BRIZO 2 | 𝐉𝐉 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤

28

"We trust you." I speak for both my brother and me.

"All right. Let me do the talking, okay?" JJ braces himself, and inhales before stepping forward and plastering a smile on his face, "Yo, Mike!"

John B and I stay behind. We watch a tall big man with brown curly hair and a cap turn around. I'm guessing that must be the infamous Barracuda Mike.

"Yo!" JJ chuckles, "You remember me, right? It's on the tip of your tongue. J-"

"Luke's son!" Barracuda Mike sticks his machete into the wooden table outside, as his eyes travel from it to our faces.

"That works too." JJ nods, "Uh, also go by JJ, but this here is my good friend, John B," JJ says, gesturing towards JB who smiles awkwardly, "And this is his sister and my girlfriend, Brizo." He finally says, gesturing towards me, standing in front of my brother.

I wave my hand awkwardly at the fearsome group of men in front of me, "What up?"

Their faces morph into confusion. My brother curses under his breath behind me and JJ gives me the weirdest look he has ever given me since we've known each other.

"I'm sorry, yeah." I say, rolling my lips and crossing my arms on my chest.

"The Routledge twins." Barracuda Mike says, eyeing me and my brother.

"In the flesh. Yep." John B nods.

"Heard stories about you two."

Those words send a shiver down my spine as I gulp harshly. I'm not entirely sure if I want Barracuda Mike knowing me and stories about me. What stories has this man heard?

"I mean, my friend here, he's a stone-cold cop k-"JJ speaks, but stops and stutters as one of Mike's men comes from his side, "killer."

"No, I'm not." John B is quick to deny.

"Oh, God..." I say, closing my eyes as hard as I can and tilting my head down, not wanting to witness any of this horror.

"Mike, I'm gonna be honest about why we're here, okay?" JJ starts speaking, making me and John B look at him, "We're a little bit in a... a patch of trouble and we're trying to get down to South America if that's-"

"I'm sorry, slick, but I done sold the travel agency."

JJ forces a laugh, "Well, I mean, we're not looking for some free handout here, all right? We understand it's a two-way road. All right, symbiotic relationship."

I look at JJ with my face scrunched up, this being the first time I've heard him say symbiotic. And what's even more surprising, he used the word correctly.

"That's what we're trying to get at. We just need to parlee-"

"Parley." John B and I both cut in, correcting JJ. "Parley is what he's saying." I finish the sentence.

"Parley in, um... in private, if that's cool with you."

Barracuda Mike hesitates. He looks around at his men while he wipes his hands clean of fish blood. He then nods his head, and slowly walks further from the group.

"Just stay here." JJ tells us.

"No, you're not gonna do this." John B tries to stop him.

"JJ, you're not gonna leave us here!" I mutter under my breath at him as both JB and I watch him walk towards Barracuda Mike and leave us behind.

My brother and I are left alone with two of Mike's men. One of them, the one who startled JJ before, is a tall black man, very intimidating. Especially because of the bunch of knives hanging from his belt.