Quater-Mile// Dominic Toretto

2

Tonight, is a race night. We pull up to where everyone is meeting for the race. It's a large parking lot near a few abandoned buildings. Dom parks his car followed by the rest of us. I get out of my car and spot Dom with two fake blondes.

Letty smiles at me. "Want me to handle it?"

I laugh lightly. "Nah. We can share that way both of us can have some fun."

"Oh, you did?" Dom sits on the hood of a car. "Of course, you did. Monica."

"I smell..." I pretend to sniff the air "Skanks."

"Why don't you girls pack it up, before I leave tread marks on your face?" Letty warns.

"Okay," one of the girls says before they both walk away.

"I was just talkin'," Dom insists.

I roll my eyes. "Yeah. Whatever."

"Okay, Hector," Dom says as he points to the guy.

Hector walks towards us. "Yeah? What's up, man?"

"Yo. What's up?" Edwin greets.

"Edwin," Dom says as they do a handshake.

"How we doin' this tonight?" Edwin asks.

"One race. Two-g buy-in. Winner takes all," Dom explains. "Hector, you're going to hold the cash."

"Why Hector?" Danny, another racer, asks.

"He's too slow to make away with the money, man," Edwin taunts.

Hector pretends to laugh as others mock laugh.

"Okay. Good luck, guys," Dom tells Edwin and Danny.

"Hey, wait. Hold up." It's Brian. "I don't have any cash, but I do have the pink slip to my car."

"Hey, you just can't climb in the ring with Ali, 'cause you think you box," Jesse tells him.

"He knows I can box." Brian points to a very pissed off Vince. "So, check it out. It's like this. I lose, the winner takes my car, clean and clear. But if I win, I take the cash, and I take the respect."

Dom laughs. "Respect."

"To some people, that's more important," Brian tells him.

Dom gestures to a green 1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse. "That your car?"

Brian lifts the hood so Jesse can take a look.

"I see a cool air intake. It's got a NOS fogger system and a T4 turbo, Dominic," Jesse tells him. "I see an AIC controller. It has direct port nitrous injection."

"Yeah. And a stand-alone fuel management system," Dom says. "Not a bad way to spend $10,000."

"You see that shit?" Edwin asks. "He's got enough NOS in there to blow himself up. Period."

"So, what do you say? Am I worthy?" Brian asks.

"We don't know yet." Dom smiles. "But you're in. Let's go."

"All right."

"Let's go!"

Everyone gets in their cars to get ready for the race. They're not racing here in a parking lot no way. The streets of LA are the racetrack. We got people set up at cross streets to block the traffic. Everyone else is lined up along the starting line that two girls created with spray paint. I stand and watch with Mia and Letty.

I laugh as Brian overshoots the starting line and people start to shout at him. I guess his nerves are getting the best of him. I can hear the bass pounding off Dom's sound system. A girl hangs in the window of Edwin's car.