Me Llamo Tokio (My Name Is Tokyo) - A Money Heist Prequel

Chapter 11 - The New Self

A lot of things can happen in a single day. You can lose your life or embark on the biggest adventure that you've ever had, it's all up to you. You can stay focused on your career and secure your job, or you can simply forget that all these things existed. It depends on you and on a simple, basic concept called decision.
A few nights ago, when I decided to get out of the house and drink my sadness away, I never imagined that I'll end up talking about my life in a storehouse with a criminal. Also, he's happening to turn me on really bad and I still have to hide it, which sometimes can be really hard.
"You want a cigarette?" Rodrigo asks us after we finish telling him our story.
Juan looks at me and I take a cigarette from the table.
"Thanks." I say putting it in my mouth and cluelessly searching for a lighter.
But Juan is faster than me, taking it from behind a stack of notes, and lighting my cigarette. These are exactly those moments that I was talking about, when he was taking care of me, the small gestures and his protective side, everything adds on the list of why I liked Juan.
"And you guys aren't together?" Rodrigo is voicing my frustration while throwing Juan some weird looks.
I guess men have their own language, like we do too.
Apparently, Juan decides to act with Rodrigo the same way he acted with me in the car, when I confronted him about the entire girlfriend thing — he's ignoring the question. Instead he takes a cigarette and lights it.
"Can you stop meddling in our business, man?" he says after a few puffs. "Me and Silene, that's not your job."
Alright, let's take a break and appreciate how he formulated it: "me and Silene". Sounds good, right? I say to myself, as I'm trying to avoid both men's looks. I have a feeling this isn't going anywhere, because if it would've been, Juan would've held the record for the man who resisted with me more than three days.
"How about you tell us how you ended up working for a guy like El Zorro." says Juan after taking a few sips from his glass. "Your father knows about it?"
"Here's the funny part." Rodrigo laughs. "I don't."
"You don't what?" we both ask at the same time.
"Oh, look at you. How you do things together." he says in a soft voice drawing a heart in the air.
This guy was annoying me, but also, I wasn't too deranged by where he's hinting.
"Rodrigo..." Juan's voice is going up, accentuating every letter in his name. "What the hell did you do?"
He doesn't look impressed by the threat in Juan's voice, but chooses to continue:
"I heard that one of El Zorro's men is meeting someone around, so I decided to take control of the operation and find out who else is working for that old shit. And surprisingly it was you!"
Juan hits himself.
"You just didn't. Rodrigo tell me what you did with the man who was waiting for us?"
The guy looks a bit confused then he gets up and opens the door.
"Guys!" Rodrigo is screaming at the Serbs above. "What happened with the dude from this morning?"
"Dead." replies someone from below in a plain voice, like they were answering to a basic question.
Rodrigo closes the door after him and throws himself back in his chair.
"You heard him." he says calmly.
"Do you have even the slightest idea of what you just unleashed?" Juan asks him. "If your father will find out..."
"Spare me with my father, Juan. In a few months he'll probably be in jail, he's not having time for this." Rodrigo says irritated. "Can't you just give me the benefit of a doubt? I'm not as dumb as I seem."
"You really haven't heard what happened to those who dared to cross El Zorro's land without his permission?" Juan asks and I can feel that he's really concerned for this guy. "Not to talk about killing one of his men."
"Give me a break. The old man is already expired." he replies laughing. "I'm shocked that you went to him for help, but since you had no idea I'm back and you killed his brother, it's understandable."
Juan looks at me exasperated and I reply him with a smile. I like the kid though, even if his optimism can be really annoying. Also, I enjoy that there's someone else who's exasperating Juan more than I do.
"Look, Rodrigo, I'll explain you how things work." Juan says trying really hard to keep his cool.
"No, I'll explain you how things work, Juan, and how come that no one is looking for you, even if you and your beautiful lady run in the middle of a night leaving a dead body behind." says Rodrigo in a superior tone.
I take a quick look at Juan and I see that he's as confused as I am. Suddenly, I'm a bit scared by what Rodrigo can do.
"Well, I cleared you out, man. You only need fake papers just if you want to take your lady in the honeymoon and to look like you're married." he says to our surprise. "My contact in Barcelona was looking for you ever since they set you up the entire thing. I knew that Sancho is about to kill you, because he couldn't keep his mouth shut and he talked about it with everyone, so I was coming to rescue you. The cops were coming to save you not to arrest you. I thought that, if the rest of your gang will see that you got arrested, they'll stop looking for you and you'll be able to escape and get out of that shit alive. Instead, you decided to run straight to El Zorro for help, understandable, as I said. But let me tell you something, you're the one who made a pact with the devil, Juan."
I'm speechless. This guy was smarter than he seemed.
"What the actual fuck, so you knew from the start?" Juan is really annoyed. "Then why you made me tell you about the entire thing?"
"Because I love stories." Rodrigo giggles. "Especially romance ones."
I'm not sure if I like the guy or if I want to hit him. Probably I'm somewhere in between. Juan, on the other hand, seems to be really decided about this thing as he jumps to punch Rodrigo.
"You motherfucker knew that I was going to El Zorro and you let me?" Juan screams.
"No, I swear, I..." he can't finish his sentence because Juan's punches are faster than his ability to talk.
"I can't believe how stupid you are." says Juan between punches.
"Please..." is all I manage to hear as Rodrigo was probably getting a punch in his teeth.
I decide that I've seen enough of this show. One after the other, Rodrigo's intentions were good, he didn't deserve to be beaten that hard just for being a bit dumb.
"Stop!" I scream, but no one seems to notice. "Juan, stop!"
He's too preoccupied with beating Rodrigo to listen to me, so I do what I think it's best in this situation: I punch him in the back.
"Auch!" he exclaims. "Silene!"
"I said stop! Come on, he's just dumb, you don't have to kill him for that."
He looks at me and I see how the rage is swiftly disappearing from his face.
"Let him." I say and Juan immediately releases him.
"Thanks." Rodrigo whispers.
"Can you calm down, Juan? You haven't even listened to what he has to say." I scold him.
"Says the one who's never listening." he snaps back.
"Spare me, Juan. It's not the same thing." I say angrily. "You're acting like an immature brat right now."
"Oh really, I'm acting like that?" he replies annoyed.
"Guys, guys!" this is Rodrigo. "Can you stop arguing and listen?"
I laugh, I can't believe this guy still has the guts to say something to us after his face is full of bruises from Juan's punches.
"Shut up!" we both scream at him.
He starts laughing as we're throwing him two deadly looks.
"Okay, lover birds. I'll give you a room after I'm done telling you what happened." Rodrigo continues like nothing happened.
"Can I beat him?" Juan asks me.
"Wait a second, not yet." I reply laughing.
"I only found out about El Zorro when it was already too late. My men looked for you all around Barcelona. I haven't thought you'll go straight in there, man. I'm sorry." Rodrigo sounds really genuine.
"I'm sorry too." Juan replies brushing some dust off of his jacket.
"Man, you're so angry, you really need some..." he gives us a complicit look. "Pussy."
"Rodrigo..." Juan's tone is back to threatening.
"Okay, okay, I get it. You and Silene, not my business." he replies, then takes a seat at his desk. "Now, what can I do for you, guys?"
I can't hold my laugh. I decide that as much as he annoys me, Rodrigo can be quite funny.