The Mafiosa's Thorn

Decisions

"Let it go. She's right."

She spun to face him. "Jian, you-"

He threw his degree into the trash. "I didn't give it my all."

He knocks back the past with a swig of alcohol. It won't be like that again. While eating some takeout, he awaits messages from his men. He then gets a call from a number he doesn't recognize.

"Hello?"

"Young Jian! We are ready to help ya," Seamus' voice crackles through the phone.

He's almost speechless. "What?"

"Oh...shite! She didn't tell you that Vlad and I came to help you?"

His left eye twitches. He swallows down the wrath that was going to foam out.

"I appreciate your help, but my men and I have this. You're free to secure the outside perimeter."

"I'm so sorry."

Jian hangs up while gripping his phone. "Let's go, Fu."

The duo gets out of the limo. Jian's feet storm Barker Street, itching to unload on an unlucky traitor.

Fu texts while walking past an electronic store. 

Thud!

A pebble is thrown ahead of them. Jian spins around, but no one is there. His brown eyes rage like a furnace. Fu looks around with his gun as well.

Thud!

Another pebble is thrown into the light. Jian follows where it came from....a rooftop across the store.

A young boy with short hair he recognizes. Fenhua, son of Shua, the man who died trying to kill Orchidea.

The boy waves him over to his confusion. No sense of a threat he can detect. He keeps his gun ready with Fu behind him. They enter an alleyway with dim lighting. A door swings open. Jian points his gun.....

Until he feels Fu's cold barrel on the back of his head. "Master Jian, we don't mean you any harm."

Another betrayal. His heart doesn't break. It rattles. He no longer feels the barrel against his head. His gun is taken from him.

He bares his teeth. "Explain yourself, Fu."

"Come inside and we will tell you everything."

Fu isn't pointing his gun at him anymore. Jian staggers into the building, questioning if this was all real.

Fu shoots a message on his phone as he's led inside a small casino. Empty and dark was the closed operations, except for a lit backroom where the surviving Triad members stand.

Jian wonders why they haven't killed him already.

"Master-"

"You have no right to call me that. What the hell is going on?!"

Fu clears his throat. "I was the informant under Shua's leadership until he passed away."

His pupils shake. "Why the fuck would you all do this?! Killing Orchidea would wage a whole war against us!....And why didn't you leave?"

A stocky man answers. "We were never going to leave. We were going to help Shua overtake Xianmao."

Those words turns his hands into fists. "And were you going to take out Jia and me in the process?"

"Never," Fu asserts. "Xianmao doesn't care about anyone but herself. Shua was going to change that so everyone could prosper. We want you to be our boss in her stead."

Jian takes several steps back. "What?"

The Triad members assert this with a nod.

"Fu told us what you did to protect them at the tennis courts. We don't have the courage nor the leadership you have to bring us to glory."

Jian raises his hand to silence them. It was a lot to process for him. They give him some time.

"Then who's the rat in Orchidea's group and what do they want?"

"Shua never gave us a name. We only have the phone number. He wants to overtake her as well."

He brushes his fingers back through his hair to think through his options.

"There's something else you should know," Fu brings up. "I overheard what Xianmao said when it came to catching us."

He takes out his phone and plays a recording. It was definitely his grandma on the phone. But it didn't prepare him for the contents. His grandmother talked about Jia and her contractual obligations.

She knew it would motivate Jian to advance. And even after he completes it, she would never promote him to senior officer. Jia will be trapped in the Triad forever.

"He's nothing more than a broken dog."

Those words had him lean against the wall. His heart thuds against its prison. He tosses a chair against the wall and yells at the top of his lungs.

"Sir! We will not allow her down that path. Jia shouldn't be part of this. We will help you overcome her."

Fu hands him back his gun. "It's your choice. We won't hurt you."

Jian takes the gun and contemplates everything. One thing keeps his mind from shattering. His twin's safety. With the complete power of the Triad....

He lifts his gun up and shoots himself in the shoulder. Fu scrambles to him.

"I have to make it look convincing," he grunts. "But no more dirty work for Orchidea's rat. He can deal with El Segador by himself. We did a lot for him, and he has to repay the favor."

"I understand. What do you want us-"

"Call off my men and tell them they had escaped on a boat. They are no longer in America. Do we still have the money?"

They nod as Fu undresses him to take care of the flesh wound.

"Let's return a third of the money. Keep the rest until it's all over."

His men bow in obedience to the future leader of them all.

After Fu dresses his wound, they walk out with a few duffel bags to convince Seamus and the others. He calls Xianmao that he shot a traitor who refused to give him info on the others. He was only able to find a few duffel bags of Orchidea's money.

As usual, she expresses disappointment, but allows him to see face to face.

While Fu drives him back to his place, the young man is hammering thoughts in his mind.

You are now my enemy. I will not rest until I devour you. Jia will be safe from your clutches.