Chapter 22.
.7.02pm...
At 7.02pm Sway sighed at the familiar rumble of Memphis's Mustang in the driveway. It wasn't like him to be late, and although she'd never ask, she couldn't help but wonder what he'd been up to.
He walked over and sat down next to her "Hey."
"Hey yourself. The troops are all here, ready to go. And I mean *all*." She jerked her head in Sphinx's direction.
"Shit." He rubbed his hand over his face in a frustrated gesture "I'm gonna have to go talk with him. He shouldn't be here."
"Rach saw him before, and she said he seems fine." Sway offered.
"Rachel? Rachel saw Sphinx?"
She shrugged "Go figure huh? That's Sphinx, expect the unexpected! Apparently they shot a couple of hoops and he left. I don't know. Nothing he does surprises me anymore."
"Basketball?" Memphis questioned "Hey," he grinned "you reckon old Sphinxy has a crush?"
Sway laughed "Honey, I'm not even sure if Sphinx has internal organs, let alone emotions!"
His grin widened and he rose to his feet. "I'm still gonna have to talk with him. Cant risk anymore screw ups."
"Sure." Sway shrugged and looked over to where Sphinx stood silent and alone in the shadows. As always.
***
Memphis returned a couple of minutes later, his looked steely, his demeanour pissed.
"Let me guess," Sway pulled another cigarette from the packet with her teeth "He's staying right?"
"Looks that way."
"Don't worry about it Memphis," She mumbled as she lit her smoke "He'll be fine."
"Yeah well I already called someone else. Asked them to come join us. Even if Sphinx is staying, we had a spare space, why not fill it."
As if on cue the door of the garage banged open and a joyful voice rang out.
"Weeeeeeell! Aint it a sassy little crew we got goin' on here Rainy-boy!"
"Oh for fucks sakes." Sway hissed under her breath "Memphis, get rid of him, get rid of him now."
Frankie Fish was a short, wiry, greasy little man and had always reminded Sway of a weasel. He wore loud clothes and had a voice to match. He loved to stir up trouble and was the bane of most people's existence. However, Frankie had an amazing and unfitting talent for wheeling, dealing and pretty much any illegal activity you could think of. He was brilliant at *everything*, and unfortunately, he knew it. The fact that he knew how valuable he was to *all* the players in the city added up to one thing. Frankie was an asshole.
Memphis smiled tightly at him "Hey. Thanks for coming."
"No problem my friend, when people need The Fish they need The Fish!" He shook Memphis's hand limply and quickly scanned his surroundings. "Phew! We really do have a gathering going on here don't we Rainy-boy!"
"Mmmm." Memphis agreed his false smile still stuck firmly in place.
"If it isn't old chatterbox over there in the corner." He grinned at Sphinx who flicked out his switchblade and glared.
"Yeah. Listen Frankie, here's the deal. We got.." Memphis started before Frankie cut him off.
"Sway! How's it going hot stuff?" Frankie walked over to her and made a move to kiss her hand.
"Don't even try it!" She snapped.
Frankie chuckled "Still as sassy as ever I see hot stuff. Man, I missed you. And you know, you could show a little courtesy towards me, what with me coming all the way down here to help your boyfriend and all!" He reached out and drew a finger down the side of Sways face.
She closed her eyes in disgust and turned her face away. Memphis could practically see the blood boiling under her skin and could have sworn her heard her growl.
"Who the fuck do you think you are! Get your dirty little mitts off of her."
Frankie whipped around and stared at Rachel. "I could ask you the same thing honey. You don't talk to the Fish like that, you hear me?"
Rachel stood for a second, dumfounded by his bottle, before getting her composure back "Don't even *try* to tell me what to do." She seethed.
"Rainy-boy!" Frankie called not taking his eyes off Rachel "I think you'd better explain to this little honey, that we are always, *always* nice to the Fish if we want his services."
"Rachel.." Memphis started before Rachel cut him off.
"Did you just call me 'little honey'?" She asked malice punctuating her every word.
"Rachel! Leave it." Memphis warned.
She whipped around to look at him. "Are you serious? This asshole needs a slap!"
"Excuse me!" Frankie flung his hands in the air "Asshole?" He strode forwards and with a surprisingly strong grip, wrapped his hand around Rachel's neck. Not hard enough to cut off her air, but hard enough so that she daren't move.
"Nobody, NOBODY!" He spat at her "Calls me an asshole honey. Okay! I can do what the fuck I like you stupid little bitch!" He shook her
"Frankie." Memphis tried to reason with him. "Let her go okay."
"Shut the hell up Rainy-boy! I am NOT happy okay? Don't make it any worse."
"Get off her." Sway hissed, "Now!"
"Ooooooh! Hot stuff's getting ballsy now too is she? Rainy you should really try to keep your BITCHES under control!" He screamed the last few words in Rachel's face.
"Come on Frankie calm down." Otto said gently.
"No! Why should I? I want that bitch," He jerked his head in Sways direction "to apologise to me, and I want this bitch," he shook Rachel again "to grovel! And then get the hell out of here!"
"Why don't you get the hell outta here?!" Mirror stepped forwards.
"Mirror-man! Shut the fuck up!" Memphis warned.
"I'm waiting." Frankie sang at Rachel, ignoring Mirror's comments "Grovel honey, grovel good!"
"Memphis!" Sway yelled "You'd better make this asshole leave. Now! We don't need him."
"Shut up Sway!" He yelled back "You're not helping here!"
"You still have to apologise yet hot stuff. I suggest you pay attention to your boyfriend!" He turned back to Rachel "Well come on. Get grovelling, Honey!"
"Drop dead." She hissed, and then she spat in his face.
Frankie stood stunned for a second, and then his grip on Rachel's neck got tighter and he exploded "YOU FUCKING STUPID LITTLE WHORE! DIRTY LITTLE BITCHES SPIT! YOU SHOULD BE STRUNG UP AND."
There was a flash of something in Rachel's left eye and then Frankie crumpled to the floor. She stepped back and sucked in a lungful of air her head bowed.
"Shit Rach." Sway ran over, barging past Memphis "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." She looked up to where tumbler stood, massaging his fist and standing over an unconscious Frankie. She smiled "Thanks man."
He grinned back at her and nudged Frankie with his foot "No problem."
"Jerk needed a damn smack if you ask me!" Mirror enthused, slapping tumbler on the back. "You did us all a favour!"
"Yeah? And what the hell are we gonna do now?" Memphis shook his head "We needed him."
"No we didn't." Sway said coldly "We're fine on our own. There's nothing wrong with Sphinx!" She gestured over at him "And even if there was I didn't think you'd ever subject us to *that*!" She punctuated her last word by giving Frankie a swift kick in the stomach.
"Sway!" He raised his eyebrows.
"Oh just leave it Memphis!" She spat. "Otto! Gimme a boost sheet. Rachel, you're coming with me."
Memphis shook his head in exasperation "Fine! Get angry. Why change the habit of a lifetime Sway!"
"Oh grow up!" She hissed snatching a sheet from Otto and striding towards the door "I'll leave you to clear this mess up seeing as you got us into it. Oh and Memphis?" She stopped in her tracks but didn't turn around "Don't ever tell me to shut up."
"Don't give me Goddamn orders then!" He yelled as she left the building. A hand on his shoulder stopped him as he started after her and he turned and looked over at Otto.
"Leave her." He said softly "Leave her to cool down. We have work to do."
Memphis stared at his oldest friend for a second before nodding softly and turning back towards the group, all of whom had all shrunk back from the fight.
"Tumbler! Put Frankie upstairs." He snapped "And you lot, get boosting!"
***
.7.25pm.
Rachel glanced across at her friend; they had been driving around in complete silence for about 10 minutes. Sway was slumped down in her seat, her eyes dark and angry, her face hard-set. She wrenched the tan Ford Estate into 5th in another vicious gear change, and Rachel raised her eyebrows.
"You keep doing that and we're gonna be walking to this boost."
"Doing what?" Sway mumbled
"Slamming this poor little hunk of shit through its paces. It's a Ford honey, not a tank."
"Don't call me honey."
"Oh give it a rest Sway. This is me you're talking to. I'll call you what I goddamn like."
"Alright! Fine. Sweetheart!"
"Sugar!"
"Love!"
"Baby doll!"
Sway laughed, she couldn't help it. "Baby doll?"
Rachel grinned, "Tumbler." She said by way of explanation.
"Ahhhh. He really has no clue does he?"
Rachel laughed and pulled a pack of cigarettes from her pocket. "Nope. I've never seen any guy make this much of a fool of himself over and over again."
"Give him credit. His shot at Frankie was a serious thumbs up."
"Mmmm." Rachel nodded as she lit up and swung a foot up to rest on the dash "The first sign of the real him I've seen."
"Plus, at least he didn't just stand around with his thumb up his ass like some people." She scowled out of the window.
"Give him a break Sway. This is really hard for Memphis, he's just trying to do what he thinks is right. I think what happened this afternoon with Johnny really shit him up you know."
"Shit him up! What about me!" She took the cigarette Rachel offered.
"You're not the one who's fault it is though are you? Imagine if the tables were turned. How would you feel? Would you have hired Frankie if you thought it would help keep *him* safe?"
Sway fell silent and kept looking ahead. They rode for another few minutes in silence, until Rachel finished her smoke and flicked the butt out the passenger window.
"Hey, you know what we just did?" She asked rolling her window back up.
"What?"
"Girl talk!" She grinned and wiggled her eyebrows at Sway.
"You tell anyone, I'll kill ya."
"Right back atcha."
*** End Chapter 22 ***
.7.02pm...
At 7.02pm Sway sighed at the familiar rumble of Memphis's Mustang in the driveway. It wasn't like him to be late, and although she'd never ask, she couldn't help but wonder what he'd been up to.
He walked over and sat down next to her "Hey."
"Hey yourself. The troops are all here, ready to go. And I mean *all*." She jerked her head in Sphinx's direction.
"Shit." He rubbed his hand over his face in a frustrated gesture "I'm gonna have to go talk with him. He shouldn't be here."
"Rach saw him before, and she said he seems fine." Sway offered.
"Rachel? Rachel saw Sphinx?"
She shrugged "Go figure huh? That's Sphinx, expect the unexpected! Apparently they shot a couple of hoops and he left. I don't know. Nothing he does surprises me anymore."
"Basketball?" Memphis questioned "Hey," he grinned "you reckon old Sphinxy has a crush?"
Sway laughed "Honey, I'm not even sure if Sphinx has internal organs, let alone emotions!"
His grin widened and he rose to his feet. "I'm still gonna have to talk with him. Cant risk anymore screw ups."
"Sure." Sway shrugged and looked over to where Sphinx stood silent and alone in the shadows. As always.
***
Memphis returned a couple of minutes later, his looked steely, his demeanour pissed.
"Let me guess," Sway pulled another cigarette from the packet with her teeth "He's staying right?"
"Looks that way."
"Don't worry about it Memphis," She mumbled as she lit her smoke "He'll be fine."
"Yeah well I already called someone else. Asked them to come join us. Even if Sphinx is staying, we had a spare space, why not fill it."
As if on cue the door of the garage banged open and a joyful voice rang out.
"Weeeeeeell! Aint it a sassy little crew we got goin' on here Rainy-boy!"
"Oh for fucks sakes." Sway hissed under her breath "Memphis, get rid of him, get rid of him now."
Frankie Fish was a short, wiry, greasy little man and had always reminded Sway of a weasel. He wore loud clothes and had a voice to match. He loved to stir up trouble and was the bane of most people's existence. However, Frankie had an amazing and unfitting talent for wheeling, dealing and pretty much any illegal activity you could think of. He was brilliant at *everything*, and unfortunately, he knew it. The fact that he knew how valuable he was to *all* the players in the city added up to one thing. Frankie was an asshole.
Memphis smiled tightly at him "Hey. Thanks for coming."
"No problem my friend, when people need The Fish they need The Fish!" He shook Memphis's hand limply and quickly scanned his surroundings. "Phew! We really do have a gathering going on here don't we Rainy-boy!"
"Mmmm." Memphis agreed his false smile still stuck firmly in place.
"If it isn't old chatterbox over there in the corner." He grinned at Sphinx who flicked out his switchblade and glared.
"Yeah. Listen Frankie, here's the deal. We got.." Memphis started before Frankie cut him off.
"Sway! How's it going hot stuff?" Frankie walked over to her and made a move to kiss her hand.
"Don't even try it!" She snapped.
Frankie chuckled "Still as sassy as ever I see hot stuff. Man, I missed you. And you know, you could show a little courtesy towards me, what with me coming all the way down here to help your boyfriend and all!" He reached out and drew a finger down the side of Sways face.
She closed her eyes in disgust and turned her face away. Memphis could practically see the blood boiling under her skin and could have sworn her heard her growl.
"Who the fuck do you think you are! Get your dirty little mitts off of her."
Frankie whipped around and stared at Rachel. "I could ask you the same thing honey. You don't talk to the Fish like that, you hear me?"
Rachel stood for a second, dumfounded by his bottle, before getting her composure back "Don't even *try* to tell me what to do." She seethed.
"Rainy-boy!" Frankie called not taking his eyes off Rachel "I think you'd better explain to this little honey, that we are always, *always* nice to the Fish if we want his services."
"Rachel.." Memphis started before Rachel cut him off.
"Did you just call me 'little honey'?" She asked malice punctuating her every word.
"Rachel! Leave it." Memphis warned.
She whipped around to look at him. "Are you serious? This asshole needs a slap!"
"Excuse me!" Frankie flung his hands in the air "Asshole?" He strode forwards and with a surprisingly strong grip, wrapped his hand around Rachel's neck. Not hard enough to cut off her air, but hard enough so that she daren't move.
"Nobody, NOBODY!" He spat at her "Calls me an asshole honey. Okay! I can do what the fuck I like you stupid little bitch!" He shook her
"Frankie." Memphis tried to reason with him. "Let her go okay."
"Shut the hell up Rainy-boy! I am NOT happy okay? Don't make it any worse."
"Get off her." Sway hissed, "Now!"
"Ooooooh! Hot stuff's getting ballsy now too is she? Rainy you should really try to keep your BITCHES under control!" He screamed the last few words in Rachel's face.
"Come on Frankie calm down." Otto said gently.
"No! Why should I? I want that bitch," He jerked his head in Sways direction "to apologise to me, and I want this bitch," he shook Rachel again "to grovel! And then get the hell out of here!"
"Why don't you get the hell outta here?!" Mirror stepped forwards.
"Mirror-man! Shut the fuck up!" Memphis warned.
"I'm waiting." Frankie sang at Rachel, ignoring Mirror's comments "Grovel honey, grovel good!"
"Memphis!" Sway yelled "You'd better make this asshole leave. Now! We don't need him."
"Shut up Sway!" He yelled back "You're not helping here!"
"You still have to apologise yet hot stuff. I suggest you pay attention to your boyfriend!" He turned back to Rachel "Well come on. Get grovelling, Honey!"
"Drop dead." She hissed, and then she spat in his face.
Frankie stood stunned for a second, and then his grip on Rachel's neck got tighter and he exploded "YOU FUCKING STUPID LITTLE WHORE! DIRTY LITTLE BITCHES SPIT! YOU SHOULD BE STRUNG UP AND."
There was a flash of something in Rachel's left eye and then Frankie crumpled to the floor. She stepped back and sucked in a lungful of air her head bowed.
"Shit Rach." Sway ran over, barging past Memphis "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." She looked up to where tumbler stood, massaging his fist and standing over an unconscious Frankie. She smiled "Thanks man."
He grinned back at her and nudged Frankie with his foot "No problem."
"Jerk needed a damn smack if you ask me!" Mirror enthused, slapping tumbler on the back. "You did us all a favour!"
"Yeah? And what the hell are we gonna do now?" Memphis shook his head "We needed him."
"No we didn't." Sway said coldly "We're fine on our own. There's nothing wrong with Sphinx!" She gestured over at him "And even if there was I didn't think you'd ever subject us to *that*!" She punctuated her last word by giving Frankie a swift kick in the stomach.
"Sway!" He raised his eyebrows.
"Oh just leave it Memphis!" She spat. "Otto! Gimme a boost sheet. Rachel, you're coming with me."
Memphis shook his head in exasperation "Fine! Get angry. Why change the habit of a lifetime Sway!"
"Oh grow up!" She hissed snatching a sheet from Otto and striding towards the door "I'll leave you to clear this mess up seeing as you got us into it. Oh and Memphis?" She stopped in her tracks but didn't turn around "Don't ever tell me to shut up."
"Don't give me Goddamn orders then!" He yelled as she left the building. A hand on his shoulder stopped him as he started after her and he turned and looked over at Otto.
"Leave her." He said softly "Leave her to cool down. We have work to do."
Memphis stared at his oldest friend for a second before nodding softly and turning back towards the group, all of whom had all shrunk back from the fight.
"Tumbler! Put Frankie upstairs." He snapped "And you lot, get boosting!"
***
.7.25pm.
Rachel glanced across at her friend; they had been driving around in complete silence for about 10 minutes. Sway was slumped down in her seat, her eyes dark and angry, her face hard-set. She wrenched the tan Ford Estate into 5th in another vicious gear change, and Rachel raised her eyebrows.
"You keep doing that and we're gonna be walking to this boost."
"Doing what?" Sway mumbled
"Slamming this poor little hunk of shit through its paces. It's a Ford honey, not a tank."
"Don't call me honey."
"Oh give it a rest Sway. This is me you're talking to. I'll call you what I goddamn like."
"Alright! Fine. Sweetheart!"
"Sugar!"
"Love!"
"Baby doll!"
Sway laughed, she couldn't help it. "Baby doll?"
Rachel grinned, "Tumbler." She said by way of explanation.
"Ahhhh. He really has no clue does he?"
Rachel laughed and pulled a pack of cigarettes from her pocket. "Nope. I've never seen any guy make this much of a fool of himself over and over again."
"Give him credit. His shot at Frankie was a serious thumbs up."
"Mmmm." Rachel nodded as she lit up and swung a foot up to rest on the dash "The first sign of the real him I've seen."
"Plus, at least he didn't just stand around with his thumb up his ass like some people." She scowled out of the window.
"Give him a break Sway. This is really hard for Memphis, he's just trying to do what he thinks is right. I think what happened this afternoon with Johnny really shit him up you know."
"Shit him up! What about me!" She took the cigarette Rachel offered.
"You're not the one who's fault it is though are you? Imagine if the tables were turned. How would you feel? Would you have hired Frankie if you thought it would help keep *him* safe?"
Sway fell silent and kept looking ahead. They rode for another few minutes in silence, until Rachel finished her smoke and flicked the butt out the passenger window.
"Hey, you know what we just did?" She asked rolling her window back up.
"What?"
"Girl talk!" She grinned and wiggled her eyebrows at Sway.
"You tell anyone, I'll kill ya."
"Right back atcha."
*** End Chapter 22 ***