back home, no one bothering to stay together and drive in a group. Everyone sped off, even Mia with her stock engine beating me home since I was driving the camper and towing my car. I didn't care though. Four hours and a lot of aspirin later I finally decided I couldn't avoid being at home. I saw that everyone had parked in the driveway, leaving me plenty of space to park in front of the house so they would be able to see my approach. Great.
I entered the house to find the team tensed in the living room pretending to watch TV. I slumped into an arm chair and a Corona was thrust into my fingers. I opened up my eyes to see Leon give me a shrug before he began to chug his own. I took a fortifying pull from the bottle, letting the hint of lime tickle my tongue before I cleared my throat and began to explain all about the job I had been doing for Tran. I expected them to interrupt but they let me tell my story without comment. When I finished I realized they were probably surprised that I had shared that much information with them in the first place without a lot of prying involved.
Mia was the first to speak up, "Wow. Well that explains a lot."
"I'm surprised you're not yelling," I told her ruefully.
"Oh, I think you're a friggin' idiot," she said hotly, "but you are a male so…"
Leon smiled indulgently before lightly kicking her in the shin. She scowled and stuck her tongue out at him, a gesture he was willing to return in kind. The childishness made me smile.
"So I'm guessing Tran's turf comment encompasses the whole team," Leon stated.
"Yep," I clarified. I didn't want anyone to take a chance. I'd seen some of Johnny's nasty side while I worked for him and I wasn't going to pretend that he wouldn't retaliate against my family in his anger.
"You really should stop hitting women Dom," Vince growled at me.
I shot him a nasty look, "You were there. I barely spanked her."
"Yeah, you've done worse with some of the chicks you've brought in here pumpkin," Leon teased.
Vince shrugged his shoulders then took another swallow of his Corona, "I guess you're right."
Mia rolled her eyes. Jesse frowned then spoke up, "So does this mean we can't go to Chinatown?"
"I don't think…" I started but Leon cut across me.
"What do you need in lil' China dawg?"
" 'Tronics are so cheap down there," Jesse said sullenly. I gazed into his sad eyes and felt my resolve loosen a little.
"Look, don't go down there alone and stay away from any Tran businesses. I'm sure you'll be alright," I told him. I downed the last of my beer. "I'm going to bed."
I stood to make my way upstairs when Vince called for me, "Yo Dom."
"Yeah."
He threw a large wad of cash on the coffee table and I looked at it in confusion.
"Just 'cause you're a loser doesn't mean we all are," he said nonchalantly. Leon and Jesse burst into guffaws. I saw the twinkle in Mia's eyes. Vince had won at Race Wars. I shook my head, giving him a sheepish grin. He burst into maniacal laughter which set off the rest of them. I trudged upstairs. I would never live this crap down.