April Loves Black Coffee: First Impressions (9 page)

“This way.” Mohawk leads the way into Spyder’s house.

Lina and I make our way towards the black gates behind him. The gate groans when Mohawk moves through them. The steps leading up to the front door has various cracks and breaks in them. At the top of the very last step, the front door is left ajar.

Mohawk pushes the door open with only one hand. The door swings open without a sound, revealing its hollow appearance. The house’s modest furnishing includes two small chairs, a coffee table, and a large wooden bookcase against the wall. It is a shocking contrast to only two months ago, when I was last here for Spyder’s birthday party, where miscellaneous furniture and items claimed the entire area. Now, the only sign of life in the room is the natural mid-afternoon sunlight; it is the only source of lighting from the front window.

Mohawk’s footsteps pick up speed as he leads us around the house. I am familiar with the layout enough to know that Mohawk is leading us to the dining room.

The house has an old rusty smell to it. The floorboards creak with every step that Lina and I take. Spyder’s dining room is set to the very back of his house. Its threshold is of a large oval shape. Inside, a glass table for six is front and center behind a large window. The walls are redwood, dated and ancient. The dining room is housing the company of more than ten people today.

“Don’t try anything funny,” Mohawk instructs under his breath as we near the dining room. He nods to two men who are guarding opposite ends of the dining room’s entrance. Without another pause, Mohawk heads straight in with us in tow. Then, he steps to the side wall and stands guard. Just like that, Mohawk recedes into the background.

No one can truly prepare themselves for a meeting with citizens of the underground world. This isn’t a typical meeting in which the most precious thing at stake is failing to impress the potential employer or lacking the correct qualifications. This also isn’t the type of meeting in which being prepared for questions and the pressures of intimidation are tools for resolution. This is the type of meeting where ignorance is bliss, and giving in to another person’s rules is not a sign of weakness but rather survival.

The scenario in the dining room is already chaotic. There are four figures surrounding the dining room table, but none sitting. All clues suggest that a physical confrontation occurred prior to our appearance. Strange faces occupy the dining room, except for Spyder who is the present victim. Each individual gang member is dressed in the same stylish suit as Mohawk with the same silver diamond watch on their left wrists. The face of the watch yields a serpent wrapped around the bold letter
M
.

“Please stop!” Spyder is begging. The imminent distress in his voice permeates the walls of the dining room.

This no-good-son-of-a-bitch!
my intuition hisses. She has her boxing gloves on at the sight of Spyder. I can’t say he doesn’t deserve the pain that is raining on him. I have my reasons for disliking Spyder and this moment proves my intuition right.

“Shut up!” One of the suits extends a right fist to the bottom of Spyder’s throat. The impact of his closed knuckles and the exoskeleton of Spyder’s throat collide at a painful speed.

Oh, this can’t be good.
I mentally die. This is not a simple conversational meeting after all. I actually feel pain for Spyder. Even though I don’t like him, he doesn’t deserve to be treated like a dog.

“Stop! Please!” At the sight of her boyfriend’s assault, Lina breaks away from me and runs to Spyder.

At the sight of us, the gang member assaulting Spyder steps back to watch Lina rush toward Spyder. He is hardly breathing; it doesn’t take a lot of energy out of him to hurt Spyder. “Look who’s finally here.” His face is bright and welcoming, but the tone of his greet laces with dangerous sarcasm.

He is menacing in every sense of the word. His black hair is slicked back from his face, revealing a widow’s peak hairline and large brown eyes under overarching eyebrows. His sculpted facial structure rounds out hollow cheekbones and thin, hard lips. From the way he carries himself, it is easy to see that his position was earned and not given. 

“Are you okay?!” Lina ignores him to address Spyder. She wraps her arms around Spyder who has apologies written all over his sorry facial expression.

“I’m sorry baby.” Spyder buries his head into her arms.

Are you?
My thoughts are salacious. I bite down on my bottom lip. I haven’t decided where I stand on this.

Sang Junjin is his birth name. But in many ways, Spyder epitomizes the nickname given to him by people who have interacted with him over time. He is
tall with a potbelly, but at the same time wiry with curly hair that gives him the impression of wearing a mop. Spyder is always spinning webs of lies and deceit to trick people into doing what he wants them to do. But his web of lies is going to fail him. This is not the first time Spyder’s dragging Lina down with him. But there is no point in bringing up the past when the present is uncertain.

“Danny, I thought Boss says there’s no need for physical violence.” From behind us, Mohawk’s demure voice addresses Spyder’s attacker.

Danny, as his name turns out to be, points at Spyder and Lina on the floor. “They need to learn that they need to uphold the terms of the loan!” The look he gives Mohawk is unnerving. “I’m just doing my job unless you have better ideas to make them pay.”

I glance around the room and realize the actual Boss of this group is not here. Should I be relieved the Boss isn’t here yet? Could it get any more violent than this?

“Suit yourself.” At Danny’s outburst Mohawk steps back to the corner of the dining room.

“Aish!” Danny wipes the corners of his mouth as though this is not worth his time. “Get up,” he tells Spyder and Lina. When they are too slow to heed his order, Danny extends a black heel and kicks Spyder’s side.

Spyder groans in pain as he doubles over.

What the heck?!
A surge of courage liquidates my veins.
Ok. I’m all for kicking Spyder, but this is inhumane.

“Ok! Ok!” Lina shouts at Danny. With great effort, she pulls Spyder into a dining room chair. Tears are cascading down the side of her face. “Is this really necessary? Do you really have to beat him up like this?!”

“Is it necessary for you to borrow money from us and pretend you don’t need to pay it back?” Danny retorts with swiftness. “We made multiple attempts to reach you. You not only ignored us, but also hid from us. Is that necessary?”

Spyder and Lina cringe at Danny’s outburst. Spyder is clutching onto his nose; the blood is cascading in a linear line. Lina is inhaling and exhaling in rapid breaths; her body starts to shake.

“Look, Lina. We’ve been reasonable.” Danny’s lips curl into a cruel smirk. “As we were discussing with your disgusting boyfriend, before he opened his mouth and made me punch him, we don’t enjoy taking drastic measures such as this. Not only is it time consuming for us, but also incredibly . . . demeaning . . . for us to deal with situations like this. It’s embarrassing, Lina. We’re not some average street gang that you can just borrow from and then ignore our attempts to contact you. It went from a business transaction to some street transaction. How did it get so bad?”

Lina shifts uncomfortably in her seat. “We understand that. We understand it all. But please believe me, Spyder and I are doing everything that we can to gather the money and pay you back. We
don’t want it to get to this point. We’re trying very hard, Danny.” Lina’s eyes become big and soft as she looks up at him. Lina nudges her boyfriend to come to her rescue. “Tell them, Spyder.”

“I did. I’ve been telling them,” Spyder speaks up at Lina’s encouragement. He shakes his head, conveying the notion that he has exhausted his pleas prior to our appearance. That is when I notice the purple bruise on Spyder’s right cheek.

“Uh huh.” Danny nods his head; he has heard it all before. “Yes, you’ve been trying to pay us back for the last two months. Extension after extension. I don’t want to hear it anymore. Either you come up with the money or we will take it, including everything you love, from you. I don’t want to hear the bullshit anymore.”

“It’s not bullshit,” Lina argues with Danny. There is a fire of justice dancing in her eyes. “We honestly and sincerely mean it! After the last extension, we asked for a grace period. It’s not the end of the month yet. Twenty thousand dollars, including interest, is not a feasible amount for Spyder and me right now. Please understand.”

Twenty thousand dollars?!
I do my best to remain calm from Lina’s words. Can Spyder even spell twenty thousand dollars?
Slapping her forehead, my intuition is spellbound by the event.

Danny begins rubbing the temple of his forehead as though he is overcoming a major headache. “Shut up,” he states simply.

The other men around the room remain motionless. 

“You’re being unreasonable!” Lina lashes at him. My cousin’s temperament is working against her. “You’re not listening to us. How can we get twenty thousand dollars within such a short deadline?”

“I said I don’t want to hear the bullshit anymore!” Without considering the fact that she is a girl, Danny raises his hands to her.

Oh hell no, he is not about to hit her.
“Stop!” I shout before Danny does anything more drastic.
Why does my voice sound like a child?

He lowers his hands at the sound of my cry. Danny turns to me with deliberation. He glances at the other members in the room, who are all standing as still as stone. Apparently, Mohawk is the only person who dares to challenge him. The rest remains as still as statues without command. 

As though he sees me for the first time, Danny’s question comes out in a quick and bored snarl, “And who are you?”

“. . . May,” I answer him as calmly as I could.

“May, what?” he asks with sarcastic diction.

“May Lee.” I am not comfortable with the thought of introducing my full name to this stranger. But the look in his eyes stops me from thinking twice.

“Hmm.” Danny looks over at Lina. A smirk expands on his lips. “Maybe we can use your friend as collateral?”

I can feel the blood rise in my veins at the threat. “Don’t hurt them.”

“Why shouldn’t I?” In a calculated manner, Danny makes his way over to me. Now that he is inches away from me, the blood in my veins races with fear.

“I’m associated with Crist. I can help them pay the debt.” The words tumble out of my mouth before I can stop myself. The ticking noise inside my brain causes my logical reasoning to malfunction. This often occurs when I lie beyond reasonable means.

From the corner of my eyes, I can see the shock and surprise hitting Spyder and then Lina the hardest.

“Ha!” Danny tosses his head back as he laughs in a mocking tone.

For the first time, the other men in the room let out low chuckles at my revelation. Even Mohawk shakes his head at me as if I am making a mistake.

Without warning, Danny’s hand snakes up to the base of my throat. I hear Lina shouting something at him in the background, but my heart is in my ears at this point. With great force, Danny pins me against the wall. My back presses against the cold and hard structure. The weight of his body encloses my much smaller frame. I do not have time to register what is happening.
Shit, what have you done?
Shaking underneath her bed covers, my intuition has her eyes closed and her hands over her ears as she chants,
See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.

“Judging from your weak reflex
you’re only using Crist as a crutch, but you need to be taught a lesson for lying.” Danny narrows his eyes at me. The light in them dances gleefully.
Sadist!

“Stop!” I reach up and attempt to disarm his grip from my neck, but it is useless. His fingers are not budging from their grip.

“Let her go!” Lina jumps up from her place, but one of Danny’s men get to her first. My cousin lets out a loud yelp when he presses on her shoulders.

“Don’t touch her!” I can hear Spyder coming to Lina’s defense, but another gang member has him helpless on the ground.

“Get off me!” Meanwhile, I am trying to break away from Danny as fast I can. But he doesn’t budge. Now, he has both hands around me against the side of the wall. He blocks my view effectively so I cannot see what is happening with Spyder and my cousin.

“Stop, stop, stop!”

I can hear Lina and Spyder suffering on the ground a distance away from me. This is beyond anyone’s imagination. As I look into Danny’s eyes, he makes me realize why the news story this morning affected Lina to the extent that it did. Lina and Spyder have gotten involved with gang members; the kind of gangs that are not written about in stories or immortalized through movies. These are the kind of gangs that the FBI and CIA keep behind interrogation rooms and shut away in confidential files. These are the gangs that news and media warn and caution its citizens about; gangs, that when shrouded in mystery, become stronger and powerful, dangerous and violent. Gangs that chase after their goals and pursuits without mercy, apologies, and regrets.

“Please stop!”

“Stop!”

“Don’t do this!”

There is a flurry of activity going on at the same time. I can hear Spyder yelping in agony when one of the gang members elbows him in the stomach. The other member has Lina on the floor when she tries to help Spyder; my cousin screams as he steps on her open palm.