I decided now was the better of the two options. I leaned down and kissed her. She was surprised. I could tell, because at first she gave no reaction. She didn't pull away; she was just sort of standing there. But then, she kissed me back. I stood there, completely engrossed in what was happening. One of my hands slipped from her cheek to the back of her head. Her hair was so soft. I had no idea how long we were kissing because it seemed as though time did not exist when we were together. I felt her tongue caress the ridges on the roof of my mouth. It tickled. She pulled away and bit the left side of her bottom lip. She smiled at me, turned around, and walked out the door. Not a bad way to start out the evening I didn't think. I stood there a second, just smiling, before I grabbed my keys and followed her out to my car. I liked what was happening today.

We didn't say anything on the way to the races. I was practically floating, though. I still had to play it cool. Letty had not become a regular to the races yet, not like Vince and I were. But, she had gone quite a bit. I did not imagine that it would be a huge surprise to anyone that I showed up with her. When she did go, she arrived with Vince or me. I felt like I looked different. I didn't know if the rest of the world could see how I was feeling. I would say it was probably the closest I had ever come to feeling giddy. But I wanted to conceal that. It was extremely important that I uphold my stoic image at the races. I didn't think giddy would go over well with this crowd. I learned early on that it was better to show no emotion than too many.

The group that frequented the races each weekend, which was growing larger and larger, switched spots every so often. But, a favorite racing spot was a strip by some abandoned warehouses. We pulled up to large group of people. They were blaring music and partying, waiting for things to get started. Hector's older cousin, Emilio, was orchestrating the races at this point.

I parked beside Vince, who was leaning up next to his car talking to Edwin.

Letty and I got out of the car. I scanned the crowd to see who all was there. I saw Hector, his cousin Emilio, and a couple of their friends. I saw some girls I knew that I really hoped didn't come up to me right now. I saw Zack. He was with his younger cousin that I had met yesterday. When he saw me, they walked over.

"What's up?" Zack said, throwing out a handshake.

"Zack. Didn't stay in Vegas long," I told him. I wasn't exactly thrilled to see him. But, he'd told me that he was going to be here.

"Yeah, well, didn't want to get too comfortable with the family," he replied. Strange reply to this statement but whatever.

"Hey, Jesse, right?" I asked, looking over and shaking the young kid's hand. He looked nervous as hell. Maybe this was his first time on the scene.

"What's up Dominic, man," he said, extending his hand to mine.

"You still coming by this week?" I asked him. I definitely wanted to get together with him to talk about decals for my car.

"Huh, oh definitely," he replied.
"Edwin, Vince, this is Jesse," I said, introducing to the two guys to the really scared looking kid.

"Heard what you been doing with a computer. That's some pretty sweet shit," Vince told him.

Jesse nodded. He was looking around. I didn't really think he was paying attention. But, it didn't matter. There was something about this kid that I enjoyed. I couldn't put my finger on it. Vince looked a little confused by the whole interaction but just brushed it off and continued talking to Edwin.

I noticed that during the short time Vince and I were talking to Jesse, Zack had started talking to Letty. She was standing against my car. He was in front of her. They were just off to the side but I couldn't really hear what they were saying. God knows I tried.

Vince looked over at me. He looked at Zack and then back at me. He scrunched his eyebrows. I looked away from him. Shit. I didn't want to talk about it. I knew Vince was confused, but, hell, so was I. Ever since the conversation that I had with Zack earlier that day, I had a very uneasy feeling about the whole situation surrounding him and Letty. It was unsettling to me that I had been completely oblivious to the fact he liked her. And, now, I felt like there was something else that I didn't know.

I tried to avert my attention away from Zack and Letty. Of course, it was not working. I noticed that he would talk to her and then glance up at me, then look back at her. I was confused by this whole move. He was edging closer and closer to her. I was trying really hard not to stare. But, I was.

"Dom!" Vince yelled. I had a feeling, by his tone, that it was not the first time he called me.

"Hm?" I said, falling out of my daze and looking over at him.

He motioned his head for me to come over. Edwin had left at some point and I hadn't even noticed. I walked up to Vince.

"What are you doing?" he asked me quietly.

"Hanging out," I said, trying to be casual.

"Alright," he said in disbelief. "It looked like you were about to flip your shit."

I just shook my head no. Was I? I didn't think so.

"So…what's going on with that?" he asked, motioning to Zack and Letty. Hell this was new to me. I guess it wasn't weird that they were talking. But, it was making me very uncomfortable for some reason. I wouldn't have been quite so upset normally but Zack was acting sketchy.

"Don't know," I shrugged, trying to pretend like I didn't care. Vince, of course, could see right through this act.

"Don't worry about it," he assured. "She don't like him."

"Don't look that way to me," I said under my breath, but apparently audible enough for Vince to hear.

"Brother, have I ever steered you wrong before?" he asked.

So many images ran through my head as I replied, "yes."

"Alright, that's probably true," he agreed. "But I ain't now. Let it go. Keep you're cool. You ain't even had the balls to talk to her about it yet. So, I'd hold off on running the interference right now."

I nodded my head. He was right. I wasn't going to say anything to them. I just wished that Zack would stop looking at me. It made me kind of wanted to just kill him but I would, apparently, have to refrain. They were just talking. It was probably just me that was adding more to the situation. I took a deep breath, relaxed, and leaned back next to Vince's car. We started shooting the breeze about the random people that were present, the cars they were driving, and the girls we would consider getting with.

"Toretto!" I heard a familiar voice call from behind me. Fuck. I did not want to deal with this drama right now.

"Toretto!" Johnny Tran called out again, unnecessarily loudly. "Want a chance to get your title back?" Damn. I knew something like this would happen. I turned around slowly.

"Would love one. I ain't got any cash, though," I admitted. Damn. I wanted to just punch him. What was with me tonight? Apparently everything that could piss me off was happening, and within about a fifteen minute span. That had to be some kind of really unfortunate record.

"That's okay. I'll race you for slips," he smiled. Oh shit. That sucks.

"What you driving?" I asked.

"The red 240sx over there," he pointed. This was the first time he'd brought this out on the streets. I liked it.

At this point, a lot of people started gathering around to watch. This, of course, just added to the intensity of the offer he had made me. They were all watching the dealings between Johnny and I. I have no idea how, amongst all the noise and insanity that was occurring at the races, they were able to pick up on this. But, the tension between Johnny's group and my own was absolutely no secret to anyone. And the issues that Johnny and I had with each other were pretty obvious. Everyone was watching, at least it felt like everyone was. I couldn't back down. I literally had no option. I had to do it. And, I had to win.

"Let's go," I told him pointing to the line. I started walking over to my car. I opened the glove box and got out the pink slip. My mind essentially went black at this point. It's a good thing. Otherwise I probably would have run away. I saw Vince walking up to me.

"What are you doing now?" he asked, concerned.

"I got this," I told him.

"Dom, you can't do this. If you lose that car…," Letty started, running up. I was surprised she'd been able to pull herself away from her engaging conversation with Zack to notice what was going on.

I ignored them both. They were right. If I lost the car I would be in some major shit. But, I couldn't think that way. I was going to do it. Unlike Tran, who apparently didn't care about his reputation that much, mine meant everything to me right now. I had a feeling that this move would have the potential to really help move me forward, or break me completely. So, I just had to make sure that the latter didn't happen. I could hear people around starting to talk about what was happening, but I tried to tune out everything.

"You sure about this?" Hector asked as I handed him the pink slip for my car. I nodded my head. I couldn't talk. Was I sure? Hell no. This was a terrible idea. But, I had to do it. We had butted heads for long enough. It was time that I prove to him who the better driver was, who had the better car. I had no idea what his Nissan had under the hood. But, I had faith in my car. I'd made some major modifications since the last time we'd raced. If I lost, that would be it. But, if he lost, he'd finally realize that our crew was better than his. And there was no way I could back down to him. I couldn't show that type of weakness. Not here, not now.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. I did not want to do this. I got into my car and drove it up to the line. I met Tran. He looked over and smiled. He was so damn cocky. I kept my face flat and tried to focus. I knew where the line was. I just had to get there first.

Some random girl that Hector was seeing walked up to the line as Hector and his cousin made their way to the end line. At the sound of "go" I floored it. I didn't even look over at him. I could see him out of the corner of my eye. We were neck and neck. I was furious. I kicked it into the next gear, then the next, and the next. So did he. I saw the line. I literally gave it everything I had as I crossed the line. I didn't know who had won. It was close. Hector and Emilio had both been watching and I knew they had seen who won. I slowed it down and turned back around. I didn't want to look at Tran. If I had lost I would probably have to either kill him or myself and I was a much bigger fan of myself.

I pulled back up to the crowd and Hector approached my car. I got out and he slapped my hand, handing me two pink slips. Hell yeah! I had just won a fucking car. That was awesome! I was in a state of shock for a few moments. But, I snapped myself out of it and looked over at Tran. He looked pissed, beyond pissed. I really couldn't blame him but I also couldn't keep the grin off my face.

"Teach you to race the king," I walked up to him. He threw the keys at me. I caught them in midair. I perked my eyebrows up at him and he skulked off. Wow, that had worked out a lot better than I thought it might have. I would have hated to be in Tran's shoes right now. How disgraceful. Hoards of people ran up to me, most of which I didn't know. They offered their congratulations; some of the girls offered other things. But, I wasn't really listening to any of them. I was too busy just being happy. That was easily the coolest thing I'd ever done, and the fact that it was Tran made it 10 times better.

"Yes, Dom, that's what I'm talking about," Vince said, running over and giving me a hug. I was pretty elated. I had two cars. I didn't even really know what to do with two cars. But I was sure that I would figure something out.

"Told you I got this," I joked with him. Initially, I had not been so sure. But, now that I'd won, I could be as cocky as I wanted to. "He don't know how to race!"

"That was awesome," Letty said, walking up from behind me and giving me a hug. I wanted to give her a kiss. But, there were too many people around. I felt weird. I was almost drunk off of the victory and really wanted to do it. I could picture it in my head. She stood there, smiling, looking up at me. I felt like she was giving me an opening.

"It was wasn't it?" I asked her, smiling back. I was about to do it. I felt shockingly nervous. But, then, something stopped me.

"Way to go man," Zack said patting me on the back. I felt as though I jumped slightly. I had been so intensely focused in the Letty-zone. I realized what was going on and pulled out of it. But, I didn't want to talk to Zack so I brushed him off and avoided looking at him at all.

"What's he running under there?" Jesse asked, walking past me towards the 240. A group of people followed him to inspect my new prize.

"Check it out," I called out to him. Letty and Vince followed him up to the car. I avoided looking or speaking to Zack. I just didn't want to deal with him right now. I was really happy and I knew he was about to pull me down.

"Sup?" he asked. Was he really that dumb or was he just trying to pretend to be?

I gave him a sarcastic half-laugh, looked over in his general direction, and then looked away again. I started walking away from him, towards Vince, Letty, and my new car. He grabbed my arm. It took all of my self-control not to reach back and punch him. I turned around and looked at his hand holding my arm.

"Don't touch me," I said, pulling my arm out of his grasp.

"Dom, don't walk away from me like that. What's up?" he asked, letting go but still not letting up.

"What you trying to pull with Letty?" I asked, walking back up to him so that I wouldn't have to talk loudly.

He smiled and said, "I don't know. She's hot, man. Guess we'll see." I was astounded by this statement.

"Don't do it, Z," I told him.

"Oh, you telling me what to do now?" he asked, cocking an attitude.

"What's that supposed to mean? We talked about this like four hours ago," I said. I knew he hadn't forgotten. He had even admitted to me that he had thought I'd liked her for a long time. I couldn't imagine how that conversation and the interaction I saw between the two of them could possibly have take place in the same day.

"Something you gotta learn, I don't listen to nobody," he said, almost as a warning.

"What's wrong with you?" I asked. He was beginning to show a side that I had never seen before, at least not towards me.

"You're the one that's got the problem. Dom, you walk around thinking you run shit. You think you got the streets, think you can have any girl you want. News flash, that ain't the case. You can't have her. Day late, dollar short. I made you, Dom, and ain't no way you're beating me at my own game," he said. This was ridiculous.

I definitely wanted to punch him now. I was trying to keep this conversation quiet. I didn't want a crowd to gather. I definitely didn't want Letty to come over and hear what this was all about. "Made me? Nah, I made myself. Don't get pissed that I'm better at it than you," I said. Two could play the attitude game. And, he knew that if we ever actually took it to the pavement I would dominate him.

"You're a fucking amateur. You never going to be able to run this game like I can," he said, shaking his head.

"You don't run shit, Zack. I left you behind months ago," I informed him. He and I hadn't even really hung out that much recently. He would stop by my house from time to time but Zack and I were not nearly as close as we were when I started high school.

"I'm about to be running Letty," he smiled.

"This don't even really sound like it's about her. Sounds like it's about you and me," I said, attempting to change the subject. I didn't want to hear him talking about Letty in even a quasi sexual way. That would definitely push me over the edge- and I knew that he knew it, too.

"Maybe it is," he said stepping up to me.

"Get out of my face," I told him calmly.

"You ain't going to do shit," he laughed. "Like you ain't never done shit with Letty. You should too. It's good. Maybe I'll give Mia a go next."

At that point all self-control flew out the window. Without even consciously thinking, I reached back and punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground. A race had recently started so the vast majority of attendees were focusing elsewhere. It was a good thing. I didn't want anyone else to get involved. This wasn't between anyone but Zack and I, and it needed to happen. No one needed to step in or break it up. It had been building for a while and now it felt amazing to release it all. I had not really realized that Zack was such an asshole till now. Or maybe I had and just chose not to accept it. Either way, this was happening.

Zack wasn't a bad fighter, I was just stronger. That is a really beneficial advantage in a fight. After he was on the ground I got a few more good punches in before he even started to swing back. When he did, he got me right in the jaw and the surrounding areas, a couple of times. With all the adrenaline that was flying through my body, though, it barely made me flinch. It was easy to say that at that point in my life the biggest adrenaline rushes for me were racing cars, having sex, and fighting someone I really didn't like. I had just raced a car, so maybe sex would follow the fight…

I felt someone start to pull me back, off of Zack. I didn't look back to see who it was, just fought against them as I got another couple of good blows in before I was back on my feet. I turned around to see Vince. He was calling out some things that I couldn't really hear and pulling me back. Zack was still on the ground. He touched the side of his eye, an area that had received quite a bit of attention from my fist, and wiped the blood from his nose.

"Stop, Dom!" Vince yelled, still pulling me back. He was pulling me away from Zack, away from the crowd, away from the races. He held on to me as we made our way down one of the side streets. Vince knew me well enough to know that if he didn't I would go back and continue where I had left off with Zack. I was still extremely mad, not at Vince, at what had just happened between Zack and I.

"Fucking asshole!" I yelled as I punched the side of a wall. That actually really hurt. The adrenaline rush had been quickly wearing off and by the time my fist made contact with the brick wall, I could feel everything. I was too mad to care, though.

"What was that all about?" he asked again, not acknowledging my brilliant move.

"He just kept pushing. I couldn't take it no more. He got up in my face. He was talking shit," I explained. I knew these were really just small pieces, but I couldn't think coherently enough to tell a whole story.

"About what?" he asked, slowing down his pace.

"Me, Letty, shit, I don't know," I said.

"That's what this is about," he stated.

I shook my head no and said, "It went a lot deeper than that."

"Yeah, I kind of saw it coming," he admitted.

"Really though?" I asked in a state of shock. I believed him but it was just weird. "So, you knew about Zack and Letty. You saw this coming. You need to start sharing these things. We need to work on our communication, brother."

I was pretty worked up. How did he see this coming? Where had I been the past couple of months?

"I'll see what I can do," he joked. I was glad the mood was lighter. I was starting to calm down a bit.

"Dude what the fuck's wrong with me?" I asked, sitting down on the steps of an abandoned store. "Why'm I so nuts?"

"Cause you never really liked anyone before," he said. "And you're not used to having to work for it at all."

"I feel like I'm going crazy," I said, laying my head in my hands and rubbing my neck.

"Letty's kind of a crazy girl. I think you'd have to go crazy to like her as much as you do," he said.

"Thanks," I said. That made me start to think, When did Vince become mature and insightful?

"Besides, she's hot. You should just try to sleep with her. If she'll sleep with you, you know she likes you. Then you won't have to wonder anymore. It's really all you can do," he said, completely serious.

I would not qualify this as good, solid advice. I just laughed and shook my head at him. He hadn't changed. Thank God. I needed some normalcy.

"Alright, let's get back," I said after a few more minutes. I stood up and we walked back towards the crowds.

We entered back into the chaotic mix of loud music, people, and fast cars. I didn't see Zack anywhere. But, I did see Letty. She was talking to Jesse and some guy that I had never met before.

We walked up to them and Letty looked at me funny. I guess it was pretty clear by my general appearance that I had just gotten into a fight. She didn't say anything about it though- luckily.

"Dom, Vince, this is Jesse's friend Leon," she introduced me to a fairly built guy that appeared to be somewhat younger than Vince and I.

"What's up?" I asked him, shaking his hand. I licked my lips. I felt a cut and blood on it. I causally took my hand and tried to wipe it off, if that can be done casually.

"You look familiar," Letty said to Leon.

"Yeah, I should. We have two classes together. But, you're never there," he joked. I could tell by the look in Letty's face that she didn't think this was very funny. She liked to joke about never being in school but she didn't like to be called out on it.

"I go!" she said, loudly.

"Oh okay. No, that wasn't what I meant. Just like, well last week, you weren't there last week," he said, holding up his hands in defense. Poor kid. Pissing off Letty was never a wise move and I didn't think this statement had done much to placate the situation.

"I was there Friday," she insisted. Friday? I saw her Friday. But, I knew that I had taken her to school Tuesday, Wednesday, and most of Thursday because we ended up coming late and leaving early. But, she had not mentioned anything to me about not actually staying after we got there. She didn't have a car so I couldn't imagine where she had been going. This was interesting yet disturbing information.

"Oh, well I wasn't," he said.

"Alright then," she said, as if she'd won.

"Cops!" someone in the distance yelled. With that word, the entire crowd began to scatter.

"Shit," I said. I needed someone to drive my new car. "Leon, do you have a license."

"Yeah," he said, confused and anxious about the cops.

"Here," I said, tossing him the keys to the Nissan. I pointed over to where the Nissan was still parked. "Drive it to my house, okay?"

"Sweet," he said.

"Follow me," I said. "Come on."

I broke my way through the crowd. I grabbed Letty's hand, so as not to lose her in the mix of people scrambling to get away. We made our way over to my car. Jesse and Leon got in the Nissan and Vince trailed off towards his car. With a quickness, we started the engines and floored it out of there. I checked my rearview to make sure Leon was behind me. Sure enough, I saw him following. I couldn't believe I just let some kid I barely knew drive my new car. I guess it was an impulse decision. If he wrecked I would have to wreck him.

"Where were you last week?" I asked Letty after we made it past all the cop cars and the sirens began to fade into the background.

"When?" she asked, looking over at me.

"When I took you to school but apparently you didn't stay," I explained further.

"Why?" she asked, smiling.

"Cause that's weird. You didn't mention not having stayed at school when we went home," I told her.

"Dom, I don't know everything that you do and trust me I'm okay with that. But, you can't expect to know everything that I do either," she said, taking her shoes off and pulling her legs up next to her in the seat.

"Clearly," I said, staring at the road ahead of me.

"What was that all about with Zack?" Letty asked as we were driving down some side streets.

I didn't respond. I didn't know how much she had seen and I didn't really want to enlighten her any further.

"Oh, look who doesn't want to talk now," she joked. I wasn't in the mood. I was a little pissed about her hiding her daily antics from me.

After a few minutes of complete silence had passed she finally said, "What's wrong with you?"

"Why won't you tell me where you been?" I insisted.

"Why do you care?" she asked.

"If you have to ask, it don't matter," I told her. Why did I care? How could she ask me that? Maybe Letty was just as oblivious to the world as I apparently was. But, I didn't think so. Letty was hiding something.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked.

"Nothing," I said. I pulled up in the driveway.

Then she started laughing, "what did you do to your hand?"

I just shot her a look. If she wasn't going to tell me anything I sure as hell wasn't going to give her any details about my life. I opened my car door and stepped out. Leon pulled in behind me. Vince hadn't made it back yet but I figured he wasn't too far behind. This night had definitely been a rollercoaster. But, I was anxious to get to the bottom of this situation with Letty- all the situations I had with Letty.

TBC

---

AJ