I approached them. Trying not to run, I think I moved particularly slow. But I just watched their interaction. Something about it was all wrong. I couldn't even pretend to believe that this was normal. But, I also didn't know what I was supposed to do. I mean, me and Letty were together. I hadn't asked her about her relationships while I was in Lompoc, but she alluded to the fact that she had always been there, waiting for me. What if she hadn't exactly told the whole truth? Could I really fault her for it? I mean it was two years. But, dishonestly, that stung. Maybe I was jumping to conclusions. Before I could work it out in my mind, I was in front of them. Just standing there. I had to say something because they had stopped talking and were just looking at me.

"What's up man," I said, trying to act like I didn't want to rip his head off and run over it with my car, then back up and run over it again. And, just for good measure, flip it to drive and run over it a third time.

"Hey bud," he replied.

"So what can we do your for?" I asked him, looking between him and Letty.

"I was just telling my girl here that I don't really know what's going on with the car. I mean, it's got some kinda weird smell coming from it, especially after I park it."

I just nodded. This guy didn't have a clue. But he also said 'my girl' in reference to my girlfiend and that wasn't exactly something I was comfortable with.

"Alright, well based on that, it could be a number of things. We'll take a look at it and let you know what we find," I told him, praying that he'd just give me the keys and get the hell out of dodge.

"Okay, dude, well," he said, looking between me and Letty. I had a mental image of punching him in the face and it made me smile to myself. I knew I would never act on it. But just the thought satisfied something inside me.

"Yeah, we'll take good care of your baby," Letty reassured.

"Oh, I knew you will," he smiled at her.

I just scrunched my forehead. I couldn't help think that the conversation about his car was over. He should leave now.

"You got some keys we can use?" I asked, trying to move this benign process along.

"Totally," he said, reaching into his pocket. "Here you go."

"Cool. We'll give you a call in a day or so. I'm assuming the shop's got your info?" I asked.

"Probably. Or Let's got my digits," he said.

Oh goody.

"But now I aint' got a ride to work," he said.

Hm, cry me a river. I saw two perfectly good legs. He could walk his lazy ass wherever the hell he needed to go. But I just stood back, observing.

"Where you goin?" Letty asked him.

Really? You're playing into this? I shot her a look, but she didn't make eye contact with me. Sketchy.

"Just up the road, corner of Essex's and Third," he told her.

Essex's and Third….not just up the road. More like up several roads about 10 miles.

"I'll drop you," she said.
"You sure?"

"Hey, ain't no thing," she joked. "I think my boss'll cut me some slack," she said looking over at me smiling.

Think again. I didn't say anything. I was pretty sure that I'd been officially cut out of this conversation. But I'd be damned if I was leaving.

"Cool," he responded.
"Just over here," she said, leading this douche over to her car.

I just stood there, watching. They continued some conversation as he followed her. They both got in her car.

"Hey, I'll be right back," she shouted over to me. As if that made any fucking difference.

I just nodded. I didn't want to make a big deal over this. I didn't know what it was yet. But I was definitely going to find out. I was not going to be made a fool of.

After they drove off, I looked back at the guy's car. I wanted to bash in the windshield. But that would really just mean that he would have to have his car in my shop for longer. I decided the best approach was to get his car in and out. Of course, 'it has a weird smell' gave me close to zero information. That could be breaks, cylinders, pedal-arms…really anything. It was going to take a lot of investigating to figure it out. Under normal circumstance I would have questioned the owner further. But I didn't really want to talk to this guy for too long.

I walked over and got in his car. I had to move the seat back to fit in the driver's seat. Shorty. I flipped it over, ignition igniting. Brittany Spears blasting through the stock speakers. Oh holy Lord. That just made everything so much worse. The least he could do is pretend to be a hard ass if he wanted to take my girlfriend.

I pulled it in and got out, ready to solve this mystery in as many ways as possible. I jacked up the front end, and unhooked the positive battery cable, the clutch cable and hydraulic slave cylinder. I suspected, based on the way it drove into my dock, that I may need to get the transaxle ready for removal. I had to remove multiple engine mounts to get the transaxle out- this guy had not taken very good care of his car. Of course, I didn't think about putting the oil pan below it, so I reaped the negative effects of that. But that was an easy problem to fix. After that I was able to take the engine away from the transaxle after I removed the bolts that were around the flywheel bell housing. I could then push away the transaxle from the engine. It didn't take long for the input shift to be clear of the pressure plate. The bolts from the pressure plate came out with very little work, so the clutch disc was easy to remove. I had to reinstall the flywheel because the friction surface was scored. But otherwise, I really didn't see any oil leaking and the needle bearings by the flywheel center seemed lubricated enough. To replace the clutch in this car, you really didn't need to remove the transaxle, which made it a lot easier. And since the input shaft wasn't leaking I knew it didn't need to be replaced.

I wheeled out from underneath, needing to get a different sized wrench and a cleaner cloth. Letty was back. I didn't know when she had gotten back. She was talking with Jesse until she saw me. She approached me. I didn't really feel much like talking, so I tried to avoid it. Of course, when Letty wants something, there is no avoiding her.

"Hey," she said to me, as I tried to walk past her.

I stopped and looked, but didn't say anything back.

"Do you need any help with that?" she asked, pointing to the Toyota.

"Do I need help with it?" I asked, was she serious?

"It was just a question," she snapped back.

"Well here's another one, did you get your little friend wherever he needed to go?"

"My little friend?"

"Didn't know we provided transportation service here," I responded gruffly and walked away. I was going to get this bitch finished. I didn't care if I was putting other orders on hold. Something inside me needed to fix this and get it out of here.

I took out the flywheel and the old seal. It took me the longest time to find the right seal to install. The area that the parts were stored in the shop was so out of order. I needed to make a mental note to fix that at some point. Eventually, I found it and installed the new seal

"You wanna come with us to lunch or anything?" Leon asked, as I slid back under the car with my crawler.

"Nah," was all I said. I heard most everyone leave. I didn't even care to look at who was still there. I tried to keep my mind busy so I wouldn't care.

Before I could actually install the new clutch, I had to clean the crankshaft flange before putting in the flywheel. With the flywheel on top of the flange, I secured the bolts in a star formation to the specified torque for his fucking blue Toyota. Then I could finally install the clutch disc and pressure plate. But before I could put in the transaxle, I had to attach the new release bearing to the release fork. When the fork could move freely, at least I got some assurance that despite my emotions, I wasn't fucking up his vehicle. I was then able to hoist the transaxle into position and move it forward until the input shaft glided into the clutch disc's spindled hole. It was hard not to apply any force, because I wanted to apply force to this guy, one way or another. I reinstalled the bolts that I had taken out earlier. Then I could just grab a hold of the transaxle, release the jack, and lower this fucking car. I adjusted the clutch cables just to be extra cautious, I didn't want this joker coming back for any reason. Then, just for extra reassurance, I jumped in the driver's seat. I wanted to make sure that the clutch's self-adjusting action was performing correctly by depressing the slave cylinder's piston into its bore. I decided to drive it, but had to change the radio station first. It sucked with overall power, but at least the clutch was riding golden.

I drove around several blocks, not really telling anyone I was leaving. They would get the idea. It was turning dark. I didn't know how long it had taken me to finish this, but I'd work pretty steadily all day.

The rest of the week was pretty similar. I was trying to get back into the habit of going to bed early – or early for me, so before midnight – and getting to the garage for a full day of work. It wasn't long before it became second nature to me again. The garage got busier and busier as the week wore on. So Letty and I were more and more exhausted at the end of the day. We hadn't really talked a lot since before that first day back at the garage, and that guy coming in. I was trying to brush it off, act like I didn't care. But I was pretty sure she was sensing that something was wrong.

Before I knew it, it was 5:00 on Friday. The best time of the entire week. Time to close up the shop for a weekend of partying, racing, and relaxing.

"Alright guys, time to throw in the towel," I announced, taking off my coveralls. I couldn't wait to have a cold beer between my fingers and nothing on my mind.

"Got a couple of things to finish up with this engine," Jesse said, he and Letty looking up.

"Do what you gotta do," I told them. I sure was hell didn't feel like sticking around.

"Cool," he responded.

"Hey Let," I said, the first time I'd really spoken directly to her all day.

"Huh?" she said, not even looking up this time.

"Think fast," I said, tossing the keys to the garage over to her. She caught them, looking up at the last minute and being so fucking smooth. "Lock up when you're done."

"Kay," was the only response I got.

"You ready to take it to the fort?" Vince asked, totally ready to leave.

"Hell yeah," I told him. We both got in our separate cars and drove back to the house.

I couldn't make it to the refrigerator fast enough. I looked in, saw more than enough of those sparkling bottles with the golden liquid, and grabbed one with a quickness.

"Don't waste any time, huh?" Vince joked, coming into the house as I was popping off the cap and taking a long swig.

I didn't respond, just handed him one. He followed my actions and started in on his own.

"So what was going on with that Acura today?" I asked him, as we made our way over to the couch.

He just shrugged. "I dunno. I may not be as good at the car shit as the rest of y'all. But I am damn good at drinking beer," he commented, finishing off his first one.

I had to laugh. That boy was made for having a good time. I think that was what I loved most about Vince. He knew how to throw down and let loose.

"Want another?" he asked, as he walked into the kitchen.

"Do you even gotta ask?" I hollered back at him, finishing off mine as well. Things were getting better. All the stress of trying to run the garage, looking at the bills, paying the first mortgage I'd had to take care of in two years, and having that Letty thing in the back of my mind, had really been a load on me this week.

He returned with two and took his seat. I opened my second and started in on it with tenacity.

"So is there something going on between you and Let?" he asked, taking that second beer up to his lips like it was his job.

"I don't know," I told him, being truthful.

"Just seems like things have been weird between you two all week."

Well when Vince, definitely not the most perceptive one on the team, noticed something, I guess I wasn't as doing nearly as good a job at hiding my anger as I thought I was.

"Did she hook up with anyone while I was gone?" I asked him.

"Um…not that I know of."

I just shot him a look. He hesitated. What did that mean? Did it mean he was thinking? Or did it mean he wanted to keep something from me?

"I swear, brother. If she did I ain't got a clue. Never seemed like she did, at least around us. Did you ask her?"

"Not exactly. I just, I think she woulda said if she had, don't you?"

He shrugged again. "Maybe. Or maybe she wouldn't because you just got back and she didn't wanna bring up the past. I don't know."

"Hm."

"Who you think she hooked up with?"

"Remember that fuckin' douche that was in the garage on Monday? With the blue Toyota?"

Vince paused, obviously trying to remember.

"You said his name started with a D, like the same as a city."

"Oh yeah. You think she hooked up with him?" he asked, surprised by my suspicion.

"It's just the way they were acting was real weird. Real not like Letty."

"Well just ask her dawg. Then at least you'll know if you got anything to be pissed about or not."

He had a point. I did need to just ask her. Easier said than done though.

"So who you hookin' up with these days?" I asked out of curiosity, and also to change the subject.

"Who am I not hookin' up with!" he responded cockily.

I just let out a laugh of disbelief. "Yeah, whatever."

"Nah, seriously man. Seems like I been runnin' through those chasers like there's no tomorrow."

"Well that's cool. You actually like any of 'em or it's just a piece of ass?"

"With them," he scoffed, "just the ass. I have been tryin' to get with Collins, though. You remember her?"

I shook my head no. Collins….

"Collins Davis. She was in Mia's class. Blonde, fuckin' smart, rich family, huge boobs," he elaborated. But despite this very detailed description, that really could have been half the girls in LA, I had no clue who he was talking about.

"I got nothin'," I told him.

"Well she's fucking smokin'."

"Sounds like your kinda girl. What's the problem?"

"Shit," he laughs again. "Girl like that, ain't gonna give me the time of day."

"Have you tried?"

"Yeah," he said, uneasy.

"Have you really tried? Or have you just made some lame-ass pickup line and expected her to fall down on her knees?"

"Um probably more the second one."

"Figured. Well maybe try actually trying and see if that gets you somewhere. Be nice and try to use some manners, like opening doors and stuff. Plus, girls love to talk about themselves so just stand there let her fuckin' go. She'll think you're sensitive or some shit."

"We gonna have a party here tonight?" he asked, finishing off his second beer at the same time as me.

"Sure. If you wanna try to get in this chick's pants," I smiled through my beer.

"Awesome," he said, going into the kitchen to get us another round.

As we finished off our third beers, Mia, Letty, and the guys all got home. The girls went off to get ready for the race. Vince and Jesse started playing video games. Leon wanted to talk about what was going on with the police scanner. I tried to listen. I kept zoning out. I just wanted to focus on nothing right now.

When I realized that I probably shouldn't drink anymore if I thought I might race, I took a shower and started getting ready to leave for the races. I went back in my room as Letty finished doing whatever it was that she did, to her hair.

"So is something up?" she stopped and asked me. I knew she was referring to the fact that I had been ignoring her all week.

"You tell me," I replied.

"Nope, not with me," she said matter-of-factly.

I just looked at her. "I ain't playing games. That's all I'm gonna say."

"Well shit. That's the most cryptic message I've ever heard," she said, slamming down her hairbrush.

"Guess I got my point across then," I said. I knew this was just going to make her madder but I didn't want to admit that I was uneasy about our relationship. That I may still had my doubts about whether or not she was really all in with me or not. So instead, I just avoided it. I know that I told her I would try to be more honest. But I can only change so quickly and this was not an area that was easy for me to change in.

We left for the races, driving separately.

As the team approached, we got the typical stares from the crowd. Despite what had happened between Letty and I, this helped boost up my ego several notches. I got out of the car and was greeted by a couple of girls. I had no idea who they were, but I was feeling friendly.

"Hey ladies," I said to them.

They started gabbing on about something. I didn't listen but just smiled at them, touching them in places that were safe enough not to get me in trouble, but fun enough that it would make the girls think they stood a chance.

"Dom, what are you doing?" she asked snidely.

"Just talkin'. Ain't like I'm trying to give 'em a ride anywhere," I told her.
"Aw," one of the girls said, sounding disappointed. I smiled down at her and laughed, understanding my "ride" reference.

"Whatever," Letty said, and skulked off.

A group of anonymous white guys and girls was behind us. I didn't pay them any attention until I saw that same blue Toyota. Yet again, that caught my attention. He got out of the car and I was reassured that it was the same guy that had been at the garage. I looked around, I didn't see Letty.

"Yo, yo! What up D-train?" one of the other guys called towards Mr. Blue Toyota.

"Straight up chillin', yo. How's it hangin'?" he responded.

"You know, livin' the dream."

"Word."

"So, you workin' on getting with Letty again? Saw her over there. Hadn't seen you in a while but last I heard you guys were getting pretty hot and heavy."

This pretty much made me stop in my tracks. I had been trying VERY hard to hide the face that I was ease dropping on their conversation. But after this, I didn't care whether they knew or not. I didn't turn around and face them straight on. But I did try to get closer.

"Shit, I wish. She fuckin' left my ass," blue Toyota said to his friend.

"Aw, fuck dude. Yeah I heard she was fuckin' harder to get into than a Pearl Jam concert."

What the fuck? Who was trying to go see Pearl Jam?

"Eh, you win some, you lose some."

"I heard that."

"You racin' tonight?"

"Nah, just here for the festivities. You?"

"I got my boy James racin'. Should be interesting."

Yes it should.

TBC

AJ

A/N- A possible lie, an unattainable love obsession, and a street race, dum dum dum. And the plot thickens…

So obviously the next chapter could go in one of two directions. I kind of have a pretty good idea about where I think it should go. But any suggestions, comments, etc. are encouraged!