Whitewash High Ch. 16

"Who fucking did this!?" he snarled, switching personalities on a dime.

"I don't know. Like I said, she came in on an ambulance."

"What about the cops?"

"They haven't shown up yet. They don't quickly come out this way for a beating. They probably think she was turning tricks."

"I was the one who found her," Gale said, surprising the pair by popping in the room.

"You? How?" Nik asked.

"Found her outside her place. Someone beat her and stuffed her in a trash can. If she wasn't moaning in pain, I'd not have noticed. The place is a war zone."

"Why were you following her?" Rai asked, curious.

"She's been staying with me. A girl in my line of work always makes sure to learn everything about who she deals with. Everything," Gale replied.

"Did you find anything else out?" Nik questioned.

"Never had time. I drove her away, and called an ambulance. Chances are whatever happened, happened in her apartment."

Nik knelt back down, stroking Suzy's hair gently. It hurt him to see her beaten to a pulp. She was a pain in his ass since day one, but he felt a connection to her. It wasn't sexual, but more fatherly. He wanted to see her rise out of the shithole of her birth, and go on to do something with her life than be a schoolyard pimp.

"I'm going there," Nik said.

"You can't be serious, Rajah. Leave it to the cops," Rai said.

"Don't Rajah me, Maya. This is serious. Look at her! I need to do something. She called me. She asked me for help, and I couldn't do anything."

"What do you mean she called you for help?" Gale asked, confused.

"Before you found her. She called me. Somehow she got my number. Why do you think I got here so quickly? I called the cops but they couldn't do anything. As sick as it sounds, I felt relief you called me to say she was here, Maya. At least then I knew she wasn't on the street, dead somewhere."

"At least let me go with you, Nik," Gale said. "You don't know who is going to be waiting. I'm not just a pretty face, you know." She said the last sentence in Rai's direction, as if knowing what she was about to say.

"Fine, fine, just don't go getting killed, you two. And don't do anything stupid," Rai commented, sitting back down.

"If Michelle or Valerie ask about me, just tell them I'm out. I don't want them to worry yet. I'll tell them myself."

Nik stood up, leaned over, and gently kissed Suzy on the forehead.

X

Nik and Gale stood outside the dilapidated apartment building, motorcycle helmets held under their arms. Beggars and thugs walked the street. One tough decided to give Nik a long, hard stare which the white man returned in kind, not intimidated in the slightest.

"Let's go up and see what we can find out, Gale," Nik ordered, leading the way.

The inside looked worse than the outside. Needles lined the floor, used condoms, junk and trash. Nik could now better understand Suzy's chip on her shoulder. Some doors were closed, some opened, and some broken. Each and every step made crunch sounds. Gale couldn't hide her disgust, like a noble relegated to being among the peasants.

The pair came to the correct door. Nik gave it a hard knock.

"Who is it?"

"Are you Mrs. Thompson?" Nik asked.

"Miss, and I don't talk to cops."

"We're not cops," Gale chimed in.

"Your kind don't come this way unless you're cops or gangsters, especially you, slant-eyes."

Before Gale could reply to the insult, Nik put a strong hand on her shoulder.

"Ma'am, my name is Nik Knight. I'm your daughter's high school teacher. We're just coming to inform you she is in the hospital."

There was a long pause, but they could hear some scurrying in the background. The door slowly cracked open, revealing the middle-aged woman's used up form and dirty clothing. Gale could tell she had a hard life of drugs. It took all her willpower not to wretch.

"She is in the hospital?" the mother asked, surprised.

"Yeah, we're trying to figure out what happened. She was found outside your building. Did she make it inside?"

The mother shook her head quickly. Gale leaned in, whispering into Nik's ear. She could see through the door into a single, large room. No corridors or hallways. Suzy's bag rested against the kitchen table.

"Really?" Nik asked, keeping his cool. "What is her bag doing there?"

"Oh, uh, that? She was here last night."

"Bullshit," Gale shot out.

"Hey, I don't even know why I'm talking to a slant-eye and some stuck up teacher. I told ya she wasn't here. I'm done talking."

She tried to slam the door shut but Nik shoved his foot in the way.

"You don't seem to know the predicament you're in, Miss Thompson. Your kid was whipped, almost to death. You want to do hard time? Child neglect isn't something to scoff at," Nik said, calmly.

"Cops never come here. I've got protection. I just need to call my man and he'll fuck you up."

"I'm not interested in picking a fight. I just want to know what went wrong. I can see the blood all over your floor. It has been hours. Why didn't you call the ambulance? Make an anonymous phone call. Something!"

"You fucking her, is that it? Damn slut holding out on me. She owed me rent, okay? Business has been slow. Bad economy, you know? Need to pay the bills."

SMACK!

It was lightning fast. Gale looked stun. She should have expected it, but it still shocked her. Nik's face was pure anger. The palm print lit up the mother's face. She held her cheek, sobbing, as she fell back into the apartment.

"Is that how you talk about your daughter? You call her a slut? What kind of pathetic mother are you to say those things?"

Every word came out in anger. Every word came out in frustration.

"I'll sue you. You told me your name and job. I'll put you in the poor house, you bastard," she screamed.

Nik ignored her, walking over to grab Suzy's bag.

"I'll get my man after you. He'll make you look worse than that worthless daughter of mine. He runs this block. He'll run a train on you and make you his bitch."

She kept sobbing, laying in the corner of the room. Nik stared her down. Gale leaned up against the doorframe, keeping a watch for anyone garnering a peak at the commotion. She couldn't help but chuckle at the insults. The mother didn't know Nik's history like Gale did, lest she wouldn't make such stupid comments.

"You tell your man, if he ever lays another hand on her again, I'll personally gut him like a fish and defile his corpse. I'm not someone to fuck with!" he told her. "You're a vile, disgusting creature. You made your own bed. You didn't have to force your own child to sleep in it too."

Nik proceeded to leave the apartment but stopped short in the doorway.

"And if you call the cops on me, be my guest. If you want to go to jail as well, I'm sure the girls in the pen would enjoy turning you out for tricks, especially after hearing how you're a child abuser. Food for thought."

Every word came out like sharp icicles, piercing through the only shield the mother had. The pair could hear the pathetic woman continue to sob through the open door as they left.

"I need a bath, Gale. This place sickens me. I thought I saw it all before."

As they walked down the stairs, a man whispered at them from an opened door.

"Hey, white boy. Yeah, you. You love making trouble for yourself?"

Nik pointed at himself, before walking over cautiously.

"What kind of trouble is that?" he asked.

"This is JJ's territory. He hates crackers. I heard you messing with his woman upstairs. You must have a death wish."

"If this JJ hates crackers, why is he fucking one? He want to get a half-breed kid to punch around like a coward or something?"

"I don't know nothing about his politics, just he ain't a dude to mess with. I heard the girl screaming earlier. She learned her lesson the hard way."

"And you didn't try and help?" Gale asked, repulsed by the coward.

"Didn't you hear me, slanty? This is JJ. He don't fuck around. He carved up a dude who tried to muscle in on his territory. The kid might be nineteen and in school, but it's just a cover for his gang."

"Thanks for the information. And how do you know JJ won't find out about this?" Nik asked.

"He probably will, but I doubt he'll do anything to me. I just told you he was a killer, nothing else."

The man shut the door quietly, leaving the pair alone in the empty hallway.

"This JJ sounds like a chump to me. If Musashi were here, he'd take over in an instant," Gale commented, following Nik outside.

Nik put on the biker helmet, and hopped onto Gale's expensive ninja motorcycle.

"I need a bath."

"You already said that, Nik," she replied, holding onto his thick chest muscles as she got on the back.

Atop of the motorbike, they sped off back to his place. A myriad of ideas and emotions flooded his skull. He wanted out, but the life called him back in again. He put down the sword once, and now he had to pick it up to defend another. Gale rested her head against Nik's back. She could feel the conflict inside his soul.