On Your Own

Part 6

******

For those of you who weren't informed…my original muse is now six feet under, and so I'm trucking on with a new muse…so cut him some slack while he gets into the swing of things!

As we ALL know I don't own the characters!

Remember I did some research on Manhattan's Chinatown and also on gangs, so a lot of the info is accurate, but remember a lot of it is fiction!

*****

Chen held the door open allowing Bosco to enter the gym first. (Why the hell do people do that?! I don't know my way around, so why is he making me go in first?) Bosco stopped just inside the door. He didn't like the idea of being the one leading the way. It probably meant nothing. Chen was probably just being polite, but it still made him wonder.

Bosco nodded his head, as he looked around. "Wow. Nice place." They were standing inside a well-lit room with free weights and workout equipment spread throughout it. "We the first ones here?" Bosco asked as he turned to his co-workers.

Park shook his head. "No. We're probably the last to show up."

"What?" Bosco asked. He was glad to hear his voice came out as confused rather than panicked. There was something about how flat Park's voice was that scared him. "There's nobody else here."

"Follow us." Bosco shrugged, and followed the two men as they walked toward a door in the back of the gym.

Bosco looked around nervously. (This can't be good. This can't be good.) His thoughts kept drifting back to that conversation he had with Faith before he started this assignment. The one where she had a bad feeling about this. She had a gut feeling.

Park knocked on the door. The sound broke Bosco from his thoughts. (Snap out of it Boscorelli! Stay cool. Stay focused.) A man opened the door. Bosco reached up, and fingered his earpiece to make sure it was securely in place. He started to follow the two men inside the room. As he crossed the threshold the man who had answered the door grabbed Bosco. He put a forearm to Bosco's chest and slammed him hard against the wall. He put his big paw of a hand around Bosco's throat and lifted him a few inches off the ground.

The air was quickly forced out of Bosco's lungs as he hit the wall. "Shit." His eyes got wide as the man tightened his grip, and Bosco tried to get air into his lungs.

*******

Sully and Davis reached for their door handles.

*******

"Hey! Hey! Easy, he's with us!" explained Park.

The man looked at Park before loosening his grip and dropping Bosco unceremoniously to the floor. Bosco leaned back against the wall, rubbing at his neck as he quickly gasped for air; desperately trying to make up for the oxygen his body had been deprived of. His face was a brilliant shade of red.

"Sorry 'bout that," the guy apologized as he helped Bosco to his feet.

*******

Sully relaxed back into the seat of the RMP. Davis let out a sigh of relief.

*******

"Yeah…no sweat," Bosco replied breathlessly. He felt a little light headed, and swayed.

Chen put a hand on his shoulder. "You OK man?"

Bosco took a deep breath, and nodded. "Never better." He scanned the room for the first time, and noticed that there were about fifteen other men in the room. All of them were looking in his direction. Not exactly sure what to do he lifted his head in a nod. "What's up?" he asked with confidence

"So this is the guy?" asked a little old man who was standing in the back of the room.

Chen nodded. "Yeah."

"The guy?" Bosco asked quietly as he leaned closer to Park. "What does that mean?"

"Shhh."

"This is Jason 'Jase' Muniz. He's the guy who replaced Spence at the garage," Chen explained to everyone.

The little old man walked over to Bosco, and looked him up and down. "He's white."

Bosco rolled his eyes. "I'm not white," he huffed.

The man stepped even closer to him; looked him up and down again. Then turned to Chen and Park. "How could you bring him here? He's not one of us."

Chen and Park looked at each other, and Bosco was beginning to get nervous again. "What do you mean I'm not one of you?"

"Look at you. You're far from Chinese. You aren't one of us."

"Well that's where you're wrong. I'm half-Chinese. I just don't look it." (How many times am I going to have to explain this?!) "Besides, you think if I wasn't Chinese I'd want to live here? In Chinatown with a bunch of people who would look down on me for not being like them?! Fat chance."

*******

"Good Bosco. Open mouth insert foot," grumbled Sully.

*******

Everyone looked at Bosco. "Look, ask me whatever you want. I'm half Chinese, take it or leave it, doesn't matter to me."

Park looked around the room. "He's cool. Really, it's OK."

The little man looked at Park. "You're sure about this?"

"Yes sir."

"OK then." The man looked around the room. "Everyone carry on." He then turned to the man who had held Bosco against the wall. "Pat him down Killer."

Bosco looked at the huge man standing beside him. "Killer? I should have known."

Killer pointed toward the wall. "Hands on the wall. Spread your feet."

He did as told. Then looked over his shoulder at Killer. "What? No assume the position?" he joked. Killer chuckled a little, and the tension lifted.

"He's clean boss."

The little man walked over to Bosco. "Well Jase, follow me. I'll give you the grand tour."

"Sounds good." Bosco looked around the room. It was larger than the gym they had entered through, and the equipment was newer. "Man this place is awesome. Is this room open to the public?"

"No. This is only for family."

"Well I'll do whatever I can to be part of this family. This is…wow."

Bosco went around with the little man who everyone called Mr. Lee. He was introduced to all the guys, and then he spent about an hour lifting weights with Park and Chen. This was most definitely the Fuk Ching gang. It had to be.

*******

When he left the gym he said his good byes to his new friends, and headed toward his apartment. He couldn’t help but smile to himself. He had made a good impression on these men. This assignment was really starting to take shape.

He quickly looked around. The clock outside the bank said it was after midnight. He briskly walked over to the payphone, and dialed Reyes's cellphone. "Hello?"

"It's Muniz."

"Who?" she asked confused.

Bosco rolled his eyes. "Jason."

"Oh yeah. Hey sounds like you did good tonight."

"Yeah, I think things went well."

"I'll say. You keep this up and we'll get this guy. Don't screw it up."

"Yes ma'am."

"I told you NOT to call me that!"

"Oh, yeah sorry." He laughed. He wasn't sorry, and Reyes knew it. She hung up on him. Bosco hung up the phone, and turned to leave the phone booth. (Wait a second. Did she just kind of compliment me?)