Chapter 7: Smokey and the Crime Boss

Any organization found to be engaging in criminal activity will be subject to immediate arrest and prosecution at the nearest Dai Li Information Center.

-Dai Li Ordinance #45

The first sign of trouble was when Lee handed Jin the note. She read it with a frown, they were supposed to go to the Fowsey District. It was a former industrial district that all the industry had moved out of a few years back. Those empty warehouses and factories that hadn't turned into third rate apartment buildings were well known to be home to some of the biggest gangs in the entire ring.

"We'll have to take the train." Jin said, hoping that the inconvenience of it may make Lee abandon the foolish plan entirely.

It didnt't, of course, and she was unsurprised when he opened the door to lead the way. Conversation between the two of them consisted of Jin sharing simple observations or thoughts which Lee would respond to with a nod of the head or a grunt.

"That tea shop makes the best jasmine tea."

"I wonder if it will rain tomorrow."

"Those lilies at the park just came into bloom."

It was if they had suddenly been flung backwards in time to a point in which they were still strangers trying to figure each other out. The idea was as ridiculous as it was easy to disprove just by looking at each of them.

Lee was in deep thought, almost certainly thinking of how the night was going to go down and what he would do if things turned south. Jin knew this without even being able to see his face, Lee was a ten-year-old with all the pessimism and forward thinking of a general making his last stand facing down an impossible force.

Meanwhile, Jin's stomach was doing somersaults and the entirety of her skin had gone ghastly pale. To say that she didn't do well with nerves was an understatement. That wasn't to say she was a nervous child, far from it in fact, but on those rare times she was unable to gather anything from her deep well of confidence, she could swear she was crumbling to pieces.

They both slowed at the market square where the riot took place just the day prior. Not a word had been exchanged and yet they both began looking nervously at every vendor stall. But there was no trace from yesterday, the market was as lively as ever, and yesterday's riot forgotten like it had just been some rain that forced everyone to close early.

The rest of the way to the train station passed with little incident, Jin had given up on trying to converse with Lee and instead focused on slowing her racing heart. This close to sunset, the train station was packed with tired workers returning home. Jin took the lead, grabbing Lee by the wrist and dragging him to the nearest ticket window.

After buying a pair of tickets from a rather bored looking clerk, they boarded an empty train car and were off in minutes. The Fowsey District was on the very outskirts of the city, almost constantly shadowed by the inner wall dividing it from the Agrarian Zone. Nearly nobody took the route east this late in the day and the desolation of the train was only making the knot in Jin's stomach constrict further.

The sun had just begun to set when the train settled into the station with a rattle. The sky was that amazing blend of oranges, pinks, and purples that only existed in the precious hour known as dusk. Something that would have normally given Jin all the inspiration she needed to begin drawing. Tonight though, she didn't even notice.

Fowsey District was exactly like it was advertised to be, almost identical run-down factories and warehouses dotted the streets as they walked by them. Jin would have been sure they were walking in circles if not for the various gang insignia graffitied onto the sides of the buildings. It really was intricate work on each emblem that she would've admired if not for the sheer terror she was going through.

"I think this is it." Lee pointed to a building with a large emblem above the door. It depicted a fiery phoenix rising above a wall, no doubt trying to reference Ba Sing Se.

Her feet were nailed to the spot and Jin was just about to beg Lee to leave before he strode forward and gave one firm knock at the door. It opened no more than a second later.

Standing on the threshold was the same man from yesterday, sans hood. With his face exposed, Jin could make out another scar running from the top of his ear to his hairline. He was smoking again and had a smile that seemed to say he had known they would show up here.

"Hey, kiddos." He took a long inhale on his tobacco roll before blowing out three smoke rings, a trick he no doubt learned to impress or intimidate others. "Good to see you."

Jin was annoyed he still wasn't offering his name and was just about to ask for it when he stepped aside and gestured them to come in. She took hold of Lee's wrist and stopped him right as he took his first step.

"What's inside?" The question came with the meanest glare that she could muster.

The man merely laughed. "The Earth King. What do you think is in here? Now get in here before one of our rivals decide you're easy targets."

This spurred them both into action and the door was shut behind them. Inside the warehouse were wooden crates stacked from floor to ceiling, all lacking in any sort of marking to say what they held. At the center of the warehouse, standing at the only place there weren't boxes, was another man.

This second man was slightly older, the tops of his beard just beginning to go gray. He wore a sleeveless tunic, clearly proud of the muscles that his bronzed skin was seemingly struggling to contain.

"And what have you brought me?" The question was clearly directed at the smoking man. Jin doubted she could have actually spoken anyway. Her throat was so dry her tongue felt like sand when she dragged it across the roof of her mouth.

"Boss, this kid." The smoking man put a hand onto Lee's shoulder. "He would be perfect our new enterprise."

"What about the girl?" The man crossed his arms, although Jin couldn't tell if it was from annoyance or if he was just sizing them up.

"She's his manager."

It was clearly a joke, but neither man smiled or laughed and Jin had no desire to correct them.

"Got a name kid?" The "boss" man asked him.

Lee almost took a step forward, but stopped at the last moment. "Lee."

"Nice to meet you, Lee." The man flashed a smile that Jin thought was supposed to be welcoming, but it only reminded her of how she read sabre tooth moose will flash their teeth right before pouncing on their prey. "My name is Diahu, I'm glad you decided to come meet with me tonight. Where do you live?"

He's certainly direct. Jin thought as she shuffled imperceptibly closer to Lee.

"The Garori District." Lee answered far too readily for her liking.

"Lee!" Jin seethed out from between her clenched teeth. Never would she have thought he would be stupid enough to reveal that, even if it was only their general location.

"What's your name, girl?" Diahu asked her. He had an amused smile on his face, but there was a quick twitch of his eye that betrayed his annoyance.

"Jin." She met his stare and rose to her full stature. Despite the massive height difference between the two of them, Jin was not about to show just how terrified she still was. "Why don't you get to the point already?"

Diahu's smile only grew. "I like your style, Jin, maybe we could make use of your talent as well." Her frown told him exactly how she felt about that. "My colleague tells me that you both managed to come out of that nasty riot yesterday with not a scratch on either of you. Lee especially impressed him. I think you'd make an excellent addition to my business venture."

"What do you want me to do?" Lee questioned; his tone was reeking with such desperation that Jin felt like vomiting.

"Delivery. Of various packages and letters." Diahu stated with a shrug of his shoulders.

"You want me to be a delivery boy?" Lee's face twisted in confusion.

"If you'd like to call yourself that, sure. But I'd consider you more of my right-hand man, the connector between A and B."

"Why can't one of your other gang minions do that?" Jin was sick of the song and dance and needed some answers now before they spent the whole night here.

Diahu snapped his fingers. "Excellent question, Jin. My associates and I are a little too… noticeable. Lee is not only great at getting himself out of trouble, but he's also so invisible in a crowd he won't ever get into trouble."

Lee was mouthing something under his breath before he looked up at Diahu, his eyes locking with the older man's. "That's it, then? You just want me to take stuff from one person to another?"

"It's that simple, bud." Diahu gave a signal to the smoking man who in turn handed Lee a small pouch. Jin could see the unmistakable glint of several gold coins sticking out from the fabric. "Consider that an introductory bonus."

"I haven't agreed to anything." Lee found his backbone for the first time all night.

"Of course you haven't." Diahu said, undeterred. "At the market square in Garori, there's a fruit vendor that sells nothing but papayas. If you want to work for me, talk to the man and mention that I sent you."

"And what happens if he doesn't want to work for you?" Jin was not about to let Lee walk into this so blindly.

"Then this will sadly be our last conversation." Diahu leaned back against the edge of a crate, doing his best to show he was a man with nothing to hide.

"Wouldn't you be worried since you showed us your secret base?" Jin was already looking for a way to make a quick escape as she asked the question.

Diahu showed all his teeth as he grinned widely. "This is hardly a secret base, Jin. I understand your apprehension, but my associates and I have more important things to do than chase down a couple of kids who rejected me. My heart may take a few weeks to mend, but time heals all wounds."

The smoking man cleared his throat. "Alright kiddos, time for the grown ups to talk. Run along home before the search parties start."

Jin crinkled her nose. "I still have questions."

"I'm sure you do, but that's all the answers I have for now. I do hope you take my offer, Lee. I would hate for this to be my last conversation with Jin." Diahu had a way of speaking that made him sound like the sincerest man on the planet even if you knew he was lying.

With nothing else to do, Jin and Lee made for the door.

The ride and subsequent walk home went by quickly, both of them too lost in their own thoughts to even try conversing with each other. Night was fully on them now, so they found their way home with the streets bathed in the gentle candlelight illuminating from the lamp posts lining the streets.

They arrived at Lee's house a few minutes after 9 o'clock, the moon still not quite at its highest point in the sky.

"Jin?" The concerned voice of her mother was the first thing they heard as they swung the door open, eliciting a gulp from the pair.

All three of them, Lee's father and Jin's parents, were on them in an instant, not even giving Jin and Lee enough time to fully enter the room.

"Hi… Mom. What are you doing here?" Jin didn't even realize that her parents knew where Lee lived.

From her expression it was clear her mom was not about to answer any of her daughter's questions before first getting her own answered. "Where were you?"

"Tien, they are safe. Perhaps we should just head home." Siyu suggested to his wife, attempting to diffuse the tense atmosphere. She looked at him with such fury that it would make the Fire Lord quiver. From beside him, Rui did his best to stifle his laughter.

"Answer the question, Jin." Her mother had enough patience for the entire world and then some.

Lee took a step forward to defend her. Jin felt sorry for him when he opened his mouth. "We were… we were…" He lost his nerve when Tien's eyes fell on his.

"I helped Lee get a job." Jin was perhaps the only person in the world capable of matching her mom when she was on a war path. "That's why we were so late."

The mention of his son getting a job piqued Rui's interest. When he spoke, his voice had the slightest undertone of sadness. "Where did you get a job?"

"A black smith." Jin answered for him, not trusting Lee for a second to lie. None of them blinked when she spoke for Lee, all far too used to it by now. "Two districts over. He's going to apprentice there and the nice owner even said he'd help him make dao swords so he can practice."

Too many details. Jin chastised herself, she was still recovering from earlier and was not yet back at her fullest capabilities. Luckily, everybody seemed pacified by her answer.

"That's excellent." Rui said with a smile. "Tien, Siyu, I am terribly sorry that the children worried you so much. I am sure next time they will be more considerate." He gave a pointed look to them and they both nodded.

Tien's face relaxed after a few more seconds of intense studying of her daughter. "I suppose you are right. I am sorry to have bothered you, Rui."

"Always a pleasure to host you."

Jin barely had time to say goodbye to Lee before she was dragged out the door by her mother.

"Hey, look over there! A wolfbat just stole that lady's hat!"

Gun-Su ignored the obvious deception from his sister. "Nice try, Jin. You already finished yours and I'm not giving you one bit of mine."

Jin's brother had picked her up after school and took her to one of her favorite places in the Lower Ring, the Endless Staircase.

Despite the moniker, the stairs did not go on forever, but the exhausting trek up them most likely led to more than one person saying they never ended. The stairs were originally meant to go over the inner wall between the Middle and Lower Ring, but the architect was a poor planner. He had infamously miscalculated and by the time his building reached the dividing wall he was only halfway up it. Rather than restart, the architect claimed this to be his original intent and built a high-end restaurant at the top of the stairs.

The siblings loved to pick up a treat from what they called "Dessert Circle", a collection of vendors who concocted all sorts of delectable food from across the globe, and sit about a quarter a way up the stairs. Even from there they could see for miles.

Today's treat was made from the shavings of ice combined with crushed berries. The vendor had called it "Berry Ice" but they both agreed the name could stand for some workshopping.

Jin had an incorrigible sweet tooth and her brother loved to indulge her. To a point of course, he wasn't about to give up his own treat just because his sister had no idea how to ration.

"Little Sparrow." Gun-Su began with his pet nickname for her. "Can I talk to you about something serious?"

Jin couldn't help but giggle, his tongue was stained blue from the ice and it was greatly distracting. He gave her a playful shoulder bump and she nodded her head.

"Jin." He tried again before sighing. "You've been hanging out with Lee a lot lately."

Her eyes narrowed instantly. "Yeah… so what?"

"Nothing just-" Another sigh escaped him. "You were out pretty late last night with him I heard."

"Did Mom put you up to this?" The wheels were turning faster and faster in Jin's mind now, trying to sniff out exactly what her brother was hinting at.

He gave her an awkward smile that seemed to be an attempt at reassuring Jin he was on her side. "No, I just am curious about the guy is all."

Jin looked at him with a studious gaze, the same look her mother had given her just the night prior. "Well… what do you want to know about him?"

"I was just wondering how much you know about his parents. Like his father… or mother?"

The question was far too on the nose. Gun-Su did not understand how to dance around a conversation like Jin and their mom. He was much more like their father, constantly saying what was on their minds with no nuance whatsoever.

Jin's lip moved ever so slightly downward, the ghost of a sneer just threatening to show. "You already know I take art lessons from his dad and that he's a painter. He doesn't talk about his mother and I don't ask."

Gun-Su's entire face was pale, even he seemed unsure if wanted to continue down this path. Then he opened his mouth and took the plunge. "Lee doesn't really… fit in with other kids your age and I was just thinking maybe his mom came from a different culture."

"He fits in just fine with me."

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Come on, Jin, don't make me say it. Look, he seems nice, but don't you think his appearance is a little… different?"

She couldn't believe what she was hearing or rather what her brother seemed to be implying. Jin honestly wondered if at some point before the riot took place she had stepped into some alternate reality where everybody gave each other the shifty eye treatment just for daring to look the slightest bit different. Then she thought about it for a moment and realized these hostilities had always been there, she had just never been friends with someone who looked different.

Disgusted, Jin rose to her feet and wiped her dress. "Lee is my friend, end of discussion." She stalked a few steps down before turning around to face him. "And I think I'll go spend some more time with him right now, if you don't mind."

Jin hurried down the stairs, but her brother gave no pursuit. Her vision went hazy as tears pricked at the back of her eyes as she travelled the well memorized route to Lee's.