♕Harley Anderson♕
I punch the bag with as much strength as I can muster so that the bag swings around in a circular motion on the chains. Without much thought, my eyes move to the door every few seconds and I eventually let out a sigh, turning around and bending down to pick up my water bottle. While I'm taking a long gulp, I turn around to see Cyrus coming in. His blond hair is disheveled, sticking up in every direction and he looks stressed out as hell. Along with that, he isn't dressed in gym clothes and I raise an eyebrow, propping one hand on a hip.
"You're..." I look down at my watch. "You're two hours late. If I knew you weren't going to pitch, I would have told Cameron not to drop me off."
Cyrus pulls off his leather jacket, throwing it on the floor and walking over to me. He runs a hand through his hair, taking a moment to catch his breath.
"I'm sorry." He says, rubbing a hand over his face. "We were..." he seems to be trying to think of what he wants to say.
"What?" I snap, getting impatient as he tries to think of an answer. "Can't think of a suitable lie huh?" I sneer, shaking my head before closing my water bottle. I'm well aware that he isn't lying... he was dealing with the fact that Enrique managed to buy the port in Pittsburgh which Ramiro explained to me last night when he was waiting for confirmation.
But a part of me likes to make Cyrus feel guilty, likes to see him having to decide being loyal to the gang or being honest with me. So even though I know the truth, I still say what I do anyway.
"No, of course not. We're just having issues okay? Jack is panicked so I was trying to deal with it. I'm lucky I even managed to get an hour free to come here." He explains and I cross my arms over my chest, the skin on my arms sticking to my torso because of the sweat. Even though Cyrus wasn't here to really direct me, I took upon myself to warm up and then begin the punching.
"What issues?" I press further, noticing how Cyrus's green eyes look between my own, mouth opening but not saying anything.
"You know I can't tell you that."
Letting out a sarcastic laugh, I nod as I pick up my water bottle. "Yep, even after you've kept me waiting for two hours- when a Kings member could have walked in any moment and lodged a bullet in my brain- you still can't be honest with me."
I make a move to walk away, rounding the punching bag but Cyrus grabs my forearm to stop me and I spin around.
"I'm sorry okay? I didn't mean to keep you waiting. But things are really a mess right now and I was trying to get shit in order. I'm here now and for the next hour, I'm focusing on you and only you alright?" He offers me, hand still clasped around my arm. Letting out a sigh I nod and Cyrus lets go before offering a small relieved smile. I put my bottle down and follow Cyrus to the mat.
"Also, by the way, I don't think keeping a key under the front mat is a smart idea." I remark and Cyrus nods.
"Yeah but it comes in handy in cases like this. Anyway, I'm assuming you warmed up?"
I nod, gesturing at my body that's coated in sweat. Cyrus sighs, pulling his shirt off and my eye catches the tattoo on the side of his ribs- my birth date- and I look away, bringing my hands up in front of my face in a defense position. Cyrus does the same and we begin practicing. Practicing- or training, rather- with Cyrus is a lot less intense than when I do it with Danté. A part of me knows it's because Cyrus doesn't want to hurt me, given our past and history, while Danté isn't afraid to push me up against the wall until I'm punching him to let go. But I prefer it this way... I trust Danté enough to know that he'll push me to the edge but won't let me fall off, Cyrus on the other hand... he may be more like my father than I anticipate.
The hour of training goes by fairly fast. We work on self-defense and Cyrus teaches me a few tactics like how to get out of a headlock or how to maneuver yourself if you're getting strangled. It's a different technique than to what Danté has taught me and I make a mental note to remember both because both could come in handy.
Cyrus and I don't talk much, he explains what to do in what kind of situation and I do what he says, sometimes doing it wrong so that he has to correct just like he does right now, putting a hand on my stomach and repositioning me.
"Put your hands up higher and strike at an angle, not so dead-on." He instructs me and I do so again, only for Cyrus to shake his head.
"No Harley. You're aiming too low do-"
"I'm trying okay!" I snap, dropping my hands in exasperation and Cyrus sighs, holding his hands up in surrender.
"I'm just trying to help you Lee-"
"Don't." I say in a low, warning tone. "Let's not go there again."
"Fine." Cyrus replies tiredly, "Let's give it another go, alright? I'll go easy on you this time."
I wipe the sweat on my forehead off with the back of my head before retying my hair and standing back in front of Cyrus, placing my hands in the same position he said previously. His phone goes off this time and I roll my eyes, throwing my hands up in annoyance when he pulls it out of his pocket and takes the call.
"What is it?" He asks and I watch, with my hands on my hips, as his eyebrows draw together. "Wait, who?" The look on his face twists my gut for some reason and I narrow my eyes. "You've got her? Where are you?" He waits a moment, glancing at me for a second. "Alright, I'm on my way. Stay put." The man in front of my hits the end button, slipping his phone back in his pocket before quickly grabbing his shirt off of the floor and pulling it on.
"What's wrong?" I ask and Cyrus glances at me briefly.
"Come on, get your stuff quickly. We need to head to a warehouse not far from here."
"Wait, why?" I ask and Cyrus shakes his head.
"I'll explain in the car. Get your bag, let's go." He says and I grab my bag and bottle, jogging to catch up with him who is already out the door. He waits for me and when I'm out, he closes the door and locks it and I follow him to his car. I slip into the passenger seat, tossing my bag to the backseat and Cyrus puts the car into reverse and backs out onto the road.
I watch as Cyrus stares at the road ahead of him, both hands gripping the wheel tightly and his teeth grinding together. Raising an eyebrow, I look ahead.
"What's going on?"
Cyrus briefly looks at me, as if remembering I'm beside him. "Johnny is keeping a Kings member hostage at a warehouse."
My heart drops, my heart immediately picking up speed and I try to keep my face neutral. "Hostage?" I repeat. I think of all the people it could be but hope stubbornly sticks to my heart that it could be someone I don't know, someone much further down the line.
"Yeah. Lately the Kings have being pushing their way into our territory and I guess Johnny got his hands on one. It's good leverage over the gang because they value all their members way too much, unfortunately for them."
I hate the way Cyrus makes it sound like the fact that the Kings value their members and their lives is a bad thing. It's disgusting, and I have to physically bite my tongue. We don't say anything and Cyrus pulls up to a warehouse similar to that of the one that we met Jack at for the first time. Cyrus park's haphazardly and I watch as he unbuckles his seatbelt, not sure whether I'm supposed to go in with him or not.
"Let's go. It's not safe to wait in the car... other members could be loitering about." Gulping I nod, climbing out of the car along with Cyrus. When he grabs a gun out of the compartment in front of my seat, panic begins bubbling up my throat. Am I going to be okay witnessing a murder?
The gravel crunches under my sneakers and when Cyrus pushes a door open and we walk in, I see a figure tied down to a chair. But when Cyrus moves out of my line of sight towards a lanky guy leaning against the wall, I almost stumble.
Strapped to the chair, gagged and bruised is Jee watching me. My breath hitches in my throat and I frown. Her face is bruised and hair matted against her face due to blood coming from somewhere I cannot see and I feel nauseous at the thought that the man standing beside Cyrus could do this to a person, never mind a woman.
I move further into the room and the guy- Johnny- looks over at me. "And who is she?"
"Hey, she's with me." Cyrus replies and I'm surprised at the warning, authoritative tone of his voice. Not giving Johnny time to talk anymore, Cyrus directs his attention to Jee and slowly walks towards her before crouching down in front of her.
"The ever so powerful Jee." He murmurs. "How'd you end up in this position eh?"
The gleam in Jee's eyes tells me she's seething at Cyrus's tormenting and I try and think of how wrong this can go.
"If I ask you about what Enrique's plans are, are you going to talk?" Cyrus says and Jee does nothing but cock her head to the side and blink innocently. A breath of a laugh escapes Cyrus's nose and he nods, standing back up. "Thought so." He turns back to us, walking over to me as he says to Johnny: "Do what you have to."
Johnny steps forward, pulling out a gun and just as Cyrus touches my lower back to guide me out of the room, I'm pulling out the gun from his waistband and pointing the gun at him. It's like reliving the moment of pointing the gun at Frank, only this time it's worse because it's my brother, and that thought alone makes me nearly drop the gun. But I think of how Ramiro had his arm wrapped around Jee the other night and how I could see how much he adored her and I can't help but feel like after everything Ray has done for Danté and I, I owe it to him to protect someone he loves. I won't let my brother hurt Ray by getting rid of Jee. I can't have any more blood on my hands.
Cyrus looks at me, then at the gun in my hands and I move backwards, towards the chair Jee is strapped to all the while Cyrus watches me.
"Pull that trigger Johnny and I'll kill both Cyrus and you." I say, surprisingly more confident than I feel and Johnny seems to look to his second leader for direction. However, Cyrus does nothing but shake his head at me.
"You won't kill me." He says, as if he knows me well enough and I hate the fact that he's fairly right.
"I think you've forgotten that I've killed a man Cyrus!" I shout, my voice echoing hysterically around the room and he shakes his head.
"You're not a murderer Harley. You won't do it."
I bite on my lip, my hands trembling as I keep it aimed at my brother. "You don't know me Cyrus."
"Yes I do. You're my sister-"
I aim at his shoulder and pull the trigger, the sound of the shot echoing through the room and Cyrus's grunt is heard. He places a hand over his shoulder before lifting it up to his face to inspect the blood.
"Did you think I would do that?" I ask. "Huh? Did you think I'd do that?"
The look of hurt on his face is enough of an answer and I swallow my emotions. "That's what I thought. You don't know me, Cyrus. Now untie Jee, Johnny." At first he doesn't do it and I step closer towards him, the gun still aimed at his head. "Drop your gun and push it forward." I say and Johnny hesitates. "Do it!" I yell and he holds his hands up in surrender before placing the gun and sliding it to me. Quickly I pick it up before pointing one at each of them.
"Untie Jee, Cyrus."
He blinks at me and I shake my head, the tears in my eyes becoming harder to keep at bay. "Please do it. Please," I beg. "I don't want to hurt you any more than I already have."
His green eyes stare at me for longer than necessary before he nods at Johnny who begins to untie Jee. I keep one gun aimed at him while the other stays focused on Cyrus.
"I can't believe you've been double crossing the gang the whole time." He mutters and I swallow hard. "There's still time to stop this. If you put the gun down, Jack doesn't have to know about this. We can go on like it never happened."
"Besides the fact that I don't believe that because your Jack's little bitch," I spit, "I just can't do that."
Glancing at Johnny, I step closer to him with the gun. "Hurry up."
"That's the only reason why you suggested me training you huh? To try and get information out of me? That's where that whole 'you can trust me because I'm your sister' bullshit came from right?" Cyrus continues, grabbing my attention and something inside me snaps at seeing the betrayal on his face, the fact that I'm the one emotionally hurting him hurts me. I wanted to be better than him. I wanted to be a better person than all of them. "I should have known."
"I'm sorry Cyrus." I say with a sad smile. "I never wanted this."
"Then stop!"
"I can't do that!"
My chest rises and falls heavily, my emotions getting the best of me and I know that if I don't reign them in, they're going to get me in trouble. Emotions make you reckless and reckless gets you killed.
"Why'd you leave and never come back?" I ask and he frowns.
"What does that have anything to do with th-"
"Just answer the question!" I shout and Cyrus frowns, his lips moving but nothing coming out. "It's because you found a better life. Because you found a place where you weren't getting hurt. And I was just the unfortunate person who wasn't involved in the equation. What makes this any different? I've found a better way and you're not involved it. You can't blame me for this." I answer for me. "Isn't this what you call self-preservation?"
Johnny steps back as soon as he's done untying Jee and she stands up, wiping the blood on her lip away. She stands beside me and I ignore the way Cyrus watches me with a mask of pure defeat. "My phone's in the back pocket. Call him." I tell her, not needing to specify who 'him' is. Jee doesn't argue and pulls out my phone, inserting my passcode after I've told her it and she calls Ray, explaining in Spanish what happened. It's quick, swift and over in a few seconds and when she's placed the phone back in my pocket, I look between Cyrus and Johnny.
"Please don't come after us." I say. And it's not a request, it's a warning that if he does I'll pull the trigger. "Go back to Jack and tell him what you know but let us go. Please don't make me have to hurt you."
I drop my arms, walking backwards to where Jee has the door pushed open and after I'm out, I shut the door, placing a random wooden plank I find on the floor across the handle so they can't get it open. "Here." I give Jee a gun and we both slip it into our waistbands before running as fast as we can out of the warehouse. Luckily, the open land around it is mostly trees and bush and I don't hesitate to run deep inside of it.
"Fuck," Jee grunts as we walk, the branches and thorns stabbing us as we go along. "What the hell are we doing? They'll find us!"
"No, they won't. They're assuming we'll walk through the bush to the other side, not stay here."
"So you're expecting us just to wait for Ramiro to come get us?" Jee says in disbelief and I roll my eyes, the aftermath of pointing a gun at my brother making me more and more frustrated.
"Do you have a better idea then huh?"
"Do you seriously think Cyrus won't come after us? Just because you're his sister or whatever the fuck you are?" Her words are smug almost and I suddenly wish I could throw her into the thorn bush next to her legs.
Rolling my eyes, I say: "You know, for someone who was just saved, you're not very thankful about it."
"What? Are you expecting a 'thank you' from me?" The Asian girl scoffs. "Good luck with that."
Having enough of her, I throw my hands up in the air in exasperation.
"Let's get one thing clear, I didn't point a gun at my brother's head to save you because I like you or think you're a great person, I did it for Ray okay? I did it because I can see how much you mean to him and how loss affects him. I wasn't going to just standby and let Cyrus hurt someone he loves." I explain. "So get off your fucking high horse and humble yourself Jee."
If she's surprised by my words, she doesn't show it and instead purses her lips before looking away. Taking it as her finally shutting the hell up, I turn back around and take a seat at the bottom of a tree. However, I soon learn that shes always has to have the last say when she replies:
"If you're trying to convince me that if it wasn't for Ramiro, you would have left me to die, I find that hard to believe. You don't seem like the heartless kind."
A laugh of hysteria escapes me and an onslaught of emotions threaten to pull me under. "There we go again with people thinking they know me. You don't know who I am, okay?" I say, looking up at her who watches me. I avert my gaze, resting my forehead on my knees before softly muttering to myself: "I don't even know who I am."
This time, the only response I receive is the chirp of the birds.
****
I get to see a different part of the gang's house when Jee is taken to the medical room. Even though she isn't too hurt beside a few bruises, a cut lip and a cut on her head, it doesn't stop Ramiro from fussing over her. He waits impatiently in the room, arms crossed over his chest as the doctor examines her.
Jee rolls her eyes when the doctor tells her to follow the light. "I'm fine, alright?" She sighs and Ray shakes his head.
"Please don't be difficult. He hit you with a pistol- you could have a concussion Jee." Ramiro says and Jee lets out a sigh of defeat, allowing the doctor to finish the examination. I wait with bated breath for Danté to return. After Jee left me alone, I called Danté and told him to get our stuff from the apartment as soon as possible and get to the ganghouse before the news spreads to Jack. He told me he was with Lina so they would be back soon but they're yet to arrive and it has my stomach in knots.
Jee hops off of the table and I follow her and Ray out of the room and down the hallway, entering the lobby where a few members loiter about. I'm not sure where this leaves the gang, never mind Danté and I. Whether Ray and Lina are going to continue the act, I'm not sure but I do know that Danté and I can't go back.
"You okay?" Bruno asks Jee and she nods as he pulls her in for a hug and I run a hand over my hair in exhaustion. Before I have time to drop to the floor with tired legs, Ramiro is next to me and I'm suddenly being pulled to the side and embraced in a hug that crushes my bones. I return the gesture, it being nice to receive such a loving hug from someone other than Danté. But when he pulls away, I don't try hide my confusion.
"Thank you." He says and I nod, knowing what he's thanking me for.
"It's no problem Ray."
"No, you don't understand how much what you did means to me. I love Jee, Harley. She's my best friend and I wouldn't be able to lose her and the fact that you defended her against Cyrus like that..."
I look away, not wanting to remember pointing a gun at Cyrus.
"Thank you. Katalina didn't make a mistake for trusting you and Cameron."
Offering a soft smile I playfully push his shoulder, wanting to lighten the mood a little.
"I like your philosophical side, not your sappy side." But in all truths, I like both. He rolls his eyes and throws an arm over my shoulder before pulling me back to the group however, when I see Danté and Lina climbing out of both mine and Danté's car, Im running out of Ray's embrace and to Danté who catches me when I throw myself at him.
"You're alright." I whisper in relief, holding onto his neck tightly. He squeezes my hips and when I pull back, I can see the worry on his face. His eyes search mine and when I see Katalina with blood dripping down from a gash on her forehead, I loosen my grip on Danté.
"What happened?" I ask and Lina looks at me and then her brother.
"Lets just say that getting the stuff from your apartment wasn't easy. Percy obviously got the news pretty quickly." She turns to Ray, "And we no longer have a cover."
Ray pinches the bridge of his nose between his fingers. "Fuck. Fuck. This throws our whole plan out the window."
Lina wipes the blood that continues to stream down her face off and Ray tells her to go to the medical room. She nods, quickly going inside the house where everyone inside no doubt bombards her with concern. The three of us outside stand in silence and Ray shake his head.
"I'll meet you guys inside. I need a damn smoke." He saunters off then, pulling out a box of cigarettes as he goes and I look to Danté who is frowning in thought. He seems to be watching Ramiro and even after I've called his name, he doesn't look back at me... not until I'm placing a hand on his arm and snapping him out of his train of thought.
With my eyebrows pinched together, I ask: "Are you okay?" Danté frowns to himself but nods before looking back in the direction Ramiro stalked off in.
"Yeah, I just want to speak to Ramiro quickly."
"Is it about what I told you regarding the tape?" I press. When I told Danté that Ramiro heard the conversation and decided to delete the audio, I saw how shocked but grateful Danté was. Ramiro saved us from a lot of extra trouble and I know that means more to Danté than me because it was his identity that was on the line. Ramiro deserves to know that we appreciate what he did. Letting go of his arm, I take a step back and nod. "Okay."
"Go on inside, okay?" Danté replies after cupping my cheek and pressing a kiss to the top of my head. "I'll be quick." He looks down and smiles and I return the gesture tiredly before he lets go of me and follows after Ramiro. Letting my shoulders slump in exhaustion, I drag myself inside.
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