Disclaimer: see previous chapter, AJ

Not a bad way to earn $6,000 in fewer than fifteen seconds. I felt like I was back in. I had been taken back two years- before my Dad died, before Linder, before Lompoc. It felt great. It was worth it. I knew I still had to make good on my deal with Tran. But, there would be time for that. Right now, all I wanted to do as bask in my win. I had not felt a crowd get this excited since the warden got killed in Lompoc. This was a different kind of excitement, though. This was the type of excitement that completely centered on me. I had no complaints.

I stepped out of the car to a flood of people, most of which I did not know. I shook a couple hands and gave out a few high fives before resting my eyes on Letty. Our eyes met. She was happy for me, I could tell. She pushed her way through the masses and quickly passed one girl that was making her way for me. When she got close enough I put my arms around her waist. I picked her up. She was so light. Our lips met. It was an amazing moment. For those brief seconds while we kissed, the crowd disappeared. It was just us. Her legs wrapped around my waist and I could tell that she wanted to stay like this forever. I complied.

Hector walked up and I gently set her back on the ground. I put my arm around her shoulder, claiming my territory. I had been out of the game for a while so it was very important that I let all the other punks around know that Letty was spoken for. Vince walked up behind me, giving me a congratulatory pat on the back. Hector gave me the cash. This was awesome. I went from negative money to a fistful of cash. I handed to cash to Letty since Mia was not around. I figured she was somewhat more responsible with money than Vince. I didn't look to see what she did with it, but I didn't care. I was on cloud nine. I was back.

We all stood around chatting for a few minutes. But, it was not long before we heard someone yell "Cops!" The sirens could be heard softly in the distance, even over the loud music that was blaring.

"Oh hell no," I said faintly but audibly. I was not going back. I had been released this morning. I could think of nothing worse than being sent back tonight.

"Hey, baby, go get with Vince. I'll meet you back at the house," I said, giving her a very brief kiss. I didn't want to prolong anything at this point.

"Vince," I called over to him and motioned to Letty.

"I got it," he replied.
"It?" Letty said, apparently extremely offended. Leave it to Letty to try to start a fight when we're running from the cops. Luckily, that was Vince's fight, not mine. I jumped in the car, watching them start to argue. But, I knew they were smart enough not to just stand there and get arrested. I really wasn't concerned.

I started the ignition and followed the slew of racers down the street. It was tricky, actually. Because, the cops could technically pull you over for suspicion of illegal activity. And, since I knew that there were very few parts under Letty's hood that were legal, it wasn't something I wanted to wait around for. So I did the only logical thing I could think of, I headed to Santa Monica to engage in my next illegal activity. This was not really turning into the night out I had imagined.

I got on 110 and headed towards 10 West. It had been a long time since I had driven anywhere, let alone Santa Monica. But, Tran had written down pretty descriptive directions. I had to hand it to him, he was nothing if not anal. I got off at Lincoln Boulevard and followed his directions. He led me to an abandoned parking lot not far from the docks. This looked sketchy.

I saw the car that he specified as "containing the merchandise". It made me smile. He had a lot to learn about being discreet. The main issue I noticed, though, was that there was no one at the car. In fact, there was no one in the entire parking lot. Awesome. I stepped out of Letty's car and looked around, as if I had expected something to happen. It didn't. The pay phone by the sidewalk started ringing.

You've got to be kidding me, I thought.

I took a deep breath and shook my head. I rubbed my eyes and starting making my way to the pay phone. I hesitated a minute before answering.

"Hello?" I said. This was ridiculous.

"Toretto, you made it," Tran said.

"Yeah, it was like 15 miles. Listen, dude, there's no one at this car," I explained.

"I didn't say there would be," he replied.

"Alright, true. So what are you getting at?" I said. He made a good point.

"I want you to get the merchandise out of the trunk," he said. His use of the word merchandise was really starting to bug me. We weren't stocking a store here, I hoped.

"I'm not jackin' a car," I said.

"I didn't say that," he said slowly.

"Well why don't you say what you need to say and stop wasting my time," I said, starting to get a little too miffed by the entire situation.

"Get the merchandise out of the trunk. I don't care how you do it," he said. "Call me when you get back in town." He hung up.

Shit. I slammed the phone down. 'Get the merchandise out of the trunk'. I just smiled, in anger, and walked back up to the car. I had not attempted to break into a car since I was about fifteen. Even then, boosting was not really my scene. I noticed the make and model of the car. It was a brand new Lexus ES, 3.0 L, V6, not a bad car. Not one that I especially wanted to break into, though. There was no way it wouldn't have an alarm. And we weren't exactly in the country. But I figured I might as well get it over with.

I decided the most logical approach would be to see if the car was unlocked. It was not. That, clearly, would have made this far too simple. With a car like this, I figured my best bet was to open the trunk automatically. So, I'd have to be inside the vehicle. Damn. I scratched my head and went to see if Letty had anything I could wrap around my elbow before attempting to break the window. I needed to get to the automatic trunk release button located inside the car, somewhere. Lexus was not really my most familiar import. Or, typically, the fuses associated with automatic controls were behind coin trays or ashtrays. This may also be an option. I started to get pretty angry because this is not really what Tran and I had discussed.

Letty had an old shirt in her backseat. She also had a pair of work gloves. It seemed pretty reasonable to wear gloves when breaking into a vehicle after just being released from prison. I put on the gloves and took out the shirt. It looked like a guy's shirt. But, that is a bridge I would cross later. One stressor at a time. I opened Letty's trunk and backed her car up to the abandoned car. I may as well be ready. I got out and wrapped the shirt around my elbow and went to the driver's side window. I inhaled deeply and pulled back my arm. I hit the window with all the strength I could muster. It really hurt. But, the window broke. And, with that, so did the sounds of silence. The most annoying and loud car alarm I had ever heard starting whaling from the vehicle. I would obviously have to do this very quickly.

I opened up the door and looked at the bottom. I saw the button for the trunk release. I pressed it. Much to my surprise, the trunk opened. That did not bode well for the Lexus security system but this was not the time to think about that, more the time to hurry the fuck up. I didn't bother closing the door, it was already pretty obvious that someone had broken the widow. I ran to the trunk. Jesus, what was Tran attempting to do? Amass an arsenal? I just started throwing the shit into my trunk. That was until I realized that underneath the guns was coke.

You've got to be shitting me, I thought. I was pissed. No way did someone leave an abandoned car filled with guns and coke in some parking lot in Santa Monica. With that thought, it rang pretty clear. They hadn't. I heard gunshots and saw a bunch of guys running from a bar less than a block a way. I threw the rest of the shit in the trunk, including the coke, and slammed the trunk down. I hightailed it to the driver's seat and floored the engine. The guys were running to their cars, still shooting, though.

I shifted and headed down some back roads. I had no clue where I was going. But, I didn't really want to get back on the main roads and draw attention to the fact I had apparently just stolen guns and cocaine. I didn't feel this would be a story that was easily explained or received by law enforcement. I kept making turns, and only by the grace of God did I not hit a dead end. One of the guys, apparently a pretty good driver with the unfortunate luck of having a shitty car, shot out the back windshield. That would be fun to explain to Letty. 'Hey baby, thanks for letting me take your car to run some merchandise for Johnny Tran. I'll replace your back windshield first thing in the morning'. Yeah, that was going to go over really well.

I eventually lost them and made my way back to the 110. I couldn't wait to see Johnny Tran so I could kill him. I got back to LA and turned right on Broadway. I saw a payphone on the corner and stopped. I dialed Tran's number and listened to it ring.

I really need to get a phone, I thought.

Tran picked up, "Toretto, good to hear from you."

"What the fuck, Tran? That was not what we'd discussed at all!" I yelled. I lowered my voice some, though, when I noticed people staring.

"Calm down. It's over. Let's meet up and close this," he said calmly. His calmness made me very angry.

"Oh, we definitely need to meet," I agreed. This was bullshit.

"Meet me at my garage in 10 minutes," he said. I didn't bother responding and just hung up the phone.

I took my time making it to the garage. It was probably the only time in my life I went under the speed limit. For a brief second I considered turning around and selling the shit to someone else. But, I wanted to punch Tran worse, so I pressed on.

When I pulled up Tran was already there with his cousin and another Asian guy. I got out of the car, holding tight to the keys. They weren't going to see anything before we had a discussion.

"Dominic, nice to see you out," his cousin, Lance, said. I ignored him completely and went right for Tran. I grabbed him by the neck and threw him up against the wall.

"What happened to your back windshield," Tran said. I felt my grip tighten around his neck until all his air was cutoff. "Okay," he whispered with the last remaining breath in his lungs. I let up, only slightly.

"What the fuck was that?" I yelled. "That's how you do business?"

"That was my shit. They stole it first," he said, almost begging.

"I don't give a shit. That was not what we talked about and you know it. And, coke? No way," I said, tightening my grip back up. He chocked.

"Let him go," Lance said, walking up to me. I took my eyes off Tran to look his cousin square in the eyes. He did not want to get involved. He backed away.

"Dom, I'm sorry. What do you want?" Tran asked. I loosened up my grip only long enough to pull back my arm and punch him square in the face.

"Get your shit," I said, throwing the keys to Lance. I let Tran go, shaking my head. "Never again, Tran. And you keep your distance from now on. That's not how I do business. You stay away. I stay away. I don't want nothing more to do with you."

I sat, in silence, as they unloaded everything.

"You want some?" Lance asked, offering some of the cocaine. I just laughed, got in the car, and drove away.

I made my way back to the fort. I saw a line of cars down the road. Apparently the party was here tonight. I pulled in the driveway. Maybe Letty wouldn't notice the windshield.

TBC

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AJ