Trouble Maker

Max parked his car in the parking lot of a business location called Bar Jam. He opened the door of the bar, which was marked closed, with the keys he took from the pocket of his leather jacket.

Max has memorized every side of the bar. About half of this bar's assets belong to him. He walked in with confidence. His shadow was swallowed by a dark passageway. In the end, he climbed the stairs leading to the second floor.

Max pushed a glass door. The door felt a bit heavy, dragged, and made a noise as well. He doesn't care about the distraction. His feet stepped in and found someone looking at the midnight news on television. He was not surprised that the person did not turn his head to greet him because he was used to coming during operational hours.

"Want a beer?"

Max heard the man offer him while holding up the beer can without looking up. Without saying yes, Max sat next to the person who was indifferent to him. He placed his butt roughly on the already shabby sofa while sighing.

"How's Elijah? "If you are here, you are wasting it."

Max turned his head, and the man was seen downing his beer.

"Jam, how do you know that she came to my place with such intentions?"

"She was here, drinking until almost midnight, chatting until she decided to meet you."

Max gritted his teeth. He remembers smelling alcohol from Elijah. When he brought Elia to the room, he was quite lustful but refrained from feeling guilty if he did it to someone emotionally.

Max then focused on television reports about the discovery of the body of a woman who was touted as a prostitution worker. The woman was found in the pool of a five-star hotel, naked, tattooed, and with multiple injuries.

The next scene in the news is the location of the swimming pool as a place for the discovery of bodies. The narrative in the news said that the woman was the hottest commercial sex worker and was being talked about in the community. They did not specify the condition of the body, the autopsy results, or any indication of who was there last time.

"Why don't you continue?"

To Max, Jam's question was like making fun of him. He became inflamed, then took the remote and turned off the television.

"She insisted on being a sex worker, a whore!" You know?!"

"Yes, she talked about that as well," Jam said casually.

"Asshole! What do you think—you gave her the advice to go to my place or what? "What did you tell her?"

Max gritted his teeth to contain his emotions. He saw Jam still calm and even trying to open one more can of beer. Max snatched the can from Jam's hand. Jam squeaked, and he complained Max was acting excessively.

"Too much, did you say?" If she wants to sell her body, it's up to her. "What matters is that she is going to the Underground!"

Max finds Jam unsurprised by the information he just shouted. He concluded that Elia had spoken to Jam first, and finally Jam told Elia that he had a connection to the Underground. This is why Elijah insisted on coming to his place and was even ready to replace services with intercourse.

"You are crazy!" You know what the Underground is, don't you?

"We can't avoid it anymore; Bibi is still in the autopsy room. Elijah must have seen this news before going to the bar and finally chatting variously."

"You can stop her by making her accept reality and not have to follow in her own mother's footsteps!"

"I've tried! Do you think I didn't do it? And neither did I tell you that you had a connection to it. She knows it herself. "Maybe you're the one who accidentally revealed your own identity."

Max thought. Inwardly, he despised the fact that he had ever dined.

"It's not always that you can hide your identity because she's smart." "If she's determined, it's almost impossible for us to stop her unless she decides to forget her determination."

Max listened to Jam's every word in frustration.

"You must know about that too."

Max saw Jam pick up a can of beer that was still intact. He seemed to want to open it but didn't.

"You didn't do it?"

"Why? "You want it?"

"Shit!"

Jam throws an unopened beer can at the table. The sound of the outrage was heard and made the tense atmosphere between them disappear. The sudden change made Max laugh.

"Don't tell me you've tried to seduce her."

Max looked around. His gaze was fixed on an outfit that didn't fit the entire room. Max stood up and picked it up. It was a short blush. It was lying on the side of the bed.

"Oh, so she got up to your bed but ended up running away?" "She arrived at my house wearing only a bra and a coat," Max explained.He had a sudden feeling of disappointment that caused him to be disappointed in Jam as well.

Max leaned his body back onto the sofa. He remembered the moments when Elijah sat on his lap. It happened a few minutes ago. He imagined what happened before Elijah ran to his house.

Elijah was half-drunk when she was taken to his bed. Elijah may have spoken to Jam one-on-one from the beginning. Jam thought he could calm Elijah down in that way, as he usually does to every woman he manages to get into the bed.

Max then observes Jam setting himself up. He knew Jam had closed his eyes while sleeping on the other couch to calm the feeling. He believes Jam still has a chance at Elijah. Inwardly, he was determined not to let that happen.

"What if we focus on what we have to do with Elijah to forget her intentions?" Max said, turning his head. He knew he needed Jam's help to do so.

"She's the only child of Bibi, and Bibi has advised her to keep her away from the Underground," Max added.

"I told you it was impossible," Jam replied. "Instead of looking for ways to make Elijah change her intentions, wouldn't it be better to think about what we could do for her?" "If she wants to go underground, we'd better give her the safest way."

Max thought of the words "Jam." He knew there was no "safe passage" if it had already entered the underground. The problem was that he had no idea where the true underground was on Jam.Internal information cannot be mentioned to others, including Jam, even if he is a business associate.

"If we don't, she'll find someone else who can pave the way for her." We've known her for a dozen years. "We both know her character."

Max sighed. He felt heavy with Jam's proposal, but Jam's opinion was not wrong.

"Jam, Underground could make Elijah change completely," he said to warn Jam.

Max didn't see Jam's reaction to refute or confirm his words.

"That's one of the many things we have to accept as the person closest to her," Jam said coldly instead of finding another way to prevent Elijah from going underground the way Max wanted.

"You're crazy!"

Max suspects Jam has other motives for those suggestions. If Elia goes underground, Jam could take a chance at any timeElia goes underground, Jam could take a chance at any time. He then ended the conversation with Jam. He flipped over. With wide steps, he returned to his car.

On his way back home, at a crossroads, Max sees a fight. His forehead feels hardened. He doesn't like his journey to be disrupted. He was forced to stop his car because the fight between the two men happened right in the middle of the road. He lit a cigarette to wait for one of them to win the fight.

The result is visible when Max's cigarette is only half lit. He saw the person who won the fight approach him. The man had a tattoo on his left arm. His right hand grasped the still-steamy blade after penetrating his opponent's heart. Max recognized the tattoo because he made it.

"Oh, Max, what is it this early in the morning?" "Just from the bar?"

Max nodded.

"Get rid of the corpse; I'm going through."

"Oke."

Max's gaze followed Draft's hurried steps, dragging a man's corpse to the side of the road. Max could see blood dripping from that person's body.

"Be careful!" exclaimed Draft.

Max took his car down the road to his house. On the eastern horizon, orange lines began to appear. The slant of sunlight began to illuminate the surrounding old buildings.