Ride Home To Me

Chapter 10

As soon as I step out of the car I'm hit by the smell of gasoline and barbecue. Here at the races there's music, food, and lots of cars.

"Gabi for today just stick by me aight?" Vince squeezes my shoulder protectively. I nod and wave to Dom, Tony, and Letty before they disappear into the crowd.

"They gonna race today?" I ask Mia.

"You bet. Come on let's get some food and then we can go watch them on the track," she says, grabbing Vince and Jessie to come with us.

We go buy burgers and some water bottles, then Vince and Leon take us to where the cars line up for racing. I quickly spot Tony's beloved 1970 Dodge Charger and so we walk over to the window to wish him luck. Tony leans out of the window to grab my outstretched hand.

"You girls doing okay?" he asks.

"Hell yeah Mr. T," I grin. "This scene is pretty sweet."

"Speaking of sweet you might wanna go grab the boys before they 'sweet' talk themselves out of watching you two like they're supposed to," Tony nods towards Vince and Leon, who are talking up a couple of girls wearing barely enough clothing to cover their asses.

I roll my eyes, kiss Tony on the cheek, and wish him luck. Mia does the same before grabbing my hand and taking me over to where the boys are talking to the girls.

"Sorry ladies but Vincent's gotta babysit today," I push between them and shove Vince in the opposite direction. Mia grabs Leon's wrist and yanks him along, ignoring his complaints. "Seriously hermano? It's barely been thirty minutes."

"Aw come on let a man live Gabriela," Vince complains.

"You got some nerve calling yourself a man if you're gonna whine like that, homie," a voice says behind us. We turn to see another guy reaching a hand out towards Leon and Vince, who each take it gladly.

"What's up Hector?" Vince grins.

"Nothin much, just been hanging around. We gonna see you guys later?" Hector asks.

"Damn right you are, we wouldn't miss it," Leon says. I nudge him.

"What's later?" I ask.

"Party at his cousin's house. Y'all babies ain't invited just yet," Leon grins.

"Aw fuck off Leon, I'm only a year younger than you," I punch his shoulder.

Hector says hi to Mia and nods towards me.

"Who are you?"

"Gabi," I clap his outstretched hand.

"You race?"

I shake my head. "Just hang with the guys that do."

"Smart move," Hector grins. "Everybody knows you ain't mess with Mr. T's gang."

"Is that right?" I raise an eyebrow and grin at Leon. "Damn good thing they took me in then huh?"

"I guess so," Hector chuckles. Then he nods at Mia. "Your papi's up soon and Dom and Letty are a couple behind him. You guys might wanna get to the track if you don't wanna miss it."

I get a lot more excited than I expected to be. Cars and racing have never really been my thing but I'm loving this so far and I can't wait to see my friends on the track.

We say bye to Hector and Vince leads us to the edge of the track right as Tony's Charger pulls up to the starting line. There's some kid next to him, probably in his early 20s, and we can hear him taunting Tony through the window. Tony just smirks and revs his engine, watching the girl who walks out to the middle of the track, raising a red flag above her head.

"Ready? Go!" She throws the flag down and the cars are off. I watch as the kid starts pulling ahead of Tony and I find myself cheering for Tony alongside Mia and Vince. Vince notices that I'm getting nervous and puts his hand on my shoulder.

"Just wait Gabi," Vince points right as the kid's tires blow out and Tony pulls through at the last second.

Vince whoops and cheers as I stand there yelling with Mia. A few minutes later Tony comes to join us just in time to see Dom pull up to the starting line. We celebrate when Dom wins easily, and finally wait to see Letty. Watching her set herself up is almost captivating. One hand grips the wheel while the other is out of sight, probably resting on the gear shift. Her eyes follow the curves of the track as she maps out her course. She completely ignores the asshole in the car next to her, trying to talk her up, and steels herself, ready for the flag to drop.

We hear "Go!" and the two cars are off. They remain neck and neck up until the last curve on the track. The other guy sneaks into the tighter ring and slowly pulls ahead.

"Come on Letty, come on," I mutter.

Suddenly at the height of the turn the guy's rear end spins out and sends him flying. Letty makes a sharp turn to avoid him and manages to pull through, crossing the finish line unscathed.

We all cheer and I find myself jumping up and down with Mia.

"Let's go meet her by the cars," Tony calls, so Mia, Leon, Vince, Dom, and I run after him.

She grins when she climbs out of the car and sees Dom at the front of the group. Everybody congratulates her as he picks her up and kisses her. I notice the stares coming from a lot of people, especially the girls, all around us, watching it happen and giving Letty dirty looks. I turn back to Letty and join her hug with Mia.

"Letty that was insanely cool," I say.

"Got that right," she grins. "I might be one of the youngest people here but I'm one of the only girls that ever comes just for the racing." She shoots a look that could kill at some girls advancing towards the group, no doubt trying to catch Dom's attention. Dom notices and laughs, throwing one arm over her shoulder and his other over mine. I grin.

"Don't worry Let. You three are my only girls now aight?" he grins, referring to myself, Letty, and Mia.

I burst out laughing and slap his arm off.

"Why don't you just stick with one aight hermano?" I chuckle. "These chicks might still get the wrong idea and then you're gonna have to deal with Letty, and nobody wants to stick around for that." 

Everyone laughs and we split up into the three cars to head back home. Leon and Vince and Jessie end up in Dom's car and Mia goes with Tony, so I head back to Letty's car. I bounce into the passenger seat and turn to her excitedly.

"Hey Letty," I say, grinning. She looks suspicious.

"What..."

"Teach me how to race."