Brothas

Guys' Night Out and Showdowns

Kebo: Ichiban, meet Mike, my longtime friend.

Ichi: Hi.

Kebo: Mike, this is Kasuga, someone I met while traveling around the country.

Mike: Hi...

Aaron: Previously on "Brothas"...

Mike: That guy from Kamurocho, I've heard he hit rock bottom and ended up in prison... You're calling him your friend, but that can't be the same person.

Kebo: What do you mean? He's a good guy. We have a different understanding of each other.

Ichiban: Do you think he'll take the chance to get to know me better?

Kebo: What are you implying?

Ichiban: When I greeted him, he gave me a strange look, as if he recognized me from somewhere.

Kebo: Don't stress about it. He'll come around.

Mike: Ever since you arrived with that ex-convict who served 18 years, nobody else has seen him.

Aaron: Hey bro, it's A-Dog. I was wondering if you want to meet up and grab some drinks tonight or something.

Ichiban: What's the plan for tonight?

Kebo: We're meeting up with the guys, getting dressed, and we're hitting the club tonight.

Ichiban: Hell yeah! We're going to party!

[Now]

[Salem, Illinois, 10:15 P.M.]

[Location: Aaron's complex apartment]

Aaron's POV:
As the evening progressed, Aaron was in the midst of getting ready, freshening up and suiting up for a night out with the guys, when his phone began to ring incessantly. Wrapped in his robe, with a towel drying his hair after a long, hot shower, he heard the persistent ring from the coffee table. It was Mike; he had been trying to reach Aaron for the past few hours. Rushing, Aaron picked up the call.

"Hold on, hold on, I'm on my way... Yo, what's up, man?" Aaron hastily answered, recognizing Mike's number.

"Hey, A-Dog, what's going on?" Mike inquired, curious about Aaron's activities.

"Just finishing up here, waiting for you guys to swing by. What about you?" Aaron responded, eager for the night's festivities.

"I'm just a few blocks from your place, trying to get out of this crazy traffic," Mike grumbled, frustrated by the congested roads as he drove.

"Man, that's rough for you," Aaron replied with a hint of jest, offering a sympathetic ear to Mike's traffic woes.

"Anyway, have you spoken to Kebo?" Mike inquired, still mired in traffic.

"No, dude, we've been swamped. Why? What's up?" Aaron responded, curious about the sudden mention of Kebo.

"Well, instead of getting chewed out at work, I decided to show Kebo around the new job he's applied for so he can get a feel for the place," Mike recounted to Aaron about his day.

"Mhm," Aaron hummed, attentively listening to Mike's grievances over the phone.

"And then, while showing him around, he had the nerve to bring along that scruffy guy, Ichiban or Ichi-something. I made it clear to them that I don't like that guy, not one bit," Mike vented to Aaron about his annoyance with his friend.

"Who's Ichiban?" Aaron inquired, curious about the person Mike mentioned.

"How would I be aware? He's a new friend of Kebo's from another part of the country, and he's also his roommate." Mike defended himself by asking Aaron what might be considered a silly question about the identity of Ichiban.