Beware The Water

Meeting Ash

It was later passed noon when the sound of chattering echoed through the walls and in the corridor's of Shorter's main base that his gang resided in. From the outside it looked like just a run down apartment complex with boarded up windows and graffiti on the walls but on the inside was where a lot of important business discussions went down.

Shorter's Chinese Mafia essentially took over the building by occupying it with street kids who helped do his bidding and there were also chicks that the guys would pull in from the streets or bars that they snuck into using fake ID's. Although they liked to party until the late hours of the night, last night being no exception, Shorter tried his best to not bring so much attention to the place. Given the location, where most people were loud mouths and fighting in the streets over an accidental passing shoulder bump, Shorter thought he was doing a pretty good job at keeping things on the down low.

Shorter yawned, reaching for his phone to see he had 2 missed texts.

Lux: Hey, just wanted to ask if you'd be able to pick me up from school? Maybe grab some food after if you're hungry :)

Shorter smiled down at the message. He found it so cute how now Lux was becoming the one to send him morning texts without blatantly saying good morning. She'd disguise it as just asking for a ride or "accidentally" sending a picture of step by step math problems and claiming she meant to send it to Sing. Obviously he agreed to giving her a lift and like he always did, sending the text with a wink.

He scrolled down and saw there was also a missed text from Ash that he sent at 7:30am.

Ash: Don't forget we have to meet up at noon.

Shorter groaned and responded with a thumbs up emoji. Before he was able to get up, Ash had responded again.

Ash: I've been waiting for 30 minutes!

His eyes darted to the top right corner of the screen where the clock read 12:30pm. "Shit!"
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Shorter met with his best friend Ash outside of a coffee shop to discuss business involving their gangs. It was the typical run down of territory borders and who's closing in. Drug deals amongst other illegal activities etc.

"What about the cargo?" Ash asked, "We were supposed to have it two days ago."

"It's on its way." Shorter informed. "Should be arriving by tomorrow night. I already have a group that's gonna be handling it."

"Alright cuz it's in high demand. I can't lose out on all this money and ground. Last thing I need is for that bastard Arthur to be closing in on my buyers."

Shorter shook his head, "What is it with white guys and cocaine? You know that stuff can kill you?"

"Says the one who deals heroin."

Shorter waved him off, "Whatever."

"Anyways, what's been going on with you? I had to keep going through your guys to make contact." Ash asked. The two teens would often check in on each other even if it didn't have anything to do with gang related issues. Ash worried when he hadn't heard from his best friend after weeks on end. He'd try not to assume the worst. Luckily, Shorter's crew were cool with Ash and let him know that their boss was okay and just laying low.

"You know. Same old shit. Recruiting more guys takes up way more time than I'd like it to."

"Ah, how's that Sing kid doing? See he's following in big brothers foot steps."

"He's a good kid. Loyal. I kept him close for a while but recently I tossed him over to be Lao's responsibility." He explained. Sing wasn't happy with the arrangement at all. He wanted to learn stuff straight from the boss and not by shadowing his older brother.