Throne of Thieves

Chapter 8: War on Two Fronts

My world narrowed down to the sound of my own ragged breaths, desperate gasps for air as my vision blurred and darkness threatened to engulf me. The vice-like grip around my neck tightened mercilessly, cutting off my oxygen supply and sending a surge of panic through my veins. Everything happened in a blur—the sudden attack, the shock of being overpowered, and the chilling words of my assailant echoing in my ears like a sinister mantra. My thoughts raced, scrambling for a plan, an escape route, anything to break free from the lethal embrace. The grip on my neck never loosened a bit; he really seemed ready to crush my throat. I remembered I had a box cutter in my pocket I was using to open the boxes of coffee from earlier.

I silently dug into my pocket as I struggled to breathe, and felt around. My finger grazed something metallic. I picked up the box cutter, its sharp edge poking out. With a single gesture, I stabbed downwards towards the man's ripped jeans. Suddenly, the grip that held me slipped, and a pained yell broke through as the box cutter poked a hole in his skin. Once freed, I slammed all of my weight into the man, and he jumped backwards. I got a look at my assailant; he had white hair, with a large dyed blue streak going through the right side. His hair was messy, and he had silver eyes that glared at me menacingly. He wore long blue ripped jeans, a large white coat, and he had his hands in his pockets.

My face went pale. If I had to guess, he had a weapon on him, maybe even a gun of some kind in his coat. I asked first, "Who the hell are you?" The man smirked at me, "Name's Cosmo. I came to do some pest control. I heard you gave our boys some trouble. I came to sort it out. Word of advice, kid: stay out of my territory. I am the type that likes to crush insects before they spread." I put my hands in the air, "Alright, alright, you win. I will clear out of here as soon as possible. No need to cause a scene here. You wouldn't want to scare away business, right?" Cosmo twitched a little, "What's your name, kid? I never heard of you." I explained, "My name is Leo. Just a kid trying to make a bit of money on the side." Cosmo seemed to tap something in his pocket, "Alright, kid, you just saved yourself a bullet to the brain. If I were you, I would clear out of here before I come back." With that, Cosmo began walking away, stating, "Consider this your one and only warning. Stay out of my way, and we won't have a problem."

I breathed a sigh of relief. I was lucky he was a careful type. If he had been the hot-blooded type, I wouldn't be standing here. Cosmo had a gun in his pocket, something not very common on this island. He must have a lot of connections on this Island, and that gun was one of his ace cards. To reveal something like that to me, just an upstart, he was a careful person. Likely, he had originally intended to kill me. He must have rethought his plan once I broke out of his hold; likely, he didn't want to fire his gun. Had he fired his gun out in the open, people would hear it close by, and more than likely, they would consider their area off-limits. Nobody wants to do business in a super dangerous part of town.

Shit! That completely changes things. We can't just steal his business out in the open like this; he will just kill us next time. He won't hesitate to use his gun if we're too blatant about what we are trying to do here. I need to tell Ray we need to call off business for today and wrap things up; we need to stay low now. I walked back to our building, but instead of customers, I was greeted to a mess at the front door. The table we had set up was on the ground, and our coffee was scattered everywhere. As I entered the room, I was greeted with common thugs instead of customers—all of them glaring at me. Ray was beaten and bruised, lying down on our overturned table, and on top of him was the boot of a woman.

The woman had maroon hair, tied back, and a black coat on with a black collar. She had an edgy style with deep purple eyes. She had thick black boots on and was currently stepped on Ray's stomach as she turned towards me, her purple eyes angry. She shouted at me, "Now, what dipshit is this supposed to be? Are you part of this, too?" This was the type of hot-blooded person I meant earlier, someone who acts based on impulse rather than collected thought. I once again put up my hands, "You could say I am affiliated. I mean you no harm; we were just leaving." She spat in my direction, "Yeah, you're leaving alright, in a body bag. You need to learn the rules with your body. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't beat the shit out of you. Every business in this area pays tribute to the Phoenix Talons; everyone knows that." Everyone except some upstart kids, I guess.

I chimed in, "Well, for one, this isn't even really our business; we were forced to do this. Let's start there." I lied through my teeth, glaring at Ray, making sure he doesn't open his mouth impulsively. The woman glared back, anger still in her eyes. "Forced? Why would I believe that bullshit?" she demanded. I added, "Well, why would we lie? I'm sure you noticed the tag is altered outside of here; the eagle is replaced with a joker. Now, why would that be?" The woman seemed to calm down a bit and responded, "Huh? It's always been an eagle; one of you idiots confirm that." One of her men, with a buzzcut and a wannabe biker look, rushed outside. He came back in after a moment or so, "Rena, it's true; the eagle is gone. The symbol is now a black joker." Rena frowned, "Alright, kid, you've got my attention. Explain."

I smiled. "The Black Jokers are a subsidiary of the Silent Eagles. From what I know, the Eagles, as you know, have random people around town selling their drugs. Well, they make a decent enough profit, but as you know, they have to pay tribute to you. I guess Cosmo of the Silent Eagles is getting tired of that. From what I've gathered, it seems he is using this new gang he made to sell a new product. I think he was planning on getting people like us to sell his coffee in order to not pay tribute to your gang. You see, if he goes under a new name, he doesn't have to take any blame for trying to sell under your nose."

Rena looked intrigued, but she was smarter than she looked. She asked the decisive question, "Everyone around here, gang or not, pays tribute. Why did he think he could sneak this from me?" That was a good point; it would appear everyone in this area knows that they need to send money to the Phoenix Talons. Assuming things are as I said, Cosmo would know they have people scouting out their own territory every day. Therefore, it wouldn't make sense that Cosmo would think he could pull a fast one here. That logic had one hole, however. "Well, isn't it obvious? He did it knowing full well you'd catch on to it. He just came by; actually, he extorted the money that we made today in full and walked off. I guess the way he sees this, he can just keep doing this over and over under the guise of being an upstart gang."

Rena took her foot off Ray. "So, to sum it up, you're saying Cosmo is trying to make under-the-table money away from our eyes." I smiled. "Exactly! You catch on quick! What a little snake in the grass he is! He is using young kids like us to take the blame too. Can't even be bothered to get his own hands dirty." I let her stew on that idea for a moment; finally, her eyes clouded over with rage. "That little piece of shit! I knew he was a rat, but to think he'd be trying to take money from me with such a scummy method! Alright, kid, you're off the hook; just get home, and don't wander around this side of town again. I have to teach that little punk a lesson." I smiled innocently, "Thanks, big sister! Oh, how can I repay you? Hey, why don't I help you out? Ray and I want vengeance on him after all; he threatened us with a gun to do this! What if we pretend to stay open, and when he tries to get his next payday, you can take him down?"

Rena seemed to contemplate this for a while. "No, you two have experienced enough today. Really, I can handle this myself; no need to get civilians involved." I guess she had a soft side under all that gruff. Well, I had one last card to play. I asked innocently, "Please, big sister, I want to be useful after all. You're the one who is going to be our savior I want to take some risks too." I gave her puppy dog eyes, and finally, she softened a little, "Alright, kid, fine. We can do it your way. Keep business going; meanwhile, I will hang out in here. Once he opens the door to collect the money, I will beat the snot out of him, and we can call it finished." I smiled, "You mean it, sis! Thank you! Ray, get up; we got coffee to sell." Ray got onto his feet; his expression was hard to read, but he seemed to be on the same page as me. If everything went right here, this house of cards would come crashing down, and we would come out on top.