(Rome P.O.V.)

I get a bottle of window cleaner and walk over to their car.

"Elian and Fidel!" I say as I pop up at their window. "Hey, man, I'll clean your windshield for you," I say as I start spraying their front glass.
"What are you doin', man?" They ask and start getting out of the car.
"Uno, tres, cuatro, "fourtro," taco. Everything's copacetic, homey." I say slightly rubbing it in then I reach into my pocket and get out my lighter. "Kiss my ass, putos." I say lighting and throwing the lighter on the windshield. It bursts into flames.
"Shit!' They say and start trying to put the flame out. I run off laughing. Brian and Alex pull up.
"Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!" Brian says as I hurry to get into the car. We take off.

(Alex P.O.V.)

We arrive at the place where we are to meet Bilkins and Markham.

"He's gonna blow our cover before we even get started," Rome says as we go to walk in.
"Hey, Bilkins, can you tell me what went wrong?" Brian asks.
"That's what I wanna know," Bilkins says,
"Show me your hands! Come on. Keep 'em up!" Markham says coming out of nowhere with his gun pointed at us. We all raise our hands out of instinct.

"What's this about, man?" Brian asks.
"Hey, w-what's goin' on?" Rome asks when Markham starts patting him down. He finds Rome's gun and takes it.
"Hold this," Markham says handing the guns to Agent Dunn. "You think you can shoot at me! I'm a goddamn federal agent!" Markham shouts lunging at Rome.
"What are you talkin' about? Get your damn hands off me! Get him away from me!" Rome yells trying to fight back. Bilkins and Dunn grab Markham. I pin Rome up against the wall with his hands behind his back. "Just 'cause you wear a badge don't mean you can come in and mess shit up!" Rome says.

"Get your hands off of me!" Markham yells. They let him go.
"You're lucky I didn't shoot you." Rome smarts off.
"Shut up, Rome!" Brian says.
"Don't tell me to shut up, Brian! You almost blew our cover, old man." Rome says.
"You shouldn't have shown up like you did," Brian says to Markham.
"What, you didn't know Verone was testing them?" I ask.
"No. I thought you punks were running." Markham answers.
"Running!" Rome says struggling against my grip on his arms.

"That's great. That's real great! Oh, and if Rome wanted to shoot you, you wouldn't be here right now." Brian says taking his gun out of his waistline and slamming it on the table.
"All right. We gotta get this under control." Bilkins says taking Brian's gun.
"You good," I ask Rome and he nods his head. I let him go and he begins pacing. He notices the bag of food on the table and starts digging through it.

"Hey, that's mine!" Markham says.
"So?" Roman asks and keeps eating.
"So tell me what you know," Bilkins says.
"Well, Rome and I will be making a run for Verone, along with Alex. I'm not sure when and where. But he did say he bought us a window. I'm assuming from the local cops." Brian explains.

"I can talk to some of the guys at the local P.D," Dunn says.
"No. No good. If Verone's got some of them on the payroll, then we can't let them know our operation." Markham says.
"Exactly. Verone told us he himself would be waiting at the drop." I add.
"That's good news if you're gonna be delivering drug money to him, then we can get him for laundering," Markham says.

"No, there's only one problem," Rome says.
"What's that?" Bilkins asks.
"Fuentes, Verone's tappin' her." Rome answers.
"Tappin' her? Tappin' her how?" Bilkins asks.
"That is crap!" Markham says.
"What you talkin' about, homeboy? We know what we seen." Rome says.
"What do you think, O'Conner? Alex? You think she's comprised?" Bilkins asks.
"Either one of you should know." Markham smarts off.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Rome asks.

"What? You mean your old pal O'Conner didn't tell ya? He flipped on Bilkins in L.A. Gave his mark his car keys and let him disappear. That's why he's not a cop anymore." Markham explains. Brian looks down with a hurt yet ashamed look. "Alex also flipped on Bilkins." Markham starts and Brian looks at me surprised. "She had a mission with two marks and let them both get away. Surprised she is still a cop. So what do you think, experts?" Markham explains. I look away not sure what emotion is on my face.

"Man, I don't know," Brian says watching for my facial expression.
"All right. We'll keep an eye on her." Bilkins says.
"We're out of here," I say and we all leave with Rome taking the food with him.

"You let your man go, huh?" Rome asks Brian.
"Drop it. I don't wanna talk about it." Brian answers.
"What about you, Alex, why?" Rome asks.
"Two words," I say and Rome nods. "Drop it," I say.
"Drop it, hell! I wanna hear about this, homies." Rome says.
"I said forget about it, cuz," Brian says.

"We got Fuentes in with Verone, Markham tryin' to blow our cover and we got two wired cars that are no better than that damn ankle bracelet of mine. I'm-a tell you, brah. You let your man Markham do that shit again in front of Verone, that's gonna be our ass." Rome says.
"I know, man. I know. It's getting' thick real quick, and we may need a way out." Brian says.
"We gotta come up with some exit strategy," I say. Brian nods.
"Exit strategy, huh?" Rome asks.
"Yeah," Brian says.
"I like the way that sounds. What you got in mind?" Rome says.
"I don't know, man. But we need two more cars." Brian answers.

(Alex P.O.V.)

We decided that we needed a way to get out in case things went bad. Brian wants to get two more cars. Tej was able to find the guys that drove the muscle cars. Suki, Tej, Jimmy, Rome, Brian, and I are waiting by an abandoned road, that is good for racing. Tej and Jimmy sat up a barrel at the end of the road that the drivers have to go around. Suki, Tej, and Jimmy are sitting on Tej's truck's tailgate. Rome is leaned up against his car. Brian and I are leaned up against his car.

"Yeah. Here they come." Tej says getting up. The other drivers drive up and get out with their girls draped on their arms.
"Fonzie and Fabio. Glad you can join us." Rome says.
"We heard you boys wanted to get rid of those Crackerjack toys." One of the guys say.
"No. Actually, we just figured those cars you got deserved better drivers, which is why we're gonna take 'em off your hands." Brian says.
"You know, why don't we settle this now?" The other guy says coming forward.
"Wait, wait. How about we settle this on the blacktop, huh?" I say getting in between them.
"Yeah, each car does it down and back, tag-team style for slips. Loser walks home." Tej says setting the rules.
"We came to race." The first guy says. The guys go and get in their cars. Their girls walk over to the side of the road to cheer.
"Well, load 'em up then," Tej says signaling for everybody goes to get in their cars.

"Come on, bro. Let's get these cars." Brian says as we walk over to Rome's car since he is going first.
"All right, check it out. There's no way you are gonna beat these guys straight up. Sorry, but it's the truth." I say as Brian and Rome give a 'what the heck' look. "The Hemi's puttin' out about 425 and the Yenko will snap a speed in about five seconds flat," I explain. Brian looks at me with pure admiration. I'm falling for him all over again.

"We're gonna have to pull somethin' out of our ass. The only thing I can think of is save the spray for the way back, the return trip." Brian says agreeing.
"Done deal," Rome says getting into his car.
"All right. Let's do this, bro." Brian says.
"I'm getting' that orange one," Rome says.
"Then I get the blue one," I say. Brian just smiles at us and shakes his head.

"You ain't ready, Fabio!" Rome yells as he pulls up to the starting line. I walk with Brian over to his car.
"You both got this. Just cause they have American muscle don't mean anything." I say to Brian. "Good luck," I say as I give him a kiss on the cheek. I run off to go cheer with Jimmy since Suki was with Tej at the starting line.

(Brian P.O.V.)

"Well, load 'em up then," Tej says signaling for everybody goes to get in their cars.
"Come on, bro. Let's get these cars." I say as Rome, Alex, and I walk over to Rome's car since he is going first.
"All right, check it out. There's no way you are gonna beat these guys straight up. Sorry, but it's the truth." Alex says making Rome and I give her a 'what the heck' look. "The Hemi's puttin' out about 425 and the Yenko will snap a speed in about five seconds flat." She explains. I know my face probably has the look of pure admiration. She knows so much about cars. I think I'm starting to fall for her. She is so much like August it's crazy.

"We're gonna have to pull somethin' out of our ass. The only thing I can think of is save the spray for the way back, the return trip." I say agreeing.
"Done deal," Rome says getting into his car.
"All right. Let's do this, bro." I say.
"I'm getting' that orange one," Rome says.
"Then I get the blue one." Alex jokes. I just smile at them and shake my head.

"You ain't ready, Fabio!" Rome yells as he pulls up to the starting line. Alex walks with me over to my car.
"You both got this. Just cause they have American muscle don't mean anything." Alex says kinda nervous like. "Good luck." She says as she gives me a kiss on the cheek. Afterwards, she runs off, heading towards Tej's truck. I smile as I get into my car. I think I have fallen for her.

(3rd Person P.O.V.)

"All right," Tej says as Rome and the other guy pull up to the starting line. "You each got a barrel to go around down at the end of the road. The second wave gotta sit tight till your partner crosses this line right here. The first team to go down and back twice wins the race. At which point, the losers will hand over them keys. Otherwise, you'll be eatin' breakfast through straws from now on." Tej explains to the drivers. "Comprende?" Tej asks looking at the other guy.

"I get it." The other guy answers.
"Oh, this means you too," Tej says turning to Rome.
"I got it." Rome answers.
"A'ight. Let's race." Tej says.
"Come on, baby!" One of the other drivers' girls yell.
"You got this, Rome." Jimmy, Alex, and Suki yell.

"Let's do it," Tej says.
"Hey, you gone, homey. I got this. This is done. You about to lose your car." Rome smarts off to the other guy.
"Do it, Rome!" Jimmy yells.
"Come on," Suki yells.
"You got it," Alex yells.

"You think I'm worried about this fool, man? This is nothin'" Rome yells at Alex, Jimmy, and Suki as he revs his engine with a huge smile on his face. The other guy revs his engine and it's a lot louder than Rome's. Rome's face drops.
"Aw, no," Brian says hearing the engine. Alex facepalms herself.

"American muscle. Your engine ain't as big as your mouth." The other guy says.
"Gotta smoke 'em. Gotta smoke 'em. Gotta smoke 'em." Rome chants to himself.
"All right, here we go," Tej says getting ready to start the race.
"It's all right, baby. I'm gonna handle this." Suki says as she walks up to Tej.
"Handle it," Tej says.

"Ready and....GO!" Suki yells and the cars are off. Rome starts off in the lead. The other guy passes Rome. They go around the barrel. Rome hits his NOS and starts to catch up to the other guy. The other guy notices and hits a sign, making it go into the road. Rome spins trying to miss the sign. Rome loses the speed from the NOS. The other guy crosses the finish line and his partner takes off, leaving a trail of dust in front of Brian. Rome then crosses the line and Brian takes off. Brian is about halfway down the road and the other guy's partner is already on his way back. Brian pulls into the same lane as the other guy's partner. They play chicken until the other guy's partner swerves and slams on his brakes to keep from crashing. Brian then goes around the barrel and is on his way back. The other guy's partner gets back on the road and Brian hits his NOS. They are neck and neck until Brian crosses the finish line first.

"Got two new cars!" Alex says as she and Rome give each other high fives. Tej and Suki get in Tej's truck, Alex gets the blue car, Rome gets the orange, and Jimmy gets Rome's car and they all head back to Tej's garage.