Chapter 12

Abby was at her mom's new apartment. She was really surprised when her mama had called to tell her she was around. She tried to find out why, but her mom insisted that she would tell her in person. Cree had arrived a few minutes after her younger sibling. Abby hadn't realized how much she had missed her sister until she saw her. It had been a good two years since they had last seen each other. They had lunch together with their mom and brother as they caught up. After they had done the dishes, Mrs. Lincoln called the girls to her bedroom. "Please shut the door," she said quietly. Cree did as she was told before taking a seat on the king size bed.

Mrs. Lincoln looked at her daughters for a while, not saying anything. She didn't know how to start, or where to start. The girls looked at her expectantly, but they already knew whatever their mother was planning to tell them was not going to be good news. Their mom looked down at her folded hands for a few moments, and when she looked up again, there were tears swimming in her eyes. She finally spoke. "I'm here because…your father and I had a fight…" she sighed, "…and really, I don't think there is a way we can get past this." She was quiet for an instant before she continued, "He had an affair. I can't…" she broke off, her tears now flowing freely.

Cree was quick to get to her mother's side to hug her. Abby was rooted to the spot where she stood, as she listened to her mother's heartbreaking sobs. She could hardly believe what she had heard. Her breathing gradually became labored as hot tears poured out of her tear ducts. She walked over to her mother and sister, where they hugged each other as they cried together, a heavy blanket of sorrow and betrayal overpowering them. "Are you sure about this?" Abby finally asked. Cree shot her a nasty look, but their mother nodded slowly in response.

"It's not the first time," Mrs. Lincoln said quietly.

Abby felt as though her heart had just been squeezed upon hearing that. She held her mother's hand in both of hers, and kissed it before saying, "I am sorry, Mama." She sniffed before reiterating, "I am so sorry."

xxx

Wally stomped into his room. Nigel looked up at him, furrowing his brow as the door banged before asking, "Bad day?" to which he received no answer. He watched as the blond removed his ringing phone from his pocket. Wally looked at the caller ID before throwing his phone viciously at the wall, where it disintegrated into many little pieces. He clenched his fists as he paced around the room with a murderous look on his face before he sat down on his bed and covered his face with his hands.

Nigel was alarmed. He knew his friend had a temper, and had been an unfortunate witness on occasion to his fits of anger, but he had never seen Wally like this before. Honestly, it scared him. He switched off the TV, but Wally growled at him, telling him to switch it back on. He wasn't even watching it, Nigel observed, but it seemed he clearly wanted some noise of some sort as he brooded.

Wallabee had never been so helpless in his life. His dignity had been taken from him in that alley. "FUCCCK!" he yelled suddenly, causing Nigel to jump. How the hell could Joey have been so stupid? How the hell do you get involved with a guy that looks like that son-of-a-bitch? Wally had had to sell his motorbike so that he could come up with the cash to pay off the debt. He was sure it would be over once he handed over the money.

He and Joey had arrived at the alley before the drugs guys. Then the black sedan arrived, and a bodyguard had come out for the cash. Joey handed it over to him. Instead of just taking it and driving away, forgetting about the transaction, another guy who was clearly the boss exited the vehicle. He was tall with slick dark hair and the meanest, coldest grey eyes Wally had ever seen. Greg looked at Joey and smiled. "Good boy," he said. "Now get outta here." His voice was almost gentle, but his face showed a different story. As the brothers turned to leave, Greg said, "Uh uh uh…the kid goes, but you," he pointed at Wally, "you stay."

"Why?" Wally asked. "We gave you what you wanted. Just leave us alone, please."

Greg looked at him up and down, and then he inclined his head in the direction of the bodyguard standing behind him. The bodyguard dressed in black, held open his jacket to reveal a gun strapped to his waist. Immediately Wally knew he was in trouble. "Joey, go home." But his brother remained where he was, attempting brevity. "NOW!" Wally yelled, not bothering to look at him. He heard the frantic footsteps of his retreating brother as he left the scene.

With a wave of the hand, Greg directed the bodyguard to enter the vehicle. He went and sat in the front passenger's seat. Once they were alone, the dark haired man slowly approached Wally as he casually let him know that his bodyguard was not the only one carrying a piece. "If you move, I will leave your carcass here for the dogs. Do you understand?" Wally gave a slight nod. That is when Greg kissed him, and nibbled his ear. It took everything he had not to sock that guy right there and then. He knew he had to maintain his cool, because those guys were some serious shit. He knew Greg was not threatening him, rather he was promising him death if he twitched even a muscle.

Before leaving, the young drug lord gave Wallabee a business card. "Take it!" he ordered. "Be there two weeks from today. And don't think about going to the cops with this. I know where your family lives. 2nd Park Avenue, right?" he asked as he arched his brow. Wally did not respond. What could he say? That bastard really did know where his family lived. "Your mother's a beautiful woman. It's no wonder she has such an attractive son," Greg said with a slow lick of the lips. "If you squeal, I'm sure my boys can give your mom a good time. And anyone you speak to about this may not be assured a…simple death." He smiled and got into the car. Wally just watched as they drove away.

xxx

Abby got back to campus after the sun had set. She had had dinner with her family before going back to school. She walked wearily into her room to find Kuki lying on her bed, her eyelids swollen and red rimmed. Abby was feeling to lethargic to even say anything. She just walked over to Kuki and lay down beside her. The Asian girl looked at her, and they smiled at each other for a brief second as they shared a sad connection. Finally Abby said, "I'm not even gonna ask," to which Kuki responded with a half-snort half-sob, "Me neither."

They embraced the silence that each afforded the other. After about half an hour, Kuki broke the silence with a question. "D'you wanna get drunk with me?"

"Isn't that the coward's way out?"

"Just this once, I'd like to be a coward."

"Ok," Abby replied quietly.

xxx

The two girls sat together at the bar. They were going to try and drag out their binging as long as possible before losing their senses. They ordered four Smirnoff Black Ice's to begin with, two for each of them. As the bartender removed the tops off their bottles, Abby dialed a number.

"Hey baby, is everything ok?" Hoagie asked when he answered. He could hear a lot of noise in the background.

"Hey," Abby responded, clearly sounding down in the dumps. "What you up to tonight?"

"Nothing, I'm just chillin', watching TV," he said as he lay on the couch. "What's wrong, babe?" His voice was laced with concern.

"I…can't talk about it right now. If I do, I'll cry. And if I start, I'm not sure I'll be able to stop. If you don't mind, could you pick Kuki and I up from the pub at the corner of Prodman building?"

"Sure."

"In about an hour's time?"

"Ok, babe." He hung up and got dressed. Hoagie was out the door in five minutes.

xxx

Hoagie arrived at the pub fifteen minutes later. He spotted the girls at the bar. He went to buy a drink at the opposite end of the counter, away from them and then went to sit at a table in a corner. The place was packed, he noticed. He figured he could come early and watch the girls from a distance to make sure everything was ok before it was time to take them home. He slowly drank his beer as he waited for the seconds to tick by.

Seated a few bar stools from the girls was a biracial man in his mid twenties. His very light brown skin could easily fool anyone in the dimly lit pub into thinking he was Caucasian, unless they noticed his short curly hair. His flat cap partially covered his face in a shadow as he fixed his small eyes on the girls, and wondered why they looked so sad, especially his sister. Well, the Japanese girl wasn't really his sister, but she was his first cousin. His mother had always wanted him to think of Kuki and Mushi as his sisters, because they were the only cousins he had. She wanted to help foster a strong relationship among them. Kensei Sanban then shifted his gaze to Abby. He remembered her as a child, and he appreciated how she had blossomed. He ordered another drink as he let his mind wander from the girls.

He recalled his meeting with Greg Richard that afternoon. They had business to discuss, and they first made small talk in Greg's vehicle as they were chauffeured to an alley off Crystal Street. Apparently Greg had some business to discuss with another party. Kensei recalled the flash of fear reflected in the two blonds' faces as Greg interacted with them. He felt particularly sorry for the older boy when Greg chose him, expecting an encounter with him in two weeks.

The reason Greg would have new boys fairly frequently was because he was into the hard and rough, usually leaving the boys in either one of two situations: dead or half-dead. But Kensei wanted out of this kind of business. He had been steadily decreasing the number of times he would go out looking for some kid with no future. Offering them a life in Greg's clutches was synonymous with offering them an even lesser future. I'm becoming soft, he thought as he took another swig of his rum.

xxx

Kuki had passed out, her upper body sprawled on the counter. Abby was still going, not going strong, but still going. She was now on her fifth shot, and smiling to herself.

Hoagie looked at his watch, then rose and headed for the bar. "Abby," he called gently. She looked up at him, but did not recognize him immediately. "Who are you?" she slurred.

"It's Hoagie," he said with slight worry.

"Hoagie…You wear glasses?" she asked with surprise.

"Yeah, I don't see very well at night," he replied patiently.

"Oh," she studied him with glazy eyes before stammering, "You're so…so knife in them."

"What?" he asked, looking puzzled. "I'm what?"

"Knife," she repeated, "You know, hot."

"Oh," he said with a chuckle. "Well, thank you. Now wait right here, ok?" he said. She nodded, smiling sweetly up at him. He picked Kuki up, and carried her to his car. While Abby waited for her boyfriend to come back, Kensei gulped the last of his rum and stood up. As he passed by Abby on his way out, he kissed the top of her head, and muttered that she was beautiful. He passed Hoagie at the entrance when the latter was on his way back for Abby, who insisted she could walk just fine. He had to support her anyway if there was any hope getting to the car before sun-up.

Hoagie took them back to his place, and carried the girls one by one up the stairs to his room. He laid them on his bed side by side, and helped them out of their shoes before covering them with the blanket. He then took an extra blanket from his cupboard and switched off the lights. He walked down the stairs to the living room. He removed his t-shirt and pants, discarding them on the floor. He looked at the clock before switching off the lights. It was 1:37 a.m. He dropped himself on the couch and covered himself with the blanket. Some people will be real tired in the morning, he thought as he fell into a deep sleep.

xxx

Author's note:

I took the liberty of assuming that pubs restrict access to people under the age of 18, not 21. At least, I think it's 21 in the US.

You're so knife – you're so fine. But I'm sure you got it.