A Dangerous Foe

Everyone believed Mayr, but they were still interested in knowing what his plan was. To their disappointment, Mayr did not elaborate. They did not inquire any further because they knew that if Mayr thought the plan was something that they should know, then he would have told them right away.

"You're sure that you're going to be okay, right?" Kashi asked with a concerned look in his eye and a hand on Mayr's shoulder.

Mayr looked back at Kashi with an expression of surety and replied "I am."

Kashi took a deep sigh. "Well, if there's anyone I've learned not to question, it's you."

Mayr turned around and continued walking and everyone followed. "So, what's the plan for the operations?" Ken asked, "Are we halting them for now or do we continue?"

"Operations will continue as normal." Mayr replied, "Over the past few months, I have built a firm trust on your abilities to manage your own sects. I know it's too much to ask, but don't even think about the Anthony business for now. Just focus on your jobs. I will deal with Anthony myself."

"Understood." Everyone echoed.

"Nesh," Mayr continued, "you need to be with me pretty much any time you step out of your house. It's un-ideal, but you're also as big a target as I am right now."

"Understood." Nesh replied as if he had accepted his situation.

-

The crew arrived back to their familiar territory. It was near the end of the day, so they all said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.

-

About 10 days passed and everything was going as usual. The boys were taking care of their operations and making payments on time. The only things that had changed were that Mayr and Nesh had stopped going to the Muay Thai gym, and payments were being made in randomized locations each week. For safety reasons, they wanted to avoid any patterns in their behaviour that the Mafia could exploit. They would even take different routes to school and back every day and began training in Nesh's garage later in the evening instead of in a public gym.

It was Monday and the clock hit 3pm. Everyone went to their posts and continued business operations, everyone except Kris. The situation with Robbie had cooled down, but Mayr wanted him to wait another week before restarting operations, just to be safe. So, Kris would spend the afternoon with Mayr and Nesh.

The three were walking down a sidewalk, conversating. "Are you still living with Soju?" Nesh asked Kris. "Yeah, for now." Kris replied, "I have an apartment lined up. Once I turn eighteen in a few months, that's when I'll move out."

"We don't mind keeping you for a bit longer if you need." Mayr added.

"I know," Kris replied, "but I feel that it's something that I need to do."

"I understand." said Mayr.

As the three continued their conversation, a black car with tinted windows abruptly pulled up beside them. Startled by the tire screech, the three darted their eyes towards the car.

As they stared at the car, 3 grown men in trench coats exited the vehicle, One from the driver seat, one from the passenger seat, and one from the backseat.

All 3 men were large, heavy-set men. About 6 feet tall each. "You with the long hair," said the man in the middle, "you're the one called 'Soju' right?"

Mayr immediately knew that these men weren't here for innocent reasons. "Who's asking?" Mayr replied to the man. "Look's like we got our guy." the man on the right said to the other two men. The three men reached inside their side pockets and their fists emerged with brass knuckles on them.

"We're only here for this Soju kid," The man in the middle said Kris and Nesh, "If the two of you want to run, now's your chance."

When he said this, he expected the boys to instantly make a break for it, but when he looked at the three boys, their faces showed no intention of running. They stood steadfast, with a frightening determination on their faces.

Mayr glanced at the corner of the sidewalk and found a pile of rusted iron pipes on the floor. He picked up three and handed 1 to Nesh and one to Kris. The three put down their bags and stood ready with iron pipes in hand.

The man on the left lightly chuckled when he saw this. "You got balls, kid." he said in amusement. "I don't usually like beating up kids," he continued, "but you must understand, these are orders."

As he said this, the three men began walking towards Mayr, Kris, and Nesh. Mayr lunged at the man in the middle, Nesh lunged at the man on the left, and Kris lunged at the man on the right.

Mayr made quick work of the man he intercepted, knocking him unconscious within the first few seconds of lunging at him. Nesh was able to hold off the man he was fighting, mainly by dodging, but Kris was struggling. He had his pipe snatched from him and had taken a few shots, and even though he blocked them, the brass knuckles were causing him serious pain.

Once Mayr knocked the person he was fighting unconscious, he quickly observed the situation and instantly ran to Kris's aid. Once Mayr arrived, the man that Kris was fighting was quickly knocked unconscious as well. All that was left was the man fighting Nesh.

Instead of knocking this man out, Mayr yelled out the instruction to subdue him. The three piled on the man and subdued him with ease. Mayr instructed Kris and Nesh to hold the man down, and once they did, he bashed his knees with the iron pipe to ensure that he could not stand back up.

As the man writhed in pain, Mayr crouched and grabbed the man by the jaw. Mayr looked directly into the man's eyes menacingly. This caused him to quiet down despite the pain he was in. "Tell Anthony to meet me like a man instead of sending his lackeys!" Mayr growled in a low voice. Once Mayr said this, he stood up, bashed the man's arms, and walked away with Kris and Nesh as the man screamed in pain.

-

The time was 8pm. Kashi had finished overseeing the gambling operation at 6pm and had spent the past two hours hanging out with his friends, who also happened to be a part of his crew.

"Alright, guys," Kashi said while stretching, "I'm beat. I'm gonna call it a day. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

Kashi and his men said their goodbyes and went on their ways. As Kashi was walking towards his home, his phone began to ring. The caller's name was 'Bray'.

"Hey, Bray," Kashi said after answering the phone, "What's up?"

"Did you hear!?" Bray said semi-hysterically, "Soju, Nesh, and Kris were attacked by men from the East-Side Mafia!"

"What!?" Kashi yelled back, "Are they okay!? Where are they now!?"

"They're fine." Bray replied, "They gave those guys a good beating. I'm actually giving you this call on Soju's orders. He told me that Anthony's spies are watching him, and there's a possibility that they are watching the captains as well. So, if you feel even a tiny bit that someone is watching you, take note of the person and their vehicle, and report back to Soju. I've relayed this message to the other captains as well."

"Alright," Kashi replied in a calmer manner, "I understand". The two said their goodbyes and hung up the phone. For the rest of the walk, thoughts and worries surrounding the East-Side Mafia clouded Kashi's mind.

-

After about a 10-minute walk, Kashi arrived on the street in which he lived. From a distance of about 80 meters, he saw a silhouette standing in front of his house. It was the silhouette of a small figure, about 5 feet 2 inches.

As Kashi slowly walked closer and closer, he began to hear light sobbing. It was a girl. When Kashi finally got close enough, he saw the last person he wanted to see.

"Juna?" Kashi said with confusion in both his voice and face, "What are you doing here? Why are you crying?"

Juna ran into Kashi's arms and Kashi replied by immediately pushing Juna back. "What are you doing!?" Kashi said, even more confused than before, "You're dating Jason now! He's one of my men and a friend as well. You can't go around hugging other men like that!"

Juna looked up at Kashi with anger and tears in her eyes. "Jason raped me!"