Chapter 5 Stepping up

Wai Ching is one of the most powerful bosses in the council. His word carries a lot of weight and is well respected. As assumed, the council offered him a high position of leadership. A Boss of bosses leads for three years minimum, and it does not align with his plans. He plans to get Wang settled into the organization. Showing him some techniques and once he is satisfied with the smooth running of the cooperation, he will hand over the reins. He gives himself a year to his retirement and wants to spend his last years out of gangsterism in peace.

Wai Ching thanks the council for the opportunity presented but laid out his plans to the council and they decided on another boss.

Council announced Lee Ping-Wong as Boss of all bosses and he accepts with glee, for his eye was on this position for quite some time. Wang was content and happy with his achievement. Things in his organization go fairly smooth, even his boys have a good time. They enjoy the gifts given to them by the boss and share the women between them. After a month of fun, the boss round the women up and sold them to a Russian prostitution ring. However, contentment and happiness do not last long when running a criminal enterprise. Others always want to muscle in on territories, not theirs, and grab what they can. It reaches the boss's ear that some Vietnamese and Filipino`s joined ranks. Forcing their way into his domain. Selling prostitutes and drugs in front of his biggest gambling joint. They killed two of his man who confronted them. He sent San Hui and some men out to go and deal with the matter. At the scene, the culprits have vanished already. Only the two corpses and two life gang members were present. San Hui question the guy`s just to learn this group are a mixed bunch of foreign individuals. Trying to take over this part of the territory. "Did any of you know where they come from or where they hold up?" "I think their hold up is down by the river" one said. He took them and they drove to where they thought the gangsters place are. Along the riverbank are many shacks and they were not sure which shack is the right one. They parked and scanned the surroundings to see if the gang members can see any of them. After thirty minutes of watching, he sees one of them and this guy was coming straight towards them. He showed them the guy coming in their direction, they all sit, waiting. San Hui wants him alive for questioning, so, they wait for the guy to draw closer. When he reaches the car, he bends down as if to greet them. Upon lifting his upper body, he throws two hand grenades right through the car windows. They scramble to get out before the explosions. Outside bullets awaits them, while the attention was directed on this guy and they never noticed others coming from different directions, encircling the car. Stationing themselves a good distance from the car to avoid the blast, which was loud and violent, it was as if a big hand lifted the vehicle simultaneously, ripping it apart and strewing debris around. The car wrecked and burned bodies inside, torn apart. Nobody can make it out alive but surprisingly San Hui survives this. The moment this guy bent down, a bell goes off in his head. As a veteran of gang wars, he knew something was up. By the time he straightens out, San Hui`s door was opened already. He planned to engage the guy. He saw the swing of the arm and two round objects thrown into the interior. With him reaching and lunging out to grab the man, two slugs caught him, throwing him onto the pavement. The moment he hit the pavement; the car explodes. He survived the blast, heavily wounded. One slug through his chest, missing his heart by inches and the other one through his abdomen. He opens his eyes for the first time in hospital. At his bed were two of his fellow gangster pals and two policemen. The two police officers are trying to find out what happened. Even though they don`t care and were only going through the motions of doing their duty. After interrogating him and writing down his lies, they left him and his pals. "What happened, why am I here, how long am I here?" His pals tell him about the explosion of the car. "You were found on the pavement next to the exploded vehicle. You were shot and we rushed you to the hospital. After the boss send you to check out the trouble, he sent four of us to follow. He was concerned you did not take enough soldiers with you. No one, other than you, survived the attack. The boss is furious about what happened. You are in here for three days now." They tell him how the boss did come and rave when he thought the nurses neglect him. "This room was chosen by the boss himself. He wants you back on your feet, we need to deal with the other gang. After the attack, this gang become very brazen and move in on the bosses' rackets. We hit them twice but not with much success. The boss wants to wipe them out completely." San Hui remembers the face who throws those grenades in the car. It was the last thing he saw before he passed out. It made him eager to get out of bed and on the streets again. He wants to hold the grenade thrower's head in his hand, he told himself. Directly after he regained consciousness, the doctor checks on him and dismisses him out of his care. He did not want him in there for too long. These kinds of patients attract too many flies. His obligation was to keep the area disinfected and clean. For San Hui, it was good to be up and out of the hospital bed. He was welcomed back with a nice party although the overall mood was glum because of this rift with the other gang.