Vegas' POV
"Because he was not the one who betrayed my daughter."
"...?!..."
"Daddy! Daddy!"
Before Grandma can say anything else, Venice jumps to my lap, hugging me tight.
"Hey, Buddy! How's school today?!"
I cherish those moments with him so much. Moments I didn't care about before.
"Is it the right time to relive the past, Jui?!" Grandpa Noi looks at Grandma with seriousness in his eyes.
He picked up Venice from the nursery but arrived in time to hear Grandma speaking.
Usually Grandpa is serene, but his countenance is heavy now.
"Why not?! Vegas must be prepared." Grandma Jui and Grandpa Noi look at me intensely. "But not today" Grandma suddenly smiles.
...
Next day - In front of Nursery
"Daddy, Daddy, play with me!!" Venice started to pull me.
"Let's play in the park with Venice for a bit, son. We don't have much time before Pete comes home."
"Okay..."
We crossed to the playground across the street. Security guards accompany us.
"Don't worry. The bodyguards won't say anything. Loyalty is absolute in the clan. Those bodyguards are mine, not Pete's. They only obey me and Grandpa."
"How can you be so sure, Grandma?! Weren't you talking about betrayal?!"
"Betrayal usually doesn't happen at low levels, son. It's always at the top."
"What were you going to talk about your daughter, Pete's mother?!"
"Daddy!!" Venice interrupts us.
Venice climbs to the top of a large children's slide helped by Grandpa Noi.
He hesitates a little.
"Come on, son! Dad will get you down here!"
Venice slides down, smiling brightly.
"Hey! You're so brave, buddy!"
He hugs me, happy with my compliment.
"Just like your father."
"Uh?!" I turn to Grandma Jui.
"You probably don't remember those moments, did you?!"
"In my memory, I never had this kind of moment with him, Grandma...all because of Uncle Korn" Sadness and anger fill my heart and make me hold tight to Venice, who complains. "Sorry, son"
"But you had, son. You just don't remember those happy moments."
"How do you know, grandma?!"
"Because I saw it. I was there."
...
Grandma Jui's POV (past memories)
"Dinner is served!"
Kan turns to see me from the beach.
"Thank you, Grandma! We'll be there in a minute!"
"Come on, guys..."
"SPLASH!"
Those three boys continue throwing seawater at Kan.
"Hey!!"
They don't want to leave the sea.
They are having fun.
We dare not to take that hapiness from them.
"I wish this moment could last forever..." My daughter says, looking at them while cuddling Khun Kan's second child in her arms."
"Look at Pete...he's so happy...He didn't know what it was like to have a loving father and brothers until Khun Kan arrived here with his children and Lian."
A shadow appears on her face.
I know I touched a deep wound.
My daughter speaks to me, without taking her eyes off all of them.
"None of them will know what it's like to have a loving father, mom." She kisses the baby's forehead. "Or a loving mother."
"Maybe there's another way, dear..."
She shakes her head and turns to me.
"Maybe Pete will be the luckiest one. At least he will have you and dad."
"What about Kan and his children?!"
"Things will not be the same for them either."
"I see... things could have been different...you could have been a happy family."
"...uh?!"
"You and Kan, dear..."
"No...we couldn't mom... she would never have allowed it."
"Lin?!"
"Namphueng."
...
Pete's mother POV (past memories)
"Ugh...Fuck..."
There he goes again...to the ground.
Despite his height and strength, that boy has been teased by the other boys at the training center for days.
"Argh..."
I look at the clock.
Sigh...
This is taking too long. It will be too late to call mom and dad this way...grandmaster will not allow it.
I approach the boy who is being beaten by the other boys. He takes some down, but got punched too much.
"Your Thai boxing won't help you in this fight."
"Uh?! Do you speak Thai?!"
"Don't attack them. It's about balance. Use the strength of their attack against themselves."
["Fēi huáng, do you want to be beaten up in his place?!"] (Mandarim)
One of the seniors grabs my collar and threatens me for talking to the foreigner.
["I apologize. He was not disrespectful to you. He does not speak our language well yet."] (Mandarim)
["That foreigner will learn the hard way then."] (Mandarim)
["Give him a last chance, senior. I'll teach him manners."] (Mandarim) I smile and ask kindly.
Senior makes a face but agrees.
["...only this time..."] (Mandarim)
"Hey! Fucker! Let him go!"
"No!"
Oh no...senior is about to let us go when that Thai boy comes to my "rescue" and punch him in the face.
["...I'll kill you, foreigner!"] (Mandarim)
We are surrounded by that big guy and the other boys.
"Did you have to hit him?!"
"He was going to hit you! It's cowardice to hit girls."
"Don't call me girl."
...
Kan's POV
"Uh?!" I look at her, puzzled. "Not a girl?!"
Boys from the chess room training center come to beat us, however the small figure stands in front of me and with a very quick movement, knocks a boy twice his height and size to the ground.
The other boys stand still, astonished.
Just like me.
What the fuck.
"How did you do that?!"
["What is this fuss?!"] (Mandarim). The master teacher from the Chess Room training center enters the gym. He's a strict teacher from the White Clan who scolds me every time.
Everyone bows to the teacher.
That boy makes me bow too.
Master teacher looks at the boy lying on the ground.
["Who did this?!"] (Mandarim)
"I did." (Mandarim)
I was about to speak, but again the person stood in front of me.
["Fēi huáng, come here?!"] (Mandarim)
That slight boy takes firm steps towards the teacher and bows.
Just as he is getting straight, he gets slapped in the face by the teacher.
That slight boy's face gets red immediately. He bows again to the master teacher in silence.
"The fight was mine! It was my fault, master. Punish me!" I try to speak a mix of Thai and mandarim.
Master teacher glares at me. I understand the message: stand still and be quiet.
I look at the boy who looks at the ground, respectful of the master's presence.
["Fēng huáng, you will stay to tidy up the gym. Everyone else, go back to your dorms."] (Mandarim)
What?! Why him?! Did I miss something?! What did he say?!
The other boys leave the gym, taking that senior. I approach the boy.
"Hey, please, help me tell teacher it was my fault." I ask the boy.
"Be silent and do as master said. Go back to your dorm."
"I think he didn't understand me. He's punishing you and not me or the other boys for the fight. Please, translate it to him."
"I understood everything." The master approaches the two of us, speaking Thai. "Fēng huáng knows why he's being punished."
That boy bows again.
"But..."
"Leave before I send you back to Thailand."
...
My father sent me to Taiwan to do a year of high school. It's a kind of private school. They call it Chess Room.
Heirs of several Asian mafia families come here to receive study and training.
We wear uniforms here. Each color represents a clan, a family.
My older brothers also came here when they were fourteen. Korn told me it would be very difficult for me. In fact I get beaten every other day. In martial arts classes and outside of it. I know how to defend myself, but there are many of them at once. Everyone goes through this, having to confront older students...as if we are being prepared for war.
General courses are also advanced, especially for business, before entering a university.
I've been here for a month and unlike my school in Thailand, I don't have any friends or kiss-ass after me.
If I return home early, I will bring shame to my father. I'm not a coward, but I feel like one.
I have no other option but to go back to the dorm. I'm a coward afterall.
I can't sleep. I don't like someone took the blame in my place.
...
"Hey...I was looking for you." I meet that boy at the library.
"..." He glances at me.
The surrounding people frown. I keep following the boy.
"May we talk?!" I whisper to him.
He sighs. I think he is annoyed, maybe angry with me. Even so, he nods.
"..." He shows me those books he is going to get.
"Okay, I'll wait for you outside."
I take the opportunity to buy him a soda.
It's hot today.
We sat at a table at the library garden.
"Get this."
I hand him a soda can.
"You didn't have to."
"It's just a soda. You took a punch for me."
He gets the soda.
"It's swollen. Have you applied any ointment?!"
I touch his face carefully, but he flinches away, holding my wristy firmly. His hand is delicate and small, but I feel his strength.
"I'm sorry! Did I make it hurt?!"
He lets go of my wrist.
"No."
"Let me apply this." I take out an ointment from my pocket.
"There's no need."
"It will heal your wound faster."
"I do it myself, thanks."
He takes the ointment and begins to apply ointment on his face with difficulty.
"Don't be no stubborn. You are making a mess on your face." I take that ointment from his hand and apply it to his face. "Thank you for helping me the other day...you took that guy down so easily. I admit I underestimated you."
"It was nothing."
He averts his gaze from mine, shyly. I think he was embarrassed by my compliment.
Cute.
How come a boy looks this cute?! I keep applying ointment.
"You did it amazingly, bro! He was double your size."
"Of course you guys are stronger than me, but with the right technique, I can be a match."
"Did you learn that move here?"
"No...my father... my father taught me martial arts from a very early age."
"Are you Taiwanese?! You speak Thai so well."
"My mother is Taiwanese. My father is Thai."
"Oh...nice!"
"I lived my whole life in Thailand, but I've been here for two years."
"Really?!Wow. It's so good to have a Thai friend here. Any friend would be fine. Everybody hates me."
"Nobody hates you. This is only competition. Everybody only wants good positions...some vent frustration on you."
"Why me?!"
"Everybody knows you are heir of some important Thai Mafia Family."
"I see...positions for what?!"
"On the Chessboard. I believe your family is not ruled by the Chess Room, but ours is and most of other families from Taiwan and China are. We must have a good evaluation to be a member of the clan and reach a good position in the clan. Our clan is referred as the White Clan."
"I was explained a little about it. We have our own miserable system."
"I see. Anyways, I didn't do it to help you actually. I just wanted to go back to the dorm to call my parents. I can call them just once a week."
"Fair. Do they live far?!"
"In Thailand. I came to the White Clan alone two years ago, when I was 12 years old. I miss them so much. I could not leave that gym until that senior leave first, because he's from my clan and I had to respect him. I was about to kick you all from there."
"That's why master teacher slapped you?! Because you hit your senior?! I was so pissed!"
"No. It was not because of that. I would be slapped twice if I was beaten by any of those boys."
"Uh?! Why were you punished then?!"
"Because I could not avoid the fight." He clenches his hand.
"It was not your fault. That fight was mine with those bastards."
"I deserved that. It's part of my training avoid conflicts. This is something I have to master."
"Why?!"
"To get the position I want. Differently from heirs like you, whose king and queen positions are guaranteed, I have to fight for a position in the clan..."
"At least you can fight for a position. I can't. I just have to accept my fate and and submit to my brothers since I was born. Theerapanyakul family system."
"I know what you mean. That's why I want to reach a high position on the white chess board. I want to destroy our system once I get there."
That little boy says that so determined and fearless. It makes me believe he can. I feel shame of me, because I don't feel I'm strong enough to destroy my family's system.
"Hey...I have to apologize for another thing."
"What?!"
"I'm sorry for calling you a girl. Don't get me wrong. It's just...you have short hair and all but...you are ...you know..."
"What?!"
"You have a small body frame and ..."
"...?!..."
"You know..."
"What?!"
"You look too cute ...you really have a beautiful face and all..."
"I see..."
"I got really mad when master hit you...I wanted to hit him back."
"Oh..." He blushes.
"Hey... you don't need to be flustered about it..."
"Actually...I'm not a boy..."
"Uh?!?!" I take my hand off his face, embarrassed. "But you said..."
"I don't want to be treated differently by my peers for being a girl. That's why I cut my hair and dress like the other boys from my clan. Even my name is of a boy. Teachers know it, but only them."
"Master teacher hit you like that even knowing you are a girl?! Bastard!!"
"You missed the point."
"Sorry. I still can't accept it...why are you telling me your secret?!"
"I don't know why...I just feel I can trust you."
Our eyes meet. I feel her sincerity.
"Thank you for trusting me, Fēng h..."
"Fēng huáng ...it means phoenix...the fire bird...symbol of my family..."
"So cool... do you have a Thai name?!"
"I do...but I don't want anybody to know about it..."
"A girl's name?!"
"Yes..."
"Tell me..."
"No...not now..."
"I'd like to call you by a Thai name...please, tell me!"
"Hmn...choose a name for me then..."
"Really?! Any name?"
"Sure...but a boy's name..."
"Hmm...let me see..."
"Don't choose anything stupid."
"I know a name I like...If I have a son in the future, I might give him this name."
"What name?!"
"Pete."
...
Author's note
I'm sorry for "cliche" events. I was not very creative at that moment.