Ecstasy

Chapter 20 ; Story Untold

No. I don't think I can do this. How can I tell him? I can't.

"Yes, hello? You called me and now you're just standing there like a dumbass." He walked up to the counter facing me.

"Um.. You're dating my cousin."

"Ddaeng? Yeah, why?"

Oh god, I can't do this.

"He's in jail." I finally said. His expression was blank. You could cut the tension with a knife.

"Fucking what? What did you just say?" He said.

Oh my god.

"He--" I watched his expression change from confusion to disappointment.

"I'm thinking you already know." I said to him.

"Well yeah. I'm such a fool for hoping that the tattoo wasn't what it really was. Fuck.." He held the back of his head.

"Hey, it's alright." I stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to say.

"It's not, but thanks for trying I guess.." He just kinda stood there.. In shock..

"I'm sorry.."

"No! No you're fucking not. You probably could've helped! No.. But you chose not to!" He pointed his finger at me, looking directly into my eyes. I scoffed.

"First of all, you don't fucking know what I joined for. I joined to help that motherfucker out of his debt. You didn't do anything. You can't just accuse me! Nobody but Damon takes the blame for what happened to Ddaeng! Nobody is to blame but him."

"Right." He said, recollecting himself.

"I'm sorry, just pissed. Tired." He said in a calmer tone.

"It's alright, I get it." I rubbed my face.

"He's at Shuten Penn?" He asked me.

"Yeah, he wanted to explain everything to you by himself." I said.

"He doesn't need to, I know what the Yamaguchis are like. He doesn't need to explain himself, I got it." He said, walking to a room before returning without his apron on.

"My shift ended. We'll talk." He walked with me, ushering me out the door.

"You'd better know what you're getting into. The Yamaguchis are really dangerous." We walked down the streets together.

"Tsukiyo.. If you don't mind my asking.." I started, looking over at him as he gave me a nod.

"How do you know the Yamaguchis?" I looked at him again as he gave me a look of unease.

"Um, well. Let's say I worked for them doing things I'd never tell Ddaeng about." He smirked a little. My mouth turned into a comical O.

"You wanna go see him with me?" Tsukiyo asked me.

"No, I saw him a couple hours ago, you should go see him alone. You guys need to talk things through." I said.

"And don't worry, I've got a plan." I winked at him. He looked at me in confusion.

"Care to elaborate?" He raised his eyebrow at me.

"I've been working on getting him out of the death penalty, and I can get him down to one year." I said proudly.

"Damn. That's a hell of a drop. How do you think you'd manage to pay Damon back?" He asked. I blanked out for a second. Holy fuck.. I didn't believe all he'd want would be for me to just sling ecstasy.. I should've known he'd want something more. He always wants more.

"I thought he just wanted me to--"

"That's never it. It's never enough. Not for the Yamaguchis." He said, stopping, pulling out his phone.

"What's your name?" He said, looking at me.

"Dari. Want my number?" I asked. He smiled.

"Yeah, we'll keep in touch, thanks for letting me know." We both exchanged numbers as he walked off to the left, towards the penitentiary. I waved him off as I set off on my journey back to The Drag, where I'd finally face Damon, and ask him what he wanted. This should go terribly wrong.