Bad Habits

As Moe went inside, two of his bodyguards took up watch in the intervening space between the sedan and the front door of the apothecary. The one closest to the sedan brazenly had a submachine gun in his hands, while the other let a pistol in a shoulder holster peek out from under his suit jacket. Together, they waited patiently for Moe to do his business and return to the sedan. Dutifully, they kept on guard for any potential problems by constantly looking up and down the street.

About a block away, Bobby stopped his approach and once more allowed what the crow was seeing to enter his mind.

"This ought to be fun," he said with a smirk. "Two armed goons just begging for some action. Time to give it to them!"

Inside the apothecary, Moe had moved to a back room where six Japanese women were cutting various drugs on a pair of long tables. The women ranged in age from their mid-20's to early-40's, all of them had their hair up in a tight bun, and all of them were naked save for gloves and a simple face mask that was designed to prevent them from breathing in the drugs they were cutting. After randomly patting one of the women on the ass as he walked past, Moe headed to a desk at the back of the room where one of his men was doing some paperwork and overseeing the proceedings. As Moe approached, the man at the desk stood up, bowed his head to him, and offered his hand. Moe just casually nodded his head in return and briefly shook his man's hand before the two of them sat down and began to go over a series of figures in a ledger.

Outside, the two bodyguards noticed Bobby walking up the sidewalk towards them. His appearance, even from a distance, made them suspicious. As he drew nearer, they both turned to face him. The bodyguard by the sedan made sure that his submachine gun was able to be seen clearly. Bobby pretended not to notice them and headed directly for the front door. Predictably, the bodyguard closest to the door stepped forward and put his arm out to block Bobby from the door.

"You don't have any business in there," he said in a warning tone. "Find somewhere else."

Bobby cocked his head to the side with a twitch and looked at the bodyguard with wide eyes. After a few seconds, he allowed a wide toothy smile that would have impressed the Cheshire Cat to spread across his face.

"Please, sir," Bobby said in an imitation of a child's voice. "My mummy's sick and she needs her med-cine right away! If she doesn't get it, the doctor says she'll die and I'll have to go live in the orphanage. Please, sir, don't let my mummy die!"

The two bodyguards were noticeably bewildered by Bobby's reply and looked to one another for ideas on how to handle him. When they looked back to Bobby, he just winked at them playfully before springing into action out of nowhere and delivering a furious jumping straight punch to the face of the bodyguard holding the submachine gun. The force of the punch staggered the bodyguard back a few steps and Bobby spun around with a kick that caught the other bodyguard squarely in the chest.

"Darn!" Bobby exclaimed in mock disappointment. "I should've stretched first. That kick was CLEARLY supposed to hit you in the face! Oh well!"

Bobby gave the bodyguard an exaggerated shrug and then stepped in close to deliver three quick punches to his face before locking his hands behind the bodyguard's neck and kneeing him twice in the ribs. Bobby could tell that his knee strikes broke some of the bodyguard's ribs and knowing that gave him a thrill. He suddenly let go of the bodyguard and took a couple of deep breaths. His mind raced regarding the fact that he never took pleasure in hurting someone before. By now the bodyguard with the submachine gun had recovered and took aim at Bobby's back. In an instant he let loose with two quick bursts from his gun. The shots hit Bobby in the back and he fell forward into the arms of the other bodyguard. The bodyguard was surprised by the fact that not only did Bobby just fall into his arms but that he was also not dead. In fact, Bobby just looked at him in wide-eyed surprise before blinking a few times. Then he head-butted the bodyguard and got onto his feet. As he did so, he pulled the bodyguard's pistol from its holster. He then kicked the bodyguard firmly in the chest with a straight kick before spinning around to face the other bodyguard. Before any of them had time to even blink, Bobby squeezed off several shots from the pistol. The shots all struck the bodyguard with the submachine gun in the chest and he fell back on the ground, dead. Without pausing, Bobby spun around again and pointed the pistol at the other bodyguard.

"I'll give you one chance," Bobby said calmly. "Hand over your extra magazines, and fuck off back to your boss to tell him what happened. If you don't, I'll put a bullet in each of your knees, take your extra magazines anyway, and leave you here to bleed on yourself. What'll it be?"

The bodyguard held up his hands to signal his surrender. Then he slowly reached into his jacket and pulled out the two spare magazines of ammunition he'd been carrying for his pistol. Bobby gestured for him to set the magazines on the ground. The bodyguard crouched down and set the magazines down. The entire time, both of them just stared one another in the eyes.

"Now get up and go," Bobby ordered.

The bodyguard slowly began to get to an upright position. As he did, Bobby kept the pistol trained on him, looking out for any signs that the bodyguard was about to do something stupid. Sure enough, once the bodyguard was about halfway back up, he lunged for Bobby's waist and tackled him into the side of the sedan. As soon as Bobby's back hit the sedan, the bodyguard let him go and began pummeling him in the ribs. Bobby was winded for a brief moment, but his years of training allowed him to recover both mentally and physically in a fraction of the time it would have taken an untrained fighter. He purposely dropped the pistol to the ground and brought his arms in to guard his ribs. Upon hearing the pistol hitting the ground, the bodyguard let up on his assault of Bobby's ribs and punched him in the face once before making a grab for the pistol. As soon as he did that, Bobby sprang into action. First, he kicked the bodyguard in the hand that was reaching for the pistol. Then he delivered an overhand punch that caught the bodyguard in the side of the face and sent him straight down to the ground.

"You stupid fuck!" scolded Bobby. "I was going to let you go, but now I can see that you're tired of living. Have it your way!"

Bobby grabbed the bodyguard in a front headlock and dragged him to his feet. Then he brought his knee up into the bodyguard's chest and caved in his sternum. The bodyguard gasped pitifully. Bobby then switched his grip and moved over to the bodyguard's side before using the bodyguard's head as a battering ram on the side of the sedan. After bashing his head into the door a few times, Bobby aimed the bodyguard's head for the driver's side window and sent it crashing through the glass. A shard of the window glass cut into the side of the bodyguard's neck and he began to bleed profusely.

"This is what happens," Bobby said as he let go of the bodyguard and allowed him to drop like a ragdoll to the ground. He then retrieved the pistol and the spare magazines and tucked them into his pants before heading for front door to the apothecary. He then stopped and turned back to look at the first bodyguard. With a smirk, he walked over to his corpse and relieved him of the submachine gun and the couple of spare magazines of ammunition he was carrying. "This might come in handy as well."

Now ready to continue, Bobby walked up to the front door and pulled on the handle, only to discover that the door was locked up tight. His head cocked to one side and his face became contemplative for a moment. "I guess we're doing things the hard way," he said a few moments later after letting out a small huff. He then took a couple of steps backward and focused his gaze on the door. With a forceful exhale, he moved forward and gave the door a strong front kick. The door flew open and it practically fell off its hinges when it banged into the wall. With no more impediments in his way, Bobby casually walked in and looked around. A Japanese woman in her late 50's was frozen in place behind the counter with a look on her face that was a combination of shock and fear.

"Would you be so kind as to point me in the direction of the owner of the black car outside?" Bobby said in a casual and friendly tone. "I need to have a word with him before he runs out of breath."

"He's down that way," the woman replied timidly as she pointed down a short hallway that ended in a closed door.

"Thank you," said Bobby with a slight nod as he turned and headed off to where the woman had indicated. "I'm sorry about the door. I'm sure the man I'm looking for will have enough in his wallet to cover the damages. Just rifle through his pockets when I'm done with him. I won't tell anybody if you won't."

When Bobby got to the door, he tried the handle, only to find it locked as well. With a smile, he gave the door a playful "Shave and a Haircut" knock using the barrel of the submachine gun before kicking it in exactly like he had done with the front door. He was instantly greeted by the sight of Moe and his man staring at him in stunned silence from the desk and the six naked women screaming wildly through their masks at their drug stations

"Knock, knock!" Bobby said with a wide-eyed smile as he stepped into the room.

"What the fuck?" said Moe.

"Everybody but him can leave," Bobby said as he indicated Moe. "We need some alone time. NOW!"

The women wasted no time and scrambled to get out of the room as fast as they could. "Take a coat, ladies!" Bobby called after them. "It's chilly out tonight!"

Moe and his man pulled out pistols and aimed them at Bobby. "Move and you're dead!" warned Moe in a slightly shaky voice.

Bobby looked at the both of them thoroughly unimpressed. He turned his attention to Moe's man. "My offer to leave is about to expire," he said in a suddenly serious tone. "Go and live, or stay with your boss and wind up in a body bag. The choice is yours. I'll count to ten quietly while you decide."

Moe's man began to lower his gun and Moe just looked at him. "(Are you fucking kidding me?)" he said to him. "(Just shoot this guy!)"

"Time's up!" Bobby said. "What'll it be? Life or death?"

Moe and his man responded by opening fire on Bobby and riddling him with bullets until both their guns were empty. Bobby fell straight backwards onto the floor. "(Go check,)" Moe ordered his man. The man nodded his head obediently and moved from behind the desk to check on Bobby while Moe reloaded his gun.

As the man got nearer, he could see Bobby laying where fell. Cautiously, he kicked the submachine gun out of Bobby's hand and knelt down to check on him. Almost instantly, Bobby opened his eyes and grabbed the man by the throat. Moe's eyes widened in fear when he saw that Bobby wasn't dead. "Go to sleep," Bobby said almost in a whisper and his eyes wide. He then punched the man in the side of the face just behind the hinge of his jaw. The man instantly collapsed to the ground like a ragdoll. Bobby then stood up, brushed himself off, and looked at Moe. "Now that we're alone, we can talk."

"What the fuck are you?" asked Moe as he pointed his gun at Bobby again.

"I'm a fishmonger," said Bobby in a playfully sarcastic tone. "Wait, no. That's not right. I know! I am Spartacus!"

Moe shot Bobby again. This time, Bobby didn't play dead and just stood there giving Moe a "Really?" look. "You don't like that answer either?" he asked Moe. "Well, then how about this? I was a guy minding my own business and you and your friends fucked with me. Fucked with me in all the wrong ways. Now, it's my turn to return the favor."

Moe fired at Bobby again, but this time Bobby dodged his shots and rapidly closed the distance between them. Once he was close enough, he grabbed Moe by his outstretched arm and gave him a punch in that arm's cubital fossa. Moe cried out in pain and dropped his gun. Bobby let go of Moe's arm and, with blinding speed, kicked him in the chest, which sent Moe back and seated him in his chair. Moe clenched his injured arm and looked at Bobby. "I had everything," Bobby began as he got in Moe's face. "My whole life was in front of me. In the blink of an eye, a bunch of guys who were, quite frankly, strangers to me took all of it away. I'd like to know why."

"Man," retorted Moe. "Fuck you! I'm not telling you shit!"

Bobby got a sudden angry look on his face, grabbed Moe by the back of the head, and slammed his face into the table. "Say that again," he warned Moe. "I dare you."

"Look I don't even know WHO the fuck you are!" said Moe a bit dazed as Bobby let him sit up. "So how can I tell you what you want to hear?"

"You don't remember a private party in a nightclub?" asked Bobby, trying to jog Moe's memory. "You and my brother fought over petty bullshit?"

"What?" asked Moe in disbelief. "You trying to tell to tell me you're that MMA guy? Bullshit! That guy and his pathetic brother are dea…"

Bobby cut Moe off by smashing his face into the table again. "Say one more word about Danny like that again and I'll feed you your balls!" he warned Moe. "Now! Tell me the story. And don't leave out the good parts."

"Okay, man!" replied Moe as he wipe blood off his face. "Shit! Look, it wasn't personal what we did to those guys! It was all part of a business deal with had with the MMA dude's girl's father."

"What?" asked Bobby angrily.

"Yeah," replied Moe. "The guy didn't want his daughter dating some white dude professional fighter with no future. He thought she was settling for someone way beneath her worth. He knew that she'd refuse to break up with him if he ordered her to, so he had something done about him. Like I said, it was just business!"

"Business?" asked an angry Bobby. "And just what did you and your associates get out of the deal?"

"We secured a few international contacts and Hideo got the girl," replied Moe.

"WHAT?!" demanded Bobby as he slammed Moe's face into the table again, this time breaking his nose in the process. "Her father sold her out to scum like you?"

"Yeah," Moe said with a smug lecherous smile as he sat up and wiped the blood off his face. "And Hideo puts it to her every chance he gets."

Bobby grabbed Moe by the larynx and started to squeeze. Moe gasped and a pleading look came to his face as he looked Bobby in the eyes. Bobby was unmoved by Moe's silent begging and just choked him for a few more seconds before letting him go. As soon as he did, Moe fell face-first onto the table, gasping for air. As he did so, Bobby went over to the table where the ladies had been cutting the drugs.

"Holy shit, man!" said Moe when he finally regained the ability to speak. "I can see it! You are that guy. How?"

"When you hurt someone this badly sometimes it comes back to bite you on the ass," replied Bobby as he picked a couple of packages off of the table.

"But just how?" asked Moe again. "I mean, this isn't possible."

"In our nightmares," began Bobby as he walked back over to Moe. "Everything's possible."

Moe just let out a huff and wiped more blood off of his face.

"Tell me, Moe," began Bobby. "May I call you Moe? Thanks. Now, Moe, do you like Christmas?"

"What the fuck's that got to do with anything?"

"Just answer the question. Do. You. Like. Christmas?"

"It's okay, I guess. Why?"

"Well, I like Christmas and I was wondering if you did too? Do you like Christmas carols?"

"Some, I guess. Why?"

"Because they're festive. In fact, I'm going to sing one right now. Feel free to join in if you know the words."

"Huh?"

"The. Words. You know, the lyrics? 'Oh, the weather outside is frightful.'"

"What the fuck is going on?"

"But the fire is so delightful."

"Have you lost your fucking mind?"

"Since we've no place to go. Let it snow. Let it snow. Let it snow."

With that, Bobby ripped open one of the packages and poured the contents all over Moe, who began to cough. Bobby threw the empty package down and sat back on the table to watch the proceedings. Moe turned his head and sneezed into his arm.

"Man," said Bobby with an impish smile. "You have enough on that arm for a condominium. In Florida. But all jokes aside, I'd like to thank you for spilling the beans and telling me everything."

Moe looked at him quietly with a long face. Bobby just continued to smile and reached into Moe's jacket pocket and pulled out his cellphone. He then twisted around and casually tossed it onto the table that had all the drugs on it. He then got up, pulled open the second package he had grabbed, and dumped its contents in a big pile on the table.

"Here's the deal," Bobby began. "You're going to take three big hits from that pile."

"Fuck you, man!" said Moe. "That shit's heroin, not coke! I'm not snorting that!"

Bobby scowled and punched Moe in the jaw. Moe instantly saw stars and would have fallen out of his chair and onto the floor if Bobby hadn't grabbed him by the shirt to keep him from doing so.

"Don't interrupt me!" Bobby warned as he straightened Moe up in his chair. "Like I said, here's the deal. You take three big hits from the pile and then you go to your phone over there and call 9-1-1. If luck's on your side, you'll live. Otherwise, you're fucked. Now, get snorting!"

"And I'll say it again," retorted Moe with a sneer. "Go fuck yourself! I'm not snorting that shit!"

"Is that you're final answer?" asked Bobby.

"Yeah," said Moe with a huff and a smile. "It is."

"Have it your way then," replied Bobby as he dusted himself off. "I was trying to be nice. But since you don't want nice…"

He allowed himself to trail off and gave Moe a side thrust kick right in the mouth that broke both of the mobster's front teeth. As Moe's head snapped back, Bobby gave him a ridge hand strike to the back of the neck that sent him face-first into the pile of powdered heroin. A great feeling of rage suddenly struck Bobby and he grabbed Moe by the back of the hair to pull his face out of the pile of heroin. Then he proceeded to punch him repeatedly in the face with his free hand, sending blood and pieces of teeth flying. With one final punch, Bobby sent Moe out of his chair and face down on the floor. Bobby blinked, slightly confused, and looked at the hand that had been holding Moe's hair. To his surprise, he saw that his hand was still balled into a fist and clutching a big clump of hair.

"Okay," Moe whimpered from the floor. "You win. I'll do it. Just, please, don't hit me anymore."

"You finally came around," Bobby said with mock-anger. "You made me mess up your pretty face. What am I going to do with you?"

Moe said nothing. Somewhere through the fog in his brain, he was trying to figure a way out of this situation that didn't involve him snorting the wrong powder up his nose. Unfortunately for him, he was completely out of ideas. Bobby then helped Moe back into the chair, nosed around in the mobster's suit jacket, and produced his wallet.

"Look what we've got here!" exclaimed Bobby in a condescendingly exuberant manner as he opened up the wallet. "Cash, cards, nude pictures of Bea Arthur. A treasure trove of useful stuff!"

Bobby took out all of the cash and one of the credit cards and casually tossed the wallet away. "Don't need that anymore," he said. He then pocketed most of the cash and held the credit card and a $100 bill out to Moe. "I'm sure you know what to do with these when powder's around."

Moe didn't say anything for fear of getting hit again. He just took the credit card and dollar bill from Bobby's outstretched hand and looked forlornly at the pile of powdered heroin. He knew his odds of living through what he was about to do were long, but he also knew that he no longer had any choices. Without speaking at all, he went about setting up three lines. Bobby took a couple of steps back as Moe prepped his own execution and watched with rapt fascination.

"You can go for your phone as soon as you've done all three lines," Bobby said as Moe set the credit card down and rolled up the dollar bill. Moe still said nothing. Then he put one end of the rolled up dollar bill in his nose and leaned down to the lines. Hoping to get to his phone quickly, he wasted no time snorting up the three lines. Then he practically leapt out of his chair and went for where his phone was on the other table. He got about halfway there before collapsing to the ground, clawing at his nose. Bobby's previous look of joyous glee turned to cold stoicism. Moe convulsed pitifully on the ground as blood poured from his nostrils. He looked up at Bobby with pleading eyes, but Bobby just stood there like a statue. Moments later, Moe went slack and his eyes just rolled up in his head. Bobby smiled again, but this time it was sinister, almost evil.

"One down," he said coldly as he brushed himself off. Upon hearing a moan, Bobby turned around. Moe's man was finally stirring. "Well he had a good nap. Too bad his bosses won't think the same."

Moe's man was lightly slapped in the face a few times to finally bring him around fully. As his eyes opened, he saw Bobby looking down at him. Instantly he instinctively flinched and tried to scoot away on his back.

"(What the fuck's going on?)" asked the man in a confused and frightened tone.

"Sssh," said Bobby as he held a finger up to his lips. "I'll explain. But first, do you speak English?"

"A little," stammered the man uncertain.

"Perfect," said Bobby with a grin. "Now, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want you to deliver a little message for me."

"What message?" asked the man nervously.

"I want you to run out of here," said Bobby as he helped the man to his feet and pleasantly dusted him off. "And go tell your bosses what happened. Tell them I killed Moe. Then I want you to tell them that I recommend they make peace with whatever higher power they believe in because by the end of the night they'll be joining him in Hell. Got all that?"

The man said nothing, but instead just nodded his head a few times obediently while a look of terror remained plastered on his face.

"Good," said Bobby quietly, almost in a whisper. "Now. Go."

The man turned instantly and bolted from the room. As he watched him go, Bobby's expression remained cold and emotionless. The moment the man was out of sight, Bobby's face returned to normal. He retrieved the fallen submachine gun and exited the room while whistling a happy tune. The Japanese woman was still behind the counter. She froze in place again as Bobby walked up to her.

"Thank you for all your help," he said to her as he reached into one of his pockets, pulled out the cash he had taken from Moe's wallet, and dropped it on the counter in front of her. "I just figured I'd save you the trouble. Ta-ta!"

The woman said nothing as she looked on in stunned horror as Bobby casually walked out the front door while whistling a happy tune. Once he was gone, she gathered up the discarded money and put it in her purse.

Bobby's crow landed on his shoulder as he walked away down the street. "You know," he said to the crow. "I'm really enjoying this. I can't wait for what's next."

To be continued…