CHAPTER 6

He wanted to channel his anger into something else before he ended up channeling it into Jerry... Jeremiah's face.

He already had his Nana's condition weighing on him and a lot of other things on his plate; he didn't want to add a rich, spoilt brat to them.

"Hey," someone called from behind, interrupting Zeno's punches and kicks.

He turned to see Jeremiah standing with a bottle of water in his hands.

"What do you want?" Zeno asked with a raised brow.

"Fine, you can call me Jerry," Jeremiah said with a smirk.

"Huh?" Zeno gave him the 'Are you crazy' look, scoffed, and then went back to his punching bag.

He was sure Jeremiah must've been sent by his enemy to come and irritate and frustrate him. He refused to play by their rules; he would ignore them, and when he got tired of standing there, he'd go away.

Did he really think he was bothered about whatever his name was?

"Okay, fine, I'm sorry for acting so rigid," Jeremiah said.

But he saw that Zeno didn't stop punching the bag furiously; he was purposely ignoring him.

"Hey!" He held Zeno's arm when he drew back to deliver a punch.

"What the fuck, man?!" Zeno furiously pushed Jeremiah away.

"Hey, calm down," Jeremiah raised his hands in surrender. "I just wanted to give you some water and apologize, for real..." he said and stretched out the water to Zeno.

Zeno eyed him suspiciously and reluctantly took the water from him.

It was better that they got the wall down between them. Work was smoother that way.

"I... I was jealous," Jeremiah said out of the blue.

"Huh?" Zeno realized that it was the second time he replied this way to Jeremiah. He tends to speak quite unclearly.

What does he mean by he was jealous?

"Um, I was... Are you done?" Jeremiah asked as he saw Zeno head to the locker room.

He hurriedly followed him in; he needed to clear the air between them.

"Why are you following me, Jerry?" Zeno asked as he brought out his whey and his water flask.

"I'm sorry for the attitude, Coach..." Jeremiah said, taking his seat beside Zeno on the bench.

"Coach? What's wrong with you, dude?" Zeno shook his head at him.

"Yes, like I said earlier, I was jealous of you," Jeremiah confessed, scratching the back of his head.

"Huh... Why?" Zeno asked incredulously.

He didn't think there was anything envious about his life; he was a broken mess, with heavy bills digging up his pockets, and a messed-up life.

"Um, I'm older," Jeremiah said with a shrug.

"God damn it! Can you just get to the point?!" Zeno asked exasperatedly.

"Sorry, man," Jeremiah chuckled.

"I don't like being under a younger person. I'm not a newbie to boxing, and I joined here because it's quite famous in the underworld and the pay is decent. And, I also intended to challenge the best fighter who I learned was, well... you," Jeremiah said, looking at Zeno from head to toe.

"But, instead of Rico making us partners or opponents considering my experience, he placed me under you, disregarding all my efforts. When I learned you were younger, I was angry and jealous," Jeremiah sighed.

Zeno couldn't help but chuckle lightly after Jeremiah's speech.

"Seriously, man? Then, what changed your mind?" Zeno asked, staring unbelievably at Jeremiah.

He could not believe an adult could be so childish and petty, yet claim to be the older one. His life was already hard enough, but Jeremy comes along and decides to spice it up; he didn't need such unreasonable drama at the moment.

"I saw I was being unreasonable; that's why I'm here to apologize... Buddies?" Jeremiah brought his hand up beside his face, waiting for Zeno to high-five him.

"Yeah, buddies," Zeno chuckled as he high-fived Jeremiah.

"Ha! I knew you two would become buddies!" Thomas came and plopped down between them, placing his arms around their shoulders.

"Cheers to the friendship of the trio!" he announced loudly.

"Ouch! Hey!" Thomas cried from the floor, rubbing his tailbone and looking accusingly at his brother for pushing him down.

Zeno shook his head at the twin. Maybe... just maybe, they weren't so bad to be friends with after all.

Zeno had just received his payment for the night and was walking out of Rico's office when he saw the twins waiting for him at the exit.

"Hey, leaving now?" Jeremiah asked.

Thomas walked up to Zeno and placed his arm around his shoulder.

"Yeah, not leaving yet?" Zeno asked them.

"Well, we were thinking—"

"Come drink with us tonight," Thomas said, interrupting his brother.

Jeremiah rolled his eyes at his brother; he was sure Zeno would refuse. Thomas was always tactless.

"Uh, not tonight, guys; I've got something to do," Zeno told the twins as they walked out of the building.

"Tomorrow?" Thomas asked, not giving up.

"Yeah, that works," Zeno said as he mounted his bike.

"Ok, buddy, goodnight," Jeremiah said; he waved at Zeno and dragged his stubborn brother to their car.

Zeno watched as they entered a classy-looking car with tinted windows and wondered why they wanted to work there; they seemed loaded.

"Hey, Champ," Anna said as she approached him.

"Anna, need a ride home?" he asked with a smile.

"That's tempting," Anna came close to him and raised her hand to his face, barely running her fingers across his jawline.

"Just dropping me off... or..." she sensually bit her lips, bringing her face close to his.

Zeno was only smiling at her; he knew Anna had a crush on him, and she wasn't bad either, but he was just surprised at how bold Anna could get at times.

"Um..." Zeno pretended to think about his reply.

"I think I'll... just drop you off," he smirked playfully at her.

"Ugh! Killjoy!" Anna reeled back from him, frowning.

"Come on, princess, let's get you to your castle. You know Will's already gone with that chick," he said and revved his engine, pretending to drive off without her.

"Hey, man, wait for me! You're so evil," Anna said as she caught up with him and jumped in behind him, wrapping her hands around his waist.

"Hold tight, Princess Anna," he said and drove off into the road.

After a while, he stopped in front of an apartment.

"Thanks for the ride, and, Will went with a dude tonight," Anna shrugged.

"Ah, not surprised," Zeno shook his head.

"Good night, Champ! See you tomorrow," Anna waved as Zeno drove off from her house.

Zeno was just a few blocks from his house when he noticed a black-tinted car with a very bright headlight following him speedily from behind.

He first thought it was a random car that was in a hurry to pass, so he slowed down and cleared the middle of the road. But he noticed that the car had slowed down, too, still following him at the same pace. That's when he knew he was being followed.

"Damn it," he muttered and sped up.

He sped past his house; he didn't risk stopping there so whoever they were wouldn't find out where he lived. He kept driving fast, trying to outrun the car, but it just kept closing in on him.

He was sure he knew the streets more than they did, so he kept leading them deeper into areas with bad roads. He reached an alley and immediately drove into it. He was sure the car could never fit into the tiny alleyway. But, to his shock, two power bikes emerged from behind the car and followed him.

"For fuck's sake!" he swore and increased his speed, which he had earlier reduced because he thought he had outrun them.

He kept turning from corner to corner, maneuvering around trash cans and taking sharp bends. He risked looking back and saw the two men dressed in black with black helmets on the bikes; he couldn't help but wonder who they were. He hadn't offended anybody in the higher class or the mafia, so he was perplexed as to who they were.

Zeno was lost in thought and didn't notice the new bike that had emerged from the corner and was speeding towards him.

"Shit!" he said at the last minute as his bike was about to crash into the impending one and smartly jumped off his bike in a backflip.

He rolled a few times on the concrete floor before he quickly stood up, and by then, three black-dressed men had surrounded him.

"Come with us," the one in the center said; he was the tallest amongst them.

"It's obvious I don't want to," Zeno said and flew a kick to the chest of the one who had just spoken, throwing him far away to the ground.

They charged against him with brutal punches and kicks, but he smartly dodged most of their attacks by ducking and bending. He accurately rendered his blows and even succeeded in knocking one out.

"Argh!" Zeno screamed and fell to the floor.