THE URBAN PHOENIX: Arthur Salvatore's rise from the ashes.

CHAPTER 11

THE MEMORIES CAME in short flashes. It felt like Arthur was in a theater with flicking scenes.

He saw an old woman with white hair. She was holding the gold necklace that he had around his neck now.

"Grandmother?" He muttered to himself.

The images kept flashing in his head.

The memories kept on filling the blank spots in his head.

After almost 30 minutes, the images stopped rolling.

"60 percent of your memories have been restored," The system told him.

Arthur released a long breath and nodded to himself.

Sure enough, he remembered almost everything. He remembered his father, stepmother, and step-brothers.

What he could not fathom was why they had not reached out to him.

From the newly gained memories, he could tell that they did not like him so much, but after no contact for over 5 months, they should have tried to find him.

Maybe he should find them, he thought to himself.

"Not yet," The system replied. "Soon, it will be a task for you. But not now."

"You don't get to control me," Arthur snarled.

The system remained silent.

Arthur noted that there were still some blank spots in his head. "What of the rest of my memory?" He asked.

"Those will be filled out later," the system replied.

Arthur released a string of curses under his breath and stood up from the park bench on which he had been sitting. "You are not helping me," He muttered. "So what do I do now?"

"For now, you are free to do anything you want," The robotic voice said, "You are no longer a pauper, but a class C economy man. You can focus on how to raise your economic status through class B and class A,"

Arthur scoffed. "Maybe I don't want to do that," he said. "I have almost 100,000 dollars in my bank account. Maybe all I want to do is go on a boat cruise and enjoy the money."

"You are free to do whatever you want," The system said in a monotonous voice.

"You are so damn boring," Arthur said, walking into a restaurant to eat and plan his next move. He stepped aside for a woman and her boyfriend to walk past. The woman turned and winked at him. Arthur was stunned at the seduction that he turned back, just at the same time as the man turned to look at him.

"Hey, what are you trying to do?" The man said, stopping and walking back to Arthur.

"What? Nothing," Arthur said, raising his hand in a surrendering gesture. "My bad, I'm sorry."

"I see you were about to check out my girlfriend!" The man said, stepping closer to Arthur and crowding him.

"What? No. I think you are mistaken," Arthur said, taking a step back and entering the restaurant. He did not want this to escalate to something more than this. He glanced over the man's shoulder to the girlfriend that started all this. She kept an innocent face.

"I'm talking to you and you're still looking at her," The man said, crowding into Arthur.

"I'm sorry," Arthur apologized again. "But please stop crowding into my space. Step away from my face."

"Oh, yeah?" The man asked, stepping even closer.

The people in the restaurant were starting to get interested. Some of them were bringing out their phone to record it already.

"And if I don't step back, what will you do?" The man asked, pushing Arthur in the chest.

Arthur took a deep breath, trying to calm his temper. "Fuck it!" He muttered under his breath and lashed out with his right hand. His fist came in hard contact with the man's nose.

There was a loud uproar in the restaurant. The man's head whipped to the side.

"That's what I'm going to do, punk!" Arthur snapped.

The man looked down at Arthur – literally. Then he picked Arthur like he was weightless and slammed him on a table, demolishing it.

There was another uproar as the crowd cheered. The owner of the restaurant rushed in from the kitchen and tried to pull the man from Arthur, who tried to protect his face from the barrel of punches being lashed out by the bigger man.

After what seemed like a long time, but was actually less than 2 minutes, two police officers came in.

The man stepped aside and the officers jacked Arthur up by his elbow and said, "Follow us to the station for your statement."

"He started it all," Arthur tried to argue. "And you are letting him go?"

"We are not letting him go," the police officer said, pushing Arthur into the back seat of the police cruiser. "But you are our main concern."

Arthur sat in the backseat, moping all the way to the police station. When they arrived, they tossed him into a small cell.

"What am I here for?" Arthur asked.

"The owner of the restaurant claims that you started the fight, and wants you to pay for the damaged property," A cop replied.

"Me? I didn't start anything," Arthur yelled. "What of the other guy?"

"He has given his statement. Brandon Cole is a very respectable person in this district and you are a nobody," the cop replied, calmly. "We believe his statement and you are at fault here. We let him go."

"This isn't justice!" Arthur yelled.

"There is no justice here," A man in the next cell croaked and laughed.

"How long will I be here?" Arthur asked.

"Until the owner of the restaurant brings in the total amount of damages and you pay it up," the cop replied.

"For God's sake!" Arthur cursed. "I will pay it and more!" He yelled.

The cop gave him a smug look, chuckled, and walked away. He came back a few minutes later and tossed an icepack into Arthur's cell, "Use that on your face," He said. "The owner of the restaurant should be here anytime soon." And he walked away again.

Arthur snorted and held the ice to his face, which was painfully swollen.

"You were a fool to pick a fight with Brandon Cole, boy," The next cell inmate said.

Arthur shrugged. "I don't know who the hell he is,"

"His father runs this town." The man said. "You're lucky this is your fate. They could make you disappear."

Arthur frowned.

If this was how things were, there was a societal hierarchy due to wealth, power, and influence, he made up his mind to rise to the top without any distraction as soon as he left this place.

"Arthur Salvatore," A police officer called.

As Arthur stepped out, the man gripped his elbow and led him to the front desk, "Your last name sounds familiar."

Arthur remained silent.

He was handed a sheet of paper, listing many things that the owner said he had destroyed. He wanted to argue about the list but changed his mind. The total was $63,900. That would almost wipe his account again.

"Your men took all my things," Arthur said. "My card was amongst them."

The desk officer nodded reached underneath the table and brought out a tray containing his wristwatch, phone, card, and keys.

Arthur kept his gaze focused on the restaurant's face as he swiped through the machine and paid for the things he knew nothing about.

Then he walked out into the cold night.

"Hey, system," He said.

"Yes, Arthur?" The system replied.

"I really need some cash," Arthur said. "What is my next task?"

"You will be updated soon," the system said after a short pause.

Arthur kept his head low as he walked to his apartment, thinking of what next he would do and how he would take his revenge on Brandon Cole. He got into his apartment, turned on the light, and almost jumped out of his skin.

There was a huge man seated on his couch, looking at him and smiling.

The man's face sparked a light in Arthur's brain, he screwed his eyebrows together and said slowly, "Wait, I know you."

The man chuckled and stood up easily. "Of course you do. Hello, little brother."