As we made our way through the yard, I noticed that Kim was surprisingly drunk. I guess I had not noticed during our brief conversation leading up to the short walk from Emilio's house to my own. I didn't really care, though, I just didn't want her to make a whole lot of noise and wake up anyone. I had no idea what time it was but the house looked really dark. I opened the door that lead to the basement from the outside and switched on the lights.

As light filled the room, I lead Kim inside.

"So this is where you live?" she asked. What was with this girl? I guess I'd just had enough to drink to want to be a major smart ass. I was sixteen, where else would I be taking her? But, I refrained.

"Yep," I responded. Just then I saw Letty look up from the couch. Damn. What the hell was she doing down here? I immediately froze as if maybe she wouldn't see me.

"Hey guys," she said sleepily. I guess she had spotted us.

"Hi! I'm Kim. You must be Dom's sister," Kim said very cheerfully.

"Um," Letty laughed. "Not exactly."

Kim looked over at me. I was avoiding looking at her all together.

"Kim this is Letty. Letty, Kim," I said reluctantly. I was very disappointed at how this had worked out. It had not gone at all like I had planned. Of all the people that could find me in this situation, Letty was the last one I would have preferred. I would rather have had my Dad down here than her. He probably would have just thought it was funny. I certainly wasn't getting that vibe from Letty.

"It's great to meet you," Letty said sarcastically.

"What are you doing down here?" I asked Letty.

"Waiting up for you actually. I didn't know you were going to have company," she said, looking at Kim.

"Hey Dom," Kim interrupted. "Do you have bathroom?"

"Nope, you'll have to go outside," Letty replied to her. Damn, rarely did I get to see this side of Letty so late at night. I didn't really know what to make of it. I thought it was pretty hilarious though.

"Ugh, yeah, it's right over there," I pointed, hoping that my Dad had finished working on it today.

"Thanks," she said, rubbing my arm while looking at Letty. Awkward. She made her way to the bathroom and shut the door.

"So, you were waiting up? What's up?" I asked trying to act like this whole thing had not just happened. I was glad that Kim was out of the picture for now.

"Nothing. Just going to talk about the race and stuff. And, mainly I was hiding from Mia. She was trying to put highlights in my hair," Letty said, standing up and stretching. She was wearing one of my old shirts. I had given it to her one day to wear at the shop. She was wearing a pair of really short shorts that were invisible until she lifter her arms. I was digging it.

"Well you want to hang out?" I asked, sitting down on the couch. I would have preferred to kick Kim out and just hang out with Letty. But, this was all-around uncomfortable for me. I didn't think there was any winning at this point.

"I'd sooner die. But, thanks for asking," she said as Kim came out of the bathroom. She had been used the bathroom in record time.

"Where are you going?" I asked, as Letty turned to leave the basement.

"To bed. I thought I'd give you guys some privacy," she said, walking up the stairs.
"Nice to meet you, Letty," Kim said, getting comfortable on the couch next to me.

"Yeah, it was a real treat," she said not turning around and closing the door behind her.

I felt like I'd really messed up in a great capacity. I didn't know why Letty was waiting up. The fact she wanted to talk really wasn't that out of the ordinary. We hadn't talked in a while. I had really started to miss it. And, here I went, throwing away my opportunity just to make Johnny Tran mad. I guess group rivalries run pretty deep. I wanted to go after her. I wanted to tell Kim that we should take a rain check. But, I knew I couldn't. I didn't know Kim at all but if she ran her mouth the way the rest of the Tran clan did, then having her leave my house would be very detrimental for me.

What was wrong with me? What was I willing to sacrifice for my reputation? But I did not know what running after Letty would do either. What if she did just want to talk about the races? I would throw away the chance at really getting back at Johnny for being such an ass tonight to shoot the breeze with someone who lived in my house? I knew that I could talk to Letty about the race tomorrow. And, maybe she was just hiding from Mia. That sounded plausible. Maybe I was reading way too much into this. Maybe I just wanted to hang out with her and she really didn't care about what had just happened. I didn't know. But, at this point, I had waited so long contemplating the entire situation, I'd missed my opportunity with Letty. But, Kim was still here. She was jabbering on about something. Carpe diem. If Letty was going to think I was a player, a jerk, whatever the correct terminology may be (which I probably didn't want to know), I may as well prove her right. Nothing pleased her more than being right.

Regardless, I averted my attention towards Kim. I didn't know what she was talking about, but I wanted her to be quiet. I leaned over and started kissing her. That seemed to do the trick.

At this point Tran was somewhat out of the picture. I was doing this for me, more so than to get back at him. I guessed that was probably better. She was very receptive to the kissing.

She was even equally as down when I reached my hand up her shirt. In fact, she pulled her shirt off completely without any type of initiation from me. Unhooking bras had always been a special gift of mine. And, in a heartbeat, hers was on the floor. I took off my shirt and we begin to get serious. Something about the whole situation just didn't seem right. But, instead of listening to my better instinct, I unbuttoned her pants. She did the same to me and the rest was very nice history…

The next morning I woke up. My neck hurt. I was still on the couch. So was Kim. We were both naked. I didn't know what time it was but I figured it was time for her to go. I sat up, in attempt to wake her up. I searched the room until I found my boxers. As I got up to put them on I saw her start to rouse.

"Good morning," she smiled up at me.

"Hey," I said.

I sat back down and rubbed the small of her back. I didn't want to be rude, but she needed to leave.

"I think my Dad may be up soon. We probably need to get going," I said. And by we I meant her.

"Yeah, that's cool. I had fun last night," she said, leaning up to kiss me. I obliged.

"Me too," I said, standing up and putting on my jeans. I wanted to encourage her to get moving without words.

She sat up. She was still pretty hot. She gave me a devilish grin. I felt conflicted. Should I go for it? Morning sex was rarely an option. And, theoretically, it shouldn't have been an option now. But I knew I would go for it. As quickly as the jeans came on, they went off. I liked the basement.

"Hey Dominic, you want some…," Letty started. I could tell by her voice that she was half way down the steps. "Oh god!" She turned around and left, closing the door behind her.

"Shit," I said, getting off of Kim. Motherfucker. That was all I could think. That was like the second time today that I had made things really awkward between Letty and I. Letty just walked in on me making out with a naked girl in my boxers. Thank God we weren't having sex. I didn't like the basement anymore. And, after what just happened, morning sex was really no longer optional. That had pretty much killed my desire to do anything.

Kim seemed somewhat taken back. I didn't think she really understood Letty and her role in our household or in my life. But I wasn't about to take the time to explain it to her.

"Let's just go. I guess they're up," I said to Kim. I wasn't mad at her. I was mad at myself. But, I felt like it was coming out as if I was mad at her. I couldn't do anything about this. I was mad at the world by this point.

She got dressed and took the inevitable walk of shame out of my house and to my car. I unlocked the doors and drove her to her house. The only positive note for the morning was that when I dropped Kim off, Johnny was outside. He witnessed the entire scene. And, because he was outside, I decided to give her a long, passionate kiss goodbye and him an arrogant smirk.

By the time I pulled back up to my house, I had pretty much decided that I didn't want to go inside. Instead, I turned around and headed for the garage. I didn't want to face the looks that Letty would give me. I was sure that she had come up with some bullshit excuse for my Dad about why I didn't want whatever it was that she was offering. I would venture to guess that it was food but I guess I would never find out.

I parked my car outside the garage. Vince and my Dad's cars were already there. When I got inside Vince, my Dad, and Letty were already working. Damn. Why had they all decided to work early on a Saturday?

"Nice to see you gracing us with your presence today, Dominic," Dad said.

"Yeah, no problem," I said, smarting off to him. I was lucky I didn't get slapped in the jaw with a response like this. But, he was too busy working on the wiring with Letty.

"Dominic," Mia called out from the back office. Shit, where did she come from?

She walked out carrying a stack of papers.
"Did you finish that exhaust yesterday on that Honda?" she asked, staring at paperwork.

"No, but I will today," I replied.

"You didn't finish it?" she asked, confused and annoyed.

"What did I just say?" I snapped back.

"Why not?" she insisted.
"Cuz I didn't," I replied. Gosh, I really didn't feel like getting hassled. And I couldn't be honest about why I hadn't. Apparently, I wasn't in a very good mood.

"Alright, well do you think you could finish it today? We are supposed to get it back to him Monday," Mia stated.

"Yeah, Mia, fine. Damn. Lay the fuck off," I said.

With this statement, my Dad stopped what he was doing, grabbed me by my shirt collar and pulled me into the back office. I was a little surprised by this brash movement. He definitely caught me off guard. I was really tired from getting zero sleep the night before and was not expecting to be dragged around. My Dad was a pretty big guy and my balance wasn't at it's best. He didn't have any trouble moving me.

"Boy, if I ever catch you talking to your sister like that again I will knock you into next Tuesday," he said, letting go of me after we were in the office.

"Alright, Pop, sorry!" I said, still in a state of shock.

"What the hell is the matter with you? What were you thinking?" he said. Why was he so pissed? I was usually really nice to Mia. I didn't think I'd been that big of an ass. Apparently, I crossed some imaginary line in his book, though.

"I guess I wasn't," I said.

"She works so hard here. She could be working at Angie's store. But, she comes here and does the books and the paperwork. And she's good at it. You show her some respect," Dad said, lowering his tone a little. Angie was my Dad's half sister. She was a lot older and had been trying to convince Mia to help out at her grocery store/sandwich counter for the past year. She would go occasionally, but preferred to be over at the garage with everyone else. Angie liked having Mia's company and wanted to teach her how to run things over there so she could retire soon. She did have any of her own children and had always been close with Mia.

"Alright, sorry," I said.

"What has been up with you lately? Where were you last night?" he asked, no so much concerned as upset.

"I just went out. But I came home," I said.

"You went out? Jesus, Dominic, it's almost three o'clock in the afternoon. You couldn't make it here till now?" he said, looking up at the clock.

Wow, when did it get so late? Why was I so tired then? We must have not gone to bed until really late. No wonder everyone was already here. It wasn't long before closing time.

"I'm sorry, Dad. I've just been real busy lately. But, I'll be nice to Mia. I appreciate what she does here," I told him.

"Well, I can make you un-busy in a hurry if you're not careful son. But, I'm not the one you need to be telling this to," he said, pushing me back out of the office by my collar in Mia's general direction. I kind of thought I was too old for this. I guess not. I didn't think it was really what I'd just said to Mia that caused Dad to get so mad. I had a feeling that it was a culmination of things. I had really slacked off lately- at work, at school, at home. It was starting to come back and bite me in the ass.

"Mia, I'm sorry. What I meant to say was that I didn't have time to finish it up yesterday. I had a lot going on and got really busy. But I will today. You can call them and tell them to pick it up Monday," I explained calmly.

"Okay," she replied, turning to go back into the office.

"Yeah, you were busy, huh?" Letty asked, from the front side of the Wrangler.

I didn't want to deal with that type of smart-ass comment right now. Not after just being shirted by my Dad. I ignored her, rolled under the Honda, and got to work on the hangers.

"What's up with you?" she asked, coming over and looking underneath the car at me.

"Nothing. Why you gotta call me out in front of my Dad?" I asked, kind of pissed. I didn't bother to stop working. I didn't want to be 'too busy' to not get my work done.

"Oh, come on. He wasn't listening," she said. And that was true. He ignored most of the conversations that Vince, Letty, and I had together at the garage.

"Whatever," I said, still not looking at her.

"Alright, act mad at me," she smiled, turning to go back over to the Wrangler.

"I'm not mad at you," I told her. She stopped.

"I know," she said. This frustrated me so much. But, it made me smile too. She knew me too well. Sometimes I just wanted to slug her. But, most of the time I wanted to…finish working on the Honda.

I finished installing the exhaust. It really didn't take that long when I actually put my mind to it.

Dad closed up the shop and I walked towards my car. Letty had ridden with Vince and, from the direction she was heading, I supposed she was going to ride back with him too.

"Yo Dom," Vince called over from his car.

I looked up at him.

"I want to hear about your crazy night, bro," he smiled.

"You guys are terrible," Letty rolled her eyes and got into Vince's car.

I just nodded at him.

We all met back at the house and Vince and I headed down to the basement to talk.

"So…" he said, encouraging me to start.

"So, what?" I joked. I knew what he wanted to hear about.

"How pissed is Tran going to be," Vince asked.

"Well, I saw him this morning when I dropped his sister off at her house," I smiled.

"Nice," he replied.

"Yeah, that was a nice ending," I agreed.

"She's pretty hot, though," Vince said.

"Yeah, she was," I concurred.

"So is this like a one time thing or are you going to keep things up with her?" Vince asked.

Before I could answer, Letty opened the basement door and called down, "is it safe to come down?"

I was glad that she had. I didn't really know the answer to this question. I didn't know Kim. I had fun with her. But, I wasn't really into dating. I thought Vince might be asking because he wanted to hook up with her, though. I didn't care if he did.

"Shut up," I called back.

"Just checking," she remarked.

"I think I missed something," Vince said confused.

"You miss a lot, V," Letty mocked, coming over and sitting down on the couch beside me.

"So, what are we going to do for my birthday?" Vince asked, changing the subject completely.

"Whatever you want to do buddy," I told him.

"What are we going to do for my birthday," Letty asked.

"Whatever you want to do buddy," Vince replied, repeating and somewhat mocking me. Whatever.

"Thanks," she said flippantly.

We continued to talk about party festivities. Vince had planned to go down to Hector's. I decided to stay behind, so did Letty. I wanted a chance to talk to her. I wanted to make sure we were cool. I figured that was the best I could hope for after what had happened today.

"Let, I want to talk to you about last night. Well, I guess it was technically this morning. Both times," I said seriously after Vince had made his exit.

"Why?" she asked puzzled.
"Well, I mean, I didn't want things to be weird," I started. I didn't know if this was the best choice of words but there really was no good way to say it.

"Trust me, Dom, it would be weirder if we talked about it," she smiled.

"Alright," I said. I guess she didn't want to. Surprisingly, Letty didn't want to talk about her feelings. So, instead, we spent the rest of the evening talking about the races and what she had done with Mia the night before. It was awesome. She was sitting beside me on the couch. She brought her legs up and her calves were resting beside my left leg. I "accidentally" touched them a few times. She was so soft I wanted to just start rubbing her leg. I couldn't, but I wanted to. We talked until late into the evening. I had been tired, but she rejuvenated me. It was like old times, but better.

TBC

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AJ