Author: Moon Roses or Moony
Rating: R for language
Disclaimer: Don't own anything.
Feedback: Not necessary but greatly appreciated.
Recap: Shorty walked with them until they reached the fresh air. Breathing it in deeply she glanced towards Beto's car. He was waiting for her arms crossed and resting on the hood of his car. "Lata," she said one last time and jogged to Beto's car. Looking up after sliding into the vehicle she found Leon gazing at her steadily. She smiled at him through the window as Beto peeled out, eager to get home and get laid.

Chapter Eight

Friday and Saturday at work were hectic for Shorty. Racers from all over L.A. were coming to inquire about her decal designs, and it was making her cranky. One after the other they came ordering the design they wanted, and the colors they wanted, and the size they wanted. Don't get her wrong, she appreciated the business, she was just overwhelmed with the demand. Word of mouth in the racing circuit spread extremely fast, but this was getting out of hand. The boys were excited to be cashing in on her artistic endeavours but by quitting time on Saturday she was just ready to go home, fall in bed and sleep.

"You gonna race tonight?" Miguel asked her as they discarded their overalls for the weekend.

"I don't know yet, maybe," she answered tiredly. She had forgotten about the races during the course of the day. Now that Miguel had reminded her she doubted whether she could stay awake long enough to go, let alone actually race. Pulling a hoodie on she grabbed her sketchbook and stumbled to her car. "I'm gonna bounce and take a nap. Later," she called to the guys.

Sitting on her bed she kicked off her work boots before throwing the duvet over her head and falling asleep. Hours later she felt the bed shifting under someone's weight and groaned loudly. "Go away. I ain't comin'." Shorty swatted the body lying beside her and turned away from them. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end and she shifted uncomfortably under the intense stare. "I ain't kidding Pedro. Move the fuck on," she growled at him.

"How'd you know it was me?" he asked her as he rubbed along her spine gently.

"Your cologne. It ain't 1999, nobody wears CK anymore," she sneezed away a feather tickling her nose. "Now scram, I'm sleeping."

"Come on girl. Time to get your ass outta bed," he answered as the bed shifted. "Races start in an hour and you stink like grease and sweat." Laughing he swung the blankets off her and onto the floor.

"Fuck you," she remarked rolling over and fisting sleep from her eyes. "I'm up. Get out so I can shower." She shook her head as he left the room grinning. Now that she was awake she could not believe that she had planned to sleep through the races.

"Love you too baby," he called from the stairs. She was the baby, or at least everyone considered her the baby of the team. In reality, she was twenty three, strong and independent – and toted after like a child. The "lil homies" as they had been named were the youngest, with Pedro aged nineteen and Miguel only eighteen. Both younger than her but the entire team treated her as if she always needed to be taken care off. She knew they would do anything for her, and she knew she would forever be the only woman welcome on the team. And however young they happened to be they looked older than her and had the accompanying identification as "proof".

Rolling out of bed lazily she showered and dressed in baggy gray cargo pants and pulled a black corset over her torso. Sliding her feet into her black and gum skate shoes she was ready to go. Easy, comfortable, simple and she was ready before she heard any guys calling for her to rush. Grabbing her sketchbook, cell, and keys she climbed the stairs quickly and walked straight for the fridge. Balancing a couple slices of pizza on her sketchbook she snatched a bottle of water before sitting in the living room to wait for the boys.

The drive to the warehouse was as uneventful as ever and when Shorty stepped from her car she was in no mood to socialize. In fact she was rattled and grumpy. Sitting on the hood of her car she leaned against the windshield and blocked out the annoying giggling coming from the chasers around her vehicle. Silently sketching a new design of a mocha skinned Goddess for Edwin, she blocked out all sounds until she was brought roughly back when her leg was pulled out from under her.

"Jesus Shorty, I've been hollerin' at you for five minutes now,' Dom growled deep in his throat. "Hector says you're gonna race tonight?"

"Uh-huh."

"5G buy in." Dom raised his hand waiting for her to place the cash in it.

Rolling her eyes she dropped her sketchbook and slid off the car to reach into her glove box for money. Counting the bills quickly she shoved the rest back and hopped back onto the hood of her car. "5G's," she said and deposition it into his waiting hand.

"These are pretty good," he grunted as he flipped her sketchbook around to look at the drawings.

"Thank you."

"Where'd you learn to draw like this?" he asked and flipped through the drawings.

"I've been drawin' since I was little. I took two years of art classes at University but it was too strict, to many rules," she responded casually as she took the book from his hands and closed it.

"You went to University?"

Shorty knew he could not believe someone like her would ever want to go to University, let alone get accepted. Shrugging she answered "Yup, sure did."

"Did you take any other classes?"

This was new territory for Shorty. He genuinely seemed interested in what she had done before she had come home to L.A. Maybe now was time to crush his perception of her as a little thug gangster bitch from the hood.

"Yup, I took languages. Italian, Latin, German, and Portuguese."

"Wow," he breathed. "Do you speak them all fluently?" he asked as he snatched her sketchbook from her hands and began flipping through it again.

Shorty laughed. "Hell no! I can speak Italian and Latin though, kind of. But the others were too damn hard."

"You speak Spanish right?" Dom inquired.

"Dom," she laughed. "I was born in Mexico."

"Yeah, alright," he laughed with her. "I like this one the best. She's gorgeous,' Dom showed her the drawing of a beautiful Hispanic woman. "The detail is unreal Shorty."

"Esa es mi mama," Shorty replied and gazed at the drawing of her mother. She had been the most beautiful woman alive as far as she was concerned. Always laughing and glowing with pride for her children. Even when her mother and father had shipped her to New York she had still been proud. (That is my mom.)

"She's beautiful," Dom murmured.

"Si, she was very beautiful." Closing the book she returned it to her car and faced Dom again. "So, who's thinkin' they can take me on?" she asked changing the subject.

Dom smiled at her gently. "You ain't so bad girl. I still don't trust you, but my team wants me to give you a chance, so don't fuck it up."

Shorty grinned back at him, "Sounds good. So whose cash is comin' home with me tonight?" she asked again as they walked away from her car to a group gathered in the middle of the lot. Pushing their way into the middle of the crowd she found the rest of her team plus that of Dom's team. Everyone was joking around and having a good time.

When Dom held his hands up the crowd hushed instantly. The King was ready to talk. Everyone listened intently not wanting to miss a word he said. His presence commanded that attention and not one person spoke while waiting for him to explain the races details. Shorty smiled across the circle of people at Spence and his crew before she pulled herself onto Miguel's back and wrapped her legs around his waist. Resting her head in the crook of his neck she could have fallen asleep easily surrounded by the smell of hot machines. Closing her eyes she waited like the rest for Dom to speak. "Two races, two a race. First up Shorty and Kimberly. Second race Edwin and Ben. Let's roll."

The crowd split and strolled to their cars. Shorty felt Miguel turn and head towards their parked vehicles. She kept her eyes closed and basked in her laziness. "How you livin' girl?" Raising her head she found Leon grinning at her. "You look like shit," he smiled as he fell into place beside Miguel.

"Watch what you say esé. She's been workin' hard," Miguel warned and Shorty smirked at Leon.

"So, you're racing tonight? Kim's pretty good," he said and he nodded over to a violet Acura Integra parked next to Edwin's own Integra.

"Not good enough," she answered. She touched fists with him before he jumped into his Skyline parked a few feet from her own Nissan. Laying her head back down on Miguel's shoulder she muttered "So, you're racing tonight? Kim's pretty good. I'm a stupid ass blah blah blah," she mocked softly.

Miguel snorted in amusement, "Boo, don't let him get you riled up. She don't stand a chance." Letting her off his back at her car he ruffled her hair and went to his own vehicle.

Shorty nodded and got behind the wheel. What did she have to worry about? She had a Nissan. No way was an Acura Integra going to beat her. Driving to the designated racing spot that night seemed to take forever. But the minute she pulled up to the starting line her adrenaline kicked into overdrive and she could feel it pumping through her veins excitedly. The crowd was cheering, screaming, blowing her mind. She could see Hector talking into his two-way radio; connected to Leon's car no doubt. His eyes were flashing at her happily. He loved watching any member of the team win but watching her was something he took pride in. After all it was him that got her hooked on cars and taught her how to drive.

Her heart was beating against her rib cage uncomfortably yet so - so perfectly. She lived to feel that exhilaration. It was intoxicating and Shorty revved her engine sending plumes of fire out the exhaust. Her baby purred beneath her loudly and she knew everyone was admiring her car. She had painted the Altima a sleek green that screamed speed. Along both sides of her car in various shades of greens, she had drawn herself, eyes narrowed, flipping the bird, attitude evident in the smirk on her face. On the back bumper sat a family crest, the crest that every member of the team had on their car. It represented them, and was recognized around L.A. by racers.

Shorty glanced at the girl beside her. A pretty petite blond who looked like she could handle her car. She was not a member of Edwin's crew but she was always hanging around with them. When she sensed Shorty investigating her and her car, she turned and smiled. A genuine smile without any cockiness which was impossible to find in L.A. now. Shorty nodded her head and faced the road waiting for her brother to get the go ahead.

Turning her stereo up, she grinned when Hector gave her a thumbs up. Turning her NOS tank on, it hissed at her and sent shivers up her spine. It was almost go time. Pressing her foot down on the gas her car shuddered in ecstasy, barely able to contain itself. Her baby rocked back and forward in place, shooting flames at the admirers. And when Hector raised his arms, her stomach clenched painfully.

He threw his hands down seconds later and she shot forward. Her heart was pounding and she could only hear loud white noise in her ears. The scenery blurred together as one and releasing the clutch and shifting came as second nature to her. Slamming into a new gear her car pulled ahead and she knew she had the game in the bag. It was her win. She could taste the victory already. It was but only a second away and as her car roared closer to the spray painted finishing line she could feel the real high hit. Seeing Kimberly's car gaining ground on her, she pressed the button to her nitrous oxide and her car lurched forward.

The finish line was stretched as thin as dental floss as she shot across it. Her limbs felt like rubber as she turned the car around and pulled back to the starting line and parked her car along the road as Ben and Edwin's cars pulled up to the starting line. The crowd surrounded her when she stepped from the Altima and congratulated her. She accepted it gratefully before pushing her way through to watch Ben and Edwin race. Dom slapped the money into her hand and grinned down at her. "Good racing Shorty."

Too tired to go to the Toretto house to party after the races she decided that when the next race was over she was just going to go home and sleep. When Ben crossed the finish line she finally escaped. Too exhausted to even try and find her brother she called his cell to tell him. "Hector man, I'm gonna go home and sleep. See ya'll tomorrow." Leaving a message for him, she figured he would get it once he got back to his car.

"Shorty. Where you goin?" Leon shouted when he saw her walking away from the crowd. He was concentrating on her and the police scanners at the same time, being sure to pick up every word the dispatcher said.

"I'm goin' home to sleep," she shrugged before crouching against his car. "Stupid ass thought I was gonna lose. You're trippin' fool, cause I never lose."

"Is that right?"

"Yeah, that's right. I'll see you later though. Tell V and Lett to holla?" Shorty stood and gave him a quick slap across the head for ever believing she would lose to an Integra. "See you Leon."

A/N: I wasn't going to update until next week sometime but good things come in three's and I got all three in one day! 1) I'm officially an EMT! Just got my provincial exam marks today! 2) I got 7 more reviews! 3) And Grey's was a new episode! So I thought I'd pass my luck onto someone else, so here's hoping your good things come in three's tomorrow!

Shout out's to Jarnac50, Love Ink, bizchelc, lysia1982, InkShaper, and Bindie! Thank you SO much for reviewing. You guys have really given me a confidence boost in the writing department! I hope you keep reading and reviewing!