| Banana Fish; volume two |
| Ash and Skip were captured by Marvin and his men, and they're going to be taken to Dino Golizine's. Ash tries to barter for Skip's freedom, but Marvin doesn't budge. Just as they're about to be forced into the car, Ash's gang shows up and Ash tries to escape. He falls and, before he can get up, Marvin shoots at him. Panicked for his boss's life, Skip gets free in time to jump in front of Ash, taking the bullet and dying instantly. The police arrive just then, prompting Marvin to hop into a car and take off. Ash forces past a thug into another car and steals it to give chase. Back at Golzine's, Papa Dino is talking to Arthur. He's upset because Ash always gives him the slip. Arthur offers to take Ash down in return for Dino's help with controlling the local gangs so that Arthur can take over. Wounded and exhauseted, Ash follows Marvin back to the older man's apartment. When he gets there, however, he finds Marvin dead. He's been shot several time and somehow Ash's own gun is on the floor. Before he can react, the police arrive and he's arrested. Jenkins and Charlie show up and try to persuade the arresting officer, Willard Evanstine, to send Ash to a hospital, but they have to luck. At the station, Ash is questioned--Jenkins and Charlie stay with him. Evanstine shows them some photographs and a film--kiddie porn starring Ash--as evidence for a motive for Ash to kill Marvin (Marvin raped Ash in the video). It's pretty clear that Ash will be going to prison--and it seems like Evanstine is working very hard to put him there. So Ash goes to prision while awaiting trial. Charlie talks with his friend Max Lobo (also in prison) and gets Max to watch out for Ash. There are lots of Dino Golzone's men in the same place, and Charlie is sure that, if not protected, Ash will be killed by them pretty quickly. On his first day in, Ash is hit on by Garvey--a thug associated with Golzine. He defends himself and ends up in solitary. When he gets out, Max tries to protect him, but Ash resists and ends up being gang-raped by Garvey and his crew. While he's in the infirmary, he and Max talk. They discover that Max served in Vietnam with Griffin--in fact, he was the one to shoot his legs. Max tries to explain that he only wanted to help Griff, but Ash will have none of it. He vows to kill Max one day for what he did to his brother. Eiji and Ibe visit, and Ash manages to get a message to Eiji that he's to go to Chinatown and look for Shorter Wong. Shorter will lead him to Dr. Meredith, who needs to be warned that he's in danger, because he's analyzing the Banana Fish sample that Ash gave him. Eiji has to be the one to go because only Asians can slip by unnoticed in Chinatown. Eiji does a poor job of hiding. He can't find Shorter, but manages to find Dr. Meredith's office. Unfortunately, once he gets there, Arthur and some of his guys are waiting for him--it seems he'd been followed from the start. Arthur doesn't know why Eiji had to see Meredith, but he plans to take Eiji home to Papa Dino as a new plaything to replace Ash. Shorter arrives to save Eiji, and just when things look like they are under control, Griffin comes out of the back room (Dr. Meredith has been taking care of him). One of the fellows with Arthur--a weak fellow working for Golzine--freaks out when he sees Griff. He says he thought Griffin was dead. Griff points at him and says, "You. You, banana fish Abra--" and he gets cut off because the fellow shoots him. Meanwhile, in prison, Max and Ash have another argument, but this one gets physical. Max decides its healthiest if he moves to another cell. What he doesn't anticipate, however, is that Garvey will be the one to replace him as Ash's cell-mate. . . . |
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