My Yakuza

the picture. You’re not a killer, and you’re not a mob guy, so where do you go from here and what do you want from me?”
“That’s just it. I haven’t a clue. Can you help me figure out how to get my mother out of Japan and set my friend free without getting myself killed?”
“How about if I move this building a few feet to the left with my pinky finger? That might be easier.”
Shiro seemed to sag.
Kono tried to temper his frustration. “Do you know if you’re being followed?”
“I was at one point since they knew where I had dinner yesterday. But when the man answered Chizu’s phone, I bailed on the apartment that I was being kept in by the Harada clan. I figured my location had been compromised and I split through the back door, took a cab and checked into the Baxter hotel a couple blocks from here.”
“Where’s the gun you said they got for you?”
“On me, in my waistband.”
“Get up and go into the bathroom and wash your hands. I’ll be right behind you and don’t do anything stupid,” Kono warned.
Shiro got up and headed for the door with the standard symbol mounted on it indicating that it was a men’s rest room. He opened the door and went in and was immediately hit with the smell of urine and cleaning solutions. The odour was enough to make him sick. Before he could really think about it, the door opened and Kono came in right behind him. They were alone for the moment.
“Give me the gun, now. Use just your thumb and forefinger to hand it over, not your entire hand.”
Shiro reached into his pants and took out the gun as instructed and gave it to Kono who dropped the clip out, and pulled back the slide, clearing the weapon. He stuffed the gun down his own pants and pocketed the clip as well as the round that was ejected onto the floor.
“You get caught with this by the police and you’d either end up doing five years mandatory or dead. Any other weapons?”
“No, that was enough, wasn’t it?”
“Just checking. Okay, here’s how we’re going to do this. What room are you in at the Baxter?”
“Room five-thirty-four.”
“Fuck, it would have to be the fifth floor. It’s never the first or second floor, no it’s always way the hell up in the building,” Kono moaned.
“What? You’re coming to the hotel?”
“Well, it’s not like we can just go outside and climb into my police vehicle and go downtown, now is it? You go back to the room and wait for me. I’ll be there within the hour. Is there a way into that dump from a fire escape or back door?”
“I’m not sure. I didn’t look out the window or for other exits.”
“That’s a mistake in your position. You should always know how the hell to get out of a place that you might get trapped in. Okay, that’s my issue. You get there and stay put.”
They walked back out to their bar stools and sat down.
Techno music started to thump, vibrating off the walls and it seemed to bounce off Shiro’s recent root canal, not to mention his wounded chest. The music stopped them from talking. He was happy to be silent for a while. Finally, he couldn’t stand it. He had to say something. He snatched the moment, between tracks.
“Thanks, Kono.”
“For what?”
“I really didn’t know what to do. It’s been a nightmare.”
“It still is, guy. You’re not out of this mess, yet. But thanks for not blowing me away.”
Shiro didn’t like the, you’re part. He’d been hoping for we. He took in the dark almost black eyes of the cop. Shiro felt something stir in his pants as he got his first really good look at Kono’s eyes.
Kono seemed to notice the change in the air between the two men, and fidgeted on his bar stool.
“I know you said to get rid of the phone, but I need to call my grandma…I’m afraid, too, of what will happen to the women.”
“Didn’t your daddy ever tell you women are trouble?”
“I don’t have a daddy. But yeah, women are trouble.”
Kono lifted a hand. “I may have a solution to the cell phone. Tell you what, for now, leave it with me.”
Shiro hesitated.
Kono seemed surprised. “You don’t trust me?”
“I’m frightened.”
Kono covered his hand briefly. “I know you are, Shiro. Now give me the phone.”
Shiro handed it over and left the bar. He headed towards the hotel as fast as he could. His sense of danger and aloneness seemed to have vastly increased since meeting the man he was ordered to kill. Shiro felt all sides beginning to close in on him, and he wasn’t sure how he was going to get out of the situation alive. He hoped that Kono was smart as well as good looking. Shiro had the advantage in that department at least. He knew that Kono was supposedly gay but Kono had no clue as to Shiro’s sexuality.
He finally reached the hotel lobby and walked over to the desk instead of the elevator. The same guy was still on duty, which surprised Shiro.
“Don’t you ever go home?” he asked.
“I’m here seven days a week, ten hours a day. You need something?”
“I was just wondering if anyone had stopped by for me while I was out, that’s all,” he responded.
“Nope, quiet as a graveyard around here. You expecting someone?” the man asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Maybe, but I don’t like surprises. If someone should come in asking about me, or describe me, please just say you don’t know anyone like that, okay? There’s only one person who knows me and that I’m here. Anyone else I’m not interested in seeing them.”
The desk clerk’s senses seemed to have shifted to full alert. “What’s going on? You in some kind of police trouble? We don’t need no damn cops coming in here breaking up the place looking for you. Maybe it’s better if you leave, now,”