20 Chapter 19

After the yoga, Daru left the Dunphy house, leaving the three behind with heads full of thoughts and emotions to deal with.

Now, he is on his way to his warehouse, needing a silent place to sit and plan. After changing two buses, a cab, and then walking, he looked for any tails.

Meeting his sister and the Modern Family has not totally diminished his awareness. He knows he is on borrowed time. If he doesn't do anything soon, his enemies will catch up to him. Even now, he treads on a thin line, avoiding places, being discreet, erasing tracks—basically doing all he can to reduce his presence where his prey may find out.

"This is a hunt, and I will make sure they, too, aim at their vitals."

Having now reached his warehouse, Daru checks for tampering and, being satisfied with the lock, the shutter, and the surroundings, he crouches to open it. Getting inside, he lets the shutter be two-thirds closed.

He takes a deep breath, then opens the briefcase and sits in the driver's seat, picking up the gun from the side, letting it rest next to him.

"I have to think about how to be the most brutal in my revenge," Daru speaks in hushes of held-back anger, eyes sparking, ready to be set aflame.

He takes deep breaths in, looking past his searing emotions. It's been two days since he regained his memories and three days since the betrayal. Now, he has to look past the anger, the hate that has been churning in his head. He is not looking to let it go; he is only stowing it away to think of the best plan to destroy them.

Sitting in silence, he hopes it will help him plan better. All his life, most of the things he has done have been on instinct or acting on the first thought he has. He has been chasing a shadow of the past he never knew he had. Now, with both his past and current life together, he can sublimate himself to a greater whole.

Awakened to this other set of memories, where being impulsive didn't end well, he knows he should not be clouded by his current emotions for a better future. He lets the silence guide him.

Resting his back in the seat, he focuses his attention on his breath. He has always been good at focusing, and because of the all-over boast, it has become much easier. He takes a deep breath in.

Daru has never tried meditation, but with his focus, it is easy for him to reach levels that people struggle to reach with months of regular sessions. In his silence, he leaves behind everything, thinking more vividly. He jumps from one thought to another.

"Snitch..." starting with the easiest option of them all.

"Possible..." viewing the feasibility of the plan.

"Howard..." people for best results, a police officer who has been close to sniffing out the organization a bit too many times.

"Enough material..." things he could use, with all the information he has got, even the big leagues of the country will be interested.

"Too easy..." deciding the severity of the punishment, not enough, not even close.

He is one of the reasons this group of manufacturers has some independent profit, not relying all or putting all their eggs into Tuco's basket. While most do, he made enough connections and networks for the organization to make good money, which they have been enjoying till now.

And what did it get him? A stab in the back. Well, now that he has a clear head with two lifetimes of experience, he knows not to expect anything less. One day he would have had to make the tough decision. But just leaving the betrayal aside, he can't leave this past full of enemies behind if he wants to live with a new start now.

With his Gloria, Ma... Sonia.

"Huh..." sighing, he brings back his focus.

"Kill..." yes, that's what he wants the most, to wipe each of these motherfuckers off the earth.

"But first... destroy..." crush them, tear them down, let them watch their fall.

"Take away most important..." rob them of the things they, on top of this organization, hold dear.

"All the drugs..." flush it all down the gutter.

"No..." but that's not it.

"Money..." burn it all Joker style.

"No..." not it.

What do they hold so dear? The thing they are proud of, the reason for that mad darkness, scowling grins... He recalls their looks, their expressions, their talks, from the highest tier to the lowest grunt.

Looking in their eyes when looking at their lackeys, when looking at the product... the money... Pieces start falling, he tries to make sense of it all.

A deep breath in, then out, one after another. It's close; the answer is close at hand. Putting all the pieces in, he can see a bigger whole, a picture, a scene.

"Empire..."

Daru shoots his eyes open. He now knows where to hit which will hurt the hardest.

"Yes, all this while William, Jason, Sydney, Michele, Paul are proud of what they have achieved—the place, the status, the fear, the prestige."

"Ha ha ha… I will fuck you all up..."

Take this organization out, piece by piece.

"You can know this for sure, as the one thing that I am the best at is Fucking."

Daru lets out a breath of contentment. He has the bare bones and main pieces of his plan. What he has to do now is flesh out the more intricate details of the plan. And he has to do this fast; he knows that he doesn't have a lot of time. A week or two at the most, then everything could come crashing down on him.

Getting out of the car and then the garage, he decides to leave for Gloria's house.

"I still need a key, a root, a road from where I can go about crushing them, just one piece through which I can break open this plan."