Chapter Text
The Toretto's house had been my safehaven for as long as I can remember. I hated being at my house. Mom was always bringing some new guy home. There was a new one every week. And every week, I got the same "Leticia, I think this guy is the one, so BEHAVE!"
After she brought Steve home, I was ready to leave. After Chuck had proposed to her, I knew I had to leave.
That was when I found the Torettos
It was summer, so I didn't have to worry about school. I packed a bag with, clothes, some food, and what money I could find.
I left before mom and Chuck got up. As I climbed out my window, I wasn't thinking about where I was going to go, or where I was going to sleep, I was wondering if mom would give a shit about me leaving. If she would even notice. I knew Chuck wouldn't care. He was always bitching about how she spent too much time with me and not enough fucking him.
I left about 8:30 in the morning. Mr. Toretto was already in his garage. Working on a car. I had heard about him. Everyone had. So I stopped for a second. Just watching him.
A few minutes passed, i had zoned out. I was about to keep going when I noticed him watching me. I froze. He just kind of chuckled to himself and motioned me closer. For some odd reason. I went. I slowly walked up the drive and up to the garage. By the time I got there, he had gone back to working on the car. A black '70 Charger.
I stood by the door for about a minute, unsure if I should go in or not, bag still slung over my shoulder. Ready to run if necessary.
"Just leave your bag by the door and come on in. I don't bite. Much."
His words. Not scary in and of themselves, startled me. I hadn't expected him to say anything. After the initial shock wore off and I got semi-comfortable, I ventured forth into the garage. I wandered around, looked at all the tools, stopping every now and again to ask what this was for or what that did, and every time Mr. Toretto would answer. He let me explore, inhaling the scent of motor oil and grease for about half an hour before he spoke again.
"What's your name kid?"
"Leticia. But don't call me that. I go by Letty"
We fell back into a companionable silence.
"You like cars?"
Again, I jumped. Took a second to compose myself before answering.
"I like to look at them, but I don't know how to fix them."
"Come over here. I'll show you"
By this time I wasn't scared he was going to send me home, so I quickly maneuvered my way over to him. He spent the better part of an hour showing me the different parts of the engine, explaining what each one did and why it was important. After I got the basics down, he moved on to the more complicated parts.
Around 10, Mr. Toretto asked why I was running away. When I hesitated he apologized for prying and told me I didn't have to tell him, but the thing was, I wanted to. So I told him. Everything. And he just sat there, still working on his car, but just listening. He would grunt every now and again.
After I had laid out my life for him, he turned, looked at me, and gathered me up in a hug. It was unexpected, but nice.
What he said to me after that, I would never forget. I still remember his EXACT words to this day.
"Letty. What you just told me made me want to go hurt someone. And i'm not usually a violent person. I would hate for you to be out on the streets where God only knows what could happen to you. There's a guest bedroom in the house you can have. It's up the stairs, first door on the left. Go in and put your things away and then come back out and I'll teach you more about cars.