Dominic addressed her without looking up as she headed in through the door. He was standing before the mirror on the hallway wall, buttoning up his white dress shirt.
“You’re late.”
“Dom, don’t start. You got no idea the shit I went through at school today. You got no fucking clue.”
“Get in another fight?” Dominic turned around. He was looking at her now.
“Kind of. Not really.”
“She beat Chad Holmes over the head with a crowbar,” Leon said, a big ass smirk on his face as he came into the living room from the kitchen. Letty whirled on him.
“How’d you know that?”
“Good news travels fast,” Leon laughed, flopping down on the couch. He smelled like an aftershave factory, and his idea of eveningwear was just hilarious.
Letty glared at Dominic’s sister, Mia. “You got a big mouth.”
“You hit someone with a crowbar?” Dominic repeated, aghast. “And then what? They take your psycho ass to jail?”
“No, they didn’t take me to jail. The kid fucking deserved it.”
“They always deserve it, Letty,” he muttered, turning back to the mirror.
“No, I’m serious, Dom, listen da me.”
“I don’t have time for this shit, Letty, we’re supposed to fucking BE there already, and instead we haven’t even left yet. Go and get ready and then get your ass outside because my family is sitting around waiting, for all of us, because you went apeshit on some kid with a crowbar. I’m supposed to tell my grandmother that? ‘Sorry we’re late, Abuela, but Letty had to finish up talking to the police. See, she went skull-busting this morning, and-‘”
“Fuck you, Dominic, I’m not goin’.” She stormed up the stairs, stamping on every step, and slammed the guest bedroom door behind her. Dominic was there in a heartbeat, right on the other side of the door, pounding with an open hand.
“Come on, Letty, we don’t have time for this. Don’t even play.”
“I’m not playin’, asshole. You keep callin’ me a psycho and maybe I’ll be one.”
“Well, for Christ’s sake, Letty, a crowbar?!?”
“Fuck you. You don’t wanna listen to me, so fuck you.”
“Letty, I am late. I don’t have TIME to listen to you.”
“But you had time to make fun of me? Fuck you.” She flopped back on the bed, starting to cry.
“Tell me what happened, then. The abridged version.”
“Fuck you.”
“Letty, come on, I’m sorry.”
“Fuck you.” Somewhere down the hall, maybe on the stairs, Vince and Leon were laughing, and Dom was shushing them.
“Come on, Let, open the door.”
“It’s not locked, bendejo. I dare you to open it.”
All balls and no brains when he was fighting, Dominic took the dare. He swung the door open and stood in the doorway, and Letty picked up the Lubriderm bottle that was digging into the small of her back. She threw it, overhand, as hard as she could, and it hit him squarely in the eye, then fell to the floor and broke open, white goo splattering pell-mell.
“Jesus” he exclaimed, his voice cracking, clutching his eyeball, and slammed the door behind him. She replayed the incident in her mind, and it made her feel better, that small element of destruction, so she got to her feet and searched for more shit she could break. She locked the door, then pulled the lamp off the nightstand and flung it, delighted when it shattered against the door.
“And STAY out!”
“What was that?” Dom’s voice, concerned now. “Leticia, for Christ’s sake, let me come in.” He pounded on the door.
“No. I don’t want to see your ugly fucking face. Puto colero. You treat me like shit.”
“I don’t treat you like shit.”
“Yes you do, you treat me like shit. You treat me like…” She paushed a moment, then lifted a vase and hurled it. “You treat me like shit. I don’t wanna see you, I don’t wanna talk to you, and I don’t wanna hang out with your fucking family.”
“Letty, it’s quarter to five.”
“Fuck you. I know how to tell time, motherfucker.”
Dominic growled in frustration and hit the door.
“Dom…Dom,” Leon’s voice, muffled, from just down the hall. “She’s past that point, yo. She’s past the point of no return. You’re not gettin’ it back tonight. Let’s go.”
“Fuck you, Leon,” she called. “Stay out of it.”
“Ey, Let.” Vince, now. “Say ‘fuck you’ one more time. Make it an even fifty.”
“Fuck you.”
“I really want you to come, Letty. They’re gonna have a DJ. I thought we could dance.”
“Dance with Layla Ramirez.”
“I’ve never danced with Layla Ramirez. I just fucked her. And we all know that and it was very sad and you’re never, ever going to get over it and I’ve accepted that. But this has nothing to do with Layla Ramirez. This has to do with the fact that you’ve made us all late and now you’re ripping the shit out of the guest bedroom and…Oh, for fuck’s sake, Letty. Just get your ass out here.”
“Fuck you.”
“All right, guys,” Dominic said. “God dammit. Leon, Vince, take Mia and pick Jesse up from the shop and head over to my grandmother’s. I’m gonna see if I can sort shit out with her.”
“Thank God.” Mia. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
“For real?” Leon asked.
“Yeah, for real. She seems pretty upset. I’ma see what’s up and hopefully we’ll both meet you there in twenty. Stall the famiglia the best you can.”
“Aright, dawg,” Vince said, and Letty listened, lying on her stomach on the bed and sobbing softly, as they headed down the stairs and out the front door onto the porch, down the porch steps, to their cars.
“It’s just me out here, Letty.” The voice she’d loved forever. The man she’d loved forever. He sounded defeated and tired. “You really think I treat you like shit?”
“Go away, Dom.”
“I want you to tell me what happened with the crowbar.”
“No you don’t.”
“Come on, baby, don’t pull this. I’m here because I do. Can you please just tell me what went down?”
“Ask Mo,” Letty said, rolling over onto her stomach and burying her face in the pillows.
“I can’t understand you, Let. Come on. C’mon out here and talk to me.”
“No.”
There was a frustrated growl, then a splintering of wood as Dominic kicked the door in. She sat straight up, gaping at him incredulously.
“WHO’S the fucking psycho?” Her voice was shrill, her heart pounding, and he stood there, unimpressed, surveying the damage she’d done.
“You weren’t going to open it, were you?”
“No.”
“Then did I have a choice?”
She flopped back down on the bed and buried her face again, and his dress shoes crunched in the glass as he crossed the room, stretching out next to her. His touch was tentative, as if he were expecting violent resistance, but then he began to rub her back in broad, slow circles.
“Tell me?” he asked softly. “Please?”
“Chad Holmes. Stuck-up jock always hitting on Mo. He wouldn’t leave her alone. So I whacked him in the head. He got a concussion, they sent him to the hospital, and I had to sit in the office with Atkins and the cop. They were sure I went apeshit on him for no reason. You know, kind of like you are.” Dom’s hand stopped its circling for a minute, but she continued. “But then I got this cop to listen to me about this kid touching Mo all the time. So they bring Mo in, and she makes it sound like she was really bothered by him and I was defending her and shit. But they looked at my record and the next time I get in a fight at school I get expelled. The cops will be involved, too, for sure next time because they’re filing dual reports. Or something. I don’t know. Basically, it counted against me and Chad, rather than it just being my fault. I had to do it, man. You know how Mo is…lettin’ people push her around.”
“Yeah, I know.” Dom’s voice was quiet in the wake of her outpouring, and she was still crying. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her damp cheek. “I’m sorry, Letty. I didn’t mean to be a prick about it, and I’m glad you stood up for Mo. She needs someone like that. She’s like a 18-year-old infant, you know?”
“No shit.”
“So will you get dressed and come with me?”
She was silent for a moment, still fuming, but cooling off just the same.
“Yeah.”
“Good.”
“I gotta see what’s up with Ruben and Quino first.”
“Grab Ruben and we’ll bring him with, okay?”
“You sure?” Letty asked, lifting her head and flashing him a watery smile, and he nodded, kissing the sob-swollen heat of her pretty red lips.
“’Course I’m sure. He’s a good kid.”
“Cool.” Letty got out of the bed, then, a little stiff but nothing serious, and headed through the wreckage toward the open doorway. “I’m gonna be back in like five minutes. Don’t leave without me.”
“I won’t leave without you, Letty.”
Letty had known Dominic long enough to know that his family dressed up for EVERYTHING. It was his grandmother’s birthday, so everyone would be at their finest, and she knew that there was nothing less expected of her. She dug through her makeup and painted her face, white eye shadow and silvery-purple lipstick, put on a white sundress, some white platform sandals, let her long hair loose from its braid and brushed it into wavy black satin. This was one of maybe three dressy outfits she owned, and it was in like-new condition, because she only wore it to go with Dom to his family stuff.
Semi-satisfied with herself, she stripped Ruben down and scrubbed his face and hands, hurrying him into a pair of black jeans and a white polo shirt and some black leather lug-soled shoes. His braids needed to be redone, but there wasn’t time, and she decided that good enough was just going to have to be good enough. They hurried past Quino, who was passed out with a 40-ounce O.E. still in his hand on the couch, and ran out to meet Dominic, who had the MX-6 parked in front of their house.
Letty hoped, with every fiber of her being, for some scrap of attention, some comment, some brief appraisal of her with his eyes, but he gave none, turning instead and grinning at Ruben, who was crammed into the back seat.
“Lookin’ good, little man.”
Ruben soaked it up, and Letty immediately forgot that she’d been ignored, feeling warm all over at the joy on Rube’s face.
“Thanks, Dom. You too.”
“Think so?” Dom straightened his tie and put the car into gear.
“Hell yeah, B,” Rube said. “Suavecito, only…” Ruben cocked his head to one side. “What happened to your eye? It’s almost swollen shut.”
“Ten badass cholos came up on me in the alley.”
“Whoa. Really? I bet you messed ‘em up, carnal.”
“Hell yeah, I messed ‘em up. You shoulda seen ‘em, crying and wipin’ their arms on their sleeves.” Dom winked at Letty with his good eye, and she grinned, shaking her head and looking out the window.
Dom laughed, then steadied the wheel with his knees as he took off the hefty silver chain bearing a large cross. He passed it back to Ruben.
“You can wear that tonight, if you want, aright?”
“Whoa! Thanks, man.”
“No problem.” Dom looked over at Letty and smiled, and she felt tears welling in her eyes, looking away. He put one hand on her knee and squeezed gently, as if to say ‘It’s gonna be all right.’ “Gonna be dancin’, Rube?”
“For sure, bro.”
“Romancin’ all my little cousins an’ shit.”
“And you know this, man,” Rube said, doing his best imitation of ‘Smoky,’ from Friday.
Letty loved the way her little brother came alive around Dominic, the way he looked at Dom like some kind of hero. Being with Dom was a much-needed escape for her little brother. He needed to be pulled away from home once in a while, to be shown that a world existed outside of Quino’s tyranny.
She remembered being a little kid, being a little nuisance to Dom and his friends. She’d loved to hang around the shop, soaking up car know-how like a little sponge. Dom had been forever telling her to go home, go play with her dolls, stay away from his stuff. She remembered his sixteenth birthday, seeing him with some girl on his lap, a broad smile on his face, and she remembered being so jealous, even though she was only ten years old…
But she also remembered her sixteenth birthday, the Saturday after Dominic had gotten out of jail, the first time he’d seen her in two years…The way he’d finally looked at her like she was worth something. The way he’d put his arms around her and said, ‘My, my, my, look who’s all grown up…’ And she remembered noticing, immediately, the difference in him. He hadn’t been so cocky anymore. He’d looked sad, stressed, worn down. And she remembered wanting to take that away, to make it better for him. And she remembered taking him by the hand and leading him to her bedroom…
She loved the way he looked at Ruben all the time. That dark, smiling stare that said ‘You’re worth the air you’re breathing’ was magic, and the gravitational pull toward Dominic Toretto was undeniable. She’d been Ruben’s age the first time she’d laid eyes on him, and she’d been pulled in, instantaneously, permanently, just as her little brother now was. Dom was beautiful. No one argued with that.
“Here we are,” he said, pulling into the driveway of a little house with a big backyard on the East side. The fence and mailbox and front door were covered in streamers of all colors, and the communal Spanglish chatter of Dom’s family was heard as a hum over the captivating rhythm of salsa. Dom grinned over at Letty, licking his lips, and reached across to pinch her in the ass. “Let’s party.”
