The Big Brother's Mission (#3)

Chapter 3

3 years before TNCF

"Here, I hope everything works out for you, brother. I'll be back in a few days and try to win some more." I handed the envelope full of money to Joe.

"Thank you, man. Seriously." He took my hand and shook it, pulling me in for a bro hug.

"Okay, I've got to go. I'll see you soon." I saluted him and waved with a grin before turning around and leaving the Underground Place with Casey in tow.

"Why did you give the money to him?" Casey asked.

I shrugged, "He needed it more."

"But look at your beat-up face. The least you could do is take the money to buy some ointment for your bruises." Casey said as she jogged to match my strides.

"We've got enough money to buy our own ointment." I said dismissively.

We got to our ride and before I wore my helmet, I turned to Casey.

"Case, whatever you do, illegal money is dirty money. Don't use it for anything. Dirty money will only bring you bad luck, got it? Give it away, throw it away, do anything with it aside from using it to buy yourself anything." I ranted.

Once I started speaking, Case paused whatever she was doing to look at me. Her wide eyes showed that she wasn't ready for the lecture I just gave.

But she simply nodded, knowing that I was dead serious once she heard my tone.

"Okay, now let's get something to eat. I'm starving." I groaned, breaking the mood and hopping onto the bike after passing the duffel bag onto Casey.

"Junk food?" Casey asked hopefully.

I smirked under my helmet screen, "You know it."

I kick started the engine and lifted the stand from under the bike with my foot before taking off into the night.

Once we arrived at a fast food joint, we ordered some food from the counter and settled in a booth near the window.

The second that we sat down, Casey immediately started chastising me.

"You should've given him a roundhouse kick after he tried to punch you 3 minutes into the fight! You could've broken a record or something for ending the quickest fight in the Underground Place."

I chuckled, "He would've caught my foot and I'd be dead. Didn't you see how quick he was? I could barely block his attacks even though I managed to predict them."

"No way, I've trained with you, I know how quick your kicks can be. You just go easy on me during our spars." She argued while munching on a fry.

"Anyways, point is, I'm sure you could've beaten him quicker and avoided getting so much bruises on you. I mean seriously, why did you fall so much?" Casey huffed, looking me over, waving a fry around as she ranted.

"Hey, why don't you try getting attacked by a 250-pound hulk?" I challenged, picking my burger up from the tray and taking a bite.

"He was not that big." Casey denied.

"Says the girl who watched the match several feet away. Of course he wouldn't come off as big to you as he did to me. I was the one who faced his advancing fist in 4D." I snorted.

"And who made me sit so far away from the stage?" Casey challenged, her 15-year-old sassy side coming out.

"Joe is the only person I trust you with in that place! The other guys are grubby-looking meatheads." I defended myself.