Suddenly, I Am Rich

Gray’s shoes pounded hard against the sidewalk as he ran. The wind passed against his skin, and his breath became faster each second, but he didn’t stop.

The sun was high up in the sky, but the streets weren’t friendly.

Not where he was.

Gray arrived at Rome’s location. The neighborhood wasn’t exactly dangerous, but it was run-down with broken fences, graffiti-covered walls, and empty bus stops with busted glass.

He checked the paper in his hand again.

[Isadora street, Building No. 5.]

He checked the street numbers on row houses one by one. 1, 2, 3... nothing. He read it again with beads of sweat running down his temple.

He remembered that Marcus had alerted him earlier that the place was hard to fight in.

Now Gray understood. He ran down another alley that was even narrower than the last. He scanned both sides but still couldn’t find any livable place.

”God... where is this place?”

When he reached the end of the alley, there was a dead end.

’Hah...’ He glanced back, getting frustrated.

That’s when he saw a group of four burly guys leaning by a boarded-up convenience store. Their arms were bulging with tattoos. There were old-school skulls, snakes, and half-illegible graffiti words.

Gray sucked in a breath. He hesitated for a moment and then headed straight toward them.

He clenched his jaw and approached in.

”Hello! Excuse me,” he said out loud to get their attention, ”Do you guys know where this address is?”

He held out the slightly crumpled paper in his hand.

The guys turned slowly. The tallest among them stood to full height, at least a head taller than Gray, with his arms as big as tree trunks. Gray looked so small compared to everyone.

”Building 5?” the tall one repeated, his brows furrowing. His voice was deep and intimidating.

”Yup...” Gray swallowed but stayed firm.

”I’m one of the grocery store’s employees,” he said, doing his best to sound polite. ”I don’t know if you guys heard, but there was an incident last Saturday. A customer was humiliated by our staff. His name’s Rome. I just want to know if he’s here. I need to talk to him.”

The group didn’t reply at first. One of them squinted at him suspiciously, with his arms still crossed.

”And how do we know you’re not just some random creep?” the second one said. ”Anyone can say they’re from somewhere.”

Gray blinked.

”Uh... right. Good point.”

He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out his employee ID. ”Will this do?”

The tall one snatched the ID with two fingers and stared at it like he was trying to decide whether to believe it. After a few seconds, he showed it to the others.

They became silent for a second. Then slowly, their postures relaxed.

”Ohhh,” one of them said, voice lowering. ”So you’re the one who saved Rome?”

”Yes... I mean—I didn’t do much. I just stepped in.” Gray hesitated

The tall one let out a low chuckle.

”Rome was talkin’ about you.”

The change in their tone was so sudden, it made Gray blink. The same guys who looked like they’d rob a gas station five minutes ago were now grinning and nodding at him like they were old friends.

”That’s wild,” another said. ”He said you told the guy off right in front of everyone.”

”Thanks, but... can we talk about that later? I really need to find Rome.” Gray gave a stiff smile.

”Right, right,” the tall one said, nodding as he let out a loud laugh. ”Follow us.”

It was weird.

They were massive, tattooed, and had voices like thunder and yet, they walked ahead of him with a kind of weird excitement.

”This way, Sir Grocery Guy!” one of them said brightly.

”Rome’s actually our leader’s friend,” another added proudly.

”He’s the best kid we know. He even gave us some grocery because he said he got it for free from your store!” said the last.

”Thanks,” Gray replied.

After zigzagging through a few alleys and crossing a busted pedestrian bridge, they finally turned to a corner. There, at the far end of the block, was Building 5.

And in front of it, there were three sleek black cars with dark windows. The cars were high-end. They clearly didn’t belong to this part of the town.

Gray’s entire body tensed.

He slowed to a stop.

”Shit,” he muttered. ”That’s not good.”

He turned to the four guys beside him.

”Do any of you know whose cars those are?”

The men stared at the vehicles for a long second.

”No,” said one of them. ”We’ve never seen them here before.”

”That’s not from here,” another one said, narrowing his eyes.

The tallest guy’s shoulders suddenly straightened.

”Rome’s inside,” he said with certainty. ”Those bastards are here for him.”

”Wait—” Gray raised a hand. ”We need to plan. We can’t just—”

But he was already too late.

”THEY’RE ON OUR TURF!” yelled one of them.

”THEY DARED STEP ON ROME’S DOORSTEP?!”

”YOU WANNA FIGHT?!”

”SAVE ROME!!”

All four ran off at full speed, their muscles bouncing and voices booming like a bunch of oversized children ready to battle.

Gray’s eyes widened in disbelief as he watched them sprint toward the building.

”What the fuck—” he muttered under his breath.

”What the fuck did I walk into?” Gray muttered.

Gray pulled out his phone immediately. His fingers trembled slightly as he dialed on it. The line connected on the first ring.

”Emergency Services, what’s your—”

”This is an urgent report,” Gray cut in quickly. ”There’s a possible assault situation happening right now on Isadora Street, Building 5. Three unidentified black vehicles are parked out front, and there may be a minor involved. Please send officers. Fast.”

”Understood, sir. Units are on the way. Please do not engage—”

But Gray had already ended the call.

A crash echoed in the distance. There was metal slamming into pavement, followed by someone yelling. Probably one of the thugs. Gray couldn’t tell anymore. It was chaos.

He looked toward the building, then back at the street.

’Screw it.’

He ran to it.

Straight toward the entrance.

”Rome!” he yelled. ”Rome, where are you?!”

The hallway was dark. The inside smelled like rust and old pipes. Each step echoed through the corridor as he turned the first corner. One of the doors looked like they had been busted open recently.

He heard shouting upstairs.

A voice.

”Just tell them you don’t want to push it further, Kid. Say you don’t want to fire Will and that everything was just a mistake. No one wants to hurt you.”