Not for you (FIN)

Back in my trailer, the door locked for the first time when I was inside, I found myself crying on the bed.

What the hell was up with me? What had I done? Wanting Dom, not wanting Dom... keeping him, not keeping him... believing him, not believing him...

I felt the urgent need to hook the trailer to my damn car and get out of this place, back to New York, back on a plane, back to Germany. Just off and away from all this confusion.

Someone was knocking on my door. I didn't mind and pulled the pillow over my head.

Seconds later someone was knocking on the window behind the bed; looking up, I saw Michael. Gods. Just another one I didn't need right now. He pointed at the door. Sighing I dried my tears and unlocked it, then went back to my bed.

He came in, took the computer chair, rolled it to the bed and sat down looking at me.

"What the hell is that sad face about, hmmm?" He said softly, laying his hands on my knees.

"None of your business, Michael. See that you get your ass moving, as far as I understood the others are about to drive to Mexico."

"You're not coming with... us?" He took his time to speak that last word out, and in some way it was as if a needle had been pinned through my heart. I pushed his hands from my knees.

"Don't think I have a reason any more. I'll go back to New York and take the plane home."

"What about... the team? Racing? You know, the stuff you love..."

"Well I know you won't understand this but I just don't want that at the moment."

"Oh, perhaps I understand more than you think. I watched you and Dom two days, but this morning, you both behaved different. What the hell did he do to you?"

"Gods, Michael, he did nothing. Uhm, that's not entirely true. We both did something. And then I fucked up. You should know this scheme, happened to you and me too."

"You're not telling me that you slept with him and then decided to forget about it, right?"

"Well, yes, that sums it up pretty well!" I shouted.

"And he... wasn't happy about it?"

"Not really, I guess." Which, of course, was a mild understatement. Not tempt you with any more ice cream... the words together with the face that had said them were still in my mind.

"Shit, Dana, I knew it. Just of course that I didn't expect it that way."

"No you didn't. Happened just last night."

"No I meant I knew that you'd try to run again. Hell, get over that problem of yours. These guys are really nice people, and that should mean something if it's said by someone who wanted to kill them all just two days ago. They don't deserve being fooled around with."

"Michael, I'm not fooling around. You don't even know half the story, don't you dare judge over me."

"Oh, I know you, that's enough." He laughed sarcastically and got up. "You know what, Dana? I'm really good hearted and all against brutal force. But sometimes, just sometimes I'm in fact for forcing people if it's for their own good."

"Huh?" I said from the bed, watching him go to the door slowly.

"Nice trailer." He said while looking around. "Beautiful windows. It's a pity you never thought about rebuilding them in a way that they could be opened."

While I was still frowning about what he said, he had already grabbed my keys, ran out of the door and before I could even get up, the door was locked from the outside.

"Michael!" I shouted, jumped up and ran to the door, mistreating it with my fists. "Michael, let me out of here! I swear, if you don't let me, I'll kill you!"

"Sorry, Dana, a man's got to do what a man's got to do... for his friends." He said, then I heard footsteps leading away from the trailer.

I groaned out loud and sat down on the floor before the kitchen counter. Why the hell had I let him get into my fucking trailer? Now I was trapped, congratulations. Well, I thought, He can't leave me in here forever. He will have to let me out before they drive to Mexico. And when he does... I'll jump into his face and scratch the skin off it... slowly, torturous...

For quite some time nothing happened. Then, about half an hour later, I heard a car outside. I looked through the back window and saw nothing; I ran to the front window and just saw Michael get into my car and drive away.

OOOHHH! I would not just scratch the skin off his face, I would in fact kill him. Where did he bring my car?

Then, when I was already about to turn around, I saw Vince and Leon driving Dom's Supra backwards to my trailer and when they were close enough, they both got out.

I hammered with my fists against the window. "Vince! Let me out!"

He just looked at me, grinned, shook his head and started to hook the trailer up to the Supra.

My eyes grew wide. "Vince!" I shouted. "That's kidnapping! Ohhh, just wait until I get out. I'll kill all of you!"

"Not going to happen!" He shouted back with a grin that looked as if a child had just gotten his favorite toy. "You just go back to bed, we have some hours of driving before us."

"Vince!!!"

"Bye Dana, see you later!" He winked, and he and Leon - who hadn't looked at me a single time - got back into the car and drove off - with my trailer and myself attached to their back.

When the trailer started to move, I tumbled backwards to the computer, then found myself sliding towards the bed when they took a sharp turn.

I was incredibly angry, but what options did I have? For the moment I had none, except of tearing the interior of my trailer apart, which I didn't really want.

So I just fell back into my bed, put my arms behind my head and grumbled at the ceiling.

A good hour later I found that we were at the Mexican border. Ah, I thought, now I'll get out.

Well, that's what I thought.

Obviously Vince and Leon knew those guys and we passed without any kind of control. Shit, what the hell were they up to?

It took another two hours until the car and trailer came to a halt near a small wooden house. On the way I had seen nothing but desert, a few stray houses but all of them definitely not in a short walking distance. Shit!

The trailer was pushed backwards under a tree before the house, probably to make the temperature in here bearable. The two ignored all my protests through the front window, disconnected car and trailer and walked over to the house.

A woman appeared in the doorframe of the house, a small child on her arm.

Oh shit. That was Letty.

She pointed at the trailer and asked Vince something. Vince looked over his shoulder to me, laughed and said something to her. Letty took a long frowning stare at Vince, then at the trailer, then back at Vince and laughed; Vince just grinned. She gave the child to Leon, then she and Vince slowly came over to the trailer, both limping; Letty a bit more than Vince. They never stopped talking to each other but just as when they stood by the door, I couldn't hear what they were exactly saying.

I was leaning to the window, watching them approach slowly, both leaning to each other. What an image, and a sad one at that.

Finally they stopped about three yards from my front window and looked at me. "You okay in there?" Vince shouted.

"Open the door and I'll show you how okay I am by jumping into your face." I grumbled. Letty laughed and looked at Vince. "I say she can need some more time in there." She said, winking at me.

That was the moment when another car rolled towards the house - Dom's SUV, in it Dom and Michael. What the hell...

They both got out and strolled towards the trailer, both having their eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses. Dom greeted Letty with a hug, and Michael got the same kind of hug from her after he was introduced. Then they, too, looked at me.

"What's that here, a goddamn zoo?" I shouted through the window.

"Well, the idea of a lion's cage comes to mind, yes." Michael grinned.

"Let me OUT!"

Michael and Dom looked at each other for a moment, then shook their heads simultaneously, still grinning. Dom said something to Letty and both went back to the house; the others were busy attaching a water line to the trailer.

"See, we care much for your well-being!" Vince shouted cheerfully.

"Fuck you, Vince." I growled and just fell back into the bed.

About an hour later I heard the sound of the next car rolling to the house. Looking through the window I saw Brian with his Skyline.

Where the hell was my car? And Michael's? And the others that were missing, including the trailers? Brian didn't even take a look at the trailer but stormed right into the house. Even from that distance I could see that he was upset.

Another hour later I head a knock on my door. I looked to the window and Vince was standing there; a move he could have impossibly performed at that speed; there had to be another person by the door.

Vince smiled at me behind the window and crooked his finger. "Come here, kittykitty... to the window... kittykitty..."

"Fuck you." I shouted and pouted at the floor before the kitchen space where I was standing.

"Well, you came up with the idea of a zoo. You want to eat? Then come to the window so that we can open the door for a moment."

"I say my lust for freedom is bigger than my hunger." I said.

"Girl, let me get in. It's me, Letty." A female voice said from the door.

"Oh, just get in any time you feel like it!" And don't you wonder if I just run over you as soon as you unlock the door, I thought.

"Not if you're anywhere near the door."

"Come, Letty, she needs more time in there." Vince shouted. "And I don't want to delay my own lunch any more. It's almost afternoon, damn it!"

Through the window I could see them walk back to the house, Letty was carrying a plate.

I have to get out of here, I though. No matter how, I have to get out.

Then I had an idea.

I don't know how much time it took, but I broke three of my kitchen knives when removing the screws from the frame that held the Plexiglas dome above my bed and another two forks when pricking the glued frame down. Eventually the frame came crashing down - just that the also glued dome stayed in place.

I remembered the time when I had installed it - that thing up there was heavy; I had strong doubts that I would be able to hold it once it would come off.

Damn, this had taken so long to install, and now I was ripping it apart; but the screws of the windows were all outside so this was my only way out.

I went back to the kitchen, grabbed a small pan and used the edges to prick the edges of the dome down. Eventually it came off, crashing onto my bed, on its way crashing down on my knee, tearing the trousers apart and taking a good piece of my knee's skin and flesh with it. I suppressed a howl, holding my knee in pain. A large amount of blood was streaming from it, dripping all over the bed and the floor.

Shit.

I took off my trousers, ripped them to pieces and used the strips to bandage my knee. Then I grabbed the bag with my clothes that was still there from Houston, took another pair of trousers, put them on, took the racing money from my kitchen's drawer, packed it into the bag and climbed up to the roof of my trailer.

Where to go? Back to the road was probably the best idea. Shit, my car. I wanted my car back; but without asking them I would never find out where it was; and it was so out of question to ask. Perhaps I could call Michael from somewhere and ask him - but not right now.

I took my bag and, hiding behind bushes and trees, walked back to the road.

I had no idea how long I had been walking; an hour perhaps. It seemed longer to me. I cursed the fact that I had forgotten to take any water with me; my throat burned. Thinking of it I realized that I had nothing to drink since the morning. I hid from any car that passed; once I saw Brian's skyline fly by, first in one, then back in the other direction.

My knee was hurting like hell; blood was seeping through my trousers. Just good that they're black, I thought; if they had any other color, anyone who see me would be thoroughly shocked.

I heard a sound and, in the distance, saw another car approaching. Hiding behind a tree I watched it coming nearer. The color was golden - so definitely none of the team's cars. I took a deep breath, stepped back to the road and extended my thumb.

The golden car was a Honda and it stopped right beside me. The window was lowered.

"Hola." Said the Hispanic-looking driver.

"Uhm - hola. Say, do you speak English? My Spanish is not the best."

"Sure! Where do you want to go?" The guy asked.

"New York." I mumbled. "Or the nearest airport that can get me there."

"Airport is in the other direction."

"Never mind, I'll look for someone else to drive."

"But I can bring you there." He said. "I'm just cruising around anyway. Not that I would want to cruise to New York, though." He laughed.

"Can't blame you for that." I laughed back, opened the door, threw my bag on the back seat and got in. "Hi, I'm Dana."

"Hi Dana, I'm Hector."