Strychnine Ice Cream

Chapter 1
18-year old Maria Tachimi was living on the streets and shelters for two years until now, her mother died when she was 13 and her father when she was 16, she took everything excluding the tarot cards and family locket and ran away from The Docks and never looked back, She ended up in Alabama. She even had a photograph of her old childhood friend Joseph Wintergreen and a photograph of her black cat, Shadow.

It was nearly 8:00 pm at night and she used a street light so she could read her manga.

She dropped out of school on her last day, resulting in teachers having to send her diploma.

Maria wore a tattered coat, torn jeans and a tank top.

A man who drove past put his flashlight on the girl reading JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure manga, then stopped the car.

” (I’m getting out)” He said.

He got out, It was an Asian-American man, he wore a tight-fitting tanktop that showed off his physique, leather jeans and a bomber jacket.

”Hey baby, You look homeless.....” He said.

Maria turned to look up at him, She did have to admit, He was incredibly attractive and she spaced out for a moment looking at his chest and abdomen before coming back to her senses, she glared at him.

The man looked a bit intimidating to her, being around 5’9 to her 5’4, Maria went into defensive mode, ready to pull out a knife hidden in her pocket.

”Hey baby, Didn’t you hear me?” He asked her.

She had taken a knife after she was almost raped.

”What’s it to ya?” Maria responded back to him.

She rejected all authority and law ever since the day they killed her father, no one gave a shit about the fact her father was murdered by Derek.

He tilted his head slightly, frowned at her, then smirked, Normally, he would hit someone who talked like that to him, but he started to like this girl.

”You know something, I would hit someone who spoke to me like that, I hit girls, but I like your attitude, what’s your name?” He said.

The woman looked up at him, with a rather grim expression on her face, rather unusual to him.

”Maria, Maria Tachimi.” She introduced herself.

“You from Japan, baby, Japanese?” He asked.

Maria stood up.

”Japanese-American, born in the states.” She replied back.

”No offense.” He replied, talking about her state of clothes.

Maria‘s look turned into a glare.

”You look like a two-dollar whore in Chinatown whorehouse, no offense, I’ll take you to my gang, they‘ll help you and support you all your life, maybe kill anyone who steps to you.” He said.

”Well, That’s nice of ya, even though you called me a whore.” She said.

”I said no offense, Maria.” He said.

Maria got up and he helped her to the car, He saw a man in the passenger seat.

”Hey, Cho, This is Maria, she’s new.” Longwei said.

”So, you met Longwei, right?” He said.

”Longwei?” Maria replied back.

”I’m Joseph Cho, My parents were Korean immigrants, both died before I turned 18.” He introduced himself.

”Same here, Parents died as well.” She said.

Longwei’s gang was an Asian-American crime gang that dealt in assassination, fake currency and kidnapping for ransom, and interlocking with other gangs as apart of a major crime network.

”We’re driving to Florida, Relax, we’re not taking you back to that shithole neighbourhood, You wanna do your first Akill, but first, We’re gonna meet with Satomi.” Longwei said.

The group drove until the reached a house.

”So.....are you.....Chinese?” Maria asked him.

”Nope, born here, Taiwanese-American.” Longwei said.

”Hey, I plan on poisoning Derek and Josephine.” Maria said.

Longwei smiled a bit.

”Derek’s favorite food was fried chicken and Josephine’s favorite food was coconut ice cream, gonna need help with the latter though.” Maria said.

“You got something with coconuts?” Longwei said,

”I’m allergic, really fuckin’ allergic.” Maria said.

”Right, sorry.” Longwei said,

Satomi opened the door.

” (Who’s this kid, new girl?)” Satomi asked.

Satomi Yoshida was a 21-year old Japanese woman who was wanted for assault and bank robbery.

” (I’m Tachimi Maria, And I‘m burdened with a desire to kill)” She said.

” (That’s great, so, who is it?)” Satomi asked.

“ (Bastards in my old neighborhood, I’ll show you their house)” Maria said.

” (Did some horrible shit to you?)” Satomi asked.

” (Bet your ass, Killed my parents)” Maria said.

”Maria, Can you take a shower upstairs? Satomi will help you with clothes.” Longwei asked.

Maria nodded and went upstairs with Satomi behind her.

” (You speak good Japanese, and do you like JoJo?, My favorite character is Polnareff)” Satomi asked, trying to lighten up the younger girl’s mood.

” (They’re all what I have left of my mom)” Maria said.

” (I’ll wait outside)” She said.

Maria closed the door behind her then turned the shower on.

Around 13-15 minutes later, she was done and walked out, wrapped in towels, she was given clean clothes which consisted of jean shorts and a top.

” (I got a friend in the home country, He sends me manga, I’ll tell him to get you manga aswell)” Satomi said.

” (Thank you, my uncle used to do that)” Maria said.

” (I got sushi ready, You want some?)” Satomi asked.

” (Oh, fuck yeah)” Maria replied back.

Maria went downstairs, wearing jeanshorts and a tanktop, Satomi looked at the marking on her arm.

” (What’s with the marking?)” Satomi asked.

” (Tarot cards were used in my family and the number was tattooed or carved on the arm, my 5x great grandfather brought the family’s tarot cards all the way from Ireland, My card is The World, which is the 21st tarot card)” Maria replied back.

Maria sat down on the couch with Longwei.

”Longwei, How old are you?” She asked.

”19, I ran away from home when I was 15, Our boss will come in soon, He’s a little cold though.” Longwei said.

” (Yeah, He’s like our father and a teacher)” Satomi said.

The gang consisted of Southeast and East Asian-Americans.

The boss came in, he was a middle-aged Chinese-American man with grey-black hair, a slight beard and wore traditional Chinese clothes.

“Boss, This is Maria Tachimi, She’s 18-years old.” Maria said.

”Ni hao Maria, I am Zhao Xiaoying, This group is the Xiaoying Gang, so, what are your plans?” Zhao introduced himself.

“Poison the ones who gave me hell.” Maria said.

”I like your attitude, What are there names?” Zhao asked.

”Josephine and Derek Armstrong, I’ll put them in the dirt, where they left my mom.” She said.

Zhao kneeled down to Maria, who was sitting down.

“They killed my mom, fuck the whole lot of them.“ Maria said.

Then she turned to Zhao and Longwei.

”Do you two know anything about poisonings?” Maria asked them.

Zhao nodded.

”I know many kinds, how do you want these two to die?” He asked.

”Strychnine, I read about it people using it to kill in a textbook, It’s considered a women’s weapon, poison, I need enough to poison two people.” She said.

”Strychnine, eh?” Longwei said.

Longwei went into the kitchen and held out two bottles of strychnine poison.

”We have it right here, baby, We haven’t used them.” Longwei said.

”You just love to be a flirty bastard.” Maria replied back.

”Yeah, you are looking fine despite looking like a mess, you’re not that bad for a homeless girl.” He said in a flirtatious manner.

”Not bad looking yourself, if you ask me, I find you incredibly hot for some guy who picked a homeless rat like me off the streets.” Maria replied

“Heh, I could tell, you were in a trance before you snapped back to attention, you were staring at me.” He said.

Some of the gang members snickered, Longwei had always been a flirtatious man despite his foul language.

”Shut the fuck up!” Maria shouted, blushing.

”Hahahaha, Don’t even act like a proper lady despite your background, I love girls like that.” He said.

Maria was almost speechless, how the hell did this guy know she was from an extremely wealthy family?!

”You had a fuckton of cash on you aswell as your manga, baby, and your manga, Must of had fun shipping it over.” He said.

“Longwei, take Maria upstairs, No sexual contact, You hear?” Zhao said

Longwei nodded and him and the Japanese-American woman went upstairs.

—————————————

Longwei and Maria sat in the bedroom together, Maria read her manga, clearly focused on it, she went into her bag and brought out manga book after manga book.

”You have alot of stuff with you, baby.” Longwei said.

”They were my mom’s.” Maria said.

Longwei then remembered that Maria’s mom was murdered and those are what they had left of her.

” (Sorry)” He said.

Longwei went up and removed his shirt, then turned around, Maria averted her eyes for a minute then continued gazing.

”Do I bother you?” Longwei asked, now topless.

”No, seen ton of shirtless guys before.” Maria said.

Maria then picked up one of her manga books.

”The author who makes this goes out of his way to appeal to girls, he does a better job than most shojo manga artists.” She explained to him.

He opened one of the books, He only knew two scripts, English and Traditional Chinese

”It’s just random characters and Chinese characters put together.” He said.

”That’s because it’s in Japanese language, I can very much read it, All those stupid bitches who complain about females being oversexed but don’t mind guys showing their bodies, how hypocritical.” She said.

“So, You’re not bothered by me walking around topless.” He asked.

”Not really.” She responded.

Longwei looked at the manga, He was able to recognise the name DIO.

”Is that guy named after the band?” He asked her.

”Yeah, All the character’s names pre-Part 3 have musical references minus the leads with the exception of Avdol, Iggy, Polnareff, I also couldn’t find a name reference with Holy, post-Part 3, it’s all the character’s powers that have musical references.” She explained.

”Hey, I’m curious baby, was your mom, born in Japan?” He asked her.

”Yes, I’m half-Japanese and Nisei.” She said.

”Hmmm, Nisei, your dad was white, wasn’t he?” Longwei asked.

”Yes, he was white, I’m second-generation too, My parents were immigrants from Taipei, Taiwan, My mom taught me Mandarin, Can you write your first name in Japanese for me?” He asked her.

He handed her a pen and paper, Maria remembered every stroke of the name she used when she went to Japan, she wrote “茉莉亜” and handed it to him.

”Hey baby, Hasn’t anyone ever told you that your name means Jasmine in Chinese script?” He asked.

“Nope, never told, never knew my name meant anything in another language.” Maria replied.

”Well, it does.” He said.

”茉莉亜 (Maria)” He said.

”Mo...li....ya....?” She said it slowly.

”Your name literally means Jasmine, it might not hold much of a meaning in Japanese language, but in Chinese language, it means Jasmine, baby.” He said.

———————————

Bopha was downstairs watching TV with her boyfriend Devi

Chapter 2: Poison
The gang made coconut ice cream and ordered fried chicken from KFC tomorrow morning.

”Maria, I think you should come with me.” Bopha said.

Bopha was a Cambodian woman who‘s parents were refugees from the Khmer Rouge, Bopha was basically Team Mom, looking out for Maria.

Maria looked at the two strychnine bottles and needle, their plan was to inject the fried chicken with strychnine while throwing the contents of the next bottle in and mix it well with the ice cream.

”Tell me when the fried chicken is here, I’ll be the one injecting it.” She said to Bopha.

Bopha led Maria to her room, it remained unfinished due to the fact Maria didn’t bring everything.

”I’m going back to my old house and get everything else.” Maria said to her.

Zhao went up to the room.

”If you are wondering why I’m not making the ice cream, I’m allergic to coconut.” Maria told him.

Maria read her JoJo manga while sitting with Bopha.

”I understand, Maria.” Zhao said.

Zhao left the room, she turned to Bopha.

”My mother read these with me when I was little, Her favourite character was Dio, She also liked Josuke and Giorno.” Maria said.

”Yeah, I’m sure she did.” Bopha said.

The two girls talked until Longwei opened the door.

”Longwei, did you wash your hands?” Bopha asked him.

”Yes, I cleaned my mouth aswell.” Longwei said.

Longwei closed the door behind him.

”Maria, the ice cream has been made and has now the whole contents of the liquid strychnine in it, Satomi is mixing it as we speak, I told her to put the ice cream in a container and in a safe place so you don’t get an allergic reaction.” Longwei said,

”I had my coconut allergy ever since I was little.” Maria said.

”Boss understands that, he had a older sister with a peanut allergy.” Longwei said.

Back downstairs in the kitchen, Satomi had finished with the poisoned ice cream and put it into a plastic container and then put it into a cabinet.

As per Zhao’s orders, she washed her hands and face with soap, aswell was washing surfaces with wipes.

” (Hey, Tell Maria it’s time to inject the fried chicken!)” Satomi yelled from the living room.

”Maria, It’s time.” Bopha said to her.

Maria didn’t say anything and she found the injection needle.

”Now you’re gonna know how it feels to watch someone you love die horribly, You ruined my life!” Maria whispered then yelled.

She grabbed the first piece of fried chicken, she filled the needle with the liquid, around 100 mg, then injected it, then did the same thing aswell, when she was done, wrapped it up and closed the bag.

”Everyone, Do not eat these two things, We will send them to the Armstrongs in 15 minutes, Joseph, Can you send them to their door, knock then run, Do not poison Abby, Michael or Denise, They will not be at the house.” Maria asked.

15 minutes later, Maria, Longwei and Joseph got into the car.

”Satomi’s put enough strychnine in the ice cream to cause death.” Longwei said.

”I’m thankful both Josephine and Derek are greedy bastards, The other three won’t really eat coconut ice cream and fried chicken.” Maria said.

The drive at least for 40 minutes then stopped at the home.

Joseph hurried to the door, then knocked and hurried straight back to the car.

”Joseph, Stop here, Can you help me get everything else?” Maria asked him.

”What do you need?” Joseph asked.

”I need to get something from my old house.” Maria said.

Joseph driven the car until he was on the other side of the street, Maria knocked on the door.

An elderly man opened the door.

”Maria, You’re alive!” He said.

”Grandpa Mikey, I need to get something.” Maria said.

She gestured to the two boys that they could come inside.

”Boys, I need you to get everything from my room, My grandfathers probably kept it the same way before I ran away.” Maria said.

Ichiro waved at Maria.

”Ojichan, Can I take one of mom’s photos, maybe dad’s?” Maria asked him.

”Hai.” He nodded and then got the wedding photo.

She showed it to Longwei.

”My mom was pregnant with me at the time, on the back it says ‘Satsuki Tachimi and Martin Kimmings, Married September 16th 1981‘.” She said.

The boys helped back when Maria looked out, the fried chicken and ice cream were no longer on the porch.

“Die you fucking bastards, die.” Maria whispered.

Longwei looked at Maria staring at the Armstrong household.

”Maria, come see Ichiro, he’s missed you.” He said.

”Longwei, What ethnicity are you?” Ichiro asked.

”I’m Taiwanese-American.” Longwei said.

“Um, This may seem like a damn stupid question, but can I keep the tarot cards and the locket?” Maria asked.

Mikey went up to her, then put the family locket on her.

”Have it, Maria, Your father would of wanted you to have it, You are The World.” Mikey said.

“Thanks, grandpa.” She said.

Maria put the photo in a bag, Joseph went downstairs.

His interest turned to the old photos.

”Maria, was your grandfather in the Imperial Japanese Army?“ Joseph asked.

”Yes and his father. He didn’t play much of a role though, Ichiro was sick most of the time.” Maria said.

”Ah, I see, My parents were Koreans, I was born and raised in Japan.” Joseph said.

Joseph looked at the elderly Japanese man.

”You know, I would of yelled at you before, but I’m not gonna do that.” Joseph said, walking over to Ichiro.

”Did....something happen?” Ichiro asked, worriedly.

“My mother and father were killed by a far-right Japanese nationalist or a member of a uyoku dantai, He hated Koreans like me, wish they all died.” Joseph said to him.

”Sorry.” Ichiro said.

Ichiro himself wasn’t fond of them either and he ensured his late daughter and his son wouldn’t grow up with those ideals.

”It wasn’t really your fault they died, My mother did all she could to protect me, I’m sorry about your daughter, At first, I hated the Japanese, when I met Satomi and Takeshi, also called Bad Medicine and Diavolo, I realised they were just like me in some way, Satomi was wanted for a bank robbery a year prior, at first, I was very unwilling to work with her, then the boss told me that everyone here was hurt and abused, Satomi was maliciously treated by her father and traveled to America, she found disillusionment in patriotism because of her race and hurt others.” Joseph said.

”Son, I was just like that, I didn’t like my daughter-in-law at first, I was also in a Japanese POW camp, Ichiro was at the same one, now, he was chronically ill and that was worsened, but I started to realise that Satsuki was treated the same way as how the Japanese far-right treated you, I started to protect her.” He said.

”I packed everything, I never knew you liked Transformers and Shonen Jump.” He said.

”Bring them along aswell, please.” Maria said.

The boys packed everything in the car, Maria turned to Ichiro.

”Bye Ichiro and Mikey, love you both.” She said before she got into the car.

Unknown to them, Derek was watching, unknowingly eating the poisoned fried chicken, Josephine sat in her room watching a teen romance movie eating the ice cream.

At night, Maria went behind the house with Longwei, she heard agonised cries and sobs.

” (Go to hell!)” Maria yelled in Japanese.

She saw Josephine, foaming at the mouth and Derek vomiting, as Josephine's daughter Josephine "Josie" Jr. was asleep in her crib.

”When you get to hell, tell them Nijūichi sent you.” She said.

Derek's now ex-wife, Denise was outside, she had a black eye and was walking on crutches when she saw Maria, The 22 year old Abby and 26-year old Michael went outside and saw Maria.

Maria looked a lot different than the last time they saw her, She had a black tanktop, a winter jacket, Daisy Duke shorts and uwabaki slippers.

”Maria?” Denise said, as she walked beside her new husband Wallace Murphy.

Maria turned to her, the 18-year old looked at Denise.

”Wanna watch them die?” Maria asked, smiling.

Maria sat on the deckchair with her arm around Longwei.

”Who’s this?” Abby asked.

”He’s my boyfriend, Longwei, These are the only good people in that fucking family.” Maria said.

They then saw Josephine ran out, crying and foaming at the mouth, falling to the ground not too far away from Maria.

”Josephine, The reason I decided to poison you instead of use knives and cut you up like Freddy Krueger is because it wouldn’t bring me any satisfaction, so, I’m just gonna sit here until you take your last breath.” Maria said coolly but also with deep disdain.

The agonized cries woke up the nearby Wintergreens and they went to the back.

Joseph was now 18 and was in his final year of high school, he hadn’t seen Maria since she ran away from home.

Joseph saw a Japanese-American woman and a new guy, a Taiwanese-American man who looked at Derek.

”Maria?” Joseph said.

Pauline went and walked toward Maria.

”What did you do?” Pauline asked.

”Strychnine.” Maria replied, who had longed for revenge for a long time.

She looked at Derek, then glared at the poisoned man, who desperately reached out to his daughter and the room where his granddaughter was in, who was sleeping in her crib.

Josephine had already had taken her last breath, she threw up and convulsed, then stood still.

”Josie.......” He groaned.

”Now you know how it feels to watch someone you love die.....” Maria said.

Derek convulsed in response.

”YOU RUINED MY LIFE!” Maria yelled.

The 18-year old then kicked him hard as he lay dying

”死ね！ 死ね！ 死ね！ (Die! Die! DIE!)” Maria shouted.

Denise heard the grief as she shouted in Japanese at her now ex-husband.

”きさま私の人生を台無しにした！ (You ruined my life!)” Maria shouted.

Longwei pulled the avenging orphan into a hug.

”It’s okay, Maria, shhh.....” Longwei said.

Josie Jr. awoke and cried, Maria came upstairs and went into her room, Denise followed her.

She looked at the baby in the cot.

”Please don’t kill her.....” Denise said to her.

Maria sang a song.

”桜, 桜......野山も里も....見渡す限り (Cherry Blossom, Cherry Blossom....In fields, mountains and villages......As far as the eye can see) ” She sang in Japanese

The girl’s voice seemed to soothe the baby girl.

“霞か雲か? 朝日に匂う......桜.......桜.....花ざかり (Is it mist or clouds? Fragrant in the rising sun.....Cherry blossoms, cherry blossoms.......Flowers in full bloom)” She continued to sing.

Her mother’s killer sang her a lullaby, Everyone went upstairs to see.

“桜, 桜.....弥生の空は.......見渡す限り (Cherry Blossoms, Cherry Blossoms.....Across the spring sky....as far as the eye can see)” She sang.

The baby seemed to relax and fell asleep in Maria’s arms.

“I know you’ll never know your mother...or your grandfather when you are old, but you’ll understand what she did to me.” Maria said to the sleeping baby.

Maria saw that both Derek and Josephine were now dead.

”Denise, bury the bodies outside, If the police ask you, tell them that they accidentally ate out of date peanuts or bad food, maybe tell them they ran away.” Maria said to her. "I have a feeling that the baby needs a grandmother's care."

Maria turned to Denise.

”Yours, You can care for her, If she asks about her mother and grandfather, please tell her they died of a disease.” Maria told Denise.

Longwei turned to her.

”Maria, that was beautiful, where did you learn it?” He asked.

”My mother and uncle, Now let’s go.” Maria said to him.

She walked towards Joseph.

”Joseph, This may seem horrible of me to say, but don’t contact me or any of the people involved in the killing.” Maria said,

”Why?” Joseph asked.

”It’s a rule in my crime gang, also, They can’t date outside the gang, this is to protect themselves aswell as non-gang members that were their friends.” She said.

The couple left the yard and into the car across the streets.

She waved at Joseph, who waved back.

Chapter 3
The Japanese-American girl hadn’t spoken a word since she got back from fatally poisoning her parent’s killer and her tormenter.

Bopha saw her reading her manga in the bedroom, Bopha came in with cereal.

”Maria, here, I got you cereal.” Bopha said to her.

”Arigatou.” Maria said.

Maria spoke another sentence.

”My mother and I used to read these together, her favorite JoJo protagonist was Giorno and her favorite villain was DIO, I liked Jonathan, Jotaro and Josuke, I liked DIO aswell.....” Maria said, sounding like she was going to cry.

Satomi came in, She saw how much of a state Maria was in, even though her parents were avenged, it didn’t seem to be enough for Maria.

Longwei came in aswell, he had JJBA OVA series in six VHS boxes each behind his back.

”Maria, I.....I wanted you to have this.......” Longwei said to her.

She looked at the tag “For the Jasmine flower”

”The kanji that made up your name, it means Jasmine in my native language.” Longwei said.

”It’s an OVA series, based on the Stardust Crusaders arc, arigatou.” She said.

Longwei didn’t know much about the franchise.

”Tell me about your family.” Maria asked Longwei.

”My father was an alcoholic piece of shit, I grew up in a poverty-stricken part of Chinatown, he drove my mother to an early grave when I was 13, then at 15, I decided I had enough, I put cyanide in his food and ran off, my mom taught me how to write Chinese characters and help me speak it.” Longwei said.

”My mother died when I was 13, She was beaten by the “concerned citizens“ and beat her so much it caused a brain injury, She died before she could make it to a hospital.” Maria said.

”Yeah, They say my father‘s killer was never found.” Longwei said.

“Yeah, what was left for poor little Japanese bitch in this world, It’s money and weapons, with these things, the world is a great place.” Maria said.

”What happened to your father?” Longwei asked.

”Derek shot my father, he tried taking me from him again, I ran into my house, then Ichiro packed my things and told me Dad was dead, I wanted to scream, I ran out behind and never looked back until now, I took a half of the money, which allowed me to get to Alabama after I finished school.” Maria said.

”I’m sorry.” He said.

”Those people turned me into a monster, we were good people, we were odd, but great people.” She said.

”Are you done yet?” He asked.

”No, There‘s more lives for me to take, They took away my parents, I think every member of the CCOTD should die, They ruined my life and took away everyone I loved.” She said.

Longwei looked at her Transformers figures and merch.

”I loved it ever since I was little.” She said.

She got up and pointed at the Thundercracker and Prowl figures.

“They were my first, third birthday.” She said.

”That’s amazing, my mother couldn’t even afford me one of them.” He said,

”My parents were rich, they got me everything I asked for, including all of these.” She said.

Chapter 4
Their next mission was in Alabama, They went under the guise of a group of shoppers,

It was a few days before Christmas, exactly been several weeks since she joined, December 4th, poisoned Josephine and Derek in the 5th and given her first gun on the 11th.

”We’re going to need to stock up on supplies and food.” Longwei said.

”Where is twinkie?” Satomi asked.

Satomi then walked then found her looking at Harry Potter books in a shop.

All three books were stacked neatly in the shop.

”Twinkie, We need you at moment.” She said.

”Satomi-san, If it’s possible, can you ask the boss to get me the first three Harry Potter books for Christmas?” Maria asked her.

“Sure, boss rich man, he would love that.” She said, then went towards Zhao.

She and Zhao went into a corner.

”Twinkie was wondering if you could buy her Harry Potter books for Christmas, I don’t exactly know why.” She said.

Zhao went towards Maria.

”Maria, Satomi was telling me you wanted the first three Harry Potter books, Do you have a reason?” Zhao asked.

”It was the last thing I read in high school before they burned them.” She said.

Chapter 5
Two years after joining in 2001, the gang heard screams from a home in a home while in Jacksonville, Florida, they just got out of a gang war.

”What the fuck was that?” Maria spoke, she was turning 20 this year.

The gang stopped the car, Joseph, Zhao, Mila, Takeshi, Maria and Longwei got out of the car.

”Open up!” Zhao shouted.

They heard the screams of a woman.

“There’s someone in there.” Longwei said.

”No fucking shit!” Maria yelled.

Maria got a gun and shot the lock, opening the door.

She saw a Korean-American woman crying while clutching her ears, It almost made Maria puke.

”Are you okay?” She asked.

She kept crying.

”Mila, I think there’s something wrong.” Maria said.

Mila went over to the hysterical woman.

Mila signed “Are you okay?”

The woman felt relief at the fact someone knew how to sign, she signed “My ears.....they hurt.....”

Mila looked at the woman’s ears, they were bleeding and bruised, blood came out of her ears, which indicated her eardrums were damaged beyond repair.

Near her were two hearing aides.

She was crying, Joseph came down and helped her up.

”We’ll get you to a doctor.” Joseph said.

Before the gang could leave, An angry man opened the door.

”What the fuck are you assholes doing with my daughter, get the fuck out!” He shouted.

”Did you do this to her?” Zhao asked.

”I was trying to cure her deafness, Stupid whore was born like that!” He said.

Zhao wanted to kill this man.

Mila signed “What’s your name?”

The woman, fearful at her father, signed “Mi-Yung, My father put Q-tips in my ears, he would do it so roughly my ears would bleed.”

Mila wrote out what Mi-Yung said.

”WHY CAN’T YOU HEAR YOU LITTLE WHORE?!” Mi-Yung’s father shouted.

The man grabbed a kitchen knife and aimed for the gang members, Zhao and Maria ended up unleashing their guns.

”Shut the fuck up!” Maria yelled.

After the man was shot dead, they turned to Mi-Yung.

”We’ll take you to a clinic.” Zhao said.

Mila signed what Zhao had said, the girl relaxed, clinging onto Joseph.

The ride took two hours, including the hospital and back to gang headquarters, Mi-Yung fell asleep in the backseats, exhausted by the whole thing.

Mila sat next to her.

Mi-Yung was given a Pikachu plush that Maria took with her, Mi-Yung was given small amounts of tissue to stop the bleeding.

“Hey, Boss.....” Longwei said.

”What?” Zhao said to him, he felt drained over seeing the blood coming out of her ears.

”I’m hungry.” Longwei said.

”We’ll eat soon after we enter Miami, We’ll get Mi-Yung into a hospital, Maria, pose as a concerned neighbor, Longwei, pose as concerned neighbor’s boyfriend, Joseph, pose as her sister, Mila, sign everything for Mi-Yung.” He told the three.

An hour later, Mi-Yung woke up, she felt drained, all she could hear was the ringing in her ears, she felt something.

Mila wrote down “Don’t take the tissue out yet, we’re having a doctor to look at you, We’re bad men, I know, but not those kind of gangs that rape women.”

Mi-Yung nodded, she was thankful she could read both Korean and English.

Mila held her hand.

Mi-Yung looked at the Pikachu plush, her father would never let her have anything from Japan, it was kind of comforting to have something.

”Okay, we’re nearing the hospital.” Zhao said.

Mila signed what Zhao said, Mi-Yung nodded.

The car finally stopped, Mi-Yung, Maria, Joseph, Mila and Longwei got out of the car.

”Maria, put on a long sleeved jumper, I don’t want your cover being blown.” Zhao said, passing Maria a red jumper

”Sure.” She said.

Maria put on the sweater.

Longwei helped her walk to the waiting room while Maria went to the service desk.

”Hi, I’m here to book a hospital appointment, We heard screaming from our home and me and my boyfriend found our friend’s sister lying in a pool of blood and bleeding from her ears, She’s deaf.” Maria said.

“Do you know her name?” The receptionist asked.

”Mi-Yung, She’s Korean-American.” She said.

The receptionist looked at the woman.

”How old is she?” She asked.

”I don’t know, I need to ask her brother again.” She said.

Joseph mouthed “Nineteen” to Maria.

”Oh, she’s 19.” Maria said.

”A doctor will see her, She looks bad.” The receptionist said.

They sat down, Mi-Yung laid herself down.

”Now can I get something to eat?” Longwei asked.

Zhao went to a nearby convience store and brought the group a packet of Cheese Puffs.

”Here, You’re always like this.” He said.

Longwei ate a handful of them, then gave one to Mi-Yung, who gently chewed it.

Several minutes later, Mi-Yung was called in by the doctor, Maria accompanied her to the office.

The doctor was an middle-aged Muslim man, he looked friendly.

”I’m her neighbor.” Maria lied.

The man looked at the woman’s bleeding ears.

”We heard screaming and her father damaged her ears, I think she might have damage to her eardrum.” She said.

”I’ll see what I can do, what is your name?” He asked.

”Satsuki Lee.” She lied, covering up her real name.

”Miss Lee, I’m going to do several tests on her, aswell as checking her hearing, has she been deaf since birth?” He asked.

”I’m sure of that, Her father seemed to hate the fact his daughter was deaf.” Maria said.

Maria left the room to go back to the waiting room.

Longwei’s mouth was covered in the dust of the snack and he was licking it off his hands and mouth, she noticed the empty packet.

”You’ve just ruined your appetite for dinner.” Maria said to him.

”It’s worth it.” Longwei said.

An hour later, the doctor went to look where Maria was and found her.

”Where is Satsuki Lee?” He asked.

Maria went up to him.

”The doctors did tests on Mi-Yung, I’m sorry, but she will never hear again.” He said, apologetically,

Mi-Yung went out of the room, she wrote “Can he fix my hearing?”

Maria went up to her and wrote “I’m sorry, Your ears are too badly damaged, You can never hear again”

Mi-Yung cried in Maria’s arms.

”Let’s go home, you can’t go back.” She whispered.

It was an eventful drive from the hospital, Mi-Yung was now completely deaf, the doctor did help clean excess blood and made sure her ears didn’t bleed, but the bruising was beyond help.

The gang members were beyond drained, Maria felt like she wanted to vomit her guts up, It felt like they came out saving one of their female members who had been gang-raped to the point she were traumatised, She hadn’t felt this disgusting since her mother’s death.

Mi-Yung signed “Give me something to cover my ears with, they’re ugly”.

Zhao found a medical kit with bandages.

”Maria, give this to her.” He said.

Maria tapped Mi-Yung so she could face her, then wrapped around her head so her ears were completely covered.

————————————

The gang got home and Takeshi watched as the gang arrived back with a new member, her ears were covered with white bandages and she was weeping.

"What happened?" Takeshi asked.

"Don't ask." Joseph replied back, leading Mi-Yung inside.

Maria went upstairs, feeling a little fragile emotionally, even though she killed her father’s murderer and did killings many times before, the victim survived, but came out completely deaf with no chance of recovering her lost hearing.

Mi-Yung sobbed as she was led inside and sat down on a couch.

"Her father mutilated her ears so much that she is completely deaf." Zhao said.

They decided to wait until Mi-Yung calmed down enough.

Takeshi was the first to make a move, Mi-Yung held the Pikachu doll given to her tightly.

He got a notebook and wrote “Are you okay?, My name is Takeshi Yukihara, but you can call me Diavolo”

Mi-Yung wrote back “I have calmed down now, My dad made me deaf, I’m Sang Mi-Yung”.

Takeshi wrote ”Your name, Are you Korean-American?”

Mi-Yung wrote back “Yes, my parents came from Busan, Are you Japanese?”

Takeshi wrote back “Yes, I’m third generation Japanese-American, I haven’t been to Japan yet”

Mi-Yung wrote back “My dad hated the Japanese, calling them vermin and murderers of Koreans, I don’t hate Japan, hurting you wouldn’t bring those people back, during that time, he forbid me from owning Japanese-made items such as Sony and Nintendo, he boycotted Japanese goods up until he was finally killed, I was only permitted to play Korean-made consoles such as the Comboy family.”

Takeshi wrote back “I don’t hate Koreans either, my parents taught me to hate Koreans, I never fell for it, they believed if I did Korean things, I would betray them, ironically my parental grandparents were in an internment camp, the other side were an old-fashioned Japanese couple, in the Army and that Emperor stuff, yadda yadda.”

Mi-Yung gave a smile at his choice of words, Takeshi was more American than Japanese despite the views of his parents.

Zhao went over to them.

He signed “How do you feel?“

She signed “Where’s the Japanese lady?”

The three heard the sound of someone vomiting, then heavy coughing.

He signed: “She’s been sick......”

Maria came down, cleaning her mouth with a cloth and sat down, the whole ordeal had an affect on the gang.

Mi-Yung went up to Maria and tapped her, then gave her a hug.

”I...beeeee......fynnnne.....” She said even though her words were completely slurred.

Maria felt shocked for a moment, she was hardly ever hugged by anyone aside from her family members.

She remembered having a deaf classmate back in elementary and middle school, she was forbidden from using sign language by a teacher named Mrs. O’Clarke and soon her teacher in middle school soon followed due to the “gang signs”, in middle school, she had cochlear implants and she them ripped out by a student, which caused serious damage.

The memory of that deaf classmate run back to her, she accepted the hug and felt tears stream down.

”She’s......crying....” Longwei said.

Maria only cried a few times, the memory of her dead parents, the fact she had to leave everyone before 1997 behind and now, the fact a saved woman had suffered severe mutilation to her ears.

“Duuuuuunt......criiiiii......” Mi-Yung said.

”Let me.....go upstairs.....I’ll be down soon enough.” Maria said.

——————————————

Maria sat alone in her room, feeling far too fragile to leave.

Chapter 6: Poisoner
The gang’s next mission was in a Georgia much to Longwei’s chagrin, some people were quite racist to the gang.

”Longwei, I know you hate this place, we’re gonna have to go undercover and there’s a chance it’s from the better parts.” Zhao said.

Joseph was driving the car and they stopped.

“Longwei, avoid the poverty stricken parts, Maria, you go there with Takeshi, do not tell anyone you’re Japanese, Feel free to shoot attempted rapists, Maria.” Zhao said.

”Got it.” She said.

Maria got out of the car along with Takeshi.

”Okay, Let’s go.” He said.

Maria and Takeshi wore regular clothing, while walking through the horrid poverty-stricken areas.

Maria looked at women with tattered hair and torn clothes, thin children that looked like they’ve never been washed and a man came out.

” (Please help us, There’s been a strange outbreak going around and we don’t know what’s causing it)” He said.

” (Alright, we’ll find the culprit, don’t worry)” Maria said back in perfect Mandarin.

“Thank you, Ma’am.” He said.

The two Japanese gangsters walked around the district.

”An outbreak?” Takeshi whispered.

”Probably from how this place smells like shit.” Maria whispered back.

They found a man with bruising and marks on him, his shirt was stretched, revealing the fact he was concave, which indicated he hadn’t eaten well, his torso also has bruises on it, which indicated broken ribs.

”Hey, Are you alright?” He asked.

”Yes, help me up....” He said.

Takeshi picked up the injured man, he had messy black hair in the need of a cut, his face had dirt forming aswell as wounds, a stretched and tattered shirt and torn shorts, he wore no socks or shoes, what was strange about him is that he had a large backpack on him.

”You don’t look fine, You look worse than my Taiwanese friend when he lived in Chicago.” He said.

Maria took a picture of the injured man.

”How long was it since you’ve eaten, you look like a fucking skeleton!” She exclaimed.

”Hold on, 1...2....3...4....5.....5 days, I didn’t get to eat often.” He said, counting with his fingers.

Maria then called Zhao on the phone.

”Hey, Boss, You won’t believe what we found.” He said.

”What is your name?” Takeshi asked the man.

”Feng, Feng Zheng.” He said.

”Okay, Feng Zheng, where are you from?” Takeshi asked.

Feng looked up at him.

“China, Nanjing to be precise.” He said.

”What happened to you?” Longwei asked.

”I was in an illegal poison ring, they caught my mates back in China, I managed to get away.” He said.

”Alright, illegal poison ring in Nanjing.” Longwei said.

”Can I ask you a question, is that female with you....Is she Chinese?, Her Mandarin is flawless....” He said.

Feng looked at Maria.

”No, She’s from the states, She’s Japanese-American.” Longwei said.

”Oh, Japanese-American?” He asked.

Chapter 7: Treating a half-dead man
Feng Zheng was 19-years old, his birthday was three weeks ago, he had no home until the gang found him.

After being found, Maria called Zhao on her phone and told him to come to the location aswell as sending a picture of Feng.

Feng was carried by Takeshi.

”谢谢 (Thank you).” Feng said

Then Feng felt a strong pain in his stomach, which he clutched in pain.

”Are you alright?” Takeshi asked.

Maria wasn’t wrong about the fact Feng was starving, the Chinese man breathed in heavily in and out.

Then he saw a black car and it stopped, he saw an middle-aged Chinese man, this had to be the boss Maria was talking about.

“Diavolo, help him inside.” Maria said.

Takeshi looked at the man’s legs, they were bruised aswell.

”What the fuck is that, he smells even worse than my bastard father!” Longwei shouted.

”It’s an injured man we found, he doesn’t seem to be from Chinatown, His English is barely there despite his young age.” Takeshi said.

“ (Are you the boss?)” Feng asked, he sounded exhausted and weak.

“ (Yes, I am the boss)“ He said.

“We’ll be at the house in 9 hours.” Zhao said.

Feng almost fell into a mixture of emotions, He was starving, he sometimes thought this would be a kidnapping.

”I’m starving, I can’t wait that long!” He said.

”We had to save a deaf girl and we couldn’t stop until we got at the hospital.” Longwei said.

“Dushuqiang, Please quiet down, I know you’re hungry, just calm the fuck down.” Maria said.

”Dushuqiang?” Zhao and Longwei both said.

”It’s Chinese poison, we looked inside his bag, it’s rat poison from China.” He said.

Mi-Yung, who was in the car at the time looked at the frustrated man punch himself in the stomach, She then wrote.

”Boss, tell Joseph to stop at a restaurant, maybe a Subway, He probably won’t make it through the nine-hour ride.” She signed while Maria read it out.

“Alright then.” He said.

Zhao turned to Feng, who slouched a little and started to feel lightheaded, He heard a loud rumble coming from him aswell.

”Feng, you can explain how the hell you got here once there's some food in you, Sound Out won’t be long.” He said.

Once the group saw a Subway alongside other restaurants and shops, Mi-Yung gestured them to stop.

”Mi-Yung, You know what you are in for right?, Bring Maria with you.” He said.

Mi-Yung then put a wooly hat on to cover the bandage up and Maria helped her out of the car.

”Feng, consider yourself lucky, We’re wanted men and we’re getting you food.” Maria said to him.

”Give him a bath aswell.” Longwei said, putting a mask on.

”We will, alright!” She said.

Mi-Yung and Maria went inside Subway with at least $200 dollars, intending to spend the money on food for a starving man they found.

“How long will they be?” Feng asked, beginning to shake from hunger.

”They won’t be long, Maria’s not a makeup person.” She said.

7 minutes later, The girls came back with several wrapped sandwiches, water, some fries and even chocolate brought from the store.

”Is this for me?” Feng asked.

“Yeah, considering that we both saw you looking hungrily outside the window.” She said.

Feng unwrapped the first sandwich and put it in his mouth, wolfing it down in a matter of seconds before drinking the water.

They saw the man wolf it down like a maniac.

”You’ll upset your stomach if you eat it like that.” Longwei said.

”You guys have it if you like, Can I have some of the chocolate?” He asked before picking up a chocolate bar.

Longwei nodded, then the man began to eat the chocolate bar.

”Okay, Let’s all go.” Zhao said.

Maria turned to Feng, who looked satisfied and felt better after he had eaten.

”Okay, tell us what the hell happened to you?” She asked the Chinese man.

”Okay, I was convicted for using rat poison to murder 5 of my villagers back in Nanjing, China, my first victim was my father who drove my mom to an early grave and four other villagers I hated.” He said.

“What was the name of the poison you used?” Maria asked, taking a bite out of the Subway sandwich.

”Tetramine or Dushuqiang, Dushuqiang’s the brand name, people usually use things like that in feuds.” Feng said.

He then decided to tell them about the “outbreak”

”The idiots there is people you shouldn’t feel sorry for, That old guy beat the shit out of me for no reason at all other than the fact I was a Chinese man, So, I gave them all a little bit of strychnine.” Feng said.

”Yeah, hate the place too.” Longwei said.

Hours have passed, even though Feng smelled like someone had died, the gang members let the guy sleep until they got to the gang hideout.

”We’re almost to the border, Everyone, hide any gang connections.” Zhao said.

Everyone took off any “gang symbols”, with Maria wearing a bloodied bandage around her tarot marking and Mi-Yung putting on a wooly hat that covered her ears well.

After paying the toll.

”We’re now in Florida, we’re giving you a bath, you stink.” Maria said.

Feng nodded, he did need a bath.

”Do you have a place where I can experiment with poison?“ He asked.

”We found a basement in our main house, You can use it as that if you like.” Maria said.

”Thank you....” He said.

He drank sips of the water.

”Do you have anything I can play with?, I’m bored.” He said.

Maria handed him a original Game Boy Color with Pokémon Silver, Maria had stolen it and put a backlight in it.

The copy was never used,

”The game isn’t in Chinese, figure it out.” She said.

Feng gently gestured by raising his hand.

”I will.” He said.

It kept the Chinese man quiet long enough.

”They ban video game consoles in China, I was too poor to own one, but many Chinese people I met told me they were banned because the government said they were bad for kids.” He said.

”That’s interesting, Japanese consoles are popular in Taiwan, and Maria, who is half-Japanese, her favorite manga is JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, It’s more Western than Japanese and it’s very popular there, you can say that the Japanese are obsessed with Western culture the same way the West obsesses over theirs.” Longwei said.

Maria packed several manga for the trip including several copies of Vento Aureo and Stardust Crusaders.

“It’s only in Japanese though, Maria promised if JoJo got translated into Taiwan Chinese, she’ll buy it for me.” Longwei said.

”Do the Taiwanese use Simplified?“ He asked.

”No, They use Traditional Chinese, it’s hilariously ironic, Taiwan and Macau are considered more culturally Chinese.” Longwei replied back.

”Ah.” He said.

”I’m going to have Bopha take a look at you, You’re thin as hell.” Longwei said.

“Yeah, I’ve haven’t been eating well in a while.” Feng replied back.

Hours and hours have passed since the poll and Feng ended up sleeping on the seats, Takeshi gave the Chinese man his coat as he started to shake.

It was almost dark, Longwei ate some of the food that Maria and Mi-Yung brought, the others ate aswell.

They couldn’t exactly stop, they were wanted men, gang members for that matter.

“Okay, our hideout isn’t too far, we need to stop at the driveway, our neighbors are most likely sleeping.” Zhao said.

Longwei and Takeshi helped Feng out of the car, Feng was definitely too malnourished and tired to move by himself.

”Thank fuck....” Longwei said.

They saw a Khmer woman and man open the door.

”Longwei, Who is that?” Bopha asked.

”It’s an injured Chinese man we found.” He said.

”The bastard looks bone thin.” Devi said.

”Yeah, He hadn’t been eaten well before we found him.” Longwei replied.

Feng moaned a little.

” (Are we here yet?)” Feng asked in Mandarin.

” (Yes, we’re here)” Longwei replied back.

” (I’m hungry.....)” Feng whimpered.

” (Yeah, no shit)” Longwei said to Feng.

Devi went up to Feng.

”You smell like crap, What’s your name?” Devi asked.

”Feng....” He said.

“Feng, huh?” Devi spoke.

Feng’s only reply was a little groan.

”Where are you from, Feng?” Devi asked.

”Nanjing, China.” He said.

”Okay, what did you call him before?” Devi asked.

”What does he mean?” Feng asked.

”A gang name.” Bopha replied.

”Dushuqiang, Found out he’s a poisoner, He told us he killed his father and four others by poisoning crops with TETS poison.” Maria said.

“He’s a poisoner?“ Bopha asked.

”Yeah, Dushuqiang’s a brand of TETS-based poison, heard it’s used in feuds.” Maria said.

Feng gave a weak moan, alerting everyone.

”You feeling okay, Dushuqiang?” Maria asked.

Feng then kneeled over, clutching his stomach in pain, He grabbed onto Longwei’s hand.

”I feel woozy.” He said.

Bopha noticed the signs, she noticed it with the homeless Takeshi and helped him up.

She remembered it like it was yesterday, Takeshi was in worse condition when found, bleeding, starving and left for dead, by racist jerks who ganged upon him, he threw up due to his stomach barely handling food, after medical treatments at the hospital, he did make it.

”Bring him inside!” Bopha said, panicking.

Feng then tried to stand up, then fell into Devi’s arms.

” (Devi, bring him inside!)” Bopha told her husband.

The money counterfieter brought the starving poisoner inside with the others following suit.

Longwei heard the man’s haggard breathing, it almost felt like he was in labor, except this was a man, not a woman.

”He already looked like he was on death’s door when we found him.” Longwei said.

”Did he eat anything, Where did you find him?” Bopha asked them.

”We gave him some sandwiches after noticing he wasn’t going to make it through, it must have not been enough for him to keep him full.” Longwei remarked, looking at Feng shaking in Devi‘s grasp.

Joseph went up to the ill Chinese man.

”Hey, You!, Did you throw up in my car?!” Joseph yelled.

”No.....I didn’t.....my stomach still hurt after, I felt worse after I had eaten for some reason, I feel like....“ Feng spoke weakly.

Devi laid the man down on the couch and Bopha removed his tattered shirt, it was worse than she thought.

His ribcage was potent through his thin frame, She felt around his chest and abdomen, this was the only sign of malnutrition he had, there was bruising over his body, It looked like he barely eaten in several weeks, the fact Feng’s facial expression looked neutral when Bopha felt around his torso showed that he suffered this before.

“I don’t think giving him Subway was a good idea.” Bopha said to the others.

Feng felt nauseous soon after, his breathing sounded watery.

”I feel sick.” Feng said.

Devi looked at him, He wasn’t wrong.

”Fuck, Two Guns, get Dushuqiang to the toilet!” Devi shouted.

Longwei quickly helped Feng up and into the bathroom, Everyone sat downstairs.

Maria heard the Chinese man’s screams and cries in Mandarin, then breathing heavily, which indicated him vomiting.

”Fuck!” Longwei shouted.

5 minutes later, the vomiting had finally finished.

”Maybe we should give him something easy for him?” Bopha suggested.

They saw the Chinese man walk back downstairs with the Taiwanese native’s help.

”We’ll need to give you a bath, Satomi will help you.” Zhao told Feng.

Feng nodded, a little mute from the vomiting episode.

”Satomi, Help Feng.” Zhao said to Satomi.

Satomi helped the struggling Chinese man up.

”Chinese man, if you sick, tell me.” Satomi said.

Feng‘s eyes widened at the first words.

”She speaks two languages, Japaglish and Japanese, her English is terrible, I’m half-Japanese in case you’re wondering.” Maria said.

Feng nodded.

———————————

The group sat downstairs while Satomi helped Feng take a bath.

In the bathroom, Satomi spoke to him.

”You so thin, Maria not wrong about you looking skeletal.” She said, moving a hand across his ribs.

It tickled a little and a small yet startled sound exited his mouth as her hands moved across his body.

”I’m kind of used to it, the underground poison ring I worked for had difficulty with money, so most of us had to make poison even if we didn’t have any food, worked there for four years, if we did, we had to eat this soup dish called Xidoufen, which sucks if it was a staple in your diet for four years.” He said.

She gently rubbed the soap on him, he didn’t want to lie if he said it didn’t feel good, it eased the pain that rushed through his body,

”Hey, Can I ask you something?” He asked.

Satomi nodded.

”The gang, are they predominantly Chinese?” He asked.

”No, Me, Takeshi and Maria are Japanese, half-Japanese for latter, Mi-Yung and Joseph are Korean, Mila is from Hong Kong and Longwei is Taiwanese-American.” She said.

”Where were you born?” He asked.

”Tokyo, grew up in the underbelly.” She said.

“I was born in Nanjing, lived in a small part of it that was quite poor.” He said.

It was almost nine and Maria and Longwei were in nothing but their underwear, This was technically their pajamas due to the warm climate of Florida.

“Wanna play Heritage of the Future, Maria?” Longwei asked.

He got the game case out and put the game into the PS1.

Maria nodded, It was fun to play with her boyfriend, it almost took away the fact she was living on the edge in a rotten and cruel world, Longwei even tried to imitate the main’s villain’s battlecry.

”Muda~!” He said in a playful manner.

Back upstairs, Satomi wrapped Feng in a towel.

”It alright, I see both genders naked, I get you clothes.” She said to him.

He stayed in the bathroom shivering when Satomi handed him a pair of pajamas.

”We give you something light, okay?” She said.

He nodded, Satomi then left the bathroom.

”If you too hot, feel free to take off.” She said to him.

”Okay.....” He said.

She helped him downstairs.

”What is that game that she’s playing?” Feng asked, pointing at the game.

Feng and Satomi went downstairs, she then helped him sit down.

”That’s JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken, Twinkie‘s favorite anime and game, I like too.” Satomi said.

Satomi then turned to Longwei.

”Longwei, I told you not to play games too much, I make that very clear for you.” He said.

”Alright, just one more match.” He said.

”ロードローラーだッ！(Road Roller da!)” Maria said.

She fell back laughing.

It was 9:00 pm, Maria yawned and went to go upstairs, a few minutes later, Longwei had followed on ahead.

”Twinkie likes repeating quotes from that game, She half-Japanese herself.” Satomi said.

”Twinkie?” Feng responded, confused.

”It means Asian on outside, white on inside, she speak Japanese perfectly, playful nickname.” Satomi said.

”Oh, She speaks it perfectly?” Feng asked.

”Yeah, her mom Japanese, she died when Maria was 13.” Satomi said.

“My mom died aswell.” Feng said.

”She was everything to Maria, her death drove her over edge, that how she got to gang.” Satomi said.

Satomi got up, went to the kitchen and poured a small bowl of cereal and milk, then put it on a tray.

”You stomach still quite unsettled from vomiting, I give you something plain.” Satomi said.

”谢谢 (Thank you)” He said.

The Chinese man took the tray and began to eat.

”Boss get a little annoyed if we stay up, He become more understanding if you want food.” Satomi said.

Feng nodded.

”Feel free to stay in bed, Bopha help you tomorrow morning.” Satomi said.

When Feng finished his cereal, he gave Bopha the tray and went upstairs with her help.

”We have many rooms, Many empty.” She said.

”Ah.” He said.

She lead him to a room with a bed, several Chinese-language books on a shelf and many other things, He even found a TV with channels.

”Boss under the guise of headmaster that cares for troubled adults.” She said.

Satomi helped him lie down and put the covers on him.

” (Goodnight)” She said to him.

Feng then felt his eyes close and he was now asleep.

———————————

The next morning, Zhao and an older Italian-American man in doctor’s clothes went into Feng’s new bedroom.

”Feng, Wake up, I got a house doctor to check on you, come on.” He said.

Angelo D’Amico was an Italian-American gangster that was a doctor of a fellow gang, he came into check on the health of the gang members and was friendly with many of the Xiaoying gang members,

The Chinese man opened his eyes.

“What’s your name?” Angelo asked.

”Feng Zheng, I’m 20 years old.” Feng said.

He noticed Zhao left the room.

”Where were you born?” Angelo asked Feng.

”Nanjing, China, I went to America under a false name a few months ago.” Feng said.

”What was your previous job?” Angelo asked.

”A poisoner, I worked for an underground group that dealt in making dushuqiang, which is illegal rat poison in China.” Feng said.

“Judging by the others gang members, you threw up hours after eating, You barely eaten in five days or longer due to the fact Satomi told me you didn’t live on a good diet back in China and when you arrived here and the fact you are severely underweight.” He said.

Several minutes later, questions and statements went on for Feng.

Then a noisy rumble filled the air, silencing both men and Feng clutching his midsection in a bid to stifle the sound, He moved his knee to cover his face from his new boss and the doctor,

”Zhao, Feng here is malnourished and is ill with a foodborne illness, this has nothing to do with him from the food he was given yesterday which he threw up as Maria and Longwei told me they ate the same food and were perfectly fine, this is very likely as a result of spoiled food he ate during his time in Georgia, I recommend you give him dietary supplements to restore the nutrients, don’t give him anything too strong and make sure he eats a bland diet for a while.” He said.

Angelo gave Zhao a bottle of tablets and vitamins.

”He will take three a day under six hours.” Angelo said.

Zhao turned to Feng.

”Stay in bed, Feng, I’ll get Satomi up, Dushuqiang, since you are a new member from China, I don’t want to hear anything about you bullying Satomi, Maria and Takeshi, alright?” He said,

“I like Satomi, that’s nothing to worry about.” Feng said.

”Good to hear, racism is deplored in this gang, Joseph used to refuse to work with Satomi and Takeshi before I gave him a valuable lesson, those two are family.” Zhao replied back.

Zhao and Angelo left the room and Feng turned the television on, it was an episode of the Simpsons.

He noticed a girl wearing a bandage coming in, he noticed it was wrapped snugly around both of her ears and forehead, she had a whiteboard and marker.

”Who are you?” He asked, but the girl did not reply and instead used her whiteboard to write her message down.

It read “Hello, I’m Sang Mi-Yung, Boss told me to check up on you, please use this whiteboard when you want to talk to me.”

She turned it around and wrote a message down.

It read “I‘m deaf”.

Longwei came in.

“新人 (new guy), You feeling better?” He asked.

”Other than an upset stomach, I’m fine, Are you Chinese?” Feng asked

”Nope, I was born here, I‘m Taiwanese-American, second generation, my parents were immigrants from Taiwan, Mi-Yung’s a second generation.” He said.

“Oh.” Feng said.

“Maria’s half-Japanese, her late mom is from Japan, Takeshi is a third-generation, Since all of us are purely ethnic, Maria’s the only half-white in this whole gang.” He said.

“That’s interesting.” He said.

”She’s of English and Irish descent.” Longwei replied.

”Hey, Longwei, you’re wanted.” Takeshi said to him from outside the room.

”I need to get going, Dushuqiang, feel better.” Longwei said to Feng.

The Nanjingese man watched as Longwei left the room, Mi-Yung walked out not before writing a message.

She wrote “Enjoy watching The Simpsons, we’ll teach you to sign when you want to talk to me”

Feng stayed inside his room watching TV programs and curling himself up on the bed.

——————————

Feng saw Maria come into the room with a plain dish of cucumber roll sushi and soup.

”Hey, the boss told me to make you sushi and soup.” She said.

Feng never had sushi before, whatever he did have back in Nanjing, it sure as hell wasn’t sushi or soup, the latter smelled heavenly.

”谢谢 (Thank you)” He said.

He took it from Maria, he knew how to use chopsticks back home in Nanjing, he picked the roll up and put it into his mouth.

”This is nice.” He said.

”Thank you.” Maria replied back.

Maria left the room to leave Feng alone to eat, soon after finishing his sushi, he moved onto the soup, he ate it quite quickly.

”Better than xidoufen....” Feng said.

Soon he was finished, he put the empty container and bowl back down.

——————————

Feng was well enough to get out of bed, Satomi had helped him downstairs, Maria and Longwei were sitting and playing JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Heritage for the Future.

”You can play if you like.” Maria said to him.

”That’s nice, but, I don’t know how to play that console.” He said.

”We’ll teach you, It’s actually alot of fun, It’s based of a series that Maria loves.” Longwei said.

”Can you explain it?” Feng said.

”A Japanese teen, his grandpa, another Japanese teen, a gay French guy, an Egyptian fortuneteller and a dog go on a mission to Egypt to kill the world’s gayest vampire, he radiates so much gayness that he makes men question their sexuality and women instantly fall for him, I’ve seen the manga, Lemme just say that Araki goes out of his way to appeal to ladies.” Longwei said.

Maria laughed at his description.

”You’re not wrong!” Maria said to him.

Feng sat next to him.

”Why does that guy scream “Muda Muda Muda” everytime he activates that thing?” Feng asked.

”That’s his battle cry, This is DIO in case you’re wondering, Longwei’s favorite thing to call him is “the world’s gayest vampire“, he called him that when he read the manga, I had to read everything out to him.” She said.

”Is he really that gay?” Feng asked.

”Oh, very gay, He had a together in death with his adoptive brother as a severed head at the end of Phantom Blood, It’s depressing, but even now, it radiates gay energy.” Maria laughed.

”So, he’s super gay?” Feng asked.

The couple laughed.

Chapter 8: Macau Twins
Zhao, Mila and Longwei were out in Jacksonville when they noticed what appeared to be twin “girls”, both of them had an East Asian appearance, both had long hair and appeared to be wearing Gothic Lolita clothing, except one of them wore trousers and dress clothing while the other was in a Gothic Lolita dress, they seemed only the age of 17.

It was around 8:00 in the morning.

Upon noticing, They were confirmed it was a twin boy and girl.

”Hey, Longwei, stop there.” He said.

He saw the twins walking around with a bag of money, a stolen credit card and a large bloodied paper bag.

The car stopped in front of the twins.

Both twins began mumbling in Cantonese, Longwei and Zhao mostly spoke Mandarin and they noticed Mila began to sign.

”Boss, one of the twins has a deep voice, one of them must be a guy.” Longwei whispered.

“Who you must be?” The male began to speak, which confirmed the suspicions.

”What is your name?” He asked.

”Lei, Chao Lei.” He said.

”Jiayi, Chao Jiayi.” The female twin responded.

”What are you two walking around the streets?” Longwei asked.

”We ran from foster home, set whore’s clothes ablaze, stole all money they had, we ran, money funded food, water, and everything, including clothes.” Lei said.

”Wanna join our gang, Your money will be great use to us, how much money do you guys have?” Longwei asked.

“We stole around $4,000 when we left, two week later, we now have $2,500, most of it came from those bastard being foster parents.” He said.

”How come you guys have $2,500 less in two weeks?” Zhao asked him.

Jiayi pointed at her twin brother.

Lei ate a lot for a 17-year old boy and she sometimes watched him down everything like hadn’t eaten in days, Lei was starved by their father and second foster family, the latter if he didn’t do well with a chore, one time, she witnessed him faint after being denied food for three whole days after he didn’t buy the correct coat that Penelope, the family’s spoiled daughter wanted.

”He not easy to feed, in other terms, eats a lot, the money also funded clothes and water, also.....hygiene products, both feminine and masculine.” Jiayi said.

Both twins didn’t speak good English, unlike other members, both didn’t have signs of neglect on them.

”How old are you two?” He asked.

”17 years old.” Jiayi said.

“Come on then, We can help you.” Zhao said.

The twins looked at eachother and got in the car.

”What’s in the bag?” Zhao said.

”Attempted rapist’s intestines, we found him and killed him.” Jiayi said.

”This goes without saying, but we’re going to have to dispose that.” Zhao said.

”Maybe fire?” She asked.

”Hmm, maybe.” He said.

—————————————

They arrived back at the hideout and Lei was the first to walk in.

”Who are you?” Longwei asked.

”New recruit, Jiayi coming in shortly.” He said.

”There’s a room downstairs, usually, we don’t allow gender mixing in the bedrooms here.” Longwei said.

“We take it.” Lei said.

Bopha came out of the kitchen.

The gang was running low on food and occasionally ordered food, enough to feed now 13 gang members including herself.

”We are ordering Chinese and a several boxes of pizza.“ She said.

She turned to Lei.

”What kind do you want?” She asked Lei.

”I want chicken and noodles, I may have pizza.” He said.

Lei and Jiayi sat with Zhao, Lei was looking outside a window for the delivery to come.

”What year were you born in?” Zhao asked.

”November 25th 1984, we’re twins.” Jiayi said.

“Okay, where were you born?” He asked.

”Taipa, Macau, Macau was under Portuguese control, I speak no Portuguese, Me and Lei were forced to take part in snuff films, we kill animals, then our father made us kill a man, our first foster home was a week, out second one was from until we turned 17.” She said.

Jiayi looked at her twin brother looking out for the delivery van.

”你成日好肚饿 (You’re always hungry)” Jiayi said to him in Cantonese.

“感謝嗰個嘅父母 (Thank that bitch’s parents)” He said.

“What did you second foster parents do to you both that made you leave?” Zhao asked.

”We live with a couple who spoiled their daughter, her name Penelope, Lei’s punishment for missing our chores, getting the wrong thing for Penelope, poor grades or fighting was no food for five days, they even refuse to send him lunch at that time, Lei was treated worse than I was, I think they disliked having a boy and thought we were twin girls.” Jiayi explained

Zhao looked at Lei, who looked out of the window.

”You hungry?” Zhao asked the teenager.

Lei didn’t answer, but a few minutes later, a loud growl filled the area, LeI then punched himself in the abdomen.

”I’ll take that as a yes.” Zhao said to him

”I think last time Lei ate was last might, you recruited us before 9:00 and didn’t stop.” She replied.

“Sorry, But we needed to dispose of that bag.” Zhao said.

Then they heard a car pull up and two delivery men with a bag of food and another with pizza.

Bopha got the money, which was around $150, then opened the door.

”Delivery for Miss Sari?” He asked.

“That’s me, here‘s $150.” She said.

Bopha signed the paper and with Longwei’s help, brought the takeaway in.

”We don’t usually have takeaways often, Boss usually gives us a mixed diet.” Devi said to Lei.

“Just put the pizza there....” He said.

Bopha set out everything buffet-style as if the group was having a party.

Maria and Satomi came downstairs.

”It’s okay Maria, there’s no coconuts, do you want Chinese, Indian or Dominos?” She asked.

”I’ll have Chinese.” She said.

Maria didn’t really like pizza too much, especially if it was takeaway, it looked greasy.

Maria walked downstairs with Satomi and sat on the floor.

Bopha saw Lei dig into the pizza, which was cheese, tomato and ham, he bit into it ravenously.

Satomi looked at she got the chopsticks out and picked up the noodles and ate it.

”Mmf, here, Jiayi.” He said, handing a slice to her.

Longwei stopped eating his and looked at him, Feng dug into a Peking Duck, not minding the situation.

He looked at Lei.

”You must of been starving.” Longwei said to him.

Lei nodded, the sauce was over his mouth, then he ate another slice.

”I’m putting a movie on.” Maria annonced.

She got out Terminator 2: Judgement Day on VHS and she inserted it into the VHS player.

Mila began to write something.

”Can we watch Pokemon: The First Movie after this?” She wrote down.

Maria nodded.

Lei was busy wolfing down his pizza slices, as soon as there was two left, he handed the box to his sister and started eating the chicken noodles and chiura.

Mila looked at him, then looked at Maria.

She signed “He’s eating like a person who hadn’t eaten in days.”

Maria signed “Maybe he hasn’t”

Then Longwei joined the sign language conversation.

Longwei signed “I saw him waiting for the delivery driver to come with the food, according to his twin sister, he was starved repeatedly.”

Then as soon as it was 5 minutes into the movie, Lei finished the last piece of curry and burped, his abdomen stuck out a bit like a 3-month pregnant woman from overeating, she noted that Lei had unbuttoned his dress shirt and jacket’s lower buttons, probably to ease pressure.

”Fucking hell.” Maria said, she walked over to him.

“He in good health aside from that, I swear that dàihdái has the stomach compacity of an oil tanker.” Jiayi said as she ate the last piece.

Lei looked up at the Japanese-American woman, he looked almost dazed when full.

Maria then witnessed his closing his eyes and his head turning to the side.

”Well, that’s him in a food coma.” She said as she walked back.

Feng stopped eating for a moment, it took the gang a week to find out he really loved duck meat, especially Peking Duck and Nanjing Salted Duck.

“It’s amazing you’ve never being murdered in your bed by PETA activists.” Maria told Feng.

”Yeah, screw those guys, never underestimate the power of duck meat.” Feng replied back.

Feng began to eat again.

The film began to start.

”Does Lei have favorite movies?” Longwei asked.

”Mostly Japanese war atrocity films like Black Sun: 731 and Black Sun: Nanking Massacre, A pretty fucked-up hobby, don’t worry, he no hate Japanese, he’s fascinated with Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany in general, It best to keep him away from WWII vets.” Jiayi said.

Lei made a face of discomfort and grabbed a hold of Jiayi’s hand and squeezed it.

“我覺得... 就好似我要爆裂一樣.. (I feel....like I’m going to burst.....)” He mumbled in Cantonese.

“你做乜嘢食咁多？ (Why would you eat so much?)” She asked in Cantonese.

”我這樣做了很多次，沒有問題，姐姐... (I did that many times without problems, sis....)” He said.

They looked at the twins before paying their attention to the movie while Jiayi attended to Lei, not before Longwei spoke.

”The chiura and curry, the rice is flattened to perserve it longer, but can expand once inside a human stomach, which causes an overly full sensation despite the fact I’ve seen that guy eat almost a whole fucking box of pizza, noodles and an entire curry, I found that out the hard way, make sure he doesn’t puke.” Longwei said to Jiayi.

Lei hissed a little in agony, almost as if he knew they were watching a movie and tried to keep it quiet to avoid disturbing them and even gasping when a cramp started

”Jia.....yi......” He groaned.

“Baise, go get your twin to be quiet.” Devi told Jiayi.

“Not easy to get him to shut up when he has an upset stomach and ate twice his body weight, other than the nine plate, this is the largest I’ve seen him eat.” She said.

”嘉怡......... (Jiayi.........)” He said in Cantonese.

Lei soon belched loudly, the other gang members turned to him.

Over thirty minutes later, the overly full sensation left him and he was asleep.

———————————

Soon after the film was over, the twins went to their room, Jiayi to watch TV and Lei to sleep off his food coma.

”We are not nicknaming the twins Tarrare and Suzie Wong with a knife.” Zhao said to Longwei.

”Come on, it’ll be funny, Did you even see how much that long-haired bastard even eat?” Longwei said.

“Yes, and this isn’t a laughing matter, remember, You were an impoverished homeless brat yourself, gorging isn’t a damn laughing matter.” Zhao said.

Maria then spoke

”What about Heise and Baise, Heise for Jiayi and Baise for Lei?” She said.

Zhao thought about it, it seemed like good monikers for the twins.

Half and hour later, Lei woke up.

Lei was in only a buttoned shirt and shorts, he seemed to have taken off everything else aside from those two.

”Ah, You’re awake already, Baise.” Zhao said to Lei, who nodded.

“How do you feel?” Maria asked.

”A little better, Didn’t get food back in home, foster parents refused to give me, thought I was going to burst back there.” Lei said.

”Baise means white and Heise means black.” Maria said.

”Okay.” He said.

”This goes without saying, But you’ll get fat if you continue with that.” Zhao said to Lei.

Lei seemed to be aware of this and poked at his abdomen.

“Also, We’ll have a doctor come and look at you, I’ll tell him about the constant overeating.” He said.

Lei nodded, It wasn’t something he was proud of, he threw up only a handful of times, It wasn’t nice.

”I hungry before I met gang, I thought my stomach will explode, I threw up several times when I overeat.” He said, seemingly embarrassed.

“Don’t worry.” Zhao assured.

Zhao turned to Maria.

”Maria, If this happens again, tell Lei to stop eating after he’s finished several plates, Lei, If you are starting to feel full, Stop eating immediately.” Zhao said to him.

——————————————

A day later, Angela D’Amico, visited the group, Lei was stripped down to his shorts.

”Okay, You told me had problems with overeating.” Angelo said to Zhao.

”Yes, He ate so much in one sitting he had a bloated stomach and almost vomited, His foster family starved him.” Zhao said

Angelo turned to Lei.

”Okay, Lei, step on the scales.” Angelo told Lei.

Lei complied and stepped on the scales, it came as 134 lbs, a healthy weight despite the fact Lei had been starved.

”His weight is perfectly normal for a boy of 5’8, Zhao, It’s very likely he ate more than usual to try and get his weight back to normal as Jiayi told me Lei was thinner before, but what his foster parents did caused his binge eating as a result.” Angelo explained to Zhao.

Angelo took out two tablets, to suppress Lei’s appetite and the other being vitamins.

”Lei will take these during meals and then after meals, If he doesn’t feel hungry or eats less, That’s normal, This will take awhile due to the effects of hunger on his body.” He explained.

Lei nodded, ensuring he understood the doctor.

”Okay, Lei, Lie down on the bed, I’m going to perform a babinski reflex, This may tingle a bit.” Angelo said.

Lei nodded and got on the bed, The doctor took gently a metal thin object and gently moved it up Lei’s foot, Lei’s face scrunched a bit and a smile snuck on his face.

Joseph came in, Angelo looked at him.

”Okay, the reflexes in his toes are fine, okay, other foot.” Angelo replied.

Angelo did Lei’s other foot, The Macau man began to laugh helplessly, The fact he was quite ticklish was only something known by his sister.

”Hahahaha--no stop--only Jiayi do that--hahaha” Lei pleaded between laughs.

”I know it tickles, just hold on, I’m sorry.” He said to him.

Angelo finished the Babinski response.

He felt around Lei's body except genitalia at the front, It tickled a bit and Lei squirmed a bit.

”Okay, Turned around.” The Italian-American man said to Lei, who complied.

He saw faint marks on his back and saw six faint marks, three on one side and three on the other.

”I didn’t buy stupid spoiled bitch right coat or doll.“ Lei said, explaining to Angelo about his scars.

”I see.” Angelo said.

A few hours later, it was done.

”Okay, despite Lei’s weight being normal and his history of starvation, It’s very likely Lei developed binge eating due to this, the risks are obesity and digestive problems, he doesn’t seem to have suffered organ damage.” Angelo to said to Zhao.

Chapter 9: Black Days
Two years later in 2003, The gang was in the middle of a gang war with the opposing Jiangling Boys, The gang members all came from ethnic Chinese origin, mostly mainland China and Singaporean Chinese and a small amount of Vietnamese, the name came from their leader, Bao Jiang, a Chinese criminal wanted for multiple accounts of rape, murder and torture across three states.

Maria held two rifles as several Jianglings were shot, Zhao relied on those capable of fight to defend themselves, Bao relied more on quantity than quality, if they could drive, use a gun, they were in.

”Die you fucking bastards!” Maria shouted.

The shootout was at a home in the middle of Florida,

Longwei and Mi-Yung found the dead body of a Vietnamese man lying in a shed.

The guy had his throat slit and Mi-Yung shook a little.

”Fucking hell....” Longwei said.

Mi-Yung looked at the body with disgust.

”I can’t get a clear shot!” Joseph yelled.

”Fucking bastards!” Maria shouted.

As soon as the Jiangling members cleared out, Maria went into the house with the other gang menbers, who all survived.

”Check the home for supplies.” Zhao said.

They nodded and picked up everything they needed.

”Hey, guys, come check this out.” Longwei said to the group.

There was a photo of a Vietnamese couple in traditional Vietnamese clothing, on the back it read “Tanisha and Cánh Nguyen, married 19th December 2001”

”The poor bastard must of been married.” He said.

”If we don’t need it, put it down.” Maria said.

He heard screaming.

”GET AWAY FROM ME!” He heard a woman cry.

He also heard Devi’s shocked gasps, the woman was in a tattered Aò dài and messy hair.

”Look what I found.” Devi said.

“Ma’am, Ma’am! Calm down!” Zhao cried, desperately trying to comfort the hysterical woman

Longwei still held the wedding photo.

”She’s not a Jiangling, look at her!” Zhao said to the gang.

Maria went up to her.

”We mean you no harm, we’re bad men, but we aren’t them, come on, let’s go, You can’t stay here.” Maria said.

”Mrs. Tanisha Nguyen.” She said.

”That your name?” Maria asked.

”Yes, my husband.....he was....” She said.

”Don’t say anything anymore.” Maria said.

”Lead Mrs. Nguyen to the car, we’ve seen enough fucked up shit for one day.” Zhao said.

Tanisha held onto Maria.

”They killed....” She said.

——————————

On the way home, Lei stood outside the porch, when the car pulled up.

He saw a woman in a ruined Áo dài, Lei later noticed she wasn’t wearing panties underneath and saw semen and blood trickling down her legs.

”Maria, who is that?” Lei said.

Tanisha looked at Lei, at first, she thought he was a girl until he spoke, which confirmed he was indeed male.

“Her husband was murdered.” Maria said to Lei.

Lei looked at her, then went up to her.

”Nijūichi, I think she may have been raped.” Lei said.

Maria looked at him, Lei then wiped a sample of the white and sticky fluid.

”Don’t you fucking touch me!” She yelled at Lei, who paid no mind to being yelled at.

”This is semen alright, and the way you reacted.” Lei said.

Tanisha looked at Lei.

”My sister was like that aswell, she was nearly raped when she was sixteen because of her race, you know, Chinese, shortly afterwards, she only let me touch her, no one else, She was lucky that I came out of class, but she wouldn’t let any man touch her she was basically rage in the form of a attempted rape victim teenager, she punched our bastard foster father in the face when he grabbed her.” Lei said to her.

”So, her hatred of being touched only applies to men.” Tanisha said.

”Yeah, except me.” Lei said.

Tanisha was helped inside and Feng took a sample of semen off her body.

”We’ll get someone to analyze this, judging by this, you’ve been raped during a home invasion.” Feng said to her.

Chapter 10: The turncoat.
The next day, when looking at a Jiangling hideout, Maria, Zhao and Satomi looked on at the people.

“He doesn’t seem to happy.” Maria whispered.

They saw Bao hit another gang member, who looked quite young and he gave out a startled cry, Maria could lipread “Get your ass on your bike, jackass.”

Then the Jiangling gang seemed to move out, with the lone member following behind.

Maria moved out as soon as the rest were gone.

”I’ll get the lone one, you two head back, I’ll get this prick.” Maria said.

Maria moved out on her motorbike, following the last man to leave the camp, it was a lone road.

The man, who was at least 19-20 started to notice a female biker.

He tried to move faster on his bike until Maria sucessfully grabbed him by his collar.

The bike steered into another direction, causing it to be ruined when it crashed into a tree.

”Hey! You got the wrong person!” He cried as Maria forced him into lie on his stomach on her bike.

”You fucking move, I’ll shoot you.” She said.

Maria started the bike, the man tried desperately to hold on.

”Where are you taking me?” The Jiangling cried.

“Somewhere really nice.” She said sarcastically.

Maria was somewhere near the gang headquarters.

”You have a name, Jiangling?” She asked.

”I don’t know!” He cried out.

”You don’t know your own fucking name?” Maria shouted.

”It’s Lee, Lee Liu Wei!” He said.

”Liu Wei, huh?, Today’s a bad day for you, Liu!” Maria said,

The man moaned a little.

”Don’t worry, they are really nice people.” Maria said.

”I think I’ll be sick.” Liu Wei moaned.

”You speak again, I’ll break every bone in your body, got that?” Maria threatened.

The man nodded, tears running down his face.

The drive was at least 10 minutes until Maria stopped at a strangely neat house.

Zhao got outside with Longwei and Joseph.

”Got the little degenerative fucker.” Maria said.

”You want me to make him talk, boss?” Longwei asked.

”No, All we’ll get is lies, we get him hungry first, that’ll make him talk.” Zhao said.

The squirming Chinese man looked at the older man.

”I got a saying my friend, An army marches on it’s stomach, We’re going to find out if that’s true, Maria and Longwei, tie this maggot up outside.” Zhao said.

”I hate that man! I hate that bastard!” Liu Wei shouted.

Liu Wei was headed through the kitchen, which led to a long tree, then Maria tied him to the tree with ropes with his arms tied around his back.

”Sure you do!, I can’t believe it, a Jiangling, In my goddamn hideout!” Zhao said.

”You sick bastards!” He shouted.

Gang members had a quota for keeping an eye on him, the mute Mila was almost undisturbed by the Singaporean Chinese man.

A few days later, Maria went to check on him, Liu Wei was tied to the tree, he looked weaker and much thinner, the guy was also breathing heavily, sometimes, she saw the man’s ribs through his thin changshan, She assumed that aswell has being starved in order to make him talk, before that, he wasn’t on a sustainable diet before that, she’s seen in before in Feng, no matter how much Feng ate, he always remained stick thin with ribs poking out and the same with Lei, but he started to be in more control.

”You’re Maria, right?” He told the Japanese-American woman.

”Are you seriously asking me this?” Maria told him.

”I’m hungry.” He moaned.

Zhao ordered that gang members caught feeding him would be punished, but there was no rule about giving the prisoner water.

Maria knew it was at least four days when the young prisoner had eaten, the ending conditions were if he fell ill, was about to faint from hunger while tied to the tree, soiled himself, this went on for more than several weeks and he is beginning to die of starvation that it was to now untie him.

”I don’t give a shit.” Maria said.

Maria looked at him, she was out reading JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Vento Aureo outside.

”But you seem good behind it all.” He said.

Maria went up to him.

”I’m not, Liu, You’re a shit judge of character.” She said.

Maria returned to her book when Tanisha went outside holding a bowl of phổ.

Liu Wei was ravenous at the sight of the bowl, he wanted it.

”You’re the Jiangling, right?” She asked in a fake friendly tone.

Maria was about to inform Tanisha of the rules until Tanisha gave a look that read: ”I’m teasing him.”

”I’m the guy tied to the tree, so I guess I must be.” Liu Wei said.

”I met your fellow boys before.” Tanisha said.

”Oh, yeah?” Liu Wei spoke, he looked at the bowl, His stomach began to groan loudly, sending pain throughout his body.

Tanisha seemed to notice this and held the bowl closer.

”You must be hungry....” She fake-cooed.

”Like you wouldn’t believe, it hurts like hell.” He said, drooling at the smell.

”Well, I’ll leave this here then.” Tanisha said, She then dropped the bowl to the ground.

Liu Wei almost cried, he was starving and his stomach felt like it was on fire, he hadn’t been this hungry in his life, The Jianglings barely kept him on a barely sustainable diet.

She dropped the bowl to the grass.

”In the dirt, where those Jianglings left my husband!” She shouted in the man’s face.

Maria looked at the man desperately trying to get the bowl with his foot, the smell was still in the air, Normally, she would of had pity for someone like this, but she had been desensitized due to the violence she experienced and the fact he was a rival gang member also was another thing to fuel it.

Maria went back inside.

”How is he, Maria?” Zhao asked.

”Tanisha’s pissed, she teased him with a bowl of phổ, She pretended to offer him it and then drop the contents on the ground.” She said.

”Longwei, You’re in charge.” Zhao said.

Longwei got up and kissed Maria, who smiled a little before sitting outside with a cigarette, he didn’t smoke often.

”I am on guard duty, Jiangling boy, do not ask me for food, so shut the fuck up.” He said.

”Mister, please, Wǒ èsǐle.” He pleaded.

“What does the part of “Shut the fuck up” don’t you understand?” He said.

”Please, I’m hungry, I can’t take it anymore, I haven’t slept well since I was tied here, I need to piss, can you lend a bucket and untie me?” Liu Wei complained.

Longwei got up, finished his cigarette and went up to him.

”No, 你自己去他媽的 (Go fuck yourself).” He said.

The Taiwanese man went back inside, the Singaporean Chinese man sighed despite his aching bladder and stomach.

A day later, Satomi went out to have a drink of lemonade, she noticed a strong smell and heard what sounded like splashing and dripping.

”拉屎！ (Shit!)” He shouted.

Satomi turned around, she saw tears streaming down his face.

”Maria, Bosu, come here, omorashi-kun!” Satomi laughed.

”Please shut up.....” He sobbed.

Zhao and Maria went outside, then Zhao called out to Longwei.

”Longwei, please get Jiangling a change of clothes, he wet himself.” Zhao said.

Longwei was playing on the Dreamcast and when he heard this, he erupted into laughter.

”Now.” Zhao said.

”Fine, Hahahaha, The little Jiangling....Hahahaha....pissed himself like a baby!” He laughed.

Liu Wei closed his eyes, Maria turned to him.

”Relax, We’ll tie you once after you’ve been washed and changed.” Maria said.

Maria with the help of Zhao undid the ropes holding the Chinese man to the tree.

Satomi giggled a little.

”Sumimasen, It kinda funny,“ Satomi apologetically said.

Longwei went to prepare a bath.

”Satomi, You help him.” Zhao said

”What in hell?, Why I have to bathe omorashi-kun?!” Satomi yelled.

Satomi was no stranger to helping men bathe, she was used to it with Feng and Joseph.

”Satomi, If you continue to call him that, You will not be allowed to watch TV or use any electronics, His name is Liu Wei or Jiangling boy, Use that name, We’re not the fucking Jianglings, if any of you and the girls were kidnapped by them, they would rape and torture you.” Zhao warned

Satomi glared at him, then gave an expression of “Fine then!”

Tanisha looked on with Bopha.

“Why did you untie the fucker?!” Tanisha yelled.

”He wet himself, He‘ll be tied to the tree after we bathe him.” Maria said as Liu Wei looked down, embarrassed.

Bopha then decided to ask a question when she saw the male prisoner put a hand on his midsection when a faint growl was heard.

”Should we give him something?” She asked.

Liu Wei was about to look with Bopha with a hopeful expression until Maria spoke.

”Not until he starts talking, Tanisha threw a bowl of pho at his feet, she was fucking pissed.” Maria said.

Satomi and Longwei helped the Singaporean-Chinese man get upstairs.

Maria sat down quietly, she wasn’t really paying attention to the TV,

Mi-Yung wrote down “What happened, Maria?”

Maria took the notebook and wrote “The Jiangling wet himself, Zhao made Longwei and Satomi get him to take a bath.”

Mi-Yung then wrote “Guess they missed having another Chinese in the gang“

Maria then wrote “Mila is Hong Kongese, Lei and Jiayi are Macau and Longwei is Taiwanese, not Chinese, they’re ethnically Chinese, but aren’t considered such, Liu Wei is Singaporean Chinese, makes sense considering the Jiangling Boys are predominantly Singaporean Chinese, basically, if Mila wasn’t mute, she would have spoken Cantonese”

Mi-Yung then wrote “Ah, Sorry”

Mila sat down next to him.

Mila signed “Looks like the prison boy had to take a bath, strangely nice of us.”

Maria signed “Yeah, we’ll feed him soon as he talks.”

Maria was skilled in sign language since Mila joined the team, Mila used Hong Kong and American Sign Language, Mila was very willing to teach it to her fellow gang members.

Several more minutes had passed since Liu Wei was untied, Liu Wei was later marched down the stairs wearing a new changshan while his own was in the washing machine.

Liu Wei was later tied back on the tree.

”Jiangling, You piss your pants again, I’ll slice your dick off.” Longwei jokingly threatened.

Liu Wei just sighed, it was nice to be clean for once despite the fact he was still hungry, even though he was captured by a gang that had a woman with the highest kill count outside gang warfare deaths, the fact she didn’t even act like a proper lady also intimidated him.

”How many people.....did Maria kill?” He asked.

”Oh, Nijūichi, At least 25 or more, her latest victim was a teacher back in her elementary school who called her a Jap until she was fired for drug use, Don’t feel sorry for her victims, Some of those bastards killed Maria’s mom, some of them tried to kill her back in 1989.” Longwei said.

“Nijūichi? Isn’t that Japanese for.....?” He asked.

”Yes, Nijūichi means 21, Maria’s family had a tarot based faith, the markings you saw on her arms were a rite of passage in her family, Her title was The World, which is the 21st Tarot card.” He explained.

”Oh.” He said.

”I need to get back inside.” Longwei said.

Maria sat, playing her family’s tarot deck she took at the age of 18, They were old, but pristine aswell.

A day had passed, Mi-Yung was on guard duty, She read while hunger pains were affecting Liu Wei.

She was reading until she noticed Liu Wei shaking a lot and him whispering, she picked it up as “quiet down, quiet down, I know you’re hungry”.

Mi-Yung got her notebook and wrote “What’s up with you?”

”Hungry.....My.....stomach.....it hurts.....” Liu Wei said.

He saw the Korean woman trying to copy his lip movements, and she even felt vibrations from where the man was standing, to Liu Wei, a loud rumble escaped from his midsection, which Mi-Yung seemed to “hear”.

Despite her deafness, Mi-Yung learned to “hear” by “hearing” and sensing vibrations, which is very useful with explosives,

Mi-Yung noticed and wrote “I’m deaf, I can’t hear you that well, My father destroyed my hearing, judging by the vibrations I’m “hearing”, you are hungry, please quiet that down, thank you.” She also drew an ear with a Q-tip lodged in it and pointed to her bandaged ears, the wounds were quite horrible to look at and she preferred just to cover her ears since she could no longer wear hearing aids due to damage.

There was no way this woman would get him food, he barely knew sign language and she couldn’t hear anything.

Maria went out and signed “Mi-Yung, We’re gonna need help with the weapons.”

Mi-Yung nodded and waved before heading back inside.

Then he saw a long-haired woman coming out, he wore what appeared to be dress attire, then a man who looked similar to her went to sit on the deck chair, it took him a while to know that they were twins

“ (Is this the guy the boss caught?)” Jiayi asked.

” (Seems to be)” He said.

Lei was sitting, reading a book on the Holocaust as he and his sister watched the guy, he looked around his age.

”Mercy.....” He whimpered.

As if on cue, his stomach began to growl loudly, apparently, It annoyed Lei, causing him got up and roughly put a hand on the Singaporean Chinese’s man’s abdomen as if there was a button to shut it up.

It startled Liu Wei, the Macau man’s eyes looked threatening and he felt almost scared.

”Shut that thing up, I trying to read, it make so much noise.” He said.

Liu Wei almost shook, the other male’s fingers dug deeply into his skin.

“I can’t, Can you just get me food?” Liu Wei asked.

It came to Lei’s attention that the guy was hungry, he heard about the guy being bathed, but he wasn’t going to pity the man, he wasn’t a good and morally decent person.

”Dumbass, I don’t care.” He said.

Lei went back inside, leaving his sister to watch him, she sat down.

Liu Wei felt his head drop, the cramps failed to ease at any moment and the smell from the kitchen wasn’t any better, it felt like an invisible hand was crushing his organs.

Jiayi faced the man as he whimpered from hunger and pain, then walked over to him and moved his head up to face her.

”Lei a sociopath, we didn’t have good life.” She said.

Jiayi went back to sit down.

Half an hour later, Mi-Yung returned with a small-to-medium sized loaf of bread, a small cup of water and her notebook.

She wrote “Okay, this will be enough to keep you alive, but too little to be full and satisfied, Bare with me.”

She hand-fed it to him, who ate it even though he knew it wouldn’t be enough to make him full, it was still nice though.

“Thank you, miss, thank you kindly.” He said, even though Mi-Yung wouldn’t be able to hear him.

She smiled a little, then gave him the water, cooling down his burning throat.

”That’s good.....that’s good...” He mumbled.

She then wiped his face to clear any evidence of Liu Wei eating the bread while he was still tied to the tree.

She wrote: “I need to get back inside, I’ll see you soon”

Then Mila came out, she sat down, playing with several Pokémon plush dolls she collected, very much likely stolen.

”Hey.” He said, trying to get Mila’s attention.

It took nearly 40 minutes for him to get Mila’s attention, Mi-Yung was right, that loaf wasn’t enough, starvation returned again and this time, it wouldn’t leave him alone.

Then a violent cramp caused him to cry out in agony, Mila went up and walked towards him, she put a hand on him, she felt sweat drip down from his face onto her hand.

She then placed a hand on his abdomen, which seemed to be the source of the pain.

”Ah....ah.....ah.....” He whimpered, it passed, then looked at the mute girl.

She blinked, then looked, then tilted her head, basically asking “Are you alright?, Are you ill?”

Fortunately, Liu Wei got her message and took him a while to know she couldn’t speak.

”I......I’m hungry......no wait........starving.......” He whispered.

She then felt a harsh vibration from where her hand as if she felt worms underneath was sitting and heard a loud gurgling noise, he looked at her, then felt his vision go all woozy.

Mila turned her head to Maria, who was nearest to the door.

”Maria, I think he’s going to faint.” She signed to Maria.

Maria went out, handed her a chocolate bar, around four bars.

”Give him this.” She said, Mila nodded.

Mila went up to him and gestured him to open his mouth.

He bit into it.

Mila wrote “we need to keep you conscious unless you need to go to sleep”.

He nodded.

Hours have passed and it was almost 7pm and now the pain was starting to make him cry, hunger was now passed the point it felt like he would die next week, he didn’t even know how long it was.

Mi-Yung wasn’t wrong about the bread not being enough and the chocolate to keep him conscious, It was at least seven hours since she appeared and apparently, she was with Satomi, out shopping for supplies undercover.

Zhao, Maria and Longwei came outside.

”We need info about your gang, Where the fuck are they now?” Maria asked.

Liu Wei was too busy weeping from hunger pains.

”Don’t cry, Speak.” Maria said, slowly.

”I....I....I...can’t....It....hurts...stomach...” He sobbed between words.

” (Speak for fuck’s sake!)” Longwei shouted.

Longwei then pulled down Liu Wei’s pants.

”Seriously, Longwei?!” Zhao scolded.

”What are you doing?!” He cried.

Longwei then got out a kitchen knife.

“If you’re not gonna speak, I’ll slice your dick off, with a kitchen knife.” Longwei said.

Liu Wei just began to cry and scream even harder.

”Do you want your little xiǎo niǎo cut off?” He spoke in an insulting manner, holding the knife close to the man’s nether regions.

“ (You sick bastards!)” He screamed out in Chinese.

” (Are you gonna talk?)” Zhao asked.

”They’re at an abandoned summer camp called the Funland Lake Summer Camp!, I’ll take you there.” He said.

Maria then joked.

”Looks like you’re still gonna keep your ability to have babies then.” She joked.

Maria then untied him and helped him pull up his pants.

The guy looked like he was going to faint.

”Um, Can I have something to eat, you know, so my stomach doesn’t alert anyone?, I think I will faint if I went out.” He asked.

”Since you asked so nicely, what are you in the mood for?” Maria asked.

”Laksa......My mom used to make me it....” He said.

Bopha went outside.

”Should I make him something now?” She asked.

”Go ahead.” Maria said.

Bopha helped the staggering man inside, he was starving and felt woozy.

”Okay, I can’t use coconut milk for it though, Maria, the young woman in our gang, She’s allergic to it.” She said.

Liu Wei nodded, he usually liked it with coconut milk, but was willing to skip it for her safety.

”I didn’t know that....” He said.

”Now you know, Ever since she joined the gang aged 18, No one in the gang was allowed coconut.” Bopha said.

She helped him sit down.

”I’ll take 10 minutes, want to wait here, Avoid Tanisha for now, she’s not over the fact her husband was killed by your former gang.” Bopha said and warned.

The Vietnamese woman glared at Liu Wei, then went upstairs.

Mi-Yung looked at him, She witnessed him lightly punching himself in the stomach.

Maria looked at him, the Japanese-American woman stared deeply into him.

”Paradise Lost, You’re gonna help us, But, You’ll never go back home again.” She said.

”Jokes on you, I had been kidnapped and made to join their gang, they demanded ransom from my parents when they found out my father became a wealthy businessman, then I was never brought back home, they don’t even know if I’m dead or alive.” Liu Wei spoke.

”Fuck....” She said.

The Singaporean Chinese man then punched himself harder in the stomach when a hunger pain started.

”Don’t hurt yourself, dumbass.” She said.

”Not a dumbass, This is really starting to turn my insides.” He said.

”Bopha is almost done.” Maria said.

As soon as it passed, Bopha came in and set the dish down, the male began to dig in.

”Bopha, did you use coconut to make that?” Maria asked her.

”No I did not, I used almond milk as substitute.” She said.

He held the dish protectively in front of the two women as if they were going to steal it off him.

“We’re not gonna steal it from you.” Bopha said to him.

He almost wolfed the dish down, Feng came into the room.

”That’s the Jiangling, right?” Feng asked Maria.

The Nanjing native stayed in his poison lab, which was a room in the basement where he experimented with poisonous chemicals.

”Yeah, Guy wouldn’t shut up about being hungry, and were obviously not allowed to make a guy go after his former gang while starving.” She said.

Liu Wei stopped eating and turned to Feng.

”Is she always like this?” Liu Wei asked Feng.

”Yeah, Always, Don’t worry about her though, Nijūichi’s mother was killed before she joined this gang.” Feng said.

“Ah.” Liu Wei said before he continued to eat his Laksa.

Then the meal was finished, Bopha took the plate.

”Dushuqiang will see if he can tamper with the Jiangling’s food supply.” Maria said, moving her head towards Feng.

Liu Wei almost felt sluggish because he was now full, but there was no time to waste, the Xiaoyings had a hideout to find.

Mi-Yung and Satomi arrived back with food and water then walked out aswell, carrying a shotgun.

”If you’re gonna take the Jiangling, take us too?” Mi-Yung mouthed while signing.

“Alright, come on then, Let’s raise some hell for these bastards, Mi-Yung, keep an eye on Liu Wei.” Longwei said.

Chapter 11: Chinatown’s Two Guns
FLASHBACK

In 1995, 15-year old Longwei stood on a poor street in Chinatown, Chicago, He resorted looking into garbage cans for food.

He didn’t exactly live on a sustainable diet with his father and took up a life of pickpocketing as a result, the food he stole was better than the food he had to cook for his father and himself.

” (Fuck.....Fuck.....Fuck....)” He mumbled deeply under his breath.

He had bruising on his face due to the more corrupt cops beating him for no reason at all.

” (Those fucking bastards were meant to uphold the fucking law, not beating young teens for being of a different skin complexion than their own)” He said.

To him, he felt they saw when they looked at the homeless Taiwanese boy was just a little criminal in the making and nothing more.

He failed to find anything edible among the garbage, which resulting in him yelling in frustration.

” (Shit.....)” He mumbled, the Taiwanese teenager then pressed a hand to his midsection.

He walked on the streets a large bruise on his face and his right arm seemed to be fractured, as it hurt when he moved it.

” (Fucking cops, could at least offered me food, or better, A fucking doctor)” He said, spitting on the ground.

He stood in the alleyways of Chinatown, away from the population, then walked a few metres before stopping.

” (I seriously want something to eat, this fucking sucks, Those rich fat bastards get everything......fuck the whole lot)” He mumbled.

He tried fall asleep despite the fact he was beyond starving and he couldn’t sleep like that, he counted how long it was since his last meal, which was a stolen half-eaten cheeseburger, he counted with fingers.

” (Four fucking days, I’ll probably die on the fifth day)” He muttered to himself.

A few hours later, he opened his eyes and found a man in his forties wearing traditional Chinese clothes and holding something......

”You homeless?” He asked.

”Yes.” Longwei replied.

Both guys heard a loud grumbling sound, Zhao looked around until he saw the teen clutching his midsection.

”And starving.......” Longwei said, sheepishly.

He saw what looked like American fast food, he didn’t exactly like it, but he really needed it.

“Are you going to eat that?, If you came here to eat it in front of me, fuck off.” He said.

Longwei often came across people that pretended to offer him food, usually teens his age, who then would eat it right in front of him, pissing him off entirely to the point he would refuse food in case this was the case,

”I’m not going to, I noticed you being beaten up by the cops and you trying to find food in garbage cans.” He said.

The man sat the burger and fries down, Longwei gulped a little, he grabbed the burger and desperately shoved it into his mouth.

”You’ve got the manners of a pig.” He responded.

”Well, excuse me for being starving.” Longwei replied back, swallowing his first bite of food in a few days.

He shoved the fries into his mouth, even though he never liked fast food and preferred Taiwanese dishes, this was strangely acceptable.

”I’ll help you, My name is Zhao Xiaoying, I want you to join me, away from scourges like the police and abuse.” He said.

”Hm, If it will get me away from a shithole street, I’d gladly take up your offer.” He said.

He stood up, feeling better after having something in his system.

”Now, take me away from this place to whatever it is.” He said.

Zhao almost smirked at the teenager’s way of speaking.

——————————

Longwei arrived to a fancy-looking house, it must of had several rooms.

Chapter 12: Shell shock
In 2005, Zhao’s aunt, a woman named Ying Chun-hua came in to visit her nephew and his gang, She was 82-years old.

” (Zhao, It’s been a while since I’ve seen you)” She said.

She looked at the young gang members.

”Okay, This is Liu Wei, he’s been in the gang for two years now.” He said.

” (Hello, Ms. Ying)” Liu Wei said.

Zhao’s surname Xiaoying wasn’t actually his own surname, He used both of his parents surnames as a pseudonym.

She saw a man reading about poison.

”That’s Feng, he came from Nanjing and he managed to piss off both the police and the government, so here he is.” He said.

Chun-hua looked at Maria and Satomi, Maria was reading JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure while Satomi was playing with a DS she stole from a shop.

”These two women are Satomi Yoshida and Maria Tachimi.” Zhao said before he noticed her shaking.

” (Japanese?)” She asked, trembling.

”Maria’s half Japanese.” Zhao said.

Maria seemed to notice how frightened the woman was and got up.

” (What did your ancestors do in Nanking?)” She asked.

” (My grandfather was only 12, my great-grandfather was in America at the time, my grandfather didn’t join the army until he was 17)” She said.

Her Chinese got better overtime

Maria then sat down next to her.

” (I have been to the Nanking Massacre Memorial Museum when I was little, grandpa was friends with a Chinese-American woman who was a Nanking refugee, She never took hatred out on my mother or me)” She said.

“ (I’ll tell you my story about Nanking, It was 11:00am, they entered our house, They raped my mother and then tried to rape me, I was 14 at the time, When they were done with my mom, They set her body on fire and me, my brother and my sister managed to survive)” She said.

” (Zhao, I didn’t know your family survived Japanese rule)” She said.

” (I see Maria as my own adopted daughter, She’s suffered a lot, her mother got killed when she was 13)” He said.

” (Really?)” She asked.

” (Yeah, Maria ended up resorting to killing as a result, The people she kills took away her mother)” He said.

Chapter 13: Alabama Gangsta Paradise
In 2007, Feng, Zhao, Maria, Mi-Yung and Longwei arrived at a Neo-Nazi hideout in Alabama, their objective was to steal their funds and kill the members, They found out their members killed a Jewish-American woman and her son, aswell as blew up several places.

”Okay, I got it all figured out, Feng, You come with me, you are going to poison everyone to incapacitate them, Maria, get the guns, you get to kill a whole lot of dipshits, Feng, after you’ve done poisoning, watch them die then get out, Maria will finish the leader off.” Longwei said.

Then Longwei began to sign to the deaf Mi-Yung.

”You get to plant explosives when our work is done, make sure no one sees you, You will be given a revolver to defend yourself.” Longwei mouthed as he signed as he handed her a revolver.

They all put their scarves on and hoods up to conceal their identity.

Feng hid the packet of dushuqiang rat poison in his bag, he was better with poisons than guns.

Maria came in to the reception, a male Neo-Nazi stood up, he had a swastika on his forehead.

”Who the fuck are you?!” He shouted.

Maria then shot him in the head where his swastika was.

” (Sweet dreams)” She said in Japanese as she continued moving.

The Japanese-American 25-year old walked through the halls, then walking into a room with a man teaching a group of Neo-Nazis.

”The Jews are horrible people, they lied about the Holocaust, thanks to the truth being uncovered by David Irving!” He shouted.

—————————————

Feng Zheng was looking for the kitchens, Longwei gave him a knife to defend himself as he sneaked passed Neo Nazis who wouldn’t notice the Chinese man, Longwei also shot security cameras to make sure no one caught them doing the deed.

He noticed a door that said “Küche”, Feng scoffed,

”Tell us to shut up in my language and go back to our own country and yet they use a foreign language.” He mumbled as he walked towards it.

The Chinese poisoner heard footsteps and he tiptoed away from the door and back to his hiding place, he noticed a man in chef’s clothing leaving, he had taken off his apron, revealing himself wearing an SS shirt and had a swastika tattoo, indicating to Feng he was going to the toilet.

He noticed the door was left opened and he walked in, he saw sauerkraut in a pot and bratwurst being cooked, the smell made him mouth water a little, he closed the door and started his mission to poison it.

” (Hope these bastards like dushuqiang)” He said.

The packet was a yellow bag with a cat with a fist on the top of the package and three mice at the bottom.

He opened the packet carefully, revealing the white powder inside, then mixed it into the sauerkraut with the wooden spoon, which took five minutes.

” (Okay Feng, you got this, you got this, keep it together)” He said.

Feng then started with the wurst, he sprinkled the powder on the bratwurst using two fingers, then rubbed it in with gloves and doing the same.

” (Head chef must of had diarrhea if he‘s that long in the bathroom)” He mumbled in Mandarin.

He looked at the door as his hands rubbed the powder into the bratwurst, it took 15 minutes, much longer than should have, then he heard someone open the door.

” (Who’s there?)” He hissed in Mandarin.

Then he saw Longwei open the door.

”Hey, Feng it’s just me, Don’t worry about the chef, I shot him as soon as he left the bathroom.” He said.

Feng sighed in relief.

”They have an entire cooking staff, so you won’t have to worry about serving the food yourself and suspecting you.” Longwei said.

”Hey, where’s Maria?” Feng asked.

”She’s still killing the bastards.” Longwei replied.

”I’m going to check on Mi-Yung, there’s a window that shows the kitchen, I’ll see those men die.” He said.

Feng made his way outside, avoiding Neo-Nazis along the way.

He saw men coming in to the kitchen for dinner and into the dining room.

”Be safe, two guns.” He said as he made his way out.

Mi-Yung was finished planting the explosives, which were due to go off in 5 hours, giving them enough time to leave and to kill all of them.

”Okay, now we wait in the car for the other two.” Feng mouthed and signed.

”Hope they don’t take forever.” Mi-Yung mouthed as she signed.

Both went and stayed in the car, which was parked 5 minutes from the hideout to avoid suspection, they opened the car and Zhao was sitting in the car.

”Mi-Yung’s just finished planting the explosives, I just finished poisoning the food, Maria and Longwei are going to shoot up everyone.” Feng said.

—————————————

Maria then got the gun out of her bag.

”Fuck, That SOB’s got a gun!” He heard a Neo-Nazi shout.

She shot up the area, leaving few survivors then went towards the presentation giver.

”So, you deny the Holocaust, Is that correct?” Maria asked.

She undid her hood and mask.

He was shocked, it wasn’t a man, it was a Japanese-American woman around 5’4, which was short.

”You....You’re just a J*p girl, what are you doing here?!” He shouted at the Japanese-American woman.

”Why did this group kill a woman and her 8-year old son?” She asked.

”Our group wants to make America white and Jew-free, little girl!” He said.

Maria rolled her eyes then aimed her gun towards the man’s head as he was talking about genocide, how Mexicans were taking over and how East Asian women should be raped.

”Japanese girls like you are whores, they only love to please white men and make halfbreed children, destroying the precious white race that is“ He said before being cut off.

”Shut the fuck up.” Maria said as she fired a shot into the man’s chest.

”You fucking bitch!” He shouted in pain.

”Now it’s my turn to talk, Here’s my advice, I’m one of those you call halfbreeds, Japanese mom, American dad.” She said.

The man smirked.

”Your mom was probably a prostitute, You’d make a fine sex slave, that’s what girls like you are---” He said before being cut off by Maria shooting him again.

Before she left, she said a final sentence to the man.

” (Goodbye, fucker)” She said as he lay dying

Longwei saw her and both went towards the leader’s room, the leader was a squat man with brown hair and had a swastika tattooed on his head aswell as a picture of Hitler on his shirt.

”So, You’re the little girl shooting up all my men, Don’t worry, when my men have returned from their meal, You will be dead with guns, c****k whore.” He said.

Maria reloaded her gun.

”Think again.” Longwei replied as Maria laughed.

Then a male Neo-Nazi walked into the room, when Longwei saw him, he was obviously poisoned as blood was dripping down his mouth and ears.

”Mein Führer, we have a problem!” He shouted as he began to vomit blood up.

He ran and saw other Neo-Nazis bleeding profusely and vomiting blood in the kitchen, it was horrendous sight.

“These bastards, pathetic to the end.” Maria said, aiming her gun for the leader’s temple.

”You got that right.” He said.

Maria fired her gun, killing the leader.

”Now let’s get the fuck out of here!” Maria said.

Both Maria and Longwei ran their way outside, looking at Neo-Nazis dying from the poison and them bleeding profusely.

“Fucking hell, Feng...” Maria said.

Then they went into the car.

“Fuck, my shoes is covered in blood.” Longwei said as he took off both of his shoes.

”Let’s drive damnit!” Maria shouted.

Longwei took off his shoes and started the car.

—————————————

The gang drove when the radio played, It was three hours since them poisoning and blowing the place up.

”Over 20 members of the Neo-Nazi group Aryan Socialist Group were killed in an explosion, not much remains of the headquarters, but what we know so far is 37 members have been killed and another 50 were severely poisoned, an anti-Nazi group is said to be behind this.” The radio announced.

“Good job, That’s those guys down.” Zhao said.

Maria looked outside, listening to birds and wind blowing.

“The poisoned is probably dead by now, TETS causes the organs to liquify.” Feng said.

Chapter 14: Visiting Nanjing
The group visited Nanjing, China for the first ever Nanjing Massacre Memorial Day on 11th December.

It was after an 11 hour long plane ride on two seperate planes.

”Groups will be segregated by gender when we are in the hotel, Satomi, Maria, Takeshi, do not worry about it, we do not hate you three, this is about moving on.” Zhao said.

The gang members wore casual gear, far from the clothes they wore when killing, Lei tied his hair back.

”If there is a problem here, we‘ll get the smugglers to send our weapons.” He said,

Mila Liang held a stuffed Pikachu doll, she also had a medical that read “I can’t talk, I’m sorry if I seem rude” in both Chinese and English while Mi-Yung wore a bracelet with a picture of an ear with an X over it, indicating her deafness with the words “I can’t hear”.

”Liu Wei, you know the rules, you stay with us.” Maria said to him.

Satomi was reading Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang with the help of Feng, Satomi had difficulty with English and it was nice that Feng helped her.

“Okay, Satomi, it happened on this day and it costed 300,000 lives, some sources say 200,000, Over 20,000 women were raped, this is why it’s called the Rape of Nanking, Iris isn’t telling you to hate the Japanese, if she did, she would have put “fuck the Japanese” in it, but she didn’t, she has a very balanced viewpoint.” He said.

Satomi nodded as she wrote it down, Feng permitted her to write it down in Japanese.

”I might get you a Japanese copy for Christmas.” He said.

” (Go ahead and try, some deny the massacre)” She said.

A Chinese woman who was visiting the museum saw the Japanese woman reading the sentences and the Chinese man helping her, she approached the two.

” (Are you teaching her about the Nanking Massacre?)” She asked.

” (Yes, She can’t read English very well, she’s Japanese and most of the books she’s read are Japanese translations, She’s taking down notes, the whole motive behind this is to move on and cherish peace)” Feng replied back in Mandarin.

Despite living in the US for more than 13 years, it was very vital for the gang to keep their native tongues so they could communicate with other gangs.

The Chinese woman then gently placed a hand on Satomi’s shoulder.

” (Thank you, My great-grandfather would have been proud that a Japanese willingly learns about the Nanjing Massacre)” She said.

Satomi whispered in Feng’s ear.

” (She said thank you)” Feng said.

She turned her head to Maria, who was reading JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, she packed several volumes.

” (She’s from the states, she’s Japanese-American, she knows a lot about the Nanjing Massacre, She speaks fluent Chinese, Japanese and English, you are free to speak to her)” Feng said.

Maria was clearly engrossed in her book when she approached her, Feng went along to so Maria wouldn’t feel worried.

” (Hey, Maria, This woman’s happy I’m teaching Satomi about Nanjing, Do you want to say something?)” Feng asked.

Maria put her book down for a minute.

” (I visited this museum before when it first opened, My grandfather was friends with a Chinese-American woman, we went on a trip to Nanjing and this is one of the places we visited)” Maria spoke in perfect Mandarin.

” (That’s amazing, how old are you?)” She asked.

” (33, I just turned 33 last month, Feng doesn’t mind working with the Japanese, even those who came from Imperial Japanese backgrounds such as my grandfather and great-grandfather and Satomi’s grandfather, he told me friendship is friendship, history is history, our teacher told us we must work together, Feng even teaches up parts of Nanking, he assures there’s no hatred for me, Takeshi and Satomi)” She said.

Mila Liang walked up, she began to sign, she put the Pikachu doll in her bag.

” (Mila, she’s mute, born without the ability to talk, but she can understand you very well, I’ll translate for her if she wants to talk)” Feng said.

” (That’s nice of you, but I need to go, the silence and the release of birds are starting, you might want to make your way here)” She said.

The woman waved goodbye at them.

Satomi waved goodbye as she and Feng continued to read.

”Okay, it’s time for the silence and the birds, Let’s go.” Feng said.

Feng and Satomi grew to be close overtime.

Chapter 15
It was August 17th 6:30 am at the Scorpion Blood or Xiēxiěyè, a gang consisting mostly of Chinese-American and Chinese immigrants.

Xi Yuyan, or Madame Xi was the boss of the gang, it was a female predominant gang with a handful of male gang members specialising in weapons trading and illegal trading.

She walked down the halls and heard a scream from Fumei’s room, a male gang member named Guanyu, went up and knocked on the door.

” (Fumei, What the hell is going on?!)” He shouted.

Dongshun was alarmed and woke up after hearing his sister scream.

” (Let me deal with this)” Dongshun said to Guanyu, who nodded and went back to his room.

Dongshun opened his sister’s door, he heard gasps of pain followed by ragged breathing laced with pain.

“ (Dongshun, get....out before I make you.....)” He heard her hiss in pain.

There was clear discomfort in her voice and he went over to his sister’s bed and pulled of the covers.

” (What the......)” He said when he noticed the source of discomfort.

Fumei’s normally flat stomach was massive, swollen as if she swallowed a watermelon, Fumei looked at her brother.

” (How dare you.....Don’t....touch me.....Go back to your room)” She said.

At first, he thought an intruder was attacking his sister and got out a knife, he put the knife down as soon as he saw his sister having no fight left in her, only pain and discomfort.

It was unusual to see his sister, who murdered several people more than him, assaulted and robbed back in Chongqing, He had to admit, It was odd seeing the Chinese woman looking...so vulnerable.

“ (Fumei, what the fuck.....)” Dongshun mumbled.

Dongshun put his hand’s on his sister’s belly, which was unfortunately just in time for another contraction.

” (Don’t touch me......damnit!)” She hissed and pleaded.

Dongshun felt a small but firm kick, It couldn’t be.....his sister.....pregnant.....

“ (Can’t you see.....I’m a bit.....preoccupied at the moment)” She panted.

No, It couldn‘t have been the guys, Madame Xi greatly forbid the five men out of 17 gang members from having sexual relationships with eachother.

“ (Get out or I’ll make you!)” She hissed as another contraction occurred.

Then she screamed, alerting the others, Then Dongshun noticed fluid running down her legs, staining the bed.

” (Shit! Madame, Get in here!)” Dongshun shouted.

Yuyan came in with three female gang members, Yawen, Xiaomei and Yaling entered.

” (Xiaomei, go get me a tub of water)” She said, Xiaomei went out to get a tub.

Yuyan looked at Fumei, she didn’t notice it other than Fumei wearing more loose fitting clothes instead of her usual qipao.

The middle-aged woman waited, then Xiaomei came in with the water.

“ (That’s good, Xiaomei, now place it on the floor near the bed)” Yuyan said.

Xiaomei placed it near Fumei’s bed, Yaling held Fumei’s hand as she screamed while Xiaomei helped remove the lower half of Fumei’s attire.

” (Push!)” Yaling shouted.

Yawen went up to her, she turned to face Fumei.

” (She’s pregnant?! How the hell did she fall pregnant?!)” Yawen said.

She walked up to Fumei.

” (Who the hell is this kid’s dad?!)” Yawen asked her, albiet a bit harsh.

Fumei didn’t respond, causing Yawen to ask again.

” (Time to talk, Fumei! Who’s the kid’s daddy! Did you get knocked up?!)” Yawen asked, quite harshly.

” (The......father.....is.......one....of the Black Heaven boys.........)” Fumei said through heavy breathing.

Everyone looked, Yuyan was almost quiet.

” (Which one?!)” Yawen asked.

” (Chao.........)” She said through heavy breathing.

” (You mean that sociopath Zhao has a weapon specialist?! There’s no way he would have a baby!)” Yawen exclaimed.

Yawen was aware that they were fraternal twins called Chao, one male and one female, she was aware that the male was a sociopath and had other issues.

” (Look here, chickie, My veins growing uncontrollably would be more believable than that sociopath having sex)“ She said,

Yawen chuckled.

She screamed again, causing Yawen to silence and look at Fumei as she screamed.

Dongshun looked at his sister as she was giving birth to either his nephew or his niece.

After 30 minutes of heavy labor, Yaling could see the baby’s head crowning.

“ (Okay, that’s it, keep it up!)” Yaling said.

The baby was successfully delivered.

They heard a baby cry and Yaling looked at the baby, It was a girl.

” (Congratulations, mom, It’s a girl)” She said.

Yaling cut the umblical cord.

Fumei nodded before fainting, she didn’t even notice the afterbirth slipping out.

” (Dongshun, get me a Moses’ basket)” Yuyan said.

Dongshun went to get a Moses’ basket for his newborn niece and sister, he picked up the basket and used an old baby blanket he found and some pillows, he sorted them neatly before coming back into his sister’s room.

Yaling had dried off the baby just before Dongshun arrived back with the Moses’ basket, she wrapped the baby girl in a towel.

“ (Okay, Dongshun, give me the basket)” Yaling said to Dongshun.

Dongshun helped Yaling to put his niece, who was starting to settle and sleep.

” (Whoever the hell the father is, she isn’t my niece)” Dongshun said.

Dongshun was not angry at his sister, she was angry at the fact his sister became impregnated by a sociopathic man and hid her pregnancy,

” (Don’t say things like that, she’s just a baby, her dad is a killer)” Yaling said to him, disgusted.

” (We’ll wait til tomorrow, We don’t want to bother Black Heaven at this time, back to bed everyone)” Yuyan said.

Fumei was helped by Yaling to get her cleaned and dried off in the bath, as soon as that was over with, she got helped back to sleep with her newborn daughter in the same room.

” (She’ll live, I’ll help you care for her if the father doesn’t want to be associated with her)” Yaling said.

Fumei nodded before sleeping.

They decided to wait until Fumei was well enough to get out of bed.

—————————————

On August 18th 2015, Lei Chao was woken up at 3:30 by Maria.

Lei Chao was topless and sleeping on one of the beds with his twin sister sleeping on the opposite bed when she walked in.

”Hey, Lei, the boss wants you, I’m sorry about waking you up.” Maria said to him.

”Goddamnit.....” He mumbled before getting up, not bothering to put a shirt on.

Zhao Xiaoying, a female gang member named Chang Fumei and the boss of Scorpion Blood, a middle-aged Chinese woman named Xi Yuyan, she was in a cheongsam and glared at Lei as he walked in, Fumei was carrying a newborn baby girl in her arms.

”Madame Xi, I got Lei Chao in here now, He doesn’t speak Mandarin too well, he’s from Macau you see.” Zhao said to Yuyan.

“I see that.” Yuyan replied.

Lei sat down, then Yuyan asked the question.

”Is this your baby?” She asked him.

Lei looked at Fumei.

”Yes, I father of her child, Me and Fumei met during gang’s trip to Asia to meet up with Triad in Hong Kong.” Lei replied.

”Heise, I am happy you owed up to this, But babies are not cheap, You are not leaving a woman to look after a baby on her own, when Akara was born, everyone, including you had to help.” Zhao said.

”Fumei’s older brother thinks you raped her.“ Yuyan said.

”No, it was consensual.” Lei said, defending himself.

” (He’s right you know)” Fumei said to Yuyan.

Zhao turned to Fumei.

” (Fumei, Your affair is clinically a sociopath, If your daughter is over, we will have Jiayi, Lei’s twin sister to supervise)” Zhao said to her in Mandarin.

Fumei was from Chongqing and went on the run at the age of 14 in 1999 for assault and robbery.

”Fumei, how do you feel?” Lei asked her.

”Yesterday, I was sore in places I wasn’t aware of until now, I cannot stop shaking, I haven’t felt this disgusting since I cut some guy’s balls off.” She replied.

”Was the baby early?” Lei asked her.

”Angelo told me she was a week early, around 39 weeks, I should have called you before hand.” Fumei said to him.

At 8:00, everyone was now out of bed and Fumei and Yuyan was still there, Fumei allowed Lei to hold their newborn daughter.

”Did you think of a name?” Maria asked Lei.

Lei shook his head.

”No, Can’t think of one.” Lei said.

Liu Wei began to ask a question.

”Do you like the name Xiu-mei?” Liu Wei asked him.

Xiu-mei, Xiu-mei, he thought about it, then opened his mouth.

”I like that name.” Lei said.

He turned to her, then lifted her up.

”Chao Xiu-mei.” Lei said.

————————————

Three days later, Fumei was sitting with the 4-day old Xiu-mei with Bopha, who recently became a mother to a baby girl several months prior.

Lei came over and sat down next to the two women, He held a DVD of Black Sun: The Nanking Massacre with the note “正常开放/正常开放” taped on it.

”Lei, You are not watching that when your daughter is present.” Bopha said sternly to the Macau man.

” (It reads open.....)” Fumei said, she gave Xiu-mei to Bopha and she took the DVD off Lei’s hand.

She opened the case and it revealed two rings.

” (Are you....proposing to me?)” She asked.

Longwei walked into the same room then saw the two rings.

”Lei just proposed to her, Holy shit.” Longwei said.

”Can’t really have sex outside marriage and expect to leave the woman.” He said.

Longwei went up to her.

”Fumei, you have my respect for the rest of your life.” Longwei said to her.

Fumei looked at him, confused.

”Can I just ask you one question?, How in the name of motherfucking God did you do it?” Longwei said.

”Longwei, please.” Fumei said.

”You managed to get Lei laid, The same guy who put a hamster in a microwave and shit, How the hell did you survive having sex with him?” Longwei said, impressed.

”What?“ She said as she looked at the father of her child.

”Also, Mila’s parents think he’s a rapist because of the sociopathy thing, the fact he did the thing is a surprise, if Jiayi’s to be believed, Lei refused sexual advances before.” Longwei said to her.

Lei snickered a little, Longwei wasn’t exactly wrong.

”Can I call the baby “Proof a Sociopath got Laid”?” Longwei asked.

”No.” Both said.

“I don’t know what you got against awesome unisex names, okay.” He said.

Lei showed him a birth certificate, it had the name “ 周 秀美” written on it.

“Chao Xiu-mei?” He asked him.

”Yeah, Liu Wei’s idea, it was his mom’s name.” He said.

Chapter 16
Lei Chao had just finished an assassination of a Neo-Nazi wanted for murdering an elderly Holocaust survivor, he was on the train back, he planned to spend the rest of the day with his newborn daughter and watch a film with his sister

“ (Hey, Jiayi, the killing was successful....Okay, what film should we watch?)” Lei whispered in Cantonese,

Then he felt someone grab his wrist, He turned around, It was a man older than Lei.

“Put your phone away, now, students aren’t meant to have their phones out, It’s only fair if you put your phone away, I’m also sick of brats like you skipping school a week before summer vacation starts.” He seethed to Lei.

”I’m 31, I don’t even go to your school, let go of me!” Lei yelled.

The man grabbed his wrist even harder

“Don’t you dare lie to me, boy, I’m sick of brats trying to make excuses not to come to class.” He responded, refusing to listen to his protests.

The man held onto Lei’s wrists tighter until he got to his stop, He dragged the terrified assassin off the train.

”I am sick of phones, they melt your brains, I am also damn sick of children constantly skipping school because it’s summer!” He yelled, “I’ll make an example out of you!”

“ (Fuck! Let go of me! I have a wife and daughter!)” Lei cried out, Lei nearly dropped his phone, Causing him to cup it in his hand, He heard Jiayi’s voice.

” (Jiayi, I’m being kidnapped, help!)” Lei cried out,

Lei then tried punching him but to no avail, The man got angry with him again.

"What's going on?" A woman asked.

"Fuck off! I'm disciplining this naughty student!" The principle shouted as he shoved the woman away.

After 15 minutes, Lei heard a painful crack and he began to scream.

”Be quiet!” He yelled to the Macau Chinese man.

“ (Lei, Lei? What’s going on?!)” He heard his sister yell, then the man snatched his phone and hanged it up. The principle then restrained Lei as he was having a panic attack.

A passerby then walked up to the two.

"What's going on?" the man said.

"You get the hell out of here! This student was tardy, and I am punishing him!" The principle yelled.

"(Not true! He is kidnapping me and that fucker just broke my damn wrist! Call the police!)" Lei yelled as he tried to get out of the grip of the principle.

The man figured something was wrong and tried to get to Lei, but the principle punched him and forced the man to go away.

"Get the fuck out of here!" The principle said as he chased out the man.

"And while you're at it boy," the principle sternly said, "stop speaking Chinese! This is America!"

After another five minutes, They arrived at the school and Lei was forcefully dragged into the school.

The man didn’t say anything else as Lei was dragged into the office, he cried out in protest.

“You are not leaving this office until we can explain your truancy, “Get your parents on the phone, now.” He said to Lei.

Lei flipped him off in response, resulting in his being slapped across the face. Lei slapped him back and was then slammed on the wall hard.

”You little disrespectful brat, What’s your name?” He asked Lei in the most evil tone.

”Jack Wong....” Lei said, his broken wrist throbbing from pain.

“Lies! Don’t you use a false name against me!” The principal yelled in response.

Lei then tried to throw a punch at the principle with his good arm, but he held the arm tightly.

"You want me to break your other wrist? I didn't think so!" the principle yelled as he shoved Lei back in the chair.

———————————————

Two hours had passed since Lei’s false imprisonment, He was starting to get hungry, He had completely skipped lunch thanks to the principal, He also had confiscated toys he brought for his daughter and his belongings too.

”Can I at least eat....?” Lei asked, his face bruised.

”No, call your parents.” The principal responded, sorting out schoolwork.

Lei’s stomach growled furiously in protest, causing Lei to flinch a little, He disliked hunger.

30 minutes have passed since Lei said he was hungry, Lei felt a pang from his bladder, he now was desperate to pee, He had told his sister while during the assassination he needed to take a leak but could wait a little bit until he was done with it.

”I need to pee.” Lei said.

”No, sit still in your seat, You will pay for the chair if you end up peeing on it.” The principal said to him.

Lei groaned a bit, today was not his day. He was tempted to pee on the principal's desk while he wasn’t looking, but decided not to.

Minute by minute past, Lei felt more hungrier, more desperate to use the toilet and he needed to get out. The principle then decided to go in interrogation mode on him.

"You must be in a gang. Tell me your gang name!" The principle yelled.

"Are you a FBI member?!" Lei exclaimed, worried that he might get busted.

"No, but you'll wish I was from the FBI by the time I'm done with you!" The principle shouted as he further intimidated Lei.

”I’m not telling you, It’s not your fucking business!” Lei shouted, “Is this what you do, kidnap men and women for having a different skin than you and accuse them?”

—————————————————

After four hours of having to be in an uncomfortable position and an empty stomach as a result of dinner and lunch being skipped thanks to the principal, Lei then saw two familiar faces at the door.

He saw his wife open the door.

”Fumei!” Lei said in relief, still crossing his legs.

Fumei looked at the principal who kept her husband hostage. She tried to get to Lei, but the principle blocked her.

”I’m sick of teenagers skipping school and I will not let him leave until I find out the truth.” He said to Fumei.

Fumei turned to Lei, doing the ‘pee-pee’ dance in the chair, his hands towards his groin, she noticed bruising over his wrist, one of them looked swollen.

“Let my husband use the bathrooms, now. He has bladder problems, let him use the damn toilet.” Fumei said to him, low and threatening

The principal turned to Lei, glaring at the man.

”How dare you lie to me about this woman being your wife, she’s probably a truant too. You will stay in here as well as well as that little girl. You must be in a cult!” He hissed.

Lei felt a slight leak, causing him to clutch his groin tighter with as much strength his broken wrist would allow him, he needed to piss badly.

Fumei then got out her driver’s license.

”I was born in 1985, Now let my husband use the fucking toilet or I will beat your ass!” She yelled.

Xiu-mei was babbling as she woke up, she looked at her daddy, who smiled a bit while crossing his legs.

“You married a student, you fucking pedo bitch! I know that you all were in some kind of cult! I’ll call the damn police, Get out of my office! And stop giving in to that naughty boy!” He yelled as he tried to shove Fumei away.

"Did you seriously just tried to push me down on the ground while I'm holding my fucking daughter?! How dare you! And I am not a pedophile! He is my husband!" Fumei desperately said as she tried to shove the principle away, but he won't budge.

"How about you fuck off?! You three are all tardy and you know it!" The principle yelled as he threatened Fumei.

Lei felt even more desperate, the overfull organ demanded release as it panged painfully, he needed to get out now, the principal wouldn’t budge.

Dongshun looked at Lei while holding Xiu-mei in his arms, even though he hated the guy, he couldn’t help but sympathize.

Dongshun then helped Lei up and leave the office, Lei was desperately clutching at his groin, he was whimpering in pain from his full-to-bursting bladder, he thought he wouldn’t be able to make it to the bathroom.

”Really bad, huh?” He asked Lei, who nodded.

”It really hurts....I feel like it’s going to burst....” He whimpered, his bladder couldn’t take much more, he was even hungrier than ever and his broken wrist wasn’t helping, he felt around his abdomen gently, his lower abdomen was swollen due to the amount of urine.

As soon as Dongshun got Lei to the male’s bathroom, Lei quickly went inside a cubicle and locked it.

”You look, I’ll kick your ass!” He yelled as he began to unbutton his trouser buttons.

After a six seconds, Dongshun heard the sounds of splashing urine and a relived sigh, the sound continued, Xiu-mei babbled a little in her uncle’s arms at hearing her father’s voice.

After three whole minutes, the sound finally stopped and after a flushing sound, Lei came out, he felt refreshed, his bladder was still a little sore from how overfull it was to the brim, but he was alright, it felt relieving to have his full bladder finally emptied.

“Damn, you were that really desperate.” Dongshun joked to him.

”I....have to agree with you on that, That damn bastard wanted me to sit still even though I was about to piss my pants like a toddler....” Lei replied, now his bladder was out of the way, now was to replenish his hunger, he hadn’t eaten since breakfast.

“C’mere you....” The principal hissed as he grabbed Lei and dragged him back to his office. Lei hissed in pain.

"Leave him alone!" Dongshun yelled as he tried to stop the principle, but he pushed him to the ground.

“Don’t you dare skip lectures from me you brat..... And as for you mister, for trying to stop me from my lectures, I will keep you in school as well as that pedophilic female student of yours!” the principle yelled as if he were a dictator giving an extreme speech.

At that point, Fumei called the police.

A few minutes later, two police officers were at the office entrance, The principal opened it.

“Okay, can you explain what happened?” The taller of the two cops asked.

“This boy was skipping school and on his phone! This woman was also dating him and these four are probably in a Satanic cult. Arrest them right now!” He yelled.

He looked at Lei, holding is bruised wrists, he also heard the man’s stomach rumbling, the latter responses by curling up and hissing weakly.

The shorter of the two cops went to talk to Dongshun and Fumei.

”He basically kidnapped my husband and kept him in that office for 6 hours, We got the location from someone attending the school saying they saw a man that had my husband’s appearance being dragged into the school and locking him in the office. The man also said he tried to stop the principle, but was assaulted and chased out. Another woman said she tried to stop him, but was also shoved away.” She explained.

The cop nodded, the other went to Lei.

“I was on the phone with my sister then he grabbed me by my wrist and his stop was two stops before mine, so he dragged me 2 1/2 miles and when we got into the office, he confiscated everything I had in my bag including my CDs and player, toys brought for my daughter and my phone, Hours later, I was starting to get hungry and he dismissed it, then when I needed to piss, he refused to let me out to use the toilets, He broke my damn wrist aswell.” He said, looking at his wrist.

Lei then got out his fake ID, the only thing legit one it was his DOB and picture.

”November 25th 1984....” He read out, he and his partner turned to the principal, “You are under arrest for false imprisonment and assault.”

”I want him to pay for my husband’s medical costs.” Fumei said to the cops.

"Such bullshit!" the principle yelled, "I can't believe you're siding with that naughty boy and his pedophilic 'wife'! These people are in a cult, I'm telling you! I do not have to pay for his medical bills!"

"Yes you are," the short officer said bluntly, "And on top of it, we're also gonna have to do a mental evaluation on you. There's no way you can believe that this gentleman was a teenager!"

"I will get my revenge on you, boy!" The principle yelled as he was being escorted out of the school in handcuffs.

Dongshun led Lei out, Lei was starving, he saw it was night, his daughter fussed in his arms.

” (It’s way past your bedtime, Isn’t it?)” He cooed, “ (Sorry daddy made you wait)”

They went to the car, Fumei followed on ahead, Xiu-mei slept in her booster seat and Dongshun went to start the car.

————————————————

Meanwhile at the police station...

"It turns out the gentleman has no mental illness. However, we will still book him into the jail without bond." The CO said.

"I still can't believe that happened," the officer said, "The fact that he kidnapped a grown man because he thought he was a student is crazy enough, but then to assault others trying to stop him, held him hostage with no food or restrooms, then proceeded to shove a woman away while she was holding a child and accused all four of them of being in a cult is just absolutely outrageous. He is paying for the medical bills no matter what."

————————————————

It was a 2 and 1/2 drive back, Lei looked at Fumei.

”Fumei....I’m....really hungry....” He said to her, Fumei looked at her husband, she softened at his face and gestures.

”I know....Let’s get you home....” She said, she gently lulled their daughter to sleep.

Lei waited on quietly, They couldn’t even put the radio on because Xiu-mei was sleeping, Lei waited quietly, Fumei had wrapped his broken wrist prior to them leaving, leaving him with use of his left arm, His stomach gave a pitiful groan.

”I really want food......” He said to Fumei, who nodded.

”We’ll get you some food once we get home.” She said to him.

An hour had past and Lei fell asleep, Fumei allowed her husband to rest on her for a bit.

Fumei retrieved Lei’s bag beforehand

After two hours, they were back in Miami, Lei couldn’t sleep, he was far too hungry, all the food places were shut and he found it difficult to focus.

”Fumei, Can you get my CD player?” He asked her

She nodded, she went into the bag and got him the CD player, she handed it to him.

They returned to the hideout at 8:00pm, Lei went into he and his sister’s room, Jiayi heard the door open and looked,.

”Lei!” She said, running into his arms.

Lei nodded, happy to be back with his twin sister.

They sat down on the right bed, Lei’s bed, Jiayi pulled him into an embrace until they heard a loud rumble.

”Lei....what was that?” She asked him before she looked at Lei holding his stomach.

”You hungry?” She asked him.

”Starving....” He said, she went up and gestured him to wait here, He got changed into his pajamas and his sister brought some home-made curry in, Lei felt his mouth salivate at the smell.

“Eat up.” She said, Lei had did so, eating quite ravenously, it felt good to him.

She looked on as her brother ate his fill.

”We’ll talk in the morning.” Lei said to her between mouthfuls.

After Lei was finished, he rested comfortably on the bed, finally relieved to have something in his stomach since 9am.

————————————————

The next morning, the group had a meeting about the incident and Bopha assessed Lei's broken wrist, thankfully it would heal in a week and she bandaged it.

"Jesus Christ..." Zhao said in disappointment, "I still can't believe that we almost got exposed because some crazy principle thought Lei was one of his students."

Zhao then looked at Lei.

"Lei, for now on, you must be accompanied by someone else when you ride a train. You also must carry a knife, pepper spray, or taser with you in case someone tried to kidnap you again." Zhao said.

"Okay, boss." Lei answered.

”We expected the worse like a ransom and murder. Thank goodness it didn't went that way.” Zhao said to him.

————————————————

A few years after the incident, Lei was getting a FaceTime call from Mark Slater. The two didn't start off in good terms to say the least, as Mark called him a J*p and sexually assaulted BE!Maria. However, their relationships have since improved and Mark did apologized for his immature behavior.

"Hey, Mark. What's up?" Lei asked.

"Lei, you would not believe what just happened today!" Mark exclaimed.

"What the hell happened?" Lei asked.

"So basically, we were at a metal festival in Portland, and during Claw Hammer's performance, some fucking lunatic came and started running over people. One person ended up dying from the hit and run!" Mark said.

"You're joking..." Lei said shockingly.

"I'm serious! It was on the news and everything!" Mark said as he showed Lei an article about the incident.

"Holy shit. Thank god you're okay!" Lei said."

"But that's not all," Mark said, "the same guy then attempted to kidnap a fellow metalhead to do god know what! Thank god I knocked him out and hogtied him. He did kept referring to him as Jack Wong though..."

Suddenly, the name Jack Wong struck a chord with Lei. Lei heard that name somewhere, but he didn't knew where it was.

"Do you know who the terrorist was?" Lei asked.

"Yeah. They got his mugshot," Mark said as he showed Lei the mugshot. That's when it hit him: That was the principle that kidnapped him!

"I recognize him!" Lei exclaimed, "Years ago, when I was coming home from killing a neo-Nazi, this dude mistook me as one of his students and proceeded to kidnap me. He ended up breaking my wrist in the process and assaulted people for trying to stop him!"

"You serious?" Mark asked.

"Dead fucking serious," Lei said, "He ended up holding me hostage for hours in his shitty office and refused to let me eat or even use the bathroom! Thank god Dongshun helped me sneak out and took me to a nearby bathroom, or else I would've pissed my pants! He even went as far as to try and shove my wife down on the ground while she was holding my then-newborn daughter."

"Jesus Christ, this guy really is an asshole!" Mark exclaimed, "I didn't even knew he did all of that until now."

"Well now you do. He did got arrested, but only served a couple of months in jail for some reason. He did had to pay for my medical bills though." Lei said.

Chapter 17: Kowloon
In Kowloon, Hong Kong, It was September 2019, Xiu-mei had recently turned four in August and she was walking with her father and aunt, she held one of her qipao dolls.

Xiu-mei was told they were going on holiday and that were meeting with some great friends and she must be a good girl at all times.

He saw an old man aged at least 74 years of age looking at a wanted poster of Chao Qing-lai, he glared at it, he moved his hand through the name “春秀蘭”, which Lei seemed to notice

”That guy must hate our dad too.” Lei said.

Lei walked towards the elderly man and brought out a poem written in Cantonese, he tapped the man’s shoulder.

“ (Who are you?’)” Lei asked in Cantonese.

” (I am Chun Bo-qin, My daughter Xiu-lan, got murdered by that man, Chao Qing-lai, when they found him, he was gone, but my daughter was dead, She was brutally raped and murdered, the autopsy suggested she may have given birth to twins, She disappeared in March, we pulled together to search for her, in November, she was found dead)” He replied, still looking at the photo of the rapist who murdered his daughter.

Lei got out a piece of paper in a portrait and handed it to him.

It read “磊, 嘉怡, 我不渴望這個世界，你可能永遠不記得我，但無論發生什麼事，我仍然愛你們兩個，我愛你倆，儘管必須這樣，我希望我們可以成為一個正常的家庭，爸爸媽媽會愛你們兩個，再見，嘉怡和磊，請好好照顧自己 ，如果幫助唔嚟，請，係我最後嘅願望，唔好好似嗰個人，親愛的，媽媽 ” meaning “Lei, Jiayi, I am not long for this world, You may never remember me, but I still love you two no matter what happens, I love you both despite it had to be this way, I wish we could be a normal family, Mom and Dad would of loved you both, Goodbye, Jiayi and Lei, Please take good care of yourselves, if help doesn’t come, please, this is my last wish, Don’t be like that man, love, mom”, it featured “春秀蘭” on the bottom of the page.

It confirmed to Boqin that the twins that he was told his daughter gave birth to were in fact, the man and woman, the little girl seemed to be his great-granddaughter.

At first, Boqin didn’t want to find out about the twins his daughter was made to give birth to.

”She’s my mom, the bastard changed my hanzi.” Lei said to him.

He brought out his birth certificate, revealing the hanzi “磊” had been erased and replaced with “雷”.

The surname “ 周 ” also confirmed he was the son of Qing-lai.

”I found this among my father’s possessions and I realised he raped her.” He said.

Xiu-mei was too preoccupied with her doll.

”Who’s that?” Boqin asked, pointing at Xiu-mei.

”She’s Lei’s daughter, Lei had a one-night stand with someone from another gang, fortunately, Longwei wasn’t allowed to name her “Proof A Sociopath Got Laid”.” Jiayi said.

”Hi mister!” Xiu-mei exclaimed and waved at Boqin.

The little girl definitely reminded him of his deceased daughter.

”My birthday was last month!” She said.

She showed him a manga copy of Cells at Work!.

”I like Cells at Work, Daddy likes it too!” She said to Boqin.

”So, her birthday was in August?” Boqin asked Lei.

”Yeah, August 17 is officially ”Everything that is awesome day”, from me having her and my bastard foster father dying, on the same year, 2015.” Lei said, laughing a bit.

”So, Gramps, wanna have a chat?” Jiayi asked her.

The family sat in a café in Kowloon and chatted to eachother.

”周慶來係你老竇吧？ (So, Chao Qing-lai’s your father, right?” He asked Lei.

”是的，佢係一個真正嘅狗屎，佢畀我殺咗一個男人，因為佢個女係一個"香蕉女仔"，黃色外面，白色裏面，兩個美國寄養家庭，我嘅第二個殘酷地對待我同我妹，我哋只係錢畀嗰啲混蛋 (Yes, He was a real piece of shit, he made me kill a man because his daughter was a “Banana girl”, yellow outside, white inside, Two American foster homes, my second one treated me and my sister cruelly, we were just money to those bastards)” Lei said.

Boqin nodded, he was disgusted at the Gardners.

“佢哋用剝奪食物作為紀律方法，当我17岁時，我同嘉義一起逃跑，最後成為一幫人，以為我永遠唔會成為父親或丈夫，係我嘅妻子富每 ” (They used food deprivation as a discipline method, I fled at 17 alongside Jiayi and ended up in a gang, And I honestly thought I would never become a father, or a husband, this is my wife Fumei)” He said, introducing Fumei to the old man.

“你的妻子，她來自大陸嗎？ ” (Your wife, is she from the mainland?)” He asked.

“是的，重慶，但佢住喺美國，我在九龍見過佢，大家都期待我把她撞倒後離開緊佢，生咗一個女嬰，其實我直到凌晨3：30醒來先知道佢有咗，我嘅一位朋友，当爸爸時，不得不教我如何換尿片，做一般嘅父母. ” (Yes, Chongqing, but she lives in America, I met her in Kowloon, everyone was expecting me to leave her after knocking her up and giving birth to a baby girl, I actually had no idea she was pregnant until I was woken at 3:30 am, one of my friends who became a father had to teach me how to change diapers and be a parent in general)” He said.

Boqin looked at his great-granddaughter using her chopsticks and eating her food.

“那麼，嘉台，雷係点样嘅父母？ “ (So, Jiayi, what kind of parent is Lei?)” He asked Jiayi.

”好作為診斷嘅社會病患者係，佢同秀梅鍾意睇为工作細胞为作為父女活動 (Good as a diagnosed sociopath is, He and Xiu-mei like to watch Cells at Work! as a father-daughter activity)” She said.

Chapter 18: Blood Prince
January 2020, Lei Chao went into the house, visibly exhausted.

His hair, skin and clothes were covered in blood with a blood covered knife at his side.

Last week, he and his family went to a convention and a sex offender assaulted his four-year old daughter, he found the guy alongside his brother-in-law and killed him by castrating him, stabbing him and shoving his genitals up his anus, It was a chilling killing and he nearly felt sick from the blood covering him.

Not only that, he tortured him for three whole hours by stabbing him repeatedly, carving the word “PEDO” on his torso, Lei saw red at this point, he asked many questions, “Why didn’t the convention deny him entry?”, “How could he be near kids?”, and “Why is he alive?”

He went into the kitchen and saw the washing machine, he proceeded to take off his usual attire starting with the overcoat, buttoned vest, buttoned shirts then unzipped his trousers and removed his underwear, he stood naked as he put his bloodied clothes inside the washing machine and turned it on.

He felt a little exposed, but everyone else was sleeping, he then washed the knife with bleach and water then put it back on the cutting block.

”Time to take a shower before anyone wakes up.” Lei commented to himself.

He walked upstairs to the bathroom, he tiptoed silently to avoid waking anyone, it would be weird if he was caught being naked and bloody by any of his gang members.

He looked at a mirror, it looked like he came from a horror film.

As soon as he opened the door, He heard footsteps, he turned around.

It was Fumei, she was in her pajamas and looked at her husband, standing naked infront of the bathroom door.

”Did you kill that guy that assaulted Xiu-mei?” Fumei asked him.

He nodded.

”Take a shower, I’ll give you your pajamas, can’t walk around with your dick out.” She said.

Lei entered the bathroom and turned the shower on as Fumei went down to get his pajamas from the kitchen, she took them up and waited outside until her husband had finished.

She heard the sounds of water as Lei cleaned himself from the bloody event that just happened.

———————————

10 minutes later, Lei stepped out, looking better now that he was clean, he took the pajamas from Fumei and put them on, finally covering himself.

”Xiu-mei’s sleeping in your bed.” Fumei told Lei, who nodded and went down to he and Jiayi’s room.

He opened the door and saw his twin sister still sleeping, he went over to his bed and picked up Xiu-mei and went down onto the bed with her, Xiu-mei seemed to relax when her father went into bed.

”Daddy.” She mumbled.

Lei slept almost peacefully after ruthlessly murdering a child molester and sex attacker.

The next morning, It was 7:00am and Xiu-mei poked Lei’s face.

”Okay, I’m up.” He said to her.

”You were away a long time, Daddy.” She said.

”I know, I’m sorry.” Lei replied to Xiu-mei.

Lei heard a door knock and Liu Wei opened the door.

”Hey, Lei, The boss needs you for a moment, Xiu-mei, Is it alright if I sit with you?” Liu Wei told Lei and asked Xiu-mei.

”Daddy will be back soon, Xiu-mei.” He said to her as he walked out of the room.

Zhao was in the living room with Fumei and Maria.

”Sit down, Lei.” Zhao spoke.

Lei sat down, Both Fumei and Maria looked at both men.

Zhao then spoke.

”Where were you?” Zhao asked the younger man.

”Out.” was Lei’s only response.

”Can you explain to me why your clothes are covered in blood and in the washing machine, who did you kill?” Zhao asked Lei.

”I killed the guy who nearly sexually molested my daughter.” Lei responded.

”Well, I’ve heard from Fumei you arrived home at 2am, took off your blood-stained clothes and walked around the hideout naked.” Zhao said.

”He deserved to die. Why would you want to defend that scumbag?” Lei spoke with venom in his voice.

”That’s not what I’m arguing about, Lei. If anything, I'm surprised you didn't invite me along with your killing. However, you can't be walking around the house butt naked. Go get clean clothes and then go for a shower instead of walking around naked!” Zhao scolded Lei.

Lei facepalmed, because he didn't think he did anything wrong and thought that Zhao was an idiot for defending the pedofuck.

Zhao then calmed down and then calmly spoke.

”Lei, I’ll let you off with a warning, you come into this hideout in the nude, you’ll not be allowed out for a week.” Zhao warned Lei.

"Yes sir." Lei said as he left the room.

Chapter 19: The three cats
Maria was walking through the alleyways or a nearby neighborhood when she noticed three cats, a black cat, a Dragon Li cat and a bobtail.

The Dragon Li cat seemed to be the smallest, he was shivering and whimpering pitfully and the black cat growled in response in a protective manner, the bobtail was coughing quite a bit.

”Hello...are you three lost?” She asked, The black cat calmed down and allowed Maria to pet him, The bobtail calmed down too but the youngest cat didn’t seem to understand her, tilting his head slightly.

She helped pick up the cats, she wrapped them in blankets, she looked at the Dragon Li cat looking at her, whimpering pitfully and he didn’t seem to understand her.

” (You are safe)” She said in Mandarin, The cat meowed in response and went up next to her, she got into the car and drove off.

She noticed the bobtail cat coughing, she hoped it wasn’t too serious.

”Dio.” She said to the black cat, The cat seemed to like it, gently allowing Maria to pet him.

As soon as she got back to the hideout, she took Dio and the two cats out of the car, Longwei opened the door.

”Maria, where did you get the cats from?” He asked, he looked at the twitching Dragon Li cat and the Japanese bobtail.

She brought them inside, Xiu-mei was playing with her new doll when the Dragon Li cat saw her, he gave her a cuddle in response.

”你好! (Hello!)” She said, petting the cat's fur, “Maria, did you bring cats as gifts, did you give them names?”

Maria nodded.

”The black cat is Dio, I’ll call the bobcat Endeavor....but the Dragon Li cat....I think he only understands Chinese and Cantonese as he didn’t respond to me speaking English, Hmmm....What about Ghetsis....?” She asked.

Xiu-mei turned to the baby cat resting in her arms.

”魁奇思....” (Ghetsis....)” She spoke, the cat meowed in response.

Fumei and Lei walked in.

”New Christmas present, we all get pet cats, I’m keeping the black cat.” She said, “Kuíqísī or Fūikèihsī took a liking to her.”

”We’ll buy supplies in the morning.” He said, “And a vet.”

Chapter 20: Uighur Siblings
Patime and Adil had just arrived from Xinjiang province, China after escaping the country, they used fake IDs and changed their appearance up to board a plane heading for Florida from Hong Kong, which worked well, but they had nowhere else to go, their actual outfits were hidden in suitcases Adil stole.

Patime was looking at a little girl and her parents play in the park, the father hugged and kissed the little girl while the mom laughed, She missed her mommy and daddy and didn’t understand why they had to be taken away, her older brother also kept giving her the food he was offered instead of him eating it.

“ چوڭ ئاكا؟ ئۇلار نېمىشقا ماما ۋە پاپانى ئېلىپ كەتتى؟ ( Big brother? Why did they take away mama and papa?)“ She asked, clutching a ragdoll tightly to her.

” چۈنكى.... ئۇلار كومپارتىيىنىڭ رەزىل ئادەملىرى .... ( Because....they're evil people the Communist Party....)“ Adil replied, he stole the clothing of a Han Chinese family and they wore them until they reached the US, throwing the clothes away while keeping the fake IDs and passports, even though travelling to the US was not recommended due to the pandemic, his sister and him wore facemasks while on the plane and kept them on the whole time.

Three hours later, It was 9:00 pm and Patime was getting tired, she slept in her brother’s arms, Zhao and Lei were out and saw Adil holding his little sister while trying to keep hunger off his mind, he hadn’t eaten in several days so his sister could eat and had only $1 on him,

“Hey, What happened to him?” Lei asked Zhao, “I think he might be homeless or something.”

Zhao went over and gently tapped Adil on the shoulder, Adil’s eyes flashed back to reality, he looked at Adil.

Adil knew some English from his father, who used to be an English teacher before the Chinese government caused him to lose his job.

”Who are you?” He asked while seething.

“Are you homeless?” Zhao asked

Adil looked at the man, he saw a long-haired younger man beside him, he was playing with a knife.

”I guess so.,..My family is dead back in China....” He sighed, “I feel like a fucking asshole violating COVID-19 restrictions....”

”Wait, you traveled from China to get here?” Zhao asked, “Where are you from? What’s your name?”

”Shinjang or Xinjiang, Those hypocrites killed my family....” Adil said, “I was sort of lucky I knew some Chinese, or they would be on my ass....”

Lei and Zhao looked at eachother in shock, this boy and his sister survived the Uighur Genocide.

”I want to offer you sanctuary, We hadn’t have a new gang member in sometime.” Zhao said to the boy.

Adil thought to himself, the offer was tempting, but he was nervous, what would they offer him?, He could use a Qu’ran, a prayer mat, some halal food and some toys for his little sister.

”I’ll do it...” Adil said, He got up from the bench and the two men led him to the car.

He held his sleeping sister as he got into the car, Patime moved a little bit.

“ بىز بىخەتەر ... ئۇخلاڭ ... (We’re safe, go back to sleep...)” He said to his sister in Uyghur.

The young girl slept in her brother’s arms as they drove back to the hideout.

————————————————

After an hour, they arrived back at the hideout.

” She can sleep in my daughter’s room, She won’t mind.” Lei said to Adil, “My sister could bathe her, she can wear Xiu-mei’s pajamas until we can buy her some new clothes.”

Adil nodded, a woman similar to Lei got up and went up to them.

”Can you wake up my sister and run her a bath?” He asked Jiayi, she nodded and took the young girl from his arms.

”I’ll take a shower after you’re done.” Adil said, He saw a young Chinese girl no older than his sister, She ran up to Lei.

”Hi daddy!” Adil heard the little girl speak, she sat in her father’s lap and looked at Adil, “Néih hóu mister!”

Adil looked at the young girl, she was in pajamas and already for bed.

”Xiu-mei, can daddy talk to you for a moment?” Lei asked Xiu-mei, bringing the girl’s attention to him, she nodded.

”是的, 爸爸？ (Yes, Daddy?)” She asked in Mandarin, Adil found instead of the angry officials, her voice was sweet and pleasant.

”Our new guest and his little sister are staying here, Is it alright for his younger sister to sleep in your room and allow her to borrow your pajamas?” Lei asked Xiu-mei.

Xiu-mei nodded.

”Will she be a new friend?” Xiu-mei asked Lei, she looked at Adil, “Is he my new big brother too?”

Adil looked at the young Chinese girl, she then raised her arms out, indicating to Adil she wanted to be picked up, he slowly picked up the girl.

”Where are you from?” She asked, “I was born here but my mommy is from Chongqing and daddy is from Macau, he says it’s a special administrative region of China....I don’t know what that means though.”

Adil felt his face softened at the girl, it wasn’t her fault he had to suffer a horrible situation with both his parents dead and many other family members unaccounted for.

”I’m from Shinjang...Some very bad people drove us from our home.” Adil said.

”I like anime, do you like anime? My favorite anime is Cells at Work!, It’s cells as people.” She asked and explained.

Adil didn’t watch much TV, but the thought of anime interesting him.

—————————————————

Jiayi was finished bathing the barely conscious Patime, she was so tired, she tried the girl off and took her into Xiu-mei’s room, She got out a child’s sleeping bag, she filled it up with air, and took a Purrloin plush that Xiu-mei owned, She put Patime in pajamas and laid her down, she appeared to be aware of the plush, gently cuddling it.

Soon after he heard his younger sister was out.

”Xiu-mei, Thank you for talking to me, I’m going upstairs to shower.” Adil smiled, he was starting to like this young Chinese girl, she was sweet and kind, even fine with his sister sleeping in her room.

“See you tomorrow!” She said, she decided to sleep in her own room tonight.

The shower was refreshing, The Khmer woman even left some pajamas outside for him, which he did appreciate.

Afterwards, He left and took the pajmas, he was shown into a room, it was a bit barren, only having a bed, a TV and book shelves, but it was clean.

”Night.” Bopha said, Adil waved in response.

”Hey....I’m sorry to ask this, But can I have some food?” Adil asked, he almost forgot he had to eat, Bopha seemed to realize this and went down for a few minutes, she got a pancake from the kitchen, Adil bit into it and finished it in minutes.

”Thank you....” Adil said.

————————————————————

When Patime woke up, she was in a nice room filled with toys, she saw a girl her age get up.

She looked at the Purrloin plush, It was soft and she liked it.

She looked at Xiu-mei, she did speak English, She then looked at the ragdoll on the bed beside the Purrloin, she picked up both.

”Hey, my daddy said Adil and you are staying here and you won’t have to be homeless again.” Xiu-mei said.

Patime looked at the young Chinese girl, Fatime nervously got on the bed, still holding the plush tightly to her, Compared to living on the streets with no food or comfort, This seemed like an excellent compromise, she wouldn’t be alone again.

”Your big brother is nice!” Xiu-mei said.

”I....I....Hello.....?” Patime responded, the girl seemed friendly, she looked around her room, She had toys, books, games, It was nicest room she’s slept in years.

Adil opened the door.

”Patime, Breakfast is ready.” He said to her.

”No pork....” Patime said.

”It’s alright, Patime, I explained our dietary restrictions to the gang, They saw they’ll give us a Qu’ran, prayer mats and anything we need, they’ll get us halal foods, come on, we can't let the food go cold.” Adil said, his younger sister and Xiu-mei followed them downstairs.

The two go downstairs as the gang prepare the food.

”Smells wonderful.” Adil said to Lei, “Is it halal?”

”I think so.” Lei said, sheepishly, he wasn’t familiar with Islam, “I’m not too familiar with Islam....”

Adil nodded, he began to eat, the food was plentiful.

”Daddy? Can we watch TV together afterwards?” Xiu-mei asked.

Lei nodded

”Maybe we can play on the Switch!” Xiu-mei said.

Chapter 21
Afterschool in December 19th, Adil arrived home from high school and sat down, he saw Lei looking up information on a computer.

"Hey, Adil, come look at this." Lei told him, Adil peeked forward, he saw a photo of a Chinese girl wearing designer clothing and lipstick, she held a designer handbag.

"This daughter of a Chinese Communist Party official attends your school, Her name is Li Gui-ying, and I found something out, her father was the one who ordered your parents to be taken away due to your father's defiance of their rules....he wanted to send you to a reeducation school alongside your sister." He explained

"And what does that do with her....even if her father is a horrible person, she doesn't deserve to be hurt." Adil said, Lei responded by putting both of his hands on Adil's shoulders.

"Maybe she does." Lei said to him.

Adil felt shocked at Lei saying this to him.

"Why would you say that?" Adil asked Lei.

Lei began to whisper in Adil's ear:

"Earlier when I dropped you off at school,  Ms. Li was bragging about the expensive gifts her father buys for her, clothing, shoes, jewelry, watches, handbags, she bragged about how she can make her father buy anything she wants, if she pretends to cry until he buys it, several of the things she owns was stolen from detainees, and she's not even grateful for any of it." Lei whispered

Adil felt his head lower to the ground.

"That's what I had to leave Shinjang for...so that bitch can wear jewelry she doesn't deserve...." Adil seethed.

"We can capture her one day, then beat her up." He said

The next two days, they captured Gui-ying, or so Adil thought.

Lei tied back his hair and in paramilitary uniform alongside Adil and Longwei.

"I...didn't expect this...." Adil said

Longwei whispered something to "Gui-ying", he then held her hands behind her back.

"Ow! Ow!" She cried.

"Tie her up on the chair." Lei ordered, crossing his arms.

"Alright." Longwei said before he turned to "Gui-Ying", "Be quiet!"

The girl was soon sat down and tied up.

"I..didn't expect this...." Adil was heard

"Adil?! Is that you! I can't believe I got kidnapped by a traitor...." She seethed in disgust.

"Who are you calling a traitor?" Adil exclaimed.

"Don't play dumb! You Uyghur Muslims are all traitors! Ungrateful too! We were trying to save you from extremism and radicalization!"

"Your dad sent mine to a reeducation camp, he seized our damn assets and was planning to send me and my sister to a reeducation school!" Adil exclaimed.

Maria began recording the girl.

"Daddy....please....help me....I don't wanna die...." She quivered, pretending to cry.

Maria recorded the actress' pleas for 30 minutes, to make it more authentic, the male gang members called her a 'bitch', a 'little whore' and a 'slut', even threats to sell her to sexual slavery.

Lei then took the camera.

"To Li Zhong-yu of the Chinese Communist Party, We are the Liberation of China Army, if you want your daughter alive again, you must do as we say, You will give us CN¥701,294,000, We will give you the details via phone call, You must pay up in a week or your daughter will be a goner." Lei said, The actress pretended to cry and scream.

Once the filming was finally finished, Lei pulled down his mask and grinned.

"That's our Christmas shopping sorted out." Lei grinned.

Everyone, including the actress burst out laughing, Adil was confused.

"Wait? What!" Adil exclaimed, Longwei then untied the actress, who high-fived everyone, the went to Adil.

"Hey! You were great!" She said, "My name is Tomoko, Tomoko Wong, Nice to meet you."

"What....?" Adil said.

"I happened to resemble that guy's daughter, so it would be perfect for conning! You're a fucking natural!" Tomoko exclaimed.

Adil turned to Lei, confused.

"Yeah, as much of a bitch she is, We are NOT kidnapping her, she doesn't actually care what her father does, she doesn't actually have an opinion on what the government is doing." Lei said, "Yeah, not willing to kill an official's bratty teenage daughter because turns out despite her being a total brat, she's an advocate for human rights everywhere, Tomoko did a great job."

Tomoko gently patted him on the shoulder.

"I need to tend to Karin, I'll be back soon." Tomoko said.

Chapter 22: Kumiho
It was February 7th, Lee Gwi-han, Zhao Xiaoying and Joseph Cho were walking until they heard a man shout.

”Where the hell is your citizenship papers you bitch?!” They heard him, Gwi-han heard a girl’s terrified whimpers as she struggled to fight back.

”Back off! I fucking kill you!” They heard a shout.

They saw a Korean girl being manhandled by a middle aged man with grey hair, They saw she was wearing a school uniform that looked filthy, her face was covered in dried blood, they saw her that she was wearing a BTS backpack.

”I’m going to bring you to ICE and sent you back to whatever Korea you came from!” The man shouted as he decided to drag the girl by her wrist.

”Let go!” Gwi-han shouted, “Get your hands off my daughter!”

The girl looked at him with disbelief until he turned to her and whispered “같이 놀다… (Play along…)”

The man was punched in the face, causing him to let go, Joseph then took her by the wrist.

The girl screamed and began to hit Joseph.

”Let GO! LET GO OF ME!” She screamed, remembering a horrific ordeal she suffered.

Joseph flinched until Zhao began to speak.

”We mean you no harm…” Zhao reassured the girl, he looked at her bag, “We need you to come with us, we can bring you prosperity and safety.”

The girl squirmed but stopped trying to swat Joseph away.

Gwi-han picked up the girl’s BTS bag, when he opened it, he found a bloodied school uniform, a kitchen knife and a fox mask.

”Zhao, this girl is Kumiho.” Gwi-han said, “She killed her victims wearing a fox mask.”.

The girl’s lips curled into a sneer.

“They raped me, He victim blamed me, She fucking filmed me.” The girl said, “I hate that Korea thinks….minors are entitled to get away with shit because they’re fucking minors.”

She soon appeared listless and apathetic as she got into the car, Longwei was in the driver’s seat as he started the car.

”What’s your name?” Joseph asked.

”Choi Gyeo-ul.” She said quietly.

Joseph noticed the girl didn’t look at him.

”How old are you?” Joseph asked.

”18.” Gyeo-ul replied back, beginning to calm a bit.

The two talked for a while, Joseph was told by her she was a big fan of Korean dramas and loved BTS, when he asked what was her favorite member of the Korean boyband, she replied Suga.———————————————————————

They arrived back at the hideout.

”I can go in myself.” Gyeo-ul said to Joseph as she got out of the car and got into the home, taking her schoolbag and walking inside.

Bopha looked at the girl as she walked inside, her face was covered in blood, her clothes were covered in blood and grime.

”Who the fuck is that?!” Maria exclaimed.

Joseph, Gwi-han and Zhao walked in.

”This is Gyeo-ul, You know that serial killer named Kumiho? Well this is her.” Joseph said.

”Give her a bath….” Maria said to them, “She smells like she’s killed someone.”

”That’s because I fucking did.” Gyeo-ul said, “My rapists, that bitch and that teacher.”

Chapter 22: Buried alive
In July 2022, The gang was preparing for the summer to a trip to Colorado, they were planning to travel privately to get there.

”Okay, I hope Lei knows Columbine High School is not a tourist site……” Bopha said.

”He’s usually considerate, so he’ll understand.” Fumei said.

Then Lei arrived back, He was holding an injured man over his shoulder, Maria soon covered her nose in complete disgust.

“Who the fuck is that?!” Maria blurted out, “He stinks!”

”Some guy who was buried alive….I had to defile a cemetery for that…..” Lei said.

Bopha came over, the man was at least 24 and was covered in dirt and grime, he wore dirty clothing consisting of a hoodie, jeans covered in blood and urine and was barefoot, she noted the smell of urine and fecal matter, which indicated he had been buried for days.

”I’ll run a bath and get him out of those clothes, Feng, can he sleep in your room?” Bopha asked, “I’ll call Angelo.”

Feng nodded.

”He can wear my pajamas.” Feng said, “My bedroom is fine, I don’t experiment with poisons and I bathe after doing so, so there’s zero risk of exposure.”

Bopha helped the man upstairs, he was starting to wake up a bit more

———————————————————

Bopha went into the bathroom and closed the door, she helped the man undress, she flinched a little at the smell.

” (Where I’m I?)” He asked.

”Sssh….don’t be afraid….” Bopha said, she filled the bathtub up.

The Chinese man looked at her as she filled the tub up, she added soap mixture and put shampoo and conditioner out.

She saw the man struggling to stand up properly.

”Hey, don’t push yourself…..” Bopha said as she helped him into the bathtub.

The man didn’t say a word as she cleaned him up, she washed his hair with the shampoo and rinsed it out with the water, then repeated it.

”This may sting a bit, close your eyes.” She said, the man shut his eyes as Bopha washed his hair with the conditioner.

He smiled a bit, She soon began to help him wash his body with the bodywash.

” (Thank you…)” He said quietly.

Afterwards, Bopha was soon done, she helped him out and wrapped him in towels and led him out of the bathroom.

”I’ll get some pajamas, We’ll have a doctor come and take a look at you.” Bopha said, “You have a rest.”

Bopha got out a pair of blue pajamas and helped the man put them on, she then gently put the duvet over him.

”We might have to throw your old clothes out.” Bopha said, “Go to sleep.”

The man yawned and fell asleep, he snuggled underneath the blankets.————————————————————

Two hours later, Fumei and Angelo walked in, the young Chinese man was still sleeping, Fumei saw her daughter sitting on a stool, she placed some of her stuffed toys on the bed likely as comfort, she saw the young man was gently hugging a plush toy Kyurem that was originally owned by Maria she gave to Xiu-mei for Christmas.

”Mommy, Mr. Angelo, I’m worried about him….” Xiu-mei said.

Angelo gently rubbed the girl’s shoulder.

”Thank you, sweetheart, You’ve done more than enough.” Angelo said, softly smiling at her compassion for the man.

”He’ll be here when you wake up, go to sleep.” Fumei said to Xiu-mei.

” (See you in the morning)” Xiu-mei said to the man, who just began to wake up a bit.

He saw the little girl leave the room, he flinched a little, he saw a toy dragon-like beast in his arms.

” (Hello?)” He said, he felt a lot better, still clutching the toy instinctively to his chest.

“Hello, my name is Angelo, I’m a doctor, I need to check up on you….” Angelo said and Fumei translated.

” (My name is Gao-yu….)” He said, he soon became quiet, he looked at the stuffed toys that surrounded him.

” (Oh, my daughter put those there, she was really worried about you)” Fumei said and Angelo translated.

Gao-yu vaguely saw but he remember footsteps, a little girl’s reassuring voice and her sitting on a stool.

Gao-yu remembered being dragged from his home in Shandong, China and accused of violently raping a 7-year old girl, he never met this girl, nor her family, after escaping from jail after being sentenced to death, he found out the actual culprit was a corrupt police officer who committed heinous crimes including rape and murder and blamed them on others by tampering with evidence, so he could be seen as a “hero of justice”.

”Hero of justice”, That term disgusted him.

” (Tell her thanks….)” He said quietly.

He hugged the Kyurem plush, he hadn’t felt this comfortable in so long.

”I was told you were buried alive…” Angelo said and Fumei translated.

Gao-yu nodded.

” (It was by these guys with Nazi tattoos and white hoods……They were scary…they put me in a coffin…I screamed and cried…Then I heard dirt being thrown, It was hard to breathe….)” Gao-yu said and Fumei translated.

Angelo nodded.

” (Do you feel ill?)” Fumei asked.

” (I am….a bit hungry….)” Gao-yu said quietly, he felt his stomach growl loudly, he whimpered a little and flinched.

“ (We’ll get you something, hang on for a moment…)” Fumei said.

She left the room for a bit.

Gao-yu didn’t resist the Italian-American doctor checking on him, he was still sore and pained from being in the same position for days.

She came back with a pint of dairy free Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Fudge Brownie ice cream and pork buns

Gao-yu felt his mouth water.

” (Finish the pork buns first)” Fumei said, (The ice cream is dessert)

He bit into the pork bun and he tried his best to not eat it quickly, but he was hungry.

The ice cream was also pretty good once he finished the pork buns, The brownies in the ice cream were also pretty good.

After he was done, he wiped his mouth, Fumei didn’t look bothered, if anything it was a relief he had such an appetite.

“He’s slightly malnourished and is suffering oxygen deprivation from being buried but he’s getting there.” Angelo said, “For safety, I will apply an oxygen machine and make sure he does not roll down on his belly.”

Fumei translated it for Gao-yu.

Gao-yu nodded, He saw Angelo get out on oxygen machine and place it on the side of the bed and plugged it in.

Gao-yu felt the mask go over his face.

”Now breathe normally.” Angelo said softly.

——————————————————

The next morning, Gao-yu yawned, he felt better but still quite sore.

He heard the door open, It was Lei holding Xiu-mei and Fumei.

” (How are you feeling?)” Fumei asked.

“ (I’m…sore but not as bad as yesterday, Can I take this off?)” Gao-yu asked, pointing to his oxygen mask.

” (Wait a moment, I’ll fetch Angelo)” Fumei said, leaving the room.

After a while, she came back with Angelo.

”Okay, I think it’s time we can remove the mask.” Angelo said, after checking Gao-yu’s pulse and everything, he decided to go ahead.

”Let’s get you downstairs.” Angelo said and Fumei translated.

Lei helped Gao-yu up, keeping him steady, He saw Tomoko Shinomiya and her two kids, twins Yuuya and Ami who were 4.

”Tomi, Can you watch him for us?” Fumei asked.

Tomoko nodded and weakly smiled, she gently held her arm out as Fumei helped Gao-yu sit down.

“Oh, Tomoko, he doesn’t speak English too well, So here.” Fumei said as she handed him a notebook.

Tomoko wrote down “What’s your name?”

Gao-yu wrote down “Yang Gao-yu….I’m from Shandong, China originally.”

Tomoko wrote down “I’m Tomoko Shinomiya…I originally came from Tokyo, Japan, My husband died in a car accident and my mother-in-law, She demanded all the money I got from my widow’s pension, inheritance and insurance money, She and my brother in law banged my doors every night….Yuyan found me.”