The Young Racer - The First Two Years

T W O

I look at her.

She laughs.

"Wheres your parents kid? They dump you here? Didnt take long,"

I look around, searching for Dom. I cant see over the shelves, and Vince went back to sit down.

"My dad said he owns this store," i say to her.

She laughs.

"Does he now? Imma let you in on a little secret kid. He doesnt. He just dumped you here to get rid of you and leave you where you belong."

I shake my head.

"What do you mean?" I ask. Where do i belong?

"You belong on the streets, you little piece of shit. Your nothing but a street rat," She says standing up, "I should've dumped you here, saved those people the anger of having to deal with the pain in the ass you are."

I feel my eyes start to burn a little, tears brimming.

She used to say that to me everyday.

"Im sorry," i hear from behind me. I turn around to see Dom. Laura looks up too.

"For what?" She asks.

He looks at her.

"Im sorry but im going to ask you to take your ass out of my store."

She looks shocked.

"Why? What the hell did i do?" She says. Dom walks over and gets in her face.

"You called my daughter a piece of shit." He says and her eyes widen. She immediately backs away.

"Im sorry," she says, her voice shaking.

"Your only sorry because you got caught. Get the fuck out of my store and if you ever come back i will personally kick you out."

She nods quickly and almost runs out of the store. Normally id be happy but what she said wont get out of my head.

I think im crying. Im not entirely sure. I reach up and tap my face a little. I pull my hand back and see water on it.

Yup definitely crying.

Dom turns around and picks me up.

"Hey, no crying," he says softly, wiping the tears from my face. He carries me out of the isles. Vince and Mia look up asnd i hide my tear streaked face in Doms shoulder.

"Im going to take her to the garage," he says.

Dom carries me out of the store and to his car. He sets me in the front seat and straps me in. He shuts the door and gets in the drivers seat. He starts the car and drives away.

After about 5 minutes, he stops in front of the house, but when he takjes me out of the car, he doesnt go inside the house. Instead, he sets me down in front of the garage. I look up at him, curious, but he just opens the steel door and inside is a black car, with a metal thing sticking out of the hood.

"This," he says, picking me up, "is a car i built with my dad."

He looks at the car, and i look at it too.

"It looks cool," i say. He smiles.

"My dad," he says, "was always there. He was a great man, but he died." I look at Dom.

His eyes look sad.

"When?" I ask.

"A long time ago," he says, looking at me, "When i adopted you, they said that you might be a struggle to work with, because of what youd been through. They said it centered around your parents. Do you want to tell me about your mom?"

I look at him. I nod a little.

"My momma was really nice," i say, " she always tried to keep Daddy away from me when he was drunk. She had brown hair and brown eyes. I remember somebody saying i looked just like her, but with my dads hair and eyes. My mommy died when i was four. She died when my daddy hurt her. I ran away because i was scared he was going to hurt me and i was going to die too. Im still scared."

Dom looks at me.

"When your with me, you dont have to be scared. I wont let anybody hurt you." I smile and hug him.

I pull my head back and look at him.

"I really dont like Laura," i say.

"Laura was that woman in the store, wasn't she?"

I nod.

"Do you know her?" he asks.

"She used to be my foster mom. She used to call me those names everyday," i say. I watch his eyes closely, anger burns behind his eyes, until he sees me staring at him.

His eyes immediately soften.

"Well, everything she said was a lie. You deserve to be here, in a house of people that love having you with them."

I smile lightly and he smiles back at me. I look back down at the car.

I point to it.

"I like this. Do you have anymore cars?" I ask and he laughs.

"I have a lot of them, i fix them in a garage i have about ten minutes away." I look up at him, excited.

"Can we go there?" I ask. He smiles and walks out of the garage, closing the door. He sets me in the front seat and gets in the drivers.