CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

The next day was slow-paced, my mind wandering off in almost every class to nowhere in particular. A few teachers got angry with me and made me answer questions they asked or actually get out of my seat to write an answer to a long equation on the blackboard.
It wasn’t until four in the afternoon, after classes, that something completely unexpected occurred.
The alley was dark and dull, but very familiar. I walked down it every day when I finished my last class of the day. When John had days off work, I went to the café down the road to pick up something warm to ingest before heading on down to his place. The alley was along the way, and there was never anyone else around when I passed. Except now. Two figures immerged from the far end of the alley, and at first I thought nothing of it until three more came up from behind me. They walked slow and steady, but I felt they would pounce on me at any second. As they got closer, I saw their lips curled up in a wicked snarl. They definitely wanted something from me. I spun around to face the others who were making all the same faces. They all appeared to be Filipino, and around eighteen years old.
“Hello, Shuro,” one of them said. He stepped forward. He was slightly taller than the others and seemed to take the lead while the others watched expectantly.
“Who are you?” I asked. I had no idea how he knew my name, because I had never seen this kid before in my life.
“Where’s my cousin, Shuro? I think you know him…”
Cousin? Did he honestly think I had anything to do with him and his family? I didn’t even know what he was talking about! Then I thought about it, and the more I thought the more he did look familiar… And then it dawned on me, what all of this commotion was about. Malcolm Torres. They had similarities because they were the same blood. This boy before me must be Kayan.
“Malcolm?”
“Yes, Malcolm. Who did you think I meant?” He seemed irritated now. His face scrunched up tight, his lips closed in a grimace.
“Look, I have no idea what happened to him, I —” I was cut off by a sharp kick in the back of my leg which made me keel forward. It was one of Kayan’s cronies. Kayan stared down at me and seemed to be getting a strange satisfaction out of watching me in pain. I just remember thinking: please don’t hit me in the stomach, where my injury is.
“Either you tell me where he went with my stuff, or we kill you. It’s that simple.”
“You mean he didn’t give you the things he stole that night?” I was a little shaky from the blow but I stood.
Kayan signaled the other boy again and this time I was flung back by a nasty grip on my shirt and right into a huge fist in my face. I was thrown off my feet from the force and landed in a wet puddle on the ground from early rain. There was that familiar feeling that I got when I got punched: numbness, throbbing pain in my head and then the usual trickle out of my nose and down to my lip. Bright red like velvet or satin.
“Don’t give me that ‘I had nothing to do with it!’ bullshit.” Kayan put on a false innocent voice. “I know you two were in on it together. You helped him get away!”
I was surprised to find that when I tried to speak a stream of blood came down my throat, causing me to cough and spit up red. It tasted like a rusted penny. “Look, I swear, I really did have nothing to do with it. You can check the cameras. I bailed at the last minute and got a fist in the face for it.”
“Hmm… Not willing to speak, huh?” Kayan seemed to completely ignore everything I had just said. It seemed as though he didn’t even hear anything that came out of my mouth. I just stared in disbelief.
“Well, I’m sure we can find a way to loosen your vocal cords.” He paced around me in a circle. “I see you have a little lawyer friend, huh?”
How the hell did he know about John? I spat again; still red.
“Well, if you don’t tell me what I want to know I can see to it that your little friend never sees the light of day again. It will be easy, too. I think getting rid of those you care for will be much easier to make you talk than if I were to put your own life at risk. That’s just the way it is. Plus, I never really liked lawyers much. It would be convenient; especially if you’ve babbled to him about that night.”
Kill John? How the hell did he get into this?
“Please, don’t get him involved in this. He has nothing to do with it. If you’re going to kill someone, just kill me and get it over with. I don’t know what happened to your idiot cousin, and frankly, I don’t care.” I tried to stagger to my feet, not making eye contact with any of the other boys. That must have upset Kayan because the next second I was on the ground again with a foot on my ribcage. It was Kayan this time that I was looking up at. Just the weight of his foot a mere inches away from my wound was already getting my blood pulsing and muscles aching. He took his foot and thrust it as hard as he could in my side. Everything went black for a few seconds and I was completely disoriented.
“I’m coming back to find you in three days. If you’re willing to speak then, we will spare your friend’s life. But if not…Well, you can kiss him goodbye.” Kayan told me.
As if things couldn’t get any worse, the next moment they all closed in on me and began kicking every where on my body. There was nowhere I could go. I just had to take all the blows, hoping every second that they might stop. I covered my face with my arms and tried to dodge the blows but there were too many of them. The injury in my stomach pulsed and throbbed in pain and I knew that this was horrible for the healing process. There was no way I was getting out of this problem-free. I had internal bleeding already without a doubt. I could almost feel it beneath the surface of my skin, pulsating in tune with my heartbeat.
“Hey!” was all I heard, coming from the end of the alley, where I was originally headed. It was a woman’s voice; very strong and powerful. “Hey, stop that right now!”
Sure enough Kayan and his crew stopped kicking me and in an instant they were all gone, swiftly disappearing the way they had come. As I uncovered my face I saw a pair of black high heels striding toward me.
“You poor thing, are you alright?” The woman sympathized and knelt over to help me to my feet. I brushed her off and stood myself, not wanting her aid. My body hurt all over but I tried to swallow it down. I clutched my stomach and was surprised to find it wasn’t sopping with blood. Guess it seemed worse than it was.
She was tall and had bright auburn curls coming down past her shoulders. She was dressed in business attire with a pencil skirt and nylons.
I began to stagger away without a word but she only appeared by my side seconds later.
“For god’s sakes, let me help you! Look at what those boys did to you.”
“I’m fine,” I said rather harshly. I was in no mood to talk, much less with a woman I didn’t even know.
“Listen, kid, I didn’t need to stop those boys from beating on you, you know.”
She had stopped and was a way’s behind me. I spun around to face her now. “So why did you?”
She paused and seemed to gather herself along with her thoughts. “Because I thought you would at least give me a pleasant thank you.”
I spun back around and rolled my eyes. “Wishful thinking.”
“Look, if you aren’t going to be grateful then I’ll just be on my way. Last time I ever help a kid in need.”
“So you would have only helped based on what I would have done afterwards, then? The fact that I’m being beaten to shit doesn’t really matter?”
“I never said that!”
“That’s what you implied.”
She grabbed my arm from behind and made me do a one-eighty to face her. She peered into my eyes and tried to capture them with her intensity. It seemed as though she were trying to read me and it made me uncomfortable. I almost felt as though she could hear everything I was thinking like some sort of psychic.
“Jesus, no wonder you got beaten up.” She chuckled. “You’ve got one heck of a mouth there.”
“Let go of me,” I shook her off and started on my way again, limping all the while.
“Let me take you somewhere. Would you like me to call someone for you? Here, it’s this way to my car.” She gently tugged my arm in the direction of a white BMW.
“Sorry, Lady, I don’t get in cars with strangers.”
“Look, I just want to help you, okay? Can I call a parent?”
“My mom’s dead and I’m convicting my father. Sorry, looks like that’s a no-go.”
Her eyes grew with sympathy. “I’m so sorry… Do you have any other friends or family you’d like to go to? Where do you stay?”
I didn’t like the way she spoke to me. It was in a small, demeaning voice that sent nerves in my body jolting with agitation. Nonetheless, I really was in no shape to walk all the way to John’s place, so I reluctantly gave in to her offer. “You can take me to 60657 Scottsdale Avenue. It’s where my lawyer lives.” As I said that it dawned on me that John was indeed no longer what I just said he was, but I put that thought at the back of my mind as I opened the car door.
“Your lawyer, really?” She put the keys in the ignition and turned, the engine sparking into life. “I’m a lawyer as well. What’s his name?”
“John Gillis.”
She seemed to stiffen like someone who just caught hypothermia, her hands gripping tightly on the steering wheel. “John Gillis…” She said the name through clenched teeth and then stepped on the gas pretty hard.
“What, you know him?”
“You can say that, yes.” Her obvious disdain made me genuinely interested in the subject now.
“Well, how?”
“I’d rather not get into it, alright?” Her words came out like daggers aimed at my head.
“You two have some sort of nasty breakup or something?”
“I said I’m not going to get into it! Just drop it, okay?”
“I’m just curious is all.”

By the time we reached John’s house she seemed more tense than ever. She walked me to the front steps and rang the bell.
“Really, I can take it from here,” I insisted, but she ignored me.
John opened the door and saw me first. “Shuro! Oh my god, what happened to your nose?” He helped me inside and pushed me behind him so he can address the woman who brought me here.
“Thanks so much, Miss…” He paused and his eyes popped. “Andrea? Andrea Mills?”
“John.” She gave a quick nod. “If you don’t mind… It’s rude to keep a lady waiting outside.” She pushed her way past us and into his house.
“Waiting?” John muttered.
“Oh!” Andrea sounded like a shocked puppy. “And who might this woman be?” She was looking straight at Emera who was in the kitchen with a plaid apron on. Andrea shifted uncomfortably and twiddled her hair between her fingers.
“That would be my wife, Emera.” John stepped forward and introduced the two. “Em, this is Andrea.”
Emera wiped some sauce off her fingers and onto her apron, then reached forward to shake her hand.
Andrea inspected her outstretched hand in disgust but did not shake it. “Wife, huh?”
“And that’s my brother-in-law, Rafael.” Rafael was there too, sitting at the island table in the center of the kitchen. Rafael gave a little nod and a smile but he didn’t get up. He probably didn’t want to risk getting his hand rejected, too.
“A lot has changed since we last saw each other, hasn’t it?”
“It sure has,” John said.
“Good to know you’re the type that moves on quickly.”
“Quickly?” John seemed puzzled. “Andrea, do you have any idea how long it’s been?”
She nodded. “Twelve years. And you used to call me Andy…”
Emera butted in. “Ohhh! I knew I recognized the name! Andrea Mills, the girl who stole my husband’s client, telling him he was no good at his job and then tried to get him to forget the whole thing ever happened, right?” Emera was pointing a finger toward Andrea in revelation. “He dumped you for being a complete bitch, finally telling you what he thought of you. To get back at him after the breakup you told all your little girlfriends that he was the worst sex you ever had, and took back every gift you ever gave him like a shallow immature little girl. That Andrea Mills, right?”
Andrea’s face grew red with either fury or embarrassment. I couldn’t tell. I was enjoying this a little too much. John chewed uncomfortably on a piece of gum.
Emera continued. “Well for your information, Andy,” the name now sounded like a mockery. “I can promise you my husband is without a doubt the best sex you could ever hope to have in your entire life.”
John’s eyes widened and I refrained from cracking up.
Andrea was now fuming. She stiffened and let out a shrill whine of agitation, then stormed out of the house.
It was silent for only a few seconds after the door was slammed.
“I’m sorry, Hun, I had to…” Emera started. It seemed she was holding back a laugh as well.
Rafael burst into laughter from the kitchen.
John walked over to her with a wide grin. “What a tough wife I’ve got here.” He caressed her elbows then his hands went up to her neck and he gave her multiple kisses.
My enlightened mood came crashing down when I winced from the pain shooting through my stomach and remembered my injury had now become multiple injuries. I didn’t want to worry anyone so I pretended the pain didn’t exist as I walked over to the kitchen island where Rafael was and took a seat directly in front of him.
“Good Lord, your nose!” Rafael said right when I sat down.
“It’s nothing. I just got into it with a few kids from school. I’m fine.” Within seconds, John and Emera were by my side as well, Emera yanking a wet paper towel and dabbing at the blood with it.
“I’m fine, don’t worry about it.” I took the towel out of her hands and tossed it to the right of me in the trash can.
“Well, if you say so…” She continued on making her pasta sauce while John set the table for four.

We were about halfway through dinner when the pain in my stomach came back. It hurt so much I had this deafening ringing in my ears, overbearing all of their voices. I clutched my stomach to make the pain stop but it only made it worse. Now it felt as though I were about to vomit up all of the pasta I had just consumed.
Someone noticed, but I was too out of it to see or hear who it was.
“Shuro, are you alright?”
“I’m just going to —” I had to get away. If they saw me any worse, they might suspect something really bad happened earlier. I stood and practically stumbled my way to the bathroom.
I leaned on the sink, looking in the mirror. Sweat was nearly dripping down my face and the inside of my nose was still a little red from the blood. The shooting pain again. It was so sharp I let out a moan. What the hell was happening to me? What was this? I was unsure what to do. Take a pill? As if that would help. I leaned up against the door clutching my stomach as waves of heat came over me like a hot California sun. My breathing was heavy and I felt as though I were suffocating. I was so dizzy I could barely stand up.
Then, a knock at the door followed by John’s distinctive voice. “Shuro? What’s going on in there? Are you alright?”
“Just…fine…” I managed to let out through clenched teeth. Another groan as pain came shooting up from the pit of my stomach.
“I’m coming in!”
“No!” I didn’t want him to see me like this.
But even against my will, he burst through the door and I nearly toppled over from the force. He ran to catch my fall just in time. “Shuro, what’s going on?”
His support felt so good on my weak knees and burning stomach.
“Come here…” He brought me to the sink and propped me up so that I was sitting on the edge of it. Now I was just about his height. “What’s happened? Tell me.”
But the pain did not stop. I clutched where it hurt and fell onto John, my head resting on his shoulder. As I did this and just relaxed the pain began to subside a little. John brought his hands up and I felt them on my back, gently rubbing away the pain.
“Is it your injury? Or is it Emera’s cooking?” John said in a small voice.
That lightened the mood a little. “No, it was that dumb fight.”
“What fight? The boys from your school?”
“Yeah. They kicked me hard right where my wound was.”
“Jesus!” John took my shoulders and eyed my stomach even though there was nothing wrong on the outside. “May I take a look?”
“Sure.” I winced as he brought my shirt over my head. I was surprised to see that there was indeed more blood on the bandage than this morning. It had practically seeped all the way through to my shirt. All of the white of the bandage was dominated by red now. I groaned just at the sight.
“Oh, god…” John examined it as well and then came to a conclusion. “The doctor gave us more of that stuff. Let’s change it. And have you taken your pills today?”
I nodded and John left then came back with the new gauze.
His hands were ever so gentle as he unraveled the bloodied bandage from around my stomach. It stung and throbbed with pain but I clutched the edge of the sink to keep from yelling out in agony. I bit my lip and watched as each layer revealed more and more blood. John’s hands moved slowly so as not to hurt me.
The new bandage felt amazing; so cool and dry against my flaming hot wound. Just his touch alone was soothing enough for my sensitive skin. As he closed the bandage at the back I thought of what had happened earlier. Kayan and his friends were talking about actually killing John because I cared about him. I couldn’t let that happen. Not because of a stupid incident at a warehouse. Not because of a mistake I made. I had to come up with a solution.

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