Neale woke up early the next day, at about 6:00 AM, so he could reach Kennington early that day. After showering and washing up, Neale dried himself up. When he left the bathroom, he found a pair of clothes on his bed, ready for his use. Neale changed into the clothes, which were a pair of black trousers, A dark blue turtleneck, and even a white pair of socks with some smart formal-looking shoes. Neale thought the shoes might be uncomfortable but they turned out to be pretty comfortable. Neale wrapped the white scarf around his neck and walked to the kitchen with his brown coat in hand. He would need to be dressed warmly because of the extreme cold that awaited him outside the house door. It was a cloudy day but that was a freezing breeze that accompanied that weather. It was also much worse in the mornings. Neale entered the dining room area which was a room with a wall of glass to one side, allowing those within to see the sea which was a distance away from where they were.
"My my, I barely recognized you with your new look, all that remains is a proper haircut. It's also too bad you refused to have a makeup artist work on you." Sofia said, sighing at the last part.
"I'm all about natural beauty, I'd be devastated if I could only leave the house after some pampering," Neale replied, smartly dodging the first statement his Half-mother had made while also making her laugh.
Neale sat down on one of the 16 dining room chairs and soon the food was served. After enjoying a sumptuous breakfast, Neale was ready to leave. Joshua was not available so another driver drove Neale, a short young guy called Jon. The drive was mostly silent since Jon was not as talkative as Joshua and only spoke when he needed to.
It was after a while that they finally reached the small town of Kennington. The town was 2 towns away and to reach it, one had to leave Eagle Bay and drive through Newton until the destination would be reached. It was one hell of a ride. Neale got out of the car and expected Jon to drive away but Jon got out of the car and put on a pair of sunglasses. Boss's orders, he said when he saw Neale's questioning gaze.
"How on earth am I going to go to a gang fight with a bodyguard?" Neale asked in disbelief.
"I'm here merely to prevent you from dying, not to stop you from getting punched," Jon said in a matter-of-factly tone.
"I hate you," Neale mumbled as he put on his coat.
"Finally acting like a rich brat, I see," Said Jon, Joking for the first time since Neale had met him.
"Oh, you're making jokes now? Are you perhaps an anxious driver?" Neale asked, shooting a look at Jon." No wonder you were so quiet, you must have been pretty focused."
Jon's face grew as red as a tomato when Neale teased, probably embarrassed or something, but Neale didn't know, and neither did he care, he had work to do.
"Let's go, tomato," Neale said shooting a cheeky look at Jon.
"Alright boss," He replied as he visibly tried to calm himself down.
Neale walked on, making sure to take in the sights around him as he headed to the park. He realized that everything did look worse, the streets were filthier, and there were a few more homeless people on the streets. Thugs could be seen smoking drugs openly.
"I have some fixing to do. "Neale thought to himself.
Neale and Jon had taken a quiet alleyway to arrive quickly when suddenly a man appeared from the street before. He was tall, and he was smoking a cigarette. He had tattoos covering his body and earrings on his ears.
"Haha, you coming around THESE STREETS!, and you dressed like that. HAHA, You a walking prize, now, you better undress and give me all those expensive clothes and give me your wallets and your phones." The thug said laughing as he couldn't believe what a prize he'd gotten.
Jon was stepping forward, probably to beat the man to a pulp but Neale stopped him. Neale wanted to show this man himself, he wanted to show this man that he could do anything he wanted on these streets because they belonged to him.
"Say, can't we make a deal? I'm new around here so I don't know much, please forgive me," Neale whimpered slowly walking closer to the thug as he walked, Jon was a little impressed by his acting skills.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, stay back man! There's no bargaining here, just give me your crap so I can bounce," The man said as he removed a knife and pointed it at Neale.
"Sir," Jon said worriedly stepping forward.
"Stay back," Neale commanded before turning back to the thug. His expression was cold and dark and for some reason, the thug felt like cold water was trickling down his back. "How dare you? You're carrying a knife around, furthermore, you're pointing it at me? Do you know who the heck I am?"
"No, I don't, and neither do I want to know, Just give me your things and disappear," Said the thug waving the knife around dangerously.
"You will regret..." Neale said walking up to the thug. "You will regret breaking the laws of Kennington streets."
~~~
Relaxing on a fountain in a park was a group of men. All of them had muscular and athletic bodies and they wore coats or jackets which covered them and protected them from the cold.
"Hey, Jeff," A tall man with broad shoulders asked his subordinate who was standing as he smoked a cigarette. "We've got to take back the streets. This is the Boss's streets, not that rat. People are suffering because we're too weak to fight."
"We are too weak to fight and that's a fact! How are we going to beat Kennington Club with these numbers Axel? There is no way!" The bald lean man named Jeff replied.
"But we have to try!" The other man shouted.
"So we can finally end Stray Tigers? We've lost all our strongest fighters. We would at least have a fighting chance if Boss's kid was here." The man yelled back before quieting down. The mood turned sour after he finished speaking. Ever since both the boss and his boy had been absent, Stray Tigers had fallen from its former glory. It was a sad topic for any member of their gang.
They continued to relax for a while before they saw someone in the distance. The person was wearing a brown coat and a turtle neck but they were not visible as of yet. Next to them was a shorter man in a suit and the taller man dragged a body along with him.
"Is that a dead body?" Jeff asked as he squinted, trying to see what the man in the distance was carrying.
"I think so, It's not moving," Axel said as he also tried to see into the distance.
"The tall guy looks familiar, wait, It can't be!" Jeff nearly shouted as he saw the familiar face approaching.
As soon as they realized who was approaching, they all formed two lines which led to Axel and Jeff, the two current bosses of their group.
"Welcome Back young Boss!" They all shouted in unison.
Neale looked around with a nod before speaking.
"What the hell happened here?"
~~~
"I see. So, after that night, many members left?" Neale asked Jeff, the current Boss of Stray Tigers.
"All our best members too. Sticks, Jin, David, and many others. We have no power to stop Kennington Club but we've enough power to keep ourselves alive." Jeff replied, his head lowered in shame.
"I see. Where can we find them?" Neale asked Jeff.
"Sticks, Jin, and the others are working in a construction site at the east of town and David Akaimbe and one or two others are probably in their houses.
"I see," Neale said nodding. "By the way, anybody knows who that guy is?"
He pointed to the unconscious thug who was lying on the floor near the fountain.
"Oh! He's Kennington Club's 4th squad commander, Connor. He's a violent dog, that one. how'd you drop him? He's a pretty sly guy and a dirty fighter." Axel said as he eyed the man on the ground.
"I just knocked him out. He was pointing a knife at me so that kinda pissed me off." Neale said as he kicked the already unconscious guy.
"Pour some water on him, wake him up!" Neale issued the command.
The commands were followed and soon Connor woke up in shock to find himself wet.
"Hey! 4th commander of Kennington Club," Neale called to the guy, the guy immediately faced Neale, his eyes full of hate and anger.
He wanted to hurt Neale, but he wouldn't dare because the Stray Tiger's members stood around Neale, ready to protect him with their life other members were standing behind him and they were blocking off his escape. The man angrily yelled, "WHO ARE YOU? WHERE AM I? WHY AM I HERE AND WHAT'D YOU WANT?"
"I am Neale Blake, Artem's boy and I'm back here to crush Kennington Club. Go back to your leader, and bring him a message of war. Anytime or anyplace, it will happen. and Kennington Club will be destroyed," Neale said to the man, his voice loud and clear.
"What?" Connor questioned, his eyes wide as he tried to process all of the information he had just heard.
"Let's go, boys," Neale said to his gang before turning and walking away, leaving the Kennington Club 4th commander, still lying on the ground, shocked, and drenched.
~~~
"We're here," Axel said to Neale, they had just stopped outside of a construction site. Workers were rushing back and forth as they worked. Some mixed cement, others operated construction vehicles and some were just giving orders. Among those giving orders, there was one particular man whom Neale was surprised to see.
"Uncle Jeff!" Neale nearly shouted when he saw the man who had helped him a great amount when he was at his lowest.
"Neale! You're here?" A man in his '50s asked with a look of surprise. "Yeah, I came for a little visit."
"Ah, how long are you going to be here for? Do you have a place to stay at?" Uncle Jeff asked as he approached Neale. He seemed to be some sort of a boss on this site since everyone listened to him.
"I am leaving tomorrow but I have no place to sleep at. I don't want to trouble you though, Uncle Jeff," Neale said, speaking respectfully to the man.
"Ah, You don't need to worry, you'll be staying at my place then." The man bellowed as he patted Neale's back. He liked Neale because he thought that Neale was a very respectful young boy, and because the old man only had one daughter who was working, he treated Neale like his son.
"Thank you very much, Uncle Jeff," Neale said with a good-spirited smile on his face. He knew Uncle Jeff would want him to stay at his house and he didn't want to lie to the man neither did he want to refuse him. "What is being built here?"
"A new mall by this new company called CCO. They're also building houses further east of town, probably for the employees who might be working here in the future." Uncle Jeff said as he removed his safety hat and rubbed his grey hair. "But that is not why you're here. Why'd you come here?"
"I apologize for the trouble but we're here to see Jin Lee and a few others," Neale said to Uncle Jeff.
"Go on and see them," Uncle Jeff said." Just be quick."
Neale thanked him and very soon all of the former-stray tigers' members were gathered around their boss.
"Now, I'm here to begin a new Era, after we defeat Kennington Club, we'll go beyond that. We'll acquire more, We'll take everything." Neale said to those present."
"But boss, what do you mean?" Sticks asked. Sticks was a tall thin man who got his nickname from his scrawny figure.
"You will find out, just return, we can't defeat Kennington Club without your help." Neale pleaded.
"But one question before we decide, are you going to become Boss?" Jin asked.
"Yes, I am sure nobody minds, right?" Neale asked.
Jin shook his head before answering. "Then captain, We're coming back."
After speaking to Jin and the others, the next destination was David Akaimbe's house. After walking for a while, they came across an unsightly scene. There were 2 men, busy shouting and harassing a female shop owner. The woman looked scared, but she could only hug herself and cry. She was alone and nobody dared to help or speak against the two men and when Neake's group drew close, they realized why. On the back of their jackets were the writing "Kennington Club" in fancy letters. Nobody wished to get on the wrong side of the gang.
Neale's face changed expression and the expression on his face was terrifying to those who saw. For someone to be openly harassing a citizen on Kennington streets was a punch in the face for him. But he didn't need to speak or give the order because, in a matter of seconds, his gang pounced on the two men, and within seconds the men were on the floor, swiftly knocked unconscious.
"Are you okay?" Neale asked the woman, who was sobbing as she sat on the floor outside the store.
"No, they come every time! We have to pay them taxes or they'll vandalize our stores. They abuse and harass us every day and they always try to take advantage of vulnerable women. Anyone who opposes them ends up in the hospital. It's been terrible since stray tigers left, It has been hell!" The woman said as she cried. It was a truly pitiful sight. Bystanders now came to help and consoled the woman.
Neale's group was soon continuing their journey and they realized that their leader, who had been silent since the outburst of the woman had something to say.
"Tonight," He began. His gang members were silently watching him, the air was tense, the heavy atmosphere weighing down on everyone. "Tonight we raze the empire that Kennington Club had built, to the ground."