"Where are the others have gone?" Soren asked, lighting the cigarette between his lips.
"To a work of Sir Dexter," The boy said as he stood by a window in the dimly lit hall and watched the torrential rain pouring down. He was a pale and skinny boy. Although he looked younger than his age, his appearance was enhanced by his eyebrows and his hair. His name was Noah.
"When they arrive, I'm going out for a bit" Noah moved the carom coins on the carom board, which was mounted on a barrel.
"Where?" Soren asked as he watched the carom coins move.
"Middle school hostel, to see my little brother" Noah's fingertips trembled on a carom coin.
"Do you have a brother?" asked Soren.
"He is the reason I all do this" Noah shrugged and rubbed his hands together.
"You don't have to wait for them to come, you go," Soren said because he wanted to help him.
"Is it okay then?" Noah got up from his chair thinking that if Soren let him go, he would go. Soren nodded as he patted Noah's shoulder.
"Thanks, bro" Soren could hear Noah's feet crashing into the wet floor as he entered the long hallway of the hall.
"What we went through today didn't exactly happen, but what Sir Dexter wanted to happen" A boy with a deep voice said coming into the hall. It was Andrew.
"The girl was scared anyway" Zen chuckled.
"That's true" When one boy said so, all the other boys laughed.
"Heard about a girl" As the lamp above the carom board fluttered in the wind, Soren turned to the boys.
"It's not important at all" Because of Zen's toothy grin, Soren thought it wasn't important so he gave up.
...At N@A company...
Looking down at the crowded and bustling city below from the 24th floor of a tall building in the center of the town, Nicolo medicated the crimes that could take place in a matter of seconds in such a city.
"Excuse me, Sir" It was his assistant who managed to cross his mind. Nicolo turned towards her.
"A gentleman has come to meet you," she said, lowering her head.
"Without an appointment?" There was a questioning look on Nicolo's face. His assistant nodded at him and left the cabin.
"It' s okay, tell him to come" Nicolo sat down at his table, hoping to meet the guest.
"Take a seat" Nicolo showed that person the chair which was in front of him.
"Thank you, Mr. Nicolo" The man who sat in front of Nicolo was a man who was in his fifth decade of life.
"Why did you come?" Nicolo rotated the silver ink pen 360 degrees so that the tip of the pen was facing the person.
"That's not the question you need to ask, you have to ask, who are you?" That person raised his eyebrows at Nicolo.
"I don't want to question what I know, do I? Mr. Dexter Venus" An arrogant smile displayed from Nicolo.
"You are still the same as before, in a way that no one can tame. But you're weak now because of the bonds" His lips which had shrunk from smoking, were like a symbol of cruelty. "Your son is as stupid as you, man. I thought your kid at least had some intelligence that your girlfriend had" Dexter said and laughed frantically.
"You're a scumbag. I never thought of taking revenge on you for what your sister and father did to me. The adversary is the adversary, not the adversary's environment. If you are a backbone man, take revenge on me" Nicolo's fingertips were shaking violently and his eyes were turning black with anger.
"Enough, I have no desire to listen to your policy sermons. If you're killed, you'll die freely but if your family is destroyed, you'll suffer for your whole life. However, find out not only about the son but also about the daughter. Our boys told me that your daughter is so attractive" Dexter said so and got up from his chair to left. "See you again" He stared into Nicolo's eyes, perhaps recognizing the fire that was already burning in Nicolo. Nicolo glanced at him without saying anything because the rhythm of his heart was telling him something.
...After Dexter left...
Nicolo made a phone call to Cinet.
"Sarah is fine, isn't she? Wait, I'm coming right now" Nicolo grabbed his coat which was on the red cushioned chair, pushed the glass door of the cabin, and came out.
"Good evening, sir" As he ran down the corridor between two rows of cabins, he was greeted by several employees he met. He was not in a position to greet them back.
"I won't be coming to the next meeting. Enrico will take care of that" While Nicolo was running, he told to his assistant who was in her cabin.
"But sir-" Nicolo didn't stop to answer her. Nicolo opened the one of glass doors at the end of the cabin row and spoke to the occupant. "Pius, are you coming with me? Now don't ask me where I am going and why right?" Nicolo said without taking a breath.
"Alright, I'm coming" Pius quickly found his phone among the items on the table and came out quickly due to Nicolo's emergency. Pius who was walking and running behind Nicolo down the corridor at breakneck speed, entered the elevator, blocking the fast-closing door with his shoe.
"What the hell is going on? Tell me now? Your face shows that the situation is serious" Pius asked buttoning his coat.
"We first go to Cinet's house" Nicolo was scrolling through his phone.
"So, why are you taking me there?" Pius was confused.
"That's right, I don't want you to go to Cinet's house. We have to go to MA" Nicolo rubbed his right arm and rubbed the front surface of his neck as if looking for his gold chain.
"MA?" Pius mouthed. Inevitably, Pius must have gone back a few years. Pius regained consciousness with the brief chorus of music as soon as the elevator reached the ground floor.
...Cinet's house...
"Dad" Sarah wrapped her arms around Nicolo's neck, placed her head on his shoulder, and began to cry.
"Princess, don't cry. You know, I don't want you to cry. Now, it's over. Forget it" Nicolo gently caressed Sarah's head. "Listen, you're strong like your dad, right?" Nicolo looked into her eyes.
"Yeah" She nodded.
"If someone comes to bother you, don't be afraid of them because you haven't done anything wrong. Don't let them bother you. If you have to do something to save your life, don't think twice about that" Nicolo smiled slightly with his daughter to make her strong.
"I understood. I don't need to be afraid of anyone" There was a strong and warm smile on Sarah's face.
"That's my girl" He hugged her again. "I have to go now, honey" Nicolo grabbed Srah by her shoulders and placed his both palms on her cheeks.
"Take good care of mom. I miss her a lot. And Soren" Sarah was about to cry but did not cry since she did not want to hurt her dad.
"Definitely, princess" Nicolo stood up
"Thank you so much for taking care of Sarah" Nicolo looked at Amanda who was behind Sarah and said thankfully. Amanda nodded at him.
"Goodbye," Nicolo went out of the house and called both Cinet and Pius. "Cinet, now tell me what happened at school today" Nicolo was getting ready to hear the story so Cinet started.
"Claire did not go to school today because she was sick. I also told Sarah not to go to college but she told me she had to go since she had a basketball match. It must have been a maximum of five minutes late for me to get there after college. Meanwhile, this incident had taken place behind the gym class. I stood at the college gate and waited for Sarah to arrive. When I was like that, it was that guy named Shawn who came and took me away saying Srah was in a trouble. As I was walking behind the gym class, Srah was surrounded by a bunch of rowdy boys. They also had knives in their hands. And so on they also had NAA 22LR pistols. I think they wanted to scare the girl rather than hurt her. However, I put a knife to the neck of one of the boys. So, they retreated and that's how I had to save Sarah. I didn't take Shawn with me there or I should have taken care of that guy too" That was the incident.
"They didn't want to scare Sarah, they wanted to scare me. Aurora shouldn't have known about this at all" Nicolo put his hands into his trouser pockets.
"Who is Shawn?" Pius looked at both Cinet and Nicolo.
"He was the best friend of Soren and he is a friend of Sarah as I think," said Nicolo.
"I felt like this when I saw those guys. Those guys had the same kind of tattoo on their wrists. They all work for someone. Nicolo, Do you remember those who used to work for Venus had the same type of tattoo on their hands?" Asked Cinet.
"Yeah, those boys are working for Dexter Venus. Dexter is the son of Venus. It was that bastard who destroyed Soren. Soren is with him now" Cinet and Pius remembered the time when Nicolo was a gang leader.
"Where did Venus have a son? He had only one daughter" Cinet was amazed.
"He has been living a secret life in Brazil for so long. Amelia was the one who discovered it," said Nicolo.
"Dexter may even use Soren for malicious purposes" Cinet looked directly at Nicolo.
"Definitely, will be used" Nicolo bit his lower lip.
"If we know this guy is doing these things, why can't we just finish that man and get this job done" Pius shrugged.
"Fool, don't say stupid things. We are not living the lives we lived once. We have families now. Think about it, man. Oh! I forgot. You don't have a wife or children" Cinet patted Pius' head somewhat harshly.
"We have to go to MA now" Nicolo started walking from the door to his car with Pius.
"May I come too?" Cinet walked a few steps behind them.
"Don't come. I don't want to jeopardize Sarah's safety. One more thing, remind Claire and thank her for not leaving my daughter alone and being my friend" Nicolo slightly smiled with Cinet.
"I'll. Take Amelia with you. She will help" said Cinet and Nicolo agreed with his request.
Nicolo came to the office and took me with them.
...After a long drive of about five hours...
"Okay, don't worry. I took painkillers. Good bye. Love you" I ended up the phone call which was with Luc. I vomited blood that morning so Luc didn't want me to go on a trip like that anyway. But he let me go because I did that willingly.
"Tell me the truth, why did you cut your hair?" Pius who was in the front seat turned around and asked me.
"We don't always have to be the same. So, I thought to make a small change" I just shrugged. I fabricated such a lie because I could not tell the truth.
"Mmm...That's true. But so, Luc must have lamented. He loves your hair so much" Pius said ironically. "Amelia isn't so pretty so Luc is comforted by imaging that her hair is gorgeous. Or who likes hair that looks like a raven's nest? Luc was such a handsome boy that he was able to marry a more beautiful girl. Innocent of sins," said Pius who was laughing like he inhaled something that can make him insane.
"I agree with Pius' state," said Nicolo who smiled slightly. I was happy to see his smile in such a situation. "Here, we came," Nicolo said as we approached MA. By then, it was about 7.00 p.m. The darkness that pervaded the streets was a familiar one to all of us, especially to Nicolo, who was the predator who reigned in the darkness of MA.
"I still love this city a lot" The light of the buildings shone through my eyes as I looked out of the car glass. The city had changed a lot, but our memories of being connected to the city remained the same. As the car drove down the street, I could see Aurora's uncle's house. What trouble Aurora would have had if Nicolo had not gotten there on time. We could see the college I learned and where Nicolo drove the girls crazy, the Adrenaline nightclub where Luc started his career as a DJ player, the shopping mall where Nicolo bought his piercings and chains, and the Starbucks restaurant where Nicolo took us when our gang succeeded in a deal or a mission. Everywhere there were memories of our youth.
Nicolo drove the car into a lane next to the Starbucks restaurant where Nicolo and Aurora first met 19 years ago. The sign at the beginning of the lane was the same as it was 19 years ago. "Khalil's garage". After parking the car in front of the garage, I leaned against the car for a few minutes and watched the building decay over time.
"Aren't you coming? Want to stay out and die in the cold?" Pius stood at the garage door and looked at me.
"Coming" I hurried off and went into the garage because it was cold outside.
"This man still can't put a good light on here" As I entered the garage, Nicolo was sitting on the bonnet of a car that was red in color.
"Where's Khalil," I asked as I was running my fingers through a shiny hammer that was there.
"Apparently, he has been working on something," said Pius, wiping the black oil from his shoes.