Author's Note: Okay so I got sick over the weekend, boo! So that slowed me up a lot on writing in general. On the plus side, work is slowing down a tad. On the other hand, my next week is super busy with other stuff, friends coming in to visit and plans and whatnot. So I apologize ahead of time if chapters take a little longer. But I am still writing.
On a side note, someone asked about the name of the Toretto daughter. I mentioned this before but it could probably do with another. I don't give her a name because I want you guys to come up with your own name for her in your head. I guess because we all have different opinions on names and what sort of one would fit with her personality. I have a few ideas that I like but I've resisted nailing one down because I don't want to cop out and use it with her. Writing her nameless has been a nice challenge.
This chapter is about her learning how to drive. Enjoy!
A Lesson
Most parents would not be teaching their thirteen-year-old to drive. In California the earliest you could get anything (unless you were driving a tractor for farming purposes) was at age fifteen, and that was only a permit. So suffice it to say, there was really no need to be teaching their daughter how to drive just yet. At least, not practically.
But Dom and Letty had never been accused of being practical. Nor had they ever been sticklers for the rules. In fact, they had been breaking the rules for most of their lives.
Maybe that's why their daughter was so keen on breaking them as well. Their general thought was if she was going to break the rules they'd prefer she was doing it safely and with their knowledge.
And that's why Dom was sitting out on the abandoned lot in a beat up old Ford that they were fixing up at the garage in order to sell at profit later. The car had a couple things going for it. First, it was still in process of being repaired and upgraded, so it wouldn't irk him too much if his daughter put some dents into the thing. Second, it was a manual transmission and had some good pick-up in the engine. She was going to learn to drive properly.
Because she was going to want to race and he'd be damned if she had to learn stick on her own.
His daughter had ridden in the passenger side on the drive out of LA towards where the abandoned manufacturing plant sat. The building was a wreck, windows mostly broken, the chain-link fence around the perimeter sagging in spots and aged by rust. The lot itself was massive; a stretch of sun-bleached concrete where there had once been parking spaces – the lines now all worn away from dust and wind. The huge circular entry way led off the road and into the lot.
The lot stretched out around to the rear of the building where the loading zone for the trucks was. Sun-parched grass and weeds were poking stubbornly through the cracks and breaks in the concrete, withering in the harsh LA climate.
Not a soul aside from them was around.
The teenager stopped her perusal of the lot, glancing at him. Her leg was bouncing anxiously.
"So… can I drive now?" she asked.
The car was idling in park where Dom had pulled up close to the building. He turned the ignition, shutting down the engine.
"First we're going to switch seats and go over everything you do when you first get into a car, okay?"
She looked like she was going to insist that she already knew all of that, but she held her tongue and nodded agreeably. Dom held back a chuckle. An agreeable teenaged daughter was a rare thing.
"Okay," he said, unbuckling and opening the driver's side door.
His daughter was standing beside his open door by the time he straightened up. He laughed and dropped the keys into her hand before going around to the other side. He got in and buckled up, watching carefully as she did the same.
She reached down to move the seat up, testing her feet on the pedal and the clutch until she felt comfortable, raising it a bit too. Without instruction she checked the mirrors, adjusting them all.
Then she glanced at him.
"Start it?" she asked, suddenly having none of her earlier boldness.
"Well unless you want to learn how to drive for pretend…"
"Very funny, Dad," she muttered, sliding the key into the ignition.
She pressed her foot down on the clutch, her left hand tight on the top of the steering wheel as she reached over to slide the shift into neutral. Keeping her foot on the clutch she turned the key. The engine purred to life smoothly. She eased her foot off the clutch slowly.
"Okay," he said. "Now check your gauges on the dash. Make sure everything looks good."
She glanced in front of her, lashes dropping as she studied the familiar readouts. She nodded.
"Good. Got it."
Dom was familiar with this car and its feel, its sound. He'd been driving so long that he could easily pick it up with a new vehicle. But his daughter didn't have that experience behind her.
"Before we get into driving you're going to get a feel for the engine and how to get started. So I want you to press down on the clutch and shift into first gear."
She nodded, foot pressing down on the clutch as her hand closed around the stick, small thin fingers, short nails painted a silvery color that was chipping. She bit down on her lower lip.
"Now what?"
"Okay, now slowly ease your foot up off the clutch, and listen to the sound of the car. You'll hear the engine start to slow down, then you push down on the clutch again. Do that a couple times until you think you have a good feel for it."
She followed his instructions, a very serious expression on her face. Dom couldn't help but notice that she bit her lower lip the same way Letty did when she was concentrating hard. The thought made him grin to himself.
"Okay, I got it," she said, turning to him with confidence flashing in her dark eyes. "Now can I drive?"
He laughed softly. "Ease up there, Sweetheart. You'll be driving in no time."
"Like in five minutes?" she asked.
"Well unless you fuck it up," he teased.
"Dad!" she frowned at him.
"Okay, okay," Dom laughed. "You're going to ease up on the clutch slowly and you can watch your RPMs on the gauge there. Now when they start to drop you're going to press down on the accelerator. And you want to slowly accelerate as you ease your foot off the clutch. But if you release the clutch too fast you're going to stall. Then I'll laugh at you."
"Dad!" She scowled darkly. "No laughing."
She wiped her hand on the thigh of her jeans before placing it back onto the steering wheel slowly.
She started up fine; the car easing forward slowly and he showed her how to shift into second so that she could pick up speed enough to drive around a bit. Pleasantly, she concentrated on her shifting and didn't stall out.
"You feel the engine? It's going to tell you when to shift. And when you start to feel more comfortable you'll be able to let go of the clutch and press the accelerator more smoothly."
"Yeah. But I want to go faster," she said. "This is so slow."
"You learn slow. Then when you're a good driver you can be a good racer too, okay? But let's not get ahead of yourself here. You've only barely learned how to shift into second." Dom chuckled.
"Well teach me how to shift higher," she said.
"Nuh-uh. We're going to drive around a little bit. See how you do with maintaining speed and making some turns."
She grumbled but obeyed, following his instructions when he told her to turn, navigating around the lot. It was like she'd been born to sit behind the wheel of a car, and maybe she had, but Dom wasn't about to tell her that. Instead he corrected her when needed; keeping a careful eye on everything she did, reminding her to scan. He told her how to come to a stop, shifting out of gear to break, then had her accelerate again, shifting successfully back into first.
She stalled sliding into second and cursed aloud. Which was met with a raised eyebrow from Dom, and a tiny chuckle which she punched him in the arm over. He had her shift out of gear and start again; practicing starting and stopping until she shifted gears with ease, staying at the lower speeds.
They spent over an hour going through this, and Dom watched as her hand became more confident on the stick, as she relaxed back into her seat a little, her grip on the steering wheel loosening. He watched her footwork getting better.
Yeah, it should be no surprise that any child of him and Letty was a natural with a car.
"All right," he said. "Time to head home."
"What?" She frowned. "I didn't even get into third gear more than once! Weak, Dad."
He laughed softly. "You've been driving for an hour and you're already a speed addict."
"No. I've been a speed addict since I was born. I remember telling you to drive faster when I was little."
Dom sighed, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. Seemed some days she was still little to him, but it also seemed like she was growing up too damn fast.
"Fine. We'll see if you can kick it up to fifth. Go all the way to the end of the lot so you have some space."
She grinned and turned the wheel, driving over towards the indicated spot. Braking, she slid the car into neutral and rolled down the windows. Dom smothered a grin.
The wind whipped though her long hair as she accelerated, speeding across the sun-bleached lot, laughter on her lips. Dom shared the thrill with her, happy that he could. Pleased to see the joy on her face. He understood the pure freedom that she felt with the car engine roaring and the speed hurtling them forward.
She braked at the other end, not quite as smoothly as she could have, but the grin on her face kept him from making a comment.
"That was great!"
Dom laughed. "You learn fast. We'll practice more next weekend."
"Can I drive home?" she asked, turning a pleading gaze in his direction.
"Absolutely not. I'd get arrested. Park her and turn off the engine. Your mom is probably home from shopping with Aunt Mia."
Pouting she put the car into park and turned the key, the engine shutting off.
"Why do I have to wait so long to get my license?"
Dom held out his hand for the key, which she dropped into his palm as she undid her seatbelt
"Because that's what the law says," he told her, getting out of the passenger side.
"I want to be 15 already," she complained, going around to the other side of the car, dragging her sneakered feet.
"Don't be in such a rush to grow up, kiddo," he said, reaching over to ruffle her dark hair when they were both settled back in the car. "You're going to have the rest of your life after fifteen to drive."
"Until I get old and I can't see anymore," she said, laughing and ducking away from his hand.
"So you're planning to be blind when you're an old lady?" He chuckled. "I think you have a long time to go before that happens."
"That's true," she agreed. "You and Mami will have to get old and blind first."
"Very funny," he smirked at her. "I dare you to say that to your mother."
"She'd probably just say you're the old one."
"Ouch," Dom shook his head. "You think I'm old?"
"Well… kind of," she admitted. "But it's okay because you're still cool, Dad."
He laughed softly. "Thanks. I think." He started up the car and pulled out of the lot back onto the street. "So… you want to grab some lunch on the way home?"
"Hell yeah," she agreed. "I'm starving. I guess I was having so much fun I didn't notice." She smiled over at him. "Hey… Dad?"
"Hmm?" he glanced over at her at a red light.
"Thanks for teaching me how to drive. You really are the coolest Dad, you know that right?"
He laughed. "Well… maybe. But it's nice to hear every now and then."
"Don't let it get to your head," she snorted, then grinned at him.
"Haha. As long as you don't let this go to your head. No driving till you have your license."
She eyed him through her peripheral vision. "No promises."
Yeah… she was definitely just like him and Letty. These teenage years were bound to be fun.