Johnny Tran was dead.
It was all over.
Everything changed.
He died.
At hands of no one else but Brian-stupid-cop-undercover. She couldn't even look him in the eye when he came around - when he dared to stop by their house, full of holes from the shooting, to see her older sister.
How could anyone expect that she would talk to him?
Johnny Tran was dead. And that stupid-piece-of-work Lance still lived. She wished it wouldn't be the truth. She wished the two of them switched places and Lance died although if Johnny lived and she managed to get her hands on him, she would hurt him bad.
He and his stupid cousin shot at them. Dom was gone and only Mia stayed behind to make sure Amie was well. The house was a mess. And Jesse died.
Amie stood by the door into Lance's room, playing with the hem of her loose hoodie. Her arm was secured in the cast, but they released her from the hospital a few days ago. Amie also lost her job; when there was no Tran to stand behind her and she had to stay in the hospital for a few days during her training, they used it against her.
It seemed like somebody was always by Lance's door but not that morning. Her palm itched to reach for the door handle. However, she needed to answer one question before she took the step in. Can I do it? And even if the answer was yes, what would she do? Put a pillow over his face, maybe. Her lips narrowed into a thin line and lost all colour. Taking a deep inhale she reached for the door handle...
"Strange, how life can change from moment to moment," a dry voice echoed in the air, drawing her attention to the left where her eyes landed on Davis. "I've heard what happened. Funny, how it all twisted around in the end, isn't it?"
"What do you want?" Amie asked him coldly, turning away from him. Her palm curled into a tight fist. She had an opportunity to go into Lance's room and get revenge, but now, with Davis behind her back, the idea went out of the window. Amie couldn't care less if they found her just as she managed to kill that stupid-piece-of-work, but first, she needed to get her hands on him!
"Pure coincidence, miss Toretto," he shrugged a little, wiping his brow and pulling on the collar of his shirt. The air was heavy and full of sterile odour that made her nose twitch. "As you know, there are quite a few criminals in the hospital. We need to keep eye on them to make sure they will not attempt to escape. Which makes me wonder," the man made a small step towards her, successfully towering over her with a small smirk. "I would not expect you here."
"Vince is asleep," Amie snapped back at him, taking a quick step to the right to have her personal space free of Davis. "Not that it is any of your business."
"Oh yes, your dear friend Vince."
"What do you want?!"
Davis looked at her with a small frown, calculating. Then he shook his head a little. "Nothing at the moment," he said softly. "How is your shoulder?"
She grunted a little, wrapping her other arm around herself as if she could hide the cast on her injured arm. Having no mood to talk to him – or talk to anyone whatsoever – Amie turned on the back of her heel and started walking away. He thwarted her possibly only chance to get her hands on Lance so she desperately needed to find a dark place where she could curl into a tight ball and cry herself to sleep. There might be no other chance to get the revenge, thanks to Davis.
"Miss Toretto," the cop called after her. "Why are you still here?"
"What?" she asked, twisting around to glare at him.
"Everybody else left as soon as they could," Davis said and this time, there was no mockery in his voice. He was careful and almost looked concerned. "Even you sister. Tran is gone. Your friend on the fifth floor will be sent to prison as soon as possible for the theft they all done. So why are you staying?"
Amie scoffed at him. She turned away, marching down the corridor at a brisk pace. It might have looked as if she had nothing to say to him, but truth was that Amie had no answer. She didn't know why she stayed in the half-destroyed house, all by herself. By the time she reached the car in the hospital's parking lot, she was wiping angrily at the tears rolling down her cheeks.
"You alright, hun?" Syd asked worriedly when she noticed her. Amie's friend quickly threw her cigarette away, walking towards her to place a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Is Vince alright?"
"He's gonna be," Amie answered.
"It's hard, I know—"
"Syd, can you please," she paused as she tried to find the worn-out piece of paper in one of her pockets. When she finally found it, she gave it to her friend. "Take me here?"
Syd's forehead crinkled with soft wrinkles. "Sure, but—that's in Tran's—"
"It was his turf, yes," Amie snapped quickly. Then she quickly covered her eyes in shame for talking to Syd like that. Inhaling deeply, she tried to keep her voice soft but steady. "I am sorry, Syd. Please, just take me there and don't ask me anything."
"Honey… I know it's been really hard—"
"Syd—"
"But why do you want to go here?" Syd asked her, waving with the piece of paper in the air. Amie's hand immediately sprung to life, grabbing the address in her tight grip, worried she might lose it.
"I just have to."
Syd softly chewed on her lower lip and the soft lines surrounding her eyes deepened. It made Amie sick to see the pity in Syd's expression and so she glanced away. "Amie—"
"Do I have to walk there?"
"No, of course not," Syd said quickly, not hurt by the sharp tone from the youngest Toretto. Pulling the dark-haired woman closer to herself, Syd took a deep inhale. "Let's go. Do you want a cigarette?"
Amie never really smoked, but her lower lip started to tremble without any logical reason and so she quickly nodded. She mistrusted her voice. Not that she could trust herself whatsoever, especially with the knowledge that if it wasn't for Davis, she would have committed a crime.
Toretto's hands were always painted in red, she knew. Amie was quite adamant that her time will also come one day when she dips her hands into the blood and she hoped it would be Lance's blood. None of that she shared with Syd as she lit the cigarette and took a deep inhale of the nicotine smoke. She choked, making her friend smile, but they stayed quiet.
After all, those who stayed behind gave up their attempts to make Amie talk. She kept shutting everyone out and they probably hoped that once she stops mourning, she will return – or at least be almost the same person she used to be. But the pain inside was slowly drawing Amie crazy, as each night she laid in her bed and heard distant chatter and laughter of the family who no longer stayed within the same halls. Sometimes she dreamt of Johnny walking in with a big bright smile, snuggling next to her and whispering how much he's missed her.
The cigarette smoke annoyed Amie's throat and her eyes filled with tears. Ignorant to the world surrounding her, she exhaled softly and started rubbing her eyes with her free hand.
"You alright, Amie?"
"Yeah."
Syd heaved a sigh. Drumming her fingers on the steering wheel, Syd frowned ever so slightly as she took a turn towards Tran's old turf. The air between the two women grew heavier by each mile they crossed and when the car stopped in front of a tall building with big, shiny clean windows, Syd cleared her throat. "I think it even has a security guy," she commented as she tried to see through the glass of the entrance door.
"Why does it not surprise me?" Amie uttered, shaking her head and inhaling deeply. "You don't have to wait for me."
"What?" Syd turned at her so fast she almost whipped Amie with her hair. "Ain't gonna leave you here—"
"I will get a bus home."
"From Tran's turf? Amie, you can't be serious."
"Why not?" Amie glared at her sharply, challenging her. "He is dead. Dead. What could possibly happen to me?"
"I don't know," Syd admitted softly. "But still—"
"Please!" Amie stopped her with a quick gesture of her hand. "Let me do this."
"Do what?!"
Toretto had no answer to share with Syd. Amie quickly left the car, slamming it maybe a little bit too hard behind her and then started marching towards the building. She forced herself to ignore how tall the building complex was, how it scared her and made her feel out of place especially in her worn, old clothes. The door opened smoothly, leading her into a polished hall with a desk on the right and staircase opposite to it.
"Good afternoon," the young bulky man stood up from his seat behind the desk, looking at her with a sharp glare of his blue eyes. His voice bounced off the light blue walls. "How can I help you, miss?"
Amie almost turned on the back of her heel and ran for her life, but the keys weighed her for too long. She needed to shake them off. Pulling the bundle of keys out of her pocket, she looked at them and then at the security man, gulping. "I—I would like to go—those keys are from the flat here, I believe."
He quirked his eyebrows. "Have you found them?"
"No," she shook her head softly. "I- those were given to me."
"Given?" he repeated slowly.
Amie nodded softly, opening her palm to him with the bundle of keys. "Number four."
"Oh," the man cleared his throat and looked away. "I see… Miss… are you aware that mister Tran-"
"I know," she stopped him sharply, clenching her eyes tightly for a few seconds. "I just, I—"
"He told me to allow you inside no matter what," the blonde interrupted her swiftly. "He said there might be a young woman coming in with keys to the flat 4."
"He did?"
"Yes. I…- My deepest condolences."
Amie stared at him with wide eyes. She felt confused, unable to think at all. However, after a few seconds, she nodded. "Thank you."
First of all, hello! It has been a looong while since my last post. And it has been chaotic. Still is, to be honest. I am back to work full time, year old kiddo at home... there is literally no time to write. And when I have time, well, I am too tired and just wanna chill!
I have managed to put this together for you guys. :) The idea for this chapter has been sitting in my mind for a while and I needed to get it off my chest. Finally. However, I feel like it is lacking something... as if my writing isn't what it used to be. Maybe I am just so tired that I lost it?
What do you think?
So, here we are. Amie is basically alone and struggling to deal with her new life. Struggling so much she was about to murder Lance. Wow, right?
Next up; Amie discovers the flat Johnny prepared... but with it also one little surprise. What it will be... or who? :) We will see - hopefully soon.
Take care!