Chapter 1: II

Meanwhile, on the other side of the block, another gang leader was about to wreak havoc on another enterprise. His name was Asher Mason, but everyone called him Ash. He was tall and lean but still with enough muscle to indimidate people if and when he wanted.

He had brown hair, a sculpted jaw, full sensual lips and green eyes.

Many women came onto him, wanting to be his baby mama or mistress, but he sent them all away.

His gang, called the Sopranos, was also another gang to be feared in Ganghaven. At first, people hadn't taken them seriously, but after Ash had singlehandedly put eight men in the ICU without any weapon, people had learned to respect them.

Asher and his crew of five men knocked on the door of a storage facility and waited.

“Who's you?” Someone asked from inside.

“It's the Sopranos. Open up, we've got business to discuss.” Ash said.

“Shit!” The voice exclaimed.

“Now, now. There's no need for that. We come in peace.” Ash said, trying to allay the fears of whoever was inside.

“Fine, fine. I'm coming.” 

Seconds later, the door was opened, and a man who had the lower part of his covered with a mask showed up, holding a gun. He took in the scary sight that was six dangerous men in leather jackets and jeans who had purple bandanas tied around their heads.

“Whaddaya want?” He asked.

“I just want to talk.” Ash replied.

“Well, make it snappy. I'm mighty busy.” The man ordered.

Ash smiled, and in the twinkle of an eye, he squeezed the hand holding the gun, causing the man to cry out and release the gun. Ash hit him with the butt of the gun and the man collapsed to the floor, unconscious.

Ash and his men entered hastily, taking the unconscious man with them. There was a staircase that led underground. They took it, and when they saw a biometric lock on a door, they propped the man up and put his thumb to the scanner.

The door opened, and loud music filled Ash's ears. The song was of the rap genre. Ash scowled with distaste and wondered why anyone would listen to such.

The room he entered was a laboratory filled test tubes, burners and other lab equipment. There was a heady scent in the air. 

At first, Ash and his men were not noticed, so he took in the two people in goggles, face masks, lab coats and gloves as they poured and stirred different chemicals.

After a while, they were noticed by the scientists, who turned off the music and hurried over to where they were, taking off their goggles.

“Hey! What the fuck are you doing in here? You wanna contaminate the product?” One asked.

“Yeah. How did you get in here? Where's Drew?” The other asked.

“Hi, Amy and Stephen. Good to see you too. Oh, Drew's outside, unconscious.” Ash said, making no effort to leave the room.

Amy and Stephen were a couple who ran one of the numerous meth labs in Ganghaven. They had been high school chemistry teachers at first, but when the school closed down, they decided to start their own meth lab instead of looking for a teaching job elsewhere.

“Ash, what is it you want? We can go outside and talk.” Amy pleaded.

“If you want our product, we're more than willing to take an order, but for now, we have our hands full.” Stephen said, anxious to get back to work.

“Yes. You see, therein lies the problem; your work.” Ash said, shaking his head.

“C'mon Ash, don't go all righteous on us all of a sudden. We've been paying you tax so we can operate on your turf.” Stephen said.

“Yeah, I know. We shook hands on it, didn't we?” Ash said.

“Yeah, we did.” Stephen replied quickly.

“We agreed on some conditions, didn't we?” Ash asked.

“Ash, where's this leading to?” Amy asked, seemingly confused.

“Answer the question!” Ash roared. Amy hid behind Stephen.

“Yes, we did.” Stephen replied, sweating.

“Then why are you going against our deal?” Ash asked. His men came closer, intimidating the couple with their scowls and facial tattoos.

“What are you talking about?” Amy asked with a quivering voice.

“Don't try to act dumb! You swore never to sell drugs to minors!” Ash raged.

“But we didn't.” She replied.

Ash took a deep breath and asked one of his men to hand him a phone. He took it and pulled up a video clip. “Watch carefully.” He instructed.

Amy and Stephen shook with fright as the video played. It showed some obvious minors entering the storage facility and exiting some minutes later with some clear sachets that contained powdery substances.

Amy and Stephen gulped simultaneously.

“W-we didn't know they were minors.” Stephen stuttered.

“Don't insult my intelligence!” Ash thundered, getting angrier by the second.

“Fine! Yeah, we sold some powder to a couple of minors. So what? It's not the end of the world.” Amy said, hoping to defuse some of Ash's anger, but instead, he was enraged further.

“So what?! Do you know one of those children is in the ICU, fighting for his life as we speak?! He overdosed on meth! His parents are beside themselves!” Ash shouted.

From nowhere, Stephen whipped out a pistol, “How were we to know that stupid kid would actually take an overdose?” He asked as he pointed the gun at Ash.

“Do you think that's wise?” Ash asked, unbothered.

Immediately, Ash's men all pulled out their own firearms and pointed it at the couple.

Stephen put his firearm down and raised both arms in the air alongside Amy.

“I want you out of here. Never return to my turf, and never ever sell drugs to kids again, or I'll give you a taste of your own medicine.” Ash threatened.

He turned to his men and spoke, “Don't let them take anything with them. Send them on their way, and then burn this place to the ground.”