At first, there was an awkward atmosphere between the two but Dan quickly cleared the air by making small talk and friendly conversation. Dan harboured no grudges and could see that Tony felt awkward. After talking for a bit in the supermarket Tony started to feel a little more comfortable."That"s a lot of food you got in your basket there?" Said tony.
"Yeah, I have a big family and I"m going to cook for them tonight," Dan said.
Tony looking at the food must have thought Dan had at least a small army to feed, there was enough food in his basket to feed a regular family for weeks. Looking at the pile of food and thinking of a way to make it up to Dan, Tony had come up with an idea.
"Hey I know, I"m a pretty good chief if I do say so myself, how about I come over and help you cook," Tony asked.
Dan thought about it for a while, the truth was Dan was planning to find a way he could keep in contact with Tony. After fighting with Tony the last time, Dan realised that he was out of his league. The question Dan had been asking himself how to get stronger had come to him and he wanted Tony to teach him how to fight.
"Yeah sure, why not." Dan smiled back.
"Well, I hope they like Thai food."
The two of them walked together until they had finally reached the outside of the orphanage.
"Wait a minute you live here!" Tony said surprised.
"Yeah, like I said it"s a big family."
As the two of them entered the orphanage. Hayley was busy playing with most of the kids in the play area. The place was messy as usual, the two of them took off their shoes and headed for the kitchen. That"s when Hayley spotted them through the hallway.
"Oh, why didn"t tell me you were going to bring a friend over?" Hayley asked. "Look at me I"m a mess."
"Don"t worry about it, you are one of the prettiest girls I have seen in my life," Tony said.
Hayley blushed in response. Tony and Hayley were both young adults and looked the same age, in a way they both suited each other.
"Don"t get any smart ideas, she"s too good for a gangster like you," Dan said.
As the two entered the kitchen they both started to prepare dinner. Tony was surprised at how good Dan"s cooking skills were and at the same time, Dan was surprised at Tony"s.
"I cook for the kids all the time." Dan said as if he could read Tony"s mind, "Anything that helps lessen the load on Hayley. She"s always busy and were shorthanded. From the look of things, you"re not too bad yourself."
"Thanks, when I grew up in Thailand, I had to cook for myself, I had no Family."
Dan looking at Tony realised that everyone had their own story and of course Tony"s would be a complicated one. Tony seemed like a nice guy but for some reason, he was working for the Ruman family.
After making dinner together the two of them sat down with the kids. There were ten children in total and two teens just a few years younger than Dan himself. The table was lively with everyone eating and laughing. Tony and Hayley seemed to be getting along well together as well.
As dinner finished Tony offered to help get the dishes and immediately started was.h.i.+ng them without being asked.
"What a nice man." Hayley said, "You can bring him more often." She giggled.
"Not you too, I already told him to not get any ideas."
Once the young kids were put to sleep, Dan and Tony went outside to the back garden. It was a large garden with all sorts of toys scattered around.
The two of them sat in silence for a while looking at the night stars until Tony was the first to speak.
"You have a nice family here, Now I know what powers you to keep going." Said Tony. "You know I never wanted to hurt you and your friends. I grew up in Thailand with no family, no food, starving. The only thing I could to earn money was fight. So I started to pick up Muay Thai but in the end, even the money from that wasn"t enough."
Tony then stood up and started to shadow box. He threw kicks, knees and punches at lightning-fast speeds.
"It got to the point where I earned more money from losing my fights than winning. I would be asked to lose on purpose. Gangs would bet against me and all sorts of things would happen. One day a rival gang found out about the rigging, and in return, I was given to them. Then somewhere along the line, I was finally sold to the Ruman family. I worked as a guard for them for years and I was treated nicely by them but whatever happened I had one rule. No kids."
"That day I really didn"t know that was going to…." Tony started to choke up.
Dan then stood up and placed his hand on Tony"s shoulder. He could feel the sadness coming out from Tony.
"It"s okay," Dan said.
"But it"s not, if you had died that day, if your friend had died, her family would have been sad, your family would have been sad. Who would have cooked their meals for them, who would have been able to help Hayley with the kids? If I disappear tomorrow the world doesn"t change. There is no one who relies on me but for you it"s different."
"You know you"re not the only one who"s done bad things." Dan then lifted his s.h.i.+rt to reveal the Noir gang"s tattoo. "This orphanage, it can no longer run on government funding. When my brother left, he decided no matter what he was going to keep this place open. Every week he continues to send money and it"s only because of him these kids can stay here. I decided to follow him one day to see what he was doing, turns out he was the leader of his own gang but instead of looking down at him or telling him to stop, instead, I asked him how could I help. I did whatever it took to make mine and those around me lives better and I don"t regret a single day of it."
"You"re a good kid," Tony said.
Tony then started to stretch his legs and arms in the traditional Thai boxing style. He would do a split and then alternate his weight on one thigh and then the next.
"Come on then, what are you waiting for? you didn"t call me over just to talk did you? I"ll teach you everything I know."
Dan smiled back at Tony and was ready to start learning.