Joseph just finished wiping off a table where a customer had just left, when a bell rang, signaling that the front door opened. He turned from his work, as he watched an elderly woman come in. The man grabbed his rag, as he made his way behind the front the counter. He threw the rag in a bucket full of sanitizing water by his foot, as he slightly supported himself against the counter. "I can serve you right over here, Ms. Barbara." Joseph said in a rather monotone manner of speaking, as he attempted a faint smile.
"Thank you very much, Joseph." She smiled back at him, as she slowly approached the counter. "New menu?" She questioned, as she looked up at the menu boards behind Joseph, set up quite differently than before. It still had the same sandwiches, shakes, burritos, coffee, but the menus now looked more aesthetic, even equipped with pictures for some of the bigger items.
"Yep, just finished it yesterday. No worries, though, I already know; your usual." He responded once again with a sigh, quite without emotion, as he started punching some things in on his cash register.
Ms. Barbara reached for his hand, as she held it in her own, squeezing ever so slightly. "The police are doing everything they can to find your brother. They will find him! You just need to have faith." When her eyes met his, she could sense the pain and suffering he was going through. It looked like the young man hadn't slept in days. She could see something passed that, however; Joseph had a look about him, a look of a man who was capable of doing anything. "You've already done everything you can, Joseph. Get some rest, and just have patience." She added.
"I will, Ms. Barbara, thank you." He smiled at her once more, as he held her hand in both of his.
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Joseph took a glance at the clock, it was already a quarter past ten p.m. . He took his apron off, and folded it up on the counter. He changed the sign in the window from 'open' to 'closed'. After grabbing a few things, he left the cafe.
He drove around a number of shady streets for a while, until parking just little away from a couple of teens talking to another on a street corner. He pulled up a picture of a couple of teens from his phone. He glanced up at the group, and then back to his phone, he went back and forth for a moment or two before coming to the conclusion: "That's him." He mumbled, recognizing one of the teens in the picture as the teen doing the majority of the talking on the corner. Joseph put on some sunglasses, and threw his hood over his head, as he stepped out of the car. He slowly started making his way towards the group. "Hey, Darnell!" He yelled out to the group, as the two teens Darnell was talking to suddenly broke out into a sprint in the other direction.
"What are you doing, man?!" Darnell angrily shouted at the mysterious man walking towards him. "You just made the biggest mistake of your life." He chuckled slightly, as he reached into his jacket for his gun.
Joseph suddenly grabbed him by the throat before he even had a chance to pull it out. The gun fell out of his jacket, and onto the ground, as Joseph lifted the boy up as high as he could with a single hand. Darnell tried pry at Joseph's hand with his own, but to no avail. "I just need to ask you a couple of questions, okay?"
Darnell didn't have the air to even speak, as he furiously nodded his head.
Joseph dropped him on the ground, as he stepped right on the handgun, flattening the weapon almost perfectly.
Darnell nervously shuffled backwards from the monster, as he backed up right into the wall of the building behind them.
Joseph pulled out a folded piece of notebook paper from his hoodie's pocket. "What is this?" He angrily asked, as he unfolded it in front of the boy. On the paper was a drawing of a 'U', in an extremely detailed, artistic fashion.
Darnell dusted himself off, as he stood up to face the man. "Look man, I got no idea who's gang that is, sorry." He avoided eye contact, as he turned to walk away.
Joseph punched a hole in the brick wall, clean through, his fist coming about a centimeter from hitting Darnell. The fist blocked the teen from moving forward. "I never said the symbol belonged to a gang." Joseph brought his fist out of the wall, as he held it back once more, aimed at Darnell this time. "I know you were good friends with Caleb," Darnell's eyes widened slightly, as Joseph mentioned it. "your friend is missing, and could even be dead, because of whoever this is." Joseph showed the symbol to the teen once more.
"Okay, okay," Darnell sighed, as Joseph dropped him down to the ground once more. Before speaking, Darnell took a good look at the aggressor's face. "You're his brother, ain't you? He'd talk about you a lot; he really looked up to you, you know." Darnell had never seen Caleb's older brother before, but he could tell by the look of hurt on the man's face that this was someone close to Caleb.
"Answers." Joseph demanded.
"Caleb and I both got initiated into the Sabertooths together, out of all the other fresh meat, he was the only one I really liked. Everything was business as usual, just up until a couple months ago. These new guys started popping up, the Unknown is what they ironically called themselves. They wiped out the Koreans, the Irish, came out of nowhere. We were getting ready for an all-out war, but they came to our boss, offered him a deal. They'd replace the Koreans as our suppliers for guns. They also claimed they were working on some 'experimental' weaponry to deal with, well, you know..." Darnell awkwardly looked up and down at Joseph. "People like you. They needed some guinea pigs, expendable people who would be willing to try out these new weapons. The boss chose Caleb, and some other of the fresh-meat to be those pigs, and I haven't seen him since. That was some weeks ago, I got no idea where he is now." Darnell shrugged insensitively.
Joseph punched another hole in the wall, this time more out of pure anger, rather than intimidation. He could already be too late, his brother, and these other kids could already be dead. "Where can I find these guys!?" He angrily asked.
"You don't, brother. They find you; no one really even knows anything about these guys."
Joseph grabbed onto both of the boy's shoulders. "You have to know something! Where and when do they buy these weapons from them!?" He frantically asked, desperate for any sort of lead.
Darnell sighed. "The 21st. The Unknown's holding a meeting then for all the other major gangs in Laxver, to try and show off their new weaponry for any potential buyers."
"Where?" Joseph continued to pester for answers.
"Thank you very much, Joseph." She smiled back at him, as she slowly approached the counter. "New menu?" She questioned, as she looked up at the menu boards behind Joseph, set up quite differently than before. It still had the same sandwiches, shakes, burritos, coffee, but the menus now looked more aesthetic, even equipped with pictures for some of the bigger items.
"Yep, just finished it yesterday. No worries, though, I already know; your usual." He responded once again with a sigh, quite without emotion, as he started punching some things in on his cash register.
Ms. Barbara reached for his hand, as she held it in her own, squeezing ever so slightly. "The police are doing everything they can to find your brother. They will find him! You just need to have faith." When her eyes met his, she could sense the pain and suffering he was going through. It looked like the young man hadn't slept in days. She could see something passed that, however; Joseph had a look about him, a look of a man who was capable of doing anything. "You've already done everything you can, Joseph. Get some rest, and just have patience." She added.
"I will, Ms. Barbara, thank you." He smiled at her once more, as he held her hand in both of his.
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Joseph took a glance at the clock, it was already a quarter past ten p.m. . He took his apron off, and folded it up on the counter. He changed the sign in the window from 'open' to 'closed'. After grabbing a few things, he left the cafe.
He drove around a number of shady streets for a while, until parking just little away from a couple of teens talking to another on a street corner. He pulled up a picture of a couple of teens from his phone. He glanced up at the group, and then back to his phone, he went back and forth for a moment or two before coming to the conclusion: "That's him." He mumbled, recognizing one of the teens in the picture as the teen doing the majority of the talking on the corner. Joseph put on some sunglasses, and threw his hood over his head, as he stepped out of the car. He slowly started making his way towards the group. "Hey, Darnell!" He yelled out to the group, as the two teens Darnell was talking to suddenly broke out into a sprint in the other direction.
"What are you doing, man?!" Darnell angrily shouted at the mysterious man walking towards him. "You just made the biggest mistake of your life." He chuckled slightly, as he reached into his jacket for his gun.
Joseph suddenly grabbed him by the throat before he even had a chance to pull it out. The gun fell out of his jacket, and onto the ground, as Joseph lifted the boy up as high as he could with a single hand. Darnell tried pry at Joseph's hand with his own, but to no avail. "I just need to ask you a couple of questions, okay?"
Darnell didn't have the air to even speak, as he furiously nodded his head.
Joseph dropped him on the ground, as he stepped right on the handgun, flattening the weapon almost perfectly.
Darnell nervously shuffled backwards from the monster, as he backed up right into the wall of the building behind them.
Joseph pulled out a folded piece of notebook paper from his hoodie's pocket. "What is this?" He angrily asked, as he unfolded it in front of the boy. On the paper was a drawing of a 'U', in an extremely detailed, artistic fashion.
Darnell dusted himself off, as he stood up to face the man. "Look man, I got no idea who's gang that is, sorry." He avoided eye contact, as he turned to walk away.
Joseph punched a hole in the brick wall, clean through, his fist coming about a centimeter from hitting Darnell. The fist blocked the teen from moving forward. "I never said the symbol belonged to a gang." Joseph brought his fist out of the wall, as he held it back once more, aimed at Darnell this time. "I know you were good friends with Caleb," Darnell's eyes widened slightly, as Joseph mentioned it. "your friend is missing, and could even be dead, because of whoever this is." Joseph showed the symbol to the teen once more.
"Okay, okay," Darnell sighed, as Joseph dropped him down to the ground once more. Before speaking, Darnell took a good look at the aggressor's face. "You're his brother, ain't you? He'd talk about you a lot; he really looked up to you, you know." Darnell had never seen Caleb's older brother before, but he could tell by the look of hurt on the man's face that this was someone close to Caleb.
"Answers." Joseph demanded.
"Caleb and I both got initiated into the Sabertooths together, out of all the other fresh meat, he was the only one I really liked. Everything was business as usual, just up until a couple months ago. These new guys started popping up, the Unknown is what they ironically called themselves. They wiped out the Koreans, the Irish, came out of nowhere. We were getting ready for an all-out war, but they came to our boss, offered him a deal. They'd replace the Koreans as our suppliers for guns. They also claimed they were working on some 'experimental' weaponry to deal with, well, you know..." Darnell awkwardly looked up and down at Joseph. "People like you. They needed some guinea pigs, expendable people who would be willing to try out these new weapons. The boss chose Caleb, and some other of the fresh-meat to be those pigs, and I haven't seen him since. That was some weeks ago, I got no idea where he is now." Darnell shrugged insensitively.
Joseph punched another hole in the wall, this time more out of pure anger, rather than intimidation. He could already be too late, his brother, and these other kids could already be dead. "Where can I find these guys!?" He angrily asked.
"You don't, brother. They find you; no one really even knows anything about these guys."
Joseph grabbed onto both of the boy's shoulders. "You have to know something! Where and when do they buy these weapons from them!?" He frantically asked, desperate for any sort of lead.
Darnell sighed. "The 21st. The Unknown's holding a meeting then for all the other major gangs in Laxver, to try and show off their new weaponry for any potential buyers."
"Where?" Joseph continued to pester for answers.