Chapter 12
It was the fourth of July and Mia had thrown together a last minute party with more Corona, Cuervo, and picnic food than one could dream of. She'd let Vince invite more than the usual crowd, figuring it had been a long time since they'd had a full blown Toretto-style bash. Vince and Leon were front and center and taking full advantage of all of the girls they'd invited. Leon, who had just broken up with his girlfriend, was in his glory.
Dom and Debbie were late, arriving several hours after the party had started. Things were in full swing, and everyone was already pretty drunk.
"You guys suck, you're always late. Here," Vince called, tossing Dom and Debbie a beer with one hand, his other arm draped around some blond. There were people everywhere, music blasting from the speakers outside. Dom looked around, the vibe oddly familiar to the parties that he and Letty used to throw. Way too familiar...
Dom quickly finished his beer, grabbed another and poured himself a shot of tequila.
"You're driving tonight babe," he handed Debbie his keys and kissed her on the cheek.
His mission for the night was clear: Get fucking hammered.
He ignored the many big busted, scantily clad women dancing in his livingroom and headed out back. He was immediately greeted by familiar faces, Hector and Edwin. They laughed and reminisced about the old days for a bit until he heard her laugh.
He looked around, spotting her sitting at the picnic table with Leon and a few old racing buddies. Her jeans hung low, revealing her tan lower back, her long dark hair spilling over her tight blue tank top.
He chugged his beer, and tossed the empty bottle before grabbing another and heading toward the picnic table. He ruffled her hair as he walked past and she turned around, giving him a goofy look. He motioned with his eyes for her to come follow him. Wondering what the hell he wanted, she stood up and followed him around the side of the house.
He sparked a cigarette as she walked toward him.
"What are you tryin to do to me?" he asked, sliding a finger through her belt loop, pulling her close.
"What're you talkin about?"
"You know I can't keep my hands off you...why do you always have to look so fuckin hot?" he growled into her ear.
"Where's your woman?" she inquired, pushing his hand away.
"Inside. With Mia," he replied, his hand reaching for her belt loop once again, and once again she pushed it away.
"Dom stop," she muttered, "this isn't right. Your fuckin woman is right inside. You can't keep doin this."
"Ugh," he groaned, "fine...wait," he grabbed her hand as she started to walk away. "One kiss."
"Dom..."
"Just one."
He pulled her close, wrapping his hands around her waist, and leaning in he kissed her softly, no tongue, he just wanted to feel her lips on his.
She let her lips linger on his for a few seconds before pulling back. "You're a dick," she added before walking away.
A few more hours passed, and most of the people had left, leaving only Dom, Debbie, Mia and Letty sitting around the picnic table while Vince and Leon attempted to set off fireworks in the yard.
"Do you remember that one year when Jesse almost blew up the house tryin to set those things off?" Letty laughed as she watched them.
Dom's eyes lit up at the mention of Jesse's name. Sometimes it felt good to talk about him. Other times it was just fuckin unbearable.
"Who's Jesse?" Debbie asked.
Dom looked over at Letty.
"An old friend," Letty replied, smiling slightly.
"Oh, did he move away?"
Not exactly...
"No, he um...he passed away a few years ago," Letty stated, looking over at Dom.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. Dom, you never mentioned him to me."
Dom shrugged. "Yeah. I dunno, just never came up," he said, standing up. She would never understand. She didn't know him the way they did. He was suddenly annoyed.
"I wanna go," he stated harshly.
"Oh...ok," Debbie replied, surprised by his sudden change of attitude. "Let me run in and get some stuff and we'll go."
"I'll come with you. You guys should take some food home," Mia added as they walked into the house.
Dom sat back down, running a hand over his head in frustration.
"You alright?" Letty asked, taking a seat next to him, resting a hand on his back.
"Yeah," he replied. "It's still hard sometimes, you know...talkin about.."
"I know," she said softly.
He grabbed Letty's hand gently under the table, and as much as she knew she should push it away, she didn't. They sat together in the dark for a few minutes before Debbie called him from the house, saying she was ready to go.
"Night Let," he said, reluctantly letting go of her hand as he stood up.
"Yeah," she replied, "night."
One week later...
"So I was thinking we could watch a movie tonight," Debbie called as she rifled through the fridge. It was a rare Friday night where she didn't have to work late for once.
Dom emerged from the bedroom, fully clothed in his usual jeans and white v-neck t-shirt, keys clutched in his right hand.
"Oh," Debbie paused when she saw him, her smile quickly fading.
"I told Vince I'd do this thing with him." He lied.
"Oh," she replied, disappointment more than evident on her face. "It's just...I've barely seen you lately."
Dom took a seat on the couch and proceeded to lace up his boots.
"Well, you haven't exactly been around much either," he shot back.
"Dom, I got a huge promotion. You knew I'd be working a lot more. I thought you supported that," she asserted as she walked into the livingroom.
"I do. Look, I'm sorry," he confessed, tying the last lace his boot and standing up from the couch. "I really gotta go," he continued, "I promise I'll make it up to you," he added, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before heading out the door.
...
They'd agreed to meet in an alley about a block away from where the race was being held. They were supposed to race a week ago, but things fell through. And now it was time. He arrived promptly at 9:00 and was greeted by the familiar sight of her purple Nissan. He thought it funny that she still had the same car as she had four years ago, but then again, so did he. He pulled up next to her, his drivers side facing hers, and rolled down the window.
"You been here long?" he asked.
"Nope. Just got here," she replied nonchalantly. "You ready for this?" she inquired, raising an eyebrow.
"You kidding? I was born ready for this," he stated confidently while deep down trying to shake the nervous feeling in his stomach. The last time he had pressed pedal to the metal, things hadn't exactly went well...
"On green, I'm goin for it..."
He shook out his shoulders and cracked his neck.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," he said. "Let's do this."
...
Mia laid comfortably on the couch, remote in hand, flipping through the channels, trying to find something half decent to watch. It looked like it was going to turn out to be another boring Friday night alone when she heard a light knock at the door. She jumped up from her spot on the couch and peered through the window. She immediately smiled upon seeing who it was and gladly opened the door.
"Hey!" she exclaimed cheerfully, greeting Debbie with a hug. "To what do I owe this surprise?" Mia asked, motioning for her friend to come inside.
"Well, I didn't really feel like sitting at home alone on a Friday night," she replied, following Mia into the familiar livingroom.
"Alone? Where's my brother?" Mia asked casually.
"Out with Vince."
"What?" Mia laughed. "Vince is upstairs sleeping. He's sick as a dog."
Mia suddenly put the pieces together as she saw the look of despair on Debbie's face. Tears came to Debbie's eyes as she realized what was happening.
"He's with her isn't he?" Debbie asked, blinking back the tears that had surfaced so suddenly.
"Aw hun, come here," Mia said softly, pulling her brothers devastated girlfriend in for a hug. "Look, I don't know that he's with her. And you don't either," Mia stated, trying her best to sound optimistic. She had no doubt in her mind though, Dominic was with Letty...
...
Unlike the old days, Letty pulled in first, followed right behind by Dom. She noticed the size of the crowd immediately. It was a small race, maybe twenty cars total had turned out to watch. She quickly caught eyes with Hector who was standing a few feet away next to his car. Aside from him, she didn't recognize anyone else, and they definitely didn't recognize her and Dom. She shifted into park, turned the car off and stepped out. She looked back at Dom and noticed that he also seemed surprised at the complete lack of attention they'd gotten when they'd arrived.
"Guess times have changed, huh?" she whispered to Dom as he caught up with her.
"Yeah. Guess so," he replied as he looked around, shoving his hands into his pockets and walking toward Hector.
"Yo, look who it is! Old school crew," Hector smiled as he greeted Dom with a handshake and Letty with a hug.
"Hey," Letty replied, "how you livin man?"
"Good. I'm good. Ready to see you guys put an ass whoppin on all these newbies," Hector laughed. "Dom I got you in first. I got you goin against Tony and..."
"Woah, woah. Hold on a second," Dom interrupted. "I'm gonna hold back a bit. Observe. I wanna see what these kids are doin."
"Oh. Oh, alright bro. You got it. Letty girl, come on. You can jump right in. Take a spot on the left..." Hector continued, but was quickly interrupted again, this time by Letty.
"Um...I'm gonna hang back too bro. You know, observe for a bit, like Dom said."
"Okay. I see, I see. Naw, no problem. You guys chill. Let me know when you want in and I got you covered. Good to see you guys back," Hector called, as he walked over to join the other racers.
Letty looked around and finally found Dom in the background, leaning back against the side of his car, arms crossed.
"You alright?" she asked as she approached him.
"Yeah. I'm fine," he replied sternly.
"Why didn't you go?" she asked, although she was pretty sure she knew the answer.
"Why didn't you?"
They both knew exactly why they didn't jump in to race, although neither of them would ever admit it. They were scared.
...
"Here, it's cranberry pomegranate," Mia smiled as she placed the steaming cup of hot tea in front of Debbie and took a seat next to her at the kitchen table.
"Thanks," Debbie replied solemnly, her tear stained face finally clearing up a little.
"Your welcome. It's my favorite. Always makes me feel..."
"Mia?" Debbie interrupted. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure," Mia replied softly, "ask away."
"Will you tell me about them?"
"Who?" Mia asked, pretending like she hadn't a clue as to who Debbie was talking about.
"Dom," Debbie replied, "...and Letty."
Mia looked down at her tea and stirred it a little. She wasn't sure if this was something she should get into...
"Please Mia. I need to know. It's killing me," she said quietly.
"What exactly do you want to know?" Mia asked.
"Everything."
...
They'd been at the race for about an hour when Dom realized he hadn't seen Letty in a while. He looked around a bit when he finally spotted her across the lot, talking to some guy who's pants were practically around his ankles. She was laughing and smiling and drinking a beer. The guy had his arm draped around her shoulder. That was all it took for Dom to see red and he immediately stormed across the lot.
"Yo," Dom snapped, grabbing the guys arm and yanking it off of Letty.
"Yo what the fuck, bro?" The guy yelled as he got into Dom's face.
"Don't touch her," Dom demanded, eyes wild and brows knitted together in anger.
"Yo, fuck you homie!" the guy yelled, shoving Dom in the chest. "Who the fuck are you?!"
The poor guy had no clue. And he didn't want to know...
Letty immediately jumped between the two.
"Dom, back off," she warned.
"Letty, stay out of this," he shot back.
"Dom!" she yelled, grabbing his arm and dragging his powerful form to the side of the road.
"What the fuck Dom?!" she yelled.
"What the fuck?" he roared back. "That guy had his hands all over you!!"
"So the fuck what Dominic?! So what if he did?" she snarled. "What the fuck do you care? We're not together anymore Dom, in case you forgot."
Dom rubbed at his head as he paced around, trying to calm down.
He muttered something under his breath, and Letty could have sworn she heard him say...
"What?" she whispered as she approached him and grabbed his arm lightly.
"Nothing," He snapped, yanking his arm away and heading towards his car.
Letty stood there alone, watching Dom drive off. She was left with racers and cars and beer and parties, but most of all she was left with the words that he'd muttered before he left. He hadn't meant for her to hear them but she had.
"I love you." He'd said.