I stood there, shifting my weight uncomfortably from foot to foot, finding
no release no matter how I stood from the pain these stupid pumps were
giving my feet. The gun had begun to feel heavy in my hands, and those two
little shoulder beings of mine were probably having an epic battle. Do I
follow these men, who for some reason just killed a lot of people. or do I
stay here, in my sleezy little pool hall, getting googly eyes from balding
middle aged construction workers. At the moment it seemed like I would
like to go with the six smartly dressed men my age. Now, when I look back
on it, I should have thought everything over better. I should have
assessed the situation and found out more about it. But what can I say??
I suppose I had a relapse of stupid blonde syndrome.
I dropped the gun on the pool table nest to me, and threw my hair back behind my shoulders, composing myself as I began to follow the men. Maybe they were a gang of some sort. I had heard back home that gangs like to dress alike. biker gangs did that for sure I knew. I was beginning to realize just how naieve I was at times. The men were walking fast as they exited the bar. Thank god I was born with long legs to keep up with them. Vicious was leading them, the rest seemed to fall behind him, not because he walked faster, it seemed it was out of respect. They turned a block corner, all avoiding the streetlamp there that I blindly walked through. A few of the men gave me a few looks for it, I suppose they liked to avoid light places where they could be seen. As I pondered this and stared blankly at the fabric of the black coats in front of me, trying to figure out what it was they all suddenly stopped.
A large old black buick slowly pulled up, and the front window rolled down. I couldn't see who it was inside. A trail of cigarette smoke blew out the window, I could see the red, burning tip of the cigarette itself. Slowly a head began to emerge from the darkness inside the car. This was one of those moments you'd never think you'd ever remember for the rest of your life, but when you look back on it. you can remember every single detail. A man with deep green hair appeared, he was the owner of the cigarette. What caught me first were his eyes. Both were a dark, rich shade of red. They added nice contrast to his hair. And many are mistaken about his hair, speaking of it, it was not like an afro. You could call it poofy, but not an afro. It looked like he had just put way too much volumizer in it, and never combed it in his life.
I stood there silently, wondering if anyone even remembered I was there. The man in the car had an odd grin on his face, a sort of stupid half grin that drunken teenage boys get. But he was too old for that. Vicious walked over to him, and folded his arms with a frown on his face, he seemed to be trying to keep his face straight. "Hasn't anyone told you it is dangerous to drink and drive?" He frowned.
The man in the car gave a laugh, and kept grinning. "Hey, you were the one who made me stay here and drive the getaway car, already knowing I was. I do hope you aren't trying to kill me," He half yelled.
Vicious and him exchanged looks before erupting into laughter. These people were quite odd. The other men had already piled into the back of the car, and that's when the driver's eyes fell upon me. I quirked an eyebrow, and stood where I was like an idiot. "Where'd you get the cupcake Vicious?" He asked.
Vicious turned back and looked at me. His eyes showed no emotion, even though he was smiling. He slowly walked over, and opened the passanger side door in the front, and motioned for me to get in. I followed and got in obediently, and slid to the middle of the front seats for Vicious to get in also. The smell of alcohal hit me like a brick wall. If someone had been drinking this much. maybe he shouldn't be driving. It was definitely not the car that was smelling like that, the car smelled like old cigarettes and blood. The whole smell itself was enough to make my stomach churn. "She's a poolshark that hustled me out of my last paycheck." Vicious groaned as he slid in next to me. "Her name is Julia, she wanted a job."
The driver lolled his head over and looked at me. I gave him a small nervous smile, trying to keep a polite look on my face, and not sneeze from all the smells in the car all at the same time. "Hi, nice to meet you," I grinned.
He reached a hand around the steering wheel, I gave a slight jump to the side, away from it, until I realized he was only reaching around to shift gears on the car. He was watching the road, and began driving again, not very well. But he at least was staying in his own lane. " She is as jumpy as a cat. How can a woman who's as jumpy as a cat be of any use to us? She'll endanger us all." He remarked as he took a right hand turn a little too fast, almost hitting a mailbox. Everyone in the car flinched accept him and Vicious. I took note of this, they semed to have their minds on the same plane or something, I couldn't explain it even to myself.
Vicious kept his head straight forward. "She is a good poolshark. Mr. Mao needed a good one to work at the syndicate's bar. A woman would do nicely there, so many customers have such a hunger for women, they wont be able to resist her. Besides, she was the one who killed our mark."
This was my turn to talk. Here they were, two men I didn't know, one drunk beyond anything I've ever seen, and the other was talking about me like an object, and they were holding my future in my hands. Now I know it couldn't have been in better hands, but at the time, it made me feel dizzy. "So I am to swindle still?" I asked.
Vicious began to speak, but the driver began to go into another fit of drunken laughter. "She shot the mark?" He gasped. "That guy has escaped us three times, and all we had to do was get a broad to shoot him? Shit!!"
"We're going past my apartment," I remarked quietly, pointing to my building. The car stopped suddenly, sending everyone in the back flying. None were wearing seat belts. Vicious glared at the driver. "Spike, you're going to draw attention to us!" He yelled.
So that was his name. Spike. What an odd name, it was like a cartoon characters name or something. Like one that an orange dinosaur that lived in a railroad junction with a peacock, a talking fox and Rudolph the Red Nosed Raindeer. I suppose I was saying the name to myself because Spike was staring at me with an odd look on his face. I blushed, quite embarrassed. I was not the type of person to talk to myself, not even in my head, let alone aloud and in front of people. it had just been a long day for me, that's all. "Its Spike Spiegel," he smirked. "And it's a pleasure to meet you Julia." I sat there dumbfounded again, my brain seemed to be wandering, I knew there was something wrong with the beer at that bar.
I was brought out of my trance by Vicious tapping hit foot on the concrete sidewalk beside me. He had opened the door and stepped out, waiting for me to do the same. I slid across the black leather, and found one of his hands waiting to help me up. He was leaning over the car door, and was quite polite in not staring down my low buttoned red blouse. I took his hand and he helped me up. I still thank god I was still steady enough on those awful pumps to not stumble. He let go of my hand slowly, the feeling of his skin sliding over mine sent a shiver down my spine. He pulled a white buisiness card from his pocket and handed it to me. I took it in my newly manicured hands and noticed he kept well care of his.
"Call the number on this card," he said. "Call it tomarrow, you'll know what to do next after that. Youre truly one of us now that you have that card."
"One of who?" I asked, curious.
"A red dragon," he smirked.
He said goodbye with a simple wave of his hand, and got back into the car. The car drove away. I was left there, under the dim yellow light that stuck out in front of my apartment building to show the address. I tapped the right upper tip of the card, standing there for a moment, wondering if I had done a bad thing. I sighed, and slowly walked into my building, prepping my sore feet for the long ride up four flights of stairs. By the time I reached my apartment, I had taken off the pumps and left them on the second floor. My bare feet made barely any noise on the old concrete floor as I opened my apartment door. The soft asian rug I had set down on my floor made me smile, and my feet almost sang their relief to me. or was that the drowsiness taking over? I sat down on the couch to take a better look at the card, but the soft cotton and padding was too much for me, I fell asleep right there and then when my head hit the side cushion. The light from a billboard went out outside, marking that it was officially 4am. Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.
I dropped the gun on the pool table nest to me, and threw my hair back behind my shoulders, composing myself as I began to follow the men. Maybe they were a gang of some sort. I had heard back home that gangs like to dress alike. biker gangs did that for sure I knew. I was beginning to realize just how naieve I was at times. The men were walking fast as they exited the bar. Thank god I was born with long legs to keep up with them. Vicious was leading them, the rest seemed to fall behind him, not because he walked faster, it seemed it was out of respect. They turned a block corner, all avoiding the streetlamp there that I blindly walked through. A few of the men gave me a few looks for it, I suppose they liked to avoid light places where they could be seen. As I pondered this and stared blankly at the fabric of the black coats in front of me, trying to figure out what it was they all suddenly stopped.
A large old black buick slowly pulled up, and the front window rolled down. I couldn't see who it was inside. A trail of cigarette smoke blew out the window, I could see the red, burning tip of the cigarette itself. Slowly a head began to emerge from the darkness inside the car. This was one of those moments you'd never think you'd ever remember for the rest of your life, but when you look back on it. you can remember every single detail. A man with deep green hair appeared, he was the owner of the cigarette. What caught me first were his eyes. Both were a dark, rich shade of red. They added nice contrast to his hair. And many are mistaken about his hair, speaking of it, it was not like an afro. You could call it poofy, but not an afro. It looked like he had just put way too much volumizer in it, and never combed it in his life.
I stood there silently, wondering if anyone even remembered I was there. The man in the car had an odd grin on his face, a sort of stupid half grin that drunken teenage boys get. But he was too old for that. Vicious walked over to him, and folded his arms with a frown on his face, he seemed to be trying to keep his face straight. "Hasn't anyone told you it is dangerous to drink and drive?" He frowned.
The man in the car gave a laugh, and kept grinning. "Hey, you were the one who made me stay here and drive the getaway car, already knowing I was. I do hope you aren't trying to kill me," He half yelled.
Vicious and him exchanged looks before erupting into laughter. These people were quite odd. The other men had already piled into the back of the car, and that's when the driver's eyes fell upon me. I quirked an eyebrow, and stood where I was like an idiot. "Where'd you get the cupcake Vicious?" He asked.
Vicious turned back and looked at me. His eyes showed no emotion, even though he was smiling. He slowly walked over, and opened the passanger side door in the front, and motioned for me to get in. I followed and got in obediently, and slid to the middle of the front seats for Vicious to get in also. The smell of alcohal hit me like a brick wall. If someone had been drinking this much. maybe he shouldn't be driving. It was definitely not the car that was smelling like that, the car smelled like old cigarettes and blood. The whole smell itself was enough to make my stomach churn. "She's a poolshark that hustled me out of my last paycheck." Vicious groaned as he slid in next to me. "Her name is Julia, she wanted a job."
The driver lolled his head over and looked at me. I gave him a small nervous smile, trying to keep a polite look on my face, and not sneeze from all the smells in the car all at the same time. "Hi, nice to meet you," I grinned.
He reached a hand around the steering wheel, I gave a slight jump to the side, away from it, until I realized he was only reaching around to shift gears on the car. He was watching the road, and began driving again, not very well. But he at least was staying in his own lane. " She is as jumpy as a cat. How can a woman who's as jumpy as a cat be of any use to us? She'll endanger us all." He remarked as he took a right hand turn a little too fast, almost hitting a mailbox. Everyone in the car flinched accept him and Vicious. I took note of this, they semed to have their minds on the same plane or something, I couldn't explain it even to myself.
Vicious kept his head straight forward. "She is a good poolshark. Mr. Mao needed a good one to work at the syndicate's bar. A woman would do nicely there, so many customers have such a hunger for women, they wont be able to resist her. Besides, she was the one who killed our mark."
This was my turn to talk. Here they were, two men I didn't know, one drunk beyond anything I've ever seen, and the other was talking about me like an object, and they were holding my future in my hands. Now I know it couldn't have been in better hands, but at the time, it made me feel dizzy. "So I am to swindle still?" I asked.
Vicious began to speak, but the driver began to go into another fit of drunken laughter. "She shot the mark?" He gasped. "That guy has escaped us three times, and all we had to do was get a broad to shoot him? Shit!!"
"We're going past my apartment," I remarked quietly, pointing to my building. The car stopped suddenly, sending everyone in the back flying. None were wearing seat belts. Vicious glared at the driver. "Spike, you're going to draw attention to us!" He yelled.
So that was his name. Spike. What an odd name, it was like a cartoon characters name or something. Like one that an orange dinosaur that lived in a railroad junction with a peacock, a talking fox and Rudolph the Red Nosed Raindeer. I suppose I was saying the name to myself because Spike was staring at me with an odd look on his face. I blushed, quite embarrassed. I was not the type of person to talk to myself, not even in my head, let alone aloud and in front of people. it had just been a long day for me, that's all. "Its Spike Spiegel," he smirked. "And it's a pleasure to meet you Julia." I sat there dumbfounded again, my brain seemed to be wandering, I knew there was something wrong with the beer at that bar.
I was brought out of my trance by Vicious tapping hit foot on the concrete sidewalk beside me. He had opened the door and stepped out, waiting for me to do the same. I slid across the black leather, and found one of his hands waiting to help me up. He was leaning over the car door, and was quite polite in not staring down my low buttoned red blouse. I took his hand and he helped me up. I still thank god I was still steady enough on those awful pumps to not stumble. He let go of my hand slowly, the feeling of his skin sliding over mine sent a shiver down my spine. He pulled a white buisiness card from his pocket and handed it to me. I took it in my newly manicured hands and noticed he kept well care of his.
"Call the number on this card," he said. "Call it tomarrow, you'll know what to do next after that. Youre truly one of us now that you have that card."
"One of who?" I asked, curious.
"A red dragon," he smirked.
He said goodbye with a simple wave of his hand, and got back into the car. The car drove away. I was left there, under the dim yellow light that stuck out in front of my apartment building to show the address. I tapped the right upper tip of the card, standing there for a moment, wondering if I had done a bad thing. I sighed, and slowly walked into my building, prepping my sore feet for the long ride up four flights of stairs. By the time I reached my apartment, I had taken off the pumps and left them on the second floor. My bare feet made barely any noise on the old concrete floor as I opened my apartment door. The soft asian rug I had set down on my floor made me smile, and my feet almost sang their relief to me. or was that the drowsiness taking over? I sat down on the couch to take a better look at the card, but the soft cotton and padding was too much for me, I fell asleep right there and then when my head hit the side cushion. The light from a billboard went out outside, marking that it was officially 4am. Tomorrow couldn't come soon enough.