Quater-Mile// Dominic Toretto

3

Everyone is at the garage. Mia is trying to talk to Dom about the finances for the shop. Dom never seems to want to charge people for the jobs we do. He doesn't really have to considering how we really make our money.

"What about parts and service?" Mia asks.

"Hold off on that," Dom tells her.

"Dom, I don't know what to do with this," Mia states.

A flat bed pulls up in front of the shop with a totally beaten-up car on it. Everyone looks at it confused. None of us ordered a totaled car, that's for sure.

"All right, what the hell is this?" Dom asks. He leans up against the door frame. "What do you got there?"

Brian smiles as he points to the car. "This is your car."

Dom points to himself. "My car?" Jesse hits the car above the wheel well. "I said a 10-second car, not a 10-minute car."

"You could push this across the finish line, or tow it," Jesse offers.

I laugh as I shake my head. This car better have something amazing under the hood or it's not even worth our time.

"You couldn't even tow that across the finish line," Dom states.

"No faith," Brian remarks.

"Oh, I have faith in you, but this isn't a junkyard. This is a garage," Dom tells him.

"Hey, pop the hood," Brian tells Jesse.

"Pop the hood?" Dom asks.

Brian smiles as he nods. "Pop the hood."

Jesse pops the hood, and it just falls right off the car. "2JZ engine. No shit."

"And what did I tell you?" Brian remarks.

"I retract my previous statement," Dom tells him.

"You know what? This will decimate all after you put about 15 grand in it. Or more, if we have to overnight parts from Japan," Jesse tells us.

"We'll put it on my tab at Harry's," Dom tells him.

"Yes!" Jesse shouts in excitement.

"I gotta get you racing again so I can make some money off your ass," Dom tells Brian. "There's a showdown in the desert called Race Wars, that's where you'll do it." Dom starts to walk away but stops. "I'll tell you what when you're not working at Harry's, you're working here. If you can't find the right tool in this garage, Mr. Arizona... you don't belong near a car."

"He owns you now," Mia whispers to Brian.

I stand over Jesse's shoulder as he shows Brian the specs for the car.

"Tell me what you think about this. Koni adjustables. Gonna save us about 2 pounds. And they're gonna give us better traction for the hole shot. All right?" Jesse tells Brian. Brian looks at him impressed. "This is your basic layout of the car. And that's pretty much what it could look like when it's finished. Red, green."

"Man, you should be going to MIT or something," Brian tells Jesse.

"Yeah, right," Jesse remarks. "No, I got that... What's it called? That attention disorder..."

"ADD?" Brian asks.

Jesse nods. "Yes, that shit. Yeah. You know, I was good in algebra and like math and shit. Everything else I failed. Dropped out of school. I don't know. It's just something about engines... that calms me down, you know."

It's Sunday, which means family dinner. Dom and Brian are by the grill in the yard. Leon and I are watching, joking around. Letty and Vince roll up in their cars with the groceries.