Chapter 9: Payback

As Mayr stood on the top bleacher after having told Bray and his partner to sell in the place where they were attacked, he noticed a look of unsurety on the new recruits. The only people that stood with no doubt in Mayr were Kashi, Nesh, Kris, and Bray.

Mayr looked at Bray and asked how many people attacked him. "There were 5 guys," Bray replied, "all of them were my size". Mayr acknowledged the information and looked into the distance for a few seconds as if he was in thought. He then turned his gaze towards his men and began announcing his plan.

"Alright, everyone!" Mayr yelled like a commander addressing his men, "As I said before, all cigarette sales operations will halt for a while, but we will continue our gambling operations. Next Friday, Bray and his partner will go back to the exact place where they were attacked, but this time, they won't be alone. I, Kashi, and Kris are going to be waiting in the alley in which we found Bray."

After this announcement, Mayr took a quick pause and looked at his crew. He then started to make another announcement.

"I know some of you have suggested that we don't engage The Rampers," Mayr spoke in a softer voice this time, "But when I became your boss, I made a promise that I wouldn't let anyone mess with you without consequences. I plan to stick to my word. I'm going to take on the gang that hurt my men and I will stake my pride as your boss that I will make them pay for it. However, I understand if you have your reservations. If you feel that I am leading you down a dead path, you are free to leave. Those of you who stay, be prepared for war! Dismissed!"

After Mayr gave his speech, he waited to see if anyone would leave. Not a single person left. The look of unsurety on the new recruit's faces changed to an expression of unwavering belief in their boss.

As Mayr began to walk down the bleacher stairs, the members of the crew started to walk off with their heads held up, pumped up with adrenaline because of the speech.

"Ken, Rayu, Jun, I need to talk to you." Mayr called to the three.

"Sure, what is it about, boss?" Ken asked as the three walked towards Mayr.

"I want you to Shadow Kashi as he runs the gambling operation for the next few days." Mayr informed the three, "You guys might have to run it for a bit while we handle our business with the Rampers."

The three acknowledged the instruction and walked off. "Hey, Soju!" Nesh hollered from behind as he was approaching Mayr, "I want to go with you to the place Bray was attacked." he said with a determined expression.

"You don't have to, Nesh," Mayr replied empathetically, "It's going to get physical. I'm not even sure if there's only going to be just 5. They might have more people with them this time."

"I don't mind." Nesh replied, "I'm done being the guy who hides around all the time. I don't mind taking a few hits if it means that I can stand up for myself and my friends. Plus I've been going to that Muay Thai gym with you, So I can handle myself."

Although Mayr didn't want to put Nesh in danger, he noticed from his expression that he wasn't going to back down on this one, so he agreed to let him come along.

-

The week passed and Friday came around. It was a cloudy day and the street on which Bray and his partner were selling was busy. About 5 feet to the left of Bray and his partner was the alleyway in which Bray was left, beaten and bruised. In that alley sat Mayr, Kashi, Kris, and Nesh, observing, waiting for the people who attacked Bray to reappear.

Bray and his partner stood on the corner side, selling cigarettes for about thirty minutes, with their main goal being to lure back the people who had attacked them. Surely enough, after a thirty-minute wait, the same 5 people who initially attacked Bray had appeared. All 5 were wearing casual clothing and had ear piercings. 2 of them had long dark hair, while the others had short hair. The 5 walked right up to Bray. The one in front, A boy with long hair and light facial hair, gave Bray a cold glare. "I thought I told you to stay out of our turf." He said callously while the others simply chuckled.

"I don't remember agreeing to that," Bray replied right back with a cold stare and a palpable amount of confidence. The boy immediately grabbed Bray's collar with his right hand and cocked back his left fist, getting ready to punch Bray.

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As he was getting ready to punch Bray, the boy heard quick footsteps to his right. When he looked to the right, all he saw was a knee about 6 inches from his face. It was Mayr's knee. Mayr had run across the 5-foot distance from the alleyway to Bray and jumped towards the long-haired boy to knee him in the face. Mayr bashed his knee to the boy's face and sent him flying. Now Mayr was standing right in front of the other 4 boys who had attacked Bray, glaring at them.

The 4 boys were dazed by Mayr's stoic yet angry stare. The slightly frightened boys took a step back. As they took a step back they felt their backs hit something. They looked back and found Kashi, Kris, and Nesh standing behind them, and ahead of them stood Mayr, Bray and his partner.

Mayr and his crew forced the 5 boys deep into the alleyway and roughed them up. As the 5 boys sat there, cut and bruised against the wall, similarly to how Bray sat after he was attacked, the crew stood in front of them and stared at them stoically.

After a short stare, Mayr walked up to the boy who he had kneed on the face. Based on their demeanours when interacting with Bray, Mayr recognized this boy as the top dog of the 5. Mayr squatted down to his eye level and kept the same cold glare the whole time.

"Please! We're sorry!" The 4 underlings begged while weeping, "Please, let us go!".

"What happened to all the tough talk about us being on 'your turf?" Mayr replied to the 4 while keeping his gaze fixated on the leader of their group. That boy didn't say anything. He didn't cry or beg. He simply stared at the floor with a blank expression on his face.

"Got nothing left to say!?" Bray said in an angry and demeaning tone to the leader of the thugs who assaulted him.

After staring blankly at the ground for a few minutes, the leader of the group finally moved his eyes up to look at Mayr. "Y-You just made a big mistake." The boy said gently, struggling to get his words out, "You're just a ragtag group of nobodies. The Rampers have 21 members, each member having at least 1 street fight under our belt. Even if, by some miracle, you manage to match our numbers, you're no match for our boss. He's a former amateur boxer with a record of 15-0. People say that he's as strong as 5 full-grown men".

"That's interesting." Mayr replied with the same stoicism he had displayed throughout their exchange. Mayr reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope and placed it in the lap of the leader of the 5 beaten boys. "Hand this to your boss and tell him that if he doesn't want to go the route suggested in this letter, then he will no longer have a territory".

"Y-you don't get it, do you?", Said the boy softly, "You're signing your own death certificate by going up against the boss. If by some miracle you actually beat The Rampers and take our territory, you're gonna start getting targeted by Farugio Mozzo. All school gangs that are even remotely significant have to answer to him. His uncle, Anthony Mozzo runs the entire east end of the country. You're digging yourself into a hole."

Unfazed by the warnings, Mayr got up and turned his back on the 5 boys that he had badly beaten. "Get that letter and my message to your boss." Mayr added as he was getting ready to leave, "If he doesn't arrive at the meeting at the listed location and time mentioned in the letter, then consider this territory 'disputed grounds'." With this, Mayr started walking out of the alley and the crew followed him.

-

About a day later, on a Saturday, the 5 boys that were beaten up by Mayr and his crew go to a park. There is a walkway that stretches across the park and it is surrounded by grass and some trees. On the left side of the park, there is a large fountain in the middle of the grass fields. The 5 boys stood in the evening sun facing the fountain. On the ledge of the fountain wall, 2 boys sat. One of the boys was about 5 feet 10 with a medium build and short black hair. The other boy was tall and slender, about 6 feet tall with the front hairs on his head dyed blonde and his hair slicked back.

"Can you believe this, Jay?" The boy with black hair sitting on the ledge said while staring at the tall boy, waving the letter in his right hand.

"They got some balls, I'll say that much." The tall boy replied.

"Usually, I wouldn't even run something like this by you, boss," Said the 'leader' of the 5 that got beaten up by Mayr's crew, "But I can't just sit still after having my pride sullied like that."

The boy with short black hair looked back at the letter and began to read it out loud. "'Territory negotiations at the abandoned subway 3 blocks from Parkside high at 5pm. The date is Friday, 2 weeks from now. Failure to show up will be considered hostile and our efforts to overtake the territory will begin'." The boy looked up from the letter and a slight smile appeared on his face, "Interesting. Jay, get ready for a 'meeting'." he said with a small chuckle.

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