Ride Home To Me

Chapter 21

I stand next to Letty, cheering for Mia as she and Dom do donuts in the lot. She's getting her license soon, so she's been coming with us to practice tricks more and more. As they stop near us and get out of the car, Letty turns to me.

"Let's go," she says, grinning. I raise an eyebrow, unsure of what she means but following her to her car nonetheless. She stops at the door and raises a finger, pointing at Dom's car. "Nope. You're taking her girl. We're gonna race."

My jaw drops. "Letty!"

"Come on girl you got this." Dom comes up behind me and slaps my shoulder. "It's just the quarter mile and then you're gonna go around the facilities. Better make it quick though cause we're technically not supposed to be drifting around here." He grins and winks at me.

I groan and make sure they hear me grumbling as I get in his car and pull it up to the starting line. I exhale and look at Letty in the car next to me, who just grins and revs her engine. I scoff and grip the wheel, revving mine back in response. Dom comes in front of us, raises his hand high, then brings it down to the ground and we're off.

For a moment it feels like I'm flying. I keep the wheel straight and floor the gas pedal, feeling my weight getting thrown back against the seat as the car quickly picks up speed. I see the finish line inching closer and closer, but am brought back into focus when I catch Letty pulling ahead from the corner of my eye.

It's just a quarter mile Gabi, I tell myself. You're almost there. My finger hovers over the NOS button. Not yet, not yet...

The moment she starts slowing down the slightest bit I hit the button and feel myself getting pushed against the seat even more. My hands wobble and I lose control slightly but I manage to straighten out and floor the gas pedal. I pull ahead just enough and barely make it past Letty right as we cross the finish line. I bring the car to a stop and jump out of the driver's seat, cheering loudly.

Dom picks me up and spins me around and Mia claps my shoulder.

"Yeah baby!" I hear Letty cheering from behind. She comes up and pounds my back. "That was sick! How'd it feel?"

The adrenaline I was feeling is wearing off. "Awesome," I laugh. "I felt like I was... like I was flying."

"Well you're not done just yet girl," Letty says. "Dom and Mia are comin' with us 'cause soon as we finish drifting we're hauling ass outta here before they call the cops on us."

I roll my eyes and get back in the car. Dom climbs into the seat next to me as I roll the window down and wait for Mia to count down. The quarter mile was fun, but now I'm ready to really race.

"Ready?" Mia says. "Go!"

I grin and floor the gas pedal, and Letty and I go speeding down the street.

•-•-•-•-•

"Well that was fun," I say, getting out of the car. Letty won the drift race around the warehouses but I kept up pretty well and didn't stray too far behind her the entire time.

I'm reminded of what day it is when I see the wreaths on the door and my ma waving at us to come inside for dinner.

"Mmmm, I can smell the tamales from out here," Mia says, running inside. "Come on, let's go eat so we can get to watching christmas movies."

"Yo Dom I bet Gabi could take on Eddie on the streets, easy," Letty says, wrapping an arm around my waist. Dom notices the casual move and gives me a look when I don't push her off after a few seconds. I feel my face start to get hot, and I vaguely hear Dom agree with her as I mumble something about getting water. I remove myself from her grasp and try not to run into the kitchen. What's happening to me? I can't catch my breath, I feel like I'm barely managing to stay standing. I stumble out to the back and lean against the porch, trying to catch my breath, when it dawns on me. Dammit, I haven't dealt with my anxiety in a while.

"Shit," I pant. I yell in frustration and pound the wall with my fist. "Shit!"

I hear footsteps coming from inside then hear Dom's voice.

"Gabi? Oh shit hang on a sec-" He disappears for a minute then comes back with a glass of water, pushing it into my hands. I try to protest but he shakes his head.

"Don't think, just have it," he says.

It takes me a bit, but when I've calmed down I groan and bury my face in my hands, sliding down to the floor.

"Been a while, right?" Dom asks. I nod.

"Almost forgot how shitty they feel," I sigh. I really really hope he doesn't ask any more questions. I don't think I can handle it right now. Dom just slides down the wall and sits next to me.

"So my dad just called, said he made it to the championship," he starts.

My ears perk up. Tony was out at the big league races this weekend. The season is almost over, and today was the last round he needed to pass in order to make the final race.

I suddenly noticed that Dom has stretched out his hand in a subtle way of asking permission to continue. I take it and give it a squeeze, silently thanking him for changing the subject.

"It's gonna be in April. He said he'd need his cheerleaders there to make sure he wins," he continues, grinning.

I look at him, the tight feeling in my chest slowly giving way to excitement. "Wait does that mean we get to go?"

Dom nods and I laugh in relief.

"You guys okay?" I hear Mia's voice from the door.

I wipe the remaining tears off my face and turn to her, nodding.

We're joined by Vince, Leon, and Jessie, by the time dinner is set up, so we say grace and finish dinner quickly so we can get to movies and eggnog. After a lot of bickering we finally settle on Home Alone. Mia, Jessie, and Leon sit on the floor, Vince sinks into the armchair, Dom goes into the kitchen to get some popcorn, and Letty jumps into the spot next to me with a mischievous look on her face. I eye her suspiciously.

"What do you want..." I ask.

"Don't you think for a second I totally forgot that you have a crush you didn't tell me about," she grins. I groan in response and shove her.

"Can you believe it's Christmas? Merry Christmas Letty. I love Christmas."

"Don't change the subject."

"Watch the movie pendeja," I say. "I ain't tellin' you shit."

"What! No you have to tell me!"

"Nope. No I don't."

"If you don't tell me I'm just gonna assume it's every single girl that walks into the shop."

"Don't care."

"I'll try hooking them up with you too."

"Do it. I could use some action. Haven't gotten any since I had a girlfriend that beat me up at school a month after breaking up with me. Ow-!"

Letty hits me on the head with a pillow.

"Okay well fuck that bitch, but-"

"I did, that's what I'm sayin'-hey-!" I laugh when I get smacked a second time.

"You tell me who it is," she says, raising the pillow above her head again.

"I'll tell you tomorrow."

"Really?"

"No. Ow! Hijo de tu-!"