Author's Note: Okay so I'm actually posting this pretty soon! I've been writing very fast. No idea how long that will keep up though. This is a somewhat fun, filler type chapter. Nothing too heavy. Enjoy!
Chapter 2: Moments of Transition
When the morning comes and the nighttime goes away (all day)
Don't you ever think that we won't be okay (no way)
There is nothing stopping me from loving you
"I Can't Wait" - Akon
Letty was bent under the hood of a car, fingers coated in grease as the sounds of the garage and the smell of oil and exhaust hung in the air around her. Leon was going over some paperwork with one of the mechanics and Syd sat on the floor checking a shipment against a manifest list. She absorbed the normalcy and familiarity of the moment; Dom lugging parts from the storage room in the back as Leon yelled something across the room about lunch.
When the musical tones of a cell phone filtered through past the noise of cars and chatter she turned her head. Syd shifted to her knees, fishing her phone out of her pocket and flipping it open.
"Hello?" she answered, then paused for a moment before rattling off in a flurry of Portuguese spoken too quickly for Letty to pick up on anything more than a couple of words snatched here and there. In a flash she was snapping the phone shut, curses muttered between her lips as she pushed herself to her feet.
"What's wrong babe?" Leon, who had been watching, asked as he turned back to his work.
"My shipment got jacked, again," she growled, tossing the phone onto a table irritably.
"Jacked?" Letty asked, standing up to wipe her hands on a rag.
"Yeah, hijacked, stolen." Syd rubbed a hand over her face. "Medical supplies for the clinic. Everything from drugs to needles. I'm sure you can imagine that it sells well on the street."
The others exchanged glances, silent. Perhaps they were thinking about their own criminal pasts.
Annoyed, the young woman paced the floor of the garage, flip-flops scuffing over the oil-stained cement. She put her hands on her hips and fixed her mouth into a grim smile. "Well, they're not getting my stuff again."
"What exactly do you plan to do?" Leon asked mildly amused.
"Well the trucks all come out of a medical supply place in Sao Paulo so I think the first step is to go there."
"And do what?" He raised a brow, clearly thinking she was nuts.
"If the trucks are getting taken from there then we'll know. The cops certainly won't be of any help, since they haven't done shit so far. So we'll just drive the trucks back here ourselves."
Leon stared at her. "What? We? No way, you're not doing that."
She huffed at him, hands on her hips. "It's my supplies so I damn well am. Besides, who else is going to do it then?"
He shook his head and crossed towards her, grabbing her arm to steer her into the back room. Letty watched the door shut behind them and tucked her tongue into her cheek as she heard the faint sounds of them arguing through it. She exchanged a glance with Dom who shrugged and turned back to the car he was replacing the bumper on. After another five minutes the garage fell into an uneasy silence before the back door snicked open and Syd stalked out, followed by a sheepish looking Leon. She walked past them and out of the garage without a word and Letty raised a questioning brow at Leon.
"We're gonna go to Sao Paulo..." he muttered, looking less than pleased.
There was a long pause and then Dom's gravelly voice drifted up from where he was kneeling in front of a car. "We'll go with you."
"Naw, Man you don't have to do that." Leon shuffled over towards the box of inventory parts.
"No big deal. You did crazier shit for me once."
"Not like I wasn't getting a cut," he said and they laughed.
0000
On the shore of Rio de Janeiro the party was in full swing. Tourists and locals crowded bars and open-air nightclubs. Liquor flowed and music thrummed heavily over stucco walls. Bronzed women clad in short skirts and stiletto heels grinded their bodies on the dance floor while young men plied them with drinks and bad pick-up lines.
Leon passed by the tourist spots with garish décor and neon lights and made his way further down the beach where the dance music faded away to be replaced by the sounds of a live band- some sort of half-rock, half-rap style music in slang-laced Portuguese. He ducked through the open door into a room crowded with tables and heavy with the smoke of hand-rolled cigarettes.
The owner of the place, a stocky brown-faced man dragging a rag over the scarred surface of the bar, looked up, shouting a greeting across the crowded room.
"Here you are! And you have brought some friends?" He rounded the bar, a smile spreading wide over his face.
Leon clapped his hand on the man's shoulder with a laugh. "Didn't know you'd miss me, Alberto. Yeah, you remember the little wife," he said, sliding his arm around Syd's waist to draw her against him. "And these are my friends Dom and Letty."
"Ah, just want I need, more Americans in my bar," he groused, but turned to shake their hands, a broad and welcoming smile on his face. "Please sit, have a drink."
The men followed him to the bar while Syd searched for a table. Letty followed and they maneuvered an extra chair into place before sitting.
"This place is popular with locals," Syd said, leaning across the table to talk over the band. "We like it better than the tourist spots. Those get especially bad when the cruise ships roll in."
Letty shook her head with a laugh, only imagining the middle aged couples on their second honeymoons or the bleached blonde sorority girls gone wild on Spring Break.
The bar-tender was regaling Dom and Leon with tales of his glory days and taking sweet time making the drinks. Letty rolled her eyes then turned at the sound of Sydney supressing a laugh.
"Looks like you've got some attention," she said nudging Letty who turned to look in the direction she was pointing.
A group of men, local boys with dark tans and baggy jeans, was eyeing her from across the room. One grinned at her when she looked over and pursed his lips in a kiss. Syd laughed and Letty made a face before frowning over at her.
"I'm glad you think this is so funny," she muttered.
"Oh come on it is. Besides once the boys get over here they'll be too chicken to even consider coming over. Dom's scary."
Letty laughed, shaking her head. "Whatever you say, girl."
0000
It was after four am when they arrived at the house, Syd stuck as the designated driver and the rest of them at varying degrees of smashed. She pulled into the driveway and went around to help Leon stumble out of the passenger side. Supporting him she managed to make it to the front door and fished in her pocket for the key. Behind her she heard the scuff of boots as Dom and Letty approached, not nearly as shit-faced as her husband. That's what they got for letting Alberto talk them into trying his new drink creation.
Once the door was opened the AC washed over them as they stepped inside.
"Where's the coffee?" Letty muttered, kicking off her sandals as she made her way towards the kitchen.
"Bottom cupboard on the left near the fridge," Syd replied as she half-dragged Leon up the stairs.
He leaned against her and she wrinkled her nose against the smell of booze, shoving him into their bedroom.
"Clothes off," she ordered and he grinned at her from where he was sprawled on the bed.
"Now that's what I'm talkin' bout!" he slurred and she rolled her eyes.
"In this state I highly doubt your ability to get it up. You need a shower, so get to it."
He sat up, tugging his t-shirt up over his head and Syd left him there, knowing it would take a while. She went downstairs to check on their guests, peering into the kitchen. Letty was leaning against the counter near the coffee machine and Dom sat slumped in a chair at the table.
"You two okay?"
Letty gave her a thumbs-up and Dom rubbed his hand over his head.
"Remind me never to drink one of that man's concoctions again," he rumbled.
She laughed. "I warned you."
Leaving them there she went to check the locks on the front door before going back upstairs. Leon greeted her, sitting at the foot of the bed naked except for his socks.
He grinned. "Hey baby!"
Dragging a hand over her face she groaned and wondered how life could get more exciting.