The Black Swan Behind

218 Fake Angel

The man drove his old car slowly down the dark, quiet Bluevalley Street. But he was shocked when he saw a bunch of vehicle lights far ahead. Only when he drove his car closer, his old eyes could see clearly that it was a group of gangsters fighting. It was so crowded and looked scary. It looked like a riot.

Suddenly, the man’s car window was knocked from outside. He jumped in surprise and turned to find a man in all black standing in front of him.

“Open the window!” The stranger exclaimed, gesturing with his hand for the man in the car to open the window.

With his shaking old hands, the man complied to open the window. “P-please.. don’t hurt me. I.. I don’t have anything,”

The gangster man peered into the already open window. He was quite surprised to find that in the car was only a weak old man. Then she peeked inside the window to make sure the man was alone. “Don’t go this way. Take another way.” He said.

“A-all right. But.. what happened?” The old man asked.

“That’s none of your business. Better get going before you get hurt.” The gangster man replied before running away to join the riot at the front.

The old man immediately heaved a sigh of relief before rushing on the gas to make a U-turn. By the time he got to the front of his house, he had forgotten his plan to surprise his wife. Instead of going into the house, he went straight to his neighbour’s house.

“Tom! Tomas!” The man knocked on his friend’s house door.

.....

Not long after, a bald man appeared from behind the door. “Are you losing your mind? Knocking on someone’s door like that at this late!”

“There’s a riot going on in Bluevalley Street!” Said the man with the moustache.

“Bluevalley Street? Are you serious? What are they doing there for?” Asked the bald man named Tomas.

“I don’t know. That’s a huge number of people. They have motorbikes and cars. We have to tell the gentlemen here immediately. I’m afraid they’d reach Redvalley Street and make riot here.” He said.

“You’re right, Yonas. Wait a minute. I have to get my hat.” Tomas said as he went back into the house.

“Hurry up!” The moustachioed man named Yonas growled.

After Tomas was out of the house, the two men immediately went around calling for all men of Redvalley Street.

To prove Yonas’s words, they quietly headed down Bluevalley Street and found an even bigger riot taking place on that street.

“This is terrible! Where exactly are Marcel’s men? Why are they disappearing at a time like this?” Yonas said in a whisper.

“Could it be that they have stopped protecting Redvalley Street because the fee has been lowered?” Thomas sounded his thought.

“That’s possible,” The other man replied.

“We’d better go to Lilian’s house now to ask her,” Yonas said.

All the middle-aged men immediately went to a closed old tavern. Yonas rang the shop bell and waited in front of it impatiently and panicked.

After several times ringing the bell, the door of the shop finally opened and a white-haired old woman appeared from behind it.

Lilian was surprised to find many men of her neighbours had gathered in front of her house. In a thick sweater, Lilian stepped out of the door. “What’s happened? Why is it so crowded?”

“Lilian, is Marcel here?” Yonas asked directly.

Lilian shook her head. “He hasn’t come home since yesterday. Did something happen? Why are you gentlemen looking for my grandson?”

“Lilian, you need to call Marcel immediately. We saw a big riot on Bluevalley Street. I believe they are gangsters. We are afraid the thugs would reach this street and make a fuss here. It’s very dangerous for our families.” Thomas explained.

“Oh my.. But, shouldn’t Marcel’s men have handled all of that?” Lillian replied.

Yonas nodded. “They should. But the fact is they are not here at all.”

“Looks like something bad happened, Lilian. You should contact your grandson immediately.” Thomas said.

Lilian nodded quickly, “I’ll call him. You all come in first. Sit inside.”

After picking up her cell phone in her room, Lilian returned to the tavern while called Marcel. But the call had never been answered even though the old woman had tried to call him many times.

“He hasn’t answered it up yet?” Yonas asked.

Lilian shook her head. “My grandson isn’t usually like this. He would always pick up my call.”

Then Lilian tried to contact the only person closest to her grandson: Kenny Brown, Marcel’s assistant. He was the only Marcel’s subordinate whose Lilian had the phone number. But unfortunately, after calling several times, Kenny also didn’t answer the call.

“This is very serious. Marcel can’t be reached and the riots on the next street are getting bigger. We can’t just sit around and wait for them to bring the riot here,” Yonas said.

“If Marcel can’t protect this street, then we must rise to do it,” One of the men from the crowd said.

“You’re right. We have depended on others to protect our homes and families for too long. As men in this neighbourhood, shouldn’t we join forces to protect our own homes?” Thomas asked with spirits.

“You are right! We have to move now!” Some of the men there answered.

***

Passing through the front door which was only a narrow staircase was quite difficult for Emma and Calvin. RJC’s men kept trying to stop them.

Emma, ??Calvin, Rachel, and Ian were still fighting outside the Underground Cave until a mob of motorbikes and cars appeared. They were members of RJC, led by Damian Jamin. But behind them, Frank and Louis were seen leading the Jita Kyoei men who had been chasing them.

“Gosh.. The party is getting crowded,” Emma said to Rachel who was fighting next to her.

Rachel smiled. “This is the first time I’ve fought this much.”

“I hope you get used to it soon enough,” Emma chuckled.

The arrival of the big wave made Calvin and Emma eventually get a gap to enter the narrow door.

“Good luck!” Rachel said curtly as Emma walked away. Emma nodded at her.

Emma and Calvin became a deadly fighting couple who could crush anything that got in their way.

Even though they hurt, Emma’s arms were still able to raise a very strong fist. Her adrenaline was burning when she saw that many enemies swarming her. Plus, Calvin who was surprisingly competent made her enjoy this fight.

The narrow path and the enemies that kept coming from below and up the stairs made it difficult for the both of them to pass. But that didn’t stop the two reliable fighters from entering RJC’s underground kingdom.

Emma was still flabbergasted when she saw how big the Underground Cave was. She couldn’t believe that under a dead road was such a big kingdom. Even though she was amazed, Emma became furious over the big lie that Marcel gave her.

‘Does Lilian know about the existence of this place?’ Emma said in her heart. For real, this was so pathetic.

This was a place where many young people were forced to illegally fight each other like animals for gambling. They were young people who should be studying at school, having the education to be able to organize a bright future. But they ended up in a dark place like this.

It felt like Emma was about to hit Marcel’s head on the wall. The feeling became worst because Emma had heard stories about Marcel’s past. He should have prevented other children from having the same fate as him, instead of forming a new vicious circle.

Emma was startled and almost slammed the person who suddenly touched her shoulder. Luckily, she soon realized that the person was Calvin.

Even though Black was wearing a mask, Calvin didn’t have to look at his face to know how shocked he was at what Underground Cave looked like. “Nice to fight with you again,” He smiled after standing next to the short man.

Emma sighed. “This is not what I wanted.”

“No one wants a fight, Black. But sometimes it has to be done when words are useless.”

“We have to stop this as soon as possible. I’m sick of it.” Emma said as she stepped forward followed by Calvin.

In the centre of the cave, a fierce battle was taking place. Emma could see it clearly. It turned out that Marcel and Troy were already there.

Emma paced swiftly behind Marcel who was fighting with Troy. She immediately grabbed the man’s shoulder and pulled him back to face her. “We’re not done yet!” She threw her fist at Marcel’s cheekbones that sent him to fall.

Marcel’s friends who saw that, immediately wanted to attack Black. However, Marcel raised one hand as a symbol for them to stop.

Slowly, Marcel got up to stand on his feet. He wiped his cheekbones which were bleeding from Black’s heavy blow. He knew Black didn’t want to knock him out yet by choosing his cheekbones as his first hitting spot.

A faint smile formed on Marcel’s lips. “Come for revenge?”

Emma’s jaw tightened. It seemed she had never been this angry with her friend. “Do you know how cowardly you are?” She hissed.

“I know. But you have to understand that it’s not a matter in the dark business.” Marcel replied.

“Oh.. So that’s what’s on your mind, huh? Money, money, and f*cking money? Maybe you’ll sell yourself off to raise the money too,”

“I will do whatever it takes to protect what I have now,” Marcel replied flatly.

“By destroying other people’s lives? By pretending to be a bunch of angels that protecting the residents of Redvalley? Am I wrong to think those old people don’t know what kind of bastards you are?” Emma chuckled sarcastically.