Autumn Leaves
Disclaimer: Don't own Victorious
A/N:
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Chapter 11 (In the News)
That night, Trina tossed and turned as nightmares plagued her. She couldn't erase the image of Ross's dead, lifeless eyes gazing out at her. She had to force herself to move on, as the mission also finally integrated her as an official member of the gang, so no longer was she just an outsider, she was a full-fledged soldier for the Knights.
She knew the ranking system of the gang, it was in fact a structured hierarchy. The regular Knight was a soldier that would be given a silver ring crafted by the jewelers. The ring would be worn on any finger, but it was predominantly the index or ring finger. The boss, Jesse, was known as the Onyx Knight and had a pitch black ring that he sometimes wore on his hand and sometimes didn't.
The underboss, which Trina still didn't know was considered the Gold Knight and had a gold ring. Beneath that person were the captains, also known as the red knights. There were approximately three and each of them had three Lieutenants beneath them, designated by the color blue. Each of them were in charge of two sects of warrior knights, also designated by a white ring. Beneath the warriors were the initiated full members of the gang, the regular soldiers. Under all the soldiers were outsiders, prospects, members designated with no ring.
Now that she knew this, she wanted to take a look at what level Tiffany and Vivian were at. Whether it was silver, white, blue, red, or gold. She knew they had to be at least white. It didn't take much to be a promising member to one of the Blue Knights and to be upped into their Warrior division. Many soldiers apparently wanted to be a white knight, but apparently they were among the best.
She descended the mansion steps carefully and found Jesse in his kitchen with a sandwich. He looked up at her with surprise, "You're up early…it's only eight. The 9:00 news isn't even on yet."
"I never went to bed," Trina muttered and took her seat at the table. "Couldn't sleep." He frowned at her and took a bite of his sandwich. "I thought killing Ross would leave me satisfied, but I still feel empty inside. Why is that, Jesse? Tell me?"
He closed his eyes and swallowed the food down. "I can't explain that. Some people find they join a gang for a specific reason, and once that goal is met, it may or may not be enough. Maybe there's more to you than just wanting to take out Ross." She wanted to live, that's what she wanted. She wanted to let loose and experience life. "So, are you still planning to go see your sister?"
"Yes, but I need to kind of wake up first."
"There's a pot of coffee ready on the counter." She stood up and walked to the coffee pot, gracious for the sweet drink. She was still in her black and red robe with her fuzzy purple slippers. She'd shower and change soon enough, then she'd head out.
"So, this whole hierarchy thing, when will I find out who is who?" Jesse sipped from his coffee mug and turned his eyes over to her.
"Later today I'll introduce you. You're a soldier now, you're going to need to know who's who. You already know some, but you'll find out what positions they're all at later." She smiled and poured her coffee. "I don't like what's brewing with the Scrapperz lately, so while you're with your sister I'm going to be meeting with other gang leaders. We're going to have to take them out soon…"
"How does one do that? I mean, it must be difficult to remove a gang."
"It's impossible unless the leader themselves permanently disbands a gang. There is a reason for hierarchy, for soldiers. People will always be trained for the next position. There tends to always be someone ready to take a promotion when someone leaves. For instance, if a Red Knight falls, one of the Blue Knights will be promoted. It is that way for most gangs. To destroy a gang, one might have to do it from within. Or take out the strongest leaders first, then chop off the head."
"Has that ever happened?"
"Rare, but I'm sure it's happened with some gangs. Let's use the Scrapperz for example. They're small, they don't have much." Trina moved back to the table and sipped on her own drink. "Their head is a guy named Phil. The second and third in line are Quentin and Beck. They're in charge of only two captains each. Lewis and Parker for Quentin, William and Paul for Beck. Parker, Lewis, William, and Paul have soldiers beneath them and beneath those soldiers are all the new initiatives. Only certain people in a gang can promote, usually the top three tiers can promote."
"Top three? So in the Scrapperz, that would mean…"
"Well for them it's a little off kilter. Parker, Lewis, William and Paul can only choose soldiers from the initiatives and only for their own sects. In other words someone like Lewis cannot choose a soldier for Paul, and if Paul is dead, none of the other three can choose a replacement. That has to come from the person in charge, in which case it would be Beck that can promote directly under him. However Quentin and Beck would be more than capable of selecting from the soldiers a replacement of any to all of the four unless they themselves were dead, in which case the responsibility falls on the leader. If the leader is dead, or in prison, then there's no one to promote, unless Quentin or Beck is alive and the underboss will immediately assume role as the boss. Usually if there's more than one, the leader has to say beforehand who he wants. As for the Knights, I only have one underboss. If something happens to me, he rises up. The Gold knight, or myself, can choose a Red knight out of any of the blue. A warrior can't jump a promotion just as a Blue cannot skip over being a Red before they're a Gold. The Red knights choose someone to replace a Blue…"
"It all sounds complex."
"Pretty much. Just remember, Boss and Underboss can replace anyone in any position they see fit. Red Captains select out of their own sectors a Blue Lieutenant. A soldier may impress a particular blue, and that blue can select a warrior for one of their two warrior sects. Typical of gangs are, there's no self promotion. Promotions come from above. Take the Scrapperz. If Beck, Quentin, and Phil die off, Parker, Lewis, William, and Paul are…up a creek with no paddle. They could potentially decide which of the four of them could continue on as a new boss, but when you lose all the higher members of a gang, sometimes it's best to just disband or else the other gangs will wipe you out."
"Okay…So now my head hurts." Jesse laughed as Trina shivered and stood up with her coffee. "I'm uh…I'm going to go see my sister now." He studied her for a second as she began moving for the door.
"In the robe?" She shrieked and spun around, realizing her mind was so cluttered that she forgot to get dress.
"Damn it! Now I'm all confused!"
"Uh huh."
It took her nearly an hour to get dressed and over to the Vega house. When she did, Tori answered the door and nearly tackled her with a tearful hug, catching her off guard. "Trina! Have you seen the news!"
"No…"
"It's that man. H-He's dead, Trina! The guy that killed Sinjin is dead!" Trina's eyes widened as Tori grabbed her wrist and pulled her to the couch. The girl's textbook was open on the coffee table, but only the front cover was open, suggesting it hadn't been in use yet. She took her seat beside Tori and looked at the television screen. "Can you believe it? Murdered! The asshole was murdered."
"What goes around comes around then…" She scoffed and crossed her arms as Tori looked up to her. "I mean, yeah it's a bad thing to happen to someone, but…this doesn't faze me. He killed Sinjin, I'm not going to feel bad for his death."
"I know. I don't really know how I feel either, but…his own dad killed him." Trina feigned surprise and watched the news reporter as the judge was led away in the background by the police.
"Samuel Ross was found dead in his house last night, gunned down by his father, Judge Francis Ross." The reporter brushed his hand through his thin brown hair and looked back at the man in front of the police station. The judge's hair was a mess and he had a guilty expression on his face. "A woman who chose to remain anonymous called the police after being attacked by Samuel said in her statement that Judge Francis walked in and began yelling at his son. Screams turned to gunshots before the man passed out in his son's blood after a night of heavy drinking. We have a witness account from the bartender."
Trina stifled a growing smirk when she saw the camera shift to Roger. The man spoke his account into the microphone with professional expertise. "Mr. Ross came in last night for a drink, and one drink turned to another, and soon he was just ranting and raving about wanting his son out of his life. His words were, it would be less stressful for him."
"Thank you sir." The reporter returned to the camera and moved the microphone to his mouth. "Mr. Ross accounts for remembering only waking up to find his son dead and the murder weapon in his hand as the police surrounded him in his house. He could not remember going to the bar or getting drunk, and accuses a voice in his own head of telling him to gun down his one and only son who just weeks ago came under scrutiny for a murder of his own."
"Apple doesn't fall far from the tree, does it?" Trina scoffed. Tori nodded her head and looked down to her textbook.
"I'm glad Ross won't be an issue anymore, but I mean, I don't know. I shouldn't be glad that he got a taste of his own medicine, but I am. He got what he deserved. Right?"
"Yes." She stared at the Judge on the screen while Ross's dead body flashed in her mind. Her eyes contorted and darkened as her face twisted with anger. She tensed and relaxed herself and closed her eyes. Her hand moved to her head as other images came to her head. She saw Beck with that prostitute, Robbie pushing Rex into her bed, and Andre standing over his grandmother on the ground. She shook her head and slowly opened her eyes. "You expecting your friends today?"
"No. Jade might come over later, but she's busy with her own studies."
"You guys are in the same class, so what's the problem?"
"To be honest? She doesn't want Beck following her over here. He's really changing lately." Trina started to hum as she leaned back in the couch. Tori tapped her chin with her pen and studied the television. "Hey Trina? Can we pray?"
"Pray?" She raised an eyebrow and let her eyes drift over to Tori. "Why?" She didn't think much of prayer anymore, but was willing to give it a try if Tori wanted to.
"I just…I don't know. I think it would be good to pray for Sinjin, and well, pray for Ross too. He was still a person and his life was taken, monster or not."
"Well…I guess we can. I need some kind of closure with this, I suppose. Though, I can't say I'm unhappy."
"I know. Me either. I think that's what I want to pray about, you know?" Trina took a minute before smiling and taking her sister's hand in hers.
"All right. I can support that." How much would this prayer matter for her, though? Tori might get something different out of it than she would, considering her own faith was rather shakable at this point.
As they bowed their heads to pray, Trina could feel the anger in her beginning to subside. It wasn't much, and it wasn't something she'd say was profound, but it was enough to relax her nerves. At this point, it was what she needed to feel better.
By the time they were finished, Beck had arrived to their surprise. Trina jolted her head up, glaring at him suspiciously as Tori began to frown. "Beck what are you doing here?" Tori asked.
"I was looking for Jade, thought she might have come here. We got into a fight and she ran off." He looked to the television and pushed his hands into his pockets. "You see the news this morning? That guy's father gunned him down. I'm sure Sinjin must be thrilled."
"Sinjin wouldn't be happy with something like that," Trina admitted. The murder had been more for herself and the pain Ross caused her than it had been for Sinjin. Yet, she did do it for him as well. Sinjin would probably say a murder for a murder doesn't make something right. "Anyway, Jade isn't here. I'm here, spending time with Tori, so you can leave now."
"Seriously? You're just going to order me out of the house? You don't even live here anymore."
"She's right," Tori sighed, "I want to spend time with her and do some studying. I don't have time to hang out with you guys. If I see Jade, I'll let you know."
"Fine, and okay. Thanks." Beck shot a glare at Trina before leaving, clearly unhappy with her being chosen over him. She looked back to Tori and lifted her finger.
"Do not associate with him, Tori. If you see Jade, you keep her away from him too." Tori pursed her lips and looked away, confused as to why it so bad for Beck to be around. Trina couldn't fault her for not understanding, she didn't know what Beck was about. "You remember what we talked about with Jade saying he was part of that Scrapperz gang?"
"Yes…"
"That's why."
"Oh…" Tori began turning the pages in her textbook, searching furiously for a particular page. "I'm studying gangs right now, actually." Trina leaned back and Tori glanced up at her. "My crime organization class is doing a thing on them. You know it's really hard to extinguish a gang?"
"I heard you have to like take out all their high ranking members or something. I don't know much about it…"
"Yeah, something like that." Tori found her page and began studiously reading over the words. "I wonder what it's like. Being in a gang. Why do you think people join gangs? People like Beck…it just doesn't seem right…what makes them do it?"
"Community?" She shrugged and moved her hands behind her head. "Despair maybe? Maybe they have nowhere else to turn. Could be a number of things, to be honest."
"Yeah." Tori ran her hands over her thighs and sat upright, sighing heavily as she moved her head to Trina's shoulder. "Do you think Jade's going to be okay?"
"She's tough, she'll be fine." However, it wouldn't be a bad idea to check her out and just watch to make sure Beck didn't do anything. "I have a feeling Beck isn't letting her leave the relationship, though. That could be destructive."
"Not surprised. You know, Beck and Andre have been friends since before any of us."
"I see, so it would make sense they're both as aggressive as they are."
"And don't forget arrogant!"
"And pompous."
"Also big fat assholes." The sisters shared in a laugh, hugging each other once more. Tori stood up and stretched her arms out in front of her, yawning loudly. "So! Do you want some breakfast? Or have you eaten already?" Tori rushed over to the kitchen and Trina watched in admiration Tori gazed back so full of love.
"Just had coffee, so I guess I could take some cereal. Thank you."
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The struggle is ever present. I think the idea is that revenge doesn't bring closure and still leaves a hole and empty feeling, so...yeah...There's still quite a bit of anger, now directed at the three men that are and will soon be making Tori's and Jade's a living hell.
