Chapter 349. Forming a Strategic Alliance. (1/10)
After we departed from the motel on my bike, a short five-minute drive later, we arrived at our destination.
As soon as we pulled into the lot, a bunch of cautious eyes were immediately drawn toward us. They seemed pretty on guard against two new faces showing up out of the blue. We were in a ghetto area after all, you had to be wary of anyone you weren’t familiar with.
When Yuna dismounted my bike under the gaze of so many men checking her out from top to bottom, she wrapped my jacket’s long sleeves around her waist above skirt level and tied the sleeves in a knot at the front. It obstructed the view of her legs and a portion of her exposed midriff from being directly seen by some of the men checking her out in the surroundings.
I turned off the engine, hopped off right after Yuna, then led the way to the entrance. She stuck close behind me with her arms crossed uncomfortably over the still bare portion of her bare midriff. She obviously wasn’t accustomed to having so many eyes on her all at once.
“Tsk, if ya don’t wanna be stared at, don’t dress like that.” A voice of complaint came from one of the men in the distance.
“If I had a choice, I wouldn’t ever catch myself dressed like such a slut,” Yuna, absolutely livid, grumbled in frustration behind me. I could feel her resentful glare burning a hole through my back.
There were three garage doors to the right of the entrance to the reception area for customers. They were all open and there were a good number of motorcycles and a few cars being worked on by a bunch of guys in pretty good shape. Some had their shirts off or hung over one shoulder as they were hard at work. There were those with scars on their backs or faces and others with tattoos and piercings.
A few had spiky mohawks, or just rocked a fully shaved buzz or even bald look. Despite their rough around the edges appearances, it didn’t feel like they’d suddenly attack us. They just felt more like a bunch of misfits who couldn’t integrate with society and they were just trying to make a living here. Something about the way they interacted made it feel like everyone here was part of one big family.
Despite their exterior image, they weren’t anywhere near as scary as I pictured a gang would be. I expected to come across a much more violent crowd when we arrived, but they were wholeheartedly working. That didn’t mean they weren’t troublemakers or soft though. I had the feeling if someone came to make a scene here, they wouldn’t hesitate to deal with that person. They’d beat that person black and blue.
It was a relief that they weren’t a disorderly mob that couldn’t be spoken to.
The one thing they all had in common were the face masks that covered their mouths and noses. They had all sorts of different designs on them. None of them wore a solid black one like the girl I met. On the surface, it could be seen as them protecting themselves from dust or fumes while working. But if I took that girl's word for it, they were really members of Faceless.
Yuna and I cautiously entered the reception area. It was empty, but a girl opened up the door behind the reception desk accompanied by one of the guys I’d seen in the garage area. There had also been some women in the garage area, but the guys greatly outnumbered the women 4 to 1 so I’d paid less attention to them.
They were dressed in pretty skimpy attire though. A few of the ones I saw from outside were in short shorts and tight-fitting tank tops. Their clothes were rather dirty from grease, some of their clothes were even torn or ripped. They all had pretty wild looks to them. Similar to the men, the women around here didn’t look like they were pushovers or sheltered wallflowers. They’d seen shit normal people hadn’t. Death and murder.
Their gazes were quite sharp and hardened. On edge, and ready to get into a fight if that’s what it came down to.
“What are ya here for punk? A fight, te get your bike worked on, or sometin else?” The man who accompanied the woman into the room was the first to speak up. He’d asked me in a manner meant to intimidate and scare me away.
The woman reacted quite differently to the man though. She elbowed him in the gut and scolded, “Dumbass, I told ya te leave talkin to potential new customers te me. You’re gonna scare em away if ya talk to them like that every time.”
This woman wasn’t the person I came here looking for though. She had very short blond hair, only about two inches long. Her hair was also pretty messy, unkempt, and had some dark splotches in it. There were also dark splotches on her face as well. Her disorderly image was a far cry from the long maroon-haired girl I knew.
“But he looks like a punk who came here to cause trouble.”
“Ye idiot, if he hasn’t caused trouble yet, don’t go assuming he’s here te do that, yuh idiot. It’s bad fer business. Did yuh forget?”
Dissatisfied, the baldy with a scar above his right eye plopped himself down on the seat behind the counter with his right leg bent up on the chair and his right elbow resting on his knee at chin level. He leaned back, giving me a look as though he were trying to provoke me to start something here.
“So, what’re yuh here for? A tune-up, get yur ride serviced, repairs?” The girl ignored her associate and asked, trying her best to sound polite, but she still came across as a bit crude.
“Well… actually… none of those things.”
“Hah! So yer really ere fer a fight after all, punk!” The guy leaned forward and slammed his fist against the counter with a look ready to grab me by the collar and throw me onto the ground.
“Is this how you run your business?”
“If yuh ain’t a payin customer dere ain’t no business te be done.”
I stuck my left hand into my pocket. The guy reacted immediately. He reached out over the counter and wrapped his hand around my neck to choke me.
“What do yuh think yer tryin to pull, punk? Yuh tryin to pull a knife or gun on us?”
“What do you think you’re doing!” Yuna cried out and grabbed his arm trying to pry his hand off of my neck.
I shook my head, unable to squeeze out a word with his hand crushing my throat.
“Yuh dumbass, let him go. If he was ere to start sometin when outnumbered, he wouldn’t have come in with just dis girl. He’d be ere with an entire gang. Pullin a knife or gun ere would be suicide.”
“Tsk. Yer lucky dis time, punk.” He pushed me away and sat back down as unruly as ever. Well, he was a muscle head, but at least he listened.
I coughed a few times as I rubbed my throat with my right hand.
Was I angered? Not at all. In fact, I preferred his alert reaction. Maybe I was some sort of crazy lunatic with a death wish who planned to take down some people with a gun. You never know for sure what a person’s intentions are.
I pulled my left hand out of my pocket and stuck out a business card.
“This is… one of Le- Boss’s handwritten business cards… did Boss refer ya?”
“Yeah. I was hoping I could meet her actually.”
“Huh? De hell? Yuh wanna meet de Boss?” The baldy questions suspiciously.
“Yes, that is why I came here.”
“What’re yuh lookin for er for?”
“A very important matter to me.”
“An important matter? Yuh got the hots for er or sometin?”
“No, it’s not something like that.”
“What! Yuh tryna say yer too good fer er or sometin!”
I waved my hands from side to side and clarified, “No, no, not at all. She’s quite the catch, I wouldn’t dare think I’m good enough for her.”
“What de hell, Boss’s been huntin for a good man, but none of em understand her appeal at all. You actually get it? She’s top-notch. I don’t get why she’s only interested in lookin for what she’s bin callin a normal guy.”
“Yeah, Boss’s preference is pretty weird. I don’t get it at all.” The woman nodded her head in full agreement with the baldy.
Chapter 349. Forming a Strategic Alliance. (1/10)
After we departed from the motel on my bike, a short five-minute drive later, we arrived at our destination.
As soon as we pulled into the lot, a bunch of cautious eyes were immediately drawn toward us. They seemed pretty on guard against two new faces showing up out of the blue. We were in a ghetto area after all, you had to be wary of anyone you weren’t familiar with.
When Yuna dismounted my bike under the gaze of so many men checking her out from top to bottom, she wrapped my jacket’s long sleeves around her waist above skirt level and tied the sleeves in a knot at the front. It obstructed the view of her legs and a portion of her exposed midriff from being directly seen by some of the men checking her out in the surroundings.
I turned off the engine, hopped off right after Yuna, then led the way to the entrance. She stuck close behind me with her arms crossed uncomfortably over the still bare portion of her bare midriff. She obviously wasn’t accustomed to having so many eyes on her all at once.
“Tsk, if ya don’t wanna be stared at, don’t dress like that.” A voice of complaint came from one of the men in the distance.
“If I had a choice, I wouldn’t ever catch myself dressed like such a slut,” Yuna, absolutely livid, grumbled in frustration behind me. I could feel her resentful glare burning a hole through my back.
There were three garage doors to the right of the entrance to the reception area for customers. They were all open and there were a good number of motorcycles and a few cars being worked on by a bunch of guys in pretty good shape. Some had their shirts off or hung over one shoulder as they were hard at work. There were those with scars on their backs or faces and others with tattoos and piercings.
A few had spiky mohawks, or just rocked a fully shaved buzz or even bald look. Despite their rough around the edges appearances, it didn’t feel like they’d suddenly attack us. They just felt more like a bunch of misfits who couldn’t integrate with society and they were just trying to make a living here. Something about the way they interacted made it feel like everyone here was part of one big family.
Despite their exterior image, they weren’t anywhere near as scary as I pictured a gang would be. I expected to come across a much more violent crowd when we arrived, but they were wholeheartedly working. That didn’t mean they weren’t troublemakers or soft though. I had the feeling if someone came to make a scene here, they wouldn’t hesitate to deal with that person. They’d beat that person black and blue.
It was a relief that they weren’t a disorderly mob that couldn’t be spoken to.
The one thing they all had in common were the face masks that covered their mouths and noses. They had all sorts of different designs on them. None of them wore a solid black one like the girl I met. On the surface, it could be seen as them protecting themselves from dust or fumes while working. But if I took that girl's word for it, they were really members of Faceless.
Yuna and I cautiously entered the reception area. It was empty, but a girl opened up the door behind the reception desk accompanied by one of the guys I’d seen in the garage area. There had also been some women in the garage area, but the guys greatly outnumbered the women 4 to 1 so I’d paid less attention to them.
They were dressed in pretty skimpy attire though. A few of the ones I saw from outside were in short shorts and tight-fitting tank tops. Their clothes were rather dirty from grease, some of their clothes were even torn or ripped. They all had pretty wild looks to them. Similar to the men, the women around here didn’t look like they were pushovers or sheltered wallflowers. They’d seen shit normal people hadn’t. Death and murder.
Their gazes were quite sharp and hardened. On edge, and ready to get into a fight if that’s what it came down to.
“What are ya here for punk? A fight, te get your bike worked on, or sometin else?” The man who accompanied the woman into the room was the first to speak up. He’d asked me in a manner meant to intimidate and scare me away.
The woman reacted quite differently to the man though. She elbowed him in the gut and scolded, “Dumbass, I told ya te leave talkin to potential new customers te me. You’re gonna scare em away if ya talk to them like that every time.”
This woman wasn’t the person I came here looking for though. She had very short blond hair, only about two inches long. Her hair was also pretty messy, unkempt, and had some dark splotches in it. There were also dark splotches on her face as well. Her disorderly image was a far cry from the long maroon-haired girl I knew.
“But he looks like a punk who came here to cause trouble.”
“Ye idiot, if he hasn’t caused trouble yet, don’t go assuming he’s here te do that, yuh idiot. It’s bad fer business. Did yuh forget?”
Dissatisfied, the baldy with a scar above his right eye plopped himself down on the seat behind the counter with his right leg bent up on the chair and his right elbow resting on his knee at chin level. He leaned back, giving me a look as though he were trying to provoke me to start something here.
“So, what’re yuh here for? A tune-up, get yur ride serviced, repairs?” The girl ignored her associate and asked, trying her best to sound polite, but she still came across as a bit crude.
“Well… actually… none of those things.”
“Hah! So yer really ere fer a fight after all, punk!” The guy leaned forward and slammed his fist against the counter with a look ready to grab me by the collar and throw me onto the ground.
“Is this how you run your business?”
“If yuh ain’t a payin customer dere ain’t no business te be done.”
I stuck my left hand into my pocket. The guy reacted immediately. He reached out over the counter and wrapped his hand around my neck to choke me.
“What do yuh think yer tryin to pull, punk? Yuh tryin to pull a knife or gun on us?”
“What do you think you’re doing!” Yuna cried out and grabbed his arm trying to pry his hand off of my neck.
I shook my head, unable to squeeze out a word with his hand crushing my throat.
“Yuh dumbass, let him go. If he was ere to start sometin when outnumbered, he wouldn’t have come in with just dis girl. He’d be ere with an entire gang. Pullin a knife or gun ere would be suicide.”
“Tsk. Yer lucky dis time, punk.” He pushed me away and sat back down as unruly as ever. Well, he was a muscle head, but at least he listened.
I coughed a few times as I rubbed my throat with my right hand.
Was I angered? Not at all. In fact, I preferred his alert reaction. Maybe I was some sort of crazy lunatic with a death wish who planned to take down some people with a gun. You never know for sure what a person’s intentions are.
I pulled my left hand out of my pocket and stuck out a business card.
“This is… one of Le- Boss’s handwritten business cards… did Boss refer ya?”
“Yeah. I was hoping I could meet her actually.”
“Huh? De hell? Yuh wanna meet de Boss?” The baldy questions suspiciously.
“Yes, that is why I came here.”
“What’re yuh lookin for er for?”
“A very important matter to me.”
“An important matter? Yuh got the hots for er or sometin?”
“No, it’s not something like that.”
“What! Yuh tryna say yer too good fer er or sometin!”
I waved my hands from side to side and clarified, “No, no, not at all. She’s quite the catch, I wouldn’t dare think I’m good enough for her.”
“What de hell, Boss’s been huntin for a good man, but none of em understand her appeal at all. You actually get it? She’s top-notch. I don’t get why she’s only interested in lookin for what she’s bin callin a normal guy.”
“Yeah, Boss’s preference is pretty weird. I don’t get it at all.” The woman nodded her head in full agreement with the baldy.
