19

It's a strange world in which skating on thin ice can get you into hot water.
Franklin P Jones.

Z

I was dead asleep dreaming of the beach. Everything was perfect; the sun on my face, the wind tearing at my hair like it was a sail, the warm water swirling at my ankles and the sand under my toes getting pulled out by the tide. I could smell the salt. I could hear the shrill sound of gulls. Everything was perfect. But then I blinked, and I was back in reality.

I was a little sad when I woke up. I was back on the tiny futon in freezing cold Tokyo. I was almost back to sleep when Han rolled over and put his cold hand on my bare, bruised rib cage under the comforter. I jumped at the sudden contact and he started stirring.

"Another nightmare?" he asked sleepily. He realized his hand was on my bruises and adjusted it to my waist. I leaned back into his warmth.

"No. I just got cold. I'm not really going to miss Tokyo weather." I answered.

He hummed in response and started drifting back off to sleep. The plans for tonight started running through my brain and sleep wouldn't come for me. I laid awake for a while listening to Han breathe and trying to get the thoughts of car wrecks and gun shots out of my head. After a while, I tried to readjust to get more comfortable without waking Han, but that failed miserably.

"Still cold?" he asked after he jerked awake. He sounded annoyed at that point.

"No. This felt so far away, and now it's here, and it just feels so final." I answered lamely.

"You can still keep in touch with us over the internet. Isn't that what Hanna told you to do with her?" He sounded like he was about to pass out again.

"Yeah. I'm still going to miss everyone."

"But you'll get to see your family again." He reminded.

"That's true." I rolled over to face him and tried to get comfortable again. He grabbed my hand and put it on his chest, gently pulling me over until I was snuggled up into his side.

"What were they like?" He asked quietly. He rubbed his fingers over the back of my hand gently.

"There's Miles. He's sarcastic, negative, and just a little but mean spirited. He was very good at boosting cars. And there's Zack, the computer guy." I listed out everyone I remembered from over the years. We shared the occasional laugh at some of the descriptions.

"I used to run with a different crew in the Dominican and Cuba, and some other places in South America. It was years ago." Han said quietly when I was done.

"It's hard to picture you not where you are now." I stated sleepily.

"Yeah, I have only been here like two years, I think. I left my old crew when things got too hot and came here." I really wanted to ask about his old crew, but I hated to do it if he didn't want to talk about them.

"That's how we wound up in Arizona. It wasn't that big of a change, but it worked" I said.

"I don't know where anyone went after we split. There were two brothers-Puerto Rican, actually- they never stopped arguing. All I heard was them chattering in Spanish. It got on my nerves." Han chuckled.

"And then we had a girl named Cara and a girl named Letty. You would have gotten along with Letty. She was stubborn and opinionated. She wasn't a prissy girl that didn't like getting dirt under her fingernails; Cara kind of was."

"I like her already." I responded quietly. "She sounds like Hanna."

"Yeah, she really does. Her boyfriend Dominic Torretto ran everything. He always had the plan. He was a very good racer. I think you'd like him too."

"Yeah. They all sound like good people." Han's deep voice had lulled me almost back to sleep. I was still exhausted and had to get up in an hour to tell everyone goodbye. Han pulled me closer so my head was resting back on his chest instead of his pillow. Before I knew it, I was back on the beach.

Z

The light from the rising sun was just starting to hit the garage floor when I got up to say goodbye. Everyone was dragging their feet trying to get ready for school. Twinkie was already talking way too loud for it to be so early. He was the first to see me.

"Did you stay here last night?" His grin got very wide. He pointed to the mark D left on my neck. I quickly cupped my hand over it with a blush. I'd forgotten to cover it again.

"There's a spare room." I reminded. Which Han was still sound asleep in. Maybe he wouldn't notice. He glanced at the bunk Han normally slept in when he wasn't in his bedroom. Luckily Earl started making jokes and Twinkie was distracted.

"Hey, ya'll need to be nice to me." I replied to his teasing.

"Why's that?" He shot back.

"I'm skipping town." I told them quietly. They both got quiet.

"Good luck." Earl gave me a hug.

"Yeah, girl. Be careful." Twinkie grabbed me the second Earl let go. He almost finished cracking my ribs.

"I'm going to miss you guys." I said when Twink stopped crushing me.

I saw Reiko walk over to the locker where she kept her back pack. The boys saw where I was looking and stepped off so I could talk to her.

"Hey." I said when I got close enough.

"Hey. You're here early." She adopted the same grin as Twink.

"I had to talk to everyone before I left." Her grin fell.

"Tonight?"

"Yeah." She gave me a hug.

Reiko and I had gotten to be good friends. I didn't get along with a lot of other girls because I was so used to hanging out with the boys, but we got along great. It was nice to have another girl who actually knew the parts of an engine and wasn't just pretending for attention.

"Good luck." She told me with a smile.

"Thanks. Do you know where Sean is?" I asked.

She pointed over by the bathroom. He was just walking through the door into the garage. The damage D did to his face was painfully obvious. He saw me and started walking over. Reiko left to let us talk.

"Hey." He said.

"Hey. I leave at 11:30 tonight. I've got to come by to get my bag, but I can't stay long." I told him.

"I know." He gave me a hug.

"I love you." I told him. I wrapped my arms around him tightly. I felt my eyes start to burn.

"I love you, too."

"Sean, we have to go." Earl called. I felt my heart sink. I thought I had a lot more time than this.

"Be careful." He told me as he let go. I didn't respond.

I watched him get his bag and walk to the Hulkmobile with Twink and everyone else. I felt the first couple tears start to slip down my cheek. When they were gone I turned and walked back to the storage room. I really hoped this was not the last time I saw them.

I snuck in and shut the door behind me. I yanked off my jeans and sweatshirt and threw them on the floor with the rest of the random articles of clothing from last night. I was about to slip back under the comforter beside Han, when I took a second to look at him. His full, small lips were pursed ever so slightly and his forehead was wrinkling from his dream. His arm moved out beside him like he was looking for something. I felt another few tears run down my cheeks and tried to hold in the rest.

I watched his eyes flutter open and look at me without understanding. He blinked a couple times until the fuzziness cleared and held up the comforter for me. I slid in beside him and settled back against the pillow.

"You're going to make it." I glanced up with watery eyes at Han. He wiped a few tears away. " You're going to be fine."

"Thank you."

"For what?" He smiled at me.

"Just everything."

Z

I was cleaning up the Ferrari in the safety of my own garage when the door was roughly pushed open. I jumped when it smacked against the cinderblock wall. A chill ran down my spine and in a quick moment of panic I dropped my cleaning rag and grabbed the nearest wrench. I dropped down so I was squatting beside the door of the car.

"Ellie? Are you here?" Neela's desperate voice cried out. She was obviously crying. I dropped my wrench and stood up. She practically ran over to me and started sobbing into my shoulder. I wasn't good at comforting people so I just stood and let her cry.

"He wouldn't let me go." She muttered in between sobs. I had known she was out with Sean and D didn't like, but I never thought he'd get physical with her too. After thinking about his encounter with me, I realized how wrong I was.

"It's okay." I told her. I couldn't decide if I was lying or not. When I was gone, there was nothing to keep D from stalking her.

"No, I have to get away from him." She pulled herself off of me and stood up. Her plaid tie was completely askew and tears were still rolling down her face.

"I do too." I told her softly.

"He came after you?" She asked.

"Yeah. He would have raped me." I pointed to my cheek. Understanding crossed over her face and she looked horrified. "I'm leaving tonight, Neela." I knew telling her was not in her best interest, but after everything I couldn't leave her in the dark.

"Good." She tried to smile. "Though I guess I lose the bet, huh?"

"Yeah. I guess so." I pulled a metal folding chair over for her and started working again.

"I'm leaving him." She said after a long silence. I let out a noncommittal sound and continued polishing so she could talk. "I can't do this anymore. He's not the man I fell in love with." She fell silent for a minute "Will you say something?" She snapped when I didn't respond.

"I think you should. I don't see him the way you do, but what I've seen of his personality is unstable and abusive. He loves you, but all of that is eventually going to be turned on you. It's going to be hard because you're part of his family, but it's not safe for you." I told her honestly.

"Thank you. No one else will tell me honestly." I glanced at her from across the car.

"You're welcome."

"What was dating Han like?" She asked hesitantly.

"What?" I started laughing.

"Did he take you out on dates or did you just make out on elevators in parking garages?" She started laughing too. I felt my face heat up.

"He brought me gummy worms and I read him Chilean poetry. We're just like Romeo and Juliet." I responded sarcastically. She started to look happier. "We would meet at this little restaurant. I can't remember the name. That's as close to a date as we got."

"Yeah, but no matter how many girls were hanging off of him he still looked at you. That's sweet." She said. I rolled my eyes at her.

"Kind of like Sean looking at you. But instead of girls, it was Twinkie making him hold the merchandise he was selling." She giggled.

"I'm going to miss you, Ellie." She said.

I was going to miss her too.

Z

I killed the engine of the Ferrari on the street beside Kamta's office building, exactly where he wanted it parked. I sat there for a long time running my hands over the steering wheel. I had just gotten off the phone with Neela. She had decided she was going to take my car, grab a change of clothes from DK's grandmother and leave him for Sean.

I was happy for her, of course, but I was also afraid for both of us. There was no way D was taking this like a man and letting her go. I decided that worrying wasn't going to help and stepped out of the car. All I had to do now was hand Kamata the keys, get to Han's and pick up my bag and car, and get to the airport. If Kamata called me back for anything and I didn't show up, I was screwed.

The usual ugly-as-sin guard was waiting for me at the door. He tossed away his glowing cigarette and led me back into Kamata's office. He was sitting at his desk giving me his creepy smile. Without sitting down in the chair, I dropped the keys on his desk and waited to be dismissed.

"Sit." He told me. Wordlessly I complied. "You got the GPS out of the Ferrari and redid the registration?"

"Yes sir." I answered quickly. I felt a cold sweat start down my spine. My gut was telling me to get out of there immediately, but I passed it off as anxiety over getting away. He couldn't be about to get rid of me tonight. He had been extremely happy with the progress of the Ferrari and had backed off on the possessiveness a little bit.

"You chose to work on it outside my nephew's garage?' He asked slowly. I bit my lip. He took in the spot of purple on my face poorly concealed by powder and didn't push it.

"I understand you have some-connection with his partner." He drawled. I jerked my left eyebrow up as far up my forehead as I possibly could.

"I know him from Takashi." I said slowly.

"Very well from what I've heard." A blush hit my face, but I didn't respond. "Well enough to know that he was stealing from me." My mouth fell open.

"No." I responded. This was not good; I needed to leave. I made a moved to stand, but was forced back in my chair by my shoulders by the guard from the door. Kamata sighed.

"I knew you were trouble." He opened a drawer and removed a hand gun. My heart felt like it was bouncing off my rib cage. I had the gun I was given in my waistband, but I would be dead long before I got a shot of in a building full of armed mobsters.

"I didn't know. I swear!" My face drained of blood. I sounded like I was begging.

"I don't care." He responded harshly. I started shaking. "All you had to do was drive for me. It was simple. Then you started fucking the thief who filled your head with empty hope. You will not get away from this. Not even you can worm your way out of this one."

I couldn't breathe. It felt like an elephant stepped in the middle of my chest. Not even the worst of my nightmares compared to the fear I felt now. I was breaking out in a cold sweat. I was shaking and it felt like my limbs had turned to noodles. I couldn't move.

Kamata continued to stare at me. It was like he wanted me to beg. I couldn't even if I wanted to; I was too paralyzed to force my jaw to unlock itself. He shook his head and motioned at the man behind me. He jerked me out of the chair by my already bruised upper arm. I cried out in pain and he hit me in the face with his other arm. I could taste the blood in my mouth.

He dragged me out towards the door. I finally found the ability to move again and started grabbing at furniture, causing a vase on a table to shatter on the floor. I got a good grip on a door frame. He paused to land a few more hits on me. I expected him to stop and keep dragging me, but the blows kept coming. He landed a few body shots on me and this time my ribs cracked for real. I tried to fight back but it was completely pointless. He slammed my head backwards into the door frame and I went completely limp.

"Leave her somewhere for Takashi to handle. It's time he learned how to handle traitors." I heard Kamata order in Japanese. He sounded strangely far away.

My vision started to fuzz out like a broken television. The world reeled for minute, and then everything went black.