Chapter 4 – Getting Off On The Wrong Foot
Huggy Brown, Esquire, sees the Gran Torino drive past the club, headed for his offices, and when the young ladies don't appear shortly he sends Turkey to collect them.
His cell phone rings, Turkey himself, and he feels a faint stirring of unease.
"Hey, Turk. What's up, my man? Aren't they there?"
"Oh, they's here, alright, three of 'em pretty as you please."
Three? Oh, yeah, there's the Hawaiian babe Grover's kid is sweet on.
"Then what's the problem? If they're all there, bring their asses back to the club."
"Can't."
"Why not?"
"'Cause two of 'em be facin' off in the street, pointin' purses at each other, an' the third one looks ready to faint dead away."
That would be Melanie. Gotta be a desk job for her.
"Shit, Turk! Get 'em outta there before they shoot each other." He grins. "An' don't tell 'em nothin', but the crazy bitches just got hired."
Amber drives the Torino the short distance to the bar, with Turkey in the shotgun seat holding two Glocks in his lap and giving her directions, while Mel and Gracie glare daggers at each other in the back.
"I can't believe you were ready to pull a gun over something so silly," Melanie mutters, and Gracie wants to slap her.
"I wasn't reaching for my gun, I was reaching for my phone, and Miss Rambo up there got the effing wrong idea." Her eyes narrow. "As for you implying I was a whore, sorry if I don't find that as silly as you do."
"I've already apologized for that. And the way you're dressed is not proper attire for a job interview, so forgive the fuck out of me for jumping to a logical conclusion!"
"I was told to dress casual," Gracie retorts, her scornful gaze raking over the other girl's modest attire. "Not like some wannabe librarian."
Turkey glares at them in the rearview mirror. "Y'all need to shut your faces 'fore I shoot you both myself."
And, although each girl in her own mind figures he's not serious, none of them is sure, so the rest of the ride passes in utter silence.
"Park the car here," Turkey tells Amber, indicating a narrow alley running alongside Huggy's club, then grins at her dubious look. "Nobody 'round here gonna fuck with it so long as you all be with me."
"Somehow I believe you," she says, and the four of them exit the Torino.
"I want my gun back," Gracie says, looking hard at Turkey, "in case someone fucks with me."
"Gimme mine, too," Amber tells him. "I promise not to shoot anyone."
"And I promise not to shoot her," Gracie adds, nodding toward Melanie and getting an upraised middle finger in return.
Turkey looks from one to the other, then shrugs and returns their firepower.
Let Huggy handle the crazy-ass white girls, he thinks, and walks into the bar without waiting to see if they follow.