One In A Million

The three men pounded on the door, the sound echoing eerily in the dead hallway. Just as doubt began to creep in, the door creaked open. A sliver of gap, revealing only a darkness beyond. A hand emerged from the gap, clutched around a brown envelope. It hung there, motionless.

The three men shared a knowing glance with each other before one of them reached forward to grab the envelope. After taking it, the hand retreated back into the gloom in a heartbeat. The men stood there as the corners of their mouths turned into a grin. However, one of the two men behind kept looking at the door, his mind in a whirl of previous encounters with the person inside as his gaze dropped to the floor.

*cough*

The man with the envelope coughed before speaking in a formal tone.

"Mam, why do you have to do this?...you know we never forced you to do anything?"

An eerie silence filled the place before a voice came from behind the door.

"You got the money. So, Just leave us alone. Please!"

*Sigh*

The men glanced at each other before one of the other two behind sighed.

"Looks like there is nothing we can do to make you feel comfortable…I guess we'll be taking our leave then,"

The words hung in the air as the hallway was again filled with eerie silence. The three men took the stairs as they descended to the ground floor. They headed to their car and left for their next destination.

While in the car, the two in the rear seat enjoyed the drive while they conversed with each other.

"Looks like someone knows what to do when we come to their doorstep," one spoke.

"At least she is not like that old fool who only knows begging," The other spoke.

The two of them laughed as they talked about different people. However, among them, one kept silent as he drove the car. He, the man with the garbage room, lost in his thought as his gaze drifted to a far distance. The two men behind, noticed this peculiar behaviour of their friend as they felt something odd about him.

"Hey, what happened to Kiba? He has been silent all day," one whispered.

"I don't know. He's been like that for quite a few weeks…especially after coming back from the hospital," the other replied.

"Normally, he is the one who takes charge all the time but now it feels like we are the ones doing all the work,"

After several hours of driving, the car came to a halt before a weary apartment building and same as before, they carried out their work as effectively. However, this time, the person was a high school boy, living alone in a medium size apartment. The boy pleaded to them for extra time to repay their money. But his plea resulted in a brutal assault from two men. In a fit of anger, they beat him to a pulp while Kiba stood apart, watching the pitiful boy. His gaze was distant, seemingly lost in his thought.

The violence ended abruptly. The boy lay crumpled on the floor, whimpers escaping his bruised lips. A chilling silence descended, broken only by his ragged breaths. The men, their faces flushed with exertion, tossed a final, menacing warning before disappearing into the stairwell, leaving the echo of their threats hanging in the air. Kiba was the last to leave. He stood for a moment, his gaze lingering on the broken figure huddled on the floor before he too turned and vanished into the shadows.

The sun started to set, casting long shadows across the city as it painted the sky with its fiery orange glow. The three men rode their car as they headed to an old bar.

Several minutes later, the car pulled up before an oak door. The three men pushed open the heavy door before a smell of beer and wine washed over them. The light casting an amber glow, the clatter of ice cubes in glasses, and the bottles of their favourite beer created a place of euphoria for them, a place to put a rest to their tiredness. Weaving through the maze of bodies, they spotted an empty table with four seats attached in a corner. Reaching the table, they collapsed onto the chairs, their laughter bubbling up again. Moments later, they stopped a passing waiter and made their orders.

"Hey, three of your strongest ales and make it quick,"

The three of them laughed while they talked with each other. A few minutes later, the waiter returned, balancing a stack of sweating glasses. The ice cubes floated on the beer as it dripped down from the sides. The three men grabbed their glasses with a grunt. The glasses clinked in a toast before they took their first sip. However, one among them stared at his drink before gulping in one single breath. A symphony of satisfaction washed over them as the bitterness of the ale chased away the day's stress. The three kept drinking as they laughed and chatted with each other.

"Today was pretty easy," said one.

"Yeah! Most of the time people doesn't answer when we knock but this time…"

"The beating that kid took…Ahh…that felt refreshing. Most of my stress from last few days had already gone after that."

"...and you see the look on that fucking old man, it was pretty hilarious,"

"Hahaha.."

"I thought he was going to piss his pants after you said that,"

"I was hoping that lady would come out at least today. But…" *Sigh*

"Well, it was your fault to begin with. Why did you have to scare her the first time we met?"

"What was I suppose to do? That lady was pretty hot even though she is a mother of two,"

"If you hadn't said those things at the beginning, then you might have been able to see her,"

"Hey! Hey! Don't blame me. I just couldn't control myself and it wasn't like I was the only one who was staring at her. You two seemed as if you'd just jump on her,"

Laughter filled the air as the two men entertained each other with different stories. But across the table, Kiba sat weirdly quiet. His gaze drifted away from their lively exchange, a distant look clouding his eyes. The two men exchanged worried glance with each other. Finally, unable to ignore the shift, one among them leaned forward, his voice laced with concern

"Hey Kiba! You alright? Don't tell me you're feeling out of weather?"

"You've been like this since this morning? Did something happen?"

Kiba, lost in his thoughts, looked at both of them before his gaze went back to the half-filled glass on the table.

"Tell me…what do you guys think about having a family?"

The two of his mates were taken aback by this sudden question. They exchanged a glance with each other before again looking at Kiba.

"Pftt…hahahaha…f-f-famiil..hahaha…"

The two of them laughed as they found the words spoken by Kiba amusing. Their eyes started to get wet from laughing as small drops of tears started coming out from the corner of their eyes.

"Can you repeat again?"

Kiba looked at both of them.

"I am thinking of quitting, finding a part-time job and starting a family,"

The two of them went silent as they noticed the hurtful gaze of their friend.

"You're joking, right?"

"Boss would never let you leave!"

"It was fun when we went around threatening people as we took their money. Seeing them begging at our feet for their lives felt so good that it was almost addicting. Rolling in the money we took from them and spent it the way we want. Looking at any woman we want and saying anything we want without any consequences. I thought I could get any woman I wanted and make her submit to me. I thought as long as I remained by boss's side, nothing could hurt me. Nobody would say anything to me. The feeling of dominance, It felt so satisfying."

The two of them carefully listened to him as his words trailed off.

"But…" He hesitates, a flicker of doubt crossing his face.

"Everything changed because of that girl."

Suddenly, the two of them felt a shudder in their back. A chill ran down their spine as they remembered someone's face.

"That day I made the worst mistake of my life. I still remember vividly the pain of my ribs and bones from being broken, the stabbing wounds in my body, the near-dead state I was in when I was hospitalized for two months. Masaru died that day…and even now, boss is still afraid when she calls him every now and then. It was all because of my foolishness. However, I realised something while laying on the hospital bed…that everything I thought and felt before was all an illusion. I was only dreaming in a deep sleep…and that I might die someday if I don't wake up soon."

The two of them shared a glance with each other before one of them sighed and looked back at Kiba.

*Sigh*

"Look Kiba! We know you messed up that day…I mean badly…but still! It wasn't you who killed Masaru…it was that fucking bitch…she was a crazy psychopath…so don't blame yourself," one said

"Yeah! Hiroto is right! Look! we are here and things have been going pretty smoothly for the last few days. Don't leave us just because of one crazy bitch. She was just a one-in-a-million fluke. Nothing like that will ever happen again."

"I am sorry. I can't do that. I am too afraid to live like this. I had already decided. Tomorrow, I am going to talk to boss. So, this is our last day together…let's just drink while we still have time."

The two of them with sad looks on their faces drank with Kiba. They kept drinking several rounds before they left the bar and headed toward their car.

*Ring* *Ring*

Suddenly, a phone rang. Kiba, whose phone was ringing, took out his phone from his pants pocket before checking the number on the screen. It was an unknown number with no caller ID and no name on the screen. He accepted the call and put the phone near his ear before speaking in a calm voice.

"Hello…"

No sound came for the next few seconds but suddenly, a deep voice came through it.

"Hey, fucker…miss me?"