Music Video: "Legend Has It" by Run the Jewels. (Runs the theme of guilty until proven innocent, great music video)

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[This was published May 23, 2020, two days before George Floyd's death on May 25 and the Minneapolis Riots]

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Please stop claiming lines or paragraphs and comment on what's relevant to the chapter. I prefer seeing a whole comment section of just emojis over one claim. I only accept claims in the dashes or squiggles. Any and all other claims will be deleted and/or disapproved of with a shameful shake of the head. If you see any claims, just go "smh" or make some hashtag- you guys can be quite clever.

Also please stop asking for the next update. I don't read those messages so save yourself the effort. Don't worry, I want an update too. You're not alone. The only problem is that I actually have to write it.

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Previously on TGGBB:

In the previous book, Naomi became the Fourth Musketeer. One of the perks to becoming a Musketeer is getting a tattoo of the fleur-de-lis. Naomi went to a tattoo shop owned by a man named Milo who gave her a tattoo on her right ring finger and a henna tattoo of the fleur-de-lis on her back.

It was then explained what the situation was with the city's main gangs and the Lost Boys. Having brought down the previous lead gang, the Royal Bloods, Bennett, Jordan, and Declan were chosen to take their place over the three other main gangs: the Ursa Grizzlies Biker Gang, the Inked Blades Syndicate and the Mayhem Wasps. The Lost Boys are a gang somehow related to the Royal Bloods seeking to avenge them, but no one can figure out how they're connected or why they're doing it.

It was planned for Naomi to be introduced and attend the next official gang meeting in March.

And that's what you missed on Glee!

~

"I'd rather keep you hidden from them," Declan told me.

"It's not that hard," I replied, quickening my pace to match with his as we walked down the long corridor. "I'm quite shorter than you. I'm practically in your shadow."

He cracked a smile before it vanished as quickly as it appeared. "I'm serious, Naomi. I don't want you to be here." He winced at what he said. "You know what I mean."

"Don't worry, I do," I assured him.

"Just because we don't want her here doesn't change the fact that we need her here," Bennett reminded Declan. "We haven't been getting far in our past meetings and Naomi could be what gets us back on track."

"I just don't think it'll change anything, change them," Declan forced out. "And I don't want her to be there when that happens."

"She's part of our band now," Jordan said as he put his arm around my shoulders. "If we had her call or video in, that would make us look weaker than they already see us."

"I don't care about that if it means we have to risk your safety, Naomi."

"You've been teaching me more self-defense," I said with a light laugh. "And besides, I have you as well."

"You have me too!" Jordan interjected, hugging my shoulders now.

I laughed. "Don't worry. I haven't forgotten about you, Jordan."

We all stopped at the large metal double doors in front of us. We were in an abandoned warehouse that was located in the middle of the city.

Bennett motioned his head to the side. "Check if they're already waiting for us."

Declan and Jordan nodded then they both went through the doors.

Bennett looked at me, his eyebrows furrowed in concern. "Please tell me you went to sleep early last night."

"What-" I tried to stifle a yawn but failed. "-What gave me away?"

He smiled at that. "You've been looking more tired every day we got closer to the meeting. And I know you, Naomi. You overwork yourself to get the results."

"I'm taking that as a compliment," I declared.

"Take it however you'd like," he told me, the corner of his mouth lifting up to give me a soft smile. "Your work is going to pay off. I know you'll do great."

There were two knocks on the doors.

"We should head inside," Bennett said before looking back at me. "And tell me, at any time, if you want to leave. Declan will escort you back to the base."

"Don't worry Bennett, Jordan told me the safeword," I said as I rolled my eyes.

"Neapolitan," we said together.

He gave me a small smile and then opened the door for me.

We were on the ground floor of the empty warehouse. There were four long metal tables that were set up to make up a square. However, the tables were still a few feet away from each other so it didn't create any corners. Declan and Jordan were sitting at the table in front of us with two empty seats. When we sat down, the order from left to right was Bennett, me, Declan, and Jordan.

We were attending the bimonthly gang meeting where the four main gangs of the city gather to report on anything significant on the statuses of their territories.

Each table had someone sitting at it while there were people standing behind them either as support or protection. On the table to the left of our own, only one person sat at the table while the others stood behind him. He was an older burly man in his late 30s or early 40s with a long beard wearing a thick leather jacket. The men behind him wore the same jacket. They varied in facial hair and tattoos peeking under their jackets. He slightly turned his head in our direction and it felt like his eyes were on me.

"Carter Andrews has been the leader of the Ursa Grizzlies Biker Gang for decades," Jordan explained to me. "They're one of the oldest biker gangs in the country that even have brotherhoods in other states. They're even on good relations with the Phantoms Motorcycle Club."

"They're the ones we have the most trouble with," Bennett muttered. "Simply because we don't know what they do and how they deal with things. They keep to themselves and don't make trouble with the other main gangs simply because everyone knows not to mess with them. I believe they just show up for appearances at this point or else the other leaders would call them out on it."

They control the Northern part of the city which contains the industrial district where the city's trade is. Whether it be transported to and from the city by air, land, or sea, the city trade was connected in several ways: airport runways, trade highways, and seaports. It's no wonder they keep to themselves because they probably have underhand financial and trade dealings thanks to their territory.

Across from us was a table that also had a single person. He was a young Asian man who looked like he was in his late 20s or early 30s. He was clean-shaven with his hair slick back with gel. He wore a dark brown coat with a white button-down shirt underneath to which the shirt was popped open enough to see the tattoos on his chest. The people behind him varied from looking well dressed while others wore casual clothing. Some had their chests fully exposed to show the full body tattoos that looked like they were from the Yakuza, Japanese organized crime syndicates.

The man took a long drag of his cigarette, looking bored already as he slumped in his seat.

"The Inked Blades Syndicate is currently being led by Jae Seong who took over the position after his late father," I said, going over what I learned with the guys. "They control the Eastern part of the city which consists of Koreatown, Chinatown, Little Tokyo, and other Asian communities within their territory."

Declan nodded. "Surprisingly enough, they're the only ones who are on our side- or at least don't actively undermine us. Under the rule of the previous lead gang, the Royal Bloods, they were forced to deal with the drug and weapon trade in their area since there were a lot of small businesses to use as a cover. They prefer the status quo now since their main priority is protecting their communities and it was difficult for them to do that before."

"Who's the chica?"

Everyone looked at the table to the right of us that had two people sitting at it. Both seemed to be around the same age around their early to mid-20s. The one who asked the question was a tall, lanky Hispanic man with a short beard who sported a navy blue hoodie. The person sitting next to him is an equally tall, muscular black man that wore a dark red shirt underneath a bomber jacket. The two of them and their men standing behind them had a simpler dress code of hoodies and jackets, a few of them wearing hats or bandanas. What was significant was that although their attire was mainly dark colors, you can notice they wore an article of clothing, whether it be a shirt or a hat, that was red or blue.

"Then we have the Mayhem Wasps that control the Southern part of the city," Bennett explained. "They used to be two separate gangs, but after a decade-long turf war that made both sides lose a significant number of members, they decided to unite only a few years ago."

"Antonio Gonzalez started the Sons of Mayhem while Lucas Haynes led the Blood Wasps with his brother until he passed away," Jordan reminded me. "You'll see it yourself that there's still a lot of tension inside their group."

"I think that's their groupie or something," Lucas Haynes said with a snort before looking back at one of his men who stood behind him. "We should get one for ourselves."

Antonio Gonzalez rolled his eyes then said something in Spanish to someone standing slightly behind him causing them to snicker together.

"What did you say?" Lucas demanded.

"You think that maybe I'm saying it in Spanish means I don't want you to hear me?"

Lucas glared at him.

Antonio smirked. "You should learn some Spanish so you don't have to ask me every time I say something," Antonio said casually. "It's not my fault you don't have the brains to handle two languages, much less one."

Someone from behind them moved forward but Lucas held up his hand to stop them. "Don't bother. He probably failed his citizenship test again."

Now the same man Antonio had spoken to had moved forward, but Antonio held him back.

"For the sake of all of us, I'm going to ignore that," he said calmly but coldly. "And if you really wanna know, what I said was that if you care about that so much, you should leave and find yourself a woman."

"I would if I didn't care about how you'd run our gang to the ground."

"We should start the meeting before another turf war starts here," Bennett cut in with a deadpanned tone.

"Don't think we'll start until you explain what the cheerleader is doing here," Lucas told him.

The paper in my hand crumpled at being called a cheerleader. I didn't lose sleep preparing for this meeting to be called one.

"Wait a minute," Jae Seong said, sitting up from his seat and letting out a small laugh. "Don't tell me she's the Fourth that you were talking about in the previous meeting."

Bennett let out a small sigh. "This is Naomi and-"

"Naomi?"

Someone pushed through the group of people behind Jae and I saw a familiar face.

I looked at the others. "Since when was Milo in a gang?"

Back in the previous book, I got a tattoo from Milo's tattoo shop who has done the tattoos for the guys as well. His tattoo shop was often mistaken for a Chinese restaurant which we had to suffer through from our last visit. I touched the ring on my right ring finger where my tattoo was. My henna tattoo has long been gone, but I never found the chance to visit Milo to have it redone.

"I joined recently," he said, looking a bit embarrassed. "A lot of my regulars are a part of the Blades and they recently offered me protection if I joined."

"You know this girl, Zhong?" Jae asked him in disbelief.

"Yeah, I gave her a tattoo." He looked back at us. "I just now figured out why you all have matching tattoos."

Someone cleared their throat quite loudly.

"I would appreciate it if we can move this meeting along," Carter Andrews said gruffly. "I have more important matters after this."

Bennett leaned back in his chair, his legs now crossed, and smiled coldly at the gang leader that made a chill go down my spine.

"I'm sure you do, Carter," he said calmly. "Perhaps we can bring up the first point of the agenda in regards to the drug dealings of one of your members."

He glared at Bennett. "I don't like your tone boy."

"So we're a puppet leader," I said in realization.

Bennett nodded. "After the fall of the Royal Bloods, the three main gangs would have been in an all-out war to seize the unclaimed territory and absolute authority once held by the Royals. But since we played a part-"

"A pretty significant part," Jordan added.

"-in their fall, they decided to make us temporarily hold the title of the lead gang until they can come into an agreement on who or how things will be led in the future."

"They preferred us over anyone other than themselves," Declan explained. "But they see us as just a placeholder and barely take us seriously."

"I mean we could just do nothing," Jordan said before smiling, "but where's the fun in that? We might as well do something while we're in charge."

"Yes, just because they don't take us seriously doesn't mean we're going to act like it," Bennett said. "We have one advantage over all three of them and that's our choice to leave. They might not want us, but they don't want a war even more."

"Well I don't like how you're still dealing with drugs in your territory," Bennett responded evenly. "But I believe we can both find some way to handle this disagreement."

Carter held up his hand and with two fingers motioned someone from his group of men to come up beside him. A person was forcibly pushed forward from the crowd. He looked like he was just about our age. He wore the same leather jacket and had bandages that did no justice to hide the bruises and cuts on his face.

"He's one of our new recruits," Carter explained, motioning his hand for him to leave.

Jae laughed. "Do you still call your new recruits Cubs?" He laughed harder after saying it out loud and his men chuckled behind him. "How adorable."

Carter exhaled loudly then continued. "As you can see, we know how to deal with any of our own who decide to think for themselves. Now can we move on to another-"

"Don't try to play this off again, old man," Lucas said with a laugh. "This is the second time one of your guys did something. It's like you're trying to be the new King."

Carter let out a booming laugh. "The new King?" He repeated incredulously before shooting a chilling glare at Lucas. "Don't you dare try to lump me with the likes of that piece of filth. I don't understand why I have to explain this but I'm not tryin' to be the new King. We have other methods to finance ourselves instead of drugs."

"Is it perhaps the protection contracts you've been handing out to anyone who has business in the industrial district?" Jordan asked nonchalantly.

Carter stared at Jordan. "What are you talkin' about?"

"Once my time out was over, I was finally able to finish up my little side project," Jordan said chuckling to himself.

"I have to hand it to you guys, you were pretty careful with your stuff. It took me months to figure it out." Jordan casually waved a stapled stack of papers on his hand. "I finally managed to get one of your contracts after one of your boys messed up and believed I was the owner of the new order of antiques being shipped in a freighter from Europe. Also, I want to inform you that Monsieur Louis de Grantaine will be canceling his order."

"I believe the exact words you said in our last meeting were 'we'll be more transparent'," Bennett said coldly.

Carter gritted his teeth. He looked back at his men who averted their eyes, shuffling on their feet.

"As long as none of you make illegal, underground deals with the unholy trinity of drugs, sex, and weapons," Jordan explained in a bored tone, counting off the triple threat with his fingers, "you're free to do whatever you please while we're in charge. Please refer to Section 7 Clause 1 of your individual contracts in case you have forgotten." He then leaned back on his chair with a pleased look on his face.

"Now we can move on to the next point on our agenda," Bennett said, turning to the co-leaders of the Mayhem Wasps. "We have reports of five turf wars in your area- one of them was near a school." He narrowed his eyes at them. "I remember clearly you said you were putting an end to them."

Lucas snorted. "It's our own business kid."

"One of our younger members had a disagreement with a gang from your side called The Big Four or something and things got messy but no one got hurt," Antonio explained. "Both sides are in high school which is why they were close to a school."

"Why do you have to tell them?" Lucas asked his partner in disbelief. "It's not like we actually have to do any of this."

Antonio glared at him. "You saw what they just did with Carter. And it's not that big of a deal compared to having to go back to fighting again."

"You'd think that since the union of your two groups you'd been able to put yourselves together by now," Carter said, chuckling alongside his men.

Lucas glared at him. "I'd like to hear how you'd do better. Your territory contains the wealth with the industrial district, ours is practically the ghetto. The city's redlining is so clear, they might as well paint the roads red between all of our territories."

I grimaced hearing that. Redlining is a discriminatory system of the federal government to which it will deny various services, mostly financial, to neighborhoods of people of color. You can take a map of the city and make red lines surrounding these affected communities. A notable example is the placement of banks which are outside of redlined areas and would still deny loans to residents from such communities. It's an old system that was created when a city was first being planned out, and although it's illegal now, its after-effects can be clearly seen today.

Antonio sighed. "There's always a new gang springing up thinking they can fight against us. Then we have to deal with them instead of improving our community."

"Like we've been trying to help ex-cons from our communities who are trying to stay clean to get stable jobs," Lucas explained, "but we can't find any work because no one wants to hire someone who has a record."

"Our city is trying to pass the "ban the box" policy," I told them. "With that, employers would have to give people a fair chance by considering a candidate's qualifications first by removing the previously convicted question and having background checks completed later. You can support for it to pass and maybe that would help you out."

Both of the leaders eyed me suspiciously. I was confused as to if what I had said was wrong. I do my best to keep up with the news, and since this particular policy has been brought up several times it should be common knowledge by now.

"Even if you help your community, there won't be anything left if it'll be run down by your constant turf wars. You think maybe it's because they think you're weak?" Jae asked dryly. "You're barely keeping yourselves together with your color coding."

"We're just staying true to our roots," Lucas snapped at him.

"You can learn something from me and my father then," Jae told them as he smoked his cigarette. "We have several different communities with us, barely connected by the fact that we all like rice or tea, and I still manage to keep a hold on them."

He casually waved his hand behind him showing the men behind him. "At least I don't discriminate by only just Eastern or Southeastern. We have Central like Armenia, Southern like India, Western like Turkey, and even Pacific Islanders such as Samoa. We have no choice because our populations are so small individually. We can have one guy from Bangladesh who owns a gasoline station and we'd still take him in."

When he saw their skeptical looks, Jae sighed and rolled his eyes. "I remember history class in high school- your people have faced hell just like we have."

"Like you have?" Antonio repeated in disbelief. "Don't trick yourself into believing that you know what we have faced. You look more at home with Carter."

Jae laughed loudly and sat up from his seat, grinning. "Let's have a history lesson. Asians have always been called a model minority." He then said mockingly, "Asians are peaceful, law-abiding citizens that have a higher chance of climbing up the socioeconomic ladder than other minorities. Can anyone tell me why this isn't exactly a compliment?"

There was a long, painful silence in the room.

I let out a sigh. "It's a stereotype that undermines the individual and pits minority groups against each other."

Jae smirked. "Smart girl. Such a shame you're stuck in this room with us" He turned back to them. "You're not special. We get faced with our own discrimination. We have to fight against language barriers, cultural clashes, and religious discrimination. Not just against the majority but even amongst ourselves. Then even after that, us minorities are left fighting to get the title of most pitiful while they can enjoy the show," he said, pointing his cigarette at Carter who glared at him.

"So believe me when I tell you that we're way more alike than you'd think. You look at me and you can't tell if I'm Korean, Japanese, Chinese, or Vietnamese. I look at you and see..." Jae paused. "I don't know. Mexican?"

"I'm Salvadorean," Antonio snapped at him before saying, "Alright fine. I get what you're saying."

"Since I'm feeling generous today, I can give you some tips later," Jae said with a shrug. "You not being able to keep your territory in check is hurting me as well." He tsked. "Those little bastards think they can mess with my territory just because the lines between our territories are blurry."

The two leaders of the Mayhem Wasps shared a look then nodded.

"If that's settled, we continue forward with this meeting," Bennett said, looking at Jae.

"Is it my turn then?" Jae asked before taking a long drag of his cigarette and then exhaling the smoke out swiftly. "I'm happy to report that there is nothing to report," he said with a smile.

"No digas mierdas," Antonio said with a laugh, rolling his eyes.

Jae laughed and turned to one of his men to say something in Korean before looking back at Antonio. "Sorry, I forgot to turn the subtitles on, but I'm going to assume that you didn't believe me."

Antonio shrugged. "You assumed correct, amigo. I wish this guy was half as smart as you," he said, motioning his head which earned him a glare from his partner.

"Alright, you caught me," Jae said casually. "I have a new person in my ranks- Joshua Rivera, who controls the Filipino communities on Wilshire and 8th. Did you know they opened up a Jollibee there? They have this thing called a peach mango pie and it's amazing."

A man behind him, with his arms crossed, gave a short nod- either to confirm he was this Rivera man or that their pies were, in fact, amazing.

Lucas cursed to himself. "That's in our territory."

Jae rolled his eyes and exhaled another puff of his cigarette. "You're mistaken. That has always been mine. You insects have always been so finicky with your territories. I wouldn't be surprised if you carry around measuring tapes instead of guns."

"Don't call us insects," Lucas said slowly.

Jae frowned. "I dropped out of high school but I think I remember in science wasps are insects."

Lucas fell silent.

Jae thought about it. "Since you're insects, aren't you guys kings then?"

The two leaders glared at him.

Carter snorted. "And you accused me of tryin' be the new king."

I muttered to myself, "Wasps are actually led by a queen."

All eyes were on me which made me realize that I may have said that a tad too loud.

"Mierde! Why did you name yourselves the wasps?" Antonio demanded.

"My brother and I started the gang when we were teenagers. We messed with a wasp nest once and got the idea!" Lucas snapped. "There's nothing wrong with them! They're cool!"

"Reinas. Queens," Antonio muttered to himself in shame, shaking his head.

Jae was laughing during the entire debacle and was talking to some of his men in Korean, perhaps mocking them.

"You always like to act tough," Antonio told him. "But who can take someone seriously when you carry around a damn sword."

Jae's smile faltered as he put out his cigarette on the table. He then slowly unsheathed a shorthand sword that hung on his waist but was hidden by his coat. He smiled as he looked at his sword, and casually waved it in front of him.

"This is a Geom, a single-edge Korean sword. It's more of a badge of honor than an actual weapon- a ceremonial military decorative piece if you will," he said casually. "This was my father's sword. Carter, you remember him."

Carter said nothing.

"Of course, such a piece of my culture means nothing to you," Jae said with a small sigh as he sheathed his sword again. "But I believe another metal would remind you that I should be taken seriously."

He slowly took out a gun, cocked it, then laid it on his table, positioning it so that it pointed in the direction of the co-leaders of the Mayhem Wasps.

"I doubt an insect can survive this."

"You and your big ass mouth," Lucas muttered.

Simultaneously, both Antonio and Lucas took out their own guns that they kept hidden, cocked it with a click, and set it on the table both pointing at Jae. Despite the strained relationship the two of them had shown the entire time, it was amazing how in sync they were that they would defend each other when one of them was in trouble.

Declan cursed under his breath and abruptly pulled my chair back with one hand, the sound scratching the ground. He then held up his arm in front of me. I was so in shock of what I just witnessed, I barely gave Declan the credit he deserved of how swiftly he reacted.

"When I tell you, you will run," he whispered to me. It wasn't a request, not even an order. It was a fact.

Bennett let out a sigh. "Does this really have to happen again?"

Bennett leaned forward, his hand reaching behind his waist. He then pulled out a gun and after a click, set it pointing at Jae on the table. Then I watched Declan and Jordan follow suit, setting their guns on the table, and aimed their guns at either leader of the Mayhem Wasps.

It was an actual standoff. Although it wasn't exactly like in Pirates of the Caribbean. It was more passive-aggressive than anything. I glanced at Carter who sat there unfazed. Then our eyes suddenly locked together.

"I want you to hold onto this," Jordan said as he held up a small pistol to me. "Don't tell the others or they'll actually kill me with this thing."

He rolled his eyes when I looked at him unsurely. "I know your aim has been getting better thanks to your shooting practices with Bennett. Plus it has six bullets. You must know the odds are in your favor."

I took it, made sure the safety was on, then put it in the large side pocket of my jacket. "If neither Bennett or Declan wants me to carry it, then aren't you just being paranoid?"

He grinned. "I prefer to be paranoid than otherwise. And it's great there's four of us now since there are four other leaders. I like math when it's this easy."

My hand went into my pocket, holding the gun. If he made a move, I'll follow. I gritted my teeth, silently cursing at Jordan for giving me this role without telling the others. Bennett and Declan can be mad at Jordan afterward. It was a sacrifice I was willing to make.

"As much as I enjoy all of us showing we carry a gun, let's all put them away together," Bennett said calmly.

"Or would you rather have Carter inherit everything?" Jordan asked with a halfhearted shrug.

Carter chuckled gruffly.

"Oh, anything but that," Jae said deadpanned. "But I do prefer to live through this meeting. I have some business with the owner of a Thai salon. Tell me if you're interested in an appointment. I can get you a discount."

He quickly picked up his gun which made both Lucas and Antonio move to match his movements. But Jae uncocked the gun and hid it back in his coat. The co-leaders glanced at each other and did the same thing. Bennett, Declan, and Jordan all looked relieved and put their guns away. I took my hand out of my pocket and set it back on my lap. Declan saw my movement and frowned, but said nothing.

"All of them are so damn trigger-happy," Declan grumbled under his breath. "It makes you wonder if they don't really mind a war."

"Where is this salon located exactly?" Lucas asked dryly.

Jae smiled. "Unless you're actually interested in getting your hair or nails done, I don't really need to tell you that if you only want to bother them. And even if it were in your territory, it's useless to you. My sole purpose is to bring together the Asian communities in the city since no one else cares about us anyway."

Carter let out a sigh. "You and your father always said that but..."

"Who are you to say anything?" Jae said with a cold laugh. "In this city, the Asian community is a minority of the minorities- the Hispanic and black communities have a larger population than us. Then you-" he said, pointing his cigarette at Carter "- have twice the advantage. You're white and you control the trade and industrial district. At least those kids hold downtown with the financial district instead of you." He scoffed. "Then the insects and I have to fight for the leftovers."

He leaned back at his chair. "Which is why we're set on bringing our communities closer together. We can take care of our own. We don't need the government, the police, or the banks. And when a riot comes up, we'll have all the means to protect ourselves."

Why did this sound familiar? A riot? I racked my head trying to remember. Then it dawned on me.

"Are you saying you're preparing for something equivalent to the LA Riots?" I asked in disbelief.

The 1992 Los Angeles Riots. Four policemen, three of them white, were found not-guilty after using excessive force to brutally beat a black man named Rodney King after being caught in a high-speed chase. This led to a six-day period of riots of arson, looting, assault, and even murder. Businesses had to barricade their stores and protect themselves with guns against any looters.

However, during the riots, instead of it being a war between whites and blacks, Asians, most significantly Koreans, were involved too. At the time, both groups were hostile to each other because of the misconceptions they have of one another due to the cultural differences. Many Koreans and other Asians with businesses were family-owned and the community financially supported each other, not with the banks. But the black community believed that they were a "model minority" and were favored by the banks seeing how they owned their own businesses. As for the Asian community, they didn't recognize the historic socioeconomic problems their fellow minorities have faced and so they had a poor prejudice against them. There were already high tensions between both groups before the riots but what helped spark their hostility against each other was when a Korean convenience store owner fatally shot a 15-year-old black girl who she believed was stealing from her. When the riots happened, the police didn't protect either group but instead protected the wealthier areas of the county and stormed the areas stricken with the violence of the riots.

The leader of the Inked Blades smiled coldly. "It's going to happen one day. And we'll protect ourselves better when that time comes."

I frowned at that. In a time of such political and socioeconomic turmoil, we could never really know. However, something still bothered me.

"I chose the LA Riots to be the topic of my research project in AP US History."

Jae raised his eyebrows. "We have a scholar in our presence."

Jordan looked at me, questioning why I'm bringing this up.

"So after learning about you and your group's purpose, I was glad to know that you were taking action to protect your communities. At this point, you can just start an official non-profit organization funded by the government."

He grimaced and shrugged. "As I have said before, we can't trust the government on anything."

"Even so, they still have significant authority over all of us. You may not trust the government, but that fact still stands."

"What are you getting at, Naomi?" Declan whispered to me.

"Just trust me," I whispered back.

I told Jae, "From what I've understood so far, you've been uniting different Asian communities and businesses together under your protection and, overall, your network, to strengthen the entire Asian community as a whole."

"Get to the point."

I hesitated when he said that so harshly but then continued. "I just don't understand why you've been risking your relationship with the other main gangs of the other territories when you take in such communities and businesses outside of your own territory," I told him. "There were plenty of other actions to take that didn't have such a risk. There are many NGOs, non-governmental organizations, both for-profit and nonprofit, that strive to support Asian communities that you can be affiliated with."

"I don't want such organizations to be associated with a gang, it'll undermine their integrity."

I gritted my teeth, angry at myself that I didn't consider that argument. "Of course, but many would need financial support and protection regardless. There are also several laws being passed that would affect your community that you could have helped protect if you used your numbers to garner support for them."

Bennett looked at me then stared down at the table. He must have figured it out as well.

Jae scoffed. "What laws? I've never heard of such a-"

"Not everyone can own a business or be able to live in an area surrounded by their own people. If you truly wanted to protect your community, you should also protect those who are outside the scope of merely owning a business or are living in a large enough area to be considered a community."

The gang leader fell silent.

"Did you know the city's prevailing wages law has been under debate to be passed or not?" I asked him. "Companies would often hire low-skilled minorities or young people to save money, but with that law they were forced to keep a wage floor minimum and decrease competition. This was created around the time of the Great Depression to protect American workers against immigrant workers. With that law, it puts a significant number of your people at a disadvantage. If you take action, you could make them repeal it."

"Of course I know this little girl. We're already taking action to do so."

I caught him.

"Oh really? Because the law was actually passed last month and it was kept only by a few votes."

The gang leader glared at me, making it visible to see he was clenching his teeth. I noticed his men were shuffling on their feet and looking at each other. Everyone in the room was murmuring to each other. I felt the stares of Bennett, Jordan, and Declan as well.

"I could keep going," I offered. "There's also a disparity in government contracting as more contracts go to white-owned businesses over minority contractors. In the past there have been many laws fighting for affirmative action and other policies against this imbalance."

Affirmative action is a policy that improves employment and educational opportunities by favoring individuals in groups that have faced historic discrimination such as people of color. Its actual benefit brings up a complex debate as it can create reverse discrimination by having programs choose people only based on their ethnicity rather than their own individual merit.

"There are plenty of other laws that have been passed or will be passed if you followed these NGOs or your elected officials, a few of them being Asian. But let's assume you already knew that and have already taken action as you have said before."

No one said anything.

"Of course, I couldn't possibly accuse you of going against your individual contract," I said innocently. "I believe Article 3 Section 5 states that you would take measures to protect your community so long as you don't violate the territories of the other leads. If there was such a breach of the contract, this could be taken to court. Although, none of us would ever want to go to court, now do we?"

I suddenly realized what I had said last. I silently scolded myself for my sarcasm appearing at a bad time.

My body tensed when I felt everyone narrow their eyes, glaring at me.

"I thought this was your secretary," Lucas demanded. "You didn't think your guns were enough so you brought this instead?"

Antonio scoffed. "Dios! I can't believe this. Why did you bring in a lawyer?"

I glared at them, believing that they were mocking me again.

"She provides us legal counsel," Bennett told them calmly. "You've all been testing the limits of your individual contracts. Jordan can only know or do so much since he only just wrote the contracts. We needed someone who actually knows their way around the law."

"You have some guts to accuse me of such a thing," Jae said, shaking his head. "You still can't prove-"

"I've asked Jordan to compile me a map of the historic progress of all of the territories which included the time when your father led your group." I glanced at Jordan who looked like it just dawned on him on why I asked him for that favor.

Jae narrowed his eyes at me.

"The progress of your group expansion was so small, no one would notice, and even if they did, it wasn't serious enough to start a war over it. I've researched what businesses happen to be in those areas. Many a time you befriended the owner of a dollar store or a restaurant, and since you're both of the same ethnic group, there was nothing wrong with bringing them under your protection."

I looked at Milo. "Take Milo's tattoo shop for example. The members of your group have been his customers long enough to be called regulars. But why only just recently did you offer him protection? It's a few miles away from your territory into that of Carter's about three years ago, but as for a couple of months ago, it's only a block away."

Milo warily glanced at Jae who was seething.

"There must be other businesses outside of your territory that you must have had your eye on," Bennett said. "What are the chances that if we visit them, they'll tell us you've been using them to gather information until you take them into your territory?"

I was surprised myself how I was able to figure it out so quickly during the meeting. Hearing it from Jae himself, it only confirmed my suspicions. Something about them kept bothering me. Out of the three lead gangs, the Blades were the only ones who supported us. It must have been because he believed that we would have more sympathy for his cause of uniting and protecting his community, more so if he voiced his support to us. This may have been true if it wasn't actually a cover for his actual plan of increasing their territory little by little while using communities and businesses to spy on his rivals until he can take them into their territory.

It happened so fast.

Someone from Jae's group moved forward, pulled out a gun and aimed it right at me. Declan stood up, put his arm up in front of me and aimed a gun at the person. Another person then had a gun pointing at Declan.

My body moved on its own due to the shot of adrenaline spiked in me. I pulled out the gun from my pocket and also aimed the pistol at the person aiming for Declan. I was holding a small pistol with my two hands and I knew my arms were trembling.

I cursed silently to myself. I got too arrogant and I don't want Declan to pay for my mistake. The weight of my action suddenly hit me. Am I willing to do this? Hurt a man? But I knew. Declan never hesitated to protect me, so I shouldn't either. My arms went still and my grip on the gun tightened.

Bennett looked at me. "Naomi what are you-"

Jae cursed in Korean. "What do you think you're doing? How dare you do something without my order. You think shooting this girl will solve anything?"

Both men froze, glanced at each other, and slowly lowered their arms. People beside them took their guns away and whispered something to them in another language.

Declan and I hesitated and slowly put our guns away. When he sat down, Declan shot me a glare.

Now composed, Jae leaned back on his seat. He snapped his fingers and one of his men quickly lit up another cigarette. He took a long drag of the cigarette.

"So what will happen now? Will you force us to leave after the decades my group has been here?" He chuckled to himself. "You don't think we've prepared ourselves in case we'll be found out? You know the numbers and power we have." He looked straight at me. "You'll be facing a war."

Bennett suddenly grabbed my wrist. He glanced at Declan and they shared a look.

Please don't tell me I just started a war.

"Our role as the lead gang, regardless if we are the puppet," Bennett began, "is to provide fairness and transparency among all of us and our territories. We only exposed you about your plan that took advantage and undermined your fellow leads that have been going on for perhaps decades."

Bennett narrowed his eyes at Jae. "The first thing we agreed upon is that you will not hurt us in the threat of war no matter who started it," Bennett said slowly, his voice low. "We will leave uninjured and you can fight it amongst yourselves."

The leader of the Inked Blades smirked. "How irresponsible. Not going to even be there to clean up your mess? Is that how your mother raised you?"

I felt Bennett's grip tighten around my wrist.

Carter chuckled darkly to himself, shaking his head. "I still can't believe after all of these years you and your father have just been playing the minority card. And to think I thought our relations would have been good enough to be allies to go against the Wasps if I was generous enough with you."

Jae smiled coldly. "Having allies were the last thing on my mind, especially if it was with either of your groups. And what can I say? When you're scrounging at the bottom, you have to be resourceful. Desperate times."

Antonio abruptly stood up and pointed at Jae. "Well you're deluding yourself if you think you can still keep the territory! Our territory has been under years of turf wars and you took advantage of us. I can't believe you even offered to help us when all along you were stealing from us. We're getting everything back, down to the last square inch since you became leader."

"Starting with Jollibee," Lucas told him before adding, "I mean Wilshire and 8th." His partner shot him a glare. "And don't think we'll just end it with the territories."

"For once, I agree with you," Carter told Lucas. "Not just you but even your people within your territories. We will milk you dry from how much money you stole from us and for them having allied themselves with you."

"You won't get anything!" Jae snapped, standing up from his chair as well that the chair fell backwards. "My father and I have fought and earned those territories! I will bring hell if you try to touch a single store, as single restaurant. I promised those people my protection. They. Are. Mine."

"I propose a solution," Jordan said calmly, standing up from his seat. "No one wants a war. I mean, you have high schoolers being your puppet lead just because you all don't want to fight each other. Seeing that none of the other gangs were angry enough despite the slow expansion of your territory after all of these years, perhaps they can be compensated especially seeing how compliant they have been after all of this time."

Jae glared at Jordan. "Continue," he permitted.

"You can keep your territory, but you have to pay the other leaders for it. Just a one-time, large payment, it's not a monthly rentable arena," Jordan said before adding, "Then you can start some philanthropy with some NGOs and follow some elected officials representing you so you can have some substance behind your quote-unquote 'cause' from now on."

Jae looked at the other leaders.

"I really like Jollibee," Lucas muttered to himself which earned him a glare from his co-leader.

"We accept those terms," Antonio said slowly, looking at Lucas who nodded in agreement. "So long as you still help us bring our community together as you offered earlier. We don't want any more turf wars- especially right now."

Everyone turned to the leader of the Ursa Grizzlies. He sat there, looking like he was thinking about this very thoroughly. The room was quiet until he finally spoke.

"It has to be based on the territory maps at 19XX," Carter said gruffly.

"Excuse me?" Jae demanded incredulously.

"That was when your father started making moves of expanding his territory behind the purpose of uniting your community. That must have been when he started his idea." Carter looked at him. "You should be grateful that I'm not making you pay from when your father first became the leader of your group."

There was a long pause and then Jae said something in Korean, perhaps cursing. "Fine. But I'll have my men do the calculations and you can confirm it after you see the report." He smirked. "What can I say? Asians are good at math. And I can't exactly trust you guys in making up the numbers after we worked so hard all of these years."

Jordan sat back down and let out a sigh of relief.

Bennett let go of my wrist, looking visibly relieved. Bennett gave me an unreadable look that went through several emotions- disbelief, confusion, anger, concern, and... pride.

Bennett leaned closed to me and whispered in my ear, "Please warn me the next time you back a gang leader into a corner."

I felt my face turn warm when he said that. I smiled sheepishly and gave him a weak nod.

~

I hope you all enjoy the new changes the TGGBB series has gone through. We have new covers and a new summary for the first book TGGBB. Be sure to check it out if you haven't seen it.

One thing I want to say is this: I'm not Korean. So you can cross that off your list of "Ethnicities Rubix May Be". I love Korean food though. I could list out a menu but whenever I'm out with friends we always hit up a KBBQ and grab boba after. I'm also not a Kpop stan- just never got into it. So I'm not introducing the Korean culture because I'm into the music or kdramas- I just enjoy introducing different cultures and creating diversity. Also I love Jollibee- I need some of that peach mango pie in my life right now.

Also Jae Seong's character was inspired by Henry Golding's character Dryeye in the movie "The Gentleman" with Matthew McConaughey. It's a great movie about gangs in Britain and it's from the same director who did "The Man From U.N.C.L.E" my favorite film.

I actually did do a project about the LA Riots and wanted to find a way to connect it through this book. I enjoyed writing this chapter although there was a lot of research required. I attached a reference list at the end if you want to know where I got my ideas.

I have planned this chapter long during the time I was writing TGGBB. This was mainly the point I wanted to introduce the gang plot into the story to introduce a different kind of bullying- discrimination against race and socioeconomic status. It's a harsh reality but when have I been one to hold back such a reality in this series. Please comment on what you thought about it. Do you think more of this part of the gang plot should be in the first book? I feel like if you read the first book, you'd question why there was a gang plot in the first place so people would judge it already without reading the second book. Also the music video I attached is Run the Jewels' "Legend Has It". It's a rap song with a lot of cursing but what was significant was the video itself showing the discrimination people of color have faced. I also enjoy their song with DJ Shadow "Nobody Speak" which has a great music video as well.

-

Also how about some of that character development with Naomi? Naomi has always been the most difficult character to write especially compared to the guys. I've read the comments and it was always a seesaw between her being a sassy queen to a dumb witch with a "b". Which is kinda rough but understandable since it was a rollercoaster trying to write her character.

My main goal was to make her book smart but not street smart. However, it always felt that everyone just hated her regardless of what she did unless I had to explicitly explain it. It's like you have some sort of double standard with her. She can say something and it won't get many comments, but if I switched it so one of the guys said it, you all would blow up. That's why I really struggled with creating a likable female main protagonist who wasn't conveniently great at everything (i.e. gang stuff- not counting the beginning of the first book like she's very athletic because I haven't planned out the book at the time).

What irked me the most was the feedback on how Naomi couldn't help Lynn when she saw her forcing herself to throw up. So many people just hated her for not doing that, but please actually think about it. You barely hang out with this person then you see they're in trouble. You can't just burst in thinking you'll be their white knight. They would either be embarrassed and distance themselves from you or fight back and close you off on the "audacity" you have in believing that you know better than them. Humans are a complex species and you can never know how they would react.

Naomi herself is a troubled person- she went through a lot. If she tried to help Lynn, it would be like "the blind leading the blind". Naomi can't help Lynn without first helping herself. We will see more of this in the rest of the book.

So expect in the new version of the book, Naomi's character will be way more polished and character development much more defined. Despite how messy she is, I still enjoy writing about Naomi because she's real- she struggles just like anyone and is nowhere near perfect.

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I also want to bring up my plan to create more diversity in this series through the new version of TGGBB. I've been wanting to do this for a very long time as I have been inspired by Uncle Rick's Percy Jackson + Heroes of Olympus series in their diversity as well at Netflix's Voltron: Legendary Defender and their diverse cast.

I have already introduced the idea to people on Twitter and Instagram and received great feedback. It made me so happy that you wanted to see such diversity. Below are my ideas of what ethnicities I want the main cast to be. Some are already set but you can still comment on what you have imagined and it might make me consider them.

However it must be noted there will be NO accents, I repeat NO ACCENTS. This is just based on how they will look and a few references to their culture. This story is set in America, and since I have decided this only now, I don't want to change their names so many of them will be mixed American. You're free to comment on what ethnicities you have imagined for my characters but these will be the main decisions.

I just want to be clear that they are just drafts. Some of you are already irked by them being half-American. I could change it to being full anything or half something else. So calm down haha.

Naomi:

Pacific Islander:

- Filipino

- Hawaiian

- Samoan

Bennett: (NO ACCENTS- I've got my eye on you guys)

Italian

British

Jordan: (He was half inspired by Tamaki Suoh from Ouran High School Host Club, but note that when Jordan said Monsieur Louis de Grantaine- the surname is actually Tamaki's mother's maiden name hahaha I know, I'm a weeb)

French

French -Canadian

Australian

Declan:

Hispanic (Origin unknown, he learned Spanish during his childhood in the foster care system; we'll learn more about Declan's origins later)

Raymond:

German

Dominic: (Honestly whatever Bennett isn't haha)

Asian

Spanish

Italian

British

Lynn:

Asian

Finally, be sure to expect a very big surprise next weekend. Keep an eye on an announcement and get ready to read something new yet familiar.

Be safe everyone and I hope you enjoyed the story!

GANG GANG

Rubix

Want to learn more about the topics I discussed in the chapter and where did my sources come from? Here's a reference list! (I can't put links but these are the titles of the articles and their sources)

NPR: "Disparities In Government Contracting Hurt Minority-Owned Businesses"

US News: Ban the Box Laws Could Negatively Impact Minorities

Asian Pacific Institute on Gender-Based Violence (API GBV): Census Data of Asian and Pacific Islander Identities

Dartmouth: Media Misrepresentation of the LA Race Riots from a Korean American Perspective

CNN: LA Riots Korean Americans

NPR: When LA Erupted In Anger: A Look Back At The Rodney King Riots

Definitions US Legal: Minority-Owned Businesses

Economics 21: Costly Prevailing Wage Laws Harm Minorities and Younger Workers