"That reminds me, Mrs. Vincenzo. Remember to not mention your last name in this neighborhood, much more in the entire city of Haggrew, got that? This goes for you too, Steven,"

"It's a long story, kid. But to summarize, your surname is pretty infamous here. Just be careful, you could really attract some bad company."

Those words were the exact words that the driver of the Black Sedan that brought us to our house. Seemed kind of shady and random to say something like that, but it does make you curious. Infamous to the point that it attracts bad company? That's too sketchy to ignore, and kind of terrifying to think about.

"Oh, are you a Vincenzo?"

Ford wanted to ask me this question, but not in a normal way. He even went and kidnapped me just to intimidate the answer out of me, if ever. He also said that I could be a potential threat to the neighborhood.

What's the connection between my last name Vincenzo and Izzaya Village?

Before I can answer this question, I need to decide what answer to tell Ford. This might decide what kind of life I'll live in this new environment.

.

.

.

"Rhetorically speaking, what if I was?" I answered with another question.

"Well, frankly Stevie, now is a different story from moments ago." He replies back with a stern facial expression.

"What do you mean, dude?" I ask him once more, with more persistence.

"Well, let's sit here on the table at the back porch," he gestures to follow him, "well, come on, join me, Steve-o."

I follow him onto a small beach table with chairs on the back porch and we sat down facing opposite each other.

"Ah, that's more like it. Not like earlier when I was stuck on the office chair," I jokingly state.

He chuckles a bit, "Sorry about that."

"Anyway," he continues, "well, let's just say I got an intel from someone that I should inspect the new neighbor coming in next door, and that I should bring a knock-out drug, such as benzodiazepines and a piece of caramel pie from a local bakery in Haggrew City. It seemed so specific, but I had this sense of... connection with the person, even though I never met them, it just felt right that I should follow, that it was my decision to even do it."

"Who could've— why..." I was at a loss of words by what he explained to me.

"I'm sorry, man. I don't have the slightest idea who he was, but I did know why he wanted me to do it. He told me that they might be a Vincenzo."

There it goes again, my last name being thrown out like a bad omen. At this moment, I had to ask him.

"Hey, if I can ask, what's so bad about the last name Vincenzo, anyway?" I confronted him.

"Before I answer that, can you confirm your answer to my question first. I mean, I couldn't care less anymore at this point, you've proven yourself to not be an evil person at heart and even if you are a Vincenzo, you don't know anything about it." He rebuts.

Ah, he wants an honest and concise answer.

"Yes, my name is Steven Vincenzo."

A few seconds of silence pass by...

.

.

.

Then he sighs deeply.

"Okay, I can accept that. Nice to meet you formally, Stevie," he smiles while sticking out his hand to me.

"Likewise, Ford," I smile in return as I shake his hand.

Then he lets go of my hand and puts up two fingers.

"Two."

Two?

"Two what, Ford?" I confusingly ask.

"Two months, and I'll tell you about what Vincenzo is in our village," he firmly says.

I nod in agreement with his answer. After all, what's two months of waiting for an answer rather than piecing out the answer myself which might take longer? Since that driver told us those words, the mystery had been bugging my mind.

What does it really mean to be a Vincenzo in Izzaya?

"Stevie?" Mom's voice from near us was echoing, I look around and there she was, looking around the front and backyard of our house, "Stevie! There you are. You must be the boy who gave my Stevie a piece of his favorite flavor of pie, thank you."

"It's Ford, ma'am. It's a pleasure to meet you," Ford replies as we walk closer to the fence separating my house and theirs, where Mom was standing.

"Ah yes, Ford, darling. So the two of you are neighbors, how neat," my mom smiles.

My mom turns her attention to me, "Well, Stevie, it's time for dinner!"

"Sure, Mom. I'll be right over," I reply in return.

I turn to Ford, "Hey, man. Tell nanny that I won't be able to able to stay for dinner, but I will be able to visit another time."

"I'm sure she'll appreciate that, man," Ford replies.

As I turn towards the door that leads out of the backyard, Ford suddenly calls me which makes me look towards his direction once again, "Hey, Stevie. It was really cool to meet you, dude."

I smile and replied, "Yeah, likewise, mate." With those words, I walk to the small door that led to the front yard and went on my merry way towards our house.

~~~

That was how my first encounter with Ford went. Basically he drugged and kidnapped me thinking I was a threat to the neighborhood, but instead of anger and vengeance, I felt curiosity. "This guy seemed interesting," I thought, so I decided to hang out with him. Overall, I'd say halfway through the two months, I even forgot about the curiosity and just overall enjoy my hangouts with the guy.

Oh!

There was this one time.