Leroy had a fiery personality and was a force to be reckoned with. He had beaten people up over petty disagreements, and he often did outrageous things to intimidate people. Even gang leaders would go out of their way to avoid him.
He had doted on his niece, Janet, since she had been a baby. They had played together, and he had acted like a child himself. These days, their roles were often reversed, and Janet took care of him, but in matters like this, when she was in trouble, Leroy would drop everything to come to her rescue.
When he heard that Leroy was coming, Jerry grew frightened. He knew he had to hurry up and get out of there. If Leroy found him in this room, the damage would be far worse than what Alex had just done. He would be a dead man.
Without hesitation, Jerry picked up his belongings and headed for the door, but just as he approached it, it slammed shut in his face.
"Didn't you want to call someone?" Alex asked when Jerry turned around. "The phone is in your hand. Call someone. I'll wait."
He looked at Jerry with a sinister smile.
Leroy would be arriving at any moment, and Jerry was trapped in the room with another man that he knew he couldn't defeat. He didn't know how he was going to be able to deal with both of them, and he felt like he was about to cry.
"Are you sure you want me to call someone?" he asked. "The strength of the Rimmer family isn't something you want to test. I can tell you right now, you'll be consigned to eternal damnation."
A trickle of blood came from the corner of his mouth, and he was in pain from Alex's earlier strike. Now that he could stand and speak, he had to try to save himself, but he couldn't match Alex's physical strength, so words were all he had.
"You can call anyone you want," Alex replied, shrugging. "But it would be best if you call the grand masters in your family. I'm afraid they'll be the only ones that have any chance of saving you."
Jerry was speechless. The only grand master left in the Rimmer family was Willard Rimmer. Although Jerry was the heir, he wasn't important enough to call Willard and ask for his assistance. Feeling helpless, Jerry could only call his father, Ray.
After Ray received the phone call, he was furious. He hadn't expected his son to be imprisoned in a hotel room. He wondered if it was a joke, but just in case it wasn't, he called his older brother Mason for backup. Then the two of them set off and rushed over to the hotel.
After hanging up the phone, Jerry leaned against the wall, wincing from the pain of his injuries and hoping that his father would arrive before Leroy did.
Unfortunately for him, just a few minutes later, someone banged on the door, and a deep raspy voice shouted, "Where is my niece?"
Jerry grew pale with fear, while Janet smiled and jumped up to open the door.
"I'm here, uncle," she cried out, but before she could get to the door, it burst open and almost knocked her to the ground.
The man on the other side was six foot six and was built of pure muscle. He was wearing a basketball jersey, and he was carrying a basketball in his hand.
Alex looked at Leroy with amusement. It was hard to imagine that this guy with the foolish smile was one of the most feared men in the city.
"Uncle Leroy!" Janet yelled. "You nearly killed me, smashing the door open like that!" She looked at him and frowned. "And what are you wearing?"
Leroy scratched his head, looking embarrassed. "I was playing basketball," he said. "Then you called me and said you were in trouble, so I ran over."
He wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked around the room at the three people. When he saw Jerry, his eyes widened, and without a thought, he threw the basketball at his head.
With a bang, Jerry stumbled back into the wall, hitting his head and nearly fainting.
"Rimmer, you son of a bitch! What did you do to my niece?" Leroy shouted as he rushed to Jerry's side. Before Jerry could react, Leroy grabbed him by the neck and tossed him to the ground.
Jerry felt like he had been hit by a truck, and a large lump was forming on his forehead. The next thing he knew, he was being lifted up by his neck and once again being thrown against the wall. His face reddened as he struggled to breathe.
Leroy smiled in amusement, watching Jerry struggle, until Janet finally stepped in. She grabbed Leroy's arm and said, "That's enough. You're going to kill him. He's a Rimmer—you know how much trouble you'd be in if you killed him."
Leroy finally loosened his grip and put Jerry down. He wouldn't listen to most people, but he would always listen to his niece.
He chuckled. "If he ever bullies you again, I'll kill him."
"All right," she said, smiling indulgently as she patted his arm. "Just stop fighting for now. Let me introduce you to someone." She lowered her voice. "We have to find a way to bring him into the family." She beckoned toward Alex.
"Who is he?" Leroy asked, looking at Alex and sizing him up. "He looks all right. You want him to join our family? That's easy."
He smiled and walked to Alex's side. He reached out his arm, wrapped it around Alex's waist, and tried to lift him up, but he found that, even though he used all his strength, Alex just stood there without moving. He looked at Leroy and raised an eyebrow.
Leroy was stubborn. He couldn't pick Alex up with one hand, so he put both hands on his waist and tried to lift him again. But Alex's legs were like cement pillars rooted in the ground; he didn't move one bit.
"Damn, how much strength does this guy have? Even Leroy can't lift him," Jerry said, surprised at what he was witnessing.
Janet covered her mouth with her hands, so shocked that she almost shouted.
"What the—?" Leroy said as he crouched down and wrapped his arms around Alex's legs, trying with all his might to lift him.
At that moment, they all heard a loud cracking sound.
Jerry thought that Leroy must have broken Alex's legs, and Janet was so scared that she turned pale.
But they quickly realized that it wasn't Alex who was hurt. He was still calm, but Leroy, on the other hand, grunted in pain and grabbed his arm.