Spicy Sugar

Old Habits Die hard

Zane's POV:

A house, a wife and a dog. Isn't that like the American dream or something? Lately I have been coming really close to that.

Okay calling a hotel room above my workplace a house might be a bit exaggerated. And calling Briar my wife might also be a bit hasty. Especially since she apparently was promised to another man. But hey, I got the dog part down. That counts for something, right? Wisapa also started to put on some weight. He almost starts to look less like a wimp now that he gets proper food and exercise.

Life could be so perfect right now. Emphasis on 'could be'.

Right now, I was leaning against the wall in my shady little apartment in Depravity Alley. Briar was laying on my bed with a fresh scar on her temple. Wisapa was resting in Ro's lap. To say I'm furious would be an understatement.

The day started out well. We were just coming here, so I could pick up my last remaining possessions from the apartment. Briar was supposed to wait outside in the car. At some point I heard the very distinct sound of her Porsche speeding off. I knew right away something was wrong, so I rushed out. And, true to my expectations, I found her laying on the floor besides Wisapa. Ro was rushing over to help her too. So I carried Briar back up here. 

Taking a long breath, I turned to Ro, "I don't know what kind of magic trick you used to heal her. And quite frankly, I don't care. Thank you."

"No big deal really. No point in having healing powers if you don't use them to help. I'm just glad she's fine now, and the baby is alright." she answered while patting Wisapa.

"Yeah. If anything had happened to the three of them..." my voice trailed off.

"Nothing did happen, it's all alright." Ro tried to calm me, but that hardly worked.

"Did you see what happened?" I addressed her again.

"Not in detail, no. I just saw two black guys get in the car. Rastas I think. Their gang grew quite a bit here lately." she explained.

"Any details about the men?" 

"Not really no. Actually one thing. The taller one seemed to have an injured knee."

I closed my eyes to think. Anyone could have attacked her. I mean, she was sitting in an expensive car in the worst part of town and that on her own. A Rasta with an injured knee, though. Could that have been Sledge again? I haven't seen him in a while.

"Any idea where they could be off to?" 

"Well, they stole a car. So I guess a chop shop. I can give a call and tell them to inform me if they show up. I know all the good ones around." she offered.

With a simple nod I walked over to my packed bag to spill the contents on the couch. There was no need for clothes in there right now. Instead, I began packing for a different purpose. The first thing I pulled out was an old sawn off I had lying around, along with the ammunition for it. The sledgehammer and the baseball bat might come in handy too.  I also packed most of my knifes and a few spare gas grenades I had.

The ruckus of me gearing up and Ro talking on the phone seemed to wake Briar up because she weakly spoke up, "Spicy? ... What ... What are you doing?"

I turned quickly and got to the bed to sit with her, "Glad you're awake, Sugar. Does it hurt bad?"

She shook her head and looked over at the bag, "What are you doing? You promised me."

"This is no job, Sugar. This is something personal. I need you to tell me all you remember about what they did to you and what they looked like." I explained and took her hand.