I was waiting for the two to finish their call while I was still holding the brick of coke in my hands, but Jericho suddenly turned to me with a solemn expression before trying to fix his posture and appear decent. He even dusted off whatever was on his clothes and he cleared his throat for some reason.
He stared at me for a good five seconds without saying anything but he then let out a forced smile before opening his mouth.
"We'll meet later, Mr. Ishiyama. I hope I can show you my work again..."
'Mister?'
I replied promptly, "Yeah... but stop being formal."
"What?"
I chuckled as I shook my head, "It doesn't suit ya, just go as you normally would."
Jericho drooped his head low with a faint smile, "Ah— Ahaha... I guess..." then he scratched the side of his cheek, "B-But yeah, your prize is your prize, you get to keep it and do whatever you want with it."
"But our arrangement?"
"Hah! Dude, everyone here is only interested in getting pussy, getting piss-drunk, doing drugs, who's the better one at hitting and getting hit, and these games every now and then. I got ya," Jericho then stood on the spot where he came up, "If you're really something like an engineer, come see me and we'll trade notes."
At this point, the two of us were just exchanging glances but he turned on his earpiece as he was slowly descending down the stage.
[Right, before I forgot. Mr. Cuervo said that the requests for the Blood Fights were denied. He said that if you want some payback because the players you sent out lost, do it in the final game. No interruptions will be permitted because we're on a tight schedule.]
Almost immediately, a huge uproar came from the Castillo and the De Leon Family's side of the viewing platforms, and I could probably guess what 'Blood Fight' meant.
With that said, it never felt so weird coming back to my group because almost everyone from Quinn's crew was standing at attention. They were all looking at me like the girl from their crew who picked up my shoes, and there was a hint of newfound respect.
It's just that they all suddenly bowed at the same time and I had to sink my knuckles to the nearest one.
"YEOWCH! WHAT THE FUCK?! WE'RE GIVING YOU RESPECT AND YOU—"
"RESPECT?! D'YOU ALL WANNA FUCKING BLIND ME?!"
"WHA— BLIND YOU?! WE'RE BOWING—"
"DID YOU FUCKING FORGET ALL OF YOU LOOK LIKE A GROUP OF ROLL-ON DEODORANTS?! I WOULD'VE BEEN BLIND IN BOTH EYES IF I LOOKED A SECOND LONGER!"
"OH, COME ON! WE'RE NOT THAT—"
"TRY IT THEN! POINT YOUR HEADS OVER TO QUINN! SEE HER REACTION!"
"WAI—"
"YOU'RE NOT GONNA? FUCKING PUSSY—"
"BET!"
"BET!"
"BET, BITCH!"
"Annie."
"Y-Yes?"
"No one could go easy on a person like that. The more I hold back, the greater the risk I put on myself. Besides, why don't you just knock him out till morning comes? Mr. Cuervo's doctors probably have some sort of paralytic for this sort of thing if a bullet to the head is not the answer. And if they don't, I may have one vial stashed somewhere close."
"U-Umm—"
"And if all else fails, chain him up on his bed and have someone bonk him with a lead pipe if he tries to move. Oh! I recall Jericho had more bracelets with non-lethal functions, you should ask him too..."
At this point, I trailed on my last sentence because Annie's mouth was just agape from the words that were coming out of my mouth. However, she quickly got her bearings before composing herself and explaining things.
"I'm not sure about the b-bonking thing but any sort of drugs or something similar has failed to work on him. Be it anesthetics, narcotics, even alcohol, or those paralytics you spoke of, his body doesn't respond to them. Right now, I'm pretty sure he's already tied up on a table—the doctors just waiting for him to calm down—so they can operate."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously. It's been a lot of trouble when he was young but at this point in his life, he rarely even gets injuries but when it happens—"
"Here's the deal. The best course of action with your cousin is for him to get proper treatment and avoid strenuous work or else something bad is gonna happen to him. He needs to understand that. But, if he manages to get out there and continue to have fun breaking bones and shit, he'll get what's coming for him sooner or later.
You can't ask me to abstain from something your cousin is trying to do, I just gave him a taste of his own medicine."
"B-But—"
"Let me finish."
"..."
"I don't get where you're coming from—trying to defend him and shit—but if he dares to fucking lay a hand on me or my group here, I'll fucking retaliate, whether he's going through something or not. Cheh. I'M going through something, you don't see me going around visiting his opponents to tell them to take it easy on me.
If you don't want him to get hurt, the answer is simple: keep him in his bed, wait until he's good, and probably try and stop him if he tries something stupid—"
Annie suddenly cut me off with an unwilling look, "You don't get it... you—"
I chuckled as I shook my head, "I don't get it? I think YOU don't get it."
"I'm d-doing this for your own g-good..."
My ears suddenly perked up, "What did you just say?"
Annie looked down as she clenched her fists as tight as she could, "Benji... He... He has 'demons' living inside his head... and I think it's best you don't wake them up... or else..."
I kept my mouth shut as I let her continue.
"He always gets up— h-he always stands up, and h-he always comes back... I'm just here to tell you this warning... He's out for now but—"
"Annie."
"Stop cutting me off and—"
I let out the tiniest bit of pressure as I looked at her dead in the eyes, "Everyone has demons inside their heads... It's only a matter of whether you got to know them or not..."