#7

"Hey Niko, I was thinking about–"

"No."

"W-wait, come on man. It'll be a good thing, I promise. I'm thinking about expanding my cab business with Brucie." Roman exclaimed, despite his cousin eyeroll. "He is going to open a new executive car shop in Algonquin and I'd like to have a second place for the taxi with him there–not too big and fancy, but enough to cover most of the area in the city. After all, we plan on moving away from Bohan."

"No, I am not. Just you and Mallorie. We have talked about this."

"I still don't understand, Cousin, Niko. We maybe had enough money to start over now. Start a new life, away from all this madness. But you just can't seem to forget. You never will."

"Niko just grunted, glancing at the couch. "So what are you going to do with the new business?"

"I've been helping Brucie with claiming back the assets from the old junk, along with several other sports cars. In return, I get to use the cars as my own business. Brucie didn't mind. You do know how the rich people are like to rent exquisite cars just to prove they are really rich. So I listen to the market demand." Roman explained the great idea. "Which is why I am going to need your help, my cousin."

"Of what?"

"Ehe, when I said I've been helping him get his cars back, I meant taking them. One car in particular is very hard to get and your expertise in fishing out dangerous people out of the water will certainly come in handy…"

Niko glared at him at the jab but Roman just laughed it out, awkwardly. "Come on, it's just stealing a car. It will be like walk in the park for you. And he still pays. So go to him if you would, Niko."

"Fine, I'll check him out later on."

"While you are doing so, I am going out on a nice chinese lunch date with Mallorie. Bye NB. Take care, Sidney!"

"Have fun!" Sidney quirked, waving her arm up over the couch to the door. "I still don't know how you two could even possibly be related. I mean, he is too happy, too optimistic for your liking. Take no offense."

"Take none. He was always the one joking and laughing in our group of friends. Maybe it is a good thing to have him in, to some extent."

Sidney nodded and continued with her bowl of fruit salad. "Can I come?"

"To where?"

"To Brucie… to whatever you are going to do for him. Can I tag along with you?"

"That depends."

"On?"

"On whether your shoulder is acting up again. I can't have to steal and babysit you at the same time."

"It's been a couple of days, dude. It's fine. I am fine. See?" Sidney lifted both of her arms and shoulders. "I am bored anyway. Might as well do something else other than moping around your couch all day and all night. Can't you imagine staying here without anywhere to go?"

"You should be grateful, you prick. I only let you live here because Elizabeta asked me to watch over you… Now shut up and get going. We're leaving in five."

"Watch me. I'll be ready in two!" Sidney immediately sprang off the couch and rushed into the other side of the room.

It had indeed been a couple of days since the other ambush went sour. With a new threat behind their backs, Elizabeta decided to lay low completely, to the point of cutting off her connection with her past affiliates, that included Sidney and Niko. She said she wanted to make things right again, she had formed a small group of her own to gather information, proper information, for all own sake so there would be no more blood to shed.

That led to Niko and Sidney out of action for a while, other than small deeds for quick money for random pedestrians, for Niko–and creating a new bowl of oatmeal and salad every morning for Sidney. Perhaps small jobs like this one could be an express getaway of boredom.

Brucie's new shop was the same as the last one on East Hook. Old junkard, upside down pipes–some were broken, collapsing ceiling with tits and dicks graffiti all over the walls. Though it was certainly bigger than the one back at Broker. When they entered the garage, they spotted a really nice looking sports car, a black with yellow stripe Banshee being jacked up. A man, presumably the mechanic, was working under it.

"Hey. Hello?"

"I'm busy."

"I said, hello!" with a kick to the leg, the mechanic finally got up to face the greeting. Niko shook him away. "Is your boss around?"

"What did you do that for!"

"Is Brucie around?"

"Yeah, he's fucking around." With a grunt, the man strutted to a small office at the very end of the garage. "Brucie! Some fucking Polack asshole for you."

"He is not a Polack. He is a fucking gentleman." Tanktop Brucie ignored his employee and went up to greet him. "What's up Nicky? Glad to have you here, hanging out with me."

"Not really."

"Ha! I know you like that. Don't worry. Look, since the last time we talk I've been working out day in and day out in order to keep this muscle in line~"

Niko raised eyebrows when the bald-headed muscle-boy began flexing his arms and chest. "You know, you definitely need to chill on the shark balls and whatever."

"And you should definitely try. Try, and you'll feel more… alpha male. Come on, look. Touch me, touch my pecs, man."

"No thanks–,"

"Rock hard. I bench four fifty like an animal, man–"

"Four fifty? I think you can do a lot more than that… Can I see you bounce your chest up and down? I remember you always do that in front of the mirror, in front of me… do you still do that, Bruce?"

Bruce was too caught up on his flexes he didn't realize a figurine stood behind his friend. "Sidney! What the fuck are you doing here! Niko, why is she here?"

"Nice to see you again too." She grinned and wrapped an arm around Brucie's own arm. "Don't you miss me, Bruce? Tell me, how are you doing, baby? Do you still have the mole on your buttcheek? The one you said wanted it surgically removed? I forgot, was it left cheek or right cheek?"

"W-what are you talking about? Get away from me. Don't touch me you bitch… Niko, why did you bring the fucking snake in my shop?"

"I can hear that."

Niko only chuckled. "I was with her when Roman told me you need help with one of your lost cars. She just jumps along. A helping hand, you might want to say."

"I don't need her help. She only ruins everything! She–she might steal from me again!"

"Aww you broke my heart, boohoo… oh come on, Brucie baby. It's been like, what, a year now? Get a new car and be done with it." Sidney quipped happily. "Just, don't puke when you're driving."

"You one son of a bitch, you know that. Fine. I trust Niko but I don't trust you, I never will... Niko, come–no! You motherfucker don't get to talk with us. This is big boys only!" Sidney rolled her eyes, shaking her head while Bruce had pulled Niko away for a job-talk.

…

"She don't believe in shooting stars… but she believe in shoes and cars.

Wood floors in the new apartment… couture from the store's department.

You more like 'love to start shit'... I'm more of the, trips to Florida

Ordered the hors d'oeuvres, views of the water

Straight from the page of your favorite author.

And the weather so breezy… man, why can't life always be this easy

She in the mirror dancing so sleazy… I get a call like, 'where are you Niko?'"

Niko couldn't help but snort when he noticed the change of lyric she made. Sidney just shrugged it off, laughing all along.

"I didn't know you rap." He began at the middle of the song.

"I don't actually. I just knew the song. This is everyone's favorite. Been on the top of the song lists for many weeks now. I listened to it too much, the lyrics are catching up to me."

"I do say that it was actually very solid. You have a talent for rapping."

"Meh, it was just the beginning. I don't remember the rest of the lyrics anyway." Sidney said, stretching back on her reclining seat. "You should try."

"Try what?"

"Sing."

"Fuck you."

"Damn, what a party poop."

The two had just finished taking Brucie's car up north of Algonquin and now taking a good ride back to the lock up. The request Brucie had for them was fairly simple, a basic car stealer from a rival business. After all, Brucie was more of a legit business-driven rather than a man hungry for a crime.

The ride back was relatively uneventful, other than the rap or singing thing Sidney tried to do, and her nagging to get Niko to at least hum to a song–which she failed miserably. He still found humor in her, though, when he purposely braked and she bumped her head on the dashboard for not wearing seatbelts. And her half-eaten sandwich fell on the mat just so. He let out a genuine laugh when she began cursing at him about it, though later on she just shrugged it off as it was Brucie's car anyway.

"Alright, you wanna hear me sing?" Niko finally offered.

"Oh yeah?"

"Hmm, there's an old Serbian song I used to listen to. A nursery song. Leptiriću, šareniću,I think it means: colorful butterfly, or something like that."

"What is it about?"

"Hm… it sings about a boy curious to catch this butterfly. He offered flowers to it but it didn't come to him anyway."

"O-kay, I guess." Sidney pouted slightly. "I don't know… Nursery songs never make sense. "So how is it? Can you sing it?"

"I think I remember some of the lyrics… not so loud, though. Come closer."

Sidney had leaned into him and he took a deep breath.

And then he sang, in the shape of a fart.

"Agggh! Oh. my. God! Bellic! Fuck you! Aagh it fucking stinks!" Sidney exclaimed, gagging out and frantically pressing the window button. "Huek! What did you fucking eat?! It smells like shit! Did you shit yourself! Ack!"

"Ha, it does stink. I guess I eat too much curry. My bad."

Niko chuckled and opened his window down, realizing it was indeed starting to smell unpleasant. He turned to her and saw her hand made its way to punch his arm. He laughed it off even so.

"Niko? Hey Niko, is that you?"

At first, he didn't mind the person calling him. But then he saw a glimpse of a face closing in to the door. A face he never thought he would see again.

"Hossan? Hossan! Is that you!"

"Wow, Niko, man! What a chance to see you here!"

"Wait-wait, I'll come to you. I'll park up right there. Oh my God!" Niko quickly turned right and set his car on the side of the street. Quickly he got out and embraced an old friend. "Hossan! How are you, man? It's very good to see you again here. Very good!"

"Ah you too, my friend." Hossan exclaimed. "I didn't think it was you. But I saw the face and that is the face I know! How awesome is this, huh?"

"Yeah unbelievable! So you stayed here? Tell me, what are you doing now? How are you?"

"Me? Nonstop madness! I have met a lot of lunatics and life is wild. My friend's uncle gave me a job selling handbags… knockoffs, you know. And it's so easy! Easier than working on that Goddamn boat anyway!" Hossan said. "And what about you? Did you meet your great cousin? Is this one of his luxury cars you told me about?

"Err, no-no."

"Your opportunity here must be very easy for you."

"Ah not exactly. First off, this is not our car. I only retrieve it and deliver this to someone else, you know, a gig of sorts. And as for my cousin and I… things have been very complicated." Niko told him honestly. "This is the land of opportunity, all kinds of opportunities, I'll give you that."

"Hey Niko. What are you up to? We should hang out!"

"Right now?"

"Yes. Ehm, well, I have to go to Castle Drive first to get my money. My back pay, it's today. But after that, we can celebrate this reunion! Maybe a bar or a diner." Hossan beamed. "Maybe introduce me to your woman over there…"

"Ah, no-no, she's only a friend. But, you know what. I'll take you to your place. Come."

"Oh Niko you don't have to."

"No, please Hossan. Anything for my old traveling buddy."

Hossan excitedly got into the backseat. "Hello Miss Niko's friend. I hope you do not mind me third-wheeling on the back, Miss."

"Oh nonono, not at all. You look like a fine gentleman. Nice to know Niko can be friends with fine people too – I'm Sidney, by the way." Sidney said and offered a hand to the new passenger on the back.

"Hossan Ramzy. Fellow sailmate of Niko."

"Sailmate? How did you two meet up?" she asked out loud.

"We were once a crew for sailors across the Baltic Sea. Niko is actually the first person I got to know on the boat. How many months was it, Niko? Seven. Seven freaking months, Miss. The Platypus had delivered her premature babies to America. And now we meet again. Oh I am so excited."

Niko was now aware of the confused look on Sidney's face and before she ever asked dangerous questions, he offered an enlightment. "Hossan and I took the merchant navy to get here. We boarded the one going for America, one to dock in Liberty City."

Hossan nodded. "Yeah but I know I was not cut out for the sailor life. You know Niko, not long after you left, I ditched the ship and lived the dream in Florida, y'know… but it was hard for us without visas. People don't want to treat us good."

"It still is." Niko perked.

"My friend, the amount of times I've done a job and then got stiffed for my pay… shit I can't even count them."

"Yeah. I've been screwed over by a few employers as well. Now I work on anything to get the money. Dirty money. really."

"Yeah but the fun you have in the city; it is worthed–so tell me Miss Sidney, what about you? How do you know Niko?"

Sidney turned back to him. "If Niko is your sailmate on the water; he is my car mate on the street. We met in between jobs, this and that. Mutual friends and all."

"Wow, you two sound like you have much more fun than I have here that's for sure." Hossan exclaimed. "Hey Miss Sidney, were you born here in Liberty City?"

"Why, no actually. I was born in Los Santos - born and raised there."

"Los Santos? We dropped anchor there. Uh, Ocean Docks, that's it. We stayed there for supplies and stuff before finally sailing again to here. Oh yeah, do you remember the dolphins, Niko? On our way in and out of the water there, we spotted dolphins."

"Oh for sure, those guys are easy to find. You take a deeper dive and you'll see another world beyond the surface. Guppies, jellyfishes, and a bunch of corals. I used to do that when I was a kid."

"Jellyfish? I took a swim here and all I saw are plastics and condoms floating around." Hossan grunted. "But you moved here now?"

"Yeah, about seven years or so."

"Why?"

Sidney crooked a sly smile to him from the rear view mirror. "Imprisonment."

"Oh, a-ha, shit." a nervous laugh from Hossan.

And a curious glance from the driver beside her.

#7

Niko was fully aware of the stolen looks by Sidney for a second or two as Hossan continued on their tell-a-tale about their journey with the Platypus. And of course, by the time Hossan exited the vehicle, she remarked. "I've never realized you have so many stories to share."

"Eh, Hossan can be exaggerating sometimes."

"By the sound of it, you do have quite the cruise."

"It's not a cruise. It's a job."

"Tell you what, I've never been on a ship anywhere before. Twice actually, if you count one of those mini goose boats." She went on. "Where else did you stop by?"

"Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, Cyprus…" he told her. "And then we spent a month only on the sea, crossing from the European continent to Africa first. And then we slowly moved up to America."

He couldn't help but laugh at her speechlessness. "The whole seven months we docked on different countries picking up and dropping off immigrants, like all merchant ships do. I met Hossan in Egypt."

"Dude, you've been everywhere all over the world. That must be fun." She shook her head. "All those places and no shit to tell, huh?"

"It's not so much fun. Mostly dirty and labor work anyway."

"Still sounds much more fun than most days." she pressed.

"Most days sound more fun than prison." he quipped back. "You never told me you've been in jail before."

"I thought you might already know, I mean. It's not really a secret, I don't think."

"Alright, that is true. Liz told me about it actually. How she met you there." he shrugged. "What for?"

Sidney held out her index finger in front of him. "I had a DUI and car theft. Petty misdemeanor, I had it for five months. That was around the time I moved here. There, was when I met Lizzy." she held out her second finger too. "Now two - actually the first time I was ever in jail, I was charged for drug possession and manslaughter. One year, ten months and seventeen days."

"Shit. Was that also not a secret to anyone?"

She pursed her lips, instinctively folded her arms onto her body. "The second part, not so much. Most people only know about my drinking problem, I guess."

For a moment, the inside of the car began to quiet down as silence took over them. Both took their time to deliberately think of one each had heard and told. Who knew what he was thinking, now that she had told him bit by bit of her own past, which now she had just realized he had never really nosed around.

"You know, I only been to incarceration one time my whole life."

That statement alone perked her attention. "Really? What did you get?"

"Somewhat similar. Gun abuse, drug trafficking, multiple assaults… attempted murder." he told her. "I was sentenced to about five years in some Romanian prison."

"Attempted murder… so you failed to kill the guy?" Sidney replied slowly. "Did you do it with a sniper too?"

Niko couldn't help but laugh. She still held grudges to failed things, huh. "No, no. Just a regular pistol. I didn't get the chance to shoot him before they surrounded me… He died in the end. Five years later, a knife to the heart."

Sidney bobbed her head. "Must have been so good to kill the one you failed to before."

"Sure." He only nodded in response; just in time for a car came into view and parked and Hossan finally stood up to welcome the new faces, the money.

Though both of their criminal instincts instantly caught a signal of crime.

"They don't look legit, do you think Nik?" Sidney was the first to confess. "Should we go outside too? I mean they are grouping up on him."

"Just stay put. Let's wait."

Sidney couldn't hear what conversation Hossan and his boss had, but she still could see and it didn't look pretty. And when one of the guys knocked Hossan down and they made a run, she didn't hesitate to lean out of the window and began shooting her gun at the escaping car.

"Niko! He's got all my back pay! Shit! - oh damn, Sidney you had a gun? Can you slow them down?"

"Quick, Hossan. Get in. We're going after them!" Niko answered him for her. "I am sick of punks screwing over the hard workers because their grandfathers got off the boat here and not them."

"Hey man, that's the way the city works. We are at the bottom of the pile. Scumbags can do what they like to us."

"Yo, speaking of scumbags, do you want me to kill 'em Hossan?" Sidney asked once she noticed Niko had caught up to them.

Hossan blurted out. "W-wait, they are still my employer. I am already wanted for selling knockoffs. I don't think murder is a good thing to add to the LCPD record."

"It's easier when they are in a convertible, just saying." she shrugged. "Very nice car, that must be expensive… must have gone all your money to."

"You know what Sidney, I think you are right. They'd been holding my money from the beginning when I started working for them. I should have known better. And they better should be dead."

"Atta boy! Niko?"

"Got it." Niko couldn't help but smile with encouragement, persuasion, or perhaps manipulation. She had talent for that, apparently. But it was just a shock that Hossan was quick about it too.

And apparently, she was right too about the convertible car; aiming for the head was relatively easier when you didn't have a roof and did have a useless window to cover.

"You know, I've had in mind of dumb people you involved before Niko. But seeing just now, I have come to realize that you must have been involved with dumber people. Sheesh." Hossan said, a sheer panic and disgust claimed his body for a moment of noticing the shape of his past employers. "I can only imagine the type of job you have been working on… definitely much more exciting than selling handbags – do you remember Dave?"

"Dave? Oh yeah, was he still on the ship?"

"No. He docked off in Liberty too. in Dukes, I think. But he is dead, though."

"Dead? One whip, too many?"

Hossan let out a chuckle. "His craziness over dominatrix things still weirded me. But no, I think the police found multiple gunshot wounds all over his body. I remember he once mentioned going straight to some mafias in Dukes. For an agreement or something."

"Russians?"

"Maybe, I dunno. He is dead now though, so who knows."

"I had a fair share of trouble with the Russian mobs here. Still is, actually." Niko inwardly shook his head. "In all honesty, I'd much prefer laying low with handbags rather than this. But I know I can't. My hands are already dirty from a long time, I can't seem to clean it off anymore."

"But at least you know how to put your words into action. How to defend yourself."

"That's because that is the only way I know what to do."

"It's better than not knowing what to do, my friend – anyway enough moping around! as I promised you, I'll treat you both to a cold beer and some dine!"

Sidney listened to their conversation, and at first she felt a slight giddy that this was the longest she had ever heard Niko saying things, telling bit by bit of his story. This was a new side of him; a trace of enjoyment and comfort as he talked and joked with an old friend. Something that she knew he would never do; even when he talked to her or Jacob or even his own cousin Roman. Pfft, no, talking to Jacob was never a comfort anyway.

Though, the more she listened to his words, the more she was aware of his problems and his way of dealing things. Like he said, it was too late. He couldn't seem to clean his wrongdoings. The more he went, the more wrongs he did; he had to do. That way of life was just so upsetting.

And truthfully, neither could she clean her own.