Part 5

"Fuck!" Letty thought as she slowly crawled the ladder to consciousness, "What the hell is mak�in all that noise?"

Almost instantly, she shot out of bed in a tangle of sheets and nearly fell over --all the while damning the alarm. After gathering herself together, Letty carefully sat down at the head of her bed and reached for her alarm clock.

"Oh shit-- it�s 6:45!" She let out on a high pitch.

She had exactly 15 minutes to make it to work on time.

Letty gathered up some clothes from the only chair in the room: a pair of cargos, a wife beater, socks, her belt, and lastly-- her boots. She threw her clothes on and tied her hair back into a ponytail. She then made her way to the bathroom and glanced in the mirror where her reflection grabbed her attention.

Once again, she had rings under her eyes.

"Ya know where those rings are com�in from girl." She said to herself, "-- and it�s not gonna go away...." "No," She argued within herself, "just don�t think �bout it-- just don�t."

Looking away, she turned the faucet on and grabbed her toothbrush. She hastily brushed her teeth and strolled thru her room to her side table. Then she grabbed her keys and headed off to the garage.

Ash saw Letty just as she was coming in thru the garage door. He looked at his watch.

"7:14" he whispered.

Letty had been working for him for about a month and had always been on time, that was-- until three days ago.... For the last three days, she had shown up at least ten minutes late each day. Plus-- she had been looking a little rough around the edges lately. It wasn�t drugs, he didn�t think-- that didn�t seem her type, but something-- something was definitely out of place. He just couldn�t quite put his finger on it.

"Morn�in Let." Ash spoke up.

Letty looked up startled out of her thoughts and replied, "Morn�in Ash. What�s up for the day?"

"Well," Ash glanced at his clipboard and said , "We got a couple of oil changes for the afternoon, a couple of tires to put on, and a cracked radiator to replace. Nothing too detailed."

"Sounds like a day." Letty stated as she walked over to the old Impala that had been brought in.

A few seconds later, she yelled over her shoulder, "This one an oil change?"

"Yeah," Ash replied, "Needs her oil changed. So does the Dodge Dynasty out front."

Letty nodded, "Any oil preferences?"

"Nah, these two-- just anything cheap." Ash stated.

Letty nodded and prepared to get to work, and Ash made his way to the office to take care of some paperwork.

Letty got thru the first oil change with no problem, but halfway thru the second-- she started to get light headed. The smell of the oil was just getting to her today. She brought a hand to cover her nose and stepped back.

"Damn that shit is strong!" She stated.

She could feel the moment her stomach muscles began to contract and became aware of the fact that she had to react fast. Putting her work aside, Letty made a mad dash for the garage�s small bathroom. Just as she reached the toilet, she began to retch. Her stomach heaved repeatedly, emptying the contents of the breakfast that she had decided to snag from Calvario�s on her way to work.

Letty sat back and wiped her mouth with the palm of her left hand. Her right hand unconsciously went to her belly.

"Damn it! Damn it!" Letty yelled out as warm tears started to build in her eyes.

She squeezed her eyes shut tightly-- willing it all to go away.....

Her solace was broken as the door was roughly pushed open.

"Letty-- Letty-- what�s going on?" Ash stated as he entered.

He took one look and new that something was up. Maybe this had to do with why she had been looking so rough... He looked at her again. She had a tear tracking it�s way down her cheek and her face was as pale as the moon.

"Letty?" He said again, and she began to shake a little.

"I�m fine Ash," She stated, "I�m fine-- just let me get cleaned up and I�ll get back ta work."

"No Let-- I don�t think that you are fine and you sure as hell aren�t going back to work the way that you look." Ash replied.

This pissed Letty off some. Just who the hell did he think he was?

Letty replied, "List�in Ash, no one orders me around."

With a look to rival sharp obsidian, Ash stated, "I�m your boss Letty. You�ll do as I tell you if you want to keep your job. Now up."

Not wanting a fight, Letty stood as Ash bade her. Ash dampened a cloth and proceeded to wipe Letty�s face with the cool calming instrument. He then led her to his office and had her sit.

In the short time that they had known each other, Ash and Letty had become good friends. They enjoyed each other�s company and had become quite easy around one another. As much as Ash hated to intrude upon their friendship, as her boss he had to. Whatever was going on was affecting her work, and he couldn�t have that.

"So Letty?" He asked from across the room where he was sitting at his desk, "Are you ready to tell me just what the hell is going on?"

Letty was silent for a few moments, but then spoke in an uncontrolled laughter, "He left a part of himself with me. I�d just been gett�in used to life without him when I realized it. And I said, �You knew Girl, you knew that it was just to good ta be true.... that he didn�t come after ya.� He didn�t need ta because he had never really left me...."

"Letty?" Ash spoke, "I don�t quite understand you?"

"You see Ash-- I came here �cause I needed ta get away for a while. A lot of shit has gone down these last few months. If you only knew... It used ta be so perfect-- ya know... The team liv�in it up. We had the cars, the money... and then everything changed in an instant. Now, Jesse�s gone... dead-- Mia�s always sad �cause of the cop. And Dom and Me-- things just haven�t been the same. It�s weird cause I always new that Dom was the one... I�ve loved him since I was ten. We�ve been together since my seventeenth birthday..." Letty gushed and then looked up at Ash for support.

Ash nodded curtly and Letty continued.

"It�s just that in the past few months, Dom has been so far away. I think he blames himself for all the shit that has happened. He doesn�t see �ME� anymore. It�s like he doesn�t even know who I am.... So about a month ago-- I was out in the shop and I realized that �I� don�t even know me anymore. I want Dom ta know me, but I don�t know myself. I got pissed �cause I wanted ta blame it all on Dom. So I left-- and ended up here. I love Dom-- I always will and someday..... but right now, I�m not sure.... But it doesn�t matter-- it doesn�t matter Ash."

Ash asked, "Why doesn�t it matter Let?"

"Cause Ash... I�m pregnant." Letty answered.

Ash sat back slightly and began to roll a pen between his thumb and index finger. He was trying to take it all in. �Letty pregnant....�

"Letty," He spoke up, "Do you want this?"

"No, yes....., I mean..." Letty continued, "What I mean is no, I didn�t plan on it right now, but I�ve always known that someday I�d be hav�in Dom�s children. I used ta dream sometimes... of how it would be when everything sett�ld down...... I do want this Ash, more than you could ever imagine. It�s just bad time�in-- ya know?"

"Well," Ash said, "Maybe you should call him and talk to him."

"No Ash, no! You don�t know Dom-- if he knew about this he�d search till the ends of the Earth and when he found me-- he�d drag me back! I�m not ready ta go back. I can�t face Dom-- not yet..." Letty replied as new tears began to inch their way down her cheeks.

Ash stood then, walked to Letty, and embraced her in a warm, firm encompassing hug.

"It�ll work itself out Let. Everything always does. Plus-- You have me to count on."

He held her for almost half an hour while she cried.

"It feels so good to just be in someone�s arms," Letty thought,"It feels human."

Letty let it all out, and eventually, the tears dried....

Letty was back in her motel room an hour later. Ash had told her to take the rest of the day off, but to be sure to be back on time the next morning. Letty looked around her at her surroundings. It really was time to start looking for a new place. This place surely wouldn�t do for much longer. The carpet smelt, and the walls were cracked-- and those were the least of her worries.

Letty thought for a moment-- there was one person who always knew how to make her feel better. But could she chance it? Could she take the chance of Dom finding out? Letty decided then and there-- "fuck the chances!" She did what her heart told her.

Letty dialed the cell number that she new by heart--

One ring......... two...... three...

--and then a voice spoke up, "�Ello�?"

Letty responded--

"Hey Vince......."