"Mozzo?" Mayr asked rhetorically, "I've heard of you. I've heard your uncle is a big deal around these parts. My name's Soju, and my friend here is Nesh." Mayr introduced as a show of goodwill.

"Oh, so you know about my uncle?" Farugio with an arrogant expression, "That should make things easier."

"What do you mean?" Mayr questioned.

"You might not know this," Farugio began to say, "but in this region, I'm the guy who oversees all of the high school gangs, such as yourself. The Rampers were one of the 3 most powerful delinquent gangs in Youngsville. I'm surprised you were able to overtake them. Congratulations, you're in the big leagues now. However, you shouldn't let yourself get too arrogant. At the end of the day, you're just a school gang, and I have the power of an established organization behind me". Farugio was referring to his uncle's crime organization. He said this as a way of threatening Mayr.

Mayr was a little put off by being threatened by someone using his uncle's name, but if Mayr could make this boy mind his business, that was enough for him.

"What are you trying to say?" Mayr further questioned.

"You took over The Rampers' territory without my permission." said Farugio arrogantly with a hint of aggression in his voice, "I'm the one who divides territories, but I'll let it slide this time. Unlike the other useless highschool gangs who do nothing but get into fights over their ego, I heard you guys have some operations to make money. I want 20% of your earnings every month. If you pay me every month, I'll make sure your operations don't "go under"."

Mayr could tell he learned this extortion tactic from his uncle. He spoke in code, but was very openly threatening to disrupt Mayr's operations, most likely by force.

"I'm not good with percentages." Mayr replied, "How about this, I'll give you a thousand dollars at the end of every month."

As Mayr said this number, for a split second, he saw Farugio's eyes widen at the prospect of making a thousand dollars a month. Mayr smiled at the boy on the inside. No matter how grandiose he thought he was, at the end of the day, he was just a kid, drooling at the prospect of making some money.

"Do we have a deal?" Mayr asked. Farugio cleared his throat and replied, "deal.", and the two shook hands and went their separate ways.

Mayr and Nesh started walking towards a restaurant to get something to eat. "Boy, I'm glad that went well." said Nesh with a sigh, "I've heard scary things about that dude's uncle."

"We won't have to worry about his uncle now." Mayr assured Nesh.

"Hopefully," Nesh replied, "by the way, I wanted to ask you about Kris."

"What is it?" Mayr asked. "Well, the promise you made with him. You said that you know what it feels like to kill someone for revenge. Did you mean that?"

"Oh that," Mayr said, a bit startled, "I've read a bunch of books by people who've done that. They all say the same thing, so it must be true."

"I see," Nesh replied, "so, what are you gonna do if his 'step father' gets out?"

"If he gets convicted, then he won't be out for a long time," Mayr replied, "and even if he isn't, the trial will take a long time. Hopefully his urge for revenge cools down by then. He's living with me right now, so hopefully I can help him get his mind off of it and move on as much as possible. The police are convinced that he did it because of the domestic violence background and irregularities in his story."

"But he has a bail hearing on Wednesday." said Nesh, "What if he gets out on bail?"

"It's pretty difficult to get out on bail when you're a suspect in a murder trial," replied Mayr, "They have grounds to hold him because of his history of domestic violence and public disturbance violations. So I doubt he's gonna be able to get bail."

"I hope so," added Nesh concernedly, "I don't know how serious you and Kris were, or whether or not it was his anger talking, but what you guys talked about is no joke. I can't even imagine doing something like that, and I can't imagine you doing it either."

"Well," Mayr replied, "If all goes well, we won't have to."

-

A few days passed and Wednesday came around, the day of the bail hearing. Kris was still living with Mayr. He had been approached by child services asking if he needed to be placed in a foster home for the time being, but he declined, and since Soju's parents had taken him in as foster parents, the child services did not persist.

After school on Wednesday, Mayr asked Nesh to go to the bail hearing and give him updates. After that, Mayr sought out Kris, just to be sure that he didn't do anything rash. To Mayr's surprise, Kris was surprisingly calm. When Mayr asked Kris about how he was feeling, Kris simply looked forward into the distance and replied "I don't know. I still have an undying hatred for him, but what you said made a lot of sense as well. Is that scumbag really worth my conscience? At this time, I don't have the answer, So, I'm just gonna wait until I do."

This relieved Mayr. He was comforted by the possibility that Kris would not go down the dark path of murder. "By the way, Soju," Kris began to speak, "how do you know what it feels like to kill for revenge?"

Mayr paused and thought to himself for a moment. "Do I tell him the same bullshit I told Nesh, or do I tell him the truth?".

"I'll tell you because of what you've been dealing with," said Mayr, "but you have to promise to keep it to yourself."