Ride Home To Me

Chapter 8

My ma ushers me through the door so fast I almost drop the huge bowl of mole she made for dinner today. When we make it to the Toretto house I gratefully give the dish to Tony for him to put with the rest of the food and go off to find Dom and Mia. 

I find them in the backyard, Mia playing card games with Vince and Letty sitting in Dom's lap, laughing at something he said. 

"What's up guys. Happy Thanksgiving," I walk over and clap Letty's and Dom's hands, then walk over to hug Mia. I pop Vince in the stomach, which he responds to by putting me in a headlock. We wrestle for a bit before Tony arrives to split us up, followed by my ma. 

"Leon and Jessie gonna be here Mr. T?" V asks once I release his arm from behind his back. 

"No, bud, they're stayin home tonight," Tony says. I pout. Jessie's such a sweet kid and Leon's fun to hang around. I was looking forward to seeing them today. 

Nonetheless, we finish setting the table and arranging the food and finally sit down to eat. Tony puts his hands together and the table goes silent. 

"Lord, on this day of thanks please bless this table and the family that surrounds it. Thank you for a good year so far, for the food in front of us, and the people here today. Thank you for bringing Vanessa and Gabi to us," he adds, my mom and I smile when Vince claps my shoulder and Dom ruffles my hair, "and thank you for keeping us safe and happy and healthy."

There is a series of muttered "amens" and my ma speaks up.

"I just wanted to quickly say how grateful I am, and I'm sure Gabi is too, that we are able to be here today. It truly means so much. Thank you for welcoming us into your home and your family and... for giving me hope for the future again," she says, tearing up a bit. 

Tony grips her hand and I try to hold my tears back as Mia wraps my mom in a hug and Dom goes over to kiss her on the cheek. I suddenly feel someone slip their fingers into mine and I look over to see Letty grinning at me, giving me a reassuring squeeze. I laugh and wrap an arm around Vince, joining the chorus of "happy thanksgivings" rising around the table. 

V rubs his hands together and shouts, "Let's eat!" 

I laugh and shake my head, and finally reach in to set up my plate.

•-•-•-•-•

Us "kids" were given dish duty again, but since the boys did jack shit to help us clean last Sunday after the barbecue, we let them take care of it while we sit at the dining table and watch. 

"So that winter ball is comin up huh?" Dom remarks, looking over his shoulder at us. 

"Yeah it is. Think it's that weekend after finals," I respond. I smirk at Mia, knowing there was already a boy she hoped would ask her. 

"Got any dates?" Dom asks, eyeing us. 

"Don't know, do you Mia?" I ask innocently, wiggling my eyebrows. 

"I don't, thanks very much," Mia says, shooting me a look that could kill. I just smile sweetly at her and bat my eyelashes. 

Dom eyes us suspiciously and then turns to me. "You got a date yet Gabi?"

I shake my head. "Don't want one, don't need one. I ain't even sure if I wanna go to that damn thing."

Mia's jaw drops. "What? You have to go!"

"Mhm, a gym full of hot sweaty teenagers using whatever opportunity they can to grab each other's asses and make out? I'm good." I scrunch my nose in disgust.

"Aw, come on Gabi that was the best part," Vince whines. "What is it with you and people making out? Never had your first kiss yet princess?"

Everybody bursts out laughing and I scoff. "Oh please, V, I've probably kissed more girls than you."

The room falls silent and I realize what I've just said. Surprisingly, though, I don't feel so panicked. I catch Letty's eye and she gives me a small smile and a nod. Well, no turning back now. 

"Somebody gonna say something or are you just gonna keep staring at me like I got a second head? Like damn, I knew I had a pimple somewhere but I didn't think it was that bad," I comment, feeling my face for a nonexistent zit. 

Letty snorts and starts laughing, and soon everyone joins her. I grin when she comes over to hug me. 

"Good job hermana. See? Telling 'em wasn't so bad," she says. 

Dom gapes at her. "You knew she's a-well uh-?"

"A lesbian?" I finish for him. "It's okay to say it man," I chuckle. "It's not just a porn category you know."

Vince spits out his drink and Dom actually almost blushes. Mia doubles over at their reactions while Letty grins and confirms that she already knew. 

We chat back and forth for a few minutes, and then Dom speaks up.

"Is that why you guys had to leave Miami?" he asks. 

The conversations die down and I look down at my hands. 

"Sorry, I didn't mean-"

"No yeah, yeah that's why we left," I say, clearing my throat. "It was because of my best friend actually. Uh, I told her, I think around the beginning of summer. And she said that she was so glad because she'd had a crush on me for ages and didn't know how to tell me." I pause. I never told Letty or even my ma the full story of what happened. If I tell them now, there's really no turning back. But I continue anyway. "And so we actually dated for like three months, mostly over the summer. We kept it real quiet, never told anybody. But, uh, one day she just stopped talking to me. And like a week later, I walked out of class to see everybody staring at me and she and my other friends suddenly just... attacked me. I had no idea what was happening but I could hear everybody calling me, uh, different things. When I told my ma what happened at school she just started arranging stuff and in a month we were on our way here." I shrug. 

"The hell?" Vince says. " All that and you just-?" He mimics the shrug I just did. I jump a little when I feel an arm sliding across my shoulders but it's just Mia coming to rest her chin on top of my head. 

"Damn I'm sorry Gabi," Dom says, putting the last few plates away and leaning on the counter. I shake my head.

"It's fine. How could you have known if I didn't tell you or show you right?" I chuckle. 

"Show...?" Mia starts. I let them see a few of the scars that are forming on my side and by then Vince looks about ready to punch a hole through the wall. 

"Calm your man titties V, I'm over it. I mean my ma really said it earlier." I try my best not to start crying. "You guys have helped me a lot. Plus you reacted a lot better than I expected you too." I grin. "I was really gonna just wait until I got to college to try making new friends but you people thought otherwise huh?"

I grin as the gang pulls me into a group hug. I let my grateful tears fall down my cheeks and squeeze them tight. 

"You know," Dom says, pulling away. "I think it's about time we took Gabi out."

Letty cheers and kisses his cheek and Vince looks excited. Mia just smiles at me knowingly, and I furrow my eyebrows. 

"Out?" I ask, confused. 

Dom grins at me. 

"You like racing?"