Cause a Riot

Chapter 7

Cuzo slowly opened the bolts of the vent and pulled the lid inside when he was done. He braced himself for impact and jumped from the vent. He landed clumsily on his feet and darted for the manhole. No one seemed to have noticed yet, and Cuzo believed that searching for an hour caused them to let their guard down a little. He stumbled above the manhole, tears erupting in his eyes because of the forgotten bullet in his ankle, and pried the lid open. He slid it to the side and hung his feet down, right before he heard an alarmed whisper by one of the police officers. "Who's that?!"

Cuzo let himself drop and fell to the bottom of the sewers, two shadows blocking out the moonlight above him. Two policemen stared down at him and he pursed his lips, running as fast as his injured leg would allow. He heard scurrying above him and knew he was going to have company soon. He wouldn't make it to his warehouse fast enough. It was at the edge of the city. Cuzo took out his phone and pulled up i3, navigating his path in the sewers. The quickest safe place he could reach was at the next turn. I really didn't want to do this, Cuzo thought with pissed eyebrows as he climbed the sewer ladder up to the surface. Sorry, bro. He slid the lid aside and climbed up, body aching in pain, walking deeper into the alley. He reached a backdoor and inserted a key into the lock, pushing the door open. He closed it behind him and collapsed to the floor, panting heavily. The bandages on both his neck and arm were drenched, not helping to stop the blood very much.

How annoying, Cuzo mused. Then again, I had expected some injuries in this fight. He made a mental smirk at the thought that he was done. He had accomplished his goal. He had killed every murderer in the city. No, wait. I can't get ahead of myself. Cuzo frowned. It's possible that some members of the gang had gotten away. Which means, until I can be sure there are no more left, I can't celebrate.

A wave of pain vibrated through Cuzo. He bit his lips and his eyes closed shut, head pounding violently in his ears. Cuzo stayed there for a long while before a door at the other end of the small storage room opened. He opened his eyes and watched a man walk in, a bag of flour in front of his face. Cuzo waited. The man put the flour on the floor and wiped his hands on his apron before he froze. His eyes slid to Cuzo and then went wide.

"C-Cuzo?!"

The bloody man on the floor smirked. "It's been a while, Malroy."

"Wh- what happened to you?" Malroy ran over to him and grabbed his neck, eyes widening more at the blood pouring through the bandages. He covered his mouth as if he was going to puke at the sight and smell of all that blood. 

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to come here but I had no choice."

"The hell are you talking about?!" Malroy's tone because furious. "Why didn't you come sooner? I'll get a tub of water and a first aid kit. Don't go anywhere!" Malroy ran out of the storage room in a hurry, closing the door behind him. Cuzo smiled weakly at his younger brother. It was nice to see him again, and even nicer to know he still cared even after the fight they had all those months ago. Malroy somehow looked older, despite his black hair being cropped shorter and neater.

Malroy returned to the storage room in two minutes with the said supplies and closed the door behind him with his leg. He immediately began tending to Cuzo's wounds, muttering insults and gasps under his breath all the while.

"Stop muttering," Cuzo chuckled, stopping midway because of the pain in his neck.

"Don't talk," Malroy instructed, washing the wound with a wet rag. "Don't move either. God, Cuzo, what the hell did you do?"

"Rather not say," Cuzo rasped, forehead sweating. Ten minutes later, all his wounds had been tended to and bandaged. He panted heavily as Malroy left to dispose of the tub of bloody water and put the aid kit away. He returned in no time with a glass of water. Cuzo took it gratefully and chugged it down his throat. "Thanks," he huffed.

Malroy sat against a wall in front of him with a frown, perhaps recalling their argument now that the initial shock of seeing Cuzo injured had passed. Cuzo smiled in return. "What's with the look? Not happy to see me?"

Malroy bit his lip. "You know that's not the case. I've been wanting to meet you but you left no mode of contact, so there was no way for me to."

"Yeah, well, It's for your safety."

Malroy's frown deepened. "You're still going around killing people? I thought I had told you to stop. Is it some kind of joke to you? It's people's lives you're taking away, not any materialistic thing! Running away from the police looks like a new hobby for you, now. I mean, come on, Cuzo! You're twenty-five, not seven! Don't you know the seriousness of what you're doing?!"

"You sound like Mom," Cuzo chuckled. Malroy narrowed his eyes. "And you're mistaken, Malroy, I do not take what I do lightly. In any case, have you forgotten who I'm doing this for?"

"You're going to blame me for this?!"

"No," Cuzo let his eyes wander to the contents of the storage room. The flour, the bottles of sauces, and a fridge that contained ingredients. It was a habit of Cuzo's, to analyze his surroundings and get familiar with them. Malroy owned a pizza shop that had belonged to a friend of theirs several years ago. Cuzo used to work there too until their argument. It was a quite successful restaurant and had been the source of both of their money. However, after the two split up eleven months ago, Cuzo had stopped taking any money from Malroy. "I'm doing this because of you since it's what you wanted, but I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing it for the innocent people who've got no hope besides me. It's also my form of revenge against the police, for being such useless retards. The city isn't safe in their hands."

"Stop it," Malroy growled. "Why are you still bringing up grudges from that incident? It's the past, Cuzo. Grow up! Why don't you start making a life - like I have? Do something for your personal growth and forget whatever happened then."

Cuzo looked down. "I'm so close to your goal, Malroy. I want to see your face when I eliminate the last murderer in this city."

"I'm not going to be happy!" Malroy yelled, standing up. "Stop saying you're doing this for me when I'm telling you to stop! Listen, all I want is for us to live happily. I'm not going to be smiling when the police throw you in prison!"

"This is a literal repeat of our last argument," Cuzo responded, eyes on the floor now. "It's too late now. I'm already their target and there's no going back. I just have to make sure I've eliminated every member of the last Mafia gang and then I'll be done."

"It wasn't too late the last time I told you to stop. You never listened to me. Now, look what's become of you!"

Cuzo smiled. "I'll be happy, Malroy, when I fulfill your wish. That's all I'm living for now."

"Stop! Stop it!" Malroy gritted his teeth hard. "I was mad when I said that, all right! I didn't want you to go around killing people! I didn't want you to become a murderer!"

"I'm hungry," Cuzo said, turning his face away. "I only had one plate of undercooked fried rice this morning and a small burger."

Malroy frowned deeply, anger brimming up inside him but despite that, he let out a breath. "Should I prepare a pizza for you?"

"If it wouldn't be too much work."

Malroy pursed his lips and turned away from his older brother, walking to the front door of the storage room. He closed it behind him as he left. Cuzo sighed, leaning his head back.

After a while, he thought he heard voices. He paused. He slowly got up on his feet and walked toward the door. His eyes widened. The Cops?!

"-and we've tracked him here. Mind if we take a look, sir?"

Cuzo frowned and went for the other door. He opened it and darted outside onto the dark streets. He felt his body ache as he ran but he didn't care. He'd have to make as much distance between him and his brother as he could. He could not let the police think Malroy had any part in his actions.

He stumbled and limped, unable to make it to his warehouse. He dragged himself into an alleyway instead collapsed, eyes shutting close the second his body hit the cemented floor.