You ride. I ride.

13. Tragic Death

Dom's POV

"Mia. Letty." I weakly managed to say as I leaned against the kitchen stove. I remembered that I had to be strong for my sister. They both came hopping down the stairs happily but immediately grew worried when they saw my broken facial expression. I guess I was a bad liar after all.

"It's Tony." I sighed, rubbing my neck: "He had an accident on the racetracks." Both of them stared at me, unable to process what I'm saying. "He died."

Mia immediately began shaking her head in denial. Letty hugged her, trying to hold the pieces together that were falling apart. "No! No!" Mia yelled as tears began streaming down her face. I joined their hug, inhaling the comforting scent of Letty. She took my hand into hers, comforting me with soft circular motions. Tears were already stinging in my eyes as I repeated what my father had once said to me: 'Son. If I should ever leave, take care of your sister. I know you'll be fine. It's your sister that I'm worried about.'

He always knew how dangerous racing was. He repeated that sentence every time before he left for the race tracks. But he had been a king. Before a race, I didn't even think about what place he would achieve. He always won. Until today.

Glancing over at Mia, her sobs turned into silent shivers. She was clinging onto Letty's t-shirt as if it were the only thing keeping her from drowning in an ocean of tears.

My sadness turned into anger. Into rage. I saw flashing pictures of my father being pushed into that wall. The flames reaching a high, the screams of my father audible to everyone. I saw Kenny Linder. His car crashing into that of my father. Into the 1970 Dodge Charger R/T. The one my father and I had built together over all those years. Now? Destroyed in a matter of seconds.

Letty noticed my change in demeanour, squeezing my hand, telling me to calm down. But I couldn't. I slammed the door shut behind me, running to the garage. I grabbed the first tool, a wrench and started smashing in the remains of the 1970 Dodge Charger with it. The wrench didn't free me from my anger so I threw it at a window, the glass shattering to the ground. My fist met the wall, the wood pushing splinters into my skin. I didn't care and continued to punch the walls. My knuckles were covered with blood, my forehead covered in sweat, but my anger remained. Flashing images of the deafening screams and the burning car were still torturing my mind. I grabbed my neck in stress, smearing the blood all over my skin. I must have looked like a serial killer when Letty faced me.

"Dom," she whispered her eyes widening at the sight of me. "You need to calm down," she suggested in a calm tone. Yet it only increased my anger. How couldn't she understand this? Out of anger, I stepped close to her in a threatening manner raising my hand. Fear flashed through her eyes as I punched the wall beside her head, assuming that I would punch her. But I would never hurt Letty.

"Please, Dom. Breathe," she pleaded. But I just pushed her aside and stormed back into the house ready to destroy my room. Upstairs I heard the muffled sobs from Mia. She was hurt. And I wasn't there for her. Letty was. I was an idiot for pushing Letty away like that. After all she was worried about me. I sat on my bed, the anger slowly fading with every breath I took.

Without announcement Letty entered my room, her eyes filled with compassion. Even though I must have scared her, she sat down next to me. Suddenly, all my emotions just broke down, my tough act falling around Letty. I collapsed into her arms, tears escaping my eyes. For what felt like hours she held me, ignoring the weight I was putting onto her. In the meantime we were lying on my bed, my body curled up next to hers. My breathing calmed down, my eyes meeting Letty's. Even though all the sadness, she looked beautiful.

"Why are you helping me?" I asked, remembering what an ass I had been the last days.

"I know what I feels like to lose a dad."

She left the room. Alone in an empty, dark room, the images came flashing into my mind again. Before I could do something stupid, Letty entered the room again. Without looking at me she began pulling splinters out of my skin. She cleaned up my knuckles with a cotton pad, grazing over my skin with her fingertips. I smiled at her, thanking her non verbally.

"Go to sleep," she kissed me on the forehead. I got under the covers, noticing that she got up from the bed. She was going to leave. I reached for her wrist out of impulse, begging her to stay tonight.

"Stay. Please."She just nodded understandigly and climbed under the covers next to me.

--------------------------

Somebody was screaming. A deafening scream. I woke up. My body covered in sweat. The bed sheets tangled on the floor. My breathing irregular. The door slammed open. Letty.

She hugged me. Even though I was covered in sweat and some blood from yesterday. I leaned on her, trying to forget the images flashing through my mind. The burning car seemed to haunt me. The screams. His dead body. Kenny Linder. Letty noticed my breathing getting faster. She reached for my hand.

"Mia woke up an hour ago. She said she would be staying at home for a while."

I nodded. I was aware that I couldn't stay in bed for long. Now that my father couldn't take care of Mia, it was my responsibility.

"I'm going to take a shower," I muttered, keeping my explanation to a minimum. She nodded and headed downstairs. Before hopping into the shower I entered Mia's room. She was curled up in her bed, covered in bed sheets. She turned her head, revealing her puffy red eyes and the mascara smeared all over her face. I smiled at her half-heartedly trying to comfort her. Another tear escaped her eyes. I sat down beside her, pulling her upper body onto my lap. She clinged into t-shirt, her tears soaking through the wool.

There was no way I could handle all of this.