Hanyo Soon looked through the scratched, yellowed window of the rear door of his old, battered twin-prop plane, squinting to see through the dust outside, kicked up by their hurried landing. The bright mid-day sun lit up the dry, dusty landscape outside, showing a group of burly men jump out of a white pickup-up truck, clearly carrying rifles and spreading out around the plane. In the clearing dust, he saw the last occupant step out of the driver’s side of the truck, and his jaw clenched on seeing the pair of long slender legs slide out, and the stiletto black shoes step down onto the packed ground of the makeshift runway. He turned to look back at his passengers inside the cabin, and beckoned Skoaler to come forward, nervously rolling the ball of tightly wad cash between his hands.

Hanyo’s hulking co-pilot squeezed down the aisle, lifting his cowboy hat and pushing his long black hair under it. “Good idea,” Hanyo nodded, throwing the ball of cash to Skoaler and straightening his leather jacket and slapping down his jeans to flatten them and also quickly slap off the dust from his boots. He looked again at the other passengers, and shook his head. “Would she believe prisoners?” he mused, and shook his head again, answering his own question with a soft, “no.” He put his hand on the exit door’s handle, and said to everyone, “Stay inside the plane, keep away from the windows, and keep quiet. I’d like to find out what kind of mood Ms. Carrillo is in before complicating things further.” He caught Rosa’s cool gaze and he broke into a crooked grin, saying, “Yeah, we were a thing years ago. She wanted my heart. Literally.”

Skoaler grunted when one of the armed men outside banged on the door with the butt of his rifle. “Abre la puerta!” a voice commanded harshly. Hanyo winked at Rosa and twisted the handle, pushing the cabin door open. The sun and dust beamed in, and Hanyo kicked down the steps to the ground and exited out of the plane, with Skoaler close behind him, blocking the door with his massive frame and concealing the people still inside. Hanyo raised his hands at his sides, smiling at the scowling men standing around him. “Pare!”

Hanyo looked between the men in front of him to the beautiful woman standing behind them, and dropped one of his hands to shade his eyes. “Alejandra!” he shouted.

The men stepped aside for Alejandra Carrillo to come forward and stand before Hanyo. She was wearing a long white, form-fitting dress that dropped down to her ankles, but with a long slit that revealed her shapely legs underneath. She shifted her weight on one leg, so one of her bare, bronzed legs could slide out of the slit and rest with bent knee, pointing one shiny black stiletto-clad foot away from the other foot. Her white dress followed the curves of her waist and hip without a wrinkle, the fabric falling elegantly over her attractive body. The shoulders of the dress were sleeveless, and it had a modest neckline that concealed her chest, showing only the skin between her throat and breasts. Resting on her bare chest and around her neck was a black pearl necklace, matching her shoes and the long black gloves covering her hands and forearms past her elbows. Her heart-shaped face was taught, pulled back tightly by her shiny black hair, pulled into a sharp bun behind her head. She had shocking green eyes, and her make-up was as severe as her hair and clothes. One of her black-gloved hands pulled on the black-pearl necklace at her neck, and the other rested on her hip. Her face revealed nothing on seeing Hanyo and on hearing his loud, familiar greeting. She looked Hanyo up and down, her bright green eyes measuring up the rumpled ruffian before her. She glanced behind Hanyo to see Skoaler still inside the plane, holding the ball of bills in front of him. She looked back at Hanyo, still revealing nothing.

“You have something for me?” she asked evenly, still pulling on her pearl necklace.

Hanyo’s grin drooped, unnerved by the vision of black and white in front of him, and the mesmerizing green eyes locked on his. “Yeah, from our friend, Jebediah Haught. Well, more your friend-“

“Hand it over, smuggler,” Alejandra commanded, her hand leaving her black pearl necklace and stretched out in front of her. Hanyo struggled a bit to understand what she was asking, looking at her black gloved hand reach out to him, like a snake preparing to strike.

“Yeah, yeah, OK. Skoaler, throw it to me,” Hanyo said, dropping his hands and turning to grab the money ball, and was annoyed to see a young boy’s face and a Husky dog’s snout clearly showing through one of the cabin windows. He scowled at Theo, who pressed his face closer to the window. He turned back to face Ms. Carrillo, who’s gaze was now focused on the boy’s face. Her gaze moved back to Hanyo, and she took the wad of cash from him and held it in front of her.

“Your business has expanded from spice deliveries?” she asked.

“No. I mean, yes. Would you believe-“ Hanyo stammered.

“I don’t want to hear it, Soon!” she snapped back at him, “You can leave now.”

“Well, I have a favour to ask you, Alejandra,” Hanyo said quickly, “I need a place to stay tonight, along with the passengers here.”

Alejandra’s cool demeanor cracked and she laughed loudly, cradling the ball of money at her waist. “You want me to put you up for the night? After everything we’ve been through? And then extend the hospitality to your cargo? Ho, ho, ho!”

Hanyo smirked weakly, “I’m not asking for a lot. For old time’s sake, you know?”

Alejandro’s green eyes flashed red at the handsome young man. “For old time’s sake?! Do you want me to reach over right now and pull your heart out, raw?” She dropped the package of money and stepped forward, both hands clenched like sharp scalpels. She almost pushed him off-balance as she dug her black-gloved fingers into his chest, the white t-shirt twisting under her sheathed nails. Hanyo grabbed her wrists and instantly the men around Alejandra grabbed his arms and pushed him to the dusty ground, his back flat to the gravel. Alejandra lifted one of her high-heeled feet and pressed the heel of the black stiletto on his chest, making Hanyo wince in pain. He looked up to see her face filled with wrath, eclipsing the sun and surrounded by a bright halo of light. “Do you think I’d forget what you did to me? Never!” She lifted her foot to slam it down into his chest, when she heard a loud shriek come from the plane and Skoaler howl in pain.

Skoaler jumped back from the plane’s entrance, letting Rosa squeeze past him and jump down the steps to leap over to Hanyo and lay across him, making the crane print on her yukata to appear like the bird was spreading its wings protectively over the young man. “Stay back!” Rosa screamed at Alejandra, who was recoiling now at Rosa’s sudden appearance and the captivating design on the yukata Rosa was wearing. She pleaded with the older woman standing above her, who was calming down now and returning to her original, cool disposition. Rosa said loudly, almost in tears, “I am the Golden Queen of the Cooperative! Please help us!”
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*** This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. ***