Ch. 24 – Notifications

Theo turned around to glance at the backseat of the car again. Ah Jun was still awake, his wide-eyes shining in the pale yellow lamplight, as they drove under a street lamp.

It was dark in the car in between the street lamps, but Theo could see the confusion on Ah Jun’s face. One moment, his eyes pointed left, and then the next they pointed right; the old man still had his cervical-spine collar on, so he couldn’t turn his head back and forth to look. His lips moved urgently, like he was trying to say something, trying to get someone’s attention, but nothing was audible, except for odd, nonsensical questions about his daughter’s wedding arrangements—his daughter had already gotten married years ago. If he had said anything else, it was drowned out by the rain, and the roar of the engine, as they ripped down the open highway, weaving past the few cars that were still on the road.

Ah Jun was strapped into the middle seat, with Alan on his left, and an old hand on his right. As safe as possible, supposedly.

Theo’s wrist notifier vibrated, sending a buzz to the area on his wrist where you’d usually feel for a pulse. The new notifier was more comfortable, and more discrete. Gangsters got antsy if someone’s phone was going off non-stop; it made them think their boss was very, very angry, and ready to chew someone out. He nonchalantly slid his smartphone out of his pocket and unlocked it. A bunch of notifications popped up at the top of the screen, one after the other. Some were direct messages, and other were from group chats.

[Like heyyy, earth to Theo?]

[You know the place downtown, right?]

[Ugh, don’t remind me, I don’t ever want to see him again—]

[My dad can bail me out, remember? He’s the ambassador to—]

[I can’t believe you’re still going to those fundraisers!! Don’t you remember what Nathan Hua’s cousin did to Samantha’s dad? Don’t blame me if you get pulled into—]

[Theooo]

[Y r u ignoring me?]

[Theo]

[Am I that boring?]

[Or are you cheating?]

[Jk]

Astrid Gu’s messages overwhelmed the screen, pushing out all the other digital noise of Theo’s social life. It was the afternoon for them in Shanghai, so all the wealth managers, diplomats, and one pretty little legal assistant were shooting the shit on their messenger apps for the next few hours. Astrid always felt like she was special, since they were close back in high school. And she was special to Theo, to a certain extent. But now that they were ‘together,’ she had become way too clingy.

He fired off a few quick replies.

[Trust me, there’s not a vagina in sight at this board meeting.]

[Yuck]

[And everyone’s old enough to be my grandpa]

[Can’t wait to get back to Shanghai]

Astrid’s little avatar bubble slid down to the bottom of the chat window, showing that she had read his messages. The little gray text “Astrid is typing” appeared, and it started and stopped for a solid minute without her sending a message. God, just get on with it woman. The uncertainty was bad for his heart.

[Ooo, I bet those stodgy old executives are just your type. I better not catch you with your dick in their dirty assholes next time I come visit America!]

Theo cracked a smile. Astrid was annoying, but she had always known his sense of humor. He felt bad, sometimes. She was his ‘in’ to her friend group, and also happened to be the only one who’d put up with long distance for this long, maybe because they were old friends. She wasn’t even his real target, but sometimes he pictured them actually getting married one day—

Alan let out a thunderous sneeze, and shifted around in his seat. The mist from his sneeze diffused over to the front of the car, and mixed with the stuffy, humid air, which the broken AC did nothing to help with. Theo grit his teeth and covered his nose with his sleeve. The rest of the White Leopards in the car shifted in their seats, not that there was much room to do so in the packed car, and stayed silent. God, he hated this life.

Theo typed out his last few replies with one hand.

[Haha, very funny]

[I don’t remember the last time you offered to do anal]

[Make it up to me sometime?]

[Miss you <3]

He swiped out of his chat with Astrid, replied to a few more messages from various groups, and then locked his phone and put it back in his pocket. They were still laughing at his jokes, inviting him to events, and sharing the latest gossip with him. But he’d have to find time to go back to Shanghai soon. Everyone had an expiration date in this social scene, and his was almost up unless he showed his face to the crowd.

One day, once he found that eye mod and made off with the score, he’d be out for good, and wouldn’t have to put up with this juggling act.

Theo looked straight ahead through the windshield, at the silhouette of the car in front of them, close enough to be visible in the storm. He could almost read the license plate, the moment right after the wipers slide across the glass.

The other vehicles in front of and behind their car held the rest of the crew that had survived the shoot out with the Hermanos that night. The giant man, Ping, was squeezed into the gang’s modified jeep. It was handy to have an exoskeleton around to move things out of the way, although the big man wouldn’t survive long in the gang, unless he learned how to play the others. Despite his intimidating body, Ping was always getting picked on and left out. The Leopards around him could sense he didn’t have his heart in the job, or at least didn’t know how to fake it. When shit eventually hit the fan, and it always did, guys like him were blamed first, and punished accordingly. And after getting demoted, they stayed in the gang, like stray dogs loitering near a butcher shop; unable to move up, and with no skills to move out. What a sad fucking life.

Ping really didn’t know how to dress, either. That tacky bracelet just made him look worse.

They had been out of Chinatown for a while now, hopefully long enough that the Hermanos wouldn’t bother trying to find them. The rain was still coming down hard enough that it was hard to hear anything.

Alan said.

The driver scoffed. He was one of the older Leopards who didn’t take shit from young bosses like Alan, or at least those on his level. The driver had been waiting in the getaway car the whole time, while the rest of them were fussing over Ah Jun in the mod-shop. The moment they got in the car, he stepped on the gas and skidded down the streets and alleys of Chinatown with precise skill that kept them precisely one step away from death.

Theo said.

Everyone was thrown to the left as the driver turned onto the exit, tires skidding a bit. The exit spat them out onto a pothole riddled road, which led to an old industrial area: sparsely populated, and with plenty of abandoned warehouses to store drugs and equipment.

#

Their convoy pulled into the parking lot, which had been empty save for another White Leopard-owned van. The warehouse’s main lights were off, but the glow of a flashlight pointed at their car formed patterns on the rain-streaked windows.

Alan said. Theo didn’t bring an umbrella, but his clothes were already soaked through anyways. He opened the door, and squinted as the rain hit his face. he yelled, waving at the driver. He then opened the rear passenger door, and stood back as Alan unfurled his umbrella. He held it over the door as the other Leopard brought Ah Jun out, who grabbed onto the younger Leopard’s arm for support. The usually intimidating old man looked like a feeble grandpa. Injury, befuddlement, amputation: they were all more and more likely to happen the longer you stayed in the gang life.

The wet gravel slid and crunched under their feet as they made their way to the entrance, where the guard with the flashlight was standing.

Alan said.

They stepped under the shelter, which covered a small area in front of the rusted entrance.

The guard nodded at them, and opened the door, but Alan stood at the edge of the shelter, umbrella still raised.

he said. —he pointed at the guard—

He was leaving? In this weather? Despite being so anxious to hear the boss’s news? Theo asked.

He grabbed the keys from the guard, and handed Theo the transmitter that the boss called Ah Jun on.

The White Leopard veteran had already taken Ah Jun inside, but the guard stood at the entrance, watching alongside Theo as Alan walked away.

the guard asked, his voice squeaking a bit.

After Theo’s vision had adjusted, it was clear that the guard was young; he looked maybe sixteen. Practically a boy. The Leopards always hooked their claws into the young ones, and most would never make it out the gang any better than when they were roped in. Theo wouldn’t let that happen to him.

Alan was a more junior boss in the White Leopards: eager to prove himself, and eager to please. The top brass would give these junior bosses a handful of green recruits, and send them to the poorer neighborhoods, where other gangs like the Hermanos roamed.

The van’s lights flashed as Alan unlocked the doors, and jumped into the driver’s seat. The car started, and rolled out of the gravel parking lot, and back onto the road that they had come from.

What sort of game was Alan playing? Whatever it was, drying off and getting a hot drink was more important at the moment.

#

Theo peered into the dirty mirror, and scraped out a glob of hair pomade from the little tin he kept in his pocket. He rubbed it into his wet hands, and combed it through his hair, giving ample time to each stroke through the sleek and simple curves of his hairdo.

He was ‘pulling himself together,’ as the Americans liked to say. Without styling, his hair was an ugly mess: cut unevenly and lacking cohesion. But when he pulled it together, like a conductor with his orchestra, those uneven edges had style, and a created sense of interest that any normal sort of symmetry could never achieve. His hair grew fast, and it had been a week since his last haircut, so the ‘orchestra’ was starting to wear at the seams: a tuft of hair poked out stubbornly, another was a bit too long. He would have to drive back to his salon soon. The things you have to do to look decent these days.

He dabbed a few droplets off the back of his neck and stepped out of the dingy little restroom. The rain was deafening, as it pounded against the high windows in the warehouse, and struck parts of the metal roof. Ah Jun was resting on an inflatable mattress that sat on the floor behind a support column. A few White Leopards were sitting at a table next to the mattress, on their phones, while a few more had their guns out, leaning on the walls next to the main entrance.

Theo asked, straining his voice to be heard above the rain, as he walked toward the table.

One of the Leopards got up and went to greet him, limping a bit.

Behind Theo, Ah Jun groaned, and the air mattress shifted.

the Leopard said, his eyes widening.

Theo knelt down, and supported Ah Jun’s back with his arm.

Ah Jun coughed, and started rubbing his bandages, before Theo caught his arm and guided it downwards.

Theo said, raising his eyebrows.

Ah Jun coughed, and waved his hand in dismissal.

Theo pulled his phone out and dialed the boss’s number. Alan had called the last few times, but he was still out there driving in the rain, and the boss couldn’t wait.

The phone rang three times, and then someone picked up. The boss never spoke first on a call, so Theo went ahead with the situation update.

the boss said, his voice shifting in pitch as it passed through the masking sound filter.

There was silence on the line. The boss hung up on the phone.

Theo tucked his phone back into his pocket, and took the transmitter out.

Ah Jun grabbed at the transmitter and missed, before finally grasping it out of Theo’s open palm. He stuck it on the side of his head and closed his eyes. Ah Jun had described the experience to Theo before; the audio received on the transmitter didn’t sound quite natural, so he needed to concentrate to make sure he heard everything correctly.

The other White Leopards had gathered around the mattress behind Theo, leaning in, even though they couldn’t actually hear anything personally.

Ah Jun frowned, and adjusted the transmitter around on the side of his head.

I knew something was off, ever since Alan said the boss couldn’t contact Ah Jun. What did you do, Alan? Theo bent down and took a look at the transmitter. It didn’t seem to be broken, although Theo wasn’t the best judge of that; he could judge mods that he could see in action: combat prostheses and the like. But implants like this for the hearing were a black box.

Theo helped Ah Jun to his feet, and over to the table where the other White Leopards had been sitting at.

His phone started buzzing in his pocket again. It was the boss. Theo asked, keeping his voice steady. Losing out on a chance to crush the Hermanos wasn’t going to kill them, but the boss wasn’t going to be happy.