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Isn’t that what we all try to do? We find a way out of our shitty lives and find a new one somewhere else.
Well, in my case, the people I grew up around did. That’s what my parents did when they decided to pack everything and haul me here to Eastlake ten years ago. My life in Seoul wasn’t the best, but it was mine, and I loved it. They took it from me.
They tookeverythingfrom me.
And now I’m taking everything from them.
Both of their cars? Burned to ash.
Electronics? Smashed to bits.
Expensive jewelry? Warming my pocket.
Every bit of money they’ve saved up to get us here? All fucking mine.
I’ve drained both of their bank accounts and wired all the money to my own. It’s rightfully mine, anyway. I was the one whose blood was shed to give them the life they so desperately desired. Now that they’ve had a taste of the American Dream, it’s time to collect my pound of flesh.
I turn and look at Bora and Jihoon. Mom and Dad, respectively, but I haven’t called them that since I was ten.
“It’s Jayden now,” I deadpan.
Bora looks frantically from me to the house to the cars. With her hands gripping her hair and her face filled with distress, she looks like something straight out of a movie.
Jihoon, on the other hand, looks like he wants to disembowel me for what I’ve done.
Good. If it’s a fight he wants, a fight is what he’s going to get.
I’m tired of being their doormat. No more cowering in fear in my room, waiting for Jihoon’s drunken rampages to end. I’m tired of constantly having to defend myself against the two people who are supposed to protect me with their lives. I’ve made a lot of sacrifices for them, and the only thing they give me in return is a roof over my head. Don’t get me wrong, I’m always grateful for that, but sometimes, I want to know what it could be like if my parents loved me. They don’t even like me, and I don’t know what the hell I did to piss them off so much exceptexist.
Now, I have no more fucks to give.
“You’ll pay for this,” Jihoon seethes, grabbing a fistful of my shirt and pulling me to him until our noses are touching. “I’ll make sure of it.”
He catches me off guard when he punches me square in the fucking nose. It doesn’t take long for the blood to start gushing from my nostrils like running water.
Jihoon roughly pushes me away from him and balls his hands into fists at his sides. He glares down at me with barely concealed anger, but I just laugh, which only enrages him more.
I know he wants me to rage. He just wants an excuse to beat my ass—not that he’s ever needed one before—and I’m going to take the bait.
I straighten and step up to him, wiping a hand across the blood on my face and smearing it on his shirt.
“??,” he spits, his upper lip curling in disgust.
Gangster.
Why, yes. Yes, I am. I’d rather be a gangster than a raging alcoholic who doesn’t provide for his family. I’d rather be a thug than a poor excuse of a man who forces his wife to pimp herself out to put scraps on the table. There’s nothing wrong with sex work, but only if it’s the decision of the person who’s doing it.
I’m a much better man than he’ll ever be, and one day, I’m going to make the girl of my dreams my queen. She’ll be well taken care of and protected; she and our children will never want for anything. I’ll give them the life I never had, the life they deserve.
I cock my head to the side and crack my neck.
“What are you gonna do about it, Pops?” I taunt.
Jihoon pulls his arm back to punch me again, but I anticipate his move this time, and I duck underneath his fist. My shoulder drives into his stomach, knocking the breath out of him and forcing him to the ground.
Bora screams at me furiously in Korean, but I ignore her. I’ve never once considered the idea of putting my hands on a woman, but if she touches me, it’s over for her. I’ll deal with her another time; this is between me and my father.
“Get up,” I growl, spitting blood on the sidewalk. In my peripheral, our neighbors start filling the sidewalks, taking pictures, and recording videos. Sirens sound in the distance, but I ignore them. I need to get out of here soon, but I need to knock this motherfucker out before I do.
