The day after the brawl it was reported that of the two hundred people that were involved in the brawl half of them were either injured or found dead from drowning in the water. Several of the injured were taken to a hospital for recovery then to prison. The ones that were confirmed dead had their names displayed on the television and their families were notified by the police.

Johnny had been fighting to stay alive ever since he was taken to the hospital and given emergency surgery to stop the bleeding from the stab wound.

“Am I going to die?” He thought repeatedly.

Johnny’s body temperature began to drop as death’s cold grasp began to take hold of him. As he felt himself fading further and further away from existence, he became surrounded by darkness. On the other side of the darkness, he saw an image of the old lady that owned the bodega he frequented.

“Adios Abuela. I wish I could have known your name and been a part of your family. At least the store won’t be attacked anymore now that I’m gone.” He remarked to himself, smiling.

Just as Johnny had resigned himself to his death, he felt a strong wind rush through his body.

“What?” He panicked.

The wind picked up Johnny’s body and blew him through the roof of the hospital.

“What’s happening?!” He shouted frantically.

Johnny looked at his hands and discovered that he was transparent. Not only was he transparent but he’s also floating in midair above the hospital. He let out a scream of terror, but no one could hear him. Just as he was panicking, Johnny caught a glimpse of the setting sun.

The dimly lit orange sun in the center of the gradient pink sky quieted something inside of Johnny that he didn’t know that he had. It quieted his heart and for once he had found peace as he bathed in the sun. At that moment, he’s thrust back through the roof of the hospital back and back into his body.

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“Are you awake?” a familiar voice called out to Johnny.

Johnny opened his eyes and through his blurry vision, he had seen the outline of that elderly man that interrupted the Street Kings gambling game.

“Looks like I made it in time.” The elderly man remarked letting out a sigh of relief.

“What did you do….” Johnny weakly asked.

“I breathed life back into you.” The elderly man replied.

“What…?” Johnny asked as his vision got better and sure enough it was the elderly man from back then, even wearing the same tracksuit.

“I’ll explain later. For now, focus on healing. Although I was able to revive you I’m not able to heal your wounds completely.” The elderly man said as he walked toward the exit of Johnny’s hospital room.

“Ah yeah, also don’t worry about the police, I already took care of it. Once you’ve healed you’ll be placed into my care from now on.” The elderly man explained.

“What?” Johnny asked.

“You say what a lot don’t you? Anyways it's either that or spend the rest of your life in prison. You can decide once you’re better. The elderly man said.

“Why me….?” Johnny asked once again.

“You’re not like those other animals. You chose not to join in and be like them the day they attacked me. Even if you didn’t know the reason, you knew what they were doing was wrong.” The elderly man explained.

An intense pain shot through Johnny’s fractured skull causing him to let out a sharp gasp.

“Enough talking for now. I will return in six months to retrieve you.” The elderly man explained as he exited Johnny’s room.

Just like that time had begun to move forward while Johnny was confined to his hospital bed with no one ever coming to visit him. The fighting between the Street Kings and Mad Dogs resumed, throwing both Brooklyn and Far Rockaway into disarray.

As Johnny watched the news every night, he saw more and more names show up on the obituary notice and began to fear that one day he would see either Axel or Jorge’s name on it eventually.

After about three months, names would no longer appear on the television.

“Does this mean the war is over?” Johnny wandered.

Johnny looked out of his window wondering what had happened in the world he once lived in. Soon after, three more months had passed, and just as he had promised the elderly man had come to pick up Johnny.

“Well. What did you decide?” The elderly man asked.