Chapter 3 – Check In
Gum led Beat through an alleyway surrounded by tower cranes adorning buildings that were seemingly abandoned before construction could be completed. Beat began to wonder what this supposed hideout would look like. Were Gum and her friend sleeping on girders? Beat supposed that whatever their hideout is will be better than sleeping on the streets.
"We're here," informed Gum as they skated into an opening. Beat gazed at the large courtyard that made up the hideout, somehow existing in the middle of an abandoned construction zone. In the center of the courtyard was an overhead walkway and a separate overhead platform with two couches and a record player placed on top. Surrounding the platform were large speakers playing music at an unsuitably modest volume. The perimeter of the courtyard was lined with ground walkways and what appeared to be a makeshift halfpipe. Other bizarre decorations located around the courtyard included a pinball machine, a punching bag with Rokkaku Gouji's ugly mug attached to it, billboards advertising restaurants, a large U.F.O. model situated high at the top of a pole, and a pile of garbage that contained such assortments as a broken-down car and satellite dishes. Connected to the courtyard perimeter was an entrance to an overpass that was seemingly closed off and no longer in use. Another stairway on the perimeter led to another exit.
"Holy shit!" Beat exclaimed. "This is your hideout? This place is amazing. How the hell did you find it?"
"Ask my friend; he's the one who found it," Gum replied. "He should be around here." Gum looked around the courtyard for her friend until she spotted him sleeping on a couch at the top of the platform. "That's him. Let me introduce you two to each other."
Gum walked up the stairs leading to the top of the platform and shook him awake. "Hey, what are you doing sleeping during the day?"
Gum's friend was startled to be awoken so abruptly. "What? I was just taking a nap," he said, sounding disgruntled. "You got a problem with that?"
"We have a guest," Gum said, gesturing towards Beat. Beat joined them at the top of the platform.
"Uh, hi," Beat introduced himself. "I'm, uhh… I'm Beat. This is a sick hideout you guys got."
Gum's friend sat up as Beat approached him. He was wearing an unzipped grey jacket with a yellow shirt underneath it, as well as teal-coloured pants with pixelated flame decals on the cuffs and a pair of grey gloves. Naturally, he was wearing a pair of skates too. What stood out the most however was his unusually tall teal-coloured hat hiding much of his blond hair. "Thanks. The name's Corn, and yeah, this place is pretty sweet. We call it the Garage."
Gum proceeded to explained the situation: "Beat doesn't have anywhere else to go and I figured he could stay here with us. Is that cool?"
"So, you brought a new member for our gang, eh?" Corn inferred.
"A gang?" Beat exclaimed. "You guys are part of a gang?"
"We are the gang, and I'm the leader," Corn replied. "You can stay here but that'll make you a member of our gang, the GGs. Them's the rules, and frankly that's the only rule I enforce around here. Besides that, you're free to do what you want."
"Then what's the point of having your own gang?" Beat asked him.
"You can't claim any turf if you don't have a gang," Corn answered. "Gum and I own parts of the Shibuya district. That means that we're free to skate around that turf without any other gangs messing with us, although that doesn't stop them from trying. And the cops certainly don't acknowledge Rudie turf."
Beat still wasn't sure about this gang business, but he managed to actually find a cool place to stay and he didn't want to pass that up. "Alright, count me in. I'll join you guys."
"Sweet, welcome to the GGs," Corn welcomed him. "If you have any other questions, feel free to ask."
Beat did have one question that was on his mind: "Uhh, where exactly will I be sleeping? I only see two couches here."
"Oh, we don't sleep on these couches," Gum explained. "This place isn't just a cool courtyard; it was actually going to be a luxury hotel owned and managed by the Rokkaku Group. For whatever reason they abandoned this place, but not before finishing construction and furnishing most of the hotel rooms."
"Wow, really?" Beat exclaimed. "Why the hell would they abandon this place after all that work they put into it?"
"Shibuya doesn't need any more hotels," Gum answered. "Gouji probably realized that this place wouldn't get much business and left it here to rot instead of sinking more money into it."
"But does he not care that you guys took over the place?" Beat asked them.
"He's probably happy that we're living here because it means less kids sleeping on the sidewalk for everyone to see," Corn surmised. "It's not like he has any use for it."
Beat continued to marvel at the Garage. "Damn, talk about lucky. This place is better than the deal I got at my parents' place! Well, other than that pile of garbage."
"Hey," Corn retorted. "You never know when any of that stuff might come in handy."
"Don't mind the trash; Corn is a bit of a hoarder," Gum teased. "Anyway, before you get too comfortable, I'd better give you a lesson on what being a Rudie is all about. The GGs might not have any rules but that doesn't mean that you should go around and mess with the other gangs for fun. If you don't obey the rules of the streets then you'll end up getting yourself in deep trouble with the other gangs."
"Yeah yeah, I'm not stupid," Beat said. He had only joined their gang to get a place to stay, not to partake in turf wars.
Corn stood up from the couch and began approaching the record player. "One more thing: do you ever listen to Jet Set Radio?"
"Uhh, I can't say I've ever heard of it," Beat replied. "I'm not that deep into Rudie stuff."
"Well I'm sure Gum will tell you everything you need to know, but for now let me tell you about Jet Set Radio." Corn rested his hand on the record player. "Most of the time the station just plays sick tunes, but everyday around noon DJ Professor K comes on the air and talks about everything that went on in the streets in the last day. Gang battles, police activities, shady government crap; you name it. This guy sees everything, and that's why all the Rudies listen in to get the lowdown on what's going down. Get used to tuning in every morning with the rest of us."
"I will, assuming I don't sleep in," Beat replied. "Is today's lesson over now?"
"Not quite," Gum responded. "We still have to show you around our turf and talk about other stuff that's going on."
"Gum can continue the lesson on her own," Corn said, laying back down on the couch. "I'd like to finish my nap, thank you very much."
Gum rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Come on, Beat. I'll show you around." She hopped off the platform. "I'm assuming you're not also a newbie when it comes to skating."
"Yeah right!" Beat smirked as he followed her lead and jumped off right behind her. They both left the Garage together as Corn began to doze off again.
Beat and Gum returned to the city streets of Shibuya. Beat was a bit nervous that those cops who were chasing them earlier might still be around, but Gum didn't seem to be worried about it so he put on a brave face.
"This area is Dogenzaka Hill, although I'm sure you're familiar with the place," Gum told him. "This place is GGs turf and the other gangs don't usually mess with it."
"I saw a tag around here earlier. I'm guessing that was one of yours," Beat inquired.
"Probably," Gum answered. "Sometimes there'll be other Rudies spraying their tags around here just to mess with us, but we usually teach them a good lesson."
They skated down a long avenue while Gum continued to lecture Beat. "We've been trying to expand our turf into the bus terminal but some other gangs have been getting in the way of that."
"Like how?" Beat asked.
"Well, there's two gangs that have been giving us a hard time," Gum explained. "First, there's the Love Shockers. They're an all-girls gang whose turf is on Hikage Street."
"That sketchy place? No wonder they want to expand their turf," Beat quipped.
"No kidding. We've been in a tag war with them for a while now, but none of us seem to be making any progress."
"I'm not much of an artist so I don't think you'd want my ugly tags all around town," Beat admitted.
"Hey, it's easy to learn. Remind me to give you a crash course on spraying graffiti," Gum offered.
"Deal. So what about that second gang?"
"Oh, then there's the Hell Bikers," Gum continued. "I don't even know if those guys have any turf of their own, they just like driving their bikes around the streets of Shibuya and messing with any other Rudies they see."
"Bikers? Aren't all Rudies supposed to be skaters?" Beat asked.
"Well, I guess the definition of the word Rudie is a bit loose," Gum reckoned. "For all intents and purposes, we just call them Rudies."
Gum led Beat into a nearby plaza. "Hey, let me show you something." Beat followed her as she made her way over to a bronze statue of woman in a dress standing with one of her arms held up high. "You know about this thing?" Gum asked, motioning to the statue.
"What, the statue?" Beat had seen it before but never paid much attention to it.
"Yeah. They call it the Goddess," Gum explained. "Legend has it that it's supposed to bring good luck to the people of Shibuya. I don't believe in that crap but it's still a nice statue. It's kinda the pride of Dogenzaka Hill, and since this place is our turf we like to think that it's our job to take care of it. Sounds a bit silly, I know."
"Nah, I get it." Beat didn't believe in superstitions either but he still recognized the importance of the Goddess and why it had to be protected.
"Hey, you hungry?" Gum asked him. "We could get some food around here. I mean, the lesson's pretty much over for today."
Beat felt his stomach grumble. He hadn't eaten all day and he could sure go for a bite. "I'm down. Where to?"
"How about one of these nearby vendors?" Gum suggested. "They're probably selling something good.
They both skated towards the nearby food vendors and glanced at what foods they had to offer. Beat liked all of the food that he saw, but not any of the prices. "800 yen takoyaki? That's crazy!"
Gum didn't seem enthusiastic about any of the food vendors either. "How about we just go to a burger place instead?"
Beat and Gum sat opposite to each other with their food at a local burger joint. Beat rested his feet on the table which prompted Gum to shift her and her food away from his dirty skates.
"So, how long have you and Corn known each other?" Beat asked Gum while shoving mouthfuls of fries into his mouth.
"We've known each other for almost a year now," she replied. "Since before either of us were even Rudies."
"How did you two meet then?" Beat inquired while taking a sip of his drink.
"We met last summer during the school break," Gum explained. "We became good friends and… well, needless to say I never went back to school."
"What made you want to become a Rudie?" Beat asked.
"Is this an interrogation or something? I don't wanna talk about my past. I ran away from home to forget about it all."
"What's the big deal?" Beat asked her, taking his feet off the table. "Is it that hard just to talk about it?"
"Kinda, so drop it."
Beat didn't understand why Gum wasn't willing to talk about her past but he decided that it wasn't worth probing her about. They both continued eating their food in silence. Beat found the silence to be uncomfortable so he eventually asked her another question. "So, what do you think of Rokkaku Gouji?"
"Did you really have to bring up his name while I'm trying to eat?" Gum quipped.
"I figured you didn't like him. I mean, isn't the whole point of being a Rudie to rebel against the government?"
"Maybe that's what it was originally, but not anymore." Gum elaborated further: "I mean, would you want the Rokkaku Police on your ass at all times? They come after us just for skating around. I don't wanna know what they'd do to us if we tried to protest against the government."
"Yeah, that would be pretty stupid," Beat agreed.
"Don't get me wrong, I'd love to give that guy a nice kick to the face," Gum clarified. "But we're just kids, and that guy's got a whole army of cops on his side." She grabbed her drink and was about to take a sip but she continued, "That's why I stick to messing with other Rudies. Much safer, and we can actually get shit done."
One of the workers at the burger joint approached them and interrupted their conversation. "Excuse me, we're gonna have to ask you to leave."
"We're not done eating yet though," Beat said to the worker.
"You're both disturbing the other customers so we're asking you to leave," the employee told them. "Thank you."
Beat and Gum looked at each other and realized that it wasn't worth starting an argument with the worker. They both got up and left the establishment with their food still at the table.
Outside, the air was getting cooler and the sun was beginning to set. The streets were jam-packed with traffic as people began to return home after a long work day. Beat wondered if his parents had discovered that he'd left yet. They probably just think I'm out skating and will be back soon. Beat didn't want to think too much about his parents anymore.
"So, what did you learn today?" Gum asked Beat as they began skating back to the Garage.
"Nothing I didn't already know," Beat replied. "People hate Rudies, Gouji's a dick, and takoyaki is getting expensive."
Gum chuckled. "I'm glad what I said wasn't lost on you."
As they skated on the sidewalk, the deep rumblings of motorcycle engines could be heard in distance.
"Oh, great…" Gum muttered as she slowed down.
The sounds of motorcycle engines was getting louder. Beat turned to face the direction the noise was coming from and spotted three motorcycles heading their way. "Don't tell me that those are—"
"Yep," Gum quickly answered. "Well, I guess this can be your final lesson for the day."
The Hell Bikers stopped next to the two of them and began to taunt them by revving their engines. They were three middle-aged men, each wearing identical clothes: orange motorcycle helmets, black jackets with flame decals over yellow shirts, matching red ties and motorcycle gloves, and black pants.
"Get lost," Gum barked at them.
The Hell Bikers laughed together. "We'll get lost when we feel like it," one of them said. He looked over at Beat. "So, is this guy your new boyfriend or something?"
"No!" Beat and Gum both exclaimed. They looked at each other awkwardly.
The Hell Bikers continued to laugh. "Good. A girl as fine as you deserves better than that greasy punk."
"Hey, who are you calling a greasy punk?" Beat snapped at them.
"Heh, you guys are too easy to mess with." The Hell Bikers revved their bikes again before finally taking off, their engines still clearly audible in the distance.
"Man, what's with those guys?" Beat asked Gum, still irritated.
"That's what they do; ride around Shibuya making noise and harass any woman that catches their eyes." Gum replied, frustrated as well. "Perverts. They don't even spray graffiti or get into turf wars with any gangs. They just mess with us for fun."
"What a bunch of jerks," Beat snarled.
"Forget about them, let's just head back," Gum said. "I hope Corn won't be mad to hear that we didn't bring him back any food."
Beat remembered why he never wanted to get involved with any gangs. There was no point in turning back on the GGs now though. Besides, Gum and Corn seemed like cool people. For someone who ran away from home on a whim, he made out pretty damn well.
The two of them continued on their way back to the Garage as the sun began to fall below the horizon.
