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Continuing their track through Nob Hill, the Boss had taken pictures and notes of several businesses and buildings with her phone.
Those were the places that interested her the most, or at least showed potential. The redhead would go over these with her lieutenants at a later time.
“That’s the last business before we hit the suburbs,” Carlos pointed at the building ahead.
The sign on the ground in front of it read ‘Forester Books’, making it clear that this was a library.
The two Saints had passed by the Rounds Square Shopping Center, a large mall that extended several floors underground. The Boss remembered when Johnny, Dex, and her had ambushed a funeral convoy from here to assassinate then chief of police Richard Monroe years ago.
Once again, Vivi abruptly stopped to look through a shopping window. Behind the glass, a large cardboard cutout of former gang leader,
Benjamin King, was on display. Carlos was well aware of the Saints’ war with the Vice Kings back when his brother was a member.
The young lieutenant didn’t know much about the yellow clad group’s downfall, only that King survived and fled the city.
Since then, the man had dropped his flags and become an author, publishing his first book, ‘Regicide: The Rise and Fall of the Vice Kings’,
which had received favourable reviews from readers and critics.
“It’s crazy, right?” She spoke up, “For over three decades, this guy used to run half the city, and now he’s writing books.”
Carlos quietly looked at her, thinking about what she was saying.
“He’s a legend in the underworld,” she uttered, “how the mighty have fallen…”
“I’m pretty sure he’s doing well,” Carlos piped up. With how well received Regicide was, King was likely still living a life of luxury.
But his leader shook her head, “Nah, it’s not about how much money you make, it's how you make it. The problem is, he’s gone soft.”
The young man didn’t know how to respond. In his opinion, Ben King had been outstandingly lucky. Not many people were allowed to just leave their life of crime behind, go legit, and make it big like he had. But it seemed the Boss didn’t cosign that sentiment.
“Have you read his book?” He broke the silence.
“Yeah,” she simply stated, surprising him. He hadn’t actually expected her to. Other than the paper inside of fortune cookies,
Carlos hadn’t seen her read much of anything.
“So uh…whatchu think?”
“I was kinda disappointed,” she admitted, “like don’t get me wrong, there’s some good stuff in there. Invaluable experience and insight.
But when talking about his time as a gang leader, he makes it sound like a mistake to move on from, something to regret and be ashamed of.”
The boy nodded in silence. He thought he understood what she meant. Her twisted view was that his past achievements were something to be proud of, instead of condemning them. Maybe now that she was leading her own gang, she felt as if his book was denouncing her lifestyle.
He wondered if King’s words made her question her own life choices.
“Over time, less and less people will remember him for ruling Stilwater,” the woman let out a sigh, “instead, they’ll remember him for signing their copy of his book.”
“So what do you think you’ll be remembered for?” He asked, making her look at him, which made him shrink a little under her cold gaze.
That was a tough question to answer. She hadn’t really given it much thought, but it was a legitimate concern to have. What would happen when she eventually stepped away from this life to start over somewhere else in the future? Up until now, her life of crime had been pretty low key,
so disappearing from one life to start with a clean slate in a new place wasn’t very difficult. But with how things were developing now,
she was unsure if it could be done again.
“I don’t really give a shit,” the criminal scoffed as she turned around and continued walking.
Carlos didn’t believe her, but he didn’t want to press her any further. He began following after her, taking big steps to catch up.
His leader was quiet as she strutted along, he wondered if she was deep in thought about what he had said. The young man just hoped his question hadn’t upset her.
If so, he would have to hurry up and get that unicorn for her to make up for it.