Chapter 226 - How Strong Are You?
Austin was quite large for his age, a little over six feet tall, and he had quite a wide body as well. It was a solid natural body that he did little work to maintain. On top of this, his outdated pompadour hairstyle made him seem like he was really older than he was.
The girl he had selected came just below his chest. She sat down on the bed, swinging her feet, smiling away. Austin walked over, casting a shadow over her face.
“You seem awfully calm,” Austin mentioned.
“Is there a reason for me to be scared? You know, just because you are big doesn"t exactly mean that ‘all’ of you is big. You might be surprised how often the package doesn’t match the cover.” The girl started to chuckle.
Austin walked over to sit on the single sofa that was placed next to a table. Kneeling over with his elbows on his knees, he gave her a serious look.
“What"s your name?” Austin asked.
“Nini!” The girl answered, still smiling away, as she played with her hair.
“Alright, ‘Nini’, tell me… what school do you go to?” For a second, after he had asked this question, her legs stopped swinging. Before she could say anything else, Austin continued.
“I know you"re not old enough to work in this place, and you"re not the only one. So, how did they get to you?” Austin doubled down.
For a second, it looked like Nini was worried, but she soon lifted her head.
“I promise I"m over eighteen, so you have nothing to worry about, old man.”
“Old man?” Austin chuckled. “Well, if I"m really an old man, it will be quite the surprise when this old man pays a visit to the school in this area. While I might not find a ‘Nini’, I bet I’ll be able to find you. Look, if it makes you feel better, I’m underage myself, so if you really are as old as you say you are, we can see who would get in trouble for all this mess.”
Austin thought he had her where he wanted, but she soon started to laugh.
“You really think you have everything figured out?”
It was at that moment, Austin pulled out his phone and started to play a recording.
Shortly after they had gotten off the bus, Austin had messaged the guys from his school to gather some information about the school in the area. It turned out that Kai had indeed just scratched the surface.
While it didn’t have a big problem with delinquents like Eton High, there was still a small delinquent circle. Sure, they weren"t part of any gangs themselves, but according to what Austin’s guys found out, they seemed to be working with the Pincers. They apparently targeted some of the pretty high school girls, trying to get them to walk down the wrong path.
After hara.s.sing them for a while, these girls would undergo a drastic change. It wasn’t hard to connect the dots. Many of those ‘shy’ girls would suddenly appear in school with heavy makeup.
From what Austin gathered, every girl those delinquents introduced to the Pincers, would earn them a commission.
Playing the recording of one of her schoolmates admitting to the delinquent circle’s doing, Nini finally realised that Austin actually wasn’t just making wild guesses.
“I may be unfamiliar with this gang business, but I happen to run the delinquent circle in my area. Anything that happens at the schools, I will know about it.” Austin proudly admitted.
Since Nini now knew this wasn’t a real customer, she stood up and got off from the bed, heading towards the door.
“Okay, you"re right, I lied. However, despite how I look, I"m actually seventeen. Now, unless you want me and you to still have a bit of fun, a.s.suming you have the cash for that, I’m afraid I have to try and earn my keep with someone else.”
Austin stood up from his seat and walked over towards her but stopped, not wanting to get too close and scare her. She was already practically out the door, and he didn’t want that.
“I"m here to find out information about the Pincers. You guys don’t have to lead this life, just tell us where their base is and what their boss looks like.” Austin requested.
Nini let out a big sigh as she pulled down the door handle.
“It’s cute that you want to be some vigilante when you’re just the head of a group of delinquents, but let me tell you, the Pincers don"t play around. They’re actual gangsters and are in a completely different ballpark from what you’re used to.
“Unfortunately, I don’t think telling you will change anything.” She replied, pulling out her tongue. “I’ll probably be in some deep trouble if I told you. …well, let"s see how strong you really are.” Nini opened the door and quickly rushed out.
“Someone asked about the Pincers! Help, help!” A female voice cried out.
Immediately, Austin chased after her, but the high school girl was already down the hallway. Unfortunately, some of those countless guards they had seen in the area and around the place came flooding in. Five of them blocked the hallway at the front, and another five did the same from behind.
A second later, Gary opened the door to see nearly a dozen guards, ready to take out Austin.
“I guess… you didn’t have any luck then?” Gary asked.
“Nope, but it seems you’ve made a new friend.” Austin replied, seeing that Stacy had left the room with him, and was holding onto his arm tightly.
“Stand down!” One of the guards shouted. “This area is under control of the Pincers. Come with us peacefully and there won’t have to be any trouble.”
Despite the man’s proclamation, the ones behind him had pulled out a few stun guns and knives, it was the same for the ones opposite them.
“Well, boss, your call?” Austin looked at Gary.
“You see them. Peace was never an option. We need to get out of here ASAP. The others must have already left the area, so it"s just me and you.” Gary replied.
Looking past the guards, Austin could see that Nini was peaking at them, seeing what they could do.
“Perfect!” Austin grinned as he charged in the direction of the girl who had sold him out. Gary was quick to follow his lead, hoping they could take them out quickly and leave this place, when he felt Stacy grab onto his arm, refusing to let go.
“Gary, don’t! They’ll kill you” Stacy called out.
Seeing Austin charge forward, the guards trapped them from either side. With his strong fists, Austin had whacked the first one in the face, causing him to fall into the others, but another got through and tased him.
“Stacy, get off, I have to help him!” Gary shouted.
Trying to pull her off him, he managed to push her away, but he had done so with a little too much strength, causing her to fall the other direction. She soon felt a sharp pain in her stomach. As she moved out, she could see one of the Pincer"s guards with blood all over his arms and a knife in his hands.