Sean frowned as he looked at the group of people that was currently standing in front of the grocery store owned by his parents. The reason of the frown appearing on Sean's face was because he was familiar with a situation that would lead to something like this happening.
This was something that had happened several times already, and the frequency had been increasing recently. With a heavy heart, Sean approached the crowd. As people saw him, they began making way for him, as they were familiar with him as he was a neighbor.
As he approached the store from the crowd, he heard an arrogant voice, and he immediately knew who the owner of the voice was.
"I have already given you enough time. You have to repay the debt by half by tomorrow morning, or else, we will take everything from this store of yours!" The voice was extremely rough and was tinged with disdain.
"Can- can we get a little more time, please? We are trying so hard, but the business is not doing that well." A lady's voice that was so familiar in Sean's ears rang out. From the voice, one could feel the desperate emotions in them.
"Humph! How many times have you asked me about this already? As I said before, there are no more chances. You are already five months overdue, and I cannot allow you to continue like this.
We need the money to give them to others that need loans as well. And you better remember, the interest will keep on increasing each day by 5% of the principal, the longer you take, maybe at some point, even this store of yours would not be able to repay the debt."
"What kind of interest rates are these? We clearly borrowed $500, but now, you want us to pay back over $2,000, that's just too much!" A male voice exclaimed.
"What? Are you not happy with that? If you feel that we are asking you to pay less, we can as well increase that amount by at least 50%, are you going to be happy with that?" The arrogant voice responded.
At this time, Sean had already walked over. He realized that the store that was owned by his parents was currently messy, with shattered glass fragments at the entrance. And at the moment, there was a group of five men standing in front of the store, holding baseball bats, others with golf sticks, while others were holding metal rods.
Sean had seen these people a few times already, and he knew that they were part of the gang that owned a loan shark company, the same loan sharks that had lent his parents money. The gang that they were part of was big, one of the main gangs in this part of the city.
This group of five men was part of the debt collectors, and were notorious for their infamy. They were feared in the streets, especially by those that owed them money.
Standing in front of the five men was a couple, whose hair had already began graying. They were Sean's parents. Although they were in their late 40s, they had gray patches of hair on their heads, which was obviously caused by the situation that they were facing.
Sean understood the pressure that his parents were facing, and that was the reason why he had been working hard to find a job. If he could earn a good income, the two would not need to worry about such a situation.
The moment that the tattooed man at the forefront noticed Sean approaching, he frowned. He looked at Sean, only to relax in a while. He had thought that someone wanted to play the hero and wanted to interfere, but it turned out to be the useless son of this poor couple.
Sean's parents noticed him as well, and they frowned, but said nothing. They did not want Sean to see this, as that would put him under a lot of pressure, something that they did not want to see.
"Okay, we will try to find something to pay tomorrow." Sean's father, with black hair that was mixed with patches of gray, said. He had initially wanted to say something, but now that Sean was here, he decided against it.
He was currently the head of the family. He did not want to shift his responsibilities to his son. So, he agreed to what was said, though he was not sure about where he would get the money from.
"You better make sure that you do that. Otherwise, I don't mind taking over this store of yours." The leader of the group responded with a sneer on his face.
He then turned around, and with his group, walked away. But just as they went past Sean, Sean suddenly spoke up.
"How much is the debt now?" Sean asked in a calm voice.
"Huh? Kid, you have a problem with that? You better focus on getting a job and leave this to your old man to handle. If you can't get a job, you might as well come and join us. We can get you a job, though it might not match your status as a university graduate, hahaha!" The tattooed man responded as he turned to look at Sean.
"I asked how much we owe you. I want the exact figure." Sean asked once again, not bothering to respond to the words that the man had said.
"Sean, come over and stop causing trouble." Sean's father suddenly said with a frown on his face. He was afraid that the attitude that Sean was showing would lead to the gang beating him up.
Sean said nothing, but looked at the leader of the group.
The tattooed man gazed at Sean with a menacing gaze, trying to intimidate him. But that did not work as Sean just looked at him without showing any fear.
Seeing his unwavering gaze, the bulky leader of the group smiled, exposing his yellow teeth. As he chuckled, he said, "They say that a newborn calf is not afraid of a tiger. This seems to be true. But, this is the attitude that we want in our gang. Though, since you are asking about the debt, you owe us $3,000."
"What? When did the amount reach there? It was obviously $2,480!" Sean's mother exclaimed.
Sean's mother, although having a few wrinkles, it was clear that she was a beauty, unlike his father that looked rough.
She had neat blonde hair that was tied into a simple ponytail, hazel eyes, and was quite tall, standing at a height of 176 cm.
At her words, the gangster looked at her with a ferocious smile as he said, "The interest just went up. That is the payment for making us waste time to come and look for you so that you can pay up."
Sean's mother was just about to argue more when she was stopped by her husband. Sean's father, Michael Stevens looked at his son with a frown on his face.
He shifted his gaze and looked at the tattooed man and said, "Don't listen to the nonsense that the kid is saying. Just like I said before, we will try and make sure that we do make the payment as we have agreed before."
"Humph! You better make sure of that. Otherwise, if I come back here tomorrow and you have not prepared the money, then you will have to blame yourselves, in fact, you can just leave the grocery store open, because it would no longer belong to you." The leader of the group of five stated.
Sean wanted to say something, but in the end, he decided against it. Right now, it was better for him not to say anything, considering that his father had already spoken.
In any case, it was not as if what his father had said was going to change what he was planning. Currently, there were only a few hours remaining till darkness set in.
Sean believed that within the remaining few hours, he could actually manage to get the $3,000. He did not have the intention of asking for the amount of money to be reduced.
He understood the gangsters within this part of the city. If he continued arguing with them, they might just go ahead and add up the money that they were asking for.
It was impossible to take this issue and involve the police. While it was true that if the police came, this group of gangsters would not do anything. But it was also impossible to have the police stationed here all the time.
The moment that the police left, that would be the time that the family would suffer. After all, how many times had the police already tried to crack several dens of the gangsters but failed?
The leaders of different gangs had their own connections, making it impossible for them to be eradicated from this city.
Sean watched the group walk away, and since the drama had already ended, the group of people that had gathered also began dispersing.
Of course, nobody within the group tried to console the family. After all, they understood the cruelty of these gangsters. They had no intention of getting themselves involved in this issue, as that would also lead to them being targeted by the gangsters.
"Sean, you have to understand that there is a great difference between here and where you were in campus. It has already been over a year since you came back, but the way you are acting is as if you don't know the behavior of these crooks." Sean's mother admonished him.
It took quite a while for Sean to explain to his parents that he might have gotten an opportunity, but he wanted to make sure that it was real first. As long as it worked, they would be able to clear all the debts that they had, and they would be able to change their lives.
"What kind of opportunity are you talking about? You better not be involved in any criminal activities, because if you are, then be ready to get out of my house." Michael stated with a frown on his face.