Anton Brotherhood

Chapter 4 Get-together

Anton kept lying on the ground. Carl smirked, “So, I win?” He turned around to his men for his coat and

put it on.

“I’m not so sure.” Anton got up unawares. There was no pain on his face, only coldness flashing in his

scarlet eyes. “You…” Carl knew that it was not much possible for a teenager to withstand his attack just

now.

“Well, well. I underestimated you!” Carl strode towards Anton, and raised his leg to kick Anton’s face.

Anton was pushed backwards by his power, but he didn’t fall. Carl gave him another kick, but he did not

fall. Blood was dripping down from Anton’s mouth and nose. His face swelled. Spitting blood out of his

mouth, Anton smiled slightly.

Carl was a little bit worried, though he’s the attacker. “Just lie down!” He yelled, and gave Anton a fist

with all his might. Anton suddenly crouched down. Carl missed this one, and his body was driven

forward. Anton’s staggering body suddenly got flexible. He took out the knife on his waist and thrust it

in Carl’s abdomen. Anton pulled his knife back before it went deeper inside the muscle. He pointed at

Carl with his knife, “You were supposed to die.”

Carl felt his wound with his hand, leaning against the wall in silence with his head down. Anton stood

still, waiting for his answer. Jasper was excited. He whispered to Bruce next to him, “Great! Boss won!”

Bruce nodded, putting his hand on the handle of his knife on the waist, moving slowly to the center.

Though Carl lost, it did not mean he wouldn’t fight back. Bruce worried that Carl couldn’t bear his failure

and attacked Anton unawares.

After a moment, Carl raised his head and stared at Anton, “I’m not fully convinced. But I have to keep

my words. I lost! You’ll be the boss! I serve you with my whole heart and soul!” After finishing, Carl

bowed at Anton reverently.

Anton grinned, but his eyes dulled and he passed out. Carl was quick enough to hold Anton, “Go get a

car!” Jasper rushed out for a car before Carl finished his words.

They sent Anton to the hospital. He was diagnosed as multiple cartilage damage, small amount of

internal bleeding and minor concussion. He had to stay in the hospital to receive treatments. Jasper

called Anton’s parents and told them that there was a car accident and they were all in the hospital

now. Anton’s parents asked which hospital they were in and hurried there. Jasper and the others kept

explaining and comforting them till they were eventually relieved. To better convince them, Jasper

grabbed Carl whose abdomen was warped in bandage next to him, “Mr. and Mrs. Williams, it was this

guy who hit Anton.” Bruce and some boys nodded. Carl’s face went pink and smile awkwardly.

Half a month later, Anton had recovered. The doctor said he would be fine after some rest. His parents

came to take him home this day. People like Carl had been told not to show up. Anton did not want his

parents to see these guys.

When they went back home, his parents prepared him a feast to celebrate his recovery. Anton felt

guilty. He didn’t know how his parents would think if they had known he was in the hospital because of

fighting. His present life gave him a fixed feeling of guilt and enjoyment. He enjoyed these days. There

was nothing more than being respected by others could make him happy. At least that’s what he

thought.

He did not know whether he’s doing the right thing, but one thing was for sure, he loved his life now,

perhaps he was born this way. Anton forgot all the annoyance temporarily and ate up all the food with

his parents happily.

The next day, Anton carried his schoolbag to school. In the distance, he could see more than fifty

people standing in the opposite street of the school gate. He raised his lips. Carl and Bruce were

squatting and talking with a cigarette in their hands. Jasper was too corpulent to do the same. He stood

aside talking with the others excitedly. His voice was just so loud that Anton could hear it from afar.

When Carl, Bruce and Jasper saw Anton, they all threw away their cigarette and got up. Jasper raised

his voice, “Line up all of you! Boss Williams’s coming!”

The scattering men immediately formed two rows. When Anton got close, they spoke up together,

“Good morning, Boss Williams!” Students passing by were all avoiding them. Passers-by all looked

back. Watching this scene, they thought, “What are they? Gangsters?”

Carl scratched his head, looking at Anton embarrassedly, “I’m sorry, boss. Thank you very much for not

thrusting deeper into my body. The doctor said my wound was close to my liver.” Anton grinned, “If I

did, I would lose a good bro like you.” He reached his hand to Carl. Carl was a little moved, grabbing

Anton’s hand tight. Jasper and Bruce also put their hands on theirs, just like their fates, closely linked

and intertwined. They did not say a word, hoping to keep their excitement in their mind for good. Now,

Anton was a true hero in his boys’ eye. They thought as long as Anton’s here, they could brave all the

challenges. A hero could only be proved by actions.

After a while, they loosed their hands. Jasper took out a bulging paper bag from his pocket and handed

it to Anton, “Boss, this is the money we collect this week. It’s much more than before!” Anton opened it

and handed it back to Jasper, “Let’s have a feast tonight with this money, so that we can know each

other better.”

It exhilarated Jasper. It was his favorite, to drink and eat. He grinned, “Thanks boss!” Then he looked at

the other men, “Resemble at the gate tonight! Boss is treating us to a feast!”

“Hooray! Hooray!” They shouted excitedly, making passers-by frowned.

The day was just as usual. Anton called home in the evening, telling his parents that he’s going to a

friend’s birthday party and would go home later. Then he went to a restaurant with Carl, Bruce, Jasper

and the other boys. When they entered, their yelling scared and driven away many diners. Carl found a

clean table, had Anton sat in the middle and arranged everyone to sit down. Anton, Carl, Bruce and

Jasper sat together. They waiter told the restaurant owner that more than fifty gangsters came. The

owner was worried that if he had got into any trouble and rushed out to meet them. He greeted them

with a smile, “Oh! What an honor to meet you all in my humble restaurant! Just order whatever you

want to eat! It’s my treat!”

Jasper looked at this 30-year-old owner who was even fatter than him and forcing a smile. Jasper

waved his hand, “Who’s the owner here?”

The owner dared not to underestimate this young corpulent boy, so he came over and grinned, “I’m the

owner. My dear brother, do you mind telling me what you’re going to do here tonight?”

“We’re not here to make any trouble!” Jasper pointed at Anton beside him, “That’s our boss. We’re here

to eat. Your price’s better be reasonable, or we won’t be pleased!”

The owner felt relived. To run a restaurant in J. City, people like him had to cater to different groups.

“Oh, don’t worry about that. It’s my honor to have you here. Let’s all be friends. It’s my treat tonight!”

Anton waved his hand, “Don’t worry. We’re only here to dine. Just bring up all your specialties. We will

pay you.”

The boss grinned, “Sure! I’ll arrange it! You guys just enjoy it!” Anton nodded, and the owner ran back

to the kitchen.

Watching the owner disappearing, Jasper grinned, “A generous man!” “Damn! Very generous!” Bruce

murmured. Carl noticed that something seemed to be missed. It suddenly occurred to him that they

needed some beer. Then he yelled, “Waitress, six crates of beer!”

The young waitress came over, being a bit shy, “What kind of beer do you want, Sir?” Jasper thought

she looked quite nice, so he flirted with her, “What beer do you have? Tell me.”

“We have Brand H, Eleven Degrees, Phoenix and Five Stars.”

“Anything else?” Jasper stared at the waitress.

Her face got pinker, and she answered in a low voice, “No.”

“Oh, think. Just think…”

Anton hit Jasper on the head, “Just shut up.” He turned to tell the waitress, “Phoenix will be OK.”

The girl nodded and ran away. Bruce laughed and beamed, “Jasper, your ugly face and large size

scared her away! “Damn! I’ll go lose some weight tomorrow…” Jasper said, making everyone laughed.

The beer came very soon. Several young men carried six crates of Phoenix outside. Carl poured the

beer and stood up, “Brothers, to Boss Williams! Let’s toast!” They all rose and said, “To Boss Williams!”

Anton stood up and smiled, “Thank you everyone. It was meant to be me to make a toast for you, but

Carl did it before I could. No more words, toast!” Everyone spoke up, “Toast!” The clink of glasses filled Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

the restaurant.

“This one is also for the boss. I hope you can lead us to build our own kingdom!” Everyone stood up

and said, “To boss! Build our kingdom!” Anton had just finished one glass, so he had to pour himself

another one and raised it, “It depends on all our efforts! Success will be reached through our hard work!

Just do it!” “Just do it!” Everyone echoed.

Everyone kept drinking and chatting. Before all the dishes were given, many had got drunk. People

here drank for happiness, and they didn’t mind the process. This had something to do with their

personalities here. They might fight each other today, but they could become good brothers who

devoted their lives to each other tomorrow. They were born honest, bold and unconstrained. People

from other regions may not understand this, but that’s what made them unique.

Anton and the other three didn’t drink as hard as the others. They were chatting while drinking. Carl

opened his mouth with his hand on the glass, “Boss, don’t you think we should establish a gang? Now

that we have more and more people, it’s difficult for us to manage them without building up a complete

gang.”

Bruce and Jasper had thought of it before, so they both nodded to agree. Bruce said, “Carl’s right. We

must have our own gang if we want to do great things.” Jasper said, “Exactly, just like the Axe Gang in

our city. It’s very cool!” The Axe Gang had a long history in J. City, but no one knew when it had been

started. It’s a formidable gang acknowledged by everyone.

Anton lowered his head and stopped talking. He also wanted to found his own gang, but it’s far from

easy. He took a sip of beer, “I’m not against the idea, but at that time, we would have a great number of

people. They depend on the gang for food and fun. How are we going to meet their needs?” The other

three were also puzzled. Anton finished all his beer and said, “Now our money comes from the

students. We have no more than twenty thousand Euro a month. How can we support the gang with

this? Even though we did establish, we would disband very quickly.”

Bruce asked, “Boss, you mean…” Anton smiled and lowered his head, fidgeting the glass. Seeing

Anton remained silent, Jasper was getting worried, “Boss, say something! We all listen to you!”

Anton looked at the other three, and said slowly, “Well. Now, you should focus on your study!”

Bruce and Jasper were astounded, “Study?”

“Exactly. You should study now. There’s only one month away from the senior high school entrance

examination. All of you must go to a high school! Those who fail should be sorry, they can’t follow me!”

Carl was stunned as well, “But…How about me?” Anton grinned, “You will be controlling here, and

empowering it. You should target junior high schools. The other gangs won’t pay any attention to such

schools, because they can’t collect too much money, but we will take them. We should attract more

young gangsters from school and outside. They will be our base.”

Carl nodded, “Got it, boss. Small groups like us are ubiquitous in J. City. We have nothing like the real

gangs, let alone to fight them. We should be different, right?”

Anton nodded and turned to Jasper, “Jasper, Bruce, you should learn from Carl. Good for you both.”

Bruce blushed, but still he couldn’t understand, “But why must we go to high school?” Anton stood up.

His eyes were bright, “Control No.1 High School!”

Jasper and Bruce opened their mouth, astonished, “Control No.1 High School? God!” Jasper laughed,

“I’m expecting it already! Yeah! No.1 High School, the most notorious high schools for hooligans in our

province! Ha, ha!” He turned to ask Bruce, “Bruce, do you have any idea how many criminals are from

No.1 High School each year in our province?” Bruce shook his head. He had no idea about this. The

only thing he knew was that the school was in a complete mess.

Jasper shook his head and said, “Ha, ha. ‘According to incomplete statistics, 8% of criminals came

from No.1 High School in J. City.’ That’s a lot of fun!”

Carl and Bruce turned to Anton and said in disbelief, “Boss, it can’t be. Right?”

Anton squinted, “I don’t know. Don’t know where Jasper heard that from. But it is not quite true”

Carl and Bruce exchanged a look, and suddenly understood, “Oh! So they made it up?” Jasper got

anxious, “I’m telling the truth. Trust me!”

“Cut it off.” Carl and Bruce put up their middle finger to Jasper together and ignored him. Jasper rose in

a sudden. His face was red, and he yelled, “Where’s Tom Jones? Fool me with such fake news!” Under

the table nearby, a hand was raised, then came a blurred voice, “Who…Who’s calling me?” Jasper was

speechless.

Everyone felt very satisfied with the feast, or say, with the beer. They paid around a thousand Euro

when they left. The owner didn’t charge their beer. The dishes were slightly touched, because most of

them got drunk before the dished were served.

Though Anton didn’t drink too much, that’s quite enough for him. He was conscious, but he felt he was

floating in the air. Bruce and Carl drank a lot, but they were not drunk. Jasper got so drunk that he took

Anton by the hand and cried, but next second he dragged Bruce and laughed or kissed Carl on his

face. They all came to a conclusion: never let Jasper get drunk anymore. He’s bad at it. Bruce called a

cab to send Jasper home. Carl wanted to send Anton home, but he politely refused.