=The Following Evening, Hotel Plaza=
"I need everyone to report tonight at my garage. Seven o'clock sharp. This is a mandatory meeting, so don't be late. No excuses."
Really? Ugh.
Suki just woke up from much needed sleep and the first thing she's greeted to is an angry voice mail from Rachel that was sent to all her drivers. She rolled her eyes after listening to the message, tossed her pink bedazzled flip phone across the floor, and thumped her head back against the pillows. It was obvious that Rachel somehow found out about the disastrous night, and she could see herself right now being shredded to oblivion by the woman's words. Not like she didn't get enough of that from Angie.
How ironic. Street racing was supposed to be the one thing that Suki could use to escape lectures from her elders, and here she was, getting it all over again in the hobby she loved more than anything. All night, she sobbed to herself and thought about where her life was going, and the hurtful words that Angie said to her. She promised herself that she would never confide in people like that ever again. Not even to her heroes, like Rachel. She knew that Brian wanted her to come back to the garage when he called her, but she didn't want to seem weak in front of everyone else anymore.
From that moment on, Suki promised herself to be one of the strongest members of the team, not for their sake, but for her own. Suki was tired of being looked at as the small little girl that couldn't hold her own as well as everyone else. She swore up and down that she was gonna change that. She looked at her phone on the floor and groaned. Reaching her arm over the bed just enough, she swooped it back up and flipped it back open to call Brian.
After a few rings, he answered, "Hey. Feeling better?"
"Hell yeah."
Suki knew Brian well enough to practically hear him smiling on the other end of the phone.
He was glad to have his fierce little sister back in action. "You hear about the meeting?"
"Yeah. Two words - 'Last night.'"
"Yeah, I heard what happened." She swallowed a lump in her throat, confirming her fear that she was gonna indeed be in massive trouble. "Listen, don't sweat it," Brian reassured. "It's nothing to disappear over. Rachel's mad, but she's not gonna kick you off the team or anything, if that's what you're worried about."
"You think so?"
"Yeah. To be honest, I don't know for sure, but that's just the feeling I get from her. If anything, she's just disappointed."
"Are you disappointed in me, B? It was your money too. I'm sorr-"
"-Just get your ass over here. Heh, we miss you. Later."
Suki grinned and hung up the phone. As always, she knew she could count on Brian to encourage and cheer her up. She flopped out of bed, stretched, and got ready to take a shower so she could get ready for the night./
=Later at Rachel's Garage=
Kenji was the first to arrive at the meeting, showing up extra early for his own bragging points. Entering the empty boardroom, he took a seat at the very edge of the conference table, and patiently waited for everyone else to come. First, it was Wolf, then Brian, Roman, and Suki.
Kenji offered a simple wave when the three men came through, but when Suki came in, he sat upwards and asked, "Suki… you okay?"
As she sat down she gave just a nod and replied, "Chillin' like a villain."
Everyone made small talk until Angie finally arrived. The first thing she did when she walked through was steal a glance towards Suki. She was relieved to find that the younger racer was still there and hadn't quit the team from their disastrous first race, not to mention the insults said to her. She would have to apologize later, but for now, there was the stupid meeting to get over with. Angie took a seat on the other end of the conference table, across from Suki, neither of them ready to make eye contact with each other.
It wasn't long before the sharp click-clack of Rachel's designer heels echoed closer and closer to the door. Promptly on seven o'clock, Rachel flew open the door and glanced at her team. She was relieved to find all of her recruits present. Shutting the door behind her, she marched past the conference table, not even offering anyone a hello. Everyone watched as she went to the front of the room, sat down a stack of business folders, and put her hands on her waist with her back still turned.
Kenji looked around awkwardly, then offered, "Good evening, Ms. Teller."
She opened her mouth to greet Kenji back. It would be the generous thing to do. But the anger kept her words hanging onto the edge of her tongue.
Finally, she turned around and pointed a stern finger at everyone. "I will not be known for running a team of hooligans. Do you understand me?" Once she found her words, they began flowing out at an angry, blistering pace. "I dunno which one of you had the bright idea to jump the gun, but you can rest assured that everyone knows about that fat loss from last night. It's all over the street, and the time we took painstakingly carving out a reputation, a FOUNDATION for us to stand on, is as good as done."
Rachel propped herself up with both hands planted on the table, and looked down heaving a sigh. "This is why I asked you all to be patient and trust my strategy. All it takes is one bad night to screw up everything we've been workin' for…"
Brian sat up straighter to clarify to Rachel that the entire team was not, in fact, in on the plan to race the Vixens early. He held off a bit when he swore he saw steam coming from her ears. Without looking at either of them, she directed her words to Suki and Angie, the ones she knew for certain were involved in the race.
"Suki… Angie… lemme ask you something." She looked up at them finally with a chilling gaze, biting her lip in another attempt to keep herself from cursing and abandoning her strive for a professional attitude. "Do I look like an easy buck to you two?"
Angie and Suki both caught each other's glance, nervously looking at each other.
"DO I?!" Rachel shouted, snapping their focus back on her.
"N-No," Suki sputtered out.
"Then can you imagine how I felt when I had to wake up and see that two of my drivers lost big time on a race that had my team's name on it?!"
Rachel spun around her laptop that was open to a forum page that already had pictures from last night. Most notably was the pics of Angie and Suki's cars off to the side in the losers' circle. Not to mention the photos a bit further down that showed how the Vixens spent the money last night at clubs and bars in the city. Safe to say a good chunk of the winnings was already spent.
"What do you think this makes us look like? How it makes ME look?!"
As Rachel paused to catch her breath, Angie took the opportunity to interject. "Rachel, it was all on me." Angie looked at Suki as she continued. "Suki didn't have anything to do with what happened last night. I made the bet, Suki tried to talk me out of it, and I didn't listen. It's my responsibility. Nobody else." Angie looked at Suki with sympathetic eyes as she continued. "Suki… Listen, hun. I am so-damn-sorry. For how I acted and everything that I said. I should've never cursed you out in front of all those girls. You're not useless. You're not worthless." She found the energy to crack out a smirk, "And you sure as hell aren't slow. We just got dealt a shitty hand. It happens to the best of us. That's all. I'm sorry."
Suki looked back at her and nodded her head, saying nothing. She accepted the apology, but it never meant things would go back to the way they once were - that they'd magically be best friends or anything of the sorts again.
Rachel cut back into the conversation with her authoritative voice. "That's fine. But an apology isn't going to win back thirty grand, or my absolute trust."
"No, no, the money is as good as ours," Angie insisted. "I've got another race lined up with Sue."
Rachel pulled up from the table and put her hands on her hips. "That so? Where did you suddenly get another thirty racks to bet?"
"I don't have that kinda money just laying around…," Angie hesitated a bit and took a deep breath. "So I'm gonna race for pinks."
Everyone paused and looked at her, shocked. "Angie no," Suki said, shaking her head back and forth. "No, you don't have to do that."
Angie waved away the doubtful stares. "Big deal. It ain't the first time I raced for pinks. And I 'technically' already beat this chick once. It should be a piece of cake."
"And what are you gonna do if you lose your car, huh? You think I'm gonna pay for your next set of wheels? Why don't you actually think about the consequences of your actions before you do it, Angie?!" Shouted Rachel.
Angie shot up and slammed her hands on the table. "Look, I've had that car since I was sixteen, and I'd be DAMNED before I lose it to some random bitch on the streets!"
"No one's betting their car! I am!" Suki shouted.
"Bruh, why is everyone so ready to throw away their cars?! Suki, chill out. You ain't bettin' shit," Rome demanded.
Suki nodded her head with a raised eyebrow. "Yes. I am. I'm gonna win Sue's car, and double our money from before. She's got an NSX, and those go for at least sixty Gs off the lot. Then, you got mods and cosmetics. Do the math."
"Hun, if you have somethin' to prove-"
Suki cut off Angie with, "-I don't need to prove shit to anyone. I don't need you to hold my hand and coddle me just 'cause I lost. I need to do this because I want to." Suki huffed and looked over at Rachel. "Is that cool with you?"
"Ask yourself that question. Are you okay with the chance of losing your car?"
Suki gave a simple nod in response, then looked toward Angie. "Let's get with the Vixens and let them know that I'm subbing for you."
"Better yet," Kenji started, "let's make some phone calls and hype this event up."
"Might as well get the most publicity outta it so we can set our crew straight," Roman agreed.
"I have colleagues in town that were looking for some after hours entertainment," added Wolf. "I'll give them a call."
Rachel sighed, feeling relieved after voicing her frustration. "Fine. We need positive publicity. As much of it as we can get. I don't need anyone else making a mockery outta our hard work."*
On the way out of Rachel's home, Brian pulled Rome to the side.
"Say, Rome, you got a sec?"
"What's up?"
"I never got a chance to tell you what I was doing last night…" Brian stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked back and forth to make sure they weren't heard. No one else needed to hear this. At least right now. For now, they appeared to be in the clear, but Brian licked his lips and got ready to lower his voice to a hush anyway. There was a certain look to Brian. It wasn't too often that Roman saw that specific look on Brian's face.
Something was definitely wrong.
"Brian. You alright?"
Brian leaned up against the wall and looked straight ahead with regretful eyes. Like he wished that the words on his lips weren't burning into his skin.
"...Remember when we hooked back up. And I told you about that shit that went down in L.A.?"
Rome narrowed his eyes in thought and nodded. "Yeah. About your man that you let go when you were a cop, right? What about it?"
"Listen, this is gonna sound crazy as shit… but I swear I'm not making this up."
"..."
Brian finally looked at his brother, with those blue eyes wide like he'd seen a ghost. "Rome, I saw him. Last night. I heard rumors about some dude rolling around in the area. And the way people talked about him… I knew it was Dom. I just knew…" Brian blinked down and shook his head. "It got me scared. Y'know, I think about L.A. and what went down there all the time. I couldn't sit still not knowing for sure if these rumors were bullshit or not…-"
"-So you went and saw for yourself…-"
"-Yeah."
Again, that empty look in Brian's eyes returned. It was disturbing to see Brian so bothered by his past.
"It was him, Rome. I mean, the way he looked at me… man… There's so much shit that we need to talk about. So many things that I need to clear up and get off my chest. But I know it's not gonna be that easy. A lot has changed…"/
=Later that Night, Coal Harbor=
There weren't many other words that a street racer feared more than "pink slip." It was the Hail Mary. The most desperate attempt at earning either cash or respect.
All along the sides of the road, crowds were packed. With how much attention the event was drawing, they would have to wrap up the race as soon as possible.
Sue and Suki decided to keep the event short and sweet; another sprint like the previous night. No need for a drawn out circuit race or anything fancy. Just a good old fashioned shotgun race in sudden death.
All the rest of the Nightburners stood along the side of the street next to the cars. Wolf and his paparazzi of shady celebrities or low profile criminals, who had never seen a street race before, were eager to watch the race unfold. Then there were other acquaintances from Kenji, Rome, Brian, and whoever else did the Nightburners the favor of showing up to support.
After doing one final engine check on her car, Suki gently lowered her hood and clicked it shut.
Angie walked up beside her and gave her a fist bump. "Listen… I don't expect you to trust me like you did before. Or even totally forgive me. But just know that I'll always be rooting for you. They'll never be a time that I don't."
As she took footsteps to her door, Suki nodded. "'Preciate that, Angie."
"Let's say you and me go grab a fat, juicy burger after you win. My treat. I owe it to you."
Suki smiled and shook her head. "Girl, you don't owe me anything. But I also ain't gonna pass up free food. It's a date."
They both laughed and fist bumped each other.
"You got this Suki!" Brian shouted along with other fans in the crowd.
Suki got in her car, pulled up to the start line, and worked herself into every street racer's usual ritual...
Rev the engine.
Hold on tight.
Stomp that pedal.
Pray to God./
=One Minute Into the Race=
Now this was more like it.
Just Suki, the moonlight from above, and the midnight breeze in her hair. Sue was far behind, and Suki could chalk it up to her true skill finally having room to be unleashed.
She was first off the line - now that her nerves weren't so haywire.
She was precise with her drifts - now that she wasn't so scared of losing the approval of others.
This was her race. And oh boy, was she dominating it.
It was basically a race against herself at this point; just her and the road. In fact, there was so much road, she didn't know what to do with it. All she had to do was just hold onto it. She could hear the timbre of the NSX echoing off the empty streets somewhere behind her. And now that Suki was able to pay more attention, it sounded like the NSX was a bit too much for Sue to handle.
The exhaust notes were weird, the timing of her shifts awkward. It's true what they say about car's choosing their drivers. For Sue Yen, though? The NSX might've been the wrong fit for her. Good thing it'd be coming home to a fresh set of hands that knew exactly what to do with it tonight.
"WOOOO! SMACK THAT ASS!" Of course, Suki had to shout her ridiculous victory line!
Everything around Suki became a pink blur as her senses were heightened tenfold. The neon lights in her interior blinded her with ecstasy as she stopped dead in the middle of the street, right at the feet of the many crowds of fans that matched her smile. All she could hear was her thumping heartbeat and the muffled sounds of the people around.
It wasn't until Roman playfully shook her shoulder that she snapped out of her victory trance. "THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKIN' 'BOUT, HOMEGIRL!"
Suki looked to her right and saw Brian, that cheesy/doofy smile of his that she could never get enough of. Then, the rest of her teammates that punched the air with pride.
God, it all felt so amazing. So perfect.
Was this what Rachel was talking about? This incredible feeling that could only be embraced on a Bayview street?
If so, Suki welcomed it and looked forward to more nights to come.
To her left, the driver door to her S2000 swung open, courtesy of Angie. She practically bear hugged the younger woman out of the car, and the two of them hugged out any remaining hostility toward each other right then and there. A few flashing lights here, some incomprehensible shouting there, and Suki found herself and the team in the middle of the street being praised.
Two taps on her shoulder, and Suki turned around. It was Rachel. Rachel was happy, more or less. Perhaps "content" was the better word. It looked like she wanted to smile more, but held herself back to prevent herself, as well as her team, from getting ahead of themselves.
Rachel held up her index, a pair of keys dangled from her finger. "Saved you the hassle of seein' the Vixens in such a mess."
Suki shot her head to the back of the crowd and saw Sue crying into the arms of one of her girls! At first, it'd be easy for Suki to laugh. But it certainly wasn't long ago that she was right there in the same boat.
"Damn… I feel kinda bad for her."
"Don't." Rachel was quick to shake her head and set Suki straight. "You underestimated them last night. But she screwed up when she made the same mistake you did. Never underestimate your opponent, Suki, even if you already beat em' before. Each ball game is its own thing, and it's the same with a street race."
Suki swallowed hard and took heed to Rachel's words. Afterwards, Rachel seemed like she let herself go a bit, and let herself truly smile.
"With that bein' said, you KILLED it out there! You deserve every bit of praise tonight. Well done, Suki."
Suki took the praise with a humble heart. Just yesterday, she would've been over the moon to have such praise come from Rachel Teller of all people. But in the moment, Suki reminded herself that at the end of the day, it was through her own confidence that she found her strength.
Rachel hesitated a bit and eyeballed the keys in her own hand. "Mind if I hang on to these?"
That's right, Suki remembered. After all, the point was to sell the car off once it was acquired to make up for the lost funds.
Suki agreed and said, "Thanks for giving me a chance to make things square."
"No problem at all." Rachel secured the keys into her purse, and held out her fist for Suki to dap. "The first of many."
Suki gave Rachel some knuckle and nodded. This was just the start. The beginning of something huge that each and every last one of them were ready to embrace.
"...The first of many."