The Brightest Star

7. King

King's POV

Inside the abandoned factory, I stood in front of a man named Po tied to a chair. Kiki and I snatched him from the gym at the exact time Uncle Ben told us to, and right where he was perfectly out of every cam around the street and surrounding buildings. It amazed me every time because Uncle Ben was never wrong about the timing.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Po yelled, shaking in the chair and looking around at the plastic-covered room.

We still had our masks on but Kiki was the first to pull hers down for him to see her face. His eyes widened as the fear crossed his face even more.

"Uncle what's his money," she told him. I looked at her as she gave me a small nod for me to punch his stomach, making him exhale all the air from his lungs.

We gave him a few seconds to breathe before he answered, "I swear I'll have the money Kiki. Just tell Uncle to give me one more day. Just one. That's all I need."

Kiki nodded again but this time I punched his face, breaking the skin as blood started dripping down.

"Uncle is done waiting, Po. He was already nice enough to give you an extra week without a threat or even a call. Times up," Kiki told him as I punched him a few times for fun.

Blood dripped down his face and out his mouth by the time Kiki finally placed a hand on my shoulder pulling me back into reality and I stepped back.

"P-please Kiki. I've b-been waiting on the bank to clear the money. I'm supposed to pick up the money f-first thing tomorrow morning. I swear it's true." He looked between us both with pleading eyes.

I believed him though. Something in his eyes just told me he was telling the truth and my gut told me to believe it, which the feeling was never wrong.

I pulled down my mask as he looked at me in question. "You know who Kiki is right?"

He nods still giving me a weird look.

"Good, good. I'm Uncle's blood nephew. The name is King. Remember this kindness, Mr. Po, because this is pretty rare of me. You will go to the bank in the morning as you say you plan to do and get that money, plus a late fee." His eyes grew wide and Kiki stepped closer to me with a pissed-off look. "Don't worry the late fee will be small. Just an extra 2k will be just fine. Now, you see Kiki's face right now?"

He looked over and saw Kiki looking pretty pissed like she was ready to start hitting me any moment.

"Yeah, she doesn't agree with what I'm doing at all and if she doesn't agree then Uncle clearly won't agree so I'm really putting my neck out there for you Mr. Po. You fuck it up and I'll kill you myself, off the books. Don't waste my kindness, Mr. Po, it's not given lightly."

He nodded his head in agreement and I cut the ropes setting him free. "We will be waiting in the morning for you just outside the bank. I'll be the one taking the money and if all goes well, Mr. Po, we have no more reason to bother you. You have my word and I stay true to my word," I told him and nudged my head to the door. "I will be waiting."

He staggered away quickly, completely confused as he looked back at Kiki once before disappearing out of the building. As soon as he was gone Kiki punched my shoulder hard.

"Ow!" I said with a laugh, rubbing the spot. It hurt a lot.

"What the fuck was that?" She asked in a yell, letting out her frustrations that she'd been holding in for a few minutes.

"I believed him. Uncle Ben did say that I could use any method I wanted to get his money. Correct?"

"I don't think he meant to let the man go King! What were you thinking?" She yelled, throwing her hands up in the air.

"I was thinking two birds with one stone," I smiled and started walking over to the white repair van.

"You're explaining this to my father and when shit goes wrong, I'm not saving your ass this time King," she said in anger and got into the driver's seat slamming the door shut but I couldn't wipe the smile off my face.

---

In the morning I stood close to the bank playing with my new phone. My uncle was pissed at me yesterday for not following his orders but I didn't really care. I trusted my decision even when they didn't but they will learn.

Mr. Po was already inside the building and this time had two bodyguards with him. I didn't know who this man was or what he did for a living but it didn't matter to me. All I cared about was getting my uncle's money.

As soon as he walked out, Kiki pulled up on the other side of the bank as I started my walk. I walked right into him.

"Oh I'm so sorry," he said and walked away.

I then walked over and got into Kiki's blacked-out car and once she started driving I handed her the envelope Mr. Po slid me when I walked into him. "It should all be there. Feels fat."

"It better be King. I don't know what the hell you were thinking yesterday letting him walk like that. It was stupid and pointless."

"Pointless? Are you the stupid one here cousin? I mean last I checked I just handed you the money that was owed just like Uncle Ben told me to do. Or are you scared of being proven wrong?" I asked with a cocky gain.

She kept her eyes on the road but I could see her knuckles whiten from her tight grip on the wheel. "How did you know he was going to do it?" Kiki asked with an attitude.

I looked out the front window again with the same cocky smile as always. "It's a gift I have."

Back at home, Uncle Ben was still a little pissed at me too. Kiki threw him the money but she kept walking into her room. Yeah she was pissed I showed her up but whatever. She will get over it soon enough like always. Family is everything to her and she can't resist being mad at me for long. I was her favorite person after all.

Uncle Ben counted the money and looked back at me with a smile. "Well, I'm man enough to say I owe you an apology for underestimating you, King. To tell you the truth I was ready to throw you out on your ass today. I mean it's not that often someone proves Kiki wrong. I'm proud of you. You did a great job." He started counting out money and handed some over to me. "I'm sure he added this for a thank you as well, and I'm not going to keep it from you. Keep up the good work."

"Nuh. You keep it and put it to that money I owe you. I mean with the extra two thousand I made him pay plus this, I should be paid up in full now. Right?" I smiled at him as he raised his eyebrows.

"Oh," he said before he started laughing loudly. "I see what you did. Smart. You're paid in full then. Haha, muscle and a brain. Seems like you're full of surprises."

"I'm not stupid if that's what you think. I do know how to do shit and think shit through quickly. I just like to punch first and ask questions later. It keeps life fun that way," I smiled.

"If you would think shit through more often then maybe you might be the one who takes over one day," Uncle said as he turned around in his chair again with a smile.

"Ha, I don't want to take over anything. I'm not a leader and I never want to be. Plus I'm happy right here. Why get greedy?" I shrugged.

"I didn't want this spot either but when it was given because of what I did, I took it and learned to be a leader in my own way. Are you saying, if the spot was offered to you, you wouldn't take it?"

"Of course not. Like I just said, I'm happy being an enforcer," I smiled and he too smiled as he started to go back to looking at his maps and cameras he had set up all around his neighborhood.

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King is definitely smarter than he puts out. It always surprises people when he shows it but he finds life more interesting that way.