Quater-Mile// Dominic Toretto

10

We walk out of the building towards the car.

"You let your man go, huh?" Rome remarks.

"Drop it. I don't wanna talk about it," Brian tells him.

"Drop it, hell! I wanna hear about this, homey," Rome says.

"I said forget about it, cuz," Brian insists.

I climb into the back of the car so Rome can sit shotgun with Brian driving.

"We got Fuentes in with Verone, Markham tryin' to blow our cover and we got three wired cars that are no better than that damn ankle bracelet of mine. I'm-a tell you, brah. You let your man Markham do that shit again in front of Verone, that's gonna be our ass," Rome says.

Brian nods. "I know, man. I know. It's gettin' thick real quick, and we may need a way out. We gotta come up with some exit strategy."

"Exit strategy, huh?" Rome asks.

Brian nods. "Yeah."

"Yeah. I like the way that sounds. What you got in mind?" Rome asks.

"I don't know, man. But we need three more cars," Brian tells us.

Brian, Rome, Suki, Tej, Jimmy and I are waiting for two guys that Tej knows to show up. They pull up in some muscle cars. Little snag to the plan we could only get two cars which means I'm stuck driving the Viper I've been fixing up. We just gotta hope that Markham is too stupid to realize.

"Yeah. Here they come," Tej tells us.

The man get out of their cars with two women. I recognize the guys from earlier.

"Fonzie and Fabio. Glad you can join us," Rome remarks.

The guy with the bun starts, "We heard you boys wanted to get rid of those Crackerjack toys."

"No. Actually we just figured those cars you got deserved better drivers, which is why we're gonna take 'em off your hands," Brian remarks.

The guy steps towards Brian. "You know, why don't we settle this now?"

"Wait, wait. How about we settle this on the blacktop, huh? Each car does it down and back, tag-team style... for slips," Tej offers.

"Loser walks home," Suki tells them.

"We came to race," the guy states.

"Well, load 'em up then," Tej tells them.

"Come on, bro," Brian tells Rome. "Let's get these cars." We start to walk away from the guys.

"All right, check it out. There's no way you're gonna beat these guys straight up," I tell them. "The Hemi's puttin' out about 425 and that Yenko will snap a speed on about five seconds flat. You're gonna have to pull somethin' out of your ass."

"The only thing I can think of is save the spray for the way back, the return trip," Brian offers.

"Done deal," Rome tells him.

"All right. Let's do this, bro," Brian says. "I'm gettin' that orange one."

Rome laughs as he jumps in his car. "You ain't ready, Fabio!"

"All right. You each got a barrel to go around down at the end of the road. The second wave gotta sit tight till your partner crosses this line right here. First team to go down and back twice wins the race. At which point, the losers will hand over them keys. Otherwise, you'll be eatin' breakfast through straws from now on. Comprende?" Tej explains.

"I get it," the guy assures.

Tej turns to Rome. "Oh, this means you too."

"I got it," Rome assures.