Chapter 2
Vicious just stared at her, unable to express his rage. His fists began shaking, and worsened as he saw Spike's immediate reaction to seeing his girlfriend. Finally, he cleared his throat and walked over to Julia, kissed her and then went downstairs to answer to Jet, knowing full well that he left Julia alone with Spike.
"Your boyfriend, he's a nice guy," Spike smiled, his heart sinking at the thought of Julia dating Vicious.
Julia managed to return the bleak smile, her surprise slipping away from her face. "Yeah," What else could she say? It was not as if he asked her how she felt about Vicious or how he frightened her to death. She could not possbily tell this man, (who she had only met once) about her problems with her boyfriend of three years. Obviously he had not forgotten about their meeting, about that night. Julia had meant it to be a chance meeting, never to see that man again. She had done it before, with different men, but she could not fool herself with this one- she too had felt it.
"What have you been up to?" he questioned, more sheepishly that time. All Spike could think about was Vicious's kiss with Julia. How intimate their relationship must be, he thought. After all, with him and Julia, it was just talking, it was just sex.
"I have to go," Julia said, her eyes slightly pained. Then, she walked away, with Spike still standing there, still wondering what the hell he had been thinking.
Within ten minutes, Vicious came up into the office, and Spike explained to him the details of his business proposition, which had to do with a rival mobster to Jet Black, called Crimson.
"I have a score to settle with Crimson," Spike muttered, his mind racing back to that night.
He used to work with Crimson, as a trained hit man. He would knock off those who couldn't make the payments Crimson required. Spike did all the dirty work, the backstabbing, and anything involing untimely death inside the mafia. It had grown strained between Crimson and Spike, when Spike was ordered to kill a civilian who witnessed one of Crimson's shootings. Spike refused, and walked away from the mafia, hoping to keep up his good terms with Crimson. It was not so, Crimson hired another hit man to assisnate Spike. On that night of the assisnation, Crimson's man accidently hit Spike's friend Edward. The shot was fatal.
To this day, Spike trembled at the thought of Crimson being near him. When he discovered that Crimson too was in the city, it made his mission to infilitrate the mafia even easier.
"Don't we all," Vicious's wry response jolted Spike back to the present.
"I know you've lost a hit man reccently, the last time the cops came by. In that way too, I could help you out," Spike slowly answered.
"How do you know that? Parker's arrest happened in the middle of the night. He shot himself before they cuffed him."
Spike's mouth curled into a slight grin. "You need a new hit man. There is no way you could have replaced a man like Parker in three days. I'm offering you my services, I suggest that you accept them. Crimson's a dangerous man,"
Vicious's face reddened in anger, "Listen, Spike. I don't know how you get your information and I don't care, but what I do know is that your services sure as hell aren't needed. Don't let the door hit you on the way out,"
Spike nodded, understanding that for now, he could do nothing but wait for Vicious to decide that he really did need him. Before going, Spike scrimbled his phone number down on a sheet of paper and slipped it into Vicious's pocket. The blond man did not notice, and angrily slammed the door of his office behind Spike. On his way down, Spike found Julia, standing at the foot of the steps.
Her eyes searched his pleadingly, and she grasped his arm, "What are you doing here?"
"I came to do business with Jet," Spike returned, curtly, looking away from her, unable to meet her eye. A part of him burned in embarrasment, he must have appeared so ridiciolous in her eyes. Yet those eyes had never left him, with their deep green ring full of sorrow and confusion.
Julia, taken aback, stepped aside, visibly offended, but a knawing in Spike's stomach refused to let him go without another remark . Frustration for not being able to hold her, to be with her made him say, "Isn't life just full of irony? Before I found Jet all I wanted to do was see you again but now that I've found you....." His voice trailed off, his damaging end to the sentence refused to come out. His voice had constricted for he had made the lethal mistake of looking into her eyes.
The deep emerald orbs shimmered as she mummured,"I didn't think you would go looking for me, Spike,"
The way she said his name made him cringe. So caring, so melodic. It brought the bitterness out of him, and looking back at her, he smiled grimly, "Well you did."
A few days passed with Spike sitting in his hotel room, not knowing where to go or what to do. A few times he thought of calling on Faye again, he sorely needed company. Still, his pride crippled him, forcing him to simply smoke cigarette after cigarette, watching life in the city to pass by. On the third day, the phone rang at midnight.
"Spike?" the voice demanded, sounding unfamiliar to him.
Instantly awake, he replied, "Who is this?"
"Black, we need you to come down here. Crimson's up to something," the voice replied, and then Jet disconnected.
Spike leaped out of bed and pulled on his clothes from the day before. He fumbled for his gun in the side drawer before running out to his car. In no time he pulled up at Jet's home, and found a small crew of Jet's men out in the lawn smoking. Julia even stood on the steps, appearing tired, but anxious. In fact, the only person seeming calm was Vicious. In the midst of worried faces, his blank, expressionless one stood out like a sore thumb. Nothing but jealousy got to that guy, mused Spike to himself as he approached the crowd.
"I'm glad you came, Spike," Jet commented, stepping out to greet him. His eyes seemed earnest, but his mouth was in a smirking grin. A few audible snorts sounded, from Vicious's area. Spike bit his lip, it figured that Vicious had supporters amongst the crowd. It took talent to remain as emotionless as Vicious appeared to be, it had to be admired by those who took emotions to be a sign of weakness. I'm glad I'm not in that camp, Spike thought. He shook his head and he replied, "I'm just as anxious to kill Crimson as any of yours,"
Alarmed, Jet answered, "We can't just go around killing our enemies, Spike. We have to keep it legal around this city. Besides, the cops are already on us so it wouldn't do to have a murder on our hands,"
"I'm sorry, I just thought that was the way things went around here," Spike said curtly, glancing up to see Vicious scowl. Clearly it seemed that this had been an issue before- Vicious needed to kill, and Jet needed peace. Spike slowly began comprehending the way the mafia was ran. As he stood there, talking specifics with Jet, he sensed a cluster forming around Vicious.
"I could off him, boss," said one burly man, wearing a cliche leather coat, and speaking with a heavy New York accent.
"If anyone kills Crimson, it will be me. Besides, we have other business to take care of first," Vicious answered quietly, also throwing a glance at Jet. For a second, his eyes gleamed, like a lion's do when they first spot their prey. The trusting, fatally obvlious, giant stood deep in conversation with Spike. Vicious knew that Jet would never believe that his own right hand man did him under. If only Spike got out of the picture, which could be possible with Julia's help.
Vicious saw his girlfriend watching Spike with intense fascination. His insides curdled at her lovesick stare. Never had she looked at him that way, even after all he'd done. For her to throw herself at the first stranger who says her name was ridiculous. Always straining at the lead, always going away for a few days without warning, Julia fascinated him. She was a mystery he couldn't solve, a problem he couldn't comprehend. There was a part of him that sensed the life he lived and the life Julia lived was challenging, a struggle from day to day, which made her so unhappy, so unsatisfied. He had no pity for her though, which eventually had forced Julia to seek the few days of freedom she took every month. Usually he was very protective of her, not allowing her to go anywhere or do anything without someone else knowing. A typical precaution, and one that irked Julia often.
"If we can't kill Crimson, why did you call me over here?" Spike questioned, as Vicious allowed himself to focus again on the present situation.
"He keeps sending his people to mess with my business," Jet growled.
Spike shot a questioning look to Vicious, he had neglected, in all of his research, to learn about Jet's day job.
"Your bank will be fine, I'm sure. You've increased secruity by ten percent since the last break in. No need to send Girl Scout in," replied Vicious, with a firm glare to Spike.
"I'm sending Spike in to see what Crimson's up to. Spike has a fresh and an unknown face, he could pass for a civilian." Jet insisted, glowering at Vicious.
"He's not unknown. Crimson and Spike go way back, he'll be recongized for sure." snapped Vicious, unmoved by the glare.
Jet's face went red as his anger noticably increased. "I'm the leader here, Vicious. My words goes until you inherit this postion. He's going with Julia, just so he can get a feel for the ropes. He won't be discovered because he'll just be watching from the car."
"Why is Julia going? It only takes one pair of eyes to see what's going over there," The outburst was the last thing anyone could expect to hear from the icy blond man. His protectiveness could not mask the jealously in his tone.
Spike grunted in disgust and took out his cigarette. Jet spoke a few words with Vicious in quiet tones and the blond man went inside without another comment.
"Let's go, Spike," Julia said, as she walked towards an old car on the street. It its prime, the car displayed proudly a forest green color, now only remainents of the paint covered it, where the rust had not already eaten away at the exposed metal. The seats were in worse condition.
"Can we take my car? That piece of junk won't get us to the corner." Julia seemed a little hesistant at Spike's suggestion.
Jet watched them closely, noting the tension between the two. No wonder Vicious was so against the young man, he was atrracted to his girlfriend. Parker also liked Julia, and Jet knew that it was no suicide that killed the man.
Behind him, Jet heard Vicious and Smith discussing something. A feeling of unrest had overcome the small group that Jet held so close. He suspected Vicious wasn't too pleased with the way things were turning out with the Crimson case.
There would always be disatisification among the camp, Vicious did not realize that. The blond man acted too inexperinced, too discontent, too young. Jet would have gladly surrended his position years ago, had the right hand man been more reliable. Though organized crime was not the best business, Jet's ring had a name to protect. A name Vicious would surely slander. Though not an old man, Jet was reaching the end of his prime. He began fanaticizing what a normal life would be. To keep himself content, Jet purchased a bank. Vicious sensed the sign of weakness, as any alert man should. It kept the mafia busy, but not with mafia work. It through the police for a loop. Crimson's ring owned no businesses, it seemed more suspicitble to be discovered. Always, especially in the cinema, there was hint about business. The 'family business' was always something to do with the removal of waste or something. Not so with Jet's mafia. By night they were a mafia, by day they were citizens.
Vicious could not deal with that, but his loyalty to Jet had not yet faltered. He was a fearless, bold young man whom Jet respected. No other man could fill Vicious' postion better. Except for Spike. If Spike deemed himself worthy.... Jet shook his head. He could not think of such dangerous things. His men respected Vicious and himself. Change would destroy his ring.
The roar of the car signaled the departure of Spike and Julia. The groups dismembered and went their seperate ways.Vicious took Smith up to his office and they talked in low voices until Spike finally returned.
"What happened?" Jet questioned, throwing down his cigarette, and leaning over the car. His eyes searched Spike's calm face.
"Nothing really. We waited outside the bank for nearly an hour, but there was no sign of anyone. Except for a cop who was taking this girl home, but that's another long story," Spike responded. Nothing at all had happened he thought, having hoped that being partnered with Julia, his efforts of getting to the city would not seem so pointless. Julia had been businesslike and more, she showed no signs of ever knowing Spike before. Except in the off moments when silence reigned the car, and she would through long side glances at him. Then, Spike would eventually since her gaze and turn towards her. She was too fast and had already moved her head. She appeared like she had never moved. Three times this occured. Spike wished to say something but he could not bring himself to. After his angry comments from before, it was up to her to make a comment. Anything friendly word would suffice. Unfortunately, she was quiet, as she should be.
Vicious trained her to be like this. To show no emotion, and to survive without tendernes. Damn him, Spike thought, his eyes drifting towards the young woman in the shot gun seat. Her leg kept twitching, almost nervously. Entranced Spike tuned out Jet's response until finally Julia tapped him on the knee.
"I have to go now. I'll see you tomorrow morning," she said softly. Spike gave her a puzzled look, and she continued, "Jet wants you here tomorrow in order to plan the next move."
"Right," Spike smiled, and he gave her a mock salute. She climbed out of the car, and held the door for a moment, and then walked away. The hesistation filled him with hope. Perhaps Vicious's training had not been entirely successful.
Either way, the next day would be an event to look forward to. In the mean time, he could perhaps pay another visit to Faye. A curiousity with this Vicious sparked him to discover more about the man. Looking in his review mirror, he eyed the blond man with malice, for Vicious had slyly slipped his arm around Julia's waist and it trailed to her upper thighs.
For an instant, Spike had a feeling that Vicious was laughing at him, knowing that he could see. He shrugged it off and headed out to the bar. He could not sleep anymore this morning.
Vicious just stared at her, unable to express his rage. His fists began shaking, and worsened as he saw Spike's immediate reaction to seeing his girlfriend. Finally, he cleared his throat and walked over to Julia, kissed her and then went downstairs to answer to Jet, knowing full well that he left Julia alone with Spike.
"Your boyfriend, he's a nice guy," Spike smiled, his heart sinking at the thought of Julia dating Vicious.
Julia managed to return the bleak smile, her surprise slipping away from her face. "Yeah," What else could she say? It was not as if he asked her how she felt about Vicious or how he frightened her to death. She could not possbily tell this man, (who she had only met once) about her problems with her boyfriend of three years. Obviously he had not forgotten about their meeting, about that night. Julia had meant it to be a chance meeting, never to see that man again. She had done it before, with different men, but she could not fool herself with this one- she too had felt it.
"What have you been up to?" he questioned, more sheepishly that time. All Spike could think about was Vicious's kiss with Julia. How intimate their relationship must be, he thought. After all, with him and Julia, it was just talking, it was just sex.
"I have to go," Julia said, her eyes slightly pained. Then, she walked away, with Spike still standing there, still wondering what the hell he had been thinking.
Within ten minutes, Vicious came up into the office, and Spike explained to him the details of his business proposition, which had to do with a rival mobster to Jet Black, called Crimson.
"I have a score to settle with Crimson," Spike muttered, his mind racing back to that night.
He used to work with Crimson, as a trained hit man. He would knock off those who couldn't make the payments Crimson required. Spike did all the dirty work, the backstabbing, and anything involing untimely death inside the mafia. It had grown strained between Crimson and Spike, when Spike was ordered to kill a civilian who witnessed one of Crimson's shootings. Spike refused, and walked away from the mafia, hoping to keep up his good terms with Crimson. It was not so, Crimson hired another hit man to assisnate Spike. On that night of the assisnation, Crimson's man accidently hit Spike's friend Edward. The shot was fatal.
To this day, Spike trembled at the thought of Crimson being near him. When he discovered that Crimson too was in the city, it made his mission to infilitrate the mafia even easier.
"Don't we all," Vicious's wry response jolted Spike back to the present.
"I know you've lost a hit man reccently, the last time the cops came by. In that way too, I could help you out," Spike slowly answered.
"How do you know that? Parker's arrest happened in the middle of the night. He shot himself before they cuffed him."
Spike's mouth curled into a slight grin. "You need a new hit man. There is no way you could have replaced a man like Parker in three days. I'm offering you my services, I suggest that you accept them. Crimson's a dangerous man,"
Vicious's face reddened in anger, "Listen, Spike. I don't know how you get your information and I don't care, but what I do know is that your services sure as hell aren't needed. Don't let the door hit you on the way out,"
Spike nodded, understanding that for now, he could do nothing but wait for Vicious to decide that he really did need him. Before going, Spike scrimbled his phone number down on a sheet of paper and slipped it into Vicious's pocket. The blond man did not notice, and angrily slammed the door of his office behind Spike. On his way down, Spike found Julia, standing at the foot of the steps.
Her eyes searched his pleadingly, and she grasped his arm, "What are you doing here?"
"I came to do business with Jet," Spike returned, curtly, looking away from her, unable to meet her eye. A part of him burned in embarrasment, he must have appeared so ridiciolous in her eyes. Yet those eyes had never left him, with their deep green ring full of sorrow and confusion.
Julia, taken aback, stepped aside, visibly offended, but a knawing in Spike's stomach refused to let him go without another remark . Frustration for not being able to hold her, to be with her made him say, "Isn't life just full of irony? Before I found Jet all I wanted to do was see you again but now that I've found you....." His voice trailed off, his damaging end to the sentence refused to come out. His voice had constricted for he had made the lethal mistake of looking into her eyes.
The deep emerald orbs shimmered as she mummured,"I didn't think you would go looking for me, Spike,"
The way she said his name made him cringe. So caring, so melodic. It brought the bitterness out of him, and looking back at her, he smiled grimly, "Well you did."
A few days passed with Spike sitting in his hotel room, not knowing where to go or what to do. A few times he thought of calling on Faye again, he sorely needed company. Still, his pride crippled him, forcing him to simply smoke cigarette after cigarette, watching life in the city to pass by. On the third day, the phone rang at midnight.
"Spike?" the voice demanded, sounding unfamiliar to him.
Instantly awake, he replied, "Who is this?"
"Black, we need you to come down here. Crimson's up to something," the voice replied, and then Jet disconnected.
Spike leaped out of bed and pulled on his clothes from the day before. He fumbled for his gun in the side drawer before running out to his car. In no time he pulled up at Jet's home, and found a small crew of Jet's men out in the lawn smoking. Julia even stood on the steps, appearing tired, but anxious. In fact, the only person seeming calm was Vicious. In the midst of worried faces, his blank, expressionless one stood out like a sore thumb. Nothing but jealousy got to that guy, mused Spike to himself as he approached the crowd.
"I'm glad you came, Spike," Jet commented, stepping out to greet him. His eyes seemed earnest, but his mouth was in a smirking grin. A few audible snorts sounded, from Vicious's area. Spike bit his lip, it figured that Vicious had supporters amongst the crowd. It took talent to remain as emotionless as Vicious appeared to be, it had to be admired by those who took emotions to be a sign of weakness. I'm glad I'm not in that camp, Spike thought. He shook his head and he replied, "I'm just as anxious to kill Crimson as any of yours,"
Alarmed, Jet answered, "We can't just go around killing our enemies, Spike. We have to keep it legal around this city. Besides, the cops are already on us so it wouldn't do to have a murder on our hands,"
"I'm sorry, I just thought that was the way things went around here," Spike said curtly, glancing up to see Vicious scowl. Clearly it seemed that this had been an issue before- Vicious needed to kill, and Jet needed peace. Spike slowly began comprehending the way the mafia was ran. As he stood there, talking specifics with Jet, he sensed a cluster forming around Vicious.
"I could off him, boss," said one burly man, wearing a cliche leather coat, and speaking with a heavy New York accent.
"If anyone kills Crimson, it will be me. Besides, we have other business to take care of first," Vicious answered quietly, also throwing a glance at Jet. For a second, his eyes gleamed, like a lion's do when they first spot their prey. The trusting, fatally obvlious, giant stood deep in conversation with Spike. Vicious knew that Jet would never believe that his own right hand man did him under. If only Spike got out of the picture, which could be possible with Julia's help.
Vicious saw his girlfriend watching Spike with intense fascination. His insides curdled at her lovesick stare. Never had she looked at him that way, even after all he'd done. For her to throw herself at the first stranger who says her name was ridiculous. Always straining at the lead, always going away for a few days without warning, Julia fascinated him. She was a mystery he couldn't solve, a problem he couldn't comprehend. There was a part of him that sensed the life he lived and the life Julia lived was challenging, a struggle from day to day, which made her so unhappy, so unsatisfied. He had no pity for her though, which eventually had forced Julia to seek the few days of freedom she took every month. Usually he was very protective of her, not allowing her to go anywhere or do anything without someone else knowing. A typical precaution, and one that irked Julia often.
"If we can't kill Crimson, why did you call me over here?" Spike questioned, as Vicious allowed himself to focus again on the present situation.
"He keeps sending his people to mess with my business," Jet growled.
Spike shot a questioning look to Vicious, he had neglected, in all of his research, to learn about Jet's day job.
"Your bank will be fine, I'm sure. You've increased secruity by ten percent since the last break in. No need to send Girl Scout in," replied Vicious, with a firm glare to Spike.
"I'm sending Spike in to see what Crimson's up to. Spike has a fresh and an unknown face, he could pass for a civilian." Jet insisted, glowering at Vicious.
"He's not unknown. Crimson and Spike go way back, he'll be recongized for sure." snapped Vicious, unmoved by the glare.
Jet's face went red as his anger noticably increased. "I'm the leader here, Vicious. My words goes until you inherit this postion. He's going with Julia, just so he can get a feel for the ropes. He won't be discovered because he'll just be watching from the car."
"Why is Julia going? It only takes one pair of eyes to see what's going over there," The outburst was the last thing anyone could expect to hear from the icy blond man. His protectiveness could not mask the jealously in his tone.
Spike grunted in disgust and took out his cigarette. Jet spoke a few words with Vicious in quiet tones and the blond man went inside without another comment.
"Let's go, Spike," Julia said, as she walked towards an old car on the street. It its prime, the car displayed proudly a forest green color, now only remainents of the paint covered it, where the rust had not already eaten away at the exposed metal. The seats were in worse condition.
"Can we take my car? That piece of junk won't get us to the corner." Julia seemed a little hesistant at Spike's suggestion.
Jet watched them closely, noting the tension between the two. No wonder Vicious was so against the young man, he was atrracted to his girlfriend. Parker also liked Julia, and Jet knew that it was no suicide that killed the man.
Behind him, Jet heard Vicious and Smith discussing something. A feeling of unrest had overcome the small group that Jet held so close. He suspected Vicious wasn't too pleased with the way things were turning out with the Crimson case.
There would always be disatisification among the camp, Vicious did not realize that. The blond man acted too inexperinced, too discontent, too young. Jet would have gladly surrended his position years ago, had the right hand man been more reliable. Though organized crime was not the best business, Jet's ring had a name to protect. A name Vicious would surely slander. Though not an old man, Jet was reaching the end of his prime. He began fanaticizing what a normal life would be. To keep himself content, Jet purchased a bank. Vicious sensed the sign of weakness, as any alert man should. It kept the mafia busy, but not with mafia work. It through the police for a loop. Crimson's ring owned no businesses, it seemed more suspicitble to be discovered. Always, especially in the cinema, there was hint about business. The 'family business' was always something to do with the removal of waste or something. Not so with Jet's mafia. By night they were a mafia, by day they were citizens.
Vicious could not deal with that, but his loyalty to Jet had not yet faltered. He was a fearless, bold young man whom Jet respected. No other man could fill Vicious' postion better. Except for Spike. If Spike deemed himself worthy.... Jet shook his head. He could not think of such dangerous things. His men respected Vicious and himself. Change would destroy his ring.
The roar of the car signaled the departure of Spike and Julia. The groups dismembered and went their seperate ways.Vicious took Smith up to his office and they talked in low voices until Spike finally returned.
"What happened?" Jet questioned, throwing down his cigarette, and leaning over the car. His eyes searched Spike's calm face.
"Nothing really. We waited outside the bank for nearly an hour, but there was no sign of anyone. Except for a cop who was taking this girl home, but that's another long story," Spike responded. Nothing at all had happened he thought, having hoped that being partnered with Julia, his efforts of getting to the city would not seem so pointless. Julia had been businesslike and more, she showed no signs of ever knowing Spike before. Except in the off moments when silence reigned the car, and she would through long side glances at him. Then, Spike would eventually since her gaze and turn towards her. She was too fast and had already moved her head. She appeared like she had never moved. Three times this occured. Spike wished to say something but he could not bring himself to. After his angry comments from before, it was up to her to make a comment. Anything friendly word would suffice. Unfortunately, she was quiet, as she should be.
Vicious trained her to be like this. To show no emotion, and to survive without tendernes. Damn him, Spike thought, his eyes drifting towards the young woman in the shot gun seat. Her leg kept twitching, almost nervously. Entranced Spike tuned out Jet's response until finally Julia tapped him on the knee.
"I have to go now. I'll see you tomorrow morning," she said softly. Spike gave her a puzzled look, and she continued, "Jet wants you here tomorrow in order to plan the next move."
"Right," Spike smiled, and he gave her a mock salute. She climbed out of the car, and held the door for a moment, and then walked away. The hesistation filled him with hope. Perhaps Vicious's training had not been entirely successful.
Either way, the next day would be an event to look forward to. In the mean time, he could perhaps pay another visit to Faye. A curiousity with this Vicious sparked him to discover more about the man. Looking in his review mirror, he eyed the blond man with malice, for Vicious had slyly slipped his arm around Julia's waist and it trailed to her upper thighs.
For an instant, Spike had a feeling that Vicious was laughing at him, knowing that he could see. He shrugged it off and headed out to the bar. He could not sleep anymore this morning.
