Miles smirked and stepped ahead. The boy had tied his hair up as if that would suddenly make him stronger; it was funny how teenagers' minds worked sometimes.
"Hey kid," said Miles. "You remember us from that day?"
"Sure do. I was looking for you."
"That's going to make this easier—" Miles raised his hand and swung it down. The boy gently moved to his left, completely avoiding the slap, and took a drag off the cigarette in his hand. "Wha—"
Miles tried to stand back upright but lost his balance. The boy had stepped on his feet. The boy blew out a plume of smoke in Miles' face and let go of his foot.
"What the hell?"
"Hey, hey, Miles. What are you doing?"
Miles embarrassedly looked at the other two, then dusted his shoulders.
"Just watch, you bastards. This kid thinks he is a boxer or something—"
With a start, Miles reached out for the boy's collar and missed again. This time, the boy drove in and smashed his knee into Miles' stomach, driving into his plexus. Miles guffawed and stepped behind.
Taking another drag off his cigarette, the boy slid past Miles almost as if he was dancing on the streets.
Finley was next.
"You! AH!"
Almost cartoonishly, he moved to swing his fist at the boy and fell with a bloodied nose. Akash had taken a step further; he tried to thrust the boy into the wall with a kick. The boy quickly grabbed Akash's pants with one hand and pulled his leg ahead. Akash lost his balance and got an uppercut on his chin before he could fall.
"Boring bitches," said the boy.
A puff.
"New Engine Gaming, right? Take me to your office. I am sure you have one around here."
***
A notification popped up on Lia's phone. She picked it up, not recognizing the number. Mrs. Benson had stepped away just a minute ago.
[~: Found those men again. I am trying to talk to them. Will get them away]
Lia's eyes widened. She started furiously typing on her phone.
[Lialicious: What the fuck are you doing!?]
[Lialicious: Isn't that dangerous?]
[Lialicious: Please come back.]
A reply came back within minutes.
[~: It is fine. They listened to me. They are going back. Will talk a little more. You keep at it.]
Lia found the texting style quite impressive but decided to hold her comments on it for now.
[~: Actually, does Mrs. Benson have a bike?]
Lia looked up from the screen. Mrs. Benson returned to the table with a photo album.
"Here's some images from when Richard was in college—"
"Uh, ma'am. By any chance, do you own a bicycle?"
***
—Trring Trring.
The hum of the bicycle rang across the streets as Miles, I guess his name was, peddled through the road. I sat behind on the rack, with my back turned to the thug, as I read through the paper he had been trying to get Mrs. Benson to sign.
"Drive faster,"
"I am trying!"
There were a few things that stood out which we couldn't see earlier. First, yes, the amount that was being paid was definitely good enough for the arcade. While it didn't seem benevolent at all, calling it a 'fair trade' would be correct considering how old the arcade was.
The first thing that I noticed was the fact that they were not buying the arcade. They were trying to buy the company the arcade was registered as. Perhaps Mr. Benson had done this on purpose, or maybe there was some tax trick he was utilizing, but he hadn't registered the arcade under his name at all. It wasn't a proprietorship but a company-owned asset.
The company's owner was Mrs. Benson, since the entire document talked about the purchase of an enterprise, and the signee was her.
My eyes narrowed as I reached one of the sections near the end of the agreement, which was already stupidly long for no reason, and I smiled. This used quite vague language, and things made a lot more sense when I saw it.
In small brackets under a clause defining what some miscellaneous assets of the company included, was a mention of a word that didn't seem out of place at first: Insurance.
"A-alright!" Miles heaved, looking to the side. On this small street corner was an office with the signboard of New Engine Gaming up top. "We're here!"
I got off the bike and fanned myself with the agreement papers for a second. Then turned to Miles.
"You, wait here. You will drop me back."
I stretched my hands and looked ahead at the office. Some answers were needed.