There's only two types of weather in Sin City, snow and rain. And tonight was a goddamn downpour. I take one last shot of scotch, pay my bill, tip Nancy a twenty, and head to the car in the near flooded streets. I rush to my Cadillac and hop inside. I open the glove box, grab my smokes, and light one up. I turn the ignition and start to drive home. I'm a good forty blocks away from Kadie's when I hear a woman's scream come from a nearby alley. I park right outside of it.
-"Go on in; break some faces, crack some skulls and save the girl."
-"Don't go in, just call the police. They'll handle it."
The two are at it again.
-"Oh yeah, they'll handle it, a fucking mess that is! You know the cops don't do jack shit in situations like this. Their either taking bribes or jerking each other off while they ponder the 'who done it'. Besides you want to go in there, I know you."
I knock back my meds to shut them both up. But Luke's right, I do want to. I grab the colt from the glove box and stuff both my smokes and piece into my coat pocket. I leave the engine running as I walk down the alley. Near the end, I see three thugs beating on a lone girl. The string bean notices me.
-"It would appear that our business has attracted an unwelcome visitor to this desolate and garbage-ridden alley, Mr. Shlubb."
-"Indeed, Mr. Klump."
The man holding the girl finally speaks plain English.
-"Look here pal, me and my buddies are just trying to do some business here. We're offering you five hundred if you just simply walk the other way."
-"Let me make a counter-proposal. How about you take that five hundred and shove it up Porky's ass. Leave her alone, this is the only warning you're getting."
The head honcho looks disappointed.
-"It would appear that no one ever wishes to acquire the currency that or employer is generously donating, Mr. Klump."
-"Agreeable, Mr. Shlubb. Could you dispatch this aggressor for the benefit of all of us?"
-"With pleasure, Mr. Klump."
I reach into my pocket as Porky draws nearer.
-"That insult was of pain and hate. Therefore, I reply with a powerful assault of fisticuffs."
He launches a hay maker at my head that I swiftly dodge. I pull out the gun, grab him from the back of his collar, pull him close and plugged him in the gullet. I pull him down and blow his brains out the back of his head. Without me noticing, the lanky bastard snuck up on me and quickly slashed my cheek with a stiletto. He tried for the stomach. I grab the knife an inch from my gut, turn it, and leave it in Twig's chest.
-"The pain! The agony! The unbridled tortu-"
I shove the gun in his mouth.
-"Oh, just shut the fuck up."
I pull the trigger twice and watch his body fall, without a twitch. I look up to see the boss holding the girl like a human shield at gunpoint.
-"Listen pal, nobody else needs to die in this piece-of-shit alley. Just drop the gun and we can all go home and send nobody else has to go to the morgue."
-"Just pull the trigger and put this bastard down!"
I thought the meds would hold the two off for a little while longer. Left the pills in the car so I have to listen to their drivel.
-"Don't shoot! Just put the gun down. You don't want to hurt the girl."
-"Fuck the girl! It's your life or a whore's. Which is it going to be?"
-"You can't do it! You would never live it down. I know you."I'm hesitant at first, but I go with Pete's decision and drop the gun. Luke's pissed.
-"Kick it towards me."
I do just that.
-"You think I'll just drop this like a two-bit thug? You killed two of my best men an I want payment... in blood!"
At this point, he turns the gun towards me and lets the cylinder on his revolver spin. I charge him. One lodges itself into my shoulder.
-"That's gonna fuckin' hurt later, heh heh heh."
The second misses my head. The third plants itself in my shin.
-"We'll, you'll be limping for a while."
The fourth grazes my leg, while the fifth hits the organ most important to me.
-"Liver, say goodbye to your drinking days."
The final piece of burning hot metal hits me square in the chest and I fall to my knee.
-"Left leg, missed by an inch."
I get back to my feet and walk up to the head honcho. His eyes are full of fear and he keeps pulling the trigger waiting for another bullet to come out. I get his arm off of her and she walks up to the wall and watches nervously. I take the gun from his hand and bash it into his head until it breaks into four. I finish him off by snapping his neck back and I watch has his red fluid washes down the storm drain. I turn to her, light another cigarette, give her a nod, and I begin to walk down the alley.
-"Five."
-"Four."
-"Three."
-"Two."
-"One."
I collapse and everything goes dark.
I wake up to find myself surrounded by beeping machines and rubber tubing put in my arms and legs. The hospital. It seems the good senator doesn't want his best doctor to cross to the other side. Thy won't the corrupt prick just let me die? All I see is Roarke passing by my doorway with a grin on his face and a wave before he vanishes into the crowds... bastard. I struggled to the front of the bed. I reach to grab the clipboard and see what treatments they are administering to me. I take a look at the damages and it shows that I'll be in this bed for another seven months. I'll just waste my time until old wounds heal.
Seven Months Later.
I get discharged and I see my Cadillac out front with a note in the windshield. I open the door and start reading.
"Dear Eli,
Pulled a few strings and got your caddy out of the impound lot. Hope you had a good recovery
Your friend,
Jeb"
Good ol' Jeb, should send him a bottle of stout from Kadie's after I visit the bar. I drive down to see Nancy in full swing and everyone's eyes are watching her. Four shot's of whiskey later, I pay for the drinks, buy Jeb his stout, tip Nancy a twenty, and I head out the door. I get my smokes out and try to light it, when a foreign lighter takes my cigarette to flames, and her face is too familiar.