The lights are bright and the air is dense with summer California heat. The fumes of smog choke the air out of it’s quality. The streets are empty save for a lone car. Sleek, clean and having red lights solid underneath the frame of the car. The paint is black, grey and white stripes. Black rims with a black fish tail spoiler. The driver pulls up and he parks the car. The brake lights flash red before he shuts the engine off. He grabs the handle and the car door lifts up like a wing on a metal bird. A foot with a black boot steps out onto the hot gravel of the pavement in the City Of Angels. He laughs as he sits his other leg out, looking down at his smartphone. Cigarette lit, a Newport menthol. He looks up at the sky. His black hair rustling in the wind. He is used to mid-west humidity but can start to get used to this environment. He is wearing a black t-shirt and some black denim jeans. Simple yet stylish. He shakes his head looking around as he begins looking at the gang markings among the walls. He appears to be in Chinatown. There is nothing but closed Poga like shops and storefronts. Out of nowhere, his phone begins to ring. The ringtone is “We Own It”. He laughs at the name he saved the number under in his contacts. It saids “Hector Chalupa”. He slides his finger across the screen with a smile and puts the smartphone up to his ear as he leans against his car.


“Sup Mid-west Justin Bieber?”


“Man I can’t call it. Why are you always late man? I been up here waiting for almost thirty minutes.”


“My bad homes. I had to get the kid to bed and my amiga started bugging out so I can’t come meet you. But I got Edwin on his way over to you right now. You sure you ready to meet Dominic Toretto? Last white boy to mingle with Dominic I never seen him again.”


“You let me worry about that Hector. I’m ready as ever can be. I just can’t believe I got to give you money for this information.”


“It’s strictly business Eduardo. It’s nothing personal. I gotta make my ends meet. After all Dominic would kill me knowing I gave up his whereabouts. So don’t go telling Toretto I let the cheese melt outside the burrito essa.”


“I got this Hector. Thanks man.”


“No problem Justin Bieber.”

Edward hangs up the cellphone returning it to his pocket. He looks around and starts to stare at the Los Angeles skyline off in the distance. He hasn’t even been here three months and already leaving. His feelings of anxiousness creep up on him about meeting Dominic Toretto. He begins thinking about how is Dom. What’s he about? Who is Dominic Toretto? Why did he leave Los Angeles? His thoughts are interrupted by the sound of a loud engine revving up as it parks next to his Skyline. The car is a red Honda Civic tricked out crazy. White lights light up under the car as the system is rattling his own car windows. The car shuts off as the door opens and out steps Edwin in a blue jean outfit. Cornrows going down the the back of his head. Small, neat and not sloppy. A blue banana tied in the front. He slams the car door and Edwin has a look of uncertainty on his face. He walks toward Edward slowly as obviously he towers over Edwin. He circles around Edward looking him up and down before stopping in front of him. Edward is giving him a dirty confused facial expression.


“How do I know you're not a cop?”


“Your name is Edwin right?”


“Yeah, but let Edwin tell you a few things before we get this started.”


“Dominic is not a game. These streets, are still Dominics. Edwin knows that in order for you to be the man you got to beat the man. And the man is Dominic. So white boy it’s like this. I tell you where Dominic is, I didn’t tell you. Edwin don’t know nothing. Edwin don’t wanna know nothing because Niggas die behind snitching and all that crazy shit Dominic is into. Edwin doesn’t do that you dig?”


“I got you man. So how much?”


“The information is gonna cost you 10,000 dollars nigga.”


Edward looks at Edwin with a determined look and Edward extends his hand out toward Edwin. Edwin looks down at the hand and then up at Edward in his cold blue eyes. They locked eyes for a moment. The exchange is a battle of egos. A common street code to determine that everyone is on the same page. Edwin shakes his hand and Edward makes a firm grip. Locking eyes with Edwin.


“You know I don’t play Edwin. It’s in my trunk.”

“Okay white boy.”


Edward releases his firm hand shake as he hits the unlock button on his keys as the trunk opens, there is a system in there, some NOS tanks and a custom blue light lettering attached to the underside of the Trunk hood that saids “King Of The Mid-West”. Edward grabs the bag of money and throws it near Edwin’s feet. He places his hands in his pockets looking intently at Edwin. Edwin bends down and unzips the bag and sees the cold crisp bills. He pulls a few stacks out and looking at them. He smiles with a slight laugh that Edwin is known for. He zips the bag back up and begins to try and to walk away to put it in his trunk. In a flash of speed Edward has already removed his hands from his pockets with a look of seriousness he grabs Edwin’s arm and turns him around.


“Information first.”


“Damn, it’s like that?”


“Like your boy Hector said, it’s just business playa.”


Edwin laughs and shakes his head in agreement. He reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out a card and hands it to Edward. Edwin opens the trunk of his putting the bag in the trunk. Edward is busy scanning the card. It reads “Dominic Toretto”. “Monte Carlo”, “The Batcave” and a phone number. Edward taps the card sliding it into his pocket. Edwin gives Edward some fist dap.


“Sir….Sir..”


Edward is seen snapping out of his daydream. He removes his headphones and looks at the lady. He is on an airplane. Firstclass. It’s cozy. Comfortable. The lady in front of him is of Brazilian descent. Edward smiles at her as he studies her facial expressions. She did have a look of annoyance covering her features. She opens her mouth again.


“Would you like anything sir?”


“No ma’am. Thank you.”


“Okay, enjoy your flight.”


She scurries away. He looks out the window at the blue sky. He has emotions of excitement, fear and wondering what the unknown will bring. He closes his eyes and lays his head back on the headrest. Trying to find peace in the comfort of the ride on an airplane. His eyes stay closed.


“Dominic Toretto….”

The jets cool as the massive structure of the airplane eases to a stop. The change of venues and placement over the last couple of years has been crazy. Edward has never even dreamed of leaving the United States Of America. Never even thought he’d be doing it for a person he never even laid eyes on before. He is sitting in his seat, he is kind of nervous of this new adventure. Good old Ohio boy gone abroad. He laughs to himself at the idea of not KNOWING the native language. His black hair slicked back and neat. Smooth criminal in his all black dress pants with some black boots and a black sleeveless t-shirt. He is resting in the comfortable first class of Delta Airlines. Man, it’s good to have money and be free. Three hots and cot for three years will make you restless to confined spaces. Not to mention crappy food and smelly men twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. The loudspeaker buzzes before the voice of the male pilot pipes over the intercom to the passengers. His voice is deep and smooth.



“Welcome to the fabulous Monte Carlo! I hope you enjoyed your flight!”


Edward smiled as he unfasten his seat-belt and slide it back into it’s crevice. Edward stood up stretching. He looked around as he as he begins walking down the carpet lanes within the airplane. The wide open door has a ramp-way that leads down to the airport. He steps onto the ramp as the weather changes from air conditioned cool air to brisk warm tropical air. Edward Beatty walks down the ramp looking at the native people surrounding him. He reaches the concourse, and follows the signs to the baggage claim. He watches the various bags move off the turn-belt. He grabs his black leather suitcase and sits it down. He pulls the handle up and grabs the handle. Walking through the massive airport. He comes across a sign that reads “Airport Exit”. The sign shows an arrow pointing to the left and the words “Carport”. The airport has a laid-back feel and music playing of a simple kind. Not that Edward even cares to notice. The automatic doors open and Edward Beatty steps out into warm environment known as Monte Carlo. He looks around. Nothing but ocean as far the eye can see off in the distance. Nice big palm trees kinda like back in Los Angeles, California. Edward Beatty loves the feel of the breeze of the air coming off the ocean, even though it’s warm brings a slight chill to his skin. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his white Samsung Galaxy 3 smart phone. He also reaches into his back pocket to pull out the card Edwin have given him back in Los Angeles two days ago. Edward pulls up the dialing pad, entering the number and pressing call. A few moments go by



“Sorry, this number is no longer in working service. Code 443”.


Edward redials the number making sure he dialed it right. The same recording playing in his ear with a female’s voice. His face contorted into an angry look as a passerby coming out of the airport looks confused at his facial expression but keeps walking. He hangs up the phone placing it back into his black jeans front pocket. Shaking his head he places his hands on his hips and begins thinking to himself. Did Hector and Edwin set me up? Was it all a lie. Edwin even shook on it. His anger begin to rise. He shook his head again as he slides the card back into his back pocket. Edward begins to follow the arrow sign that was pointing to the carport. It was along a side-way lined with palm trees as tall as the eye can see. His hair blowing with the wind coming off the ocean. He walks about four hundred feet before reaching the carport. He eyes his lavish Nissan Skyline 370z sitting there, the sunlight gleaming off the fresh paint design. His white Nissan Maxima parked next to it. He walks up to his Skyline and leans against it. He pulls out a map of the area and lays it out over the hood of it car surveying different parts of the area.



“Dominic Toretto. If I was Dominic Toretto where would I be at?”


He scans the map closely. His eyes squinting to look at the streets. He noticed the downtown area. And some very interesting landmarks. He quickly looks at his time and does realize he needs to make a move soon. He pulls out his car keys, clicking the unlock button as his car makes a beep noise and he opens the lambo door up and sits down into his car. The interior is black leather, with stitched in lettering on the headrest that say “King Of The Mid-West”. His stereo system is top of the line. It’s a Eclipse AVN726E DVD/GPS receiver built into the dash. The specs follow as 7 inch wide QVGA Touch Screen that is blue, Flash Memory Navigation, approx.12,342,000 POIs, Multiformat-capable: DVD, DVD-R/RW, DivX, CD CD-R/RW, MP3, WMA, MOSFET 50W X 4 Channel Output, FM/AM, 3-band EQ, Low Pass Filter, Traffic information, Multiple search modes, AV Input, 5V Preamp Output, Video output for rear camera, Direct iPod connection (USB), Red/Blur Switchable Illumination, Voice guidance in English, Spanish and French. He shuts the door. To the left of the stereo is a mini laptop which hosts the program detailing the impact of the NOS hookups under his passenger seat to the RPM’s and horsepower and if any damage to the manifold will happen. The laptop is black to match the interior. The steering wheel has four NOS buttons that are red. Two on the right side and two on the left side. He has a sunroof that is black tinted windows. He sighs a breathe of relief to be back behind the wheel of his baby. He rubs the steering wheel with a gentle like ease. He slides the key into the ignition, turning it right, the car revved up, as the engine shook with it’s japanese custom engine components. The engine contains a Injen® - SP Series Cold Air Intake System, a DT-S Stainless Steel Cat-Back Exhaust System by ARK Performance®, also Stage 2 Cerametallic Racing Clutch Sport Kit by EXEDY®. The kit is rounded out by a Supercharger Nitrous System, with four 25 Pound NOS tanks, bringing his Horsepower to 547 HP with a 400 pound torque.


“Dominic Toretto”


His blue eyes became focused as he looked ahead at the ocean. His hands gripping the steering wheel. His adrenaline rising at the excitement of meeting the “King Of Los Angeles”. The unstoppable Dominic Toretto. He presses his foot down on the gas with his other foot on the brake pedal as the engine revved louder. The front of the car shook from the torque but with his custom clutch the chassis can handle the power and not break into a million pieces. He grabs the shifter and jams it down into drive and then first gear as he pulls off, coming to a stop at the signs pointing left. He spins the wheel comfortably making a left turn and driving down the long narrow winding street toward the downtown area of Monte Carlo. The scenery is that of lush green grass with red rock like gravel higher up on the plains. Beautiful sunlight peers over the mountains of Saint Charles as he is still driving, grabbing the gear shift and punching it into second gear, his car can jump from 0-60 in less than five seconds. His cool intake pumps working the oil line keeping the engine from overheating and the piston rings from frying from the heat produced by the pistons working the engine to reach the desired speed of the driver. His smiles at the thought of this meeting he is bound to have at one time or another. The rush of racing is exhilarating as he has a NOS tank for a heart and a gas tank for a brain. The bend up ahead is making a sharp left as he approaches the bend he shifts lanes into the far left lane as the hill drifts downward into a “S” shape as he bends that corner, shifting down into first gear and riding the breezy handles of his tires he can see off in the distance a bunch of people gathered around, his eyebrow arches with interest and he can see souped up cars parked a little distance away and some racers in their cars lined up. He smiles at the thought he may make sight of Dominic Toretto but even more excited to be able to scope out some of his competition.


“I wonder how many people got ten second cars or more than likely five second monsters living under their hood? Well I’m about to find out here in about twenty minutes.”


The ending of the bend is within 300 feet, as he hits the bend he punches it into second gear again as the road straightens out. The street the racers are gathered on is within 30 feet, he grabs the steering wheel jerking it slightly to the right pulling around a corner to the street the race is on. He pulls up to where all these nice exotic designed cars are sitting. A bunch of them stand out but that’s neither here or now. You can have the prettiest car on the street but it’s what’s under the hood that counts. It’s how you manage your ride on that asphalt runway to racing super-stardom. He sits there for a moment, glancing throughout the crowd. He isn’t even sure who is he is looking for because he has no description. He turns the key in the ignition to the off point, cutting the engine off. He pulls the key out sliding it into his front pocket. Grabbing the door release handle, the lambo door pops up, as he steps out, leaving the door open, the boot steps on the gravel as no one is looking toward him. He sees a man with blond hair in the middle of the crowd, with a microphone in his hand. Edward Beatty’s eyes squint as he looks at the man. He seems to be running the show. Edward’s thoughts travel to who is this guy and what’s he about? Perhaps he is Dominic Toretto. Perhaps he may know who he is. Or maybe he doesn’t know anything? Edward shifts on his right foot pivot to lean against his car and cross his arms against his chest. He looks to the left of the blond hair man to see a woman step forward. He really can’t see her or the man who piped up because he is too far away. He just can barely hear them speaking. All of a sudden the microphone comes to life, as he finally hears the blond man speak.

"A'ight, listen up peeps, the main event is about to start. Here's the rules......There are no rules. I'm calling this the One finish drag punch cause there's only gonna be one winner, its a drag race, and well, if you don't keep your eyes open and those reflexes up to par, well you might just end up in the side of a Cadillac or Buick."

Edwards lips curl into a smirk. As he chuckles to himself. He looks around and keeps listening to the man.

"It's gonna be a 1/2 mile race to the finish on gravel road. At the end, there are junk cars merging four lanes into one lane. Fastest car that merges first between the row of junk cars, wins. Warning though, it's a tight fit, so don't get claustrophobic on me. Buy in is gonna be 25 thousand per racer. Wha? This is high stakes people, pay up!

He sees the man make some erratic movements with his hands. He began hearing cheers and Edward laughs to himself because he sees no one is moving to mess their car up by the dynamics of the race.

“Don't any of you guys have any balls? C'mon!"

Edward wishes he could join in. But he knows it’s not smart to jump into the ring right away. He just keeps watching from a distance.