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Chapter 14: Gained Wings

Crystal sat on the other side of the glass as Brian sat on the opposite. The visiting hours was almost over, but it was enough time for her to blurt out the news of her leaving. Her dad picks up the phone just as she does, "Glad to see you weren't caught."

"I wasn't."

"Then all you had to do is get us outta here. There's a large sum of money from your mother's estate in Redshore—"

"I'm not stealing mom's cash for you. I'm leaving."

Brian's face froze, processing her words in the back of his mind. Her expression says she's serious, there's no doubt that she's taking this chance to disappear on them without a trace. He retraced his steps, seeking out a reason as to why his daughter would want to leave. "Crystal..... do you hate me?"

Her heart pumped within her ribcage at the unexpected question, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"You want to leave us as soon as we were arrested. Why do you want to leave?"

Crystal held her breath, her blood boils from the kind face he's pulling off in front of her, "Why?.... Why? You taught your child how to be a criminal and you're going to ask why?"

"I've taught you how to survive. We've taught you how to not give a f*ck to those who's bigger and stronger than you. Have you stuck with your mum, you would've been a frail woman who's mind is anxious of her every move. Was that what you wanted?"

"I wanted to be normal! I wanted to have as many friends as I wanted. I wanted to have birthday parties where I can invite everyone from class. I wanted to experience a sleepover with my best friend. Isn't that what normal teenagers do?!"

"You weren't born to be normal. You know that. Either you've chosen to stay with us or your mother, you weren't meant to live a normal life. And besides, it was your pick to be under my roof, don't you remember any of that?"

Indeed, she was eight back then. What Crystal thought was a cooler and less pressured life turned out to be something that'll also prevent her from gaining many options to live. And she had to walk on eggshells most of the time to keep herself from cops' attention and to prevent herself from ever getting caught when she started helping them out on the field.

"I'm not going to prevent you from leaving, you got your own brains, you know what you're doing," he sighs, "This is what it takes to raise a f*cking teenager.... Alright, then. But just so you know, I chose the place where you'll live an honest life, away from me, away from all of this mess. I've already taught Aeon everything he needs to know, he'll take care of you better than I will ever be."

"Aeon?.... BUT I JUST SAID I'D—"

"Either you stay with him or I'm contacting your mother," that is his trump card every time. Despite hating him this much, Crystal is much more fearful of her mother, and he knew that better than anyone. It won't take a long info for her to find her daughter, and that's what scares her the most. "I know you might see him as an irresponsible person, but he's as much as a man that's able to protect you at all cost. I just wanna know that you're in safe hands, and I know that you'll be when you're with him."

She gives him a hard stare, "You just want him near me so that you'd know where I am, don't you?"

"Also that," he nodded.

Johnny rubbed his face for the twentieth time, kicking and punching everything in his way. The garage was empty without the crew, and it's a whole lot bitter knowing that he was at fault for letting them get caught. It's done now. Marcus has disowned him, something that he never wished to hear from the only person he looks up to. The brave and courageous alpha gorilla of the pack, having a son as useless as him. What should he do? What can he do to bail all of them out of there?

"F*CK!!!" the boy screams on top of his lungs and strikes the punching bag in full force, rattling the chains that held it up.

And Crystal's dad was caught in his mistake as well, who knows how much she must hate him right now, all because of this stupid singing contest. Be a man would what he would've wanted to whisper to himself, but when had he ever taken up the responsibility like it's the last thing he'll ever do? Not once had he done anything that could get him out of the loops that his environment created for him.

".... I really am a coward."

Johnny sighs and feels around his pockets, finally thinking of how much it would cost to bail them out of there. Suddenly, his finger touched a smooth surface of a carton, and pulling it out, it turns out to be the mask that the Bunny Brothers had given him as a member of the gang. All that this place ever taught him was the procedure of the heist, and mostly, it gains them unimaginable fortune that they had to divide equally amongst the crew. A quick cash grab so to say.

If that's what it takes to make it up for everything that went wrong, then he's going to embrace the life he had always tried to avoid.

"A hundred thousand dollars...."