A few days later, Ren was seated at a table in the mess hall, seated opposite to him was Pedro III who Ren had called over. Pedro III looked at Ren anxiously, struggling to meet his gaze.
"So uhm… peas- Ren, what can this great one do for you."
Pedro III said nervously, his time at the prison had been far too tough on him, he worked long hours in the mine just for some bread and water and it had taken its toll on him, the current Pedro III was just a malnourished bunch of skin and bones.
"Tell me about your father and I'll give you 300 sparks."
Ren asked, getting straight to the point. As soon as Pedro III heard that sparks would be involved, his entire face lit up and his nervousness vanished.
"You know this is something tough for me to tal-"
"1000 take it or leave it."
Ren interrupted him impatiently, with the recent successes of the Black Bulls, Ren's pockets were plenty deep. This offer had Pedro III smiling like an idiot and he wasted no time in opening his mouth.
"I think I've told you about this but my father's in this prison… though I haven't found him yet, he was a well-known politician in the kingdom and my childhood was filled with luxury and wealth… but one day that changed. It turned out he had been taking money from the treasury and gambling it away, he along with ten other officials got thrown in prison."
He paused to avoid getting choked up, this had been a huge turning point in his life and what had come next wasn't easy for him.
"As the family of a corrupt politician, me and my mother where considered outcasts, I was kicked out of school, we lost our money, our home and my mother were fired from her job… We were forced to live in the streets. My mother was never a strong person, she couldn't handle the stress and ended her life. As for me, I stole food to survive and was caught… anything else?"
Pedro asked with a hint of sadness in his voice.
"Only a question, if you were to meet your father again, what would you do."
Ren asked casually, Pedro III pondered the question and his expression slowly started to turn cold.
"Kill him."
He said firmly, his voice was filled with passive rage. Seeing this, Ren gave him a teethy grin and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Well, In that case, this peasant has a proposal for you."
***
Two days later in the black bull HQ. The clock had just struck one pm and the boss and Ren were sitting across from each other.
"What's on your mind lad"
The boss asked Ren, the other members of the gang where out doing their jobs, even Rose had a rare day off, leaving the two of them alone. Obviously, this wasn't a coincidence, Ren had waited for today of all days to start his plan.
"I was just thinking about how our gang owns a casino. Outside the prison I was too young to gamble but since I'm already incarcerated, I wanted to try my hand at some dice… wanna show me the ropes."
Ren asked with an expression of boredom, the boss seemed to ponder his question for a while before eventually getting back to him.
"I don't know lad, Gambling makes me lose control, if you want, I'll ask Nicolas to take you around."
He said while lighting his cigar. This wasn't news to Ren, he already knew how hopeless the man got when it came to gambling. Ren had made Pedro III go into detail about it.
"Boss I didn't want to say this… but the whole gang is worried about you. Since we took over the mines, you've had a lot on your plate and it's clear to see how stressed you are."
Ren spoke with a concerned expression, the boss raised his brow and allowed Ren to continue.
"Why don't we make a day out of it, you can drink and throw some dice, let out all that pent up steam. Plus, don't forget that it's your casino any money you lose will make its way back to you."
Ren said with an innocent smile. The boss stayed silent for a long time with a conflicted expression on his face.
"Fuck it, I guess relaxing is part of my duties as boss… Thanks for this Lad."
"No problem boss… hey, that clock looks a bit wonky, let me straighten it and we'll head out."
***
A few hours later.
"3000 hic… on hic… red."
The boss stuttered while chugging down a glass of whiskey, one of many. He and Ren were standing around a Russian roulette table along with a few others.
"Boss don't you think your spending too much."
Ren said with a concerned expression on his face. His very drunk boss waved him away and put his badge away. It was at this point someone at the table spoke up, a scrawny youth with long hair and a dirty face.
"Don't listen to the kid he doesn't know what it takes to gamble, A real man would put everything on black."
The youth said while giving him a slap on the back. The boss clumsily turned around and after glancing at the clock on the wall he handed over his badge to the dealer
"You know what… hic… you're right… hic. Don't try stop me lad… hic. Everything on red."
Ren waved his hands and tried his worst to stop him.
"Boss aren't you afraid the executioner's gonna come knocking."
"It's fine lad… hic. As long as I top up my badge… hic before 3pm when they check, it's fine… hic. Plus, like you said I'm not gonna lose any money… hic, it's my casino."
He said to Ren who simply shrugged and took a step back. The dealer closed all bets and then spun the wheel, the small black ball bounced around for a while before eventually stopping on the black segment numbered thirteen.
SMASH.
The boss punched the table so hard it dented, leaving a nice fist shaped impression on its surface. Ren stepped in and put the boss's arm around his shoulder.
"Alright boss, I think that's enough. Let's get you back to the HQ."
The boss looked disappointed, but didn't resist. As they were leaving, the long-haired youth gave Ren a subtle wink.
***
Back at the Black Bull HQ
"That was… hic the most fun I had since coming to this place, thanks lad."
The boss who was starting to sober up was in a comically good mood. Ren waved his hands and replied with an innocent smile.
"No Problem boss, I'm glad to see you let out some steam."
Ren spoke while quickly glancing at the clock, it was nearly 2 pm.
"You know lad, I've only known you for a little while but I think of you like a son."
The boss placed his hand on Ren's shoulder with a serious face.
"I'm flattered boss… I don't know what to say."
Ren said, he was honestly stuck for words.
"I mean it lad, you know I had a son, right now he should be a few years older than you… I wronged him and my wife, now not a day goes by that I don't regret it."
The boss spoke bitterly and a long silence ensued.
"Sorry to bring you down, today was meant to be fun… say I know I've still got an hour but before I forget give me some sparks, eleven should be fine."
The boss said holding out his palm. Just then, the door swung open and a tall man dressed in black prison robes walked in. His eyes where emotionless and he walked like a robot.
"Prisoner #707 your balance is zero spark's, this is your thirty second warning, failure to provide adequate funds result's in solitary confinement."
The man spoke with a cold monotone voice. The boss looked at the clock in confusion, he knew that solitary was a basically a death sentence.
"lad the sparks… now"
The boss yelled, now he had completely sobered up, even though the clock read 2 pm he wasn't going to argue with the brain washed executioner who had no will of his own. Ren reached in to his pocket and raised an eyebrow in feigned shock.
"Sooooo sorry boss, it appears I lost my badge."
Ren said casually, causing the boss to stare at him with wide eyes.
"You lost your- Go find it… now."
He shouted, trying to grasp at straws. Ren stood up and slowly turned around.
"Right away boss… hey would you look at that, the clocks behind by an hour, give me a second."
Ren walked over to the clock while the boss finally realised what was happening ad slumped back in his chair.
"Prisoner #707 your allotted time is up and I will now take you to solitary, please do not resist."
The robotic voice of the executioner sealed the boss's fate, the boss couldn't help but think back to the first time he met Ren.
"Seems like that monster couldn't be tamed after all"
***
Half an hour later.
The members of the gang were gathered in the HQ, everyone just stood in silence and the only sound that could be heard was Rose weeping in the corner.
"It's my fault, if only I hadn't asked the boss to come gambling with me."
Ren who was on the verge of tears broke the silence. Carlos rushed to his side and pulled him into a tight embrace.
"No-one here blames you shrimp, you couldn't have known."
Carlos consoled Ren, who burst into tears in his arms. At this point Nicolas stepped forward.
"I hate to be that guy but what do we do now, everyone knows that solitary is a guaranteed death sentence. Without the boss are dreams will never be realised."
He said with a heavy heart, his words made Rose stop weeping and shout angrily at Nicolas
"You don't know that, the leader of the moles survived solitary."
"Yeah, and he became bat shit crazy as a result, I'm sorry Rose but without the boss, there's no point in the Black Bulls existing."
Leo rebutted her. Causing the atmosphere to worsen. Ren wiped away his tears.
"The boss did so much for me… but I don't even know his real name."
"Pedro II did a lot for all of us shrimp."
Carlos said endearingly, his words made Ren freeze.
"Did you say Pedro II. Wait don't leave I'll be back in a bit."
With that Ren broke free of Carlos and rushed out of the HQ. A few minutes later he burst back in while dragging a scrawny youth by the arm earning confused looks from the rest of the gang, before they had the time to ask Ren pushed the youth forward.
"Go on… tell them what you told me."
Ren urged the youth, who looked around the room nervously.
"Uhm… My name is Pedro III, my father is Pedro II."
The youth spoke softly but his words made every member of the black bull's collectively drop their jaw.
"You're the boss's son."
Rose leapt across the room to Pedro III's side and began pinching his face.
"The resemblance is there, this kid's definitely the boss's son."
Angel spoke up in surprise, all of the gang rushed to Pedro III and immediately started asking him questions about the boss. Pedro III who was scared by the group of people who dwarfed him sent a look of plea to Ren.
"Look I know I have only been in this gang for a short while but it feels like a family to me. I don't want to see my family split apart. Now we found his son, I think we should honour his memory by making sure that at least his son gets to stay in heaven."
Ren said with a hopeful look on his face.
***
By the time Ren got back to his cell it was close to curfew. Ren was merrily whistling Olivia's tune as he entered. He had managed to convince the gang to stay together and even though he still hadn't thought of a plan to break out, he felt like he was slowly but surely making progress.
"I guess everything's going to plan."
The voice of the headmaster came from the usual place. Ren gave him a charming smile.
"I guess you could say that."
Ren said while continuing to whistle.
"Well, is this part of your plan as well"
The headmaster asked, earning Ren's confusion, before he could ask what he had meant Ren heard a robotic voice from outside his cell
"Inmate #1011 a warden has requested your presence, please do not resist."
Ren froze and slowly turned around, laying eyes on the black robed executioner.
"Oh shit."
Ren cursed out loud.
"I guess it wasn't"
The headmaster said while Ren was being dragged off, soon a loud snoring filled the cell.