Kim carefully drove up to the starting line; she looked out the window to see Brian looking back at her from right beside her. She could feel her heart beating faster - the race was about to start, win or lose, and it was glorious. She pressed her foot down onthe gas, and she could fell the roar of her engine; her heart racing, she looked straight ahead, a grin curling her lips as she looked past the starter and down the long tramac.
Brian also looks ahead, his own heart beating faster - they were both allies, friends, even, but right now the only thing that mattered was that they were rivals, opponents, racers.
He cast a quick look in his mirror and saw Dom nearby, watching them, waiting for the race to start.
"Go on, Kim!" Ron shouted, waving from nearby, Rufus perched on his shoulder.
Mia watched from further away, her arms crossed, her eyes resting on Brian; he turned and saw her, their eyes met for a moment, and he gave her a smile. Then he turned away to look ahead down the track once more.
The starter raised his arms, and Kim and Brian revved their engines, cars straining to get off, and he brought them down with a flourish.
Kim and Brian both floored it, and took off with s scream of rubber and the roar of horsepower.
Brian shot a look at Kim as they burned the track; he'd seen Kim race, but he'd never raced her himself and a little glimmer of worry pervades his confidence. He looked ahead again, focused on the track, his hands firm on the wheel as they flew straight down the road.
Kim for her part grinned widely as she held her car straight, her eyes alight with excitement she can barely hold back laughter as she shifts and speeds, fighting the road for every inch on her opponent.
They hurry on, almost neck and neck, neither driver able to gain the advantage; Kim slowly gained an edge, drawing a little ahead of Brian, but then he took it back.
His jaw clenched, he shot a look at her, his eyes narrowed, his face tight. She stared straight ahead, hands clenched on the wheel, her body humming along to the roar of the engine.
Brian hesitated for a moment, then quickly jabbed at a control; Nitrous hissed as it poured into his engine, and he took off, speeding past Kim with the doubled roar of his engine hammering the air.
But Kim hardly even looked at him; she stared straight ahead, focused solely on the finish line. Her breath held, she waited, waited, waited, yards streaming by with every nanosecond that passed, engines roaring, the crowd cheering distantly as their presumed winner came closer. At the right second, Kim jabbed at a button, and her own care sped up as Nitrous hissed, valves opened wide as pure power streamed through her engine. She did laugh now as she overtook Brian, gaining a length on him, two, then they streaked over the finish line and kept going, still going too fast to stop.
They braked, then turned and started back the way they came. Brian and Kim looked at each other as they drove slowly; Kim's face was flushed, alight with a wide grin of victory; Brian's was still, but he opened up and gave her a smile and thumb's-up, which she returned.
"Greta job, Kim!" Ron shouted when they came back and stopped. he raced up to Kim as she stepped out and stood, wobbling a little for a moment before she found her legs again. She gave him a grin and a hug, then turned to see Dom approaching.
"So what do you think?" Kim asked him.
"That was good," Dom admitted with a grin. "And the way you went out there before, to take care of your friend. . ." he let his voice trail off, a little smile on his lips. "Come talk to me later; I may have something for you."
Kim smiled, her heart soaring even higher; Dom approved, that meant a lot mroe to her than she thought it would. She looked over at brian, and she felt again that twinge of regret, that secret shame that they were betraying the trust Dom was giving them so openly.
#
But they had little time to celebrate or mourn, because Jesse's race was supposed to start already.
Leon, back behind the wheel of the Jetta, pulled it right up to the starting line and clambered out, as did Jesse. "Visualize the win," Leon said, pulling Jesse into a quick hug..
Brian watched this, and so did Kim, both thinking about the earlier conversation that Ron cut short, and they shared a worried glance - Jesse was setting himself up for a big loss if he was wrong about this..
"Visualize the win, Jesse," Leon added encouragingly as he released Jesse from the hug; Jesse nodded as he clambered into behind the wheel.
"Who are you racing?" Kim asked. Before either of them could answer, the other car, a Honda S2000 rolled up and the window came down, revealing the face of Johnny Tran. He smiled, holding up a wad of bills.
Jesse returned the gesture with a grin.
Kim ducked down to look in through the passenger window. "Jesse, don't do it!" she urged him.
"Don't do it!" Brian echoed her. "I bet you he's got more than a hundred grand under the hood of that car!"
"Uh-huh!" Jesse said, not looking at them as he shoved his foot down, to rev his engine; the roar of horsepower rose from both racers as engines piled on the power, cars straining to be let loose down the track. Johnny Tran stared straight ahead, his expression perfectly calm, a confident smile on his lips; Jesse breathed hard, perspiration gleaming on his skin as he clutched at the wheel before him.
The starter dropped down, arms swinging, and the two cars leaped into motion, peeling down the track; cheers rose from the watching crowd as they roared down the track; Jesse threw a quick glance at Tran, then slammed his thumb down hard on a red button on his wheel. There was a hiss, then the Jetta's engine roared louder as Nitrous poured into it. Jesse laughed as his car took off, gaining hard on Tran the two roared down the tarmac.
But in his car, Tran only smirked contemptuously. "Too soon."
Back at the starting line, Dom watched, his expression grim.
Kim glanced at Brian, her heart racing, with anxiety and hope, but Brian only stared down the track wordlessly
Tran slammed both his thumbs down on twin buttons on his wheel.
Jesse watched helplessly as Tran's car leaped forward like a rocket, hurling itself ahead of him. "No!" he cried out as they dashed over the finish line.
"Whoo!" Tran cheered himself as he crossed the line, a clear first.
"Shit!" Jesse cursed helpelssly, his face twisted with anger and grief. "Oh, G-d!"
Johnny Tran applies the brakes, smoothly bringing his Honda S2000 to a smooth stop.
But Jesse's friends watching helplessly as his youthful optimism brought him to this, watched as he drove on, not stopping, but he turned, and drove away, dust rising from his wheels. In the Jetta, Jesse's face is twisted with emotion, tears of grief and shame springing to his eyes.
"Where's Jesse goin'?" Dom asked, puzzled.
"He just raced Tran for pinks," Leon explained grimly.
"Ah. . . shit." Dom's tone was a mix of sadness and aggravation as he rubbed at his forehead. He watched as Jesse drove away in a futle attempt to escape from the disaster his own overconfidence brought on him.
The crew watcedh as Tran drove up to them. His engine roared once aggressively, then he stopped and jumped out, slamming his door behind him. "Where's he going?" he demanded, walking right up to Dom, looking him hotly in the eye.
"Just going to the car wash," Dom replied casually.
"Whatever, go fetch my car!" Johnny snapped.
Dom stared at him. "'Go fetch your car'?" He stared at Tran for a silent moment, then raised a warning finger. "We're not on your block anyumore; you better watch who you talk to like that," he said, then started to turn away.
"Toretto!" Johnny shouted, the word bursting out in a rage. "Toretto!"
Dom turned back to face him, while Leon urged the rest of the crew to get along.
"SWAT came into my house," Tran shouted into Dom's face. "Disrespected my whole family, beacuse somebody. . . narcked me out!"
Kim and Brian shared a glance; Leon stood by, his hands on his hips, gave up trying to keep this private as a crowd has gathered round, including memebrs of Tran's crew.
"And you know what?" Tran said, raising a finger to point at Dom. "It was you!"
Dom's face twisted with anger, and his fist rose in a clean smooth arc to strike Johnny across the face, knocking him flat on the tarmac. Kim and Brian watched, paralyzed with surprise as instant chaos erupted, as the crowd surged, onlookers eager to watch the fight; a few of Tran's crew scuffled with Leon and Vince while security rushed through the crowd, struggling to hold the crowd back.
Dom got down to crouch over Tran's supine body; rising his fist, he brought it down with crushing force across Tran's face, then again, then again; every blow rings out loud, even against the shouting of the crowd; one burly security guard rushed at him, grabbing Dom from behind, he tried to drag Dom off of Tran, but Dom struggled against his hold, still completely intent on Tran.
Letty turned, seeing one of Tran's men break through the crowd; he lunged toward Dom, who still struggled with the guard, but wound up and slammed her fist into his face, throwing him down. Behind her, Dom twisted away from the guard's grip and jumped down on Tran once again.
Vince struck down his opponent, then turned and raced toward Dom. "Get off of him!" he yelled at the security guar. "Get off of him!" He pulle the guard off of Dom, then apparently having a change of mind, as the gurd grabbed Dom's right arm, Vince grabbed his left, and the two of them pulled Dom away from Tran. "I've never narcked on nobody!" Dom screamed at Tran ina rage as he was dragged away. "I've never narcked on nobody!"
Tran pushjed himself up and spat blood, then looked after Dom with a dangerous cruel smile.
"Come on, let's go!" Vince said, finally getting Dom to turn and walk away, his whole body stiff with rage.
Brian watched him, his expression worried; Kim glanced up at Brian, then at Tran, and also after Dom, her heart heavy.