Ride Home To Me

Chapter 22

The sunny and cloudless April sky promises a beautiful day as we rattle down the highway in Tony's old trailer.

"You guys ready for today?" Tony asks from the driver's seat.

"Are you?" I laugh.

Dom, Letty, Vince, Mia, my ma, and I are piled into Tony's car with the trailer hooked up to the back, on our way to his last race of the season.

"You're gonna be great dad," Dom grins.

"He's gonna smoke those suckers," Letty reaches forward and claps his shoulder. He and my ma chuckle from the front seat.

"You guys stick together, okay? Vanessa's never been to a race before," he says. We nod and agree, then turn up the music and sing our hearts out the rest of the way there.

When we finally arrive, everyone piles out and starts preparing. I go help Dom and Tony check the engine and brakes while Mia sets up the trailer with Letty and Vince. My ma goes inside and starts pulling out all the snacks and food she brought for us.

"Here, toma," I hear my ma say, tapping me with a water bottle. She passes some to Dom for himself and for Tony, who's currently under the car.

"Thanks Mrs. Hernandez," he says, taking it.

She clicks her tongue and just pats his cheek. "You just drink up and don't pass out mijo, it's hot out here. Leticia! You get some water mija or else you're not getting any tacos later!"

"I'm not thirsty-!"

I chuckle at hearing their bantering, and turn back to the engine. I wipe my hands and tap Tony with my foot.

"Aight I think you're good up here Tony," I say.

He slides out from under the car and throws an arm over my shoulders.

"You're getting pretty good at this honey," he kisses my head and I grin. "Alright guys," he calls out, "Time for lunch!"

I grab my tacos and sit next to Letty, grinning at the sight of her taking a big gulp of water.

"Mama Hernandez wins again, huh?" I laugh. She slaps me, and looks away, but not fast enough for me to miss the look of sadness that washes over her face for a split second.

"Hey." I put a hand on her arm and turn her back to me. "You okay? What's up?"

She gives me a sad smile and shakes her head. "Nothing. It's just...it's almost nice to have some kind of 'mom' figure again. You know. Bugging me to drink water, making dinner at home every day, taking us shopping for winter formal dresses." She nudges me and I chuckle. "Ma died when I was little, so I haven't had that for a while."

For a moment I'm silent, but when I head Tony calling us over I reach out and ruffle her hair, getting a smack in the arm in response. We finish our food quickly and run over to see Tony off before he joins the rest of the racers. Waiting for them to start feels like agony, but finally the cars pull up to the starting line and we all cheer with the rest of the crowd.

"Let's go pops!" Dom is screaming.

Tony makes the cross over his chest and when he raises his hand to his lips he uses it to blow us a kiss. I grin and keep cheering next to Letty and Jessie.

There's a bell, then a gunshot, and suddenly the cars are speeding down the track. For the most part Tony's able to keep his pace, and very slowly starts to pull ahead of the other racers. I notice one car in particular, though, that keeps a real tight grip on him when they drift and race, not quite letting Tony shake him.

The cars zoom by us and start the final lap of the race. I feel Letty grab my hand in excitement but I'm getting too nervous to really notice.

"You see that kid? He's pretty good," Jessie points out the one I was eyeing.

"I don't know Jess, he's getting a bit too-"

And then the world slows down. Tony comes sliding around the last bend right as the other racer clips the back corner of the Charger. Tony's face goes from focused, to confused, to astonished as the car veers toward the wall and suddenly flips one, two, three, then four times before stopping upside down.

I feel the tears on my cheeks before I even know I was crying. Letty's grip on my hand is as tight as mine when I see Dom racing over to the car. But before he or the paramedics can reach his dad the car bursts into flames. I hear a strangled sound come out of my throat and my hand claps over my mouth. Mia and Letty collapse into my ma's arms and I am about to join them, but then I hear the screaming. I look back to the wreck to see Dom trying to fight off security, yelling and crying out for his dad. My feet react before I do. I try to run over and join him, but I'm stopped by Vince.

"Let me go!" I cry, struggling against him. "He needs help! Dom needs somebody there, let me go V! Vince let me go!"

"Gabi you can't help him right now," Vince chokes out as he holds me back. He has tears streaming down his face as he looks out onto the scene, and I finally break down sobbing, burying my face in his shirt. All I can hear now is the sound of sirens, of Mia's wailing, and my best friend's screams echoing through my head.

•-•-•-•-•

They said he died on impact. On the drive home I silently pray that it's true. That he didn't suffer. No one speaks in the car or after we get home, the only sound that can be heard are everyone's quiet sobs ringing through the house. Mia and Dom shut themselves up in their rooms, my ma goes into the kitchen, and Letty, Vince and I just sit outside, holding each other on the porch before Vince has to go home. I look to Letty, who's still crying, and gather her into my arms for a moment. She holds me tight, burying her face in my neck and letting me stroke her hair.

"I'm gonna go check on Dom," I say quietly.

Letty nods and squeezes me tight before pulling away. "I should talk to Mia."

"Take my mom, will ya?"

She agrees and goes inside. I go upstairs and knock lightly on Dom's door. It swings open by itself, not having been fully closed in the first place. The light is off and after a second of my eyes adjusting, I see a dark mass sitting on the far edge of his bed.

"Dom?" I whisper.

"Go away," he says. He sounds so small.

"Sorry. You're stuck with me for a little bit."

"I don't wanna be."

I sigh and wipe my tears away. I can't be crying at this moment. I gotta be strong for him. I walk over and climb onto the bed, sitting next to him. Neither of us say anything, but when he doesn't move to shoo me away, I reach my hand out and offer it to him. He looks at it, then looks at me, and the broken look in his eyes makes my heart shatter into a million pieces. Without giving him another chance to take my hand I stand up in front of him and wrap him up in my arms. He buries his face in my shoulder and starts sobbing, bringing tears back to my eyes.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry hermano," I say quietly.

After a while, my ma, Mia, and Letty appear at the door, and we let Mia crawl into bed with Dom. My ma decides to sleep on the couch and so Letty and I go to Mia's room and fall onto the bed. I stare up at the ceiling and feel Letty's hand find mine.

"What happens now?" she asks.

"I don't know Let," I sigh. "I don't know."