This might be the quietest car ride I've ever experienced. I'm nervous. Not about seeing my old boss or the possibility of death but for Amaris; I'm nervous for Amaris. I now know better than most how strong she is but she's also fragile. As much as she doesn't like it, I feel the need to protect her. She's...special to me. She's my best friend.
"Are you okay, grim?" Aunt Joyce asks, breaking the silence and I turn to look at Amaris. Her head is resting on the window and she stares outside the moving vehicle quietly. I'm sitting next to her in the back of the car and her aunt sits on the opposite side facing us.
Amaris doesn't answer so I nudge her shoulder and she finally turns her focus back to us. "Oh, I'm fine. How are you, baba? It's been a while since you've had to come out in the field," she says before laying down on my lap and propping her feet up on the car door.
"I'll feel better once I've killed him," Aunt Joyce says, crossing her legs and picking up her phone. Presumably to check on the progress of the plan.
After what happened last time, everyone decided that it would be best if the boys took high-ranking mafia members in first before Amaris goes in.
The plan
1. Aiden, Cassius, Milo, and seventy-five top-ranking mafia members go in first to intercept the shipment and immobilize the assets (Amaris's dad and his lover)
2. Jerome and his newly appointed sniper squad of three go in to dispose of the yakuza's sniper team and take their positions before giving us the 'OK'.
3. Aunt Joyce AKA "The Baba Yaga" and Amaris AKA "The Grim Reaper" go in to deliver punishment unto those deserving.
"What are you thinking about, Sammy?" Amaris asks, pulling me out of my thoughts and I look down at her.
"Just going over the plan in my head."
"Are you afraid?" she asks.
"Yes," I answer honestly. "But not for me. For you." She furrows her brows and I place my hand on her forehead. "I don't want to lose you. You're my best friend."
She removes my hand from her forehead and brings it to her mouth. I know what she's going to do before she does it but I don't pull away. She bites my finger and I laugh. Every time she does it, I laugh. "Thank you. For worrying about me. You won't lose me, promise."
She intertwines my pinky with hers and a weight lifts off my shoulders. She looks up at me and her eyes are so sure that I can't help but believe her. I want to be by her side, always.
"You know, she's never had friends before. Not outside of the boys. At first, I wasn't sure if I could trust you so I looked into your past," Aunt Joyce starts, leaning forward and glaring at me.
"Baba please don't..." Amaris says before turning her head to the side.
"Let me finish." Aunt Joyce says, pinching Amaris's cheek. "You betrayed the yakuza without a second thought, you worked directly under her father, and you hurt her the first time you met. I thought she was crazy but I should've known better."
Amaris goes to say something but I want to hear what her aunt has to say so I quickly cover her mouth and she mumbles her protest. Her aunt smiles and continues, "I've watched you with her. The way you look at her. Not like you want her but like you admire her. Like you're grateful for her."
"I can't help it. She cares about me." I say honestly and she nods.
Amaris removes my hand from her mouth and the look in her eyes changes to one I don't recognize. Her playful smile falls and her face goes blank.
"We're here."
*****
And here I was thinking Amaris and Aunt Joyce would be reasonable and actually listen.
"We should wait for the all-clear from Jerome. They're still fighting," I plead while the two incredibly stubborn women gear up.
"We're already here; we might as well join. They had a thirty-minute head start. It's our turn now." Aunt Joyce says, strapping on her gun and twirling two kunai knives around her fingers. Amaris follows and straps on her guns as well before picking up twin custom-made swords.
She unsheaths one of the swords and brings it up to her nose, inhaling the scent and something lights up in her eyes. "Let's have some fun."
I cave and gear up. We walk through a huge opening in the side gate that was made by a chain cutter and large red containers come into view. Dead bodies are at every corner and blood splatters paint almost every surface we come in contact with.
Two men approach from the rear and I shoot them in the head. It's nothing personal. I believe in acknowledging and respecting your enemies but two very stubborn and authoritative women are dragging me along for a very bad idea and I'm sure the three guys I only just became friends with will kill me if anything happens to them. In conclusion, I'm in a very bad mood.
A small group approaches from the front and I shoot them all as well. Instead of "thank you's", I'm met with glares. Glares from the two women I just protected. "Are you kidding me? Stop killing all of them!" Amaris whisper-yells.
"What?! They were going to kill you! I'm protecting you!" I whisper-yell back at her.
"Oh please, you just want to hog all the fun for yourself!" Aunt Joyce whisper-yells at me. What the hell is happening right now? Are they-
"You can't possibly be serious right now! I-" Someone approaches and I shoot him five times in the chest. "Fuck! Can't you see I already have a lot to deal with?!" I yell at the corpse and turn back to the two glaring women.
"You need to calm down, Sammy. You'll pop a vein." Aunt Joyce says winking at me and I sigh. "We're just asking for a little fun here."
"Fine. I won't kill anymore." I say, holding my gun up in surrender before putting it back in the strap. "See? They are all yours. Speaking of, a group is coming up from the right." I point to the shadows approaching and the two women smile.
The six oblivious men are met with the opposite ends of kunai knives and samurai swords. Aunt Joyce slices the neck of the first while Amaris stabs the second through the heart. A few seconds later and the men are all sent to hell.
"Did you enjoy yourselves?" I ask and they both smile, pulling their blades from the dead bodies.
"Good. Let's mov-'' I'm abruptly cut off by an explosion close to the dock. The dock where Milo, Cassius, and Aiden are supposed to be.
"That's-" Amaris starts.
"Yeah. Let's go." I say but as I say those words, more shadows appear. Seriously? They keep coming like roaches.
"You go check it out. Amaris and I are going to deal with these guys. We'll cover you." Aunt Joyce says and before I can protest, they turn around and advance.
I run toward the dock, killing everyone I come in contact with, and rush towards the point of explosion.
"What?"
"What? What do you mean 'what'?! There was an explosion." I say to Milo who's looking at me with a stupid look on his face.
"Yeah, my bad. That was me." Cassius says raising his hand. "I got a little carried away."
"A little? Stop playing with fire and go kill the remaining men," Aiden says. Aiden has done his part. Amaris's dad is on his knees in front of Aiden with a gun to his head. The look on his face tells me it's taking everything in him to not pull that trigger.
"Where's his lover?" I ask and Amaris's dad goes to speak. Probably to say something like "if you touch her, I'll kill you." Very macho. Except, it would be more of a mumble since in addition to him being tied up, he's also gagged.
Aiden presses the gun harder into his head. "Aht aht. I told you already, not a word. If you want to plead for someone's life, you talk to Amaris."
"Wait, why are you here? Jerome didn't give the "OK'." Milo says sounding a bit confused and I wince.
"About that..."
"Let him go." Someone says, coming up behind me and putting a sword to my throat.
"Laila Yamamoto, I presume?" I ask.
"You presume correctly." She says pressing the blade in harder. This isn't good. We're all standing in between two large containers. Milo is standing next to Aiden and Laila is in their blind spot. My body blocks their view and any chance of them shooting her.
"Let him go or I slit his throat," Laila says a little loader this time. There's just one problem with her demand, these guys don't negotiate for anyone's life except Amaris'.
"Can't do that," Aiden says.
"He's a present for someone very special to us," Milo adds.
"Who?" Laila asks and before anyone can answer, the sound of scraping metal amplifiers as it gets closer.
The sound of whistling follows and I smile. "You'll get to meet her very soon."