Lorenzo parked his car by a hotel building near an airport. Were the men in black who kidnapped Ashanti planning on transporting her by flight to one of their torture chambers? The thought of it made me angry and disturbed.
“Stand outside the car and don’t move,” Lorenzo said in a serious tone before a sly grin slid across his face. What was he scheming?
I stepped out of the vehicle feeling a warm breeze as tall trees danced in the wind around the hotel. Only the light from the building lobby gave a small radiance to my surrounding—which was eerily silent and void of any people despite there being a few vehicles stationed within the vicinity. The anticipation of whatever was gonna do down made me tremble.
Out the hotel came three men in black, with one walking closely behind Ashanti. I wanted to rush in so bad and snatch her from their grasp, but the absence of my power and an overbearing sensation kept me locked in position.
Lorenzo stopped the men and greeted them before they could reach the black truck parked in the lot. “In a hurry, are we?”
The men refused to acknowledge him until Ashanti called out my name after locking eyes with me. They stopped and stared at me and Lorenzo, assessing the situation.
“Move along,” one of them demanded with a wave of his hand. “We have no business with you.”
“See, that’s where you’re wrong,” Lorenzo retorted in a cocky manner. “When it comes to my people, it is my business.”
With a raise of his index finger, Lorenzo called forth a horde of gang members in hiding, with some jumping out of the cars in the lot and others running up from around the corners of the building with guns in hand. Something about how robotic-like their movements were and how well-orchestrated the ambush was made me feel like he was actually controlling them.
The men in black panicked as Lorenzo stepped toward them. “Now, three things are gonna happen,” he said. “One: you’re gonna hand the young lady over to me.”
The men groaned before the one behind Ashanti nudged her to walk forward. She used the opportunity to run past Lorenzo and into my arms. Words couldn’t explain how good it felt to have her safe and embracing me.
“Two: my associates will put down their weapons.” He raised his fist in the air, which led to the gang members lowing their guns in sync.
Something strange was definitely going on here.
“And three: you fine gentlemen will fight me.”
What?
He was dead serious. Without a care in the world, he removed his jacket and placed it on the hood of his car before rolling up his sleeves and facing the men. The whole thing was surreal.
“Are you insane?” one of the men questioned him. “We are here under official government orders. You have no business interfering with our objective.”
“Ah, yes. The government. A system that has disregarded and long forgotten about those you see before you. Officials would rather we struggle and kill ourselves than provide guidance, funding, or assistance in helping us achieve our dreams. Well, I say it’s time for a change, and it starts by me showing you who has the power now.”
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Lorenzo straight up punched one of the men in the face and knocked him out cold, causing the two others to brace themselves in shock and dread.
“Come on,” Lorenzo urged with excitement. “Make me feel alive.”
One of the men accepted his challenge as the crowd of gang members looked on. He attempted a defensive technique by gripping onto Lorenzo’s arm, but it was pointless as Mr. Payne was too strong to restrain. Realizing he had to resort to force, the man in black delivered a couple of blows to Lorenzo’s face and body, who stood there without even trying to defend himself. It was almost as if he wanted to get hit repeatedly.
Finally, Lorenzo struck back with a hard right, leaving the man dazed before lifting him off his feet and slamming him to the ground. Mind you, these men in black were not scrawny at all, so watching Lorenzo toss the man’s body on the concrete with ease left me more terrified of him than ever before.
The sudden sound of a gunshot pulled me away from his display of strength and sent my mind into a frenzy. I soon realized that the third man in black had shot Lorenzo in the arm, but no one except me and Ashanti seemed fazed by the weapon. If anything, Lorenzo appeared disappointed.
“What a shame,” he said so nonchalantly, looking at his bleeding injury. The guy literally got shot and is acting like it’s nothing.
What is he?
He approached the man in black, who shook from fright and dropped his gun. Lorenzo grabbed the man and was prepared to strike until he realized the gunshot had alerted the people inside the hotel. They looked out of their windows in apprehension, with some ready to record the action with their cell phones in hand.
“You let me down,” Lorenzo said to the man, releasing his grip. “Just like those in your position have always done. It doesn’t matter,” he turned his head to look at me, “I think I got my point across.”
Without receiving a voice command, the gang members stampeded toward the defeated trio of men and carried them to different vehicles in the vicinity. The only conscious one begged for his life before being shoved into a trunk.
Lorenzo walked back to his car and put his jacket on. “Ashanti, do you mind waiting in my car?” he asked her. “I would like to speak with Zayn here in private.”
“No,” she replied harshly. “Whatever you have to say, you say it to the both of us, ‘cause I wanna know who or what the hell are you. My mother made a mistake bringing you into our lives.”
“It breaks my heart to hear you say that, because the love I have for your mother is one of the few things I can feel. But, very well. Perhaps it’s best if you both hear what needs to be said.”
As he spoke just now, a thought processed in my head of why I was brought here, and I couldn’t help but voice the possible truth.
“I get it now.” His sudden grin assured me I was correct. “This was all to showcase your power to me. Like a threat, or a warning… There’s no other reason for bringing me here other than making me afraid to stand up to you and your goons.”
He nodded with a smile. “That’s right. Two times now you’ve intervened with my men and their business, regardless of how immature and reckless it may have been. The first was the party in The Heights, and the second was your schoolyard buddies attacking the home of my lieutenant. After three issues, Zayn, the Silicon Cogs consider someone or something to be a problem. You’ve seen tonight what we do to problems: we eliminate them. Because you have potential to be a promising component to the machine I am building, I gave you the luxury of witnessing what could happen if you make another mistake. Do not go down that path.”
Ashanti squeezed my hand as we grilled Lorenzo. Everyone started to clear out as he got into his car and pulled the window down to smirk at us.
“Come now, get in. Children shouldn’t be out this late. It’s dangerous.”
I damn sure didn’t want to, and I’m positive Ashanti didn’t either, but with no money for a cab or rideshare, we had no choice but to get in if we wanted to get home.
The two of us slid in the backseat, and before he drove off, I saw the smug expression of Mr. Payne in the front mirror of the car. Had we just been mentally submitted by this man? No. We were going to fight. We just needed the right strategy to win the war.