I. Little Miss Detective

When the gang members got their food, Ivory wondered where the Blue Dragons originated from and how long they've existed, and why she had never heard of them.

"Hey, Rover," she began, "how long have the Blue Dragon's been around?"

"Why so curious?"

"Well, Viper mentioned that there was a gang in the city before we came. When Blue told me the name, I had never heard of the gang before Blue mentioned it."

Rover began to think. "Well, Blue's father originally owned the gang."

"Does he have any siblings?"

"Blue? No, I believe that he is an only child as he is the only one from his family to have been given the gang at a young age. His father retired when he was around thirteen. I would say they got really well known then. Our rivals are the Red Wolves, they're another dangerous gang that competes against us for the title."

"The gang must have been around for a long time then."

"Sweetie, how old do you think Blue is?"

"To be honest, I think he's older than everyone. I thought he was in his twenties, but I am guessing he is older than that."

Rover shook his head. "Blue is twenty-three; he'll be twenty-four soon, I think. No one knows his birthday."

"So the gang has only been around for ten years?" she asked, and Rover nodded. "Were the Red Wolves the most dangerous before the Blue Dragons came along?"

Rover shook his head, "No, there was another gang — but Blue took them all out. They were Irish mobsters."

Ivory glistened in interest. "Really? What were they called? How did Blue get rid of them?"

Rover leaned in, "I don't remember what they were called, but the Blue Dragons were always the strongest gang; Blue's father had conflicts with the mobster gang. When he retired, Blue decided to wipe out the mobsters. When Blue wants a savage crime committed, members from other gangs are sent to commit the crime. Blue pays them a lot of money. Blue sent a few Crips members to exterminate the gang — I don't know the details, but the extermination was bloody. He got inhumanly rid of them."

"Did the public find out?"

"That's how the gang got popular. The Blue Dragon's stayed undercover for a very long time, but Blue wanted all the gangs to know that we're the strongest. When he got rid of the mobster gang, the Crips members involved graffitied our gang's symbol by the crime's destination. That's how everyone knows who we are. When we have any deadly crime committed, we send other gangs to do the crime and graffiti our gang symbol by the crime scene. It works for us really, if the people Blue pays get caught, we lose no one in our gang."

"Wouldn't they just describe Blue to the police?"

"Blue never shows his face to anyone outside of the base. He sends masked men to give out the money to alibis."

"Blue sounds smart."

"He is; he's better than his father. Blue knows what he is doing."

"I never considered him scary until he took me to room thirteen."

"As I said earlier, he favors you. If you're a personal favorite, he'll protect you the most."

"But why would he favor me?"

Rover shrugged. "Don't question it, just accept it. Believe me, you'll thank me later when you're in huge trouble, and Blue gets you out of it. He's a great person to have on your side, but a terrible person to have as an enemy."

Ivory wondered if what Rover had just said was why Hawks and Lucky were over-protective, or were it more profound than that?

"How did you meet Blue? Were you two friends?"

He choked and began to laugh, "You're hilarious, Little Lady."

"Why does everyone call me that?"

"It's your nickname," He took a sip of his drink, "But to answer your question, no. Blue and I weren't friends. When I was little, my mother left my father. When I was eight, he lost his job and became a meth addict."

"Meth? Crystal meth? The stuff that ruins your face?"

Rover nodded. "Yup, Meth is bad. It made my dad go crazy, and he became violent. I had a younger sister and had to protect her. When I was twelve, and she was ten, she was hanging out with the wrong people and came home once while my dad was under the influence, they got into a big fight. My dad beat her to death—her blood was everywhere."

"Oh, Rover —" Ivory began, but she didn't know what to say.

"I went to call the police, but my dad locked me in the closet. What he did with her body is unknown to this day, but I think he buried her somewhere. The next day, someone came into the house and shot my dad for not giving him money. I freed myself from the closet, got out, and called the police. Before they got there, Blue came out of nowhere and saw me standing by my dad with his blood everywhere and said I could work for him, so now, I work for him."

"Did people look for you?"

"Yeah, my sister and I were filed as missing persons' for a while, but they stopped looking."

"Rover, I don't know what to say…"

"Don't say anything. I'm not saying it to make you feel bad for me. We all have stories, and sometimes, sharing them helps you connect with others."

Ivory nodded.

"What about your family?"

"Viper and I are orphans."

"Oh, that sucks."

"Better than having a drug addict father that killed his daughter."

Rover nodded; the two ate in silence, not saying another word to one another. Ivory didn't understand how Blue ended up at Rover's house. Could Blue know anything about Rover's family?

***

A few hours later, Ivory made her way into the living room, seeing Hawks, Lucky, and Harley playing pool, Spike's maid handing him a plate, as the frightening man laughed with Lucky, and Red watching the T.V. Rover was sitting on a large, fabric chair by the couch, reading a book. Ivory scanned the room and felt disappointed when she didn't see Swindle H; she was annoyed for missing her chance to speak to the cunning prostitute. Viper was nowhere to be found as Lily was talking to Blue in the corner.

Ivory stood near the back and decided that the T.V. show that was on looked interesting. Ivory joined Red on the couch but kept a far distance from him. She felt weird around Blue, but that odd feeling was more significant when she was around Red. Something about him was sadistic, dangerous, evil — something about him scared her more than Blue did.

Red turned to her with crossed arms. "Ivory, it's been a while."

"Yes, it has," she said stiffly.

He scoffed. "Where've you been?"

She looked to see everyone else occupied and turned to look at him, "I was with Rover. He took me out."

He glanced at Rover but said nothing as he looked at her hair. "You dyed your hair," he noticed, and she nodded. His eyes met hers, "That must have been fun," He said nothing about her nose ring and her new tattoo.

Ivory felt interrogated and decided that she had to be careful with what she revealed around Red. "Yes, it was a lot of fun. Rover's really nice. I actually have a question for you."

Ivory felt that it was a great way to change the topic.

"Shoot."

"I heard that there was an Irish Mobster gang that Blue got rid of, what was the gang's name?"

Red quietly glanced at Rover, who looked up for a second but ignored the man as he turned back to his book.

Red smirked at her, "Taobh Thoir," he said, "it means East Side in Gaelic. Like the Blue Dragons, they were a gang on the East side of the city. The difference is that they weren't a mafia."

"What's the difference between a regular gang and a mafia?"

"They had a base, but they were a widely popularized gang. Taobh Thoir had a lot of members, we don't. Mobsters are usually on the streets. The Blue Dragons are a mafia, we are one of the richest gangs in the world. That is why our base looks exquisite No one sees the mafia unless the mafia makes their presence known."

Ivory nodded and sat back, watching the show.

"You never know, Little Lady, they could be your ancestors. You are Irish, after all."

Ivory looked at Red and smiled. She turned back to watch the show on the T.V. and missed the evil grin Red shot at her.

Red turned back to watch the show with Ivory as Hawks silently watched the two on the couch. Hawks didn't appreciate the look that Red quietly shot at Ivory. Lucky and Harley were too occupied with their game. Hawks didn't trust Red all that much, and after the look, he gave Ivory, felt the need to protect her from Red at all costs.

Red and Hawks glanced at one another, one with a glare while the other had a visible smirk, but they both said nothing and continued with their own individual pastimes. Rover, however, noticed the exchange and prayed that nothing wrong would happen to Ivory.