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AJ

“Goodbye, Rosalie.”

I closed the door behind me and walked around the corner of the house, slipping into the darkness. I figured she’d try to stop me, so I wasn’t surprised when she flung open the front door and appeared in the driveway.

Seeing her tears stream down her face broke something inside me.

This time, I was the one causing her pain.

She was the one person I’d never wanted to hurt, and here I was, tearing her apart right in front of my eyes.

I held myself back from going to her as she ran back inside and reappeared a minute later with the key to my Lincoln in her hand.

The sight of her desperately tugging the driver’s door open made me hesitate again.

Am I really gonna go through with this? Do I even care what her family thinks? When did I let any motherfucker tell me what I could and couldn’t do in my life?

But that wasn’t the reason I was saying goodbye for good to the only woman I’d ever loved.

It had been the sight of her beaten and barely breathing on the cold, wet ground during my fight a little over a month ago.

Hearing her weak voice in the hospital room the day after I won, it wrecked me.

The fact was, I couldn’t promise it wouldn’t ever happen again because dangerous people surrounded my life.

That was why I was leaving Rosalie Wells far behind and hopping on a flight to Tokyo tonight.

I watched my car take off down the street and didn’t leave the shadows until it was long out of sight.

I sighed as I rubbed my face, letting my resolve to protect her strengthen me once more.

Picking up my duffel bag that I had left out here before I went inside, I tossed it over my shoulder before I yanked out my phone and texted her dad, Kayden Wells.

He had set this whole thing up after Rosalie went through what she did.

He couldn’t stand her being with me, so he offered me money and a job in a different country to get lost. And here I was, accepting his offer.

AJ

Ready.

Kayden

Be there in five.

I walked out into the driveway, and a few minutes later, Kayden pulled up in a yellow-and-black Tesla Model S. I went around to the passenger side and opened the door. Sliding in, I put my duffel between my legs on the floor.

“Here’s the card with the money on it; password and PIN for the card on the envelope. Don’t lose them. And your flight pass,” Kayden said as he handed me a white envelope.

As he drove away from her house, I glanced in the rearview mirror a final time, memorizing one last thing about her and the life I was leaving behind.

An hour later, we parked in the departure lane of LAX. I grabbed my bag and opened the door, sliding out onto the busy walkway. I turned to shut the door when Kayden spoke once more.

“AJ, good luck over there.”

I glanced at him before nodding and closing the door. I didn’t wait to watch him drive away. Soon after, I was going through airport security, where they made me turn around to go check my damn bag at the front in order to bring my brass knuckles with me.

“You gotta be fucking kidding me. One hundred bucks to check a bag? Goddamn robbery.” I slid over the cash to pay for it, and grabbed a few things from the side pocket of the bag, including my earbuds, before they took it and threw it on the conveyor belt.

I went back through security and ended up having to jog to get to my damn gate in time since it was on the opposite side of the airport.

I scanned my boarding pass and walked onto the plane, looking for my seat.

When I realized Kayden had bought me the back seat on the flight, knowing full well that motherfucker could easily afford first class, I stopped.

Fuck that shit.

I slid into an empty aisle seat halfway down the plane.

If anyone said I was in the wrong seat, I’d just ignore them.

I dragged my hood over my ball cap and tucked my hands into my sleeveless hoodie pocket, reclining as much as possible after the stewardess passed by.

I closed my eyes as the plane took off. Only twelve hours until I touched down.

Might as well get some sleep while I could.

I tried to think of everything I was going to have to do when I got there, but Rosalie’s pleas for me to stay were the last things rolling around in my head as I finally drifted off.

Turned out, sleep was a bad idea.

When I landed, it was in the middle of the night, and I was wide awake. My sleep schedule wasn’t the best anyway, but this would seriously fuck me over.

I made my way through the airport, and it immediately became obvious how much I stood out in this crowd.

I towered over most of the people around me, and they pointed and whispered as I walked by.

Even stopped to let a couple of cute girls take a photo with me.

Their English wasn’t the best, but I’d smirked at the “strong man” comment they made when they asked.

Living here is going to be hard if people don’t stop fucking eyeballing me.

Eventually, I got my duffel bag and walked out into the pickup area, where I hopped on a bus leading into the city with a group of people. The bus was packed, so I stood in the middle as it drove away. People crammed around the space and tried not to bump into me.

Guess personal space isn’t a big thing here. But you best believe they're gonna give me some.

I had no idea where I was supposed to get off this damn bus, but eventually, I got off as close to the shipping docks that I could see us stopping at. Didn’t know how much it was, so I threw a five onto the tray, and the driver attempted to give it back to me, but I kept on walking.

Everything was smaller here. The people, the streets, the alleyways, most of the cars.

You name it, and it was all different from what I was used to.

Near where I got off the bus, a guy helped me use an ATM to exchange some of my American cash for yen—the type of money they used here.

I got out more than I needed and finally got some food at some sort of noodle place.

As I ate my meal, I looked out the window. I could see the water and ships coming and going. I looked back over at the guy who had just helped me with the ATM.

“Hey, can you tell me how to get somewhere?” I asked as I opened my phone and pulled up the place where Kayden had said I had a job lined up.

He nodded as he walked over and glanced at the location. “Ah! Yes, I know this place. It’s close to where I work. I can show you the way, if you would like?” he said as he stood straighter.

“Works for me.” I grabbed my bowl, downed the rest of the broth, and set it down.

When the server came over, I gave her a bill, and she giggled as she pointed at the money in my hand and said something in Japanese.

I shook my head. “I don’t understand. I speak English,” I said as I went to put my cash back in my pocket.

“She’s trying to tell you that you gave her too much, and she wants to show you which bills to give instead,” the guy next to me said as he pointed at my handful of money. I hesitated, but the man insisted, “Don’t worry; she will not take more than it costs. This is an honest establishment.”

I reached my hand out and opened my palm, and she did a small bow before putting the bill I had given her back in my hand. Then she counted out a couple of other bills from my hand and walked away before coming back with some coins.

“ Arigato gozaimasu !” she said quietly with another bow before cleaning up my bowl and scurrying quietly away to the kitchen.

I tucked the money back into my joggers pocket and stood up, following the guy out of the building.

He blabbed on as we walked down the street, pointing at this place and that place, explaining where to take my laundry, other places to eat, motels, grocery stores, and—the one that really caught my eye—a pachinko parlor, apparently somewhere I could go to gamble.

I made note of the places I thought I would end up using and picked up details along the walk to remember how to find my way around later.

One thing was for sure: I didn’t plan on working my life away.

I was going to have fun while I was here, for as long as that ended up being.

I also found out, technically, I was working in an area called Yokohama, not Tokyo, but it was all a part of the same city to me. The sun had come up and was reflecting on the water’s surface. The smell of the ocean made it all feel a little more like home.

We parted ways with him pointing down a port, telling me good luck with everything.

I gave a thumbs-up and wandered through the warehouses and lots until I found one with the same logo on the paper Kayden had given me.

Banging my fist on the door, I shifted my duffel bag on my shoulder.

I was ready to toss this thing onto the ground and get shit settled already.

No answer, so I pounded harder this time.

“Yo! Anyone home?” I shouted.

A roll-up door next to me shot upward, and I stepped back to see a short man, with black hair slicked back into a bun and an overgrown beard, looking back at me.

“Whatchu want?” he asked, his brow furrowed and his eyes narrowed as he looked me up and down.

“I’m supposed to start working here,” I said, holding out the paper.

The man snatched it from my hand and read it before glancing at me one more time, folding it in his pocket, and jerking his head toward the inside. “Follow.”

Here I thought I didn’t say much. This guy can’t even string together a sentence.

I followed him inside and discovered that this warehouse was where they inspected vehicles before shipment.

A couple of guys were checking the engine of a car that was on a lift across the room.

I kept glancing around. There were a few spaces for more cars to be checked over, some racks of tires, toolboxes, and workbenches.

Pretty much your basic shop. That was when he pointed upward, and I saw stairs going up to a loft area.

“This way.”

We went up the stairs and passed a few different doors before he came to a stop by the last one on the left. He shoved a key inside it and twisted the knob before he pushed the door open.

“This is your room. Everything you need is right here for sleep and food. Bathroom is two doors down on the right side. Included in work, understand?” he asked as he walked inside.

I ducked my head and stepped inside the room. It was small, maybe eight-by-ten.

“Yeah, I get it. What do you need me to do here? I don’t know much about engines and shit,” I said as I tossed my duffel down against the wall.

“You will help drive cars into containers. Maybe go out and get cars from customers one day soon. You begin tomorrow. Some food in the fridge. You can call me Takumi or boss.” With that, he placed a key on the counter and left, closing the door behind him.

I took a deep breath. It smelled clean in here. So, there was that at least.

I explored my new place. Turned out, his idea of some food was barely enough for a few meals, so I’d need to get some more before tomorrow.

Closing the fridge, I opened the cupboards and found some cooking supplies, an electric stovetop, pots and pans, but no utensils, except for chopsticks.

I made a note to buy some forks too. I went from the kitchen to the wall across from it.

It was a closet wall. Inside was bedding, a rolled-up futon, and a couple of large cushions.

There were drawers in it, too, so I emptied my clothes into them, not bothering to fold them.

“Need a place to store my cash and knuckles when I’m not carrying them.”

I looked around the closet more. One board behind a drawer had gotten a little loose, so I gripped it and pulled, and it popped out of place easily enough.

I felt around inside. It was dry, and there was a beam to stop anything from falling.

I grabbed a pair of socks and stuffed one sock full of the cash and tossed my brass knuckles in the other, knotting them before I threw them inside the hole and placed the board back.

“That’ll work for now.”

I slid the drawer back inside and rolled out the mattress and bedding. Better do it now while I was awake instead of when I was tired as fuck tonight.

Then I noticed a small old TV in another corner of the room. I plugged it in and turned it on. It worked, but everything on all the channels was in Japanese.

“Damn, what’s even the point of watching TV if I can’t understand it?”

I turned it off and unplugged it before I decided to grab it and shove it in the closet. I looked around the room. It was tight, but I could probably fit a punching bag inside the room in the corner the TV had been in. Hang it from the metal beam along the ceiling.

I grabbed the key he had left on the counter and walked out of the room, locking it behind me. I made a quick stop to glance in the bathroom on my way down. It was an odd one, but there was a toilet, sink, and shower. Should be able to figure it out easily enough.

I walked back down the stairs and into the shop, where I met the other two guys who had been looking at the car earlier—Ken and Minato.

They were new as well, and both of them spoke more English than Takumi.

Sounded like the guy had been having trouble keeping help lately because his attitude was so bad.

I got directions to a nearby grocery store, which I had one of them put in my phone so I could favorite it. Then I turned to them and asked, “So, any gyms around here?”

“A bunch. There is an Anytime Fitness near enough, a short bus ride away,” Ken said, and he marked it on my phone as well.

I wasn’t one for a fancy subscription gym, but it was good enough for now. I’d swing by it as well. At least I might get them to order a bag for me, or they might know someone I could get one from.

I left the warehouse with plans in hand. Time to get shit done because, tomorrow, this was where the real work began.