Post by invisiblemunky on Jul 11, 2013 3:44:22 GMT -5
Chapter 1
Pimps, Money, Bad Milk
"The reason we choose to run our business out of a resturaunt is simple. We are civilized people conducting civilized business. Why not do it in the pinnacle of civilized life. Being able to eat without worry of where our next kill is going to be or where the next berry is. Everything right here, for the right price. Are you paying attention?"
Chris was a man who made up in his lack of stature with his menace. His face cut a serious tone even in merry settings. Business goes on as he always says.
He drew his hand back and slapped the poor kid in the chair across the mouth. His face was bruised and bloodied as was Chris' hand but that was the price of discipline. He motioned over to the man known as bluejay. He was pushing six foot 5 and had arms that would make an oraguntan feel out of place. With a skill that demonstrates hours of practice in his mother's bathroom mirror, he pulled a 1911 out of his jacket. With a flick of the wrist the grip of the weapon was facing me. I was a large mexican who went by the simple monicker of Steve. The weight of it felt good in the hands. Nobody appreciates the power that .45 acp gives you that other pistol calibers fail at achieving.
I took a long drag of my cigarette and pulled the slide back just a hair. I was met with the pitch black of an empty chamber. I could see brass in the magazine so I knew that I wasn't completely defenseless.
Chris finished wrapping his hand in a bandage and turned his head to look at our blindfolded companion. "That is why we don't beat bums to death with a baseball bat over a teenth of meth!"
That was my cue to pull the hammer back. He jumped at the loud click in the silent room. "Because then they will treat us like savages who have to kill to get that piece of what they need! We treat them like humans, they can be dealt with like humans, treat them like carrion and they will pick you and your corner crews apart."
A gentle press of the muzzle against the temple. I can see sweat beading on his brow and upper lip. Goddamnit he's just a kid. "And when my men start to act like animals I put them down like animals!" A few moments before the final act. A few final moments to drive in the doubt as to whether or not his life is forfeit. A few painfully long moments.
As if God himself was striking the hammer against the pin, the sound rocked his ears. He began to soil himself, the noise that came out of his mouth started out as a frightened gasp but ended like the moan of a lover in climax. Chris was staring a hole into this poor guy. Bluejay couldn't even look me in the eye. I rocked the slide and let a round go into the chamber.He began stammering, crying, and pleading for his life. To be shown mercy and then have it ripped away was worse than if we had just killed him. "You ever cross our clients again, if you ever get another kid killed because some bum wanted revenge for his friend, if you ever lose this company business again, I will feed you to them alive and cooked rare."
I pulled the trigger twice expecting the room to go quiet and my ears to ring. The smell of gunpowder filled the room. There was a scorch on his nose from the muzzle going off too close to his face but other than that he was fine. He began sobbing like a toddler, mumbling comforts to himself, and drooling all over my good rope.
Chris turned around and went back to his desk. I gave the gun back to Bluejay even though he has 6 more tucked on his person at any given moment. He was very proud of that fact. Jay grabbed the chair and began dragging it upstairs. Its' current occupant was still sobbing and processing what had just happened to him. It was Sunday so the resturaunt was empty seeing as how it doesn't usually fill up till around four. I pulled the knot apart and let him free. He was still frozen to the chair so Jay gave him a reassuring slap on the back of the head. In a single motion the kid pulled off his blindfold and ran like hell out the door. I looked at Jay and nodded at the bar. He silently agreed and we took our designated spots at the end nearest the exit.
The bartender was an old southern bell named misty, who had come north with her husband for some business deal that fell through when the FBI sniffed out that it was a mob contract. She had become friends with Chris after they tried to hunt her down so she couldn't air out the big family's dirty laundry. The enemy of my enemy. She set out two big fat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and two glasses of cold milk. It was lunchtime in the Henderson's Southern Grill. Jay tried talking with a full mouth
"So what's next on our agenda?" Misty frowned at him and went to slap his wrist.
"Some guy by the name of Bucktooth nekkid. Some crackwhore peddling shit who tried to get the wrong girl into his circle." I said looking over the paper we found on the bar.
Jay swallowed the moutful of milk he had "Any side ventures of his we can immediately profit on?"
I took a sip of my drink "Looks like low end controlled substances, weed, fake ecstasy, the usual shit. However he makes a healthy living off of porno."
Jay looked at me sideways "No shit?"
I nodded "Which means he probably has a neat little black book of people who probably don't want to be associated with a pedophillic, drug pushing, pimp."
We paid Misty and scarfed down our sandwiches as we headed downstairs. We came out of the staircase and took a left down a hallway that looked like it had played part in a slasher movie. The walk in freezer for the bar was at the end, we opened it and navigated the boxes of booze until we were facing the wall. With a gentle nudge the false wall opened up like double doors that could only be unlocked from the bar. Inside was a room filled with enough weapons to get the retarded redneck in anybody excited. It wasn't the flourescent walls and shiny surfaces of a bad mobster movie but it was still a sight to behold. I walked over to the locker that had my name on it, used my key to open it, and stared in deep thougtht. I decided on the mossberg 500 with a birdhead stock and twelve inch barrel on a one point sling. Jay grabbed his Vector, folded the stock, and began putting magazines in the pouches of a jacket with magazine pouches sewn into the inside. With a two point sling he pulled it behind him ready to be grabbed with his left hand and swung around. I put my shells in a carrier that looked like a drop leg camera pouch. I swung the shotgun around so it was inside my jacket. Loaded and armed we left out the front door.
Jay hopped into the driver seat while I settled into the passenger seat. While we were sailing down the road I looked over the job one more time.
Jay glanced at me "So where is this place at?"
I plugged the address into my phone. "It looks like its right across the road from that canadian diner."
His face lit up "that place with the bitching poutine?"
I nodded and looked at him "Know where that is?"
In answer he accelerated to unsafe speeds. Everytime we go on a hit I overthink the whole thing. This man's life is worth forty thousand dollars plus whatever we make off of robbing his place. I'm sure if we asked him what he thought he'd put a much steeper price on his own head. Or he will be amazed at the idea that somebody would even pay to end his life. I can never tell with these hood types.
We passed the building at a crawl to get a feel for the place. As we did the thug that was sitting on the stairs to the entrance flashed his piece at us. "Beretta nine mil. I didn't know thugs these days carried women's guns."
I chuckled and pointed out the nearest parking lot. One last glance at the entrance gave me an idea. "Hey jay, follow my lead."
He made sure his gear was in check before cracking a toothy grin. "You were always better at wet business Steve."
He was of course referring to how I was always the calm one when the bullets began to fly. He was the calm one when it was time to sit down for a non-violent conversation. It was an odd pair to say the least.
Making myself as noticable as possible, I made a wide arc around and up the staircase so as not to surprise our new friend. I put my arm around his shoulders. "Hey I was just wondering do you ever wonder if you'll accidently shoot your pecker off?"
His face twisted into a questioning expression that not even an ape could read. Before he could retaliate with gibberish BlueJay swept from behind, grabbed his gun and pulled the trigger. His shorts puffed out and fell back into shape as he fell over screaming. We drew our weapons and stacked against the door. I had my shotgun pointed at the doorknob ready to breech on Jay's go. Time slowed and I felt his hand pat my shoulder twice. The slide racked, sent a shell home, and the trigger sent double oh buckshot screaming out of the barrel. The blast blew apart the lock holding the door in place and a kick sent the door flying open. I dropped as rounds began flying through the open door screaming for vengeance. Jay unloaded a magazine into the doorway killing the first thug.
"Splash 1, count 5."
"Splash 1, count 5, heard." Taking point I rounded the corner, muzzle at hip height so I don't punch myself in the nose with the weapon.
We turned left at the first room because the other two doors would have left our back exposed to an open room. The first one popped out from behind a sofa brandishing a double barrel. The length of the weapon made it too slow to draw a bead and I blew his guts out. His pal tried to come up from behind but as soon as his head cleared the doorway Jay put two rounds in his temple. We both moved to our respective sides of the room making the muzzles of our weapons go over every hiding spot the room had to offer.
"Splash 3, count 3."
"Splash 3, count 3, heard." Jay took point and was about to go out the door when a large individual barreled through him and began to try and fight him on the ground. I kicked him off, and blew his head off. His buddy was standing at the door and took a shot at me. It hit me in the back and laid me out. Jay put a burst into his leg and shot him in the chest when he dropped. My plate carrier stopped the round but it still rocked my lungs.
"Splash...shit...splash 5, count VIP."
Jay was still watching the door "Splash 5, count VIP, heard."
"Are you mother fuckers done killing my friends?!" judging by the lack of proper pronunciation in his voice I assumed that this was our appreciative host.
Jay was seeing red so it was up to me to reply. "Well if they hadn't of been here we coulda just walked out of here one big happy bunch of friends--"
A kalashnikov barked in the next room and sent rounds flying through the wall. "Who the f*ck sent you?!"
I was beginning to get pissed "Why are you so curious if you're so willing to kill us?"
We were on the floor in silence as the dust settled. "You here to kill me?"
I looked at my partner with a look that screamed 'no shit' "No Mr. Nekkid we're here to offer you protection from some very pissed off people." Jay was trying not to laugh his ass off.
More silence and then we heard the shuffling of feet and the bucktooth bastard himself was standing at the door. "You boys promise you ain't here to kill me?"
My finger slipped into the trigger well "Of course we're not here to kill--" We both unloaded our weapons until he was nothing but a bloody mess filled with holes.
We laid in silence waiting to see if there was anybody else in the place. Jay was the first up with his weapon never leaving the doorway.
"Splash all, Vip down, sweep and move."
"Splash splash, sweep and move heard." I sat up, took off my glasses, and started to wipe the blood off. "Well that went smoother than the last time we breached a building outnumbered." With a quick jump I was on my feet and moved over to the nearest thing that looked like it might have something profitable in it.
Jay was slowly moving through the rest of the building, checking for booby traps or a hidden gunman. "Yeah well last time we had forgotten to bring extra ammo remember?" I didn't have to see him to know he cracked a toothy grin at something only he could find funny.
"Ya know I try not to remember that gig." I pointed at the remains of my left ear. Even though he wasn't in the room he knew I was also giving him the finger.
A sharp crack of a round going off broke the revelry. I reached for my weapon when Jay called out "sorry sorry damn cat tried to jump at me...well what's left of it. I guess it's clear."
I let out an exasperated sigh "clear heard. I'm sure the whole neighborhood heard it." I was still rifling through miscellaneous shit hoping to find cash, drugs, hell I would have settled with a half smoked joint at this point just anything so we could get out. I gave up and moved to the kitchen knowing Jay had done the same routine in the other room. He was there already and had immediately went to the fridge.
"What the f*ck are you doing?" I said shaking my head
His head popped out long enough to shrug and go back to robbing the dead of their leftovers. "You never know where these typse of assholes hide their stash." At this point I was neck deep in a cupboard when I stumbled on a coffee can. Stranger shit has happened so I took the lid off and lo and behold a pound of Meth was staring me in the face.
"Oh shit." Being this far up north in a city of this size meant the street value alone was well into the tens of thousands. I replaced the lid and closed the cupboard and was met with the sight of Jay holding a jug of milk.
He took the lid off and gave it a whiff. "f*ck, I think this milk is bad." Without missing a beat he took a giant swig and spat it back out. "Oh dear God it is bad."
I couldn't believe my eyes. "How the f*ck did you even know that had milk in it? You could've just dosed yourself with enough of...f*cking anything!"
He gave me a blank stare that asked if I was retarded. "It says milk on it."
"And the f*cking coffee can says Folgers but it's full of meth you dumbass! You ready to brew up a potful of brain stew?!" I was ready to pop his head off like a roach.
Accepting defeat he put the jug back and settled for a bag of chips sitting on the counter next to him. When he opened it though it contained a plastic bag filled with money. "Because that's inconspicuous. By the way why isn't this place surrounded by cops.?"
My head was under the sink poking around "This is the badlands you know that. No cop worth his badge would come round here without an army to back him." A pipe went out of it's way to hit me on the head on my way out. "Besides It's also the midway point for the Big Family and the Henderson family. This is where war would break out and I wouldn't want to be the black and white to be caught in the middle of it."
I looked over and could see the disappointment that finding three pounds of marijuana in a pantry could do to a man as hungry as him. "Well I guess We've found enough for an honest day's pay. Ready to roll?"
As tempting as the offer sounded there was still one more thing I wanted to get. I left him to his quest for something to eat and tried to find a room that resembled something a pimp would call an office. The livingroom was the best bet and sure enough there was a little book on the coffee table. With a drop I plopped on the extraordinarly comfortable couch and flipped it open. Jay walked in with a sandwhich in hand
"what's that?"
The first name was a very important political figure in the community. "A little checkbook with enough steady pay to help our business
expand."
His eyes widened "Business is good."
A smile crept across my face "Business is about to be very good." I stuffed it into my jacket pocket and started looking around for anything interesting.
Jay picked up a slip of paper from a shelf and got a quizzical look on his face. "This guy paid three grand for that coffee table? Get this he also rented a ferrari for a day."
Taken aback I asked "How much did that shit run him?"
He looked at me with a dead serious face and silently mouthed "Five Grand!"
I almost couldn't believe it "What is that, receipts?"
He nodded and grabbed another one "Apparently he pays for his girls' doctor visits and std screenings."
I guffawed "A pimp who cares, thats rich." A little baggy on the table caught my attention and I leaned over and gave it a look. "Looks like some more weed. Write it down as personal take." Jay pulled out a ledger that had what we had recovered written on it and scribbled down a dimebag to keep personally.
With a flick of the wrist he signed his name and threw at me so I could do the same. Jay was shaking his head. "Be just like a mob boss to
keep records of business. At least he's smart enough to make any testimony we can make null."
I nodded and threw it back. "Alright let's grab the bags, and grab a bite."
With a hop and a skip we ran back to the car and grabbed the black duffel bags in the trunk. We brought our weapons back up as we reentered the building. Can never be too safe. I grabbed the meth and the cash while Jay loaded up the pot. One last sweep of the house to make sure there wasn't anything obvious and then on to the bodies. We donned blue latex gloves not to hide our fingerprints but to keep our hands clean. I opened up the pockets of our gutted friend and gagged on the smell of his opened entrails. Nobody ever glorifies this part of wet work. He had a couple of bills and a neat little gold pocket watch. Jay was working on the other one I killed while I checked on his first kill. I got a bit of brain stuck to my glove as I checked for any gold teeth, fillings, earings things that he wouldn't need anymore. Brain tends to stick like glue if you ignore it for long enough so I flicked it off like a booger and checked his pockets. No cash but a small brick of heroin that he was probably on his way to sell or shoot up.
Jay got done with the big guy with no dome. "Do you even want to check the Nekkid asshole himself?"
I pulled out the money from the wallet of Jay's last kill and looked over at the bloodied mess that used to be Bucktooth Nekkid. "Anything on his person is fucked but we still have to check for gold teeth."
Jay let out an exasperated "f*ck." and pulled the pliers out of a side pouch on his duffel bag. I propped his jaw open and saw a shining molar in the back of his mouth. "Shit I guess it's our lucky day."
With a few failed attempts we realized we'd have to break his jaw to get a good enough grip to pull it out. I put towels over my hands so his teeth wouldn't dig into my hands and pulled with all my might. With a sickening pop and crunch his lower jaw came loose, with a sound like ripping paper his cheeks ripped open, and with one final push his lower jaw practically broke off and was hanging by a piece of skin and his tongue. "f*ck I hate doing that." and on that note I excused myself for the last part of this butcher show.
Apparently there were several gold teeth in his mouth from the sounds of cracking and a sick sucking noise of his teeth being pulled. I handed Jay a small plastic ziplock bag and walked out the door with my bag on a single strap around my torso. I threw it in the trunk and settled back into the passenger seat. I looked down and realized I forgot to take my gloves off. With a "Goddamnit." I pulled them off and tossed them out of the window. There was a thump from the back of the car and a slam of the trunk. Jay slunk into his seat and we sat there for a minute.
I looked over at him "Did you remember to turn the stove on?"
He nodded and started to silently count to himself. After 31 seconds the place burst into flames from a gas explosion. I was holding my ears and everything was ringing. "A little warning next time ass! This ain't a movie that shit is loud enough to rupture eardrums."
I could tell I didn't get to him because he was giggling maniacly. He turned the car on and put it into drive. "I don't know about you but I'm hungry."
As angry as I was with him he had a point. We pulled into the exit and waited to see if we could just cross the road to the diner. I looked up and saw that the open sign wasn't flashing. "Aw shit I guess they locked up as soon as they heard gunfire."
With the look of a man possessed he pulled across the road and began tearing ass to the nearest fast food place. We waited in line and ordered the biggest, unhealthiest thing they had. The guy in the window looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here. "That'll be fourteen thirty six." Jay pulled out a still bloody twenty from his pocket and handed it to the poor kid. "Keep the change we're in a hurry." We grabbed our food and headed back to the main office.
As we pulled into the parking lot we noticed the place was packed. I leaned back in thought. "Don't we get truck deliveries on Sunday?"
He looked at me and said "No we get them on Monday."
"Shit...We're not bloody but it looks suspicious as hell if two stone cold killers walked through the front door with giant duffel bags that reek of blood and weed and went straight to the back of the resturaunt." I rubbed my chin and looked around. "How many of the cooks are in the know?"
His head was leaning against the steering wheel. "All but the prep cook but he's usually off by now so we should be good to use the back door."
With a sigh I said "f*ck it." and hopped out of the car. My hand was still sore from the shotgun and smarted as I picked up the bag. We snuck around the side and up to the only door on this side of the building. We kept our hands on our sidearms in case any junkie thought that tonight was his lucky night. My partner in crime beat three times on the door.
I could hear the shuffling of feet and a nazaly voice rang out. "What's the password."
Not being in the mood for Joe's shit I yelled out. "Tonight's special, Joe's balls cooked to order."
The door cracked open. "Ya know you guys aren't as fun as the other guys were."
Jay drew his weapon and put the muzzle between Joe's eyes. "We're on the clock asshole, move it."
Joe giggled "I thought that was the spic's schtick."
The door swung open and we made a bee-line for the basement. Chris was sitting at his desk on the phone with somebody who had pissed him off.
"I don't believe you get what I'm telling you. The Big family can give you protection, but with my services you get protection and a weapon. I have two of the best guys who can make any problem disappear whether you want it done discreetly or to send a message." He looked at us with a beet red face and mouthed "These f*cking idiots."
He motioned us over to take a seat in front of his desk. "No..no no no. We don't threaten like the Big Family does. We want a peaceful resolution so we can trust each other. All you have to do is give the runner I send out a symbol of trust so we understand each other. No we're not soft we just prefer things go smoothly. Ok well I hope to hear from you in the morning. Ok bye." He hung up the phone, sighed deeply, and pulled a bottle from under his desk with three glasses.
"Have you boys clocked out yet?" We shook our heads and he motioned to the punch cards on the wall. We punched our cards out and sat back down in front of his desk.
"So I trust it was a good take today?" Staying in character for dry business I put on a mean face while Jay did the talking. "Very good several pounds of low grade Marijuana. It won't fetch a huge price but it will be fast money. A pound of Meth, I can't tell it's purity but I don't imagine the junkies in the east side will complain since it'll keep the meth operation afloat for at least a few more months." Chris was starting to crack a smile which meant a larger cut than ten percent of the hit if we kept talking the job up.
"A few bags filled with what looks like fifty grand in cash so we double our profits from this job off of that alone. And a black book with important names we can blackmail." Chris looked like he was about to kiss us but to the normal person he was only cracking a half smile.
"Anything from bodies?"
Jay looked at the ledger. "Nothing substantial, a few hundred bucks minus 20 for a snack and a few assorted gold items and a couple of ounces of heroin we can pawn off to the local triad chapter."
Chris suddenly looked concerned. "Not even the Triads are in the Heroin gig. The Big Family doesn't deal in drugs either. Who brought heroin into the city...Let me see that brick." I pulled it out from my bag and handed it to Chris. He looked it over and looked puzzled. "No markings, nothing to say of it's origin. We'll hold onto it in case any more like it pop up. Ok other than that was there any personal take besides the 20 bucks?"
Jay flipped open the ledger again "Steve here put claim on a dimebag and I signed to corroberate that it wasn't stolen from the company, waiting for your approval."
Chris waved it off as insubstantial. "Well job well done go out wind down, f*ck something, drink yourselves to death, just be ready to roll early in the morning. It's going to be a long day trying to hawk all this crap off." He poured a drink for each of us, we toasted to good health, guzzled it down, and got up to leave. "Also." We turned to look at Chris. "Upping your take to twenty percent. Misty will have your money on the way out." We nodded our thanks and went to the gun lockers.
I put my shotgun in a bag so I could take it home and clean it and Jay did the same. "Whatcha off to do Jay?"
He took off his jacket and started taking his plate carrier off. "I don't know what time is it?"
I turned my phone on "It's 8:35 in the evening."
He looked around as he put his streets on. "I guess I'll head over to the local dive and catch a ballgame. You?"
I thought long and hard. "Get stoned, watch a bad movie." He nodded his approval and we both got up and left at the same time. The soreness of getting into a gunfight caught up to us on the way up the stairs. We popped out into a full resturaunt but an empty bar. Misty called Chris to see how much she was supposed to give us. She nodded, hung up the phone, and counted out four grand apiece. "Here you go boys, don't spend it in one place." We nodded our thanks, accepted the envelopes and walked out going opposite directions.
Pimps, Money, Bad Milk
"The reason we choose to run our business out of a resturaunt is simple. We are civilized people conducting civilized business. Why not do it in the pinnacle of civilized life. Being able to eat without worry of where our next kill is going to be or where the next berry is. Everything right here, for the right price. Are you paying attention?"
Chris was a man who made up in his lack of stature with his menace. His face cut a serious tone even in merry settings. Business goes on as he always says.
He drew his hand back and slapped the poor kid in the chair across the mouth. His face was bruised and bloodied as was Chris' hand but that was the price of discipline. He motioned over to the man known as bluejay. He was pushing six foot 5 and had arms that would make an oraguntan feel out of place. With a skill that demonstrates hours of practice in his mother's bathroom mirror, he pulled a 1911 out of his jacket. With a flick of the wrist the grip of the weapon was facing me. I was a large mexican who went by the simple monicker of Steve. The weight of it felt good in the hands. Nobody appreciates the power that .45 acp gives you that other pistol calibers fail at achieving.
I took a long drag of my cigarette and pulled the slide back just a hair. I was met with the pitch black of an empty chamber. I could see brass in the magazine so I knew that I wasn't completely defenseless.
Chris finished wrapping his hand in a bandage and turned his head to look at our blindfolded companion. "That is why we don't beat bums to death with a baseball bat over a teenth of meth!"
That was my cue to pull the hammer back. He jumped at the loud click in the silent room. "Because then they will treat us like savages who have to kill to get that piece of what they need! We treat them like humans, they can be dealt with like humans, treat them like carrion and they will pick you and your corner crews apart."
A gentle press of the muzzle against the temple. I can see sweat beading on his brow and upper lip. Goddamnit he's just a kid. "And when my men start to act like animals I put them down like animals!" A few moments before the final act. A few final moments to drive in the doubt as to whether or not his life is forfeit. A few painfully long moments.
As if God himself was striking the hammer against the pin, the sound rocked his ears. He began to soil himself, the noise that came out of his mouth started out as a frightened gasp but ended like the moan of a lover in climax. Chris was staring a hole into this poor guy. Bluejay couldn't even look me in the eye. I rocked the slide and let a round go into the chamber.He began stammering, crying, and pleading for his life. To be shown mercy and then have it ripped away was worse than if we had just killed him. "You ever cross our clients again, if you ever get another kid killed because some bum wanted revenge for his friend, if you ever lose this company business again, I will feed you to them alive and cooked rare."
I pulled the trigger twice expecting the room to go quiet and my ears to ring. The smell of gunpowder filled the room. There was a scorch on his nose from the muzzle going off too close to his face but other than that he was fine. He began sobbing like a toddler, mumbling comforts to himself, and drooling all over my good rope.
Chris turned around and went back to his desk. I gave the gun back to Bluejay even though he has 6 more tucked on his person at any given moment. He was very proud of that fact. Jay grabbed the chair and began dragging it upstairs. Its' current occupant was still sobbing and processing what had just happened to him. It was Sunday so the resturaunt was empty seeing as how it doesn't usually fill up till around four. I pulled the knot apart and let him free. He was still frozen to the chair so Jay gave him a reassuring slap on the back of the head. In a single motion the kid pulled off his blindfold and ran like hell out the door. I looked at Jay and nodded at the bar. He silently agreed and we took our designated spots at the end nearest the exit.
The bartender was an old southern bell named misty, who had come north with her husband for some business deal that fell through when the FBI sniffed out that it was a mob contract. She had become friends with Chris after they tried to hunt her down so she couldn't air out the big family's dirty laundry. The enemy of my enemy. She set out two big fat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and two glasses of cold milk. It was lunchtime in the Henderson's Southern Grill. Jay tried talking with a full mouth
"So what's next on our agenda?" Misty frowned at him and went to slap his wrist.
"Some guy by the name of Bucktooth nekkid. Some crackwhore peddling shit who tried to get the wrong girl into his circle." I said looking over the paper we found on the bar.
Jay swallowed the moutful of milk he had "Any side ventures of his we can immediately profit on?"
I took a sip of my drink "Looks like low end controlled substances, weed, fake ecstasy, the usual shit. However he makes a healthy living off of porno."
Jay looked at me sideways "No shit?"
I nodded "Which means he probably has a neat little black book of people who probably don't want to be associated with a pedophillic, drug pushing, pimp."
We paid Misty and scarfed down our sandwiches as we headed downstairs. We came out of the staircase and took a left down a hallway that looked like it had played part in a slasher movie. The walk in freezer for the bar was at the end, we opened it and navigated the boxes of booze until we were facing the wall. With a gentle nudge the false wall opened up like double doors that could only be unlocked from the bar. Inside was a room filled with enough weapons to get the retarded redneck in anybody excited. It wasn't the flourescent walls and shiny surfaces of a bad mobster movie but it was still a sight to behold. I walked over to the locker that had my name on it, used my key to open it, and stared in deep thougtht. I decided on the mossberg 500 with a birdhead stock and twelve inch barrel on a one point sling. Jay grabbed his Vector, folded the stock, and began putting magazines in the pouches of a jacket with magazine pouches sewn into the inside. With a two point sling he pulled it behind him ready to be grabbed with his left hand and swung around. I put my shells in a carrier that looked like a drop leg camera pouch. I swung the shotgun around so it was inside my jacket. Loaded and armed we left out the front door.
Jay hopped into the driver seat while I settled into the passenger seat. While we were sailing down the road I looked over the job one more time.
Jay glanced at me "So where is this place at?"
I plugged the address into my phone. "It looks like its right across the road from that canadian diner."
His face lit up "that place with the bitching poutine?"
I nodded and looked at him "Know where that is?"
In answer he accelerated to unsafe speeds. Everytime we go on a hit I overthink the whole thing. This man's life is worth forty thousand dollars plus whatever we make off of robbing his place. I'm sure if we asked him what he thought he'd put a much steeper price on his own head. Or he will be amazed at the idea that somebody would even pay to end his life. I can never tell with these hood types.
We passed the building at a crawl to get a feel for the place. As we did the thug that was sitting on the stairs to the entrance flashed his piece at us. "Beretta nine mil. I didn't know thugs these days carried women's guns."
I chuckled and pointed out the nearest parking lot. One last glance at the entrance gave me an idea. "Hey jay, follow my lead."
He made sure his gear was in check before cracking a toothy grin. "You were always better at wet business Steve."
He was of course referring to how I was always the calm one when the bullets began to fly. He was the calm one when it was time to sit down for a non-violent conversation. It was an odd pair to say the least.
Making myself as noticable as possible, I made a wide arc around and up the staircase so as not to surprise our new friend. I put my arm around his shoulders. "Hey I was just wondering do you ever wonder if you'll accidently shoot your pecker off?"
His face twisted into a questioning expression that not even an ape could read. Before he could retaliate with gibberish BlueJay swept from behind, grabbed his gun and pulled the trigger. His shorts puffed out and fell back into shape as he fell over screaming. We drew our weapons and stacked against the door. I had my shotgun pointed at the doorknob ready to breech on Jay's go. Time slowed and I felt his hand pat my shoulder twice. The slide racked, sent a shell home, and the trigger sent double oh buckshot screaming out of the barrel. The blast blew apart the lock holding the door in place and a kick sent the door flying open. I dropped as rounds began flying through the open door screaming for vengeance. Jay unloaded a magazine into the doorway killing the first thug.
"Splash 1, count 5."
"Splash 1, count 5, heard." Taking point I rounded the corner, muzzle at hip height so I don't punch myself in the nose with the weapon.
We turned left at the first room because the other two doors would have left our back exposed to an open room. The first one popped out from behind a sofa brandishing a double barrel. The length of the weapon made it too slow to draw a bead and I blew his guts out. His pal tried to come up from behind but as soon as his head cleared the doorway Jay put two rounds in his temple. We both moved to our respective sides of the room making the muzzles of our weapons go over every hiding spot the room had to offer.
"Splash 3, count 3."
"Splash 3, count 3, heard." Jay took point and was about to go out the door when a large individual barreled through him and began to try and fight him on the ground. I kicked him off, and blew his head off. His buddy was standing at the door and took a shot at me. It hit me in the back and laid me out. Jay put a burst into his leg and shot him in the chest when he dropped. My plate carrier stopped the round but it still rocked my lungs.
"Splash...shit...splash 5, count VIP."
Jay was still watching the door "Splash 5, count VIP, heard."
"Are you mother fuckers done killing my friends?!" judging by the lack of proper pronunciation in his voice I assumed that this was our appreciative host.
Jay was seeing red so it was up to me to reply. "Well if they hadn't of been here we coulda just walked out of here one big happy bunch of friends--"
A kalashnikov barked in the next room and sent rounds flying through the wall. "Who the f*ck sent you?!"
I was beginning to get pissed "Why are you so curious if you're so willing to kill us?"
We were on the floor in silence as the dust settled. "You here to kill me?"
I looked at my partner with a look that screamed 'no shit' "No Mr. Nekkid we're here to offer you protection from some very pissed off people." Jay was trying not to laugh his ass off.
More silence and then we heard the shuffling of feet and the bucktooth bastard himself was standing at the door. "You boys promise you ain't here to kill me?"
My finger slipped into the trigger well "Of course we're not here to kill--" We both unloaded our weapons until he was nothing but a bloody mess filled with holes.
We laid in silence waiting to see if there was anybody else in the place. Jay was the first up with his weapon never leaving the doorway.
"Splash all, Vip down, sweep and move."
"Splash splash, sweep and move heard." I sat up, took off my glasses, and started to wipe the blood off. "Well that went smoother than the last time we breached a building outnumbered." With a quick jump I was on my feet and moved over to the nearest thing that looked like it might have something profitable in it.
Jay was slowly moving through the rest of the building, checking for booby traps or a hidden gunman. "Yeah well last time we had forgotten to bring extra ammo remember?" I didn't have to see him to know he cracked a toothy grin at something only he could find funny.
"Ya know I try not to remember that gig." I pointed at the remains of my left ear. Even though he wasn't in the room he knew I was also giving him the finger.
A sharp crack of a round going off broke the revelry. I reached for my weapon when Jay called out "sorry sorry damn cat tried to jump at me...well what's left of it. I guess it's clear."
I let out an exasperated sigh "clear heard. I'm sure the whole neighborhood heard it." I was still rifling through miscellaneous shit hoping to find cash, drugs, hell I would have settled with a half smoked joint at this point just anything so we could get out. I gave up and moved to the kitchen knowing Jay had done the same routine in the other room. He was there already and had immediately went to the fridge.
"What the f*ck are you doing?" I said shaking my head
His head popped out long enough to shrug and go back to robbing the dead of their leftovers. "You never know where these typse of assholes hide their stash." At this point I was neck deep in a cupboard when I stumbled on a coffee can. Stranger shit has happened so I took the lid off and lo and behold a pound of Meth was staring me in the face.
"Oh shit." Being this far up north in a city of this size meant the street value alone was well into the tens of thousands. I replaced the lid and closed the cupboard and was met with the sight of Jay holding a jug of milk.
He took the lid off and gave it a whiff. "f*ck, I think this milk is bad." Without missing a beat he took a giant swig and spat it back out. "Oh dear God it is bad."
I couldn't believe my eyes. "How the f*ck did you even know that had milk in it? You could've just dosed yourself with enough of...f*cking anything!"
He gave me a blank stare that asked if I was retarded. "It says milk on it."
"And the f*cking coffee can says Folgers but it's full of meth you dumbass! You ready to brew up a potful of brain stew?!" I was ready to pop his head off like a roach.
Accepting defeat he put the jug back and settled for a bag of chips sitting on the counter next to him. When he opened it though it contained a plastic bag filled with money. "Because that's inconspicuous. By the way why isn't this place surrounded by cops.?"
My head was under the sink poking around "This is the badlands you know that. No cop worth his badge would come round here without an army to back him." A pipe went out of it's way to hit me on the head on my way out. "Besides It's also the midway point for the Big Family and the Henderson family. This is where war would break out and I wouldn't want to be the black and white to be caught in the middle of it."
I looked over and could see the disappointment that finding three pounds of marijuana in a pantry could do to a man as hungry as him. "Well I guess We've found enough for an honest day's pay. Ready to roll?"
As tempting as the offer sounded there was still one more thing I wanted to get. I left him to his quest for something to eat and tried to find a room that resembled something a pimp would call an office. The livingroom was the best bet and sure enough there was a little book on the coffee table. With a drop I plopped on the extraordinarly comfortable couch and flipped it open. Jay walked in with a sandwhich in hand
"what's that?"
The first name was a very important political figure in the community. "A little checkbook with enough steady pay to help our business
expand."
His eyes widened "Business is good."
A smile crept across my face "Business is about to be very good." I stuffed it into my jacket pocket and started looking around for anything interesting.
Jay picked up a slip of paper from a shelf and got a quizzical look on his face. "This guy paid three grand for that coffee table? Get this he also rented a ferrari for a day."
Taken aback I asked "How much did that shit run him?"
He looked at me with a dead serious face and silently mouthed "Five Grand!"
I almost couldn't believe it "What is that, receipts?"
He nodded and grabbed another one "Apparently he pays for his girls' doctor visits and std screenings."
I guffawed "A pimp who cares, thats rich." A little baggy on the table caught my attention and I leaned over and gave it a look. "Looks like some more weed. Write it down as personal take." Jay pulled out a ledger that had what we had recovered written on it and scribbled down a dimebag to keep personally.
With a flick of the wrist he signed his name and threw at me so I could do the same. Jay was shaking his head. "Be just like a mob boss to
keep records of business. At least he's smart enough to make any testimony we can make null."
I nodded and threw it back. "Alright let's grab the bags, and grab a bite."
With a hop and a skip we ran back to the car and grabbed the black duffel bags in the trunk. We brought our weapons back up as we reentered the building. Can never be too safe. I grabbed the meth and the cash while Jay loaded up the pot. One last sweep of the house to make sure there wasn't anything obvious and then on to the bodies. We donned blue latex gloves not to hide our fingerprints but to keep our hands clean. I opened up the pockets of our gutted friend and gagged on the smell of his opened entrails. Nobody ever glorifies this part of wet work. He had a couple of bills and a neat little gold pocket watch. Jay was working on the other one I killed while I checked on his first kill. I got a bit of brain stuck to my glove as I checked for any gold teeth, fillings, earings things that he wouldn't need anymore. Brain tends to stick like glue if you ignore it for long enough so I flicked it off like a booger and checked his pockets. No cash but a small brick of heroin that he was probably on his way to sell or shoot up.
Jay got done with the big guy with no dome. "Do you even want to check the Nekkid asshole himself?"
I pulled out the money from the wallet of Jay's last kill and looked over at the bloodied mess that used to be Bucktooth Nekkid. "Anything on his person is fucked but we still have to check for gold teeth."
Jay let out an exasperated "f*ck." and pulled the pliers out of a side pouch on his duffel bag. I propped his jaw open and saw a shining molar in the back of his mouth. "Shit I guess it's our lucky day."
With a few failed attempts we realized we'd have to break his jaw to get a good enough grip to pull it out. I put towels over my hands so his teeth wouldn't dig into my hands and pulled with all my might. With a sickening pop and crunch his lower jaw came loose, with a sound like ripping paper his cheeks ripped open, and with one final push his lower jaw practically broke off and was hanging by a piece of skin and his tongue. "f*ck I hate doing that." and on that note I excused myself for the last part of this butcher show.
Apparently there were several gold teeth in his mouth from the sounds of cracking and a sick sucking noise of his teeth being pulled. I handed Jay a small plastic ziplock bag and walked out the door with my bag on a single strap around my torso. I threw it in the trunk and settled back into the passenger seat. I looked down and realized I forgot to take my gloves off. With a "Goddamnit." I pulled them off and tossed them out of the window. There was a thump from the back of the car and a slam of the trunk. Jay slunk into his seat and we sat there for a minute.
I looked over at him "Did you remember to turn the stove on?"
He nodded and started to silently count to himself. After 31 seconds the place burst into flames from a gas explosion. I was holding my ears and everything was ringing. "A little warning next time ass! This ain't a movie that shit is loud enough to rupture eardrums."
I could tell I didn't get to him because he was giggling maniacly. He turned the car on and put it into drive. "I don't know about you but I'm hungry."
As angry as I was with him he had a point. We pulled into the exit and waited to see if we could just cross the road to the diner. I looked up and saw that the open sign wasn't flashing. "Aw shit I guess they locked up as soon as they heard gunfire."
With the look of a man possessed he pulled across the road and began tearing ass to the nearest fast food place. We waited in line and ordered the biggest, unhealthiest thing they had. The guy in the window looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here. "That'll be fourteen thirty six." Jay pulled out a still bloody twenty from his pocket and handed it to the poor kid. "Keep the change we're in a hurry." We grabbed our food and headed back to the main office.
As we pulled into the parking lot we noticed the place was packed. I leaned back in thought. "Don't we get truck deliveries on Sunday?"
He looked at me and said "No we get them on Monday."
"Shit...We're not bloody but it looks suspicious as hell if two stone cold killers walked through the front door with giant duffel bags that reek of blood and weed and went straight to the back of the resturaunt." I rubbed my chin and looked around. "How many of the cooks are in the know?"
His head was leaning against the steering wheel. "All but the prep cook but he's usually off by now so we should be good to use the back door."
With a sigh I said "f*ck it." and hopped out of the car. My hand was still sore from the shotgun and smarted as I picked up the bag. We snuck around the side and up to the only door on this side of the building. We kept our hands on our sidearms in case any junkie thought that tonight was his lucky night. My partner in crime beat three times on the door.
I could hear the shuffling of feet and a nazaly voice rang out. "What's the password."
Not being in the mood for Joe's shit I yelled out. "Tonight's special, Joe's balls cooked to order."
The door cracked open. "Ya know you guys aren't as fun as the other guys were."
Jay drew his weapon and put the muzzle between Joe's eyes. "We're on the clock asshole, move it."
Joe giggled "I thought that was the spic's schtick."
The door swung open and we made a bee-line for the basement. Chris was sitting at his desk on the phone with somebody who had pissed him off.
"I don't believe you get what I'm telling you. The Big family can give you protection, but with my services you get protection and a weapon. I have two of the best guys who can make any problem disappear whether you want it done discreetly or to send a message." He looked at us with a beet red face and mouthed "These f*cking idiots."
He motioned us over to take a seat in front of his desk. "No..no no no. We don't threaten like the Big Family does. We want a peaceful resolution so we can trust each other. All you have to do is give the runner I send out a symbol of trust so we understand each other. No we're not soft we just prefer things go smoothly. Ok well I hope to hear from you in the morning. Ok bye." He hung up the phone, sighed deeply, and pulled a bottle from under his desk with three glasses.
"Have you boys clocked out yet?" We shook our heads and he motioned to the punch cards on the wall. We punched our cards out and sat back down in front of his desk.
"So I trust it was a good take today?" Staying in character for dry business I put on a mean face while Jay did the talking. "Very good several pounds of low grade Marijuana. It won't fetch a huge price but it will be fast money. A pound of Meth, I can't tell it's purity but I don't imagine the junkies in the east side will complain since it'll keep the meth operation afloat for at least a few more months." Chris was starting to crack a smile which meant a larger cut than ten percent of the hit if we kept talking the job up.
"A few bags filled with what looks like fifty grand in cash so we double our profits from this job off of that alone. And a black book with important names we can blackmail." Chris looked like he was about to kiss us but to the normal person he was only cracking a half smile.
"Anything from bodies?"
Jay looked at the ledger. "Nothing substantial, a few hundred bucks minus 20 for a snack and a few assorted gold items and a couple of ounces of heroin we can pawn off to the local triad chapter."
Chris suddenly looked concerned. "Not even the Triads are in the Heroin gig. The Big Family doesn't deal in drugs either. Who brought heroin into the city...Let me see that brick." I pulled it out from my bag and handed it to Chris. He looked it over and looked puzzled. "No markings, nothing to say of it's origin. We'll hold onto it in case any more like it pop up. Ok other than that was there any personal take besides the 20 bucks?"
Jay flipped open the ledger again "Steve here put claim on a dimebag and I signed to corroberate that it wasn't stolen from the company, waiting for your approval."
Chris waved it off as insubstantial. "Well job well done go out wind down, f*ck something, drink yourselves to death, just be ready to roll early in the morning. It's going to be a long day trying to hawk all this crap off." He poured a drink for each of us, we toasted to good health, guzzled it down, and got up to leave. "Also." We turned to look at Chris. "Upping your take to twenty percent. Misty will have your money on the way out." We nodded our thanks and went to the gun lockers.
I put my shotgun in a bag so I could take it home and clean it and Jay did the same. "Whatcha off to do Jay?"
He took off his jacket and started taking his plate carrier off. "I don't know what time is it?"
I turned my phone on "It's 8:35 in the evening."
He looked around as he put his streets on. "I guess I'll head over to the local dive and catch a ballgame. You?"
I thought long and hard. "Get stoned, watch a bad movie." He nodded his approval and we both got up and left at the same time. The soreness of getting into a gunfight caught up to us on the way up the stairs. We popped out into a full resturaunt but an empty bar. Misty called Chris to see how much she was supposed to give us. She nodded, hung up the phone, and counted out four grand apiece. "Here you go boys, don't spend it in one place." We nodded our thanks, accepted the envelopes and walked out going opposite directions.