| Chapter 9 Mia watched Ginger run his eyes from her face to her feet and back again, hoping for a good reaction. She wore black knee high boots with a nice heel, a denim skirt that reached her knees and had a kind of camel coloured lace lining along the bottom that showed for about four inches past the bottom of her skirt. It sat low on her hips, showing her slim tanned stomach, and with it she wore a camel coloured top that sat off the shoulder, and had sleeves that opened out just below her elbows, and ended with soft ruffles. Her long dark hair was shiny to her elbows, and her makeup made her skin seem to glow. "How you feelin', Mia?" Ginger smiled after a long moment of drinking her in. Mia smiled broadly, "I'm feeling good". He nodded once, smile still plastered on his face. "C'mon. You want to get into a race, right?" she said, nodding towards where Dom had immersed himself into the crowd. "Yeah. Sure" Ginger answered, walking with her towards her brother. Even in the heels, she was about an inch shorter than he was, but he liked that. Just as much as he liked what she was wearing. It was cute. Made her stand out from the array of skanks here tonight. She seemed to be after his praise, but in his experience, most girls were just like that. They needed constant reassurance. "I'll just grab him for you" Mia smiled at Ginger, and headed further into the crowd to get Dom. He watched the light sway of her hips as she walked away from him. Shit! Ginger turned his head away sharply. What the fuck was he doing? After his fantastically spoken speech to the team and everything! He couldn't get involved. COULD NOT get involved. Ginger started to wish he was deaf, dumb and blind. Couldn't be attracted to anyone that way, could he? He couldn't do this. He couldn't drag Mia into this. That would not be fair on her, on him, on his team, on anyone, really. But when he looked at Mia, he felt something more in it than when he looked at the various skanks this scene was plagued with. She was a looker, that was obvious enough, but she was such a good, kind and caring person too. And he hadn't seen a genuinely nice person in a long long time. "Lookin' to kick some ass?" Dom asked, thrusting Ginger roughly out of his thoughts. "Um... wot?" Ginger frowned in confusion. Sounded to him like Dom had said 'lookin' to tap some ass?'. Was he really being that obvious in checking out Toretto's sister? And if he was, then why was Dom not beating his head in yet? "You been hangin' tound Hector and Edwin too long" Dom grinned, pushing his shoulder playfully, "Gettin' high off their mull fumes. I said: You lookin' to kick some ass?". Ginger smile uneasily, "Yeah. Offer still there?". He had to stop acting so guilty. What was his damn problem anyway? He'd been dealing for what, six years now? He was used to putting on a believable front. Why was he finding it so hard to deceive these people? What the hell did they mean to him? Come Sunday, they'd be lost in his dust when he hightailed it back to Hillside. He should be thinking of them as nothing but tiny cogs and wheels in his great scheme. But Ginger knew that wasn't true. "Sure is. You in?" Dom asked, a little confused by Ginger's vagueness. "Yeah, I'm in" Ginger anchored himself to the present and shut off his thoughts. He needed his head about him to win this race. Ten grand wasn't gonna make a whole lot of difference to his operation, but money was money at this point in time. "Yo, Edwin, tell yer man he's racin' ma boy Ginger" Dom called into the crowd. Ginger looked up at his words. 'Ma boy Ginger'. He smiled. He was in. He was an equal. He was now free to move in this alternate universe. "My brother likes you" Mia said from beside him, getting his attention, "He doesn't usually like anyone". "I found that out the hard way" Ginger smiled at her. His bruised eye had gone right down so that against his dark skin, you couldn't even see it any more. It had hurt like hell those first few days though. No, Dom certainly hadn't liked him then. "Yeah. Not the worst he's done, so don't get too excited" Mia sighed, brushing some dark hair away from her eyes and looking anywhere but him. "You mean Linder?" Ginger asked, and she nodded, staring at the floor. Finally, she looked up at him, "Dom is really protective, that's all". She felt a need to defend her brother. He'd been distant alot, and an asshole at times, but he'd always loved her and cared for her. And for the most part, he looked after her. She couldn't complain. Correction, she WOULDN'T complain. "I know wot that's like" Ginger replied, suddenly remembering his sisters. He looked around for them. He spotted Kaylen with Dom's man, Vince. Lizette and Leon weren't far from them. DeShaun and Nueto were still by the Mitsubishi with Hector, Edwin, and now Letty. He turned his head the other way. Where the hell was Jessi-Jay? Letty looked over her shoulder at Dom. He was with one of the three McVeigh skanks. The oldest one. The one with the perfect legs. The one with the pretty smile. The one in the denim mini and tight baby pink tanktop with the bottom slashed to show her slim stomach. The one Letty was insanely jealous of. Letty turned her head away as Jessi-Jay laughed at something Dom had said. Asshole. Fucking asshole. Right after she'd confronted him about this too. Letty couldn't remember the last time he'd paid her as much attention as he was paying that ho. "Yo, Let, that's your car, right?" DeShaun asked, noticing her looking uneasy. He pointed at the purple Nissan 240SX. Letty glanced at it, then nodded. "Yeh, that's mine" she shrugged as though it was no big deal. DeShaun wasn't really interested in getting between her and the massive pillar of muscle she was tied to, but Nueto was pretty wrapped up in his conversation with these two players, so he figured talking to Letty had to be better than listening to them speak among themselves about shit he didn't care about. "Wot you runnin' under there?" he asked. Letty cocked an eyebrow, then crooked a finger at him, motioning for him to follow. DeShaun trailed her across to the Nissan, and waited for her to pop the hood. Letty leaned in the window of her car and pulled the leaver to open the hood, then walked back around to where DeShaun was waiting at the front of the car. She put up the rod to hold it open, then looked over at Dom. He seemed pretty wrapped up in Ginger's sister. She smirked, then glanced at DeShaun. He was gazing at the engine, taking everything in. "See, I blew the welds on the intakes at Race Wars" Letty said, leaning over the engine and pointing to it. She smiled when DeShaun glanced at her ass. Eat your heart out, Dom. She was tired of him stringing her along. She wanted to do some stringing of her own. "Ouch. How'd you do that?" DeShaun asked, anchoring his eyes on the new welds on the intakes. Ginger's lecture echoed in his mind. No involvement. No motherfucking involvement. He had to stay focussed. "Too much Nos" Letty shrugged. She'd given it a hundred shot of Nos and blown the welds. No biggie. She'd done it a hundred times. It was an easy fix. Except when she fried the piston rings in the process. Last time that happened, she had to pull apart the engine block and replace them. "I like this Supra. What's it's best quater mile time?" Jessi-Jay asked, looking over at the orange racer. Dom thought back to when he'd raced Brian and the train. When his Dad's Dodge Charger was destroyed. The day that he killed both Lance and Johnny Tran. The day that Jesse died. "Um, eleven... eleven seconds" he got out, shutting his eyes. That day had destroyed him. It had taken him an entire year to piece together his shattered being. And even thinking about it was chipping away at him. Jessi-Jay frowned and touch his arm gently, "Are you alright?". Her voice was thick with concern. And here Dom had thought she was just another skank. "Yeah. Just a few memories I'd rather forget" he assured her, openning his eyes again. Jessi-Jay nodded solemnly, "Sorry". Dom shook his head quickly and smiled, "It's alright. I'm good". Jessi-Jay mirrored his smile. She realised her hand was lingering on his arm, and jerked it away. Usually she didn't listen to Ginger when he was telling her what she should do. But she'd learnt the hard way that not listening to her older brother was not neccessarily a good thing. As much as Jessi-Jay hated people telling her what to do, she had to agree with Ginger on this whole 'no friends, no foes' thing. Hell, if she'd listened to him more often, maybe they wouldn't be in this whole shitty mess. "That was really sweet of you to let Letty keep her car the other day" Mia smiled, perching on the hood of her Acura Integra. Ginger shrugged, standing about a foot in front of her knees and sliding his hands into his pockets, "I don't need another car". "Still, most people would have sold it or something" Mia continued, looking up at him. Ginger forced at smile, "I don't need the money". He didn't like lying to her. Not at all. His guts twisted and he forced down the urge to squirm against it. The statement got him a little on edge. Why was she even suggesting that he could have sold it? Did she know more than he thought she did? Ginger had thought that without their computer man, the poor kid, Toretto's team would be slowed in finding out about him, his team, his background and his operation. Was he wrong in thinking that? "Something wrong?" Mia asked, concern lacing her features. Ginger blinked, then shook his head quickly. "Nah. I'm fine" he said, then cocked his head to one side, "You look good, y'know?". Mia lowered her eyes and smiled, her cheeks going pink. Ginger mentally kicked himself. Shit. Shit! That wasn't supposed to come out. She'd just seemed so concerned and all he'd wanted was to get her mind off it. He scolded himself silently. What the fuck are you doing, dawg? "Thanks" Mia said after a moment, raising her head, then smiled broadly, "You're lucky Vince didn't hear that. Oh, but he's too busy being wrapped around your sister's little finger". Ginger looked around at her words, surveying the crowd for Kaylen. She was still with Vince. She was perched on the hood of her car next to him, her hand on his knee. Lizette stood with Leon beside him. His hand rested on the base of her back. Well, shit. "Yo Ginger. You ready to race, man?" Dom asked, coming up beside him with Jessi-Jay in tow. Ginger looked at his sister, warning her silently. She sucked her bottom lip into her mouth and lowered her eyes, knowing what he meant by that look. "Uh, yeah. Let's roll" Ginger responded to Dom's question, "I'm right behind ya". Dom nodded and headed for his car. As soon as the Supra was started up, the crowds began to disperse, heading towards their rides. "I'll see you there" Mia said, touching Ginger's arm. He looked around at her, then nodded quickly and watched her get in her car. "This is really hard, Ginger" Jessi-Jay hissed, linking her arm with her brother's as they headed over to their cars. "I know. I know. Jus', don't let it go too far, a'ight?" he replied, turning to face her, "I don't want you to be a bitch to 'im, jus' don't get too involved, a'ight babygurl?". He took her arms gently and kissed her forehead, then turned towards the Mitsubishi. "A'ight" Jessi-Jay whispered to herself, and stepped out of the way for Ginger to pull out. The low-riding super-charged racers emerged from between the two warehouses that created the Isle. The roar of their engines reached near deafening point, as they spilled out onto the street. Halogen lights lit up the dark road, lighting the way for the still emerging stream of vehicles. As though telepathic, they split up without saying a word to one another, only to reunite again at the chosen destination of the race. The racers slid their cars into place, blocking four lanes of traffic, and lining the newly created quater mile track on which the racing would take place. Chapter 10 Dom had gotten up early and gotten to work in the intense humidity of the garage, submerged up to his elbows in motor oil and grease, his shirt drenched with sweat. He was tired. He�d been working fourteen-hour days in the garage since their return home, while Mia worked the shop from dawn till dusk. It was back to the good old struggle to make ends meet. And as much as he hated it, it was what kept him alive. Dom pushed out from under the car he was working on and sat up. Hector and Edwin came screaming up to the garage and were already laughing at something by the time they were getting out of their cars. Dom shook his head with a vague smile. Did they ever stop laughing? "Sup guys?" he called, getting off of the scooter he was sitting on. Leon and Vince had the removed engine block of the Mazda RX-7 over to the left and were tinkering around with it. Letty, god knows where she was. She'd been pissy last night, so Dom hadn't bothered to try to talk to her. He figured he would just get his head bitten off any way. "Hey Dom" Hector grinned, "Sup homes? How come you called?". "Yeah, y'know, coz I was sleepin', man. Monica came over last night. Damn, she is so freaky! See, we were..." Edwin began. "I'm sure you had fun" Dom cut in before he began describing every detail of his and Monica's erotic episodes. Edwin shut his mouth and shoved his hands in his pockets, not too happy about being curtailed. "You lot looked pretty chummy with McVeigh's team last night. Find out anything?" Dom asked, turning back to the car he was working on. The hood was up, and the two front doors were open because the car smelt like someone had emptied the contents of their stomach in there. "Uh, Nueto said they're leaving on Sunday. Goin' back to Hillside. He says they're here for three weeks" Hector regurgitated the information, "I ain't seen them before Race Wars though. Don't know what's up with that". Edwin looked at Hector with a grin, then at Dom. "I woz high as a kite last night" he admitted sheepishly, "I don't remember shit". Dom sighed. Why had he bothered to even ask these two? "Jeez, Dom. It's only been, what, twenty four hours?" Hector said, as though he could tell what Dom was thinking, "Give me a day or two. I'll have this guy's life story". Edwin scoffed and Hector punched his arm. "Yeah, alright" Dom sighed, looking over his shoulder at them, "Just get on it, would ya?". "Sure thing, Dom" Edwin answered, rubbing his corked arm, "Oh, but, not today". Hector looked at him and grinned, then turned his gaze to Dom, "There's a mass party goin' down at the hotel they stayin' at, homes. You gonna hit it up?". Dom turned to look at them with a slightly confused frown, "A party? What for?". "Who cares, dawg?" Edwin replied, "A party's a party". Dom nodded slowly, then looked to Vince and Leon, "Hey, did yous hear about this party?". The two of them looked up from the engine block. "Yeah. I thought you knew" Leon shrugged, "Hell, I thought everyone knew". Vince nodded in agreement, "Kaylen called this morning. I thought Letty told you". Dom rolled his eyes to the roof, where his patience for Letty's jealousy had just flown. "A'ight, I'll see you guys there, OK?" he said to Hector and Edwin, they nodded and said their goodbyes before heading back to their cars, both laughing at something Hector had said. "When's this party, then?" Dom asked, putting the spanner in his hand down on the workbench. He wiped his greasy hands on the dirty cloth that was hanging out of his back pocket. "Uh, 'bout half an hour, I think" Leon responded, looking at his watch. Dom gazed at the two of them as they hurried to get the job done, now that they knew that they didn't have much time to do it in if they wanted to make it to the party on time. He cocked an eyebrow and folded his arms over his chest. He hadn't seen them, Leon particuarly, this happy or even this alive-looking in a long long time. After Jesse died, Leon became distant. Detatched. He didn't talk to anyone for weeks. No one else had really felt like talking either, but Leon didn't even answer when you asked him a question. He and Jesse had been really close. Dom supposed that Jesse abrupt departure had left Leon with alot of abandonment issues. Dom knew what that was like. His father, then his mother, and then Jesse was just the icing on a big bad ass cake. He was still struggling to grow up himself when his parents were taken from him. He'd been plagued with answerless questions that began to drive him insane. But he knew now not to bottle it up. That didn't help anyone. It really only made matters worse in the long run. "Leave that. We'll deal with it tomorrow" Dom granted, and wasn't the least bit surprised when they both smiled greatfully. "Go shower up and we'll hit this party, eh?" he suggested. The three of them made a quick task of locking up, nabbed up Mia from her shop-keeping duties, and hightailed it home for a quick shower and change before heading to the party. * * * Ginger didn't even bother to get out of bed until almost 11. The race the previous night had gone well, considering. He'd won ten thousand dollars, but before the second race could be started, their good friends at the LAPD had shown up and ever so kindly sent them on their way. Toretto had apparently decided against an after party, because he wasn't looking for extra police attention. Especially after everything that had gone down before their year spent in Mexico. Ginger hadn't had any gripes about that decision. He hadn't really been in the mood for a party. His emotions were messing with his head. The stress of the past few weeks was getting to him. And all he'd really wanted was a good night's sleep. He'd got a good night and half a day's sleep at that. It felt nice to be properly rested. He rolled over and opened one eye. Realising he was in the center of the double bed, he raised his head and looked around. The hotel room had confined the six of them to three double beds, and he'd been sharing with Jessi-Jay. She wasn't there, though. Well, he couldn't expect her to hang around all day, could he? Ginger was just drifting off again when the heavy bassline of Digital Assassins boomed to life, making the entire room, probably the entire fucking hotel throb. He frowned and slowly sat. He wasn't much of a morning person. "Well, it isn't really morning now is it?" he asked himself, then got up and pulled some baggy jeans on over his white cotton boxers. He stumbled downstairs, barely getting them done up before he reached the bottom one. The music reached near deafening point, and he looked around the expanse of the lower floor of their hotel room. It was empty. He walked outside and found them other lounging around on the opposite the pool in their bikini's and boardshorts. Maybe they'd just turned it up this loud so that they could hear it from outside? "He-e-ey! Look who's rejoined the land of the living!" DeShaun called from where he was sat behind Lizette on a banana lounge, carefully unraveling the braids he'd done the night before. Ginger could barely hear him over the music. "Are yous lookin' to deafen the neighbours?" he asked, walking over to the edge of the pool so they could hear him. "Nuh-uh" DeShaun responded. He moved to continue, when a few loud engines could be heard, even over the blaring music. Ginger looked through the pool gate at the white Honda S2000, and the blue Nissan 200SX that had pulled up beside his Mitsubishi. People he vaguely recognised from the street race last night emerged from the cars, eight of them in total, and they each had a carton of Coronas. "Wot the hell are they doin' here?" he asked, pointing at the people coming through the pool gate. Kaylen and Jessi-Jay jumped up to greet them. "Uh, jus' a few pals, that's all, dawg" DeShaun replied, "I know you said no friends and shit, but it's just about twenty people all together, a'ight? I mean, c'mon, we haven't partied since we left Hillside, man!". Ginger watched the eight newcomers carry their booz inside, then turned his gaze back to the carpark as another three cars arrived. Ten emerged from those. Followed by another six in two cars, then a further five in three cars, and three in another. "Just twenty people, huh?" Ginger muttered and smiled at the people who were waving to him. He looked to DeShaun, but he was keeping himself busy talking to a few of the people who had arrived. And they were still pouring in by the car full. Ginger sighed, and headed back upstairs. One party couldn't hurt, right? DeShaun was right. They hadn't partied since their departure from Hillside. Maybe letting loose would help relieve the stress he'd been smothered in these past few weeks. Ginger was just getting his jeans back off when the phone rang. He stumbled, almost tripped over his jeans, then kicked them off and moved to answer it. "Yeah?" he asked, blocking his other ear so that he could hear over the music. "Hello?" the voice of someone who sounded old and stuck up came through the phone to him, "I'm from room 303. I was wondering if you could turn down that racket". Ginger rolled his eyes, then interrupted them. "What's that? I can't hear you. Hang on. What? I... I'll call you back" he responded, then hung up, and left the phone off the hook. If they wanted the party to stop, they could come over and stop it themselves. He'd like to see them try. Chapter 11 By the time Dom and his team rolled up, packed into the Skyline, purely so that there only had to be one driver left sober to get them all home, the hotel was already thumping with heavy hiphop beats. As they poured themselves out of the car, half a dozen people standing around the pool called out greetings and waved. Letty took Dom's hand in hers hopefully, and he smiled down at her, sliding an arm around her shoulders. He didn't like fighting with his Letty-girl. The pool gate was propped open with a cooler that was more water and floating beers than ice after spending time under the unrelenting Los Angeles sun. Dom led his team in, receiving more greetings from various people. He spotted Hector sitting on the side of the pool with Janelle and Monica. The two of them each wore a tiny string bikini that left nothing to the imagination. Janelle in pale pink, Monica in baby blue. Dom tried to not be too obvious about looking at them. Edwin was sitting waist deep on the pool steps, two skanky black girls, LaTavia and LaToya, were talking to him from where they were basking in the clear blue water. Dom spotted Lizette and Kaylen dancing together at the edge of the pool. Lizette wore a denim micro-mini that was frayed along the bottom with a yellow bikini top. Kaylen was decked out in a bright purple bikini and denim hot pants. Dom smiled faintly. Leon and Vince would be very happy with the girls' chosen attire. He wasn't so sure about Ginger though. "Yo Dom, we'll catch ya later" Vince gave him a shit-eating grin, then he and Leon headed over to the two booty-shakin' sisters. Mia stayed by his side, though she was looking around hopefully. He smiled vaguely, wondering who she was looking for, then decided she must've just been looking to get away from him and Letty so they could do some booty-shakin' of their own. "Hey Dom. Hey Letty" a female voice said, and he looked over Letty's head at Jessi-Jay. He smiled warmly. "Hey Jess. Sup?" he asked conversationally, checking her out in her hot pink bikini. Jessi-Jay kept up her friendly smile and shrugged, "Not much, G. How bout yous?". Letty didn't reply, just kept up the cold glare she reserved for skanks only. She didn't like this ho one bit. And the way she kept hanging around Dom pissed her off further. Dom had given her a lecture when they were getting showered and changed back at his place for this party. About not telling him about the party. Kaylen had called the house at around nine this morning and Letty had talked to her for a bit about the race last night, when the party came up. She'd instantly decided that Dom being around skanks was not a good thing, and even though she'd really wanted to go, she'd not mentioned anything to him. He'd found out from Hector and Edwin. Dom had accused her of being jealous and possessive, but when she tried to point out some of HIS less than desirable points, he'd cut her off with the pathetic excuse that they had to get going or they'd be late. Dom never wanted to talk. Communication was the key in all relationships, and the stupid motherfucker wouldn't say shit to her. Every time she tried to bring up their slowly but surely failing relationship, he brushed her off with some half-ass excuse, promised he'd talk to her about it later, then made damn sure that 'later' never eventuated. "I'ma go get a drink, Dom" Letty said, putting a hand on his chest and looking up at him, "You want one?". Dom glanced down and shook his head, "Nah, I'm good. Little early for me". Letty shrugged his arm off her shoulders and brushed past Jessi-Jay, heading inside. She'd gotten past wanting to fight fire with fire where Dom was concerned. If he wanted to piss their seven year relationship away, that was his problem. She was gonna go party with Kaylen and Lizette, and save her and Dom's bullshit for home. Mia vaguely listened to the conversation Dom was having with Jessi-Jay about how the party had evolved and eventuated without his knowledge, but her attention was elsewhere. She was absolutely wracked with nerves. Mia scrutinised the talking, drinking, dancing mass of party-goers with no real direction to her surveillance, hoping to spot out Ginger and, at the same time, dreading it like the black plague. She hadn't been jittery and nervy around a guy since Brian, the motherfucker, and now that the feeling had returned, she was confused as to whether she should be happy or afraid by it. Love, on one hand, could mean happiness. Companionship. All things that were good in life seemed to branch from love. And at the same time, love also created hate, deciete, and all those other unattractive aspects of human behaviour. It was impossible to tell which of these would spring up from Mia's growing affections for Ginger, and that was what had her so scared. Mia glanced to her left and Dom was gone. She frowned. He could have atleast told her that he was leaving instead of just deserting her. Letty was across the other side of the pool now, dancing with Kaylen, Lizette, and the boys from both Dom's and Ginger's teams. The rest of the dancers could only be described as skanks and the men they'd hooked their claws into. Ginger wasn't there. Mia rubbed her arm gently and smiled at some of the people coming in through the pool gate while waving to her. She recognised their faces, but Dom had so many groupies that they'd all begun to look alike to her. She cast her gaze over the thick mass of party-people, hoping desperately to see someone she knew, and finally she spotted him. Ginger was sitting at one of the tables set up under the shade cloth along the side of the building. He was wearing baggy faded jeans and a white singlet, and was laughing at something the guy he was sitting with had said. Mia vaguely recognised his companion as one of Hector's boys. He was latin, and wore massively baggy cargo shorts, white tube socks pulled right up to his knees like the Mexicans were doing alot lately, a white wifebeater and white Nike sneakers. His arms danced with tattoos, from his hands to his collarbone. Mia sucked in a nervous breath, then headed over there. To her relief, Ginger noticed her as she approached, and smiled broadly, "Hey Mia". Mia was relieved that he had aknowledged her, and walked up beside him. The Mexican pulled out the chair that was between him and Ginger at the round plastic table, and Mia smiled graciously at him then sat. Now that she was closer, he seemed more familiar. Seth or something. No... it was something Mexican. Carlos or Pedro or Moreno, maybe. "This party was kinda last minute, huh?" she smiled and Ginger, and he nodded after taking a swig from the Corona in his hand. "Fuckin' right. Didn't even know about it till people started showin' up" he replied, glancing up as the Mexican accepted an invitation from a Mexican skank to dance with the other people who were shakin' their booties. Ginger nodded once as he departed, and the Mexican winked, his hands full with the skank. Mia decided his name was Carlos. He was a regular at the races. "Is this how you blow your race winnings?" Mia asked, trying to mave conversation, looking around at the people that had turned up. "It's not my party" Ginger replied, leaning back, "The girls got a call-around started and this is wot happened. Half of L.A showed up". Mia nodded with a smile, then looked down at the table, unsure of what to say, not wanting to sound or look stupid. Ginger took another mouthful from his beer, then realised he was being rude. "Oh, hey, you wanna drink?" he asked, brows raised as he leaned back in. Mia looked up and smiled, "That'd be nice, thanks". She needed something to ease off her tense nerves before she had a fucking mental breakdown or something. That couldn't be too attractive, could it? Ginger nodded and got up, leaving his beer on the table. He brushed his hand against Mia's shoulder as he passed, and she tingled at the tangy feel of his skin against her own, "I'll be right back". * * * The party was still raging at eleven o'clock that night. The crowds had thinned considerably, but the music was still thumping and the pool area was anything but empty. Ginger put down the last beer he intended to drink tonight next to a cluster of empty bottles by the door. He had alot of shit to do tomorrow, and a hang over would only worsen the situation. All three of his sisters, DeShaun, Nueto, Edwin, Hector, and all of Dom's team, save for Mia, were sat on a handful of banana lounges in the corner of the pool area. They'd been there for quite some time. Talking, joking, laughing, drinking. Ginger had sat with them for about an hour, vaguely soaked in their conversation, but his thoughts had begun to tiptoe away silently, and pretty soon he was wondering just where Mia had got to. The alcohol he'd consumed today set his worries at ease. His brain wasn't functioning well enough to make anything of the bonding session his team was having with Toretto's people. It seemed his words of wisdom about resisting the temptation of making friends and foes was in vain. Even Ginger was having trouble following his very own advice. Ginger walked inside, scuffing his timbalands, trying to convince himself he was only checking up on Mia because he didn't know any of these drunks for shit, and it was the right thing to do. Inside was scarcely populated, compared to outside. He scanned the lounge, but she wasn't there. Just a few happy drunks playing a warped game of half-dressed Twister. He wondered vaguely where they gotten the game from, because it sure as hell wasn't his, but didn't dwell on it for too long. He found Mia in the kitchen, talking trash with two skanks in tiny skirts and even tinier tops. He stopped in the doorway and frowned. He hadn't really thought of Mia as the type to be hanging with these two. Mia grinned when she saw him, and stumbled over to him. "He-ey babe" she giggled, almost falling over but catching herself on his arm. Ginger could smell the alcohol on her and her words were slurring. "Jeezuz. How much did you drink?" he asked, trying to support her so she wouldn't fall over and crack her head open on the tiles, but she kept moving around. Mia swallowed against a dry, scratchy throat, and tried to remember. How much did she drink? Well, she'd drank the beer he'd gotten for her when she'd first arrived. Then another three or four. She remembered feeling tipsy, but it was better than feeling so damn nervous and self-concious. That's when she'd found the half empty bottle of tequila on the bench right there. "Ummmmm.... lots" Mia shrugged happily, then clucked her tongue on the top of her mouth, "Tonnes". Ginger caught her as she stumbled, and she leaned against his chest with a giggle at her own co-ordination problems. "I can tell" he muttered, then glanced at the two girls, "I'ma take her off your hands". They didn't even reply. One had a joint held limply in her hand, and the other was reaching for it, so he supposed they were stoned. "Where are we going?" Mia asked in a sing-song voice, leaning heavily against Ginger as he steered her towards the stairs. She had a little trouble getting up the first one, but after that she stumbled and cursed her way up. Dom noticed through the open door that Ginger was taking his sister upstairs. Generally, upstairs meant bedrooms. And bedrooms meant shit he didn't want Mia getting into. He frowned and got up, heading inside. "Ooooh, what's in here?" Mia giggled as Ginger left her to lean against the wall long enough to unlock his bedroom door. "Nothin'. Jus' gonna put ya to bed so you can sleep dis off" he replied, opening the door and taking her hand. Mia followed him in and he shut the door softly. She ran across the room to the bed and flung herself on it like a little kid. She crawled under the covers and curled up in a ball, shutting her eyes, pulling the duvet right up under her chin. "Hmmm. This is nice" Mia whispered serenely, settling down. Ginger moved to the end of the bed and flicked the end of the covers up to pull her shoes off, dropping them on the floor by the foot of the bed, then putting the cover back down over her feet. He stood silently for a moment, watching her drift off to sleep. She looked like an angel, even in a state of blind drunkness. Her caramel skin seemed to glow and her breathing was feather-light. Ginger sighed and shook his head at himself, then headed back out to disband the remaining mob and send them on their way. Ginger shut the door with a soft click, and turned to go back downstairs. He almost ran right into Dom. "Shit, dawg. Don't do that!" he protested, moving to go around him. Dom stepped in his way, backing Ginger up against the door. "What'd you do to my sister?" he asked, fixing him with an accusing glare. Ginger was shocked into silence at the very accusation. Did Toretto really think he'd take advantage of Mia while she was drunk? "What did you do!?!" Dom demanded. "Nothing! I didn't do anything. I jus' put her to bed coz she was jus' about to collapse" Ginger defended, hoping Dom would believe him. He couldn't imagine hurting Mia the way Dom thought he had. He couldn't do that to someone so beautiful and caring as she was. Hell, he couldn't do that to ANYONE. Dom arched an eyebrow, still not convinced. "Jeezuz, Toretto! Look in there for yourself" Ginger insisted, stepping out of his way so he could get through the door if he wanted to, "She's still got all her clothes on and she's sound asleep. Yer lucky I got to her before one of the fucking players here did". Dom turned the handle and pushed the bedroom door open gently. Mia was sound asleep, the covers up around her ears. She looked so serene. So peaceful. He sighed inwardly and pulled the door closed again. "My bad" Dom admitted, nodding acceptingly, then proceeded to explain, "She's just all I've got left of my family, y'know? I try to look out for her the best I can. Couldn't imagine anyone wanting to hurt her". Ginger shrugged, understanding, "It's a'ight. I know wotchoo mean. I've got three t'look after". |