Two weeks flew by for Kazimir, who’d gotten closer with the Voiceless Rebels gang leader during his stay at their hideout. All the drugs he got doped up with protected him from the pain as his shoulder healed.
The bitter wind coiled around his body like wispy snakes, hissing in his ears. Checking the news outlets had been a horrible mistake on his end, but seeing his cringey high school photo captioned with the headline: Artist accused of murder made him sick to his stomach.
How did his name get released so quick? The police had to be feeding intel to the media. Or maybe Samantha leaked lies to a journalist? It didn’t matter. Kazimir’s face was out there for the world to see and condemn him to hell. He disabled his Instagram art account when the hate comments flooded in. Let them call him a coward for hiding.
Kazimir kicked a beer can across the pavement before sitting down on the ground. Liter scattered across the unkempt lawn of the gang’s hideout, and the shabby fence girdling the property looked like it would collapse any day.
“Mind if I join you?”
Kazimir turned his head back as Emmett approached him. “Sure, go ahead.”
Emmett plucked his Zippo from his breast pocket and lit a cigarette. He seemed hesitant about sitting on the ground at first, but plopped down beside Kazimir with a soft groan.
“How are you doing?” Emmett asked.
“I don’t know, to tell you the truth,” Kazimir admitted. “Have you seen the article about me?”
Emmett puffed out a plume of smoke. “Yeah, they shared it on the local news too.”
“Wonderful,” Kazimir muttered.
“Want a smoke?” Emmett gestured his carton out to him.
“Yeah, thanks.” Kazimir accepted his cigarette. He drew it to his lips and allowed Emmett to light it for him. It took a couple flicks for a spark to ignite.
“You must keep a low profile. Try to keep your face hidden if you go out into the public.”
Kazimir drew his cigarette back to his lips, inhaling the blissful nicotine to pacify his nerves. “You think someone might try to attack me?”
“They might. They’re tired of all the violence going on with the gangs so they want to make you their scapegoat,” he explained. “They want to punish you for murder.”
Kazimir raked his hands through his hair. “Oh God. My life is over, isn’t it?”
“No? What makes you say that?” Emmett asked. “You don’t think we’ll go down without a fight, do you? No charges have been made yet. It’s all speculation.”
“It’s like I’m living in a nightmare.” He sighed.
“No matter what happens, I’ve got your back, Kaz.”
“Thanks. That means a lot. I’m glad I still have someone I can count on.” Kazimir gave him a small smile.
Being alone terrified Kazimir. Just imagining himself locked up in a constricting cell sent chills across his body. He was grateful that Emmett believed in him and wanted to help.
“It’ll be night before long. Are you ready for this? You’ll get justice and Samantha will never fuck with you again.” Emmett turned his head and coughed into his elbow.
“Good. After this, I never want to see her again,” Kazimir told him.
“You know, I never expected someone like you to be the mysterious painter.”
Kazimir shrugged. “I never expected someone like you to be a gang leader.”
“I guess it’s true what they say about looks being deceiving.” Emmett drew his cigarette back to his lips.
Gusts of wind tugged Kazimir’s hood down as he closed his eyes and sighed, exhaling a ghostly pall of smoke to the air. His eyelids weighed down with so much stress. He could barely keep them open. Insomnia haunted him at night and robbed him of any peaceful slumber. He usually slept when he crashed. Sweet dreams never awaited him when he drifted off, so he didn’t mind.
Emmett retrieved his phone then stuffed it back in his pocket. “Looks like it’s time to get this show on the road. You ready?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” Kazimir stood up and tossed his cigarette butt on the ground then stomped on it.
They returned to the gang’s lounging area, where Alfie, Everly, and Charlie gathered on the two couches. Several others crowded around them too, none of which Kazimir recognized. He kept his head low as he followed the gang leader inside, sensing they were rubbernecking him. Emmett grabbed their attention for the meeting by shutting off the television, and standing in front of the humongous plasma screen. Kazimir scooted over beside Everly, who stuck a book mark in her romance novel.
“Listen up, I need y’all to get ready for tonight. We’re gonna go over the plan again before heading out,” Emmett told them.
“You sure about doing this?” Alfie asked. “It’s gonna cause chaos. Maybe you should try catching Samantha off guard somewhere else? A lot of shit could go wrong.”
“Chaos is precisely what I want,” Emmett said with a smirk. “I plan to steal the old hair salon from that bitch.”
Alfie rose an eyebrow upon hearing that, rubbing at the stubble on his chin. “That would expand our territory too, considering that it’s already on the boarder. But you know damn well they won’t go down without a fight. We’ll be attacking their entire gang, not just Samantha.”
“Yes, that’s true, but we’ll also be showing the Black Vipers that Samantha isn’t someone deserving of a position of power.” Emmett paced around the lounging room, making hand gestures as he spoke. “After we steal the place from her, they’ll strip her of her newfound powers. It’s beyond me how the conniving bitch ranked up in the first place.”
“Alright. Whatever you wanna do,” Alfie told him. “I’ll be sure to have your back no matter what.”
“Good. I’m sure Samantha will have some tricks up her sleeve, so everyone, be careful. She’ll be very protective of this place and on guard, as I’m sure she knows Kaz came to us for help,” Emmett said.
Emmett moved in closer to everyone. “Now, on to the plan. Everly, you will be our main eyes on the street with your drone. You alert me immediately if things start going south. Before we attack, we’ll let you scope out the area. Careful where you lurk. They might try to shoot you down.”
Everly nodded. “Got it.”
They had drones? How cool. Kazimir wanted to see them in action. How did Everly plan to use them? Where in the vicinity would she hide so she could use them? The artist had so many questions, but his nerves kept him silent. He didn’t dare speak up amongst so many unfamiliar, scary faces.
“Alfie, you and your guys will create a distraction to get the bodyguard out of the old hair salon. Charlie, you’ll be our lookout and getaway driver on the next block over. Get two more of your men to do the same, with unmarked cars. I don’t care who. When we come running, y’all better get your asses ready to book it the hell outta there.”
“Got it, boss.” Charlie nodded from where he was sprawled out on the couch, munching on a corndog.
Charlie had his own people who obeyed him? Kazimir expected that much from Alfie, since he was Emmett’s right-hand. Listening to the Voiceless Rebels plan only made Kazimir more fascinated with their setup. Despite how much it terrified him to seek revenge on Samantha and her gang, he knew Emmett would protect him.
“Meanwhile, Kaz and I will hide in that old alleyway across the street. Once the guard is preoccupied, we’ll break inside and then–”
“We kill the bitch.” Charlie finished his sentence.
“No way,” Kazimir spoke up in a soft voice, shaking his head. “We can’t kill her. I want revenge, but I won’t take it that far. Nobody needs to die tonight.”
Charlie downed his beer and muttered, “Fucking pussy.”
Everly whacked Charlie’s arm, making him drop his corndog on the floor. “We don’t need the Black Vipers coming after one of us for killing their own. We just want to fight them. No murdering.”
Charlie growled as he leaned over for his corndog. He stuff the rest of it in his mouth.
“We should just kill all of their bitches then. Fuck are they doing letting women in charge?” Charlie muttered. “Fuck it. I’m gonna get another drink.”
Everly scooted her foot out, tripping the man as he tried to step around. He came crashing down on the floor with a thunderous thud. Laughter rang out amid the crew as Charlie pulled himself off the ground. His face heated up as he mumbled something under his breath.
“Come on, Fatlard. Get serious,” Emmett told him.
“There aren’t any snacks for you under that couch,” Everly teased.
“Sorry boss,” Charlie pouted, sitting back on the couch.
“Dumbass,” Alfie muttered.
Kazimir turned to Emmett. “Are you sure this plan of yours tonight will work?”
“Absolutely.” Emmett smirked. “I’ve been plotting it out for a while now.”
“You better keep your scrawny ass hidden until I give you the okay,” Alfie told him. “I remember what happened during our last gang war. You threw our plan out the fucking window and did whatever the fuck you wanted. Which almost got you killed.”
“Oh, I’ll be careful. Don’t you worry about that,” Emmett assured him. “That cunt, Samantha won’t realize what’s happening until it’s too late.”
“Don’t hurt her too much,” Kazimir said. “Despite what she did to me, she doesn’t deserve to get beaten for it. She needs serious help. I just want to scare her so she won’t mess with me again.”
“You’ll be able to face her yourself. You can say or do whatever you please. Just consider me your armor,” Emmett replied, then disbanded their meeting.
Multiple conversations filled the room, but Kazimir couldn’t focus on any of them. Some of the guys grabbed some snacks for the road, but Kazimir couldn’t stomach the thought of eating.
Protection from the devil always came at a deadly cost, but his kindness blinded Kazimir.
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