| Chapter 17 "Skye, I'm goin'a see V" Leon called as he hurried down the hall before anyone could stop him. Jason chased after him, trying to grab a hold on his baggy jeans. He wasn't too happy about Leon sneaking out of their game of hide and seek this afternoon, and was trying to force him into a rematch. "Who said you could go out?" Leon barely heard his father speak as he ran right into into him. Leon stumbled backwards and looked up. He hadn't noticed how similar his own father could look to Black Rage over the street. Especially when he was mad. "Um. No one. I woz jus' sayin' I gotta go take some shit round to V's an' I won't be long" Leon choked out, trying to come up with an explanation off of the top of his head. He wasn't about to tell his father he was going out to steal someone's car. "Well...you better be in by twelve thirty, boy" Luis growled, gripping his arm like an iron vice. Leon nodded, staring up at his father until he let him go. Leon slipped past, glancing over his shoulder at Jason, who was gazing at him. "Go to bed, boo" he called back at his little brother. Jason stared at him another moment, then gave him a little wave. Leon mustered up a smile. "C'mon, you" Luis moved down the hall and scooped his youngest son up, hauling him over his shoulder. Leon watched as his father carted Jason into his bedroom. The only time Leon's father ever softened slightly was around Jason. Wouldn't lay a hand on that kid. Leon was sure that in all the world, Jason was the only thing his father loved. "Hey! Yo, Leon!" Daron called groggily as he moved to leave the house. Leon paused and Daron made his way out of the lounge, looking over his shoulder for Luis before glancing back to Leon and pulling a roll of notes out of the breast pocket of the shirt he'd been wearing for almost three days now. "Wot's this for?" Leon asked as his older brother handed him the money. Must've been a few grand in that roll. Drug money, Leon guessed. Daron hadn't worked a day in his life, so it couldn't have come from anywhere else. "Do somethin' for me, eh?" Daron told him, glancing over his shoulder again to be sure that Luis was still busy putting Jason to bed, "I know you ain't goin'a V's. So, I wan' you ta do somethin' for me, aright?". Leon gaped at him, then nodded. He didn't think Daron would nark him out, but he didn't want to take any chances. "Tell yer lil' spic friend to hook me up, eh bro?" Daron gave him a lopsided grin, then ruffled his hair, "You a god man, Leon. Good man". He turned without waiting for a reply and walked back into the lounge. Leon stared at the money is his hand. Alright. He had fifteen minutes before it was imperative he be at Vince's. He could just run over the road, have a word to Hector, then be outta there and run his ass all the way to Vince's. Hector was out the front when Leon got outside. He and Pedro were sparring on the front lawn. Pedro had his hands taped up, wore only baggy cut-off jeans, and had his long, raven black under-cut hair pulled tightly back into a neat braid that brushed his sweaty shoulder blades as he moved. Hector had told Leon about his brothers the night that Leon had stayed for dinner at their house. Their family was into rough sports. Chucho and Elias, the older two, were football players. Chucho was a quaterback, and Elias a running back. Pedro was a boxer. And pretty damn good at it, if the trophies in their living room were anything to go by. What Lamanda had said to her husband about the boys being hard ass at the dinner table that night had made sense to Leon. He watched the two brothers spar for a moment, Hector batting at his brother's head if he let his guard down. Leon watched the way he moved, even though Pedro was taking the offensive role. Neither of them were stick figures, but both were agile as hell on their feet and quick as lightning with their hands. Eyes darting back and forth from their hands to their feet to their eyes and back again. It was almost tiring just watching them. "C'mon, man!" Hector grinned, getting a good slap of his palm against the side of Pedro's head, "Wot's this pussy shit? Go for the head. Save the body shots for the ropes". Pedro was either extremely irritated or extremely fast, probably both. He shot out one hand with the meanest left hook Leon had ever seen, stopping just before he hit his little brother. Hector glanced at his brother's hand, millimeters from his face, and grinned. "Ay, Hector" Leon called, sauntering over to them, "You tol' me Pedro's boxes, didn't tell me you did too". Hector looked over at his friend as Pedro dropped his fist away and wiped his arm across his sweaty forehead. Leon had no idea why they were sparring in August, because it was hot as hell outside. "Yeah, didn't wan' you to get scared'a me" Hector shrugged with a joking smile while rubbing a hand against the back of his head. He just hadn't thought it important enough to mention. Leon seemed to be more into cars than anything else, and Hector was certainly happy to talk about street machines until his throat was dry and his jaw was cramped. Leon grinned and shook his head, "Scared? Of you?". Hector put up his dukes, looking at Leon over the top of them, "Boy, you better be! I got lightnin' in these fists, homes! Knock you out a'fore you can even blink!". Leon smiled as Hector turned and took the Corona his nineteen year old brother was holding out to him. Leon wondered how either of them managed to get their hands on it, but didn't dwell on it too long. "How comes none'a yer trophies on display in the livin' room then, Mr. Lightnin' Fists?" he asked, holding up a hand to decline when Hector offered him the beer. He handed it back to his brother and shrugged, "They down at the gym, where we train" he shrugged again, "My Moms doan wan' me to fight, that's why. She knows I do, but Papi jus' keeps 'em at the gym so he's not flauntin' it in her face. She's OK wit that. Says she wants to, y'know, still be important to us, or somethin' like that... you ever see that movie, Price Of Glory?". "That pussy fag, Davey Lane. I reckon I'd have him down in one punch, homes" Pedro started throwing punches into the air, combinations of uppercuts, left and right hooks and about a milllion other moves Leon couldn't put a name to. He was a car man, himself. Too scrawny for boxing. And he didn't particuarly like getting bashed around. "Yeah, I seen it" he replied, looking back to Hector, then he glanced at Pedro, "Pedro looks like the lil' one, y'know? The one that got shot". "Gee thanks, homes" Pedro answered sarcastically between short, sharp breaths that accompanied his moves, "Makes me feel all warm an' tingly inside". "Shuddup, I'm tryin'a tell you somethin'" Hector intervened, "You know wot I mean tho, right homes? How everythin' became 'bout boxin' an' nothin' else mattered? Moms doan want that shit to happen to us, so she's drawin' the line. Pedro's trophies only in the house coz he made a deal wit Moms that if he won this one fight a while ago, she had to let him keep 'em at the house so he could show 'em off to anyone who came over an' he won. Chucho an' Elias ain't allowed to bring they football trophies in the house neither, an' Moms won't make any more deals wit us coz she lost that one, so it's kinda fair. She says she doesn't want four hard-ass-cock-suckers for sons. Jus' wants one'a those an' he's right there" he pointed and grinned back at Pedro, then looked back to Leon, "So, anyways, you caught me out. Wotchoo want?". "Uh.." Leon glanced at Pedro, "I gotta talk to you bout somethin'". Hector caught on and glanced back at his older brother, then shrugged, "I got no secrets from Pedro, homes. It's a'ight". Leon remained wary. *Everyone* had secrets. He couldn't imagine that the two of them shared news of how the mull sales were going south of the border. "Hey, is this 'bout yer brother? I woz talkin' to 'im this mornin'. He sed he wan'ed to get hooked up" Pedro stopped his sparring and looked at Leon, who just nodded dumbly, not expecting that. "Yeah? He good for it or wot?" Pedro walked over, wiping one hand on his jeans as Leon pulled the money from his pocket. Pedro took it and assessed quickly how much was in the roll of notes. He nodded, "Let me talk to Elias. Tell Daron that Elias'll get back at him by tomorrow night". Leon nodded, and Pedro smirked, tucking the notes into his pocket, heading inside and calling over his shoulder, "I'ma take a shower." Hector looked over his shoulder at him, then looked back to Leon with a smile, "You should spar wit me. Even though you a skinny lil' wog, I reckon I could teach you a thing or two. Mexican boxers are the best kind, homes". Leon didn't smile back, "Is yer Dad a boxer, or a football player?". Hector shrugged, not seeming to notice that Leon wasn't quite as smiley as he was, "Both, he woz. Played high school football. Star quaterback for three years runnin'. Then he got into boxing after high school. Lost a title fight an' started trainin' instead. He trains Letty's lil' brother, Lex, y'know?". Leon nodded slowly, considering things carefully before voicing his thoughts. "The bruise on yer wrist, that's not from wrestlin' with Chucho, it's from yer Dad, isn't it?" Leon asked, expecting Hector to shut himself down and flat out deny it. Instead, he glanced at the injury, rubbed his other hand against it, then shrugged. "My Papi...when Pedro fucks up in the ring, he talks to him, y'know? He gets pissed off, but he jus' talks it through wit him. If Pedro's got a problem, he helps 'im through it. They talk it out. Same with Elias and Chucho. If things get shitty, he talks to 'em. They work it out. He's jus'...different wit me" Hector shrugged, "I'm a pretty good fighter, but I'm not as good as Pedro. He gets pissed off when I get backed up against the ropes. When I miss easy shots. Pedro...he fights with his mind as well as his fists" Hector started throwing punches at the air as he spoke, "He uses strategy. Uses his head. I'm not like that. I'm not gonna win any prizes for bein' smart. It pisses my Papi off, sometimes. When I don't fight like Pedro. When I don't use my head. He doesn't talk things through wit me, though" Hector stopped throwing punches and glanced up at Leon, "Guess he thinks he has to push me harder to make me as good as Pedro. That's all, Leon. I respond better when it's physical. I don't use my head. I don't listen. If it's physical, then I don't forget. That's the only way he knows how to get through to me. That's the only way he knows how to push me harder". Leon took it all in before answering. He understood what Hector was saying, but that didn't mean he thought it was the truth. And needing to push him harder, needing to get through to him, was no excuse for using physical force. And it did not justify Fredo hospitalising his son. "Wot about when you were in hospital?" Leon asked, trying his hardest not to sound accusing, "You can't justify that, Hector". Hector sighed and spread his arms, shrugging. "Wot do you wan' me to say, Leon? You want me to tell you he hits me? A'ight. He hits me. But not the way yer sayin', man. I don't know wot lil' conspiracy you've come up wit, but wot happened that time...I ain't never seen him like that a'fore it happened, an' I ain't seen him like that since. If there woz a problem like yer sayin', do you really think Pedro, Chucho, Elias, you really think they'd sit back an' let it happen?". "If they didn't know about it" Leon shrugged, knowing there was more to this than Hector was letting on. He just had to have patience and persistence. Hector was good and sidestepping questions, at leading Leon around in circles, at answering without really answering at all, and it got under Leon's skin something fierce, but he just had to grin and bear it for now. It had to be progressive. He couldn't just expect Hector to come out with the truth out of the blue. "Shit, homes" Hector gave a weary sigh, "You ain't gonna give up, are you?". "Not till you tell me the truth" Leon replied, digging his hands in his pockets, "Coz I know wot that shit does to people an' I don't want it to happen to you". "That's very heroic of you" Hector answered sarcastically. "Jus' let me in, Hector. Let me help" Leon tried. "This bruise here" Hector held out his wrist, "It *woz* from Chucho. We *were* tusslin'. An' I know that Vince or Jesse or whoever's probably tol' you that's my routine excuse, but really, Leon, nothin's goin' on, an' if it woz, it's none'a yer damn business anyways". "I'm jus' tryin' to be a friend" Leon answered, spreading his hands. "You wanna be a friend?" Hector replied, "Then jus' leave it alone, Leon. I appreciate yer concern, but this is really pointless". "Hector-" "Don't you got somewhere to be, Leon?" Hector interrupted, "Doan wanna sound rude or nothin', but I got things to do". Leon sighed and shrugged, remembering that he had to be at Vince's right about now, "I'm here, if you wanna talk". "I'll putchoo on my speed dial" Hector answered dryly, turning to pick up the half empty Corona Pedro had left on the front lawn. Leon glanced at his friend, then sighed, reminding himself this had to be a process, and turned towards Vince's place. Time for a little law breaking. Chapter 18 Leon tried to breathe without shaking and keep the trembling out of his hands. It was quite a task, when he was sitting in the back of Vince's 220SX, off to steal someone's car. He tried to think of normal, every day things to get his mind off it. "Vince...I been talkin' to Hector. I think wot you sed, I think that's true" Leon said softly, glancing across at Vince. Dom was driving, and the other two were sat in the back seat. Leon wasn't sure if Dom knew of the 'situation' he was bringing up, so he decided it was better to not take any chances. Vince raised his brows, "Yeah? Wot'd he say?". Leon shrugged, staring at his hands, "Nothin'. He won't talk about it" he looked up again, "Jus' then, he woz sparrin' with his brother an' like, he sed some shit an' it sounded like he woz...I dunno...tryin'a make it OK, wot his Dad did. Like he woz tryin' to justify it or somethin'". "Don't even bother tryin'a talk to Hector 'bout his old man" Dom interrupted, looking at them in the rear view mirror, "He jus' shuts down an' he's the stubbornest shit you'll ever come across". Leon supposed his hushed whispers hadn't quite been hushed enough. "Hey" Vince pushed Leon's arm, "Things'll be fine". Leon nodded and turned his gaze out the window, trying to collect himself enough to go through with this. He didn't have to even go near the Dodge Neon they were after. His job was simply waiting with the 220SX, keeping lookout, and getting Vince's car the hell out of their as soon as he could. The deal was to have each of the cars to Johnny by Sunday. Dom and Vince already had the week planned out so that all of the cars would be in before Race Wars on Saturday. Tonight they were after the Dodge Neon. Tomorrow night, the Skyline GTS25t and the Honda Civic on Wednesday. The Dodge Avenger was planned for Thursday, and the two Lexus's, the IS and the GS, got their turn on Friday. Leon didn't know why they were leaving the hardest jobs for last, or why they had chosen to do both Lexus's on the same night, but he didn't argue. Maybe they figured that since it was a Friday night, they'd have more time before they were expected to be home. "A'ight. Here we go" Dom muttered, pulling the Nissan into the driveway of a house with darkened windows. The house they were after was across the road, and luckily for them, the car port had no garage door. "Wait here" Dom instructed as they quietly got out of the car, "Leave the headlights off and keep the engine running. Don't move until I'm off the driveway. Vince'll come back over to this car once we're done, and the two of you'll follow me to Tran's, a'ight? You see anythin', don't start yellin' "five-oh" or some shit. Blow the horn three times, then get out, a'ight? You got that?". Leon nodded, sliding into the driver's seat. "C'mon, man" Vince hissed, itching to get a move on, and Dom spared one last glance towards Leon before the two of them ran silently over the road. Leon sat in the Nissan, listening to the almost silent throbbing of the engine. He gripped the steering wheel so tight his knuckles went white. Beads of sweat started to form at his hairline. "Shit" Leon cursed, letting go of the steering wheel and resting one elbow against the bottom of the window, placing his upraised hand against the side of his head. This had to be the worst job in their whole little car-jacking plan. The waiting. The watching. Not knowing if they were going OK or if someone was going to come out and bust them at any second. Normal sounds were multiplied ten fold and tiny movements caught his attention. The wind rustling the bushes. The shadows shifting across the front lawn. The moon coming out from behind some clouds and casting milky white light over everything. Leon was sure someone had noticed them there. Someone had seen them. Someone knew they were up to no good. Someone was calling the cops. It seemed like forever, when in reality, it only took a few minutes. Vince finally ran out of the dark oblivian of the car port and across the street. He yanked open the passenger door and slid inside. Leon eased the car out of the driveway as carefully and silently as he could manage. "You're right, man. Soon as Dom's got the car on the road, you can put the headlights on and floor it" Vince told him, turning slightly to grab his seatbelt. Leon nodded, watching the silver and chrome Neon pull gracefully down the driveway. Once on the road, Dom flicked on the headlights, shifted gears and surged forward. Leon cringed, waiting for the tyres to squeal and alert the whole street to their presence, but the car barely made a noise as it sped down the street. "C'mon, man" Vince urged, waking Leon out of the daze he was currently stuck in. He pressed the gas pedal carefully, and though the engine became quite a bit louder, the tyres made no noise at all. He turned the corner after Dom, flicking on the headlights, and the two cars sped up considerabally. Vince grinned over at Leon, "It's a rush, huh? Knowin' yer doin' somethin' wrong". Leon gave him a nervous smile, "I'm more concerned with the getting caught part right now". Vince laughed and shrugged, rolling down the window and letting in a blast of hot night air, "Don't worry. We've been doin' this a while. Haven't got caught yet. An' plus, there's ten grand waitin' for you at Tran's". Leon almost ran the car right off the road and into a harmless old tree. Ten grand? Ten thousand dollars? "Ten grand?" he choked out. Vince grinned and winked, "Each". Leon gaped, trying to drive and consider such an amount of money being his at the same time. Ten grand for each car. Six cars. That was sixty grand. Fucking hell. "Wot do you do wit all the money?" Leon asked, still trying to come to terms with what sixty thousand dollars could bring his way. "Parts for me car, mainly" Vince shrugged, "But I keep most of it. I don't keep it in the bank. Banks ask questions, an' they'd tell me Mom". Leon glanced over at him, "Where is it then?". Vince looked across at Leon and grinned, "You think I'm gonna tell you? I'm the only one who knows where it is. I'm keepin' it, y'know, for when I really need it. In case something big comes up. Plus it'd be kinda off, y'know, if I had all this money comin' out of nowhere" he seemed to come up with a thought he liked and smiled, blue eyes shining, "Y'know wot you should get? A car. I reckon....I reckon yer a Skyline-man. Yes. Yes, Skyline. Definately". Leon grinned and shook his head, even though he loved the idea, "Does that make you a 220SX-man?". Vince kept up the smile but shook his head, "No, no. I'm a Maxima-man. This car woz all I could afford at the time. Like, it's a good car. A damn good car. But I'ma get a Maxima one day". Leon nodded. With all the money they were raking in, he was sure that day was not too far off. At first, coming into this deal and offering his help had been purely because it seemed his friends needed his assistance. He hadn't played a big role tonight, but Dom had told him they would swap the roles around once he got used to the idea, so as not to endanger any one of them over another. He liked knowing that he'd helped. That he'd been useful. That he'd played a part in things. And the fact that he was looking at sixty grand all to himself didn't hurt either... "Sooooo" Vince broke the long spell of silence, "You sed Hector woz sparrin'. He woz wit Pedro, right?". Leon nodded, keeping an eye on the back of the Neon as Dom pulled up at a red light in a T-Junction. "Uh, yep, Pedro. They're fast, ey. An' strong, which is a good thing, I'm guessing" Leon replied, careful to stay close to the Neon so that no cars got in between them. He couldn't afford to lose Dom now. "Yeah. Mexicans are damn good boxers. 'specially them two" Vince answered, "They got a competition or somethin' comin' up, I think. That's why they gotta get right into the trainin' now. I'm more into basketball an' stuff than boxin', but I got respect for anyone who's gonna get in a ring wit someone else an' fight it out. Takes balls". "I'm a little too scrawny for that shit" Leon answered with a smile. Vince shoved his arm and grinned teasingly, "Fuckin' oath you are". Leon gave him the finger, then turned his attention back to the road as he continued, "You reckon Hector could take Dom? Like, coz he's fast an' he knows when an' where to punch and stuff?". Vince cocked his head to the side, considering it, "I dunno. That'd be like putting Mike Tyson up against Steven Austin, I reckon. I dunno who'd win. Dom could hit harder, coz he's a big guy, but he'd fall harder too. An' littler guys fight till the bitter end. Hector'd last alot longer after a few head shots. He's good at jus' takin' it, y'know?" Vince quickly went on after a questioning glance from Leon, "Like, me an' Dom an' Letty went to this fight an' this guy backed him into a corner and Hector just took the punches for the longest time, like he wozn't even feelin' it, then when the guy started to tire himself out, he got him down with one shot to the head" Vince gave him an embarrassed smile, "You ever see that Elvis movie, Kid Galahad, or somethin' like that?". Leon looked across at him. Vince? Watching Elvis movies? "Man, there's nothin' else on durin' the day! I woz off school sick an' that's all that woz on!" Vince defended, catching on to Leon's look. "No, I haven't seen it" Leon turned his gaze back to the road as Dom led them through a series of sharp turns down about a million back streets. Leon had no idea how he was finding his way in the dark. "Well, he was like...I dunno. You could punch 'im an' punch 'im an' punch 'im and punch 'im an' he wouldn't even seem to register it. Then he'd jus' knock 'em out wit one punch. Pedro's fast, so he can duck outta the corners an' stuff. Hector's better at waitin' it out then knockin' 'em out" Vince explained. The Neon pulled to a stop and Leon quickly stopped the 220SX before he smashed into the back of it. The tyres sqealed at the sharp stop, and they were thrown against their seatbelts. Leon expected Vince to be angry, but he started laughing. Continued laughing as he got out of the car, shaking his head. "Sorry" Leon shrugged when Dom glared at him. They'd made that many sharp turns he'd thought this was just another one. How was he meant to know they were stopping? All these dark little streets looked exactly the same to him. "Toretto" Lance and Johnny were standing beside the black Honda S2000. Both wearing their trademark expensive black leather jackets. Leon personally thought it made them look like they belonged to one of those Asian biker gangs. He wasn't about to tell them that, though. "Here she is" Dom waved a hand back at the Dodge Neon. Leon gazed at the stolen car as the others spoke. It really was beautiful. He didn't mind Dodge. Their Vipers were amazing. Cost alot, but were fucking amazing, all the same. "Scary?" Leon almost jumped at Lance's husky Asian accent. He glanced around and found that he was standing right next to him. Sneaky little shit. "Um...not..not really" Leon choked out. He wasn't sure what Dom and Vince would have wanted him to say in reply to such a question, so he decided that making it sound like he had the balls to do this job was the best option. Of course it was fucking scary. He was putting his life, his freedom, on the line. "No?" Lance raised an eyebrow and smirked, then handed him a roll of cash. Leon took it silently, not able to form words because he had ten thousand dollars right there in his hand. Lance shook his head and walked back over to the Honda. "C'mon, Leon" Vince clamped a hand on his shoulder and turned him towards the Nissan, "You got school tomorrow young man. Have you done your English homework?". "Um..I.." Leon tried to form words, tried to register what it was that Vince was talking about, and ended up just shaking his head in response. Vince grinned, took Leon's wrist, "I think you better put that in your pocket for now". Leon nodded vaguely and did as he said, slipping the cash into his pocket. Dom glanced at them and laughed, slipping into the passenger seat of the 220SX. Vince climbed into the driver's seat, and Leon took the back. "You got somewhere safe to put that money?" Vince asked, looking at Leon in the rear view mirror as he pulled away from the Trans. Lance was climbing into the Neon and Johnny into the Honda. "Yeah" Leon muttered, suddenly tired after a long day of doing not much. Vince winked and nodded, then turned his gaze back to the darkened road. |