CH19:MEET THE GORILLAS

Dezhong walked into the Gorilla base with sweat running down his back. The inner building was painted silver and was surprisingly neat and organized for a gang base. The entire bottom floor was filled with work stations where men and women assembled prosthetic arms, weapons, counted money, and sorted different tiers of crystals.

While walking past various men and women doing their daily tasks, he received a couple of glares followed by minor sneers and even a few curse words.Thanks to his now heightened sense of hearing, Dezhong was able to hear the obscene language being use by people he was going to 'work' with pretty soon.

'Shame what Kong let's into his inner circle these days.'

'Men, I know better people who'd fit that position rather than a skinny ass d*ck.'

'Cut him some slack. Why do you think Kong keeps taking in new people each year? He always sends them off to some deadly mission and they never return so this kid wont.'

'Oh god.' Dezhong's heart started pounding as fear and rage started taking over. However, he reminded himself about his real intentions before letting his emotions get the best of him.

"Ah, you're finally here." A man of average height, with light, brown skin, a thick, neatly shaved beard and a snazzy coffee brown suit welcomed Dezhong while leading him upstairs. As soon as he got to the upper floor, he felt like he was in a whole different environment. While the bottom floor was painted silver and had slightly broken concrete floors, the upstairs' walls and floors were layered with velvet red carpets all over.

The long corridor had orange lamps by the sides, giving it a warm environment. The ceiling had beautiful and yet somewhat creepy paintings of Gorillas doing all sorts of weird things like dancing, fighting, killing, and even had one that resembled those in the Sistine Chapel. Doors made of the most expensive dark wood led to different rooms which had weird people doing all sorts of freaky business.

Dezhong saw a couple of people smoking and snorting crushed crystals while others ate and injected them into their blood streams. Another room had weapon with whips hitting aged beer-gut men for money. Another room had men with Gorilla masks counting huge sums of money while others packed them in miscellaneous objects like dolls, clothing, car tires, and more…

"Before you go in." The man in the suit commanded while leading Dezhong to a room that was behind the largest doors he had seen so far, "I ask of you to be on your best behavior. You've kept a lot of important people waiting so it's best you shut up unless spoken to. Now go."

Dezhong and the man in the suit quietly walked into Kong's office and were welcomed by a series if the most judgmental eyes Dezhong ever heard the pleasure of seeing. From Jamal to Kong, everyone didn't seem to be excited to see Dezhong arrive so late.

Kong sat behind his large desk while five more people surrounded him with their seats. Three seats were for Dezhong, Jamal, and grey hoodie, while two more were for a man who was equally as buff as Kong and a woman who looked to have been dressed in weirdly colored rags.

"Mr. Prince," Kong greeted with his hand directing Dezhong to his seat. "Glad you could make it today. Almost thought I was going to have to give up your position."

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to make it in time, sir." Dezhong apologized while sitting next to grey hoodie and Jamal. Grey hoodie, who was actually a girl, was still suffering a couple of injuries from her short debut with Kong. Her face had already started to heal, but her injuries still looked as fresh as ever and poor Dezhong couldn't help but stare.

"Can you please stop?" She asked with a disgusted tone in her speech. "Seriously dude, stop."

"So, Prince," Kong smiled while joining his palms together and resting his chin on them. "Why are you late? I refuse to tolerate tardiness within my totally legitimate business."

"Yeah, kid," the woman with crazy clothes barked while glaring angrily at Dezhong, "Some of us have important business to run. You can't show up late on your first day you runt."

"Enough." The man next to her silenced her while smiling at Dezhong with his eyes closed and held out his hands ready to receive a handshake. Dezhong and the others couldn't help but laugh at the man while he smiled.

"Please ignore my comrade here," He spoke again, causing everyone to smirk and laugh under their breath. "My names Kenny, but you can call me Ken. I'm glad you're here with us, just make sure you're not late again, okay?" He asked while making sure to rise the pitch of his voice while saying okay.

Dezhong, who was too unstable to speak at the moment and nearly burst in laughter, simply nodded while he shook the man's heavy, large hand that made Dezhong's look like a stick. 'Well damn, imagine going up against him.'

"Alright, I know you've already met Jamal," Kong continued. "The blonde next to you is Krista, the lady dressed like a jester's Miss Krakenhouse…."

"Hey…"

"And the gentle man behind me is Abdul." He ended while pointed at the man who led Dezhong to the room. "Welcome to the Gorillas, Dezhong Prince, son of Desper's Chief of Police." As soon as Kong echoed the last words, Jamal, Krista, Abdul and Krakenhouse all jumped for Dezhong's neck before the gang leader urged them to stop.

"My friends, Kenny and Krakenhouse," Kong smiled. "There's a reason wanted you to attend this meeting. We have the most important person to the one man who has the power to shut us down."

Dezhong's thoughts ran wild as he thought that Kong and the Gorillas planned to use him as a ransom.

"Relax, Prince," Kong said to ease the boy's tension. "It's very crucial we have someone like you working with us. Krakenhouse and Kenny, please leave immediately. I need to discuss with my three buddies." He ended with an over revealing smile that made all three feel uncomfortable."