"How are you holding up?" The bakery owner asked. Despite everything that happened, I was thankful I had someone to talk to since Eliza and I had become more distant each day that passed.
"I'm fine. Thank you for your concern." I blurted out without much emotion. My heart was drained and had nothing more to offer.
"I understand how you feel." Do you? "I know how hurt you must be right now." Have you been through the same thing? "You can always come to me when you need someone to talk to, okay?"
"Thank you." Even to me, my words sounded empty.
I went home directly after the bakery closed down for the day. I quit my job at the diner after my mother died and spent the night crying. I was alone in the house every night and it felt great to let all my pain out without worrying about someone seeing me. I cried so much until I had no more tears to cry. I wondered whether Eliza cried too. Eliza. I was so used to Eliza not being home, but it was worrisome when she didn't come home for three days. I got anxious and paced back and forth in the living room. I felt it before. I knew there was something wrong about her, but it was put off because of everything that happened. I didn't have anyone anymore; she was the only family I had left. I just couldn't let anything happen to her too.
She mentioned that the diner was at the nineteenth floor, so I decided to look for her. I almost ran the entire way. I was in haste. I couldn't explain it. I just had a feeling that I had to find her quickly. My gut was telling me something terrible was going to happen to her if I was even a second late. I made it to the nineteenth floor in no time and went around looking for her. There was no sign of her anywhere. The city was too big for me to search alone, but I had no one else to ask for help. I went in circles and accidentally went to the quieter side of the city. The atmosphere reminded me of the fourth floor where the gambling den was located. No way. Don't tell me… It was such a déjà vu. I saw Eliza across the street, in front of what looked like a bar. She was surrounded by three men. She looked uncomfortable. I was supposed to just observe for another minute but I found myself running to her when one of the men put his hand on her waist.
I grabbed the man's hand, twisted it and pushed him aside. I pulled Eliza behind me. "It was only self-defense. I used my skill for self-defense." I tried reassuring myself. I promised my mother I wouldn't get involved in any fight, big or small, and I intended to keep my promise. But, Eliza getting hurt was another story. Anyone who hurt my family won't be forgiven.
"What the?" One guy reacted. He looked at the guy who had his hand twisted then looked back at me. "What do you think you're doing?"
"I could ask you the same question." I retorted. "What do you think you're doing to my best friend?"
"Kira, it's okay." Eliza said from behind me. "I'm fine. You shouldn't be here. Just go."
"What?" I was surprised. "What do you mean? If you think I'll leave you alone here after seeing this place, then I'm sorry to disappoint you. You're going home with me, and you have a lot of explaining to do."
"I know. I'm sorry I lied, but I can't get you involved in this." She said.
"Like how you never listened to me, I'm not listening to you." I told her. "You're the only family I have left. I'm not going to let you get hurt." She didn't answer. I only heard her sob.
"Well, well. Isn't that touching?" Another person appeared. He looked cleaner that the others but the filthy air he had was just the same, worse even. "Is this your friend?" The question was directed at Eliza. "She's pretty too." Then, he asked me. "Are you looking for a job? I can give you one if you want."
"No thank you." I replied immediately. "I'm leaving and I'm taking Eliza with me."
"Oh no. You can't do that. She works for me and she owes me money."
I looked at Eliza. She didn't have to say anything. I knew what it was about. "We'll give you the money back and you'll never see us again."
"That's the thing." He said. "No returns. The deal wasn't about her paying me back the money. It's something else. Something more." He motioned to the bar in front of us. "As you can see this is a bar, and your friend works here as a hostess. Of course, it's a legal job. But then, she borrowed money from me and coincidentally I had a regular customer who needed an extra service." He smiled. I wanted to punch his face so all his teeth would fall out. "The customer already paid for an entire year of service. I did tell Eliza what she needed to do for the money she was borrowing. She knew about it and said she'd do it."
"Sorry, mother." I mumbled then I lifted my right leg and kicked him on the torso. He crouched in pain. The others were startled and couldn't decide what to do. I walked to him and asked. "Who is it? Who is the bastard?"
"Me." Someone answered. I turned to the direction of the voice and saw the familiar face. How could I forget? I could never forget the bald head and those tattooed arms. It was him again.
All my life, I never felt so strongly against a person as much as I hated that disgusting pig. The mere sight of him made my insides turn in pure hate. I clenched my fists until my knuckles turned white. The arrogance emanating from him kept fueling my desire to punch his face and break his limbs.
"It's you again." His proud tone was sickening. "If you value your life, leave now before I change my mind."
"Sure. But I'm taking Eliza with me." I said.
"I don't think you fully understand your situation. I'm telling you that this is none of your business and you should scram before I wring your neck."
"And I don't think you understood when I said I'm taking her with me."
"If you continue being stubborn like this, you'll really regret it." The threat was evident in his words. But, I've gone through so much that I wasn't scared anymore.
"Kira, you have to go." Eliza said while hugging me from behind. "Please, I don't want you to get hurt. I'll take care of it. Please just go." She pleaded.
I turned to face her. "You say that but you're holding on to me tightly." I whispered. "Do you trust me?" She nodded. "Do you have some energy to spare?"
"What do you-"
I grabbed her wrist and made a run for it. She followed my lead and we ran in full speed.
"After them!" I heard the man shout from behind us.
We didn't stop, even when we heard the thugs screaming after us. They cursed and threatened us which only made me run faster. We made our way in the night market where the crowd was thick and brushing them off our tail was more possible. I pulled Eliza along and we entered a small thrift store. We moved to the innermost corner behind a large shelf and both collapsed on the floor.
"You don't think they saw us enter the store, do you?" Eliza was panting.
"I hope so. Or else we're screwed." I said.
"Why did you do that? You could have just gone home."
"Are you an idiot? If I did, what could you have done by yourself? Do you really think you could have resolved that on your own?" I snapped at her.
"Even so. Now what? What do we do? I'm sure they'll keep looking for us." She was panicking. "And what would happen to us once they found us?!"
"Eliza, calm down." I firmly held both her shoulders until I saw the panic vanish from her eyes. She regained her calm seconds later. "Let's not worry about when we get caught. Instead let's think about what we should do not to get caught."
She took a deep breath before talking. "Alright. I'm sorry I lost composure." She blushed a little from embarrassment. "We should go home, grab a few things like clothes and money, then hide somewhere."
"No, we can't go home anymore."
"What? But all our money is there."
"It doesn't matter. By now, he probably already sent his men to the house. It's too risky. We just have to leave everything."
"But all our things. Your mother's, your father's and your brother's things. Are you sure there wasn't anything important we have to get back?"
"You're my only family. You're the most important." I told her. "Of course it's a shame not to bring all that money. But I don't want us to lose our lives because of it."
"But where will we go?" Tears started rolling down her cheeks. "We have nowhere to go."
I wrapped her in an embrace, and I fought back my own tears. "We'll think of something."
We slowly walked the streets draped in big overcoats and hats bigger than our heads. It was a good thing I actually brought some money with me. So, we bought some clothes from the thrift store for our disguises. I found a maroon coat which had tiny holes on the left sleeve, a black cowboy hat with a few faded spots, and a thick gray scarf that covered the lower part of my face. Eliza wore the beautiful teal coat she found hidden under the mound of run-down clothes on the store. Talk about lucky. The coat was too big though, but she looked happy. She also grabbed a brown bowl hat and huge thick-rimmed glasses. The walk to the station seemed endless. We had to constantly watch out for those thugs while not looking conspicuous ourselves. We felt like fugitives, but it didn't really matter. What's important was getting as far away as possible.
I was never one to run away. We grew up in the slums where you have to keep your head high so others don't look down on you. It was a place where predators prey on those who show a slight hint of weakness. I was used to fighting back. I used to find it cowardly to retreat. But I knew that strong mentality and physical strength wasn't everything. Being smart was also important to outwit your enemies. Running away was a strategic retreat. I planned to run away, but I vowed to come back stronger. My revenge would have to wait.
"Where to?" The driver asked.
I hesitated for a moment. It was a gamble. I wasn't sure whether we'd receive help but it was the only place I could think of.
"Where to?" The driver asked again.
"The twenty-second floor please."