'Letty!' I smiled as I walked up to my cousin, waiting just outside the terminal.

'James', she exclaimed, as she hugged me.

'Still on with Dom?' I winked as she picked up one of my suitcases and took me over to her car. I sucked in a large breath at the sight of it.

'Yeah. He's hanging out to meet you', Letty smiled; as she dumped my suitcase in the backseat of the car and I, following suit, with my other one.

'But he's met me before', I added, getting into the passenger seat.

'Yeah, when you were three with ditzy blonde hair and baby fat', Letty laughed as she started the car and pulled out of the airport parking.

'And the difference now is?' I asked her, looking at myself before putting on my seatbelt as she reached the freeway to head back to her place.

'You have black hair, for one, and last time I check, being like a stick isn't classed as baby fat', she answered as I flattened my stomach with my hand.

'That doesn't mean anything. Your family, you have to say that', I answered as she scoffed.

'When was the last time I was in contact with any of the family?' Letty laughed as turned off of the freeway sharply, causing me to grab the 'Oh shit' handle along the way. 'And why so worried about what Dom would think?'

'You stopped contact with everyone, because they didn't like your choice of a career', I smiled. That was the whole reason why I was here. I had done two years at a school called M.I.T.A. I studied panel beating and auto-mechanics. I came out here in the hope of getting a job, maybe with Letty maybe not, but I needed to get out of home.

'You didn't answer my question', Letty muttered as she pulled onto another street, this time a little more tame.

'What Question?' I asked, looking out the window.

'Why are you so worried about what…' Letty began as we pulled into a driveway.

'Jesse!' I shouted, getting out of the car and running at the guy that was previously bending over the hood of a car.

'James!' he exclaimed, grabbing a rag and wiping his hands as I jumped on him, wrapping my legs around his waist, not letting go. I had met Jesse when he, Mia Letty had come to visit me back home.

'How are you?' I smiled, pulling back from him as he smiled widely.

'I'm great, what are you doing here?' he asked, wiping his hands again as I hopped down and put my hands into my jean pockets.

'Get a job, new life maybe, not sure', I smiled as he nodded, 'I'm gonna head inside', I smiled as Letty gestured for me to follow her.

'Guys', Letty shouted into the house, 'Guys!'

'What?' someone shouted back as she indicated for me to follow her.

'Yo, Vince', Letty said, as I looked at a scruffy guy sitting on the couch, leaning forwards, 'this is my cousin, James'.

'Hey', he muttered, waving at me effortlessly as he continued watching a movie I had already seen.

'Uh, yeah, thanks for the almighty happy welcome', I said sarcastically as he waved at me effortlessly again.

'Vince, where's Dom and Leon?' Letty asked him.

'Dom, Leon and Mia are unpacking stuff at the café', Vince muttered as we headed back outside.

'Yo, Jesse, where are Dom and Leon?' Letty asked, walking down to her car.

'Uh, Mia's working at the Café and Dom and Leon are either at the Café or at the garage', Jesse yawned as he leant back over the car.

'Catcha later, Jesse', I shouted before jumping into the car beside Letty as she took off.

'How ya living, girl?' Letty said to Mia, as I sat down on a stool beside a guy with blonde hair and blue eyes. Letty headed into the back and leant against a doorframe.

'Hey Dom, want something to drink?' Letty asked, as the guy she was talking to lift up a can to show her he didn't need one.

'Hey, Mia', I smiled, shaking her hand over the counter.

'Hey, James', how's it hanging?' she asked.

'Well, thanks a lot, Mia, see you tomorrow', the guy said, throwing down his money on the plate he had eaten a sandwich off. He nodded at me before heading out from underneath the veranda type thing.

'Sure', Mia said before turning to talk to me.

'Yo! Try Fat-burger from now on, you can get yourself a Double Cheese with fries for 2.95, faggot', Vince had arrived, and obviously didn't enjoy the fact that this guy had been showing up everyday.

'I like the tuna here', the guy answered as he walked to his truck.

'Bullshit! No one likes the tuna here', Vince yelled, following him to the bright red truck with "Racers Edge" written on the door.

'Yeah, well, I do', he replied a moment before Vince pushed him from behind with all his weight.

He went face first into the side of the truck, face imprint on the window. He spun around connecting with the Vince's cheek using a sweet left hook. Vince came back around to ram him into the truck with a shoulder to the gut. The guy tried to push them away from the truck, trying to turn the tables as Vince continued to try and ram him. He was rammed back into the truck again, eventually before he brought his knee up into Vince's stomach and elbowed him in the back.

They wrestled each other to the ground, Vince hitting him two or three times in a row with a right hook. The guy rolled them getting back to their feet only to get rammed by Vince into one of the other cars. He got Vince onto the ground and was about to sock him with a right hook when the bald guy that Letty had talked to in the back of the Café, hauled the guy up and basically threw him up on the windshield of another car.

'Hey, man, he was in my face', He defended himself, hands held up impassively.

'I'm in your face', Dom told the guy, moving into his personal space. We all headed out, me standing next to what I assumed was Leon.

Vince chose that moment to try and strike again from behind the bald guy's back. He held Vince back though pushing him away towards the others behind him. 'Relax! Don't push it! You embarrass me!' Dom yelled, pointing a finger at him in warning. Leon pushed Vince down, but he came back, and only just viewing what had happened, I helped Leon push him back again.

'Jesse, give me his wallet', the bald guy told Jesse, who seemed to have turned up as well. That was when she noticed that the guy's billfold had fallen from his pocket during the fight. Jesse picked it up off the asphalt and handed it over to Dom who opened it up. 'Brian Earl Spilner, sounds like a serial killer name. Is that what you are?' he asked Brian.

'Nah, man', Brian denied.

'Don't come around here again!' Dom warned pointing a finger at him and thrusting his wallet back at him with his other hand.

'Hey, man, you know this is bullshit', Brian shouted, heatedly. Dom stopped pointing at him, anger clear on his features.

'You work for Harry, right?' he asked pointing, to the truck as he walked back over to Brian.

'Yeah. I just started', Brian replied, not sure whether he should've said that.

'You were just fired', Dom told him sternly before turning and heading towards Leon and I. Brian got into his car and sped away. Dom pushed Leon back towards the café.

'How ya going, James?' he asked me as I sat down on the stool as everybody headed inside.

'Uh, yeah, not to shabby actually', I answered, looking at him weirdly.

'That's Dom', Mia whispered to me as I looked at her.

'Thank you', I whispered in return smiling at her.

'What are you doing here?' Leon asked, sitting beside me.

'Find a job', I answered as Mia sat a can of Pepsi Max in front of me.

'In?' Mia asked for him.

'I've been studying Auto Mechanics and Panel beating. So I'm gunna look around for a place to apply for, got any starters?' I asked them, not really realising they had owned a garage till Dom spoke up.

'We need a good mechanic, any chance your up for it?' Dom asked, sitting back down in his chair at the back of the café.

'Any chance I'm getting paid for this?' I asked in a hopeful tone.

'Of course', Dom muttered before going back to what he had been doing before the commotion before.

'Then yeah, I'm up for it'.

Dom and the "gang" had told me they were going to this street race. Letty told me to go ahead first, they had to do some modifications to Dom's car. Giving me the keys to a car, she took me to her parent's old house down the street (which she still owns). She opened the garage door and I gasped. There sat a V8 Holden Monaro.

'I thought you could only get these in Australia', I gaped. My ex-boyfriend had moved to Australia and told me about the new car his parents had gotten. Taking the directions off of them, I took off.

I arrived not long after, stopping along the way to change out of the clothes that I had flown on the plane in. I changed into a pair of baggy skate jeans with a black tank top, hair held up by a big clip.

'Hey, hold up, hold up, look at this Snow White right here, man', I heard someone say as I pulled up. I looked over to see who had said it and found it to be a rather hefty man, but he wasn't talking to me. I found myself slightly amused that the guy from the café, Brian, I think his name was, happened to be at the same place, at the same time. 'Sweet ride. What you running under there, man?' the hefty guy asked Brian as I gave a smirk, hands stuffed into my front jean pockets, watching with interest. 'You gonna make me find out the hard way?' The guy asked him.

'Hell, yeah', Brian told him with a cocky smirk.

'Your brave, your brave, man, they call me Hector. I got a last name too, but I can't pronounce it, so…' He told Brian with a shrug.

'Brian Spilner', he replied offering his hand.

'Ah, typical white boy name. Know what I'm saying?' Hector told him shaking his hand, making him laugh.

'You see that over there?' Hector asked him point out his ride a sweet piece with the hood off so you could see just how hot he was packing. Brian looked over and saw me, obviously recognising me as he smiled and nodded at me. 'That's mine. It's my baby. But I ain't cuttin' her loose tonight', Hector told him leaning against the side of the car.

'Why not?' he asked him.

'Nah, its 'cause I'm going legit, man. Trying to get on the NIRA circuit. You heard about that?' Hector asked him.

'Oh, hell, yeah', he told him nodding. He looked up at me and stared as I walked over to look at his car.

'So what, what's up with you, man?' Hector asked him.

'I'm just waiting for Torreto', he told him.

'Shit. Better get in line', said an African American guy walking up to us a blue bandana tied around his forehead. 'This yours?' He asked motioning to me.

'Nah, man', Brian smiled, winking at me as I blushed.

'Then can I have her?' the guy asked, touching my ass. I turned around and sneered at him.

'In your dreams, fuck knuckle', I cursed at him as Hector and Brian laughed.

'Now, this yours?' the guy then asked motioning to Brian's car.

'Yeah. I'm standing next to it', Brian replied sarcastically.

'That's funny. You know, Edwin happens to know a few things. And one of the things Edwin knows is', Edwin started, but I smiled.

'It's not how you stand by your car. It's how you race your car, you better learn that', I laughed at him. That was when they heard the motors, five cars making an entrance.

'Oh, shit. Here they come. It's on', Edwin said clapping his hands together once excitedly. They parked, Dom and the rest getting out girls flinging themselves at Dom. He seemed to tolerate them out of amusement really being playful and flirtatious but not serious with them.

'Hey', I muttered walking over to Mia.

'Hey, girl', Mia smiled, as I stood beside her.

'Once race. Two-G buy-in. Winner takes all', Dom instructed them. 'Hector, you're going to hold the cash'.

'Why Hector?' One of the male Asian drivers racing asked, handing his money over.

''Cause he's too slow to make away with the money, man'; I laughed at Edwin as he handed over his own money. Edwin got a chuckle and a glare from Hector, people in the crowd 'Oohing' his statement.

'Okay, good luck guy's', Dom told them getting ready to take off.

'Hey, wait. Hold up', Brian called out. 'I don't have any cash, but I do have the pink slip to my car', he told them stepping up and pulling it from his pocket.

'Hey, you can't just climb in the ring with Ali 'cause you think you box', Jesse said to him.

'He knows I can box', he told him pointing over to Vince sitting on his car. 'So check it out, it's like this. I lose, the winner takes my car, clean and clear. But if I win, I take the cash, and I take the respect', he told them.

People laughed mocking his declaration of 'taking the respect' obviously not thinking much of it. 'To some people, that's more important', he told us.

'That your car?' He asked him motioning to it. We moved over to it as Jesse popped the hood and I took inventory while others in the crowed 'Ahed' and 'Oohed' at it.

'I see a cool-air intake'; I started.

'It's got a NOS-fogger system and a T-four turbo, Dominic', Jesse continued.

'I see an A.I.C. controller. It has direct port nitrous injection', I muttered before Dom finished.

'Yeah, and a stand-alone fuel management system, not a bad way to spend $10,000', Dominic approved.

'You see that shit?' Edwin asked Dom after getting a closer look under his hood. 'He's got enough NOS in there to blow himself up, period'.

'Yeah', Dom replied glancing over at him.

'So, what do you say? Am I worthy?' Brian asked Dom.

'We don't know yet. But you're in', Dom told him. 'Let's go'.

We all pulled out taking off to the location for tonight's race butterflies swarming in my stomach. The drive took longer then I liked I was eager to see the race. They lined up, Brian stopping a little too short of the start line.

It was on Brian pulling out a little behind all the other racers as the race started. He passed up Edwin and the Asian guy with his first hit of NOS and then hit his last shot of NOS passing Dom up. He was nearly to the finish line when Dom's car shot over it ahead of his. I couldn't believe Dom had won, I couldn't believe Brian had almost won!

Brian pulled up shortly after the others stepping out, unable to wipe the smile off his face even though he lost.

'Was that fun?' Jesse asked him scoldingly pulling me over to pop the hood. Smoke billowed out the crowd 'oohing' the condition of his engine when it did.

'What are you smiling about?' Dom asked Brian incredulously.

'Dude, I almost had you', he said pointing over at Dom. I snorted with laughter as Jesse and I continued to check for defaults.

'You almost had me?' Dom repeated mockingly pointing over at Brian and then himself. 'You never had me. You never had your car!' Dom told him, the crowd 'Oohing' around them. 'Granny shifting, not double clutchin' like you should', Dom told him walking around him and circling the car. 'You're lucky that hundred-shot of NOS didn't blow the welds on the intake. Almost had me?' He questioned a guy in the crowd mockingly, pointing at his own chest.

'Now me and the mad scientist's here, gotta rip apart the block and replace the piston rings you fried. Ask any racer, and real racer. It don't matter if you win by an inch or a mile. Winnings winning', Dom told him the crowd cheering around him.

That was when the cry went out, cops were on their way everyone scrambling for their cars. I was worried as shit as I jumped in my car, Mia jumping in beside me as I sped off for safety.

'Up here', she whispered as I pulled up into an abandoned car park. The cop cars screeched passed and I pulled further up, right to the top.

'Isn't that Dom's car?' I asked as I had switched off my headlights but still saw the bright red car parked at the far end.

'Yeah, but no Dom', Mia muttered as I pulled up beside it. Another car pulled up into the top story and I found it to be Letty. Next thing Leon and Vince pulled up in their respective cars and Jesse wasn't far behind.

'Hey', I smiled as I got out and greeted Leon. He was the first to get out and didn't look too happy.

'I just saw Dom running', Leon assured