Shit... I hate talking about this. The day Aisha died. Oh fuck...
I feel terribly guilty for it for two reasons: One, I was supposed to meet Gat earlier to get the money we collected from the hoods, but I didn't.
I was 40 minutes late because Max and I were doing our classic 'pretend we're civilians and have a drink at the beach' routine. It was fine except that what was supposed to be a quick drink n' dip, also turned out to be a full make out followed by a quickie in a hotel room. It was hard to say no to him when I was starting to give in to this relationship, all his clothing was a swimsuit and he would find any excuse to press his body on mine.
So like I said, I was 40 minutes late because of this. If I had made it in time, we could have got to Aisha's place before the Ronin.
If this wasn't enough there was also reason number two: Because of me Johnny got stabbed.
I distracted him at the worst possible moment, thinking I could shoot Junichi (I had the fucker on my aim, it was like a bad joke to run out of bullets), but fuck, they wouldn't make this so easy for us.
The Boss poked her head inside the open window of a purple Stiletto parked in front of Freckle Bitch's drive thru.
'Sorry I am late.'
Gat raised his eyebrows in relief and swallowed the soda he was having before he replied:
'About time! Thank God, Boss.'
The Boss opened the door of the car and took her seat next to the driver.
'What the fuck took you so long?' He insisted.
'I was with Max, lost the track of time. So, do we have the cash? By the way, Johnny, I wanted to tell ya something... I was thinking, you sure it's ok to keep stashing our cash at Aisha's? She seemed worried 'bout it.'
'Nah, she'll be fine.' Johnny said, starting the car. 'Now let's go to Eesh's, she'll be in all her states if the food went cold.'
'Shit.' The Boss covered her forehead with one hand. 'I totally forgot she was too cook a romantic dinner for you tonight! Seriously, can I feel any worst for been late?'
'Well, at least I am not the one to blame for ruining a fancy dinner this time..'
'You called that fancy? Seriously Johnny, not even I think that Freckle Bitch's is suitable for a real date.' The Boss said, alluding to the time Aisha got all dressed up for their first date in months and Johnny took her to the infamous Fast Food.
'Oh shut up. That place is seriously underrated!' He said as they arrived, parking the car in front of Eesh's house. 'Here we are, Boss.'
'Aisha doesn't care that I am stopping by, does she?' The Boss asked as Johnny searched for the keys in his pocket.
'Hell no. She doesn't go out that much, she loves company.'
Johnny went to the front door and turned the keys in the door lock, but suddenly got quiet.
He took a step back and looked around, as if his eyes caught something unusual about his girlfriend's home.
The grass of the garden was ripped in single lines, it looked like tire marks from a motorcycle, or better, many of them.
He and The Boss exchanged a silent, tense look, getting each other.
They immediately reached for their guns as Johnny cautiously pushed the door partially open, without entering:
'Eesh, you home?'
We were on our guards, me on the left side of the wall next to the door, him on the right, ready to bust in, when we heard Eesh's voice:
'JOHNNY, IT'S A TRA...!'
Gat kicked the door open and stormed inside.
At the same time, the blade from Junichi's katana made a single movement in the air, beheading Aisha.
We saw everything.
From behind my friend's shoulder, I watched, in a blink of an eye, blood squishing on the wall and her head falling, rolling over the carpet.
Just like that...
Aisha was dead.
A strong and unpleasant feeling washed over of me, one that I didn't recall feeling since my friend Lyn died tragically.
After that first impression I thought about Johnny, then one single idea dominated everything: Junichi had to die!
All those thoughts happened in less than a second, it was like someone slowed down time. I heard Gat scream at my side, waking me up from the shock:
'EESH!'
Junichi looked at him and smiled. The smug smile of a pro that just proved to himself that he is really that good. He swung the sword again and waited for Johnny to come to him, he was thriving on this.
Only then we took notice of some Ronin coming out of the kitchen, they charged at us and soon bullets were coming in our direction. I quickly hid myself behind the door, never taking my eyes from Gat, who seemed ronin attacked him, he disarmed and impaled one, I shot the other one.
He reached Junichi and they started a heated, skilled battle of blade against blade.
Meanwhile, I looked arround the house: We were surrounded and being shot at every direction.
At times like that something changes in your body. You react right and you escape death at every turn, without thinking. You duck, you dodge, you know exactly when and where to hit your opponent, you see possibilities in things you usually wouldn't. If we had to do all those things again right now, I don't think that we could. It's only in the face of death that we unlock this other, super self.
I seriously don't know how we survived, how Gat managed to keep his shit together against an expert at a time like that. I don't know how I managed to get behind that grey couch I was now without a single bullet in my body.
I peaked on their fight from behind the couch, mostly ducking to avoid bullets.
Junichi charged at Johnny: He blocked his attack with his sword and I had to duck again, for this other Ronin fuck was firing at me. His bullets totally destroyed the wall behind me, but I was ok.
I kept listening to the metallic sounds coming from the other fight as my opponent stopped to recharge.
This was the right moment to get out of hiding. I aimed and with two shots killed him.
My hands were trembling with hate, in the same motion I turned my gun towards Junichi. He was so close, all I needed was one shot and for Gat, who was blocking him in my sight, to move a little to the right. I thought, shit, I had to make him move:
'Gat! Get out of the way!'
Gat instinctively turned to look at me, opening his guard.
My aim was on Junichi, I pulled the trigger, confident.
Except I didn't realize...
I have emptied my clip.
In crazed disbelief, I pulled the damn trigger a couple of times, but the gun just clicked.
Immediately Junichi's sword slid inside Gat's abdomen, going all the way through the other side.
'Gat, NO!'
I recharged and left cover, but Gat already reacted and stunned Junichi, despite just being impaled.
His rival suddenly found himself unarmed and under the aim of my gun, so he ran outside before any of the rounds I fired could attain him.
'DAMN IT!' I cursed, seeing the asshole slip through my fingers a second time.
I quickly turned to my friend: Johnny pulled the sword out of his own body with a painful groan, then stumbled over his blood.
'Oh my God. Gat!'
I kneeled next to him, panicked, and grabbed my phone.
'Hey Boss...!'
'...Carlos!'
He knew the Boss enough tell from the tone that one simple word was uttered something huge must have happened. For the first time ever, she seemed worried and perhaps scared.
'Oh my God, what happ...!'
But she cut him again, her voice urgent:
'Gat is down! Send some crew to Aisha's... now!' She hung up.
The Boss checked Gat's pulse, tapped on his face to keep him awake.
'Gat, for fuck's sake! Don't you dare dying on me.'
She pulled him up but Gat's head fell limply on her chest. He was in shock, or in plain delirium:
'Gotta save Eesh…'
The Boss's heart was hurting, perhaps as much as his wound to see his expression while he said that.
She hugged her friend and dragged him outside. He was heavy, in all his muscularity.
'I can't fucking believe it!' She cursed, as she posed Gat on the sidewalk. As if things weren't difficult enough, more Ronin reinforcements arrived in front of Eesh's house.
The Boss tossed herself to the ground next to Gat and opened fire.
There was no choice but to stay there and endure hell; if she dragged him back inside they would get a bullet, and it was impossible to run with him like that.
So The Boss just waited and shot, doing her best to keep the ronin at bay while the Saints arrived.
From time to time, she stopped to charge and check on Gat.
'Johnny. Johnny. Hang on!'
On the street, more Ronin came their way.
'Your gang is gonna pay for this, you fuckers!'
The Boss was so angry that she didn't miss a single shot. But it wasn't enough to kill all the Ronin arriving from every corner in their bikes. Shogo had this well planned.
After many rounds, her submachine clicked hopelessly. No more bullets.
'Shit.' She cursed. 'Not again.'
But just then, a purple Capshaw appeared behind the smoke of the explosion of a Ronin Hayate.
She sighed in relief, it was Carlos and his crew, parking with a vicious powerslide.
They opened fire, getting the other two's back while they got a semi-conscious Gat on the back seat of the Capshaw.
The way back was unreal. I recall vaguely 'Hole in the Earth' playing on the radio, even if we didn't paid much attention to this detail, worried about getting Johnny in one piece to the hospital. Still, I could never listen to this song after that, it got associated with this tragic event and the loss of someone who was dear to me and to Gat.
I remember him calling Eesh's name multiple times during the ride.
The Ronin sent half their crew to hunt us down, wanting to finish the job.
The boys brought an RPG and we blew several Ronin cars to hell.
Of course I hit civilians by mistake, because the range of the explosion of an rpg is too wide, but my friend was dying, did I give a shit.
Between two explosions, I jumped to the back seat to check on Gat.
I shook him and tried to keep him conscious, but his head fell limply to the side, over my palm. It was like I was holding a handful of jelly. Gat was dying on my hands and there wasn't much I could do about it. His blood inundated the back seat, my hands, his clothes.
'I'm sorry..,!' He muttered. But I knew it wasn't to me he was talking to. 'I'm sorry Eesh. I shouldn't... You were right, babe, I shouldn't have brought that money to you place.'
Poor Gat... it was too late for a conscience crisis.
'Stay with me Gat! Gat! God damn it.' He blacked out again and his head slid down completely. 'Go faster!' I yelled to to Carlos.
'Man, he is not looking good!' He replied, accelerating even more.
With that we just arrived at a crossroad that was over this church in the suburbs. Immediately, Carlos stepped on the breaks, sending us forward with a big bump. I was going to complain at this, but then I saw it too, and understood why he stopped: From both sides there were barricades, from both sides yellow cars were parked together in line to block our access. At our tail, we could already hear tires whistling and distinguish those headlights, like a pair of lit, sinister eyes in the night, getting closer.
We only had two choices and both of them put us at great risk of getting shot: One was to return and face the cars that were following us, the other one was to bump our way out of the barricades. I was about to tell Carlos to return, but then he did something totally unexpected.
He put the car on reverse, we went back so fast that the distance of the cars following us disappeared and they nearly touched ours. Confused, they stopped, thinking we were going back, but Carlos suddenly accelerated and kept going blindly towards the church.
'Fuck, we're going to crash!' I said, watching the roof of the building under us getting closer.
'Hang on!' He yelled.
I didn't know what he was going to do, but I instinctively ducked and grabbed Gat.
I felt the wheels getting in to something, then that the car was no longer on the floor.
Fantastically, the car jumped over the gap and landed on the church's roof at full speed, jumping again, higher, in a beautiful stunt.
The city disappeared of the line of the horizon, and as we flew, only the starry sky was visible for a moment.
We landed clumsy, but safely on the road underneath.
'Holy crap Carlos!' I said, impressed. 'Where the fuck did you learn to drive like this!'
He was too worried and too concentrated to turn and look at me, but he hinted a cocky smile.
I smiled too, since that, to our relief, the silhouette of the hospital just appeared ahead on the road.
The nurse told me and Carlos that Gat was in surgery and that now, we had to wait.
Waiting... At a time like that... Was hard.
I sighed and numbly sank at one of the black chairs in the waiting room of the hospital, staring blankly at those fliers of campaigns against STD's hanging from the board. I was feeling awful, but relieved since the doctor told me that Gat would live. Lucky I didn't have much time to think, since the crew were on their way.
Pierce and his guys were the first ones to show up.
He seemed eager to show that he was capable of taking Gat's place while he recovered, which pissed me off. Pierce was so bright but he def lacked skills when the matter was getting his timing right. I just assigned him and three other men to guard the room where Gat was being operated. He seemed disappointed but got in the elevator with the other guys and went his way.
Minutes later, Shaundi also arrived.
'What the hell happened, Boss?' She asked.
'The Ronin set us up at Eesh's and Johnny got stabbed in the gut. Doc said he'll be fine, but she passed away.' I said, struggling with the last words.
'Sorry Boss.' She said, stunned.
'Listen, there's no time for feeling bad: I want everyone in the crew to be either with Gat or looking for that fucker. Shaundi, call all your contacts, one by one. Find me where Junichi is, that's all I care for.'
I probably looked like I meant business, because she took the keys of her car out and quickly replied:
'I'll go talk to my ex at the Frat right now Boss. He knows everyone.'
'Good. Call me the moment you have something.'
As she left I took sit next to Carlos. He probably expected me to tell him what to do too, but all I could say to him was:
'It was my fault, Carlos.' He was the only one that I could open all my feelings to, besides Gat. Right then I needed it terribly.
'You didn't know, Boss. No one could have known...' He said, concerned.
He put his arms around me and there, with the warm contact of his sweatshirt against my face, I finally felt that I could relax, that it was over.
I rested my head entirely on his torso and let myself to be comforted.
The Boss wasn't big when it came to house cleaning. She could simply assign a couple of newbs in the crew to do the task, but in this particular case, giving the job to someone else like this was a regular casuality seemed too inconsiderate. So she took a couple of mops, a big bucket and two large rolls of kitchen paper towels and headed for the suburbs, escorted by Bruno and another bulky Saint.
When it was done, she sat at the white couch, saying goodbye to the home that welcomed her for such a short period of time.
Right then she heard footsteps over the wooden floor.
Someone just came in.
It was...Gat.
He was supposed to be resting; she never imagined that he could drive all the way from the hospital in such a state.
Damn Saints. She told them to stop anyone from passing. But, can anyone stop Johnny Gat from passing when he wants to? At least he didn't see much. All that betrayed that something sinister happened in that scenario now was the slight rusty color of the mops leaning next to the buckets. And the black plastic bags, filled with kitchen paper.
He just stared at everything, silently.
She moved, wanting to withdraw to the kitchen to let him have his moment, but a faint noise caught her ear.
The Boss turned, and what she saw turned her to stone:
Johnny Gat was weeping like a baby.
Sitting on the couch, hand over his forehead, with the same helplessness, the same intensity. The silent sobs rocked his massive body back and forth and he didn't even care to try and stop them, so much his pain was huge.
'Pobrecito, pobrecito! Puta madre!'*
Gat could cry then?
The Boss kneeled down in front of him and hugged him, her cheek hard against Gat's, silently mixing her tears with his.
'We're going to get those fuckers Johnny, we'll think of the worst thing that can be done, I swear...' She couldn't continue and Johnny simply passed an arm around her shoulder, unable to speak but nodding to show he appreciated the comfort and trusted the idea.
Her sadness slowly turned into anger and strangely it communicated with something inside Gat as well, because he stopped sobbing and clenched his fists.
His breath speeded up, he nodded more profusely now, and then again and again, to the point just bobbed his head frenetically.
Their hate seemed to vibrate at the same frequency, resonating.
Shogo should have known what he signed for.
Days later, Junichi was dead, and so most of the Ronin crew. Gat was back with us, and everything seemed to point to the fact that things were finally looking up.
But I still didn't want for that day to come...
Yet, there it was.
I was to bury another friend.
That afternoon I was sitting at the edge of the bed, dressed in black, my gaze lost.
Didn't even hear Shaundi and Carlos coming in.
They entered my room and stood in front of me awkwardly, not knowing what to say and I watched them with morbid interest: They looked so different, dressed for that solemn occasion. Shaundi was wearing a well behaved dress without any cleavage. She pulled her hair back in a tight bun and decorated it with a purple flower.
As for Carlos, it was the first time I saw him without his signature cap. He combed his hair back, and wore a black suit without a tie. Only a purple string was attached on his arm, as we all wanted to show that we considered Eesh a member of the Saints.
He knelt next to me on the bed, and put a hand on my arm softly:
'Boss, huh, the car is ready...'
'Thanks guys. Let's go, we'll meet Johnny at the Cemetery.'
'You've let him go out alone?'
I shrugged, sadly:
'He drove to Eesh's since this morning. He said he needs to be on his own.'
Under a truly annoying, thin rain, a small crowd of purple gangsters gathered around Aisha's grave at the Morning Woods cemetery, biding their last goodbye.
At the front row, Johnny stood, under the black umbrella that a Saint girl held over his head.
Silent, close to him, was The Boss.
'May perpetual light shine upon her, Oh Lord.' The priest finished his prayer, and there was dead silence in the crowd. The coffin was about to be buried...
Johnny leaned towards the opened grave and reverently tossed a bouquet of Eesh's favorite flowers inside. He thought, bitterly, that this was only the second time that he ever gave her flowers.
'Maybe I should have paid more attention to what she wanted, what she expected of me.' He thought. 'I am sorry Eesh, that I was never the boyfriend you expected me to be. Damn, I failed you. I can't change what happened, and I can't be someone else, someone who deserves a girl like you. But babe, know this: I loved you with everything that I am. Every bit of this no good, murdering gang banger will always belong to yo...'
Johnny had to interrupt his goodbyes.
His and all heads snapped towards the direction of the roaring motorcycles that invaded the cemetery. Those loud bikes approached interrupting the ceremony, dissonantly and disrespectfully.
It was Shogo Akuji, the son of the head of the Ronin. The one to order the death of that dear person they were mourning.
A yellow circle formed around the purple group, filling the air with tension. Members from both gangs pointed their guns at each other.
Gat merely raised his head under the umbrella, his expression stone-like. At his side, on the background, The Boss also stared at Akuji.
Shogo was the first one to speak:
'... You too have humiliated my family for the last time!'
'Leave little boy.' Johnny's dangerous voice warned. 'I am not killing anyone at Eesh's funeral.'
At his back, The Boss didn't move. The final decision belonged to Gat, and Gat was reluctant to pick at fight, out of respect.
'How noble.' Akuji mocked The Saint's solemnity. 'Nobility is so overrated!'
He loaded his gun and opened fire.
A bullet entered Gat's left arm, he aimed straight for him. Johnny ignored the pain and quickly pulled himself and The Boss behind a tombstone for cover, both regretting the mistake to go unarmed to the funeral.
Two or three Saints at the front fell, killed on the spot. The Saints fired back. Hell broke lose at the cemetery, under the clouded sky of Stilwater a true massacre was happening.
The Saints finally had the upper hand and exterminated Ronin by Ronin, finishing members as they dragged themselves on the wet grass of the cemetery.
Seeing his men fall one by one, the brave Akuji-san was about to flee, leaving his men to die. Terrified, he turned on his heels and ran towards his bike. He had just mounted it when the back of his head was hit by a shovel, promptly sending him down with a scream of pain.
Bleeding, he felt with his face hit mud, accidentally swallowing it, then rolled up, and coughed, barely breathing.
Shogo felt so much pain from the violent hit that his vision was blurred and his ears were ringing. But as he regained his senses he realized that he was being dragged.
Yes, his body was sliding over the wet floor, his back occasionally bumping on a stone. He tried to understand what was going on and looked around:
Upside down, a pair of purple high heels moved, one after the other, burying themselves in the mud. Sometimes they stopped to regain stamina, but soon resumed their pace in leading him to what he assumed, could only be his death.
Panicked, he tried to fight it, but his body wouldn't follow.
'Where are you taking me?' He asked faintly. 'Please let me go. Please.'
The heels took a few more steps, then stopped completely, letting go.
Shogo rolled on his belly with difficulty, surprised. Could it be that his executioner decided to have mercy on him?
His heart shivered happily at this possibility, he took the guts to look up, only to find out that his hopes were completely unjustified.
Johnny Gat was standing right in front of him.
Out of survival instinct and fear, Shogo managed to achieve the unlikely: He stood, ready to run.
But as he turned he bumped into The Boss, who pushed him to the floor again.
'He is all yours Johnny.'
The biker boy couldn't understand respect, so he paid.
A month went by.
Gat was still devastated, even if it didn't show. That's what worried The Boss the most. He didn't express a thing. He took care of business, worked out, did everything like nothing happened. But she guessed underneath this calm appearance a storm was taking place. Yet, he wouldn't share much, it was useless to press.
Quietly, but ever present, she followed him around like a shadow during this period until the Second in Command's shock started to subside into grief. During hours to end they would talk about Eesh and the later events, in his room.
By then she thought that it was ok to leave him alone for one night and asked Shaundi to keep an eye just in case.
She kept seeing Max, even if not in the opening.
It was one calm Friday night like any other, he cooked for her at his place, they went to bed.
That night Max was telling me about his childhood. It was almost as fucked up as mine, except he wasn't so poor.
From my side, I wasn't going to dwell on that subject, so I listened.
'I used to travel with my grandpa, he even took me to see the Egypt's desert, and the Pyramids.' He said.
'Right.' I made an effort to keep with it. 'Where they built the, uh, Sphincter.'
I thought I saw Max's lips curl for the briefest moment, though I couldn't understand why. He was quick to make it sound natural though, emphasizing the last word but still not wanting to correct me:
'Right. The Sphinx... Look...'
He took his cell phone out and googled a few images.
It actually looked pretty cool. I wished I haven't quit school so early. So I asked him a lot of questions about the subject.
You know, the first time I met Max, I didn't like him right away. I had the impression that he felt he was superior to us, criminals.
I came from shit, and if there is something I really can't stand is people taking me from above. When you have no choice, you endure it. But as soon as you have power and money it's next to unbearable. It's like something reminding you of an old self you wish to forget.
With time my opinion of him changed on the matter.
And there is also something else about Max. He is so tough, capable and rigid about to his honor standards. But on the other hand he is so sweet, so otherworldly kind. He needed someone who could understand him, he probably felt insanely alone. That night, he showed me a picture of his wife and baby girl, telling me how they were murdered. I wondered how someone can deal with so much pain and keep going. Yeah, I know a lot of my enthusiasm came from the fact I fell for him pretty quickly, but besides that, I had to respect the guy, the same respect I have 'till today.
I would lie next to him in bed and listen to him tell me all about myths and legends, enriching a lot of episodes with an historical point of view. Norse, Aztec, and my favorite, Egyptian.
I was never a well read person. To be honest I've always found long texts and books difficult to read. Having someone else talk to me about that would sting my pride, because I would have to confess my total ignorance. But Max never judged people for that, so I felt at ease and would listen to him talk for hours, asking him loads of questions. His tales about Isis and Osiris, Medusa and Thor's Mjolnir were like a bed time story, more relaxing than a blunt.
'So you see, Hector was a prince and the greatest fighter of his time.' He said, striking her hair as she raised her head to listen to him, eyes opened with curiosity. 'But Achilles, his rival, would defeat him in combat, not allowing him to receive the honors of a proper funeral. He tied up his dead body to the back of his char and drove him for days across the Danaan camp. Now when the gods Apollo and Aphrodite saw that, they were so disgusted by Achilles' actions that they preserved his body from any deterioration.'
He stopped as he saw her frown in preoccupation.
'What's wrong, honey?' He asked, and then teased her affectionately. 'Don't tell me Hector's story frightened you gangsta ass and that you won't be able to sleep at night.' He smacked her butt gently and grabbed her by the waist, playfully groaning in her ear 'I'm pretty sure you won't anyway, but because we'll be busy doing something else...'
The Boss kissed Max, but still seemed worried for some unknown reason.
'Hector. Like Carlos' brother…' she mumbled.
'Carlos?'
'Huh? Sorry, I was talking to myself. Carlos is the name of the kid that busted me out. You should get to know him; he is such a sweet kid.'
'Ah, I remember now, your fellow inmate. He indeed looks cute taking from our mug shots.'
'He is. That baby face! You should see how chicks love him at the gang. I just hope he chooses one that really deserves him, you know? For me, no one can be good enough for Carlos.'
'It shows in your face how much you care about him. No wonder people say he is your favorite Lieutenant.' Max observed. ' Now, seriously. Why did you frown like that before? Is everything all right?'
'Oh. It's not what you're thinking it's just… Now, don't make fun of me.'
'You know me, I never make fun of anyone.'
'Yeah, Right.' She said unconvincingly. 'Once I was high on Loa Dust and had a bad trip about a man been dragged like the Hector of the tale.'
Max fell back on his pillow, laughing hard. She had to laugh along, suddenly aware of the silliness of her own words.
She threw a pillow on his face to punish him for been so insolent.
'You should stop laughing if you want me to come near your Midgard Serpent tonight, you know.'
'Sorry. Sorry... Once I saw a giant eagle playing the clarinet while high on cocaine. I'm not in position to judge anyone.' He pulled The Boss to his arms and gave her a lustfully kiss, and she quickly forgot all worries.
'So it was like, a scary eagle?'
'Not really. Just silly, like a cartoon. It was cool though, we were roommates.'
Max didn't continue. The Boss took off her nightgown and slipped under the sheets with him.
'Bout midnight The Boss got thirsty, and craved for a glass of cold water. She rolled herself in a sheet and was about to go to the kitchen, if Max wasn't too much of a gentleman to let her do it. He slipped in his underwear and went to fetch it himself.
Sleepy, he stepped in the kitchen and opened the door of the fridge, letting it open so he had a bit of light.
He was thinking to himself... About how he and The Boss came from totally different worlds, but got along so well.
He retrieved a bottle of water and started to pour it on a clean glass he got at a wooden cabinet. Max couldn't help but let out a smile. Not that he stopped being skeptical about this relationship, but each day their proximity made him less and less resistant...
'I am probably turning my head the other way when I am saying this, but the fact that we are on opposite sides... I guess it doesn't matter like I thought it would. I haven't felt like this in such a long time!'
Max looked at his own reflection on the mirrored door of the microwave, noticing the positive changes on his looks since the last few days. He seemed happier, even younger lately. He left a satisfied sight and was about to close the fridge to come back to his room, when something behind his reflection moved in the dark and caught his attention. As his eyes tried to adjust to the lack of light to see what it was, the blade of a katana shone out of the darkness and found its way to his neck.
He felt that cold and unpleasant sensation of a slicing object slightly cutting one of his vital points.
'One move and you die.' A man's voice warned behind him, slight asian accent marking the words.
In the reflection, he saw a Ronin lurking out of the darkness of the kitchen.
'What do you want?' Max asked.
'Where is that bitch you're banging?'
They were there for The Boss, no need to wonder any further.
'Bitch? I dunno what you're talking about. I haven't gotten some in months, pal.'
The expert arm of the thug dug the blade in his skin just enough to make Max realize this was not the answer they were looking for.
'We know she is seeing you!'
'Ugh. There's no one here, asshole. I am alone.'
The man didn't seem to believe the cop for a second, and kept pushing him towards the bedroom. Max knew he didn't have much time, so he pretended to stumble and took the Ronin with him to the ground.
To Max's luck his katana landed away from them.
The two rolled on the floor, fighting for dominance, when someone came from behind and dug the sword on the Ronin's back.
'Thanks.' Max said, looking up as he slid away the Ronin's inanimate body, unpleasantly bleeding over his. The Boss was standing next to him, wrapped in sheets.
'I'm pretty sure this was in your honor.' Max commented, getting up. 'I wonder why they did this?'
'They must have found out what we did to Shogo.'
'What happened to him?'
As she told him the details of Aisha's funeral, Max eyes widened in shock.
'I can't... I can't believe it. You buried him, too? With your own hands?'
The Boss stopped a bit, learning of this huge disappointment written all over his face, but still nodded firmly.
'Yes. He ordered my friend's, Johnny's girl's death. I did what anyone would have...'
'...Anyone?!' Max snapped, losing his temper. 'Do you really believe that, or are you just saying this to make it sound better?'
He hoped she would show some remorse, but nope, nothing came.
'I did what I had to do. Johnny deserved his...!' She raised her voice too and poked one finger in his chest.
'...well, Johnny, honey, he's making you as cruel as he is!'
'Don't put it on Gat.' She saw that he was trying to make an excuse for her behavior. 'That's who I am, Max. I am not like you, you've always knew that.'
Max sat on the leather couch, chin sinking in his hands. The most turbulent, contradictory feelings were fighting inside his heart. He knew himself well enough to know this couldn't go on like this. But, his feelings were true from the start.
She watched him, knowing that a line was crossed forever. She knew this was going to end sooner or later, and why, even if it was so good.
'Here is a thought.' He started, after a painful silence. 'This life is no good, nor for me, nor for you. I have a friend in Brazil, he can arrange things and we can leave this town, go to South America, away from all this madness. And start a life, together... I drop the PD, you drop the Saints. '
The Boss smiled sadly. For a second, the perspective of living in South America with Max, who was such a good man, seemed tempting.
However, he could be fed up about with been a cop, but as for her leaving the Saints... It would have been easier if he asked her to give up on her life. All she had, the gang gave to her: Respect, power, money, the deep sense of belonging to a sort of a family, a newfound will to live, and the possibility to take all she wanted... She loved Max, but the gang… Well, it was what defined her.
'Max... I... I can't... I am sorry.' She replied sadly. 'This is hard to say...'
He chuckled sadly and ran his hands nervously on his short beard.
'I see...'
The room was silent again.
'I should get going.' She said softly.
Max couldn't reply and kept still on his seat.
She started to grab her clothes off the floor, putting them on as she walked towards the door.
Only then he raised and passed his arms around her.
'I, you know... I did...' He whispered in her ear.
She turned and kissed him tenderly, one last time, on the lips.
'Me too.'
They looked at each other sadly and she brought one hand to his cheek to say goodbye.
'Take care Max.'
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