Scratching his head so hard, Gary feared that he might go bald in a certain spot, but he knew due to the system message that as long as he had energy the system would revert him back to his original form.
That was one of the reasons why he was unable to change his green hair that he had dyed. Which made him think, if he had kids, would their hair colour be strange as well, or maybe his normal genes would pass on, and his kids would wonder if he was really their dad due to the strange hair colour he had and they didn’t.
“Gary, will you pay attention and stop daydreaming this is important!'' Kai shouted as he tapped a large white board several times.
After meeting up with the others in the Wolf’s Pool Club, Gary and Kai had left as they needed to make special preparations for tomorrow. What Gary didn't realise was it was almost a trip back to school for him.
There was a desk, a notepad, and a pencil. Sitting at the desk, and directly opposite to him was Kai, up against a whiteboard. They were in a room of one of the businesses they owned and Kai had specifically booked a slot for the two of them.
“I’m sorry, but we have already been at this for three hours, I think my brain is going to explode!” Gary replied, as he continued to scratch a certain spot, and eventually just placed his forehead on the table.
“Do I have to explain the importance of this meeting to you again?” Kai sighed, as he tapped the white board, where there was a single name of a company written in the middle and circled, ‘Cardenez Electronics.’
“This is one of the biggest up and coming electronic companies. They are so large that they have more influence in their tier three city, than the gangs that are there, since they also supply electronic parts to the tier 2 cities as well.
“Because of their massive growth, they are now looking to expand, and our town is one of the places that they are looking at. Think about it, this is a company that has bargaining power with tier 2 cities, so much so that they have even been talking with opening up factories and new headquarters in the said tier 2 cities, and they will probably continue to grow there as well.
“Which is why, if we get them to set up a base in Slough, prove to them what we can do, maybe they will move their whole operation to Slough. Gangs might target us because of this, but if we can protect them, and continue to show that Slough was the right choice, we can grow together and make this city better.”
Gary knew a little bit about the effect of businesses and how they worked to grow certain places, he had seen the effect of the Underdogs and other gangs' income when spread to the city, but that money had hit a limit to what it could do for Slough.
Lifting up his head off the table, Gary looked at the whiteboard again.
“I understand all of that, what I’m struggling with is all these other terms that you are throwing at me. Dilution, Gross, and Net profit. Yearly turnover, buy back schemes and more! It's too much to learn the day before, and I never was good at school in the first place.”
Kai put the pen down and held his head down slightly.
“I know this is a lot, Gary. Honestly I don’t know why he insisted on seeing you. Otherwise I would have taken over all of this for you, but these are just the basics, and if he talked to you directly, I wanted you to understand a bit of what was going on, I know it's a lot of pressure and not what you're used to.”
As usual, Kai was just looking out for Gary, and his passion was coming across in the lesson.
“Come on, let’s go over these terms again and see if I can get any of them right.”
“Alright!” Kai pumped his fist. “This will be good practice for you in the future anyway, for when you become a business tycoon.”
Gary shook his head, just wondering what the future of everything withheld.
———
The next day had arrived, and for some reason Gary had chosen to sleep at the old apartment. He hadn't gone to sleep in the apartment with his sister. The truth was, he had told her that he was heading straight back to the AFA even though that was a lie.
This was because he knew he had other business to do, business to do with the Howlers and he didn't want her to think that he had something else that was more important than her. If he could, Gary would have happily spent a whole week with Amy, before heading back to the AFA, but a break that long would make him fall behind, and he didn't want to miss out on any special lessons.
So a few days back in Slough was the most Gary was willing to give up for now. His eyes felt a bit heavy, as he hadn't had much sleep. The terms were constantly being repeated in his head every time he tried to get some shut eye.
When looking at the clock, Gary would say, if he went to sleep now he would have 8 hours of sleep, then an hour later he would say 7 hours of sleep, that was enough right, and before he knew it there was hardly any time left.
Getting out of his bed, Gary headed to the closest place that was pretty much empty, the whole apartment was, since it was moved.
‘This place, I couldn't sell it, not without informing mum what to do with it, and if any more letters get sent here as well.’
Opening the closet there was a special outfit that Kai said he had prepared. What Gary was expecting was his gang uniform, but instead there was a suit.
“Man…”
Putting on all of the pieces, and looking at himself in the mirror Gary felt like he was almost unrecognisable. He truly looked like a full fledged adult and the suit fitted him to the skin perfectly in all of the right areas.
It even made him look slightly taller due to how the legs were.
‘Is this a tailored suit, when did Kai even get my measurements. I guess I won't be fighting in this thing anytime soon. I imagine the suit cost a pretty penny and I wouldn't want to ruin something so nice in the first place.’
Two beeps were sounded from a car outside. It was the signal that Tyler was there. Gary’s heart was thumping. At the end of it, seeing how serious Kai was about this whole thing, just showed the importance of this which only made Gary even more nervous.
‘This is… worse than when I'm fighting!’ Gary thought.
In the end he left his apartment, and Gary walked over to the limo that was waiting for them. Tyler was standing outside by the door, but he wasn't the only one. All of the others were present.
Innu, Marie, Austin, Kai, of course, and even Olivia was with them this time.
“Your looking sharp boss!” Tyler was the first to say.
“Yeah man, how come your suit fits your perfectly, mine is a bit baggy in areas.” Innu started showing how his sleeves were a bit too long.
“It suits him right, this look.” Kai smiled, and glanced over at a certain someone.
“Yeah, it looks good on him.” Marie replied with her face slightly red and eyes off to the side, but they kept taking another look at Gary.
“You know, all of us in suits and going to a big meeting together like this, it finally feels like we are in a gang.” Austin said.
This was a true feeling for them all, and that included Gary. Before everything felt like they were just going with the flow, while this was a step in the right direction.
“You only feel like that now!” Olivia slapped her forehead. “How did we get taken out by these guys?”
Getting in the car, Kai went over with everyone what was to happen and go down. Only Gary and Kai would be sitting on the sofa opposite the CEO, the rest were to stand by the side as guards.
It was allowed since they would have the same. Most likely another gang would be used for protection. What Gang though, Kai didn’t have that information.
The meeting was to take place in one of the top hotels in Cipen, where the lobby was already booked out. Finally the car had reached its destination. The limo had caught the eyes of the guests that were coming in and out of the hotel.
When the door opened though, they were surprised to see a group appear, all wearing different masks on their faces that were black and gold.
“Who are they?” Many of the guests wondered, they had this presence around them, and it was clear that they were somebody or something.
“Wait, those masks, I know them. They are what the leader’s of the Howlers wear. That must mean something big is going on here.”
As all of them walked through the hotel entrance, many people brought out their phones and started to take photos and videos.
“Get used to this guys, because we might be experiencing it a lot more often in the future.” Kai said.
*****
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