Play Me | ✓

Chapter 22

"Freedom is strangely ephemeral. It is something like breathing; one only becomes acutely aware of its importance when one is choking."
~ William E. Simon

...♛...

Dark and quiet, the night sky is full of millions of stars carrying wasteful wishes. This could be a perfect scene in the movies when the main leads, in this case Kai and I, get in trouble, and Kai becomes a hero and saves the day.

But like Kai explained, he's not a hero and neither am I. So if we survive this, what would we be?

Villains or heroes?

I'm only a few inches behind Kai when I'm stopped by one of the men. His face is full of scars sending a foreign feeling through me. All the things men do for their leaders, yet the second a leader had to choose between their men and themselves, they'll always choose themselves.

"Yes?" I question the man. He's much taller than me, almost the same height as Kai.

"You're going to stay here while they talk," I nod knowingly. Like Kai said, 'do as you're told and keep your mouth shut'.

The man finds a comfortable spot behind me as I watch Kai confidently approaches the man who was at my window a few minutes ago. I wonder what this is about? A man who wants power takes it without being so bland.

The murderous aura surrounding him makes one thing clear; that he is also a leader. Judging by the selective amounts of white hair, this man has to be in his late forties at least, making him more experienced than any one of us here right now.

"What gang are you from?" I question the man stalking behind me.

"Michigan Warriors," he replies.

Michigan Warriors? I don't remember much about them. When I was a child, my family didn't really talk about other gangs in front of me and ever since I've been out, I haven't been paying attention to anything that's been going on.

I avert my attention back to the heated conversation. They're stood under the street lamp as I watch. Kai seems to be calm, but stiff as the other man continues speaking. The man looks aggravated with his hands flying everywhere and the redness creeping up on his face. Having enough of Kai's silence, the man grabs onto Kai's collar.

I close my eyes stopping myself from walking in to help Kai. For some reason, I want to go up to them and rip him off of Kai. Something about the whole situation feels off and my inner voice tells me I need to do something.

My eyes open and I watch as Kai gently pulls the man's hands off himself. I can't tell if Kai is talking, but the satisfaction on the man's faced tells me that he is.

With a sinister smile, the old man's eyes fall on me. He nods and I look back as the man that was standing behind me, pushes me to walk forward.

Without any hesitation, I make my way over to them. Sneaking a glance towards Kai, I watch as he tries to hide his helplessness under a straight face.

"Sorry for the intrusion, but let me introduce myself," the old man says. His face closer up, seems much more familiar.

He extends his hand out and I take his gesture, "George Neverson."

I nod in response. The man takes his rough hands back and stands there waiting for me to introduce myself.

"I don't find any importance in names," I state. The least people know, the better. Even when using a fake name, you reveal a lot about yourself.

"Well then," he replies. "Let's get onto business, I'm here for one, and one thing only."

"You," he says looking dead into my eyes. I stand there confused.