Hi everyone! Sorry, I know I've been gone a while real life and writers block held this chapter up greatly. Already started on the next chapter so there won't be any more long delays. As always, special thanks to LynGuerra for the constant motivation and feedback. Enjoy!
Mei stood there in complete shock at the fact that Tanya Winters was not only still alive but standing there in Aisha's living room like it was no big deal. Between being shot and falling several stories to what should have been her death, the woman if front of her shouldn't be above ground. However, Mei was brought out of her thoughts by the low growl coming from Gat.
"Give me one reason not slit your throat open and watch you slowly bleed." Gat pulled out a switchblade from his back pocket, exposing the sharpen steel edge "Don't know how you're not fucking worm food right now, but we can fix that."
As he tried to step closer to Tanya, Aisha stepped in front him to block his path. The shock of seeing the former Vice Kings lieutenant still alive was now replaced with the utter disbelief and confusion that the woman he loved was protecting her.
"Nobody is going to lay a finger on Tanya and certainly not in my motherfucking house." Aisha warned "Or did you forget that you literally gave me your word 30 seconds ago that you two wouldn't get violent?"
Gat hadn't broken eye contact with Tanya "Esh, it only Tanya Winters. Remember? The personal cum dumpster of Warren Williams and probably half the Vice Kings? She's a filthy whore who deserved whatever happens to her. Why should you or anyone else give a damn about this skank?"
"Haven't people said the same thing about a lot of other women you know?" Aisha asked defiantly "Including me and Mei, haven't people said that about the two of us as well? Aren't there a bunch of people who claimed that I was a talentless skank that probably dropped to knees and let Ben King have some fun in exchange for a record deal? And I won't even get into what Mei did to survive when she first got to Stilwater. Doesn't that mean the two of us are filthy skanks as well?"
Gat flinched for a moment, feeling his anger subside for the first time since entering the living room. He instantly thought back to his conversation with Lily, where he had inadvertently made her feel like a piece of trash. He also gave a glance back to Mei, who was still standing there silently taking everything in.
"Aisha, it's OK. It's not the first time I've been called a whore and won't be the last." Tanya sighed "Also, there's no way you're going to be able to hold them back if they decide to kill me. I'd rather let Gat slit my throat open than have you getting hurt on my behalf.I think me and your boyfriend can both agree that I'm worth you coming to any sort of harm."
"Fuck that shit. There's no way in hell the man I love would blatantly harm a woman who's unarmed and doesn't pose any immediate threat to him. Otherwise, I'm just as much a dumb, filthy whore as you are…maybe even more." Aisha backed up closer to Tanya to keep herself between the two former rivals "Mei you're like a sister to me, and Johnny…I love you than fucking life itself…but if either you want to kill Tanya, you're going to have to kill me first."
Both Saints were once again taken aback by the way this situation was unfolding in front of them. Not only was Tanya Winters still alive, but now Aisha was standing at the ready to die to protect this woman who she likened to being a sister. Despite the fact that Tanya had been an obstacle to both the original Saints and Johnny's attempts to be together with her.
Mei finally spoke "Nobody is going to be killing anyone today. Aisha, we gave you our word that we wouldn't start anything and we're not going to."
"Seriously?" Gat barked "After all the shit she put us through, you're not going to do anything?"
"I want to hear them out first, Johnny. Besides, you and I both know that neither of us could ever bring ourselves to harm Aisha, so we're probably not going to be doing anything to Tanya without hurting her." Mei explained calmly "Besides, I get the feeling that there's more going on than we know. And we did just give her our word, so let's just try calming the fuck down and get some answers. Ok?"
"Thanks Mei." Aisha slowly stepped from between herself and Tanya "And to answer your question, Johnny; the reason you shouldn't be slitting her throat is due to the fact that she saved my life, saved my sister Mia's life, saved Mei's life as well, and also saved yours too."
Mei and Johnny both exchanged confused glances. There was a lot of revelations that had been unearthed in the past three minutes and they both were beginning to suspect that there was many more to come.
"Fine. Let's hear what the skank has to say." Gat put his knife away and sat down on the couch "But this bitch says the wrong thing even once, and all bets are off."
"You call her a skank or whore again; all bets are off and you're not leaving this house with your balls still attached. Understood Motherfucker?" Aisha growled
Mei had to suppress the laughter that almost escaped her lips. While Aisha might have gotten used to the good life, but she was still the same tough-as-nails kid from the streets that survived growing up amongst the gang violence of Stilwater.
Tanya and Aisha then proceed to take seats on the sofa opposite Gat. Mei took a deep breath and made her way over to join the other three in the living room.
Mei took a seat next to the Saints lieutenant "So before Gat decides to make with the murdering again, why don't you first explain to us how you and Tanya are suddenly such good friends."
"Tanya was the one who first heard me singing, which in turn lead to me getting my contract with Kingdom Come Records." Aisha explained "When Warren or King tried pushing me into things like posing nude or spending 'alone time' with investors, Tanya stopped them. When one potential investor tried to corner me in the women's bathroom, Tanya stepped in and broke his fingers. She then threatened to have King use his SPD connections to have him thrown into the Stilwater Penitentiary's general population and spread rumors that he was there for messing with little kids. She scared him so badly that he invested ten times what he planned to originally and never came around the record label building again after that. Me and Tanya have been cool with each other ever since day one.
"Esh, you never told me about this! I would gladly have gutted that pervy motherfucker like a fish for putting his hands on you." Gat grumbled "Hold up, I thought Warren Williams was the one who discovered you and told Benjamin King how they needed to sign you to a 'lucrative contract' before someone else did."
"Like that fucker ever had an ear for good music." Tanya rolled her eyes "I heard Aisha singing one day outside her church and then told Warren about her. Then the two-faced fucker ran to King and passed it off like his own discovery. And since I was still his smokescreen for the whorehouses, nobody would have believed that I was the one who discovered Aisha."
"What do you mean you were his 'smokescreen'?" Mei asked "Did Warren have some say in how they were run?"
Tanya let out a shrill laugh "Warren had ALL the say in how the whorehouse were run. After he forced me into the gang, he put me in charge of running prostitution for the Vice Kings. However, that was only for the sake of appearances. Warren was being groomed to be King's eventual successor for the record label, so having him wrapped up in a prostitution charge would have been 'damaging to the company's prestige and overall image' as King put it."
"Sounds just like him to say some dumb shit like that. King always did forget that he was a gangbanger before a businessman." Gat shook his head "And just like that, they left you holding the bag if the brothels ever got raided?"
"That's exactly what the fallback plan was." Tanya nodded "King was already paying off about half the SPD, so there was little real concern about a police raid. But I was setup as the lightning rod to take the hits should somebody high up in the SPD who had both the authority and moral backbone to not be bribed ever decide to come after the brothels. And if any rival gangs decided to disrupt the operations by taking out the person running things….it would be me laying dead in the street instead of Warren."
"Which is exactly what happened when the Saints decided to move on Ben Kings and rest of the VK." Mei concluded
Tanya smiled sadly "I was the only woman officially in the gang, but I was considered 'Warren's skank girlfriend', so its not like anyone would have really cared if I was killed. I even overheard heard King telling Warren that it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world if something happened to me."
Aisha gasped "What the fuck! Why would he even say something like that?"
"King figured I was some gold-digging slut that was probably fucking half the guys in the gang anyway, so there would be no real sadness from anyone when I finally caught a bullet to the head." Tanya explained coldly "There were even a few attempts on my life not too long after I joined the Vice Kings. I didn't have any sort of reputation yet, so even now I wonder if it wasn't people paid by Ben King to murder me so that Warren could find a more suitable replacement."
"Assholes." Gat growled "You can't be doing shit in the streets and not want to deal with the consequences."
"What did you did you mean by 'forced to join the gang'?" Mei asked quietly "I would have thought that Warren wouldn't want his girlfriend being mixed up in his business."
"Warren's girlfriend….." Tanya whispered quietly as she lowered her head for a moment and didn't answer when raised her head, both Saints were surprised to see tears running down her eyes.
"Warren and me grew up in the same neighborhood and had been friends for years. But as we got older, Warren began to run with the Vice Kings and we both slowly started to drift apart as a result. Then one day, he asks me to be his pretend girlfriend."
"Why would Warren need a pretend girlfriend?" Gat asked "I'm sure that between being Benjamin King's right-hand man and running a major record label, there should have been scores of girls lining up outside his door."
"The problem wasn't a lack of interested women prepared to be a trophy girlfriend in exchange for having to suck Warren's filthy cock from time to time. The problem is…." Tanya took a deep breath "Warren Williams wasn't into women if you caught my drift."
"Warren liked to 'bat for the other team'?" Mei was dumbstruck "There's no way. Warren Williams was a complete pussy hound from what I heard."
"What you heard were stories he spread around to make himself look good." Tanya countered "Warren was more likely to try and fuck Gat before so much as trying to cop a feel on any of the females in this room."
"I can't believe Warren Williams was in the fucking closet." Gat's jaw dropped "No…fucking….way.."
"That was my same reaction when I caught him making out with one of the linebackers in the locker room junior year." Tanya admitted "They both swore me to secrecy and I gave them my word I wouldn't say anything. So when Warren joined the Vice Kings and all these women started fawning over him, he needed a reason to explain away not fucking any of them. Street gangs are still mostly dominated by men, so anything not masculine won't be tolerated. And if rumors had ever started that Warren was gay, his time in the Vice Kings would have been over."
"Oh shit." Mei took a moment to process this new revelation "But why bring you into the gang forcefully rather the simply recruit one of these random chicks?"
Tanya smiled sadly "He wanted someone he could trust. And since I had known Warren's secret for years and never told a soul about his…preferencs…. he figured I'd be the perfect fake girlfriend."
"And Warren thought the chick who's always got her goods on display for everyone to see, looking like she's working a street corner, would be good fake girlfriend?" Gat asked skeptically "I'm surprised he didn't just pick up some random hooker off the street and pay them for the girlfriend experience. They also probably would have come with a lot more clothes on."
Aisha shook her head "Really Johnny?"
"It's Ok Aisha. Like I said, I've been called worse things." Tanya still had tears streaming down her eyes "I used to dress a lot differently before Warren got me wrapped up being his fake girlfriend. He told me it would just be few weeks and then he would figure something else out long term. The fact that I had lost my job at the auto-shop at the time and he was offering me $50,000 and putting me up in a nice apartment while I was pretending to be his girlfriend seemed like a nice deal. Except this arrangement went longer than a few weeks."
"If the record deal that fucker Williams tricked Aisha into signing is any indication, I'm assuming Warren didn't honor the arrangement?" Mei asked dryly
"That's an understatement." Tanya reached for some tissues on the coffee table "The first couple of times I tried to leave, he sweet-talked me into staying. Then when I told him I finally was done doing this, he told me 'I belonged to him and didn't have a say in the matter.' I didn't take him seriously and turned my back on him."
"Then what happened?" Mei asked "Since I'm assuming he didn't handle your declaration to end things like a levelheaded person would, he didn't just say 'Thank You. I appreciate what you did for me' and let you go along your way?"
Tanya shook her head "No, he didn't handle the rejection well at all. Two seconds after I turned my back on him, he grabbed me by the back of the head and started bashing my head into the wall."
"Oh my god…" Aisha whispered "Tanya, why didn't you tell me?"
Tanya smiled at her friend sadly "I didn't want something happening to you because you tried to help me. If. Not to mention you had enough problems of your own without taking on mine. Besides, if he was capable of doing that to me despite all the years of friendship we supposedly had, I don't want to think about what we might have done to you or someone else who confronted him. At the end of the day, Warren wasn't afraid of anyone not named Benjamin King. And I doubt anybody would have lost any sleep over something happening to me, least of all the leader of the Vice Kings."
"Did that piece of shit motherfucker beat on you often?" Gat asked tensely "I'm no fucking fan of Benjamin King, but even he wouldn't have the 'girlfriend' of one his lieutenants walking around his building sporting a black eye and other bruises. Doesn't shit like that also fuck with his 'company image'?"
Mei glanced over at her longtime friend and feel the rage building in Johnny Gat. And for the first time since they entered the house, that rage wasn't directed at Tanya. Mei was pretty sure that if Warren Williams were still alive, the horrors that Gat would have inflicted upon him would have left the Vice Kings lieutenant begging for a quick death.
"He hit me in the face on couple of other instances as well. But he hated paying for all the makeup that I would later need to cover up the bruises he gave me, so Warren switched to hitting me in the stomach, arms, and legs. Basically, parts of my body I could cover with clothes." Tanya explained meekly "So once it became apparent that he couldn't hit my face as often as he would like to, I changed my wardrobe up. With me showing so much skin, it made it things more difficult for Warren to beat me the way usually did. Of course, then the rumors started that I used to work street corners and that I occasionally worked the brothels from time to time because I enjoyed it. Ultimately, it was better to have everyone thinking I was whore that couldn't keep her fucking legs closed as opposed to some weak, battered girlfriend who couldn't defend herself."
"That's despicable! Even for a piece of shit like Warren Williams. However, wasn't there a better option than dressing with your entire body on display?" Mei asked "Afterall, such a dramatic change in clothing must have taken quite a bit of them to adjust to."
Tanya shrugged "Everyone in the gang was already calling me slut, skank, and 'Warren's whore' anyway, its just now I was wearing the outfit to match the role of his 'slut girlfriend'. Besides, I would rather have people staring at me because and ass and tits are on display for anyone and everyone to see, rather than because of all the marks and bruises on my body. Although when I tipped Aisha off to Warren snatching her sister, that motherfucker was so livid that he went on to vent his frustration over the situation by giving me two black eyes. But getting to see Warren getting his bitch ass chewed out from Ben King made it totally worth it."
"Wait a minute, you're the one who told Aisha about Mia getting snatched?" Gat exchanged a side glance with Mei "I thought you were the one who ordered girls to be snatched in the first place."
"Like I told you before, I was running those brothels in name only. Warren was always in charge and made all the major decisions. I was just there to take the charges in case anything went sideways with the cops." Tanya reminded "I was also supposed to be the target for other gangs, as I'm sure you can remember."
"Tanya was told about Mia getting snatched by a mutual friend who recognized her. That's how I got the info that I gave to the Saints." Aisha explained "Without Tanya, who knows what would have happened to Mia and those other girls."
"But why take the risk though?" Mei asked "If Warren or anyone else had found out about you passing info along to a rival gang, they would have killed you. And probably not before they had you tortured and raped before deciding to leave you dead in back alley somewhere."
Even as she said those words, Mei mind instantly flashed to Lin. Remembering what the Rollerz had done to her before being forced to watch the sick fuck Sharp shot her.
"Aisha's my best friend. I would do anything to protect her and anyone else she cares about. Besides, Aisha wasn't the only one trapped by the Vice Kings." Tanya said quietly "All those 'tips' Aisha was passing along to the Saints? Where did you think Aisha was getting all the secret information along regarding VK business?"
"Ok. But why didn't you warn us about the Raykins Hotel in Prawn Court?" Gat crossed arms as her gave Tanya a stony glare "Why not warn the Saints they were walking into a trap?"
"I didn't know there was going to be a trap for the Saints. Warren dragged me there, then took told me that I was going to be bait and Big Tony would make sure nothing happened to me. Before I could react to anything, he was already out the back door and the Saints were already coming through the front. All I could do was play along until I got an opening to take Big Tony by surprise and help you escape. But as you already know, that wasn't needed." Tanya explained
"Would have been nice to not get blasted in the leg with a shotgun." Gat grumbled
"Also, would have liked to have not jumped out a second story window into a dumpster in order to escape." Mei concurred
"Hey! It also would have been nice not being a loveless relationship with closeted psychopath. But we don't always get what we want, now do we?" Tanya countered "I'm the one who convinced Tony not to kill Gat right away so we could pump him for info on the Saints. Not that I ever thought he would break, but I needed time to get word back to Aisha about where they were going to be holding him. The moment I found out where Big Tony was going to stash Gat before killing him, I relayed that information to Aisha. Then, I got the joy of being used as bait once more and had the pleasure of your friend using me a smokescreen before smashing me face into a wall before entering Green's apartment. Luckily for me I regained consciousness and booked it while you were shooting out with Big Tony and his crew."
"Damn…..I…..shit…" Gat was at a loss for words "If we had known….."
"Don't worry about it." Tanya waved him off "I'm the one who told Aisha to keep it secret where she was getting all her information from. I was afraid that if they ever figured out what I was doing, they might eventually realize that Aisha was helping me. And if that ever happened, you best believe that they would have found both of our naked and mutilated dead bodies in the same alleyway you were taking about before."
"Ok. But what about trying to take over the gang with Warren Williams?" Mei asked "Ben King came running to the Saints because you guys tried to take him out."
"Correction; Warren Williams was the one who tried to take out Benjamin King. I wasn't even there when it went down and couldn't give two shits. From how I heard it, Warren tried to have King taken out by about a dozen goons rather than pulling the trigger himself. Ben King to his credit is no slouch and whopped their asses before running to Julius Little and the Saints for protection." Tanya explained "Then Warren got himself killed in that crash, but rumors started running wild about how he survived, only for me come strolling along to put a bullet in his head after he survived the crash. Trust me when I say that after all the abuse I had to endure at his hands, I would have made the fucker burn up slowing in his car rather giving him a quick and painless bullet to the head."
"But why take over the gang if you wanted out?" Gat challenged "Williams was a flaming turd on the freeway and with Big Tony dead, there was nobody left run things after King fled. And even with Warren dead, King wasn't stupid enough to try reclaiming the gang…so there was nothing to stop you from going back to your old life. So why not take the chance to get out?"
"Because I wanted to kill the motherfuckers who killed my best friend when they blew up Kingdom Come Records." Tanya growled as a fresh stream of tears came down her face "I wasn't told about her plans to fake her death, so as far as I knew, the gang both Aisha and I had been feeding information on the Vice Kings in the hopes that they would help us get away had decided to kill my best friend to send a message to their rivals. Also, word had gotten out that Ben King went to the Saints for help, so if I tried to simply run away, either King or one of the Saints would have shown up on my doorstep with a gun in hand. So, I figured I would make my last stand and take revenge on the people who murdered my best friend, or they would kill me. No matter how things played out, at least I knew I would be free of living in fear….one way or another. The rest is fucking history as they say."
Gat and Mei look at each other and exchanged guilty expressions. That whole time they had regarded Tanya as an enemy when she was really an ally. To matters worse, had they allowed Aisha to inform her friend she was going to fake her death, they probably could have taken care of things faster with the Vice Kings. And the fact that they almost killed her left Mei with a feeling of utter shame and regret with a heavy feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"So guess the only real question left is….how did you survive the fall?" Mei asked quietly
Tanya smiled "Benjamin Motherfucking King"
Mei frowned "I don't follow."
"Remember when I fell and landed directly where King's Mag truck had been parked?" She asked
Mei nodded "Yeah. I thought the impact of slamming into steel would have killed you."
"It would have…if King hadn't modified the vehicle with extra padded seats and a deluxe plush rooftop." She explained "From what the doctors told me, it wasn't enough to make it a soft landing, however it was able to disrupt the impact enough to not be fatal. Because of where the record label building was, there was quick police response, so they found me and rushed me to the hospital where they treated my injuries. I just remember the doctors saying over and over that I was lucky to not be in pieces after taking a fall like that."
Aisha hung her head "I'm so sorry Tanya. This was all my fault. If I had known, I would have come and visited you."
"That probably wouldn't have been a good idea, since you were supposed to be dead." Tanya laughed "I was in a medically induced coma for 3 months, so those would have been some one-sided conversations. Spent 5 months in intensive care and about a year learning to walk again. The time probably would have flown by much faster if your buddy Troy weren't constantly stopping into my hospital room to check on me."
Mei expression darkened "What was that fucking asshole even doing there?"
Gat crossed his arms and hung his head in deep thought "Sometimes when we got into shootouts or other really high profile situations, Julius would send Troy out to the hospitals as a sort of ambassador for the Saints. He would make sure that any injured Saints were getting proper treatment despite being in a gang. Troy also made sure the doctors treated our gunshot wounds without reporting them to the police. Other times Julius would have him talk to a witness or someone who might've seen a Saint doing something and help 'correct their memories'. This usually took a combination of money and threats. Lin was undercover with the Rollerz, so she couldn't do it, my face was considered too intimidating and Dex wasn't really the type of guy who could scare someone. So that left Troy as both the best and only option."
"Which gave an undercover cop in our gang even more access to information on the Saints." Mei groaned
"That probably didn't help a lot of your crew." Tanya nodded "Since he was actually an undercover cop in your gang, Bradshaw probably had officers giving him intel of potential rivals and witnesses that could be used against the Saints later. And since Bradshaw probably heard about the little trip you two and King took to the record label. He probably figured that whatever survivor would have prime intel for him. I didn't have any ID on me, but he knew my face apparently. It was a little over a month after I woke up from my coma that he came to see me. He probably figured I would have a mountain of info on both the Saints and remaining VK."
"Shit!" Gat barked "What the fuck did that two-faced cocksucker want?"
Tanya smiled "He wanted me help corroborate info that he had against the Saints and Vice Kings. This was a little while after you went for your boat ride and he revealed that he was SPD. He also wanted my help in identifying dirty cops that were on Kings payroll. I told him to go fuck himself every time. Then, he finally threatened to bring charges against me. Saying that only thing worse than being in prison for preying upon women, is being a paralyzed female in prison for preying on other women. Troy even went so far as threatening to place me in general population and spread all sorts of nasty rumors about me just for good measure. I told Troy that I wasn't a fucking narc like himself and that he could try his luck if he wanted. A few days after that conversation, my overpriced insurance provider informed me that they could no longer cover my medical bills or rehab. My lawyer also informed me that the District Attorney's office was planning to bring charges against me."
Gat shook his head "The more I find out about who Troy really was, the more I wish I had managed to kill that motherfucker."
"And if you had succeeded, they probably would have killed you before your girl here could wake up and bust you out of the courthouse." Tanya pointed
Aisha smirked "She's got you there Johnny."
"I guess now that I'm out, I can always kill that motherfucker whenever I want." Gat conceded
"And what about those charges Troy wanted to bring against you?" Mei asked as she leaned in "Did he ever follow through on any of his threats?"
"Nope. In fact, didn't hear from Troy again after that." Tanya laughed "Between cleaning up all the gangs in Stilwater and all the pending trails for the Saints that had been arrested, The District Attorney at the time had more important fish to fry. And when three new gangs moved in less than a year later, Troy had more pressing issues to deal with. And I guess the District Attorney couldn't be bothered with prosecuting a washed-up brothel madame for a gang that didn't even exist anymore. Luckily I was able to transfer money Warren's accounts into my own to finish paying off my medical bills. The minute I was able to fully work a wheelchair on my own, I used some of Warren's hush money to bribe one of the doctors to sneak me out of the hospital. I then paid to go to a private medical facility so I could finish my rehab and hopefully regain the ability to walk again."
Gat rubbed eyes from behind his shades "I see…so since Troy already took down the Saints, neither him nor anybody else could be bothered to round up the stragglers that weren't deemed important enough to arrest initially."
"That's pretty much how the situation went down." Tanya confirmed "There were still people flying blue, red, yellow, and purple flags. However, there was barely enough people left from any of those groups to even really be called a gang. Then the Sons of Samedi, Ronin, and Brotherhood rolled into town and wiped out whoever was still left and hadn't dropped their flags or been arrested."
"And how exactly did you end up meeting up with Aisha again if you thought she was dead?" Gat asked
"She saved my life Johnny." Aisha explained "I was leaving the prison after one of our visits when someone ran me off the road. Turns out it was my stalker from a few years back. For whatever reason, this crazy motherfucker believed I was still alive and had been trying to find me ever since."
Mei's expression darkened "I knew I should have killed that motherfucker the first time I laid eyes on him."
"Its not your fault girl, I thought he was harmless. That's the reason I didn't want you to inflict any permanent damage to him." Aisha sighed "In hindsight, I made a mistake not letting you gun him down in the street that day. Lord knows it would have saved me a lot of hassle, as well as the bill for fixing my car."
"Back to the stalker." Gat growled "How did he find you?"
"He found out that you had been having a visitor other than your lawyer." Aisha took a deep breath "And he also learned that we had a relationship. The crazy asshole ending up putting two and two together. He setup outside the prison walls and waited for me to leave. Then he ran me of the road and proceed to walk over with handcuffs and a blindfold. I was so terrified that I couldn't even more. Just as he was about open my car door, I heard shot ring out and the side of his head exploded. Few seconds later, Tanya runs over with her Vice-9 asking me if I'm ok."
"Actually, I started to ask that if you were OK…but was unable to finish my sentence because I was too much in shock over seeing my best friend still alive. Remember; I thought the Saints blew her up inside Kingdom Come Records."
"And I thought Tanya had been killed by the two of you with some assistance from Ben King." Aisha added "My girl happened to be driving by when she saw me get run off the road and swopped in for the save. Luckily nobody else was around to see all this go down. After Tanya came back to her senses, she shot that motherfucker three more times in the head for good measure, she gave me a ride home on her motorcycle."
Tanya smirked "Good thing for you I wear a full cover helmet. Otherwise your neighbors might have found out that they're living next door to a famous singer."
"That's so fucking true." Aisha laughed "After we got back to the house, we brought each other up to speed on how we were both still alive, amongst other things."
"And after your girl broke down crying in my arms about the fresh set of bruises you had every time she visited you, I stepped in to help improve prison life for you." Tanya added "Despite your letting me fall thirty stories and almost dying."
Mei frowned "Wait a minute, Gat told me about this. I thought things got better for Gat in lockup because Troy became the chief of police."
"That's true. But that fucking narc didn't step in to protect Gat out of the kindness of his heart. I had some hidden cameras installed in the nicer brothels the VK controlled. Just in case I decided to make a run for it, I wanted leverage against clients. The plan being to send them after the Vice Kings in exchange for compromising photos and videos of them didn't see the light of day." Tanya explained "I anonymously contacted the DA at the time and threatened to send those photos to family, friends, and colleagues if arrangements weren't made to protect Johnny Gat while he was a guest of the state. I also told him the photos would get released if anything happened to certain woman in the prison hospital had any sort of change in her conditions or had her left support disconnected. I later heard that Mayor Hughes didn't want anything happening to you either. But a little extra insurance goes a long way."
Gat glanced over to Aisha "Is it true?"
Aisha simply nodded, clearly to choked-up to speak. Everyone sat there for a moment not saying anything. Mei despite her best efforts was still feeling numb from the series of bombshell revelations she had received courtesy of a woman she would have once tried to kill without a second thought. Even knowing the role the two Saints played in almost ending her life, Tanya still took steps to ensure that her would-be killers were protected in prison from both inmates and guards alike.
"Tanya….I…I'm sorry. I know its doesn't mean much, but I am truly sorry for everything that happened." Mei said solemnly "You were truly a victim that who caught up dealing with other people's shit."
"Makes me feel bad thinking about everything horrible thing I ever said about you." Gat admitted "And after we tried to splattering you along the sidewalk, you still made sure that nothing happened to me or Mei…and that's after saving my girl's life…I forever grateful to you. And I hope one day you can forgive us."
"Don't even sweat it." Tanya waved of their apologies "Had I trusted the Saints to get me away from the Vice Kings, I wouldn't have been there dangling from the side of a building while Ben King leering over me and stomping on my fingers."
Mei and Gat both exchanged a nod before both stood up and extended their hands "Fresh start?"
Tanya walked over and shook their hands with a coy smile on her face "Fresh start."
Mei slowly exhaled "So with that history buried and dealt with, why don't you tell me and this business proposition?"
"I've got a friend named Vikki, she ran one of the nicest brothels in VK territory not controlled by Warren, Ben, and the rest of their goons. It's clientele was important and powerful enough that nobody messed with Vikki's place. However, when the new gangs came into town all of that changed. The Sons of Samedi would drug her girls and keep them captive while the Ronin were snatching them off the street left and right." Tanya explained "The situation got so bad that Vikki returned to turning tricks herself. She got through doing 6 months on a assault charge after some SPD officer in plain clothes decided he didn't need to pay for her services. So she's looking to reclaim her girls and maybe add a few to the collection as well."
"How did you link up with her?" Asked Gat
"When she got released, she didn't have a lot of options, so she went back to working the street corners. The same officer who got his asked kick showed up with some friends in tow." She explained "I saw them about to mess her up and I stepped in. Few seconds later there were three dead cops on the ground. She didn't even have a place to stay, so I put her up with me."
Mei smiled "That was really nice of you."
"Us downtrodden women need to stick together." Tanya proclaimed smugly "Besides, I just dropped three cops on her corner and she had no place to go. Kind of felt like I owed it to her."
Gat frowned "You mentioned taking back working girls from the Ronin and the Sons of Samedi. What about the Brotherhood?"
"Like those idiots are smart enough to figure out how to run girls." Tanya laughed "They're whole thing is about intimidation. They would probably want all the potential girls they bring in tattooed and covered in piercings."
"So, in addition to getting her girls back, what else would Vikki need from the Saints?" Mei inquired
"She needs a new building to run her operations out of. Preferably in the business district. It will allow Vikki to attract the same caliber of clients she catered to previously." Tanya explained "It also lets the clients and the girls know that they're someplace safe…or at least as safe as things ever get in Stilwater."
"The location ain't a bad idea, but it won't be cheap." Gat pointed out "Not to mention there's a lot of legal paperwork that comes with that shit. And that's not even getting into the fact that cops are around that area frequently."
Tanya smiled "Already ahead of you. With my savings, I can cover the cost of the property purchase. Due to the city wanting to expand the district, they flattened 12 blocks worth of land that previously belonged to the Humbolt Park District. It also happens to be connected to the two blocks with King Come Records once stood."
Mei frowned "After all this time that's passed, nobody wanted to purchased King's old property?"
"From what I heard, King's income took a serious blow when you guys blew up King Come Records the second time around. This was on top of all the legal and financial issues King had to deal with now that the SPD wasn't protecting him anymore and he was actually being properly investigated for once. Since he owned the property, he could've sold it right away like he planning to do originally once he let town." Tanya explained "However, there was a lot of pressure from Aisha fans to turn the burnt down lot into a memorial site. The city wanted to move ahead with this idea and was going to buy the lot from King. But he figured since he had something City Hall wanted, he would play hardball and ask for a ridiculous amount of money."
"How ridiculous we talking here? Gat asked
Tanya smiled "He wanted ten times what the property was worth while the original King Come Records was still standing."
"What a dumbass" Mei remarked, shaking her head "Ben King never did know when to fucking quit while he was ahead."
"You could say that again." Gat grumbled
"Because of his bullshit offers, the City Council decided not to move forward with purchasing the lot." Tanya smiled coyly "And when word got out as to why the City of Stilwater wouldn't have a memorial to honor one of it's greatest raising stars, people were calling for Ben King's blood. Bad enough that a lot of people still blamed him for Aisha's 'death' in the first place."
"I didn't leave the house for a few months while that was going on." Aisha chimed in "Since by this point the Vice Kings and Third Street Saints no longer existed, King was the only person left to take the public ire…and rightfully so. It got so bad that people started to burn his copies of his Regicide Autobiography. With all that renewed interest in me, didn't want to take the chance of being recognized."
"Yeah, it was truly chaotic at the time." Tanya agreed "There were rumors that Ultor would step in to purchase to the property, but they got cold feet at the last minute. Probably because they're investors didn't want the company tied up in that mess.
"So what we really need is someone who can make the purchase who has a clean record and won't be tied back to the Saints." Mei concluded "It's also got to be someone who won't attract to much attention for making the purchase. Due to the history of the properties, everyone's going to want to know anything and everything about the person who bought the lots and what their intensions are."
"I figured we could get shell-company setup to conduct the purchase. The company should be listed as being oversees to avoid any local hassle from the cops or media." Tanya suggested "We convert a portion of the lot into memorial tribute for Aisha and rest of the space into private office buildings. The largest one can serve as a new HQ for the Saints and then the surrounding new buildings can serve other purposes. One of these would of course serve as a new brothel for Vikki.
"I like that idea. We can setup other business on the lot as well." Mei smiled "It will give us a nice way to bring in some legit cash while washing any dirty money we take of the other gangs. We would have to avoid any illegal activity other than the brothel. Once Bradshaw gets reports about an influx of people wearing purple, he's going to scrutinize our movements in the district."
"It still beats having everyone in one place like we are right now." Gat pointed "One wrong move and we get wiped out by the SPD or one of the other gangs."
"Fair point." Mei shrugged, looking back at Tanya "Let's beginning preperations. We got a district that begging for a purple.
The next couple hours flew by rather quickly once they got down to business. Tanya explained that she had made the dummy companies to hide the hush money Warren had been paying her. She had also taken life insurance policies on both Warren and Big Tony which ending up leaving her with substantial amount of wealth. It was agreed that she would use one of these companies to purchase the property while the Saints would setup another funnel the payments for the construction of the building. Tanya would handle relaying everything to Vikki, who would in turn start providing info and where to track down the her former "employees".
Once they had worked out the details Gat and Mei both stood up to leave when Tanya spoke up once again.
"I know that this whole situation is a lot to take in, especially with the proposal I'm laying out. However there's one last request I wanted to make."
Mei smiled "You want to join the Saints."
Tanya went wide-eyed "How did you know?"
"When you've gone through a lot of harsh bullshit in order to survive, you sometimes find yourself looking for a place where you belong. And since Aisha's told you about how much we're the opposite of Vice Kings, we probably seemed like a very appealing option to join."
"So, can I join The Saints? I know after everything that's gone down, it might not go over well with the rest of the gang, but I figured you could give me chance?" Tanya asked hopefully
Mei saw in that brief moment the amount of vulnerability and fear that was running through Tanya. Afterall, nobody likes being rejected by people you want to have accept you. That was a feeling that my of the gang once had when joining up. And not that Mei would ever admit it out loud to anyone, a part of her had felt that same way that day when she walked into the church for the first time.
"Not a problem" Mei said finally, watching the relief wash over Tanya's face "You have to be canonized, but we'll let you know when and where."
"Thanks. I'll be ready." Tanya replied, barely able to control her excitement.
As Johnny and Mei made their way back to the garage and entered Johnny's car, he looked at Mei with a look of disbelief.
"Can you believe all that shit that just happened?" Johnny asked quietly
"I still can't process it either." Mei agreed "So I can only imagine how its going to go over with the rest of the gang."
Johnny smirked "So I should probably take the scenic route back to hideout."
"Fuck yes." Mei smiled "We're just getting started and shit's only getting more interesting.