Etienne held a box cutter up and stared at it intently, extending and retracting it repeatedly. Gabe sat in a chair to the side, and watched him, confused.
"Even in this…crippled state," Etienne began, "I doubt any small time local gangsters can handle me. But my master instilled in me, that a ninja does not fight a battle he's not sure he'll win. So at the very least, I need to get all of my tools before barging in there."
"So that's why you needed a computer?" Gabe questioned, "Are you getting your shurikens delivered to the house express delivery?"
Etienne rolled his eyes before reaching down and cutting open a package at his feet, "Sort of. I'm not getting the stuff delivered to the house, I don't want anyone questioning why huge packages with explosive labels keep coming here. I'll have to pick it up instead."
Gabe shook his head furiously, "Absolutely not. As the house manager of the Blessad household, I will not have you potentially exposing yourself and throwing the Blessad family name into more controversy. I'll go get the rest of the stuff you need," Gabe grabbed a piece of notebook paper off the table with two dozen words written vertically. One of the words in the middle, 'bolas,' was crossed out.
Etienne closed his eyes, scratched his chin and looked up at the ceiling. After a few seconds, he brought his head down slowly and nodded.
"You know what, that works for me. The bolas you made were extremely sturdy. I think I can trust your judgment with the rest of the equipment," Etienne took the items out of the large package, "Honestly, you might have a future as a weaponsmith."
Gabe rested his chin on his hand, "I hope not. Putting that little contraption together was tougher than I thought it'd be. I'll aquire more There is one thing I was confused about though Eti…what is a reverse-edged sword? Nothing popped up online when I searched it."
Etienne froze as he took out the desktop tower. He sat it down slowly, then calmly said, "I forgot I put that on there. Let me handle that one; I'll drive out to the blacksmiths and explain it directly. I don't even think I'll need that for this little gang anyway." Gabe looked away from Etienne and bit his finger.
Etienne turned to him, "Gabe…I know that look. I know you're holding out on me. What are you not telling me? Are you scared of those goons or something?"
Gabe shook his head. He slowly pulled his phone out, and after a few seconds of tapping and typing, he handed it to Etienne.
"This is…" Etienne's voice trailed off.
"That's the last known picture of Go-Go, the leader of the disciples and the owner of the Go-Go's clubs. He went into hiding nine months ago."
Etienne continued to stare at the picture blankly. In the photo, a flashy man wearing a cacophony of colors, covered by a large mink coat, talked to a young man in athletic wear and a baseball cap.
Gabe got up and paced around, "And the last individual he was seen speaking to is your little cousin, Lyle Otunde."
A smile spread across Etienne's face as he thought to himself, "This might just be the biggest stroke of good luck I've ever had in my life. This loser in the pastel colors will be the chink in the armor of that impenetrable fortress. Not only will I be a hero, I'll have a headstart on…"
Etienne caught Gabe's horrified expression and quickly dropped the smile, saying, 'This is a chance for me to get revenge the right way…I can bring them to justice, hold them accountable for their actions…' Gabe shook his head in disbelief, 'All of those years learning from ninjas and they never taught you how to lie. You're just not going to let this bloody revenge thing go, are you?'
Etienne sounded almost sorrowful, "I just wish you would try to understand me, Gabe. I spent 13 years on that island struggling every day, barely able to breathe steadily at night while I waited for the pain to subside. While I lay awake, I could think about is the extended family that would rather kill my family and steal their legacy instead of building on their own."
Gabe began to shout, "So what? You think killing your cousin is going to be the first step to get retribution for that? He didn't even have anything to do with it; he was just a kid! Hell, we don't even know if your aunt and uncle had anything to do with it!"
Etienne clenched his fist before turning around and making his way up the stairs, muttering, "Good night Gabe," under his breath.