13. Vi
CHAPTER 13
VI
Out in the lobby, a gray-haired man lifts both of his hands. “One of my kids is finally married,” he shouts as he slaps Kenzo on the back, a big smile on his face. “Marriage looks good on you, Kenzo.”
Kenzo smirks, then introduces the gray-haired man as his adoptive father and boss, Tomo. Then, the two of them break off to the side in a hushed conversation. Cherry joins them, reminding me of my menstrual mortification earlier, and I die a little inside. The man with bluish-black eyes breaks into the conversation too, and a tall boulder of a man with a shaved head and tattoos covering his neck stands beside them, like a shield.
Uncle Jay and Patrick fuss over the names of the important yakuza members in that conversation, and I clue them in on Cherry’s name, but I’m so flustered the rest of the conversation goes over my head. They smile and joke like we’re a typical family at a normal wedding, but I know better. They’re taking stock of the crowd, planning their own mini con jobs.
Uncle Jay turns to my side, a slightly sour expression on his face.
“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” he asks.
It’s not until then I realize I’m sneering. Every so often, I’ll have moments like this—remembering I was raised by a distant uncle who tricks people into giving him money, and how I find his targets for him —and I remember how I’m an awful human being. And this is exactly like that. Even if the Endo-kai are criminals too, it isn’t right being a part of this huge celebration when it’s just for show, and their family will suffer for it.
This is, by far, the stupidest, brashest decision we’ve ever made. This is the yakuza. They’re slick enough to infiltrate corporations and deadly enough to control an entire city with their drugs. We shouldn’t have even considered this job.
But I calm the nervous tension boiling inside of me by reminding myself our cons—Kenzo included—are greedy and evil. They don’t deserve their money, and Uncle Jay, Patrick, and I have worked for too long and too hard to let an opportunity like this go to waste.
We will get our dream house. Then, we’ll never have to do this again.
But I can’t fight the worry that we’re way out of our league.
“Sorry,” I say, stiffening. “A little nervous, I guess.”
“Don’t forget: you’re doing this for us, sweetheart,” Uncle Jay says. “We had no other choice.”
My stomach drops, my mind jumping back to watching Kenzo shoot the man in the motel room. He held me like he owned me, yet he still reminded me repeatedly that I do have a choice.
You don’t have to pay for your uncle’s debts, he had said.
A part of me wonders if this job has nothing to do with our dream house or retirement. Knowing Uncle Jay, he’s got too much energy to give up conning completely, especially if he gets a taste of real money, like he keeps saying we’ll get as soon as we finish this job.
But I wave the thought away. We’re so close; there’s no reason for Uncle Jay to lie.
And Kenzo is right. I do have a choice, and I choose to be here. I have to accept everything that’s given to me so I can finish the job for my family.
Then, like a powerful, ancient demon, Kenzo wraps his arms around me from behind, and his touch is suffocating and purposeful, like he knows exactly how to assert his dominance over me. I instantly flush.
“The reception is in the promenade,” he says, scrutinizing me as I turn to look at him. “You eat fish, right?”