The Flower Shop Murder

The Dark Side of the Moon

Aster sat in the darkness of her apartment, contemplating what she should be doing next.

For 5 years, she's done her best to forget who she was and live life peacefully and quietly.

Simply.

That's how Sandy always put it.

And it's true. All they wanted was to have a simple life. Away from danger and their family.

But now that Sandy is dead, and she might not be able to live a simple life anymore.

Sandy wouldn't want her to dig into who killed him. He would rather that Aster lets it go and moves on with her life, in a new place, where they wouldn't find her.

But she couldn't let this go.

She just couldn't.

She needed to know what happened. Why he had to die. Who killed him. She wanted them to feel the same pain she's feeling now.

Her heart was broken. No, her heart was ripped from her chest when she saw Sandy killed that way.

She's livid with anger and she wasn't gonna let it go.

Not by a long shot.

Gale: Unnie, I'm ready.

Aster: Okay. Remember, if things don't go as planned, make sure that no one survives.

Gale: Of course.

Aster: Let's go.

Aster walks briskly, she’s not running, but when you see her, you would know that she’s in a hurry.

Gale walked beside her, keeping the same pace as her older sister.

Right now they only had one thought in their minds.

Sandy was dead.

It's been a week since he was murdered and the police still haven't figured out who killed him.

Her gut is telling her that their family is involved in this. She still doesn’t know how or why but she’ll find out. If it’s the last thing she does.

She needed answers.

Sandy was her family. He and Gale were the only good people in her life and they made a promise to always protect each other but when Sandy needed her the most, she wasn’t able to protect him.

They made a sharp turn to an abandoned alley. The gate at the end was locked so Gale took out her P30L handgun and got a plastic bottle to muffle the sound of the gunfire.

After removing the destroyed locks and chains, they went inside and were greeted with the back doors of bars. Aster already knew which bar she wanted to go to and they walked towards the first door at the end of the alley, the back door to “Jumong’s Palace”.

Gale knocks on the door but no one answers. She bangs on it again and after a few minutes, a big man in an apron opens the door, ready to shoot them. He was wearing an apron over his bar-tending uniform.

But Aster wasn’t having it today. She was never the kind of person to flaunt her authority, nor was she the kind of person to use her criminal birthright but this was a special case.

Aster: I need to talk to the masters of this bar.

Bartender: They’re not here. Leave.

Aster: Hmmm. Is that so?

She glances at her little sister, petite in form and quiet.

Aster: Gale?

Gale moves in front of her and the bartender raises his shotgun to shoot her. But as the saying goes, the bigger they are, the harder they fall. She swiftly runs towards the shotgun, grabbing it by the barrel and pulling her gun out to shoot the bartender on the kneecaps. She wasn't here to kill the help. So she'll let him live. For now.

The bartender groans and crawls away from them. But because of the loud gunfire, more men appeared to greet them.

Aster and Gale go inside the bar, closing the door behind her and making sure it's locked. They couldn't let anyone escape. Not when she's not done with her meeting yet.

Gale has her gun ready and Aster counts 5 men. 1 by the railing on the second floor, 3 in front of them and the other were sitting down. Gale only needs 6 seconds. 5 bullets. But Aster has a better idea, she doesn't like wasting bullets on useless pawns.

Aster: Well. Good afternoon, gentlemen. Is this how you greet your guests?

Gangster: And who the f**k are you?

Aster: Ah. You're a newbie, I see. When did you start gang banging? In the last 3 years? If I were you, you should start studying the important players you're gonna encounter in this line of business.

Gangster: The f**k. Shoot them.

Aster: I don't think you want to do that.

But they don't listen. They raise their guns but Gale is faster. Before they can pull their triggers, Gale shoots two of the men in front of her. She aims for the man in the railings, pulls the trigger and now has her gun pointed on the gangster who's been talking to them earlier. The man who was sitting down on the table was standing up and pulling out his gun and without even flinching, Gale moved the angle of her gun towards him, pulls the trigger and returns to pointing it at the man in front of her.

Aster: See, I told you. You don't want to shoot us. But now that I have your undivided attention, let's start again. I want to see the masters of this bar. You will either take us to him and then Gale will shoot you later, or we shoot you now. Your choice.

The gangster nods at them with fear and leads them to the main area of the bar where some of the most notorious mobsters and criminals gather for their meetings.

In the middle of the room was a table for 5 but only 2 people were sitting down.

Aster swiftly walks up to the table and nods at the two men sitting down, engrossed in their conversation.

They immediately recognized her and stood up to bow at her. They offered both women a seat and gestured to the bartender to send them a few drinks.

One of the men was Eric Chang and the other was his brother, Michael Chang. They operated “Jumong’s Palace”, a common hangout for criminals.

The good thing about this bar is that it had an abundance of information. From robberies that are going down, to the next shipment of smuggled goods and up to petty shoplifting reports.

Aster: Gentlemen, I'm so sorry for the noise and I hope you don't mind. Gale shot your bartender and killed 4 of your men. They weren't being very cooperative when we asked questions. I'm sure that won't be the case for the two of you, correct?

They nod, fear visible in their eyes. Moon Aster might have left the game a long time ago but she has her father's blood in her. She can be cold, calculating and ruthless when she wants to be.

Once they are seated, Aster doesn’t waste any time and gets right to the point of her sudden visit.

Aster: I’m sure you gentlemen have heard the news.

Michael: Our deepest condolences, Ms. Moon. You have our sympathy.

Aster: Thank you. However, sympathy is not what I need right now.

Eric: We understand your anger, but rest assured that we had nothing to do with Mr. Lee’s murder. No one in their right mind would come after him.

Aster sighs, seemingly bored.

Aster: That doesn’t make me feel any better. I need to know who did this.

Eric: We can ask around.

Aster: No. You don’t have to. Instead of asking around, I want you to do something for me.

Michael: Anything Ms. Moon.

Aster: I want you to send a message to the whole criminal underworld. Including my family.

The two mobsters look at each other and nod.

Eric: What’s the message, Ms. Moon?

In the blink of an eye, Gale stands up and pulls out her gun. It only took her a split second to shoot the gangster they spared earlier. A head-shot, right in the middle of his forehead, her trademark move. And before the dead man hit the ground, she was already pointing her gun at the two mobsters sitting on the table.

Gale: Eenie Meenie Miney Mo. Shoot a gangster and get a hoe.

They start shaking in fear, knowing that Gale can shoot either of them and not even bat an eyelash. She was a cold-hearted killer. And she always has been.

Michael: Ms. Moon, please think this through, we had nothing to do with Mr. Lee’s murder.

Aster shrugs and looks at her nails, admiring how clean they were at the moment.

Aster: Oh I know that. But I also know that nothing happens in this city without the two of you knowing about it. A hit is something you would have known about. And yet, you never felt the need to let me know.

Eric: We don’t know who ordered the hit. All we know is that someone was asking around for the whereabouts of Lee Sandy and offering a lot of money. That’s all we know.

Aster: Who was offering the money? And how much did they offer for someone to snitch on where to find us?

Eric: I swear I don’t know Ms. Moon.

She nods slowly with her eyes closed as if following the rhythm of music only she can hear.

Aster: Okay. I understand.

Aster then stands up and fixes her coat. She takes 3 steps back.

Aster: Do you know the difference between my dad and me? You see, dad just kills everyone when he's pissed. I don't. I give choices. Who lives to become my messenger and who dies today?

Eric: Ms. Moon, please! I'm begging you! Spare me!

Gale never bothers about asking for any final words from the people she kills, it was too tiresome. She points her gun at Eric Chang, the older of the two brothers, and shoots him in the middle of his forehead.

He dies instantly and collapses on the table, staining the pristine white table cloth with blood gushing out of his head.

Aster then clears her throat and stares at Michael Chang.

Aster: That’s the message I want you to send. You let them know that I’m making it my business to find Sandy’s murderer and I won’t hesitate to kill anyone who gets in my way. Clear?

Michael: Crystal.

She smiles for the first time since she entered the bar and faces her younger sister.

Aster: Come on, Gale.

Gale keeps her gun and slowly walks with Aster to the back door as if nothing happened.

When they got outside, Gale let out the breath she was holding in earlier and looked at Aster.

Gale: Your father will find out about this.

Aster: I’m counting on it.

Gale: We don’t have enough guns to fight with them.

Aster shrugs her shoulders again.

Aster: We won’t need them. We have insurance.

They left the alley using the same route they came in, and they walked steadily. After a few turns, Gale’s eye catches a woman who has been following them since the bar.

Gale: Bogie.

Aster: Take care of it. I’ll be at home.

Gale: Okay.

They swiftly traded places, subtly exchanging hands for the handgun, and then moved in different directions.

They immediately part ways and Aster heads home slowly. Walking aimlessly, still thinking about Sandy and his death.

As she was wandering around, she passed a flower shop and her eye caught a bouquet of pink carnations.

She smiled sadly, remembering that Sandy was the one who taught her all the symbolism around flowers.

Sandy: You give carnations for different reasons. Pink ones are for telling someone that you’ll never forget them.

A single tear fell from her eyes and she bought all the pink carnations the store had.

She then walks in the opposite direction of her house.

The police have already cleared their flower shop saying that they have all they needed. The shop was now empty. A long line of yellow police tape blocked the doors, windows, and bits of the surrounding area.

The shop looked exactly like how they saw it a few days ago except the flowers weren’t there anymore.

Sandy’s dried pool of blood was still on the floor, creating contrast with the white tiled floor.

She slowly walks over to it and gently lays down the bouquet of pink carnations in the middle of the pool of blood and sits down on the floor.

She couldn’t stop the tears anymore and she freely cried for her best friend.

As she was lost in tears, her phone started ringing and she picked it up as soon as she saw that it was Gale giving her a call.

Aster: Yeah?

Gale: Bogie is blue.

They speak in code again, in case anyone was listening to their conversations.

Blue was code for police.

She hates the police.

She sighs.

Aster: Noted.

Sighing, she ends the call and stands up.

Aster: Hey, Sandy. I have to go now. Just rest well, okay. I’ll take care of things here.

With a final look at the spot where Sandy died, she leaves the flower shop and heads home.