"Oh, look who decided to show up? The fucking garter," Talon greets with a sour tone.
He interrupted my workout with one of his moods that I've become accustomed to. He's had thousands of moods in the years that I've known him, so I don't lose a breath over this one. I start back with my reps, after turning my music down a little to hear his many more complaints.
"Where the fuck you been, man?" he continues.
"I've been here," I answer, nonchalantly, not giving him my full attention. I don't even know what he's upset about. For all I know, he could be upset because I haven't got him food recently.
"No, you haven't, cause if you were here then you would've saw the boss!" he continues, genuinely upset. "He was looking for you and when he couldn't find you...let's say he wasn't too happy."
I stop working out at those words before sitting up, sweat dripping ferociously down my abdomen. Talon seems satisfied at fully getting my attention, but the look is gone as quick as it came. His expression is hard and shows no signs of giving way.
"What'd he want?" I ask, breaking the cruel silence.
I stand up from the bench, instead moving around to put away the items I brung out and my shirt that got taken off in the process.
Talon is undeniably pissed, and my acting careless isn't making the sour mood any better- I know that. But I don't give too many fucks about what the "big man" wanted and why he was here. He can kiss my ass and kill himself. Everyone in our line of business knows that I don't fear the man like they do. I don't listen to his every command, blindly. I ask questions, and if his reasons are shit then I'll tell him that. It's a wonder that he hasn't tried to put me six feet deep in the ground.
I look back to Talon who has his arms crossed and a rigid stance to match.
"Well?"
"A job. Some big move that could've got us a lot of money and a raise on our status. You know not too many people know or care about us."
My look becomes a stare as I try to figure out my friend. He doesn't care about status- and it's the same for me. We despise people who do weird shit to climb up the social ladder. We humble them, but never do we envy them.
"Who sucked you wrong?" I ask, my tone monotonous. Despite the tone, I'm genuinely curious and a little worried about what's wrong with him. Yes, Talon has had his various moods, but he's rarely so pissed at me.
My question gets left unanswered. Talon turns around without a word and walks away in silence. I drop the weights that I picked up, and follow after him while simultaneously trying to put on my shirt. He's halfway out of the door when I see him. Calling out to him was useless as he glares at me and leaves. After that, I stop trying to follow him. There's no need for me to get a bullet in my shoulder because I couldn't leave him alone.
I turn back around and head to one of the only people who doesn't care about telling people's business. If he wasn't so loyal to the gang, I'd take him for a snitch. I head to the gambling table to see him sitting directly in the middle. There's a game going on, but my patience hasn't always been great. I slam my hand on the table once I reach it, and plaster a calm smile on my face.
"I win. Now leave. Javier stay."
No one wastes a second- they're out of their seats and gone, leaving their earnings in a heartbeat.
Javier looks around before settling his eyes on me. "Wanna sit? Might as well, since you scared my banks away."
"No."
"Alright," he sweeps in his earnings, pocketing them, then gives me his attention. "What do you want?"
"Ambino was here," I state.
"He was..." Javier leans back in his seat, crossing his arms- but not defensively. He's getting comfortable.
I wait for him to continue, but he says nothing else. He does this. Milk you of your information first, and if you want something from him? There's almost always a catch. He's good for his information, and he knows it.
He knows I'm losing more of the patience that's already worn thin. A sly smile forms, and he offers for me to sit again.
"Sit, Malik. I know what you're wondering. I can tell you, but then you'd have to do a favor for me."
I smile at that, causing Javier's smile to widen. I pull my gun from the waistband of my joggers, and point it straight at him. Javier drops his smile, instantly, his hands going up in defense. I tilt my head in mock confusion, worrying him more.
"What?" I ask, in what seems to be confusion. "I pay favors back in blood. That won't be a problem, right?"
Javier lowers his arms, "forget the favor. So where were we?"
"Ambino."
"Right," he tries to offer me a seat, again, but I stay standing. My gun is lowered, but it's still gripped in my hand in case he decides to keep testing how patient I can be. I don't mind watching him bleed all over the table. Maybe one of the guys will feel bad enough and patch him up. Or something. "He was here."
I say nothing.
"Doing his random check in- you know the ones that we never know about- and he shit on us as usual. Bunch of bull, really."
He takes a moment to pick at his nails, and when he peeks up at me, I remain stone-faced. It looks like he accepts the fact that he won't be getting a word out of me, until he finishes telling me everything. A nod to himself later, and he's back at it.
"Everyone was there, surprisingly, and he was checking for you. Realized you weren't here, and got pissed about it. The first one he went to was Talon. That's your sidekick, yeah? Anyway, he said he didn't know. He asked us next, and we didn't know either."
"Then what?" I say, my tone hinting at the underlying anger that's starting to build up. I have a feeling about what happened, but if Javier speaks those words...it won't be pretty. For any of them.
"He went back to Talon and said, where's my dog that you're supposed to keep a leash on? Talon boy must've felt bold. He basically told boss to fuck himself, and obviously he didn't like that. Long story short? Boss shot him in the stomach. Used Zyler's gun, I think."
"And then?" I know that isn't all.
"He made him stand there while telling us to try and get the bullet out with nothing but a knife."
That was it. That's the final nail that needed to hit the mark. I nod, slowly, trying not to unleash my anger too quickly. I set down my gun because I'd put a bullet in Javier's head if I didn't. Ambino must've grew a fucking pair if he did something like that. Got his own hands a little dirty, for once, and it's unfortunate that it's going to cost him.
No matter how I treat Talon- he's my brother in a best friend. I'd never speak those words out loud, but he knows it. And I know him. He's tough when he can be, but he's friendly. Even in this type of business. So, a bullet to the stomach and then letting your "associates" dig a knife through you? That had to hurt him. It probably hurt even more when I wasn't there to put Ambino in his fucking spot.
That's what's pissing me off even more. Since Talon and I met, he always relied on me. And I was always there- mostly because he never took a step away from me.
"Everyone here today?" I ask, Javier.
"Yeah, besides Talon...who just left."
"Call them."
"All of them?"
"All of them," I urge, before walking away to grab something.
Javier looks stumped as he gets up to gather everyone else. When he calls me back, I walk over with a neutral expression. It's no fun when I give everything away before I explain. I usher Javier to stand amongst them, since him even being close to me could set me off.
"Line up," I say, simply, not giving room for question.
Everyone in this room knows me. They know that when I even give them the time of day, I'm serious. More than usual. I give them all a little smile to ease the tension that's present in the air. I see shoulders slump in relief, and I drag a chair over to sit on.
"Any jobs today?" I ask, striking up conversation.
There were some head shakes, and I nod.
"How was the surprise visit yesterday?" I ask next.
No one says anything or does anything. They still, like they've been caught in the act. I guess they have been.
"You all had fun carving a bullet out of my friend, I assume?"
"Listen man-"
"I didn't ask for an answer."
Jayson falls silent, and it's deadly quiet in the room. The look of panic is casted on everyone's face, and I have no intention of comforting them. I lean over to grab my gun from the table, then pull the bladed knife from my pocket. I give them another smile, but this one wasn't to calm them. It was to let them know that I'm going to enjoy everything that happens in the next few minutes.
"I have a gun," I start off, holding it up, "and I have a knife. I'm going to shoot one of you- or maybe all of you- and you're going to carve the bullets out of each other. If you fail to do so by the time I get back...I'll kill you."
"You can't do that!" cries and shouts ring throughout the room, almost deafening my ears.
"The boss will deal with you," someone announces, thinking it'd have some effect on me. It just made me excited.
"Okay," I shrug, and lift my gun, "straight line."
No one moves. I shoot Jayson in the shoulder with no hesitation. His hurt cries bounce off the closed walls, his hand immediately going to clutch his shoulder.
"Now line up. I'm going to shoot you anyway, and don't make me chase you. That's another way to lose your life."
Javier steps up and I nod for his bravery, but he's still as retched as the rest of them. I scan his body before shooting him in his arm. Everyone follows behind me with nothing but fear in their eyes, wondering what part of them I'm going to choose. Some got it worse than others, but it's no fun if I keep choosing the arm or shoulder. The sound of my gun going off second after second made a consistent popping sound, and left a small screeching sound behind.
When I'm satisfied with the amount of blood pouring out of them, I lift the knife for show. "Carving time. And it's not even halloween."
No one found my sarcasm funny, but it was to humor myself anyway.
"There's only one knife. Which means while one person is getting their bullet carved out, the rest of you will be bleeding to death. So you better hope your friends move fast. I'll be gone for a little while. Have fun, okay?"
I throw the knife in front of them, and it doesn't take long for them to start diving for the knife. It's going to hurt like all hell to get it out, but it's better than bleeding to death. I tuck my gun and extra bullets into the waistband of my
pants before grabbing the keys to my car. I still have another person to visit.
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finallyyy, i updated! it's been a while, so i hope this chapter was good!
how do you feel about malik getting some type of revenge for talon? who do you think he's going to visit?
QOTD: favorite book?
my answer: The Maze Runner series
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