Chapter One - Rix

From Rix's point of view, it switches every other chapter.

I stepped into the hotel room silently, balancing a large cup of coffee on top of a smaller cup of tea. There was a sleeping mass in one of the beds, so still it almost looked dead. His eyes were lightly closed, obscured by strands of black hair, and his chest was moving up and down slowly. It would be a pity to wake such a sleeping beauty, but the coffee was getting cold.

“Reio, rise and shine, cupcake.” I said loudly, kicking his bed after setting the hot drinks down on the bedside table. There was a mumble that I expect was intended to sound angry, but was more groggy than anything, and he rolled over, turned away from me. “We have work to do, get up.” This time I wasn’t as gentle. In one swift movement I yanked the warm blankets to expose a scantily clothed Reio. He curled up immediately into a pale white ball of legs and shoulder. This time the mumble was angry, and Reio turned his head over his shoulder. Lashes parted to reveal menacing dark blue eyes. I smiled sweetly, and handed him his coffee.

Reio, my little owl. He made no voluntary effort to move before the hour of twelve pm. Right now, it was about three hours prior to that mobile stage, and I knew I would probably end up carrying Reio to the bathroom. Or more accurately, dragging. No matter how hard I tried to train my older cousin, he refused to budge from his natural ways.  I had, however, successfully managed to lessen his pyromania a fraction.

“Did you have fun last night?” I asked. I wasn’t exactly sure where Reio had been, but going on the hour he had not so gracefully stumbled into our hotel room, I was guessing that profuse amounts of alcohol were involved. “I told you we were going to have to get up early today. If only you would listen to me occasionally.” I pleaded, a hint of sarcasm in my voice.

He groaned in response, raising himself slowly to lean against the headboard. After taking a swig of his coffee, the beast finally spoke.

“If I always listened to you I’d be a tea-chugging nerd who’d rather sit home and read with his strays instead of having some real fun.”

At his mention of strays I looked over to the tattered recliner in the corner, which was currently occupied by a mangy looking cat. I had found the thing wandering aimlessly behind the hotel the day we arrived. So I liked cats. Big deal.

“I didn’t say always. I said occasionally. Go take a shower, I’m going to firm things up with Tomo.”

“I bet you will…” Reio spat, lifting his unwilling body from the bed. I ignored the weak stab at my sexuality and dug my cell phone out of my pocket. My fingers pressed familiar buttons and after three rings Tomo answered.

“Everything is all set. The dog’s on his leash.” He said immediately.

“Alright. Tell Jackie we’ll meet him at five.”

Tomo’s reply was the scratch and click of a hung up phone.

Reio and I had taken on an odd job this time around. There are heaps of things to be learned about gangs, for example, they value their dogs over their offspring. Today Reio and I would be breaking into a mobster’s house to steal a particularly expensive dog back for it’s owner. The thing was worth over two million, apparently, and was twenty six hours away from being sold on the black market. Neither of us liked dogs very much, and the case was beyond ridiculous, but it was putting ten thousand dollars in our pockets.

Reio and I worked for the Underground, an obscure version of private investigators and detectives. We worked under the noses of the real authorities. Agents of the Underground weren’t below stealing something back that’s been stolen, and not quite above killing someone who really deserves it, although Reio and I avoided it if we could. I didn't think it was good for him. We worked for the people who couldn’t go to the cops, or simply didn’t have the time for all that paperwork. It wasn’t the most saintly career choice, but it put bread on the table and beer in our glasses. It was also Reio’s only option. Doing what we did or spending the rest of his life locked up in the psyche ward. That was the option Teretto had given us, anyway.

Our employer, Teretto, was one of the cleverest and most feared men in the United States. Nobody liked him, but we didn’t hate him, and everyone respected him. He was dangerous, mildly insane, but he had been the one that gave Reio and I a home when we had nowhere else to go.  Teretto was the most powerful middle man in the country, probably in the world. He had achieved his stature over the course of fifteen years, by the simple mentality of fighting when it was necessary and running like a little girl in pigtails when he had to. There were hundreds, even thousands of us working for Teretto, and most of them refugees like Reio and I. He took in the battered and broken, the hungry and meek, and turned them into loyal, hardened fighters. He was, in truth, a scary person. Every time I stood in front of him I was thirteen years old again, my knees quaking and my right hand gripping Reio’s forearm in a miserable attempt to comfort him. Teretto was tall, probably six foot seven, with black hair and black eyes that held an undiagnosed and untreated madness. He wore a cape, and his hair was always slicked back into a tight ponytail. He was violent, and rarely showed any hint of emotion that wasn’t disdain or anger.

Reio reminded me of Teretto sometimes, but this morning was certainly not one of those moments. The sound of a brittle plastic curtain being violently pushed aside told me that Reio was finished showering.

“Are we honestly risking life and dick for a damn dog?” Came a husky voice from behind the bathroom door. I sat down in the chair next to the cat and scrubbed it’s ears. I could only wish that Reio could be as content as the feline, who was purring passionately. 

“It’s true, comrade, but the sooner we get this over with the sooner our dicks are safe and secure once again.” I replied. A few minutes later Reio exited the bathroom in a glorious display of leather jacket, half dried hair, and a bad morning attitude.

“I hope I get to shoot something today.”

He got his wish, as two and half hours later I held the leash of an over-excited, two hundred pound Doberman, fleeing with bullets at my heels. The break in had gone over smoothly, as most of ours did, but the dog’s barking had proven highly detrimental to our situation. 

There was a reason I was a cat person.

“God damnit.” Reio cussed as I heard him slam his third clip home. He had certainly gotten to shoot something, or rather someone. Several someones. Reio, for all his flaws however, usually didn’t aim to kill. He went for the hands and knees most often. Two fingers and one leg tend to hinder a person’s aim. Reio had been personally trained by Teretto, and was one of the best shooters in the Underground. We were ten feet away from the gait and six men were chasing after us, hesitant to shoot. 

They could care less about mine and Reio’s well-being, but if they shot the dog, their happy little gang lives were over. In more ways than one. Over in the sense of “I’ll kill everyone you’ve ever loved and make you watch.“ I heard a scream as Reio blew off the hand of one of the shooters, and heard a bang and crack as another lost a kneecap. He held them back as I struggled with the dog while simultaneously trying to kick down the gate. After three blows, the lock finally broke and I sprinted through the gate, headed straight for our Jeep. I didn’t need to look to know Reio was behind me. The dog continued to bark excitedly, apparently having been bored by his past few weeks of life. The Doberman was smart, though, and I had to give him credit for immediately jumping in the back seat when I opened the door. I was in the drivers seat in seconds, and as soon as I heard Reio’s door slam shut I hit the gas. 

We pulled away from the house quick enough so that the other men didn’t have time to get in their cars and catch up. The pretty Lamborghinis were locked up safe and tight in the garage.

 I took a ridiculous amount of turns, making it impossible for them to track us down and finally slowed to the speed limit. Cops were not something I was in the mood to deal with. The image played out in my head as I could see the police officer walking up behind the car, with Reio calmly cleaning his gun…

I sighed exasperatedly, and looked over at Reio who, no surprise, was cleaning his gun with a smug expression on his face. I then felt a huge, wet, disgusting lick up the side of my neck and over my ear. “Eugh!” I wiped the dog spit away immediately, almost swerving off the road. “Get your furry a*s down!” I pushed the dog away but his entire two hundred pounds didn’t move. 

“Our dicks are safe.” Reio said flatly, but his eyes glinted with laughter. I rolled my eyes, and felt him look at me. I couldn’t erase the disgust on my face as the dog sniffled in my ear. “Awe, Rix, he loves you.” Reio cooed, petting the dog with fake affection. 

“Two million dollars. What do you do with a two million dollar dog? Why aren’t we getting paid two million dollars?” I was always tense after shootouts, which was quite far from my usual relaxed demeanor. Reio hated it.

“Calm down, we have more than enough money honey. We’ve got the pooch. All is well.” he said, voice perky, trying to calm me. Then he added, “I do wish I could have burned the house down though…”

I gave him a critical glance.

“What? They weren’t in there…” he said, lowering his head like a four year old. A four year old affectionately wiping his gun with a chamois cloth. 

“I’d rather you didn’t pick up the habit again.” I said, serious. I liked to think that those days were far, far behind me, and even further behind Reio. He picked up on my tone, and changed the subject. 

“Do we have anything lined up after we finished up with the dog?”

“No, hopefully we’ll catch a break.” We could both use one. Reio and I had been on the job almost constantly for almost nine weeks. I was tired, and wanted to go home to my apartment for a few days at least. 

“You just miss your cats.” Reio smiled.

I smiled as well, but didn’t reply to his dig. No matter what he said, he liked my cats too. Reio and I lived near each other, in the quarters provided by Teretto in West Side Central. He owned huge condos and apartment buildings all over, available only to his agents. As superficial as it was, I enjoyed the high life provided by Teretto and the Underground. It was a far shot and an unlikely dream compared to the house Reio and I had grown up in. 

“You should call Tomo.” I said to Reio, hiding the dark expressions I knew were lurking behind my eyes.

“Ugh… please don’t make me.”

I shrugged innocently, “I’m driving.” I felt the glare shot my way, but there wasn’t any more protest as Reio opened up his phone and dialed the loathed number. Reio and I had known Tomo since we joined the Underground, and our relationship with him was… tense. Our first encounter with Tomo had involved a mildly psychotic cat that was in desperate need of a de-clawing, Reio’s favorite lighter, and Tomo’s best pair of pants going up in smoke. Needless to say, after that, Tomo avoided contact with the two of us if he could. However, this was not easy, as mine and Reio’s work almost always fell in the Eastern District, to which Tomo oversaw. He had begged Teretto to move him or us, but Teretto was a believer in facing your demons, whether they be drink, sex, drugs, or two dysfunctional cousins who like to hide kittens in their coat and light things on fire. 

“Hey a*****e we’re on our way.” came Reio’s steady, rough voice, and then a snap as he hung up the phone. That was my cousin through and through. No needless words, and a*****e was always necessary. 

I didn’t say anything. Reio was a big boy, and I’d come to the conclusion that I’d done my part. It was his turn to know right from wrong.

And Tomo was kind of an a*****e.

After almost forty five minutes of driving, I took an exit that led underneath the city. Funny thing about the Underground, in most places it was actually underground. In this day and age, almost every city had another underneath, the so-called slums. It was the place for gambling, prostitution, thievery, the black market, and the Underground. It was a poetic concept, really, the upper crust living up top, purposefully oblivious to the darkness lurking just underneath them. 

I’d always found underneath interesting, if not intimidating. It was usually dark, as most of the underground cities didn’t spend the money to light it with more than a few streetlights here and there. Everything was in shades of grey, and the buildings lacked ceilings, attaching themselves at the top to layers of cement and metal pipe workings. The people were dirty, walking with their heads covered in hoods and high collared jackets. The animals stayed out, mostly, as there was little food and it was unbelievably cramped. Police forces were minimal, and in most under cities nonexistent. It made things all the easier for Teretto and the Underground. It wasn’t long until we found the building we would be meeting Tomo in, and in a few hours Jackie, the owner of our two million dollar dog. 

It was a steel warehouse, shinier than the buildings surrounding it. Inside it was bland, two rooms separated by a thin plaster wall. Tomo was in the left, sitting alone in an uncomfortable looking arm chair with a bitter expression on his face. 

“Good afternoon.” He said emotionlessly. 

“Hi sunshine.” Reio replied, quickly letting the Doberman off the leash before plopping down on a couch across from Tomo. The dog wagged it’s stub of a tail and instantly started licking Tomo violently. I stifled a laugh, but Reio didn’t bother.

 “Ain’t he a sweetie!” He said, again with the mock affection. I sat down next to him and the dog stepped over to lay down at our feet. Alright, the dog wasn’t that bad, but definitely not worth two million dollars. 

“Perhaps you two would like to sight-see for the next few hours. Mr. Alteria won’t be here until five o’clock.” Tomo spoke flatly, not bothering to hide his implications. He did not want to spend the next three hours stuck with us. 

“I don’t know, I’m kind of tired.” Reio said, his voice mocking. He pulled his favorite lighter out of his pocket, the very same rectangle of metal and butane that had lost Tomo his pants all those years ago. He began flicking it, on and off. The metallic click always calmed him, and over the years it had the same meditative effect on me. Reio might have been joking, but I actually was quite tired. Weeks of wear and tear tended to catch up with me, and I calmly kicked my feet up to rest on the leather cushion between the couch and Tomo’s uncomfortable armchair.

I closed my eyes, and allowed myself to drift into a light sleep. If anything happened, Reio could watch out for the both of us for the few seconds it took me to wake up. He woke me up after one short hour, claiming it was his turn to get shuteye. I didn’t attempt to make conversation with Tomo, and settled upon watching the small television mounted on the west wall, as Reio had done while I slept. 

The time passed slowly, but soon enough Tomo’s pager beeped loudly and he rose, unceremoniously, to let Jackie Alteria through the door. He was a fat man with a pink face, and big eyebrows. He beamed joyfully as his dog sprung up to meet him. Wives, children, brothers, sisters, all paled in significance next to his puppy. The dog wailed, Jackie wailed, Reio sighed heavily, received a slap in the back of the head from me as his lighter drifted towards the couch, and we left with ten thousand dollars in our pockets. 

Just as we sat down in our Jeep, which now smelled of dog and gunpowder, my cell phone rang. A restricted number was calling, and I answered cautiously. 

“Hello?”

“Rix Circoph, this is Teretto.”

My eyes widened and my heart leapt to my throat at the sound of the cold voice.

“Oh, uh, hello sir.”

“I trust you returned Jackie Alteria’s dog safely and in one piece?”

“Just moments ago, sir.” I could feel Reio’s wide eyes staring at me.

“Very good. You and Reio Lark take a week home, and after that I have an important job lined up for you. I’ll need you fresh and strong for this one. Your vacation starts now.” He hung up and left me with a slightly open mouth.

“Teretto just called your cell phone.” Reio said, eyes still wide.

“Yeah.” I replied, speechless.

“What did he say?”

“We’re on vacation for a week, then he has a big job for us.” I started the Jeep, wanting to get back into the sunlight. It wasn’t long before we surfaced, but the day was starting to fade. We took a quick exit into the city, and the dark silhouette was forming in front of the sun. 

“What do you think the job’s about?” Reio said, distracting himself by rolling the window down and then immediately rolled it back up. A bite was forming in the air, despite the Indian Summer warmth of the day.

“I don’t know. I don’t even want to think about it right now.” It wasn’t what Reio wanted, or needed, to hear but I was tired and cranky. I didn’t like the big jobs. They were too complicated, too dangerous, and Reio and I had had mostly bad experiences. A gangster wants his dog back, easy. Reio and I had been with the Underground for ten years, and we were some of the best, but if anything happened to either of us…

The Underground most likely wouldn’t keep Reio if I wasn’t around. He was better now than he used to be, but I was still the only person he listened to, besides Teretto, but that was only to a certain extent. I had never put much thought into what I’d do if something happened to Reio. I wasn’t entirely sure I would be able to do anything. I’d been taking care of Reio since I was six years old and he eight. I didn’t know any other way of life.

“It’ll be okay cuz. It’s probably nothing.” 

“Yeah, sorry.” I said, feeling slightly guilty. But the tone in Teretto’s voice had sounded different, it had some implied meaning. It wasn’t Reio’s job to comfort me though, I was the one that took care of him. “I’m just ready to sleep for about sixteen hours.” I smirked. I glanced at Reio who had a sly smile on his face. I imagined his plans were less docile.

Sure enough, as soon as we arrived back at the hotel he snaked the keys out of my pocket and I heard the tumbling engine of the Jeep turn back on and then eventually fade away. I didn’t mind the peace though. Today was a day of too many guns, too much barking, and now it was time to relax.

And relax I did, until four sixteen am when a knock resounded on the hotel door. I woke up immediately, grabbed a gun, and peeked through the eyehole. An unfamiliar man was holding Reio up by the collar of his jacket. I sighed, and opened the door, after sliding my gun under the bed.

“He yours?” Came a gruff voice.

“Yes, thanks for bringing him back.” I said exasperatedly.

 I grabbed the front of Reio’s jacket and tugged him into the hotel room, throwing the guy a twenty. He walked off and I closed the door behind him. Reio was barely standing, and that was when I noticed the bruises forming on his face. “Reio, what this time?”

“Some guaaay was talkin’ s**t about my mum.” He slurred. So drunk… I threw him on his bed and he groaned.

“Reio, you hate your mom. I hate your mom. We both hate my mom. What’s the deal here? Were you just out looking for a fight?” Okay, so I was preachy. But this, this I was not in the mood for. Then I remembered he was drunk. “Forget it. We’ll talk when you’re sober.” I pulled off his boots and he was asleep in seconds. Tomorrow we would have to scour the town for our Jeep, and hopefully Reio would remember where he’d been. 

Morning came to early, and at ten o’clock one of the maids was banging on our door. She informed me that we had to be out in an hour. I assumed it would take no less than gunshots to wake Reio up. 

I shook him hard, and to my complete shock, his eyes opened almost instantly. “I think I left the Jeep at the bar.” He said clearly.

“Yeah, I hope to god you did and it’s not crunched up in a ditch somewhere. I’m assuming the bruises on your face are from a human being.”

He smiled at the memory, and rolled on to his back. 

“Reio.” I said, the tone in my voice taking the place of words. He looked at me guiltily. On the inside, I knew Reio felt bad about the hard time he’d given me in the past and present, but he tried not to show it. As much as I had tried to convince him he wasn’t a burden to me, he wouldn’t believe it. Taking care of him hadn’t been a choice, it had been a necessity and something that became a part of me. 

“Sorry, sorry.” He got up and started packing his various guns into a duffel bag. I imitated his actions, and we were packed up and out of the hotel within forty five minutes. 

Thankfully, Reio had left the Jeep at the bar, and we’d managed to find his keys hidden in the so-called “secret pocket” of Reio’s leather jacket. He said something about being responsible, and preparing to get drunk.

It took a few hours to get back to New York City, but the ride was quiet as Reio slept the entire time, as expected. It was good to be home, but a feeling I was always surprised by whenever we returned to the city. As kids, mine and Reio’s home wasn't really a home. It was just a house, filled with people who hated Reio and who didn’t care for me past making sure I had food to cook for myself and enough clothes to go to school without getting social workers involved. 

When we reached our condo, Reio and I parted ways. He mumbled another apology, and then ascended the nearest set of stairs. My room was on the bottom floor, and was one of the bigger apartments. 

I stepped inside, and was swarmed with familiarity as my cats trotted over to greet me. Finally, a few days of peace.

Author's Note

There are a few inconsistencies that I'm not going to fix up right now. I'll get to it later and clear things up. I really like this story, though, and think it's some of my best writing. If you like it too tell your friends!

Reviews

[Century]

It's just the way they are!!

[Rocki-san]

I love it! How can they not like dogs!?!?