Dom knew where he could get a car. Getting a car was the easy part. If nothing else, he could always use Mia or Letty's car. He hadn't worked on either of them in a while. But, he was confident that he could do some pretty significant damage against the characters that would be at a run-of-the-mill street race on a Friday night. He was pretty sure that, with the exception of Hector, it would be your typical rich boy that didn't know how to handle a car. But, coming across a couple extra thousand dollars would be the biggest problem. There was only one person Dom could think of to call, and he really didn't want to call him.
Dom made his way away from Letty. If she knew what he was doing she would be pissed. That was not something that he was trying to deal with right now. He made eye contact with Vince and motioned for him to come into the kitchen. Vince met his gaze and followed him in. Dom looked around to make sure that Mia was not around. He knew that as mad as Letty may be that he was going to go out and commit a crime the night he got out of prison, Mia would cause a scene.
After being sure that he was in the clear he looked and Vince and quietly said, "Do you know how to get in touch with Tran?"
"Why?" Vince asked just smiling with suspicion.
"Business," Dom said very forthright
"Business? What kinda business you got goin' on with Tran tonight?" Vince asked, clearly unwilling to give up the contact number with further information.
"I think I'm gonna race tonight. I need to come across some quick cash. That's about the only thing that Tran's good for," Dom explained. He didn't want to divulge too much information. Dom knew that it was a bad idea. But, to feel the speed and the adrenaline from a race. It was the thing he had missed above all else. He needed to feel that freedom now more than ever before.
"I'll give it to ya man but it's a bad idea. Ain't no shit ever gone down with Tran that wasn't shady," Vince said. But he submitted and gave Dom his cell phone.
Dom called Tran.
"Yo, Johnny, it's Dominic Torettto. How you doin, man?" Dom asked, attempting to sound nonchalant. Dom and Johnny Tran had never gotten along. It was impossible for them to have a completely comfortable conversation. And, Dom half expected Johnny to hang up on him. If any guy had ever done Mia the way Dominic had done Johnny's sister, they would not still be standing.
"Toretto, they let you out?" Johnny said, being just as haughty as ever.
"Listen, I'm not gonna try to talk small talk with you. I need to talk business," Dom said, getting right to the point. He didn't want to talk to Johnny any more than Johnny wanted to talk to him. There was no reason to prolong the pain.
"What kind of business could you have that I would be interested in?" Johnny asked.
"From what I hear, you've been looking for some drivers. And, right now, I'm lookin' for some cash. I thought we could see about workin' together on this dilemma," Dom said, trying still to act casual.
"How much cash?" Tran asked.
"What's the job?" Dom asked. He was pretty willing to do anything that required driving. But, he couldn't start tossing around numbers until he understood the expectations. He had a lot riding on the fact that the cops wouldn't find out about it.
"I just need someone to, uh, pick up some merchandise and deliver it," Tran said, being obviously too vague.
"Alright, what type of merchandise are we talkin' about?" Dom said, requiring more specifics. Dom may have been drinking but he wasn't foolish. He knew the types people that Johnny Tran dealt with. He was a violent guy and ran with some pretty volatile people. They didn't get in fistfights, they got into shooting fights.
"Guns," Johnny said after a significant pause. This made Dom hesitate. He wasn't used to dealing much with weapons. In fact, he thought that most guys that dealt with weapons were too scared to handle fights themselves. He had no respect for them. He wasn't so sure about pushing this type of product. He got an all too familiar feeling that always seemed to rise up in his stomach when he knew he was about to agree to something he shouldn't.
"Where's the pick up?" Dom said, still not feeling comfortable but knowing he would still do it. It was just how he worked. If an opportunity came along for some quick and easy cash, he had a hard time passing it down. Dom understood, really understood, hard work. He saw his Dad struggle to make ends meat honestly. It was impossible. He could never live like his Dad had. But, having some easy money on the side would make that hard work pay off more.
"Santa Monica," Tran replied. Santa Monica? That was only about 20 minutes away. Why did Tran need fast drivers to pick up guns from Santa Monica? What, did he need them in 15 instead of 20 minutes? It was ridiculous, no logic. There was definitely more going on here than Johnny was revealing. But, instead of finding out all the details, he decided he didn't want to know. He was going to make a bad decision and, in that instance, it's best not to know all the details.
"How much you payin'?" Dom asked. There was no way that he was going to be the first to state a number. And, he knew that Tran would try to underpay him. It would need to be carefully negotiated.
"I'll give you the two grand you want to race with," Johnny said slightly chuckling. I guess it was pretty obvious why Dom was calling. He thought about it for a second. He wondered if he should try to hit Tran up for more. If his only part in this deal was running the product, two grand for an hours work wasn't that bad.
"Make it three and I'll leave right now," Dom said. He wasn't much into negotiations, really. But, it was worth a shot. He would never know if he didn't try. And, apparently Tran needed someone pretty badly to take the deal over the phone tonight.
"Two-five," he said.
"When's the shipment coming in," Dom said, essentially agreeing to the deal.
"Midnight," Tran said. So Dominic would miss the street race. That was really the only reason for making the deal in the first place. "But, I'll spot you the money so you can race. And, I'll even call my boys out of it so you have a chance."
"You send your boys. They don't scare me," Dom said. That was a very brave and arrogant comment for Johnny to make. Dom wasn't scared of the Asian crowd. He had enjoyed taking their money in the past and he highly doubted that anything had changed. "But, I'll do it just as long as you get me that money before tonight," Dom agreed. It would be easier for him to sneak away after the race and he's already be driving a car suitable for the trip. It was actual an ideal circumstance, theoretically.
"Alright. I'll meet you at the race. Pacific Coast Highway," Tran said.
"Be there," Dom said and they both hung up. This was going to be an interesting maneuver he would have to make tonight. Somehow he would have to convince one of the girls to let him use their car, hide where he was miraculously coming up with two grand and then sneak away shortly after the race to run a gun scam for Johnny Tran…easy.
TBC
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AJ