Be All, End All

Compared to the week Darynn brought her truck home, the next couple weeks were mostly uneventful. She and the team settled into a routine again with nothing ‘stirring the kool-aid’ too much.

She picked out a computer system for the shop and then let the guy who delivered it set it up and explain it to Low and Dom. She saw Dom eyeing her from the office door a couple of times while the guy was there, but she didn’t join them.

Her truck was taking a lot of her time and a lot of her money. To get the lift to truly be a ‘monster’ she sent it out to have a sub-frame installed to the chassis. Then it needed new axles and drive shaft, shocks, brakes, suspension, wheels, and the all important TSL Super Swampers measuring 44 x 18.5. New headlights and driving lights on the cab’s roof, brake lights, chrome grille guard, and winch. The motor was raw power on its own, but working with three metal heads she wasn’t going to get to leave it stock. Cool air intake, performance chip, and a four-inch chrome exhaust was all she’d let them do. The interior was just as pricey. Stereo, amp and speakers, most having to be custom mounted, a new instrument panel in the dash, a mounted Alpine touch screen with DVD, CD, MP3, and GPS. In the back of the driver’s and passenger seat headrest she mounted LCD screens, each connected to the center DVD player, individual CD and MP3 players, and a shared X-Box mounted in the back of the center console.

Painted black with midnight blue paint flecks in it, it shined brilliantly in the California sun and Darynn found she couldn’t look at the beast without grinning. A total of twenty-two inches of lift between the suspension and body lift. The tires with a diameter just over 43 inches didn’t quite clear the bottom of the panel. Over three and a half feet to the floorboard. She’d only had to try to get in once by herself before she mounted handles and a self-retracting drop-down ladder below all four doors. They were barely visible when retracted.

Despite their initial reservations about her truck she got help with it. She’d needed help. No way she could do some of the work by herself. Low just helped by ordering parts for her, getting her deals on some of the stuff. And at turns Gregg, Leon and Vince helped, individually or sometimes together. Only Dom refused to lend a hand, and at times he made it blatantly clear that he was choosing not to. The truck didn’t fit into the garage after the suspension had been added, so they had to work on it outside the garage, and always it was after they’d finished in the shop for the day. Darynn kept them supplied with beer and food and they were happy to help.

Several times Dom would pass them, watching them and then continue on to the house. Whatever. The cab only seated four and she already had a fifth wheel. Ha! Pun intended!

Help with labor, but all the money was her own. Buying thousands of dollars worth of parts was breaking her small savings and keeping her busy. The more work she did, the more money she’d have to put into her truck. So when Dom asked them to stop early one night she was a bit aggravated.

He was waiting for them at the bay door as they washed up. By the time they finished Low had joined him, handing him a piece of paper. Curiosity lead them all to group around them.

“What’s up, dawg?” Leon asked.

Gregg was speaking at the same time, “Yeah, man, why we cuttin’ out early?”

Dom seemed to check that they were all there before he spoke. “We’ve got a bit of a problem. Remember that ’90 Civic CRX?”

Darynn moaned dramatically loud, “Mmmm, yeah. I remember that little bitch. It was hot.”

She had all their attention for a few seconds. Dom raised a brow at her before he spoke again, drawing attention back to him, “Yeah, well, the fucker owning ‘that little bitch’,” he gave Darynn a long look as he quoted her, “ain’t payin’ up.”

“How long has it been?”

“…can’t do that.”

“Pay him a visit.”

They were all talking at once. Except Darynn. Guy didn’t pay for a couple of weeks and they were going to beat his ass? That didn’t sound like an especially good business practice.

Dom was waiting until they’d quieted to speak. Darynn spoke into the bit of silence. “How’s this system work?”

They were all staring at her, different degrees of hostility showing her that she’d offended them, and that they’d been reminded of how new she was.

“Our system as you call it doesn’t allow customers to go without paying for more than a month,” Dom informed her.

“Thirty days? Four weeks? From the day of drop-off or pick-up?”

The hostility was growing. Dom even shuffled his weight back and forth. “Darynn, this isn’t an exact science. Customer doesn’t pay, you don’t get paid. How do you feel about that?”

She shrugged, “I agree, I’d like to get paid, but thugging the guy ain’t going to put quarters in my pocket. Not to say that if anything goes wrong it could put cuffs on my wrists. I would just think there’s be more diplomatic ways to try first.”

“Low has contacted repeatedly, left messages and demanded payment. Guy’s not paying.”

She shrugged and bit her lip.

His eyes narrowed at her, “What, Rynn?” he nearly yelled.

“This guy mechanically inclined?”

Gregg huffed out an impatient sigh, “Fuck this, Dom. Rule’s a rule.”

Darynn scowled at him before looking back at Dom. “Diplomatic, like the mob does. You know how many shop owners? How many racers we friends with? We put out the word on this guy. Ruin his reputation. He won’t be getting work done in any shop worth going to. Let everyone know when we’re coming for this guy. Give him two weeks or something. Then go draw blood. We already don’t have the money. What will it hurt to wait another week or two?”

“I didn’t think you’d be arguing against beating his ass,” Dom said, his look said he almost doubted she was serious.

“I’m not. I just think having a reputation for being hard should come after the reputation of being fair. And the result will be the same. What happens when we beat his ass, but ain’t got the money? We threaten to do it again?” She shrugged, “We should threaten first, then follow through. Lot less messy.”

While she’d talked Leon and Low looked to be the most agreeable with her idea. Vince looked unconvinced, but wasn’t voicing his opinion. Gregg was dead set against it, which didn’t make sense at all because he hadn’t been one of the ones working on the car so wasn’t out any money. It was her and Vince, and Dom and Low that would profit from the job.

“Fuck that shit. Show this guy what we can do and it’ll show the next guy that ain’t in a hurry to pay.”

Dom stood with head down rubbing his forehead with two fingers. Finally he stood straight again and nodded, “We’ll do it Darynn’s way.” He held a hand out to stop Gregg’s outburst. “Four weeks or six won’t make much difference. If you’re lucky you’ll still get to beat his ass.”

Gregg huffed and left the garage, kicking over the trash barrel on his way by.

“G’s got some issues,” Leon said softly.

“Yeah,” Dom murmured. “If it comes down to findin’ the guy keep Gregg off him. He’ll fuck the guy seriously just to make a point.”

Gregg didn’t talk to Darynn for the next ten days. Rumors flew about what they were intending. Either Dom or Low seemed to be alerting every garage they knew of. But still the guy didn’t call or show.

Time ran out on a Thursday.

“That truck runnin’?” Dom asked her as they were getting close to winding up their day.

She stood, rubbing the ache in her lower back, and nodded. “Tonight?”

He just nodded and walked away. When they’d finished washing up an hour later he was waiting for them again. Gregg was giving her a smug smile as they gathered around Dom once again.

“Darynn was right with her plan, but obviously this guy don’t know what’s good for him. We’ll take her truck.”

They locked up and left. Gregg and Vince sat on the back, the rest climbed into the high cab. As soon as she started the engine Dom was putting the guy’s address into the GPS.

“Will he be there?” she asked as the truck took to the pavement.

“He’ll be somewhere,” was all he said.

It was starting to get dark when they rolled up the street the guy lived on. Streetlights were coming on and several lights were on outside the single-story house with attached carport. No need for a parking spot, Darynn took the curb and parked her truck in the center of the front yard.

They all bailed, but as they were reaching the front door they heard a muffled yell, “I’m in the carport!”

Rounding the corner of the house, Dom pointed to feet sticking out from under the car they’d had in their shop just weeks before. Vince was the one to grab the guy’s leg and yank him out.

“Woah!” the guy yelled, his hands coming up in a defensive gesture. He blinked up at them for a few seconds, “Toretto?” He started climbing to his feet. The wrench in his hand kept them all back a step until he was on his feet. “Dude, whatcha doin’ here?”

Dom looked fierce. Darynn enjoyed watching him. She was intimidated and she wasn’t the target. “You owe on the work we did,” he growled into the guy’s face.

The guy looked confused, “No, man, I paid that. Sent the check like a month ago. I was gonna stop by and say thanks. Car’s runnin’ better than ever. I jus’ been kinda busy this week.”

Darynn hid a smile behind her hand. Dom didn’t look fazed by the guy’s ignorant act, but the others were looking at each other. The guy was either really dopey or a consummate liar.

“I wouldn’t be here if I had the money,” Dom told him, his voice still low and dangerous.

The guy looked confused again. Now his eyes started traveling to the other menacing faces before him. “Well, that’s just not right.” He took out his wallet, his eyes still flitting back and forth. “Well, I guess I can just give you the cash and I’ll call the bank to…”

A piece of paper fell out of his wallet, fluttering to the concrete floor. Since Darynn was the closest to it in height, she bent down to retrieve the little paper. As soon as she had it she saw what it was, a check. She unfolded it as she stood. ‘Toretto’ was written in the ‘Pay to the order of’ line.

Instead of handing it back to the customer, she handed it to Dom. He scowled, but took it. A second later he spoke, “Mailed it?”

“Shit. I never mailed it?” He looked up at the ceiling for a second as if thinking. “That’s right. I was going to drop it off in person, but then my wife’s car was acting up. I completely forgot.” The man looked sincerely sorry, and still more than a bit scared.

Darynn was openly smiling now. That their planned retribution had fallen apart in the face of the man’s mistake was quite funny.

“Shut up, Darynn,” Dom snapped at her. Then to the man, “You’re going to take a little ride with us. If you have the money withdraw it. I’m not leaving here with a check that could be bad.”

The guy was nodding instantly, “Yeah, man, of course. My mistake. No problem.” He shoved his wallet back in his pocket and grabbed up his keys. “Let me go tell my wife where I’m goin’.”

He was in the house for maybe two minutes. Now Leon joined Gregg and Vince on the back of the truck. The guy was very impressed with her truck, but she let the compliments go. Dom was sternly silent.

Their trip only took five minutes or so. The guy hopped out to run to the ATM and was back in just a minute, a wad of cash in his hand. He climbed back in, panting from his jog and climb. “Here it is. Sorry about that. I woulda been there right away if I’da remembered that I forgot.”

Dom nodded, silently counting the bills he’d been handed. When he finished Darynn was nearly back at the guy’s house. He pocketed the cash and handed the check back to the guy. “I don’t like that we had to look you up to collect on a job. But I understand that it was an accident. We’ll still welcome your business in the future.” They shook hands and the guy climbed out, apologizing again.

The drive back to the shop was silent. Low tried to speak once, but was met my silence so didn’t try again. At the house the guys jumped out of the back of the truck and took off. Low got out, leaving Dom and Darynn just sitting there.

Minutes went by before Dom finally spoke, “You were right.”

“I was right and wrong.” He looked at her and she continued, “The point was to be diplomatic. Instead of running over there ready to kick asses and not listen. In this case the strategy of waiting a week or two didn’t matter. Guy was so flighty it didn’t make any difference.”

“We got the money and no one got hurt. That wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t spoken up,” he insisted.

She shrugged. They could argue forever on how any other scenario would have gone. “It doesn’t matter, Dom. It’s settled.”

He just nodded and was silent for another minute before climbing out.