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Rowland was a different place, an honest place. Ten miles north of Hacienda and it was a completely different universe.
There was nothing much to Rowland, just a small town amidst a few businesses. You could shop in Rowland and hangout anywhere. The gang reach hadn't taken its grasp on the quiet little city. There were no Soldiers or Dragons, just people. No one lived in fear. Everyone waved to one another and offered genuine smiles as they passed by on the street.
It was calming to stroll through town without having to worry about shit poppin' off. As quaint and peaceful as Rowland was, I was sure our operation would run smoothly here.
The best thing about my family, we owned property, many properties to be exact. Once, on a trip passing out of town, my mother and father stopped at a coffee shop—really, my father was looking for a map, but all in all, they stopped and my mother fell in love. She loved the atmosphere, the people, and the coffee. Seeing how much my mother admired the place, my father bought it for her.
The place was located in Rowland, and to commemorate my mother and her ownership, it was renamed Hye's after her.
With my mother in Korea and my father in prison, other members of our immediate family ran the place. Occasionally I would stop by and visit, in my own way of paying homage to my mother. There was a portrait of her above the back counter. She looked meek, young, beautiful, and in love. The love stained her tan cheeks. My father was a ruthless totalitarian when he needed to be, only with my mother was he soft and gentle. Their love, their marriage, it was very much happy and pure. So pure it broke my mother's heart when he got sent away. It left her back in Korea and Alec and me taking after our father in the family business.
My mother hadn't just left. She'd given us each the opportunity to go with her, but something in me felt as if it would disappoint my father to go and leave our dynasty behind. Him being in jail didn't stop our empire, we had to grow and take control. Going to Korea would admit defeat and allow our enemies to take over. Staying in Hacienda was the only choice. Alec was nineteen and I was twelve. He became my guardian and that was that.
I missed her.
Sitting in Hye's on Thursday night, I thought about a day where I would settle down and run the place with my own family. It was something my mother had wanted at a time. It was something that seemed nice and easy. Maybe someday.
I sat at a table, bent over with a toothbrush, scrubbing at a Wade. I had my earbuds in my ears, trying to let the rhymes of YG cool me down as my temper flared the more I scrubbed. Upon coming into the shop some idiot stepped on my shoe and I didn't take too kindly to scuff marks.
Spraying my shoe, I ferociously brushed at the blemish.
A man buzzed by, frowning at me and my position. "You can't spray that in here, we're eating."
