A/n: This chapter is jumping to later in the evening of chapter 11. So pay close attention. And btw I did color coordinate the kids as they were in the movie so you know what is going on.
Chapter 12
Ricky sat in the furthest corner from the bar and waited. He had been there two hours now, waiting patiently. He felt like he was back on the stakeouts with his military buddies. Waiting for the poor slobs to come in so he could finish them off with one sharp shot and then smoke up a little to un-wined. Ricky remembered the war, Vietnam had hit when he was twenty and his father shoved him into the military fast enough that Ricky hadn't even had a chance to say no. Not that many people had had a choice due to the draft; old DICK Nixon had eliminated the draft a little to late for Ricky. Suddenly familiar noises crept into his head and he heard the screaming and the firing of guns and he grabbed the beer he had been drinking and downed it. The screams and whispered disappeared and he felt himself relax a little. He hated when they acted up like that.
He then saw them, a group of kids walking in. The bartender stared and then saw the last kid walk in, which seemed to ease his tension. It was John, he walked over to the bartender and said something about the other four who stood there looking around in wonder and the bartender nodded and smiled and John shook his hand slipping him a good chunk of bills.
John swaggered over and pulled the pretty red head to him and started talking to the others in the group. The one in a blue tank top with sandy brown hair gave John a high five and took hold of the rather angry looking girl in black and said something to her. An eerie smile crept onto her face. The awkward little blonde one in the green vest and white under shirt stood near them looking around as if he was going to be sick. John let go of the girl who had looked like she was in heaven when John held her and walked over to the kid in the green. He said something and slapped the kid on the back and the awkward teen seemed to relax. John pulled something from his pocket and grabbed the green vest and sliced it up the center with, Ricky guessed was his switchblade, then un did two buttons on the shirt's front. He also undid the sleeves and rolled them up the kid's arms and pulled out the kid's shirttail in the back. Then he grabbed a beer that was sitting on a near by table unattended and poured it onto his hands, he then worked with the kids blonde curls until they looked spiky. He put his fingers to his face and kissed them as if he was Italian.
John's dad watched as John manipulated them all so easy, the bartender with a fat bribe to keep him from kicking his friends out, making the awkward twerp relax enough to be visibly dissected in public, the kid obviously had a thing for John. Whether it was of the sexual nature or as a big brother vibe Rick couldn't tell. John had a good strong hold over the red head too and Ricky assumed they had been fucking for a while.
As for the other two… the girl in black it was obvious she was like John, not necessarily as well off as the rest of them she seemed at home in the bar unlike the others. She was a bigger threat then the red head for sure, when Ricky had tried to take the girl the other night she had been strong minded but psychically she wasn't much to worry about. The brunet however, her eyes were shifty and it gave the feeling of something being off, how she had landed a guy like the one in the blue Rick was unsure. Then again John had the rich princess so maybe times had changed. Rick recalled Wendy's stuck up family that he had stolen her away from, she had been so pleased to be marrying below her, as if everything her parents had was not worth as much as the love Rick had offered. Ricky shoved those old memories away also and focused on the boy and his friends.
The guy in the blue was the next one who Rick would have considered a threat for sure. He was well built and looked agile, lean muscles wrapped around his arms and he had a small waist. He had definitely been trained most of his life to take people down, but unlike John he didn't seem to have the drive to. He looked like a threat but his personality gave off the image of someone who didn't really give a shit of he fought or not. He didn't care if he won or lost.
Ricky watched them for a little bit longer and then his eyes strayed to the door, there he was, Rosco spotted him and walked over casually. He sat down and smiled very pleased with himself.
"Well?" Ricky asked.
Rosco nodded and held up five fingers, "So five o'clock is when they will come in?" Rosco nodded and touched his wrist and dragged it out a little ways from his hand.
"What do you mean they may run late? We don't have time for that shit, we don't know how long John will be here." Ricky said trying to keep his temper under control, he felt a twitch rising up his spin, it hit his face and he felt his lip spasm.
Rosco quickly pointed to John and then to himself and rubbed his four fingers and thumb together, "You want to hustle them?" Ricky asked. Rosco shook his head and pointed back to John who just sank a shot in the pocket, and then took hold of Claire and showed her how to hold the pool cue. Ricky smirked and looked at the mute, "You crazy son of a bitch…" Rosco's eyes grew wide and he smiled like a crazy man, "You like the red head too don't you." Rosco nodded his head furiously. "You always did like the women didn't you… like over seas with the pretty Vietnamese woman... in her bathroom." Rosco jumped up and down in his seat and nodded.
"Alright, go hustled her and keep them distracted until Zebo and the others get here… but I expect you to keep them HERE…. If they leave you won't be happy later… got it?" Rosco nodded and stood approaching the pool area. But before he got half way there John ran to the front of the bar and made an announcement, Ricky motioned for Rosco to wait and the thin man nodded and waited.
00000000
John walked over to Brian and smiled, "What you think of the wild side?" Brian nodded and said, "You know it isn't so bad!" he said over the loud music. John looked at him and said, "Well if it isn't so bad then your ready for a treat! You've come a long way brainiac and I am proud of you!"
Brian blushed and as John headed towards the bar Brian felt the blood leave his face, "WAIT! WHAT AM I READY FOR!? JOHN!?"
John smirked and continued walking over to the bar and got a beer, Murphy had always allowed him to drink even though he was obviously not even supposed to be in the bar. But John tipped well for a poor kid and he called for the bars attention. "LADIES AND SHIT HEADS! Please direct your attention to this corner of the bar near the pool tables…" Brian's eyes grew wide and he tried to sink back but Andy grabbed him and escorted him over leaving the girls to stand there giggling, "I would like to present the newest convert to the life style of slumming it! MR. BRIAN JOHNSON!" The bar exploded with noise, most of the people was too drunk and had no clue what John was talking about but he was amusing them so they of course cheered. "As Brian's first official time, I would like to bestow on this bar virgin the honorary first drink!" John handed him a beer and said, "MAY CORRUPTION, SEX, DRUGS AND BOOZE FOREVER LINGER IN HIS MIND TWISTING HIS MORALS UNTIL HE IS AS POOR, DIRTY, AND STINKING DRUNK AS THE REST OF US!" The bar patrons did understand that, however, and they cheered like it was going out of style.
Brian looked at him like he was going to be sick, John grabbed Brian and put him up on the chair so he stood before everyone who started to chant, "DRINK DRINK DRINK DRINK!" Brian looked at the girls for help and they just shook their heads and smiled, "Aw, Brian looks scared so let's get some help up here! COME ON ANDY IT'S ON ME! SHOW THIS BOY HOW IT IS DONE!" Andy jumped up next to Brian and said, "SIR, YES SIR!" He had a huge smile on his face and John could tell this was just what he needed to spite his control freak father.
"AT EASE SOLDIER!" John said saluting him.
John then turned and looked at the girls whose eyes got wide and they tried to scatter but John grabbed them by the wrists and dragged the girls against their wills he popped them up on chairs and handed them each a beer. They looked at each other and then John grabbed a pint and handed Murphy the money plus a little extra.
"ALRIGHT BREAKFAST CLUB! ON THREE! COUNT US OFF BOOZERS!" John yelled, the bar started to count, "ONE, TWO THREE!" The kids put the beer to their lips and started to chug. John was the first one done, which was not a surprise since he had been drinking a little longer and knew how to do it with out having to stop and burp. He tossed the pint up above him, Murphy grabbed it out of the air like it was the norm and the other four drank as fast as they could, first done was Andy, then Allison and then Claire and poor little Brian was last but he did finish it and as soon as Brian let his beer bottle down the bar cheered and clapped and whistled and made them all feel rather proud.
John jumped down and bowed, "THANK YOU LADIES AND GERMS!" The group followed him back to the pool table and they continued to shoot. About twenty minutes later a man came up to John and motioned to Claire, "She's with me dude." John said laughing at his inability to talk, the guy nodded and smiled and held up a twenty and the made a motion to Claire and then mimed shooting pool.
"You want to play against me?" Claire asked looking shocked. He looked at her and smiled friendly and Claire thought he was sweet. Despite the fact he was tall, thin and oddly old looking for having such dark black hair, he looked so friendly and nice and honest. She came over and looked at John, "Please, I have been practicing… it will be fun… I can pay the twenty if I lose…"
"Claire you ARE going to lose…" Andy said obviously still slightly hyped up from all the excitement earlier.
"I don't care its only twenty bucks… I can pay, Please John?" John looked at the guy, who seemed innocent enough, but John had been around and he knew the guy was trying to hustle her. But if she wanted to learn the hard way he would let her. John stepped aside and the guy walked over to Claire and shook her hand, "What's your name?" she asked with a smile.
The man made a flat service with his hand and showed his fist rising up from it and then flapped his arms like a bird and made a very nasty mangled crowing sound. Claire thought a moment and then said, "Rooster… um, crow… wait… DAWN!" He nodded and pointed to his knee. "Knee?" Then she realized, "Donny." He nodded and headed to the pool table and set it up to shoot. When it was ready the rest of the Breakfast club sat back and watched the two play it out. Donny broke but didn't sink anything; Claire shot and managed to sink a stripe. She jumped and giggled, "Sweet!"
Donny looked surprised and let Claire take her second shot, which she also got. She went two more times and sank each. "Talk about beginners luck." She said to Donny who nodded and smiled. She took another shot and finally missed. "Oops." She said looking at John who nodded as if it was okay.
Donny then stepped up and in less then five shots sank everything. Claire stared at him and then smiled, she dug in her purse and pulled out a twenty and went to hand it to him. Donny held up a hand of refusal and walked over to John, he handed him the twenty and John looked lost, then Donny walked back over to Claire and took her hand and started to lead her out of the bar. John stood and so did Andy, "Wait a second shit head… what the fuck do you think you are doing?"
Donny turned and looked at him and smiled, he pointed to John and the twenty and then to the pool table and then to Claire.
Brian came to stand next to Andy and said, "I think he just won Claire off of you…." Brian said.
"What?" Claire asked eyes wide.
"I think the shit head just bet John he could win, he bargained for Claire with the twenty bucks …" Andy said.
"What kind of sick fuck are you?" John asked he walked over towards Donny and grabbed him by his shirt and threw him up against the wall, very similar to what he had done to Worm earlier. Claire rushed over and stepped in between them. John released Donny and he allowed Claire to push him back, "It's simple John, just beat him in pool and take me back." Claire said.
"Are you shitting me? You aren't his just because you lost the game, that's bull shit… its all bull shit you can't win people! They aren't property." John hissed trying to go at Donny again, Andy grabbed him and so did Brian. Donny came over and slowly, as if to make sure they under stood every movement gestured towards Claire, and then back to John and then made the pool motion again and held up the twenty bucks.
"Rematch with John? For Claire and the twenty?" Brian asked. Donny nodded but added another fifty to it from his pocket.
"Raising it to seventy bucks?" Andy asked. Donny nodded again and gave a rather unnerving smile. He motioned to John's pocket with his hand and made the money sign by rubbing his fingers and thumb.
"So if John wins he gives you the seventy and you will leave Claire alone?" Allison said.
Donny nodded. The others released John and Andy said "Do it John, kick his ass… I got the money if you want to hang him out to dry…"
"It's a double edge sword… damn it… if I win I get Claire but he makes away with the money…" John spat.
"Well then ask yourself, is Claire worth seventy bucks?" Allison said as if the answer should be obvious. John smirked and cracked his knuckles, "Okay lets school this shit head."
John had never seen a hustle go quit like this, there was more at stake here then just a few bucks, and this was gambling for a person…. A life… not that John would let him take Claire even if he lost but he wasn't going to lose, that shit head had chosen Claire because she had seemed to most likely be the person to say yes. She was the nice little girl who wouldn't turn him down just because of his inability to communicate. John felt disgusted with the man for using her good will against her like that. Then again it was John's fault for letting her play, he had known the guy was trying to hustle her, but damn it she had looked so cute begging him to play. No more of that… he wouldn't be so nice next time.
The game was reset and they began. It took almost a whole hour to play the game and Donny almost took it but John did a last minute trick that he held up his sleeve. He jumped a ball over another ball and sunk it. Then he shot and sunk the 8 ball and the breakfast club clapped and applauded. John handed Donny the money and he looked at it and then at Claire. John didn't like how he was looking at her; he wrapped his arm around her and snapped, "Go hustle some other place… this is my area so back the fuck off." Donny gave him an angry look and wondered off.
John smirked and flicked him off as he walked away. Andy and Brian came over and gave John a high five and started talking shit. Claire wondered to Allison and said, "That guy was so creepy." Claire said.
"He wasn't born a mute…" Allision said as if she hadn't heard what Claire had just said.
"What do you mean? How can you tell?"
"When he imitated the rooster…"
"But people born mute can still make noises…can't they?"
"It just depends on the severity of the vocal cord damage or if they are even born with any, if they are born deaf they can't hear to learn how to talk thus sign language but if you are born a full mute you can't say anything… that rooster crow… it just sounded like they were mangled or something… it didn't sound like he was naturally mute… it just sounded like something was squeezing his cords and strangling them. It sounded like his vocal cords are mutated." Allison stared as the man stood near the bar and watched them talk. Claire pulled Allison over towards the guys and she said.
"John can we please go?" John looked at them and the smile from the shit talk faded, "What?" he asked.
"I want to go … now… I am crept out…"
John looked around the bar and found Donny staring over at them, suddenly he got the same vibe and said, "Yeah, let's get you out of here." As they gathered their stuff to leave a group of men walked in who were not apart of the regular crowd, and John stopped. He held his arms up to stop the group and watched as Donny zoomed over to the large men and signed something very quick before he pointed and looked over to John.
They strutted over and stood before the group, there were four of them. They were of a very large size and they wore leather, chains and chunks of metal. They had shaved heads and tattoos. It was obvious they had been fans of Hitler, John had never seen a skinhead before today but he didn't like the looks of them. John had never seen them around before and he was sure this was going to get dangerous.
"What can I do you for?" John asked casually as if it was no big deal and nothing had happened.
"My friend Don tells me you been hustling him… says you owe him someone…"
"I don't know where you think you are shit head but in this bar we don't barter women, he didn't make it very clear and he used the fact that we couldn't understand his signing to get us to agree… as it is he walked away with seventy bucks of our money and no girl because I beat his sorry ass in a rematch. It's all fair, it's all paid up and it's time for us to go." John tried to side step and the man took him by his shit and lifted him up till his feet were off the ground, "Listen punk, if Don wants the girl he gets the girl."
"Over my dead body." John said letting his face turn into a sneer.
"That can be arranged." The man in front holding John said smiling.
"Fine… if you want to play I will play." With that John shot his foot up and got the guy in the groin. He let out a painful cry and dropped John. The man when down on a knee and John brought his fists together and smashed the guy in the back of the head. He went down and laid there motionless, "Anyone else!" John said looking at the other three.
When they said nothing John turned to the group, "Brian take the girls out back, Andy why don't you stay here with me… you look like you could use a little sparing practice."
"With pleasure." Andy said coming to stand next to John and he crossed his arms and looked at the remaining three guys. John reached in his pocket and pulled out his switchblade he tossed it to Allison and said, "Wait outside, anyone bugs you you know what to do." Allison grinned her cat like smile and nodded, she led the other two out, and Claire looked back at John who nodded for her to go. She reluctantly turned and went outside.
"So are we done here gentleman or do you really want to get your ass handed to you by two high school drop outs?"
Andy gave John an odd look about the high school drop outs comment but soon enough ignored it and played along, "Gee John, wouldn't that suck to lose to a kid who could be in high school?"
"Sure would Andy…"
The man on the ground moaned and started to get up and John swung his foot and kicked him in the head, he was out again and this time probably for a good hour.
Two of the men stepped forward leaving the fourth and biggest to stand and watch.
"Hey Murphy if I was you I'd start taking bets on who people think is going to win, could pay for some of the damage that is about to happen." The men smiled and nodded pulling out a pad of paper and pencil and address the crowd.
"Alright who has a twenty on Bender?" The crowd rushed to the bar and the bets began.
"You going to be okay Jock strap?" John asked Andy as he felt the tensions rise.
"You kidding me… its like detention all over again."
"What?" John asked as the men came to stand before them and stare down.
"Me facing a big ugly jack ass…with a knife…" Andy added as the man before John pulled out a rather large looking blade.
"Wait… did you just call me a big ugly jack ass?"
"Way to catch…" Before Andy could continue the man who stood before him smashed him across the face and Andy went flying. The dude went after him and though John wanted to go give him a hand he had his own ugly brute to face.
"Come on baby." John said smacking his lips together, "I'd kiss you if you were my type but honey you gotta lose some of that baby fat first."
The man growled and said, "You got a nice mouth on you don't you shit head." John swung his fist and it collided with the man's jaw.
This whole time the bar patrons had been watching things unfold and they were rather amused. The man decided to try his luck and swung his blade, but as he did John caught his wrist and twisted it quickly, he had seen that on tv and had always wanted to try it. It worked, the man let out a cry and dropped the knife, John kicked it and it went sliding under the pool tables behind the guy. John turned to run towards the bar but he tripped and felt the guy grab him by his shirt he flung John and the boy went sliding across the bar, bottles and glasses breaking as he slid through them. He landed on his back before Murphy, "Alright Murph, if I win you can keep my share."
"Damn right." The man said realizing how big of a mess this was going to be to clean up. "Heads up." He added to John as the guy charged at him, John spun and kicked the guy in the face then jumped off the bar and made his way over to Andy who was doing a rather harsh number on the man who appeared to have a tongue piercing. John watched for a moment and then laughed when Andy pinned the guy who was two times his size. "BEHIND YOU JOHN!" Andy yelled. He turned to get a beer bottle smashed over his head, however John was not going to go down like that. He thrust up despite the fact his head was throbbing and he felt blood trickling and football tackled the jackass, his anger was starting to flood him, that had hurt really bad and he decided he was done playing.
As him and the beast man flew back and smashed into a wall John pulled back and started wailing on the guy, punch after punch into the face. Blood flew all over him and the sickening sound of the nose breaking wasn't even enough to pull John out of his charged up rage. After a long moment John felt a hand on his shoulder and he turned to see Andy standing there with a black eye swelling up looking at him, "Enough dude, let's get back to Brian and the girls." John looked back at the dude and back handed him one more time. The bar was in a stunned silence but John ignored them and said, "I don't think we are done yet sporto." John said pointing towards the last and biggest skinhead who still stood near his friend, the one who had been the first to go down.
"Are you going to just give up… or are you really going to pursue this?" Andy asked stepping up first. The man took a step towards them and then John saw his eye catch something in the back behind them and he let the sneer fall off his face, he took a step back and made the motion for them to pass by. John and Andy started to walk towards the exit and John reached under the pool table and grabbed the large knife, "Tell your friend when he wakes up I took it… I need a trophy for my new room you know." John said. The man sneered but made no attempt to stop him. John stood and looked at the people who were mostly still silent and as he turned to follow Andy out he heard someone call, "Wait a second, your Ricky Bender's kid… I thought you looked familiar... they find your dad yet?" John shot around and flung the knife and it landed on the table right between the fingers of the man who had dared to call that out.
John walked back over to him and leaned over the table looking at him, he was still shocked from the knife that had barely missed his fingers. "That son of a bitch isn't anything to me and anyone who ever calls me his son is going to answer to me. Clear?" The man nodded quickly and John pulled his knife from the table and looked at Murphy, "I will be in later tomorrow to help clean up and pay you back what the winnings didn't cover." Murphy smiled and nodded. He loved that kid, it was never a dull day in his bar when John Bender was around.
Andy and John walked out to meet Claire, Allison and Brian. Claire through herself onto John and started to cry, "Oh God John, don't you ever do that shit again!" she said.
"It isn't like I had much a choice Cherry, they weren't going to let us out of there…come on we need to go."
"Why are you always covered in blood now a days." Claire said looking at the spatters all over his shirt and face and hands.
"It's the new look, welcome to the 80's." he said smiling, though in all sincerity he was scared. He knew that something hadn't been right about that. Because his dad had been in there, when he had thrown the knife and then gone to retrieve it he had seen him, in the far back corner, Donny sitting next to him. It had been one big set up, they had made eye contact for a brief second, long enough for John to know that his dad wasn't going to chase him, but it also showed John that being normal with his dad around wasn't going to be possible. He had set up that whole bar fight and put John and his friends in direct danger.
It also meant that John's dad was very good at figuring out where John was going to be. Which meant he knew where his friends were going to be. No one was safe, not until John's dad was either behind bars or dead. John preferred the second but he had a feeling if the penal system had anything to do with it he would be doing twenty to life. And that wasn't good enough, John had to do something or he would always be fighting, be protecting his mom and his friends and himself.
It was getting very close to the time that John was going to need to step up and end this. "Hey Allison, got you something." John tossed her the large knife and Allison squealed with delight and hugged John before rushing back to Andy and proudly showing off the large knife.
Andy smiled but had that look of obvious confusion on why a knife from a bar fight was such an exciting gift. Brian had been walking behind them and then stopped. "Uh guys…" they stopped and looked at him, he bent over and threw up.
"Well… we know who can't hold their alcohol." John said staring at him, with the rest of the group. This had been a very long day. And now John suddenly realized, he was going home to a bed. He walked over to Brian and picked him up like a bride and carried him down the sidewalk and sickeningly cooing to him as if Brian was a baby. The boy was mortified but the rest of the group laughed.
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"That went well didn't it?" The large man said as he sat across from Ricky.
"Yeah, accept he saw you boss." The shortest of the group said.
"There was always a chance of that, besides I am glad he did. He now knows how hard I can make it for him if he doesn't play nice with me. I am impressed, he took you down pretty quick Zebo." Ricky said looking at the short man who had a bag of ice on his head. "And Ty, I am disappointed, you got schooled by a wrestler from high school…" Rick said.
"Dude, he knew moves I've never even see, I'd get out of one and he would have another up his sleeve the kid was fucking crazy."
"No, he is a winner…whether he likes it or not." Ricky said with a smirk.
"What about me boss?" The man with a cut up bloody face and broken nose asked.
"You know, I feel you did the best, you got John on his back and put him in the perfect position to let some of that anger out. Which is what I wanted to see… and as for you Rosco, you did a wonderful job of getting John to comply and get him off guard. You know boys it feel good to be working again…. Call Eric for me Ty and tell him to not bother with the second half of the plan tonight… we can do it later… I want to give John some breathing room before we bother him again." Ty nodded and got up and headed to the pay phone.
"Hey boss can I ask you something?" Zebo asked looking at him.
"Sure…" Ricky said taking a swig of beer.
"Who taught that shit head how to throw a knife like that?"
Ricky smiled, "I did when he was about five… didn't think he remembered though… wasn't I surprised… one of the few father son things we did together besides me beating his sorry ass."
"Aw how cute…" The largest man said making a sick face and spitting a chunk of chewing tobacco onto the floor.
"Believe it or not fuck face I was a good father for quite a few years… we were a happy family once…"
"And now you are trying to kill them." Zebo said smiling.
"Not kill, just teach a fucking lesson you don't leave a guy like me and not pay a price. Soon enough we will all be back together and what they thought was abuse before will be more like a fond memory."
The big guy laughed and shook his head, "That's why you are da boss… emotions have never stopped you."
Ricky took a swig and tried to keep his face straight, "What emotions… they drilled those out of me remember… never let yourself feel for anyone because emotions weaken your defense… your attack…they can kill you."
The group nodded and Ricky finished the beer and tossed the bottle behind his head, it smashed on the wall and he started to laugh, "And the best part is… with no regret come absolutely no responsibility."
The group chuckled and Zebo pulled out a pack of cards, "Okay boys the game is Texas Hold em' and the winner gets to bother John next." Ricky said with a smile.
R&R
