Chapter 4: Jake the Butcher
The two blondes survived the car ride back to Beatrix's apartment. It didn't take Bea long to grab her things. Clothes, only two sets seeing as Bill told her to pack light, bathroom necessities, and few other nick- knacks. For a woman it was amazing she was able to pack only that dusty brown back pack for the trip. Any other woman would have five whole suitcases. The packing light had taken some practice but she got it down quick.
Coming back out to the car she threw her things in the trunk and returned the passenger seat. No words were exchanged as the car whirled off to the main road. Blue eyes hiding behind her sunglasses, Beatrix kept quite for a good portion of the ride. Her thoughts were aimlessly and in no particular order or meaning. Perhaps she even caught herself a twenty minute nap in between but that'd be hard to notice. Blinking back to reality she pushed herself up to get out of that slouched position. She caught sight of the sign stating they were entering the state of Alabama. "Alabama," Bea stated dryly a southern accent kicked in. "So, Elle, ya ready to have us some fun?"
Like Beatrix Elle had remained completely quiet during the whole trip. She smoked allot, as usual...listened to the radio...oldies and classic rock stations seemed to be neutral enough for them both. Thus far, Elle had made little or no effort to pick a fight. Whatever had happened between her and Bill the day before apparently had had some sort of effect. She was behaving as well as Elle possibly could.....for the moment at least.
Elle gave Beatrix a wide icy smile, "I'm always ready for a little fun." She took a drag, steering off the next freeway exit for Birmingham. "God...what a pit!" She blurted at the passing scenery. Indeed, there was nothing too photogenic to be seen. "How the fuck people can live here is beyond me." Suddenly Elle made a sharp screeching left, "I'm hungry." Without even consulting her passenger Elle pulled into a divvy looking cafe/bare type place. The large pink sign red "Joe's Eat N' Go." Elle, slammed the door, "Looks like a shithole...but I don't think we're gunna find anything that isn't in this assbackward state." She seemed completely obvious to the stares she received from a number of loitering customers outside. She snubbed her cigarette with a high heeled sandal. One eye turning on Beatrix, "You coming?"
"Aye, I'm coming," Beatrix hissed in a quiet reply. Was she hungry? No, she was perfectly fine and really just wanted to get the job done. Scowling in a momentary aggravation towards her partner she got out of the car and shut the door behind her. Boots crunched lightly against the gravel walkway as she followed a few feet behind Elle. Beatrix received the opposite of what Elle had received from the gather patrons but she ignored it. The air outside was humid and sticky and the atmosphere inside wasn't much better. The waitress, a young girl, with red hair, and freckles eyed the two blondes curiously before seating them to a booth.
Hands came up as Beatrix pulled her blonde hair up into a high pony tail. "It's so fucking hot," she complained to herself, her hands falling down to pick up the menu. The menu had your usual diner selections but the smudged marks of food on the menu didn't help her appetite. She glanced over the rim of the menu to Elle. A coy smile hidden. "If you eat something here and get food poisoning I'm never gonna let you live it down."
Elle, taking full opportunity of the Southern laxness on smoking in restaurants, lit up another cigarette. "I'm immune.." she remarked coolly, scanning the dingy menu with her left eye. "After eating all of that shit Pai Mai made me eat...." She threw down the menu onto the plastic checkerboard tablecloth. The red headed waitress quickly saw her cue...since she had been watching the two closely from the coffee station anyways.
"So...whattya two ladies havin' here?"
"Coffee.....black." Elle said, her usual smirk on her face, "...and the large chef salad.....I'm watching my figure." She added pettily. Beatrix rolled her eyes.
The waitress stared, but quickly recovered herself scribbling onto the pad in her hand, she turned to Beatrix, "And you ma'am?" Beatrix turned her attention to the waitress putting on a polite smile to the young woman. "I'll just have coffee, cream and sugar, please." She handed the waitress the menu and watched as she walked away. Blue eyes shot back to Elle, eyebrows rose. "Shit, Elle, maybe you shouldn't have asked for even the salad. I'm starting to see that little pudgy belly of yours," she teased in a mixture of warm and cold. Using the back of her hand she wiped at her forehead to move sweaty bangs from sticking too much.
"Shove it bitch," Elle retorted in the same manner. "Not all of us can be built like fucking telephone poles alright?" She went back to smoking, blue eye lolling around the restaurant. "Some weird looking assholes in his place." This was somewhat ironic coming from Elle, but she didn't seem to care. Turning her attention back to Beatrix, Elle draped a long arm over the back of the booth, "So, what's the deal between you and Bill anyways?" She attempted to sound nonchalant.
Beatrix looked rather taken aback by Elle's question. She blinked diminishing any surprise on her face and put on a cool and yet sly demeanor. "What's the deal with Bill and me?" She repeated, putting her elbow up on the table, her chin settled in the palm of her hand as she stared at Elle. "That is a very good question. If you find the answer let me know." She turned her head to the freckled faced waitress arriving with the two coffees. She only lingered a moment after setting down the coffees to inform the woman with the eye patch that her salad would be out shortly, she than dashed off.
Elle looked amused at Beatrix's answer. "Mm.." she murmured, pulling in her ignoring the waitress. She took a few more drags of her cigarette watching Beatrix. "Seeing as we are both women....here's a little...woman to woman advice." She leaned forward, pursing her lips, her voice a whisper,"I hope you don't think for one second that Bill gives a shit about you." She snorted, leaning back, "...or that he's capable of something even resembling love." This last word came out dripping with sarcasm. "Believe me Bea," she exhaled a puff of smoke, "I'm just trying to look out for you. I would hate to see you....." she grimaced, "....emotionally scarred or something so pathetically female." Just then, the waitress returned with Elle's salad. "Ah, why,...that looks mighty fine!" Elle drawled at the waitress....the poor woman dashed off again. "Oh...croutons!" Elle's eye widened in joy.
Beatrix laced fingers around the handle of her coffee mug and took a cautious sip incase the contents was too hot. Once the waitress left, she set the mug back down to the table top with a thud. "Shit, Elle," she cooed mockingly. A hand rose to pat against the left side of her chest, over her heart. "You care about me? I never woulda guessed especially on a topic as sentimental as Bill." She paused, brows narrowing on her femme counterpart. Her dramatic effect dropped. "No, Elle--I know what I'm doing and what I can get in to and how deep I can go. That's real sweet of you to remotely show that you have some feelings for me under all that hostility but I don't want your pity or shitty concern."
Elle smirked, a little angrily. Then took a giant crunchy bite out of her salad. "Alright Bea. But don't say I didn't warn ya." she chewed awhile, "Bill's a real bastard. Once, a woman, name escapes me now...young..younger than you...one his many protégées..really pissed him off...." she waved her fork, mouth full of food..."Hah...well...forget it..." she jabbed her fork back in the salad, "....never saw that bitch again. "She picked up her coffee, "But, whatever, if you don't want my shitty concern, that's fine." She shrugged in mid-sip, "They come, they go." Elle picked something out of her teeth, "Damn, this is a good salad." After a few more minutes of Elle's annoying eating and smoking. She pushed her plate away. "I say we ditch this shithole and move on."
"I say we should have ditched this shithole a long time ago," Beatrix retorted coolly. During Elle's salad eating Bea had been sipping her coffee and staring out the window. Her thoughts lingering on what Elle said and than some. She rose from her seat. Head cocked to the side as she stared down at the other blonde. "You dragged me here, you pay," she stated bluntly before turning on her heels and heading to the car. Elle looked a little pissed, but quickly threw a ten on the table and followed Beatrix out of the cafe. Minutes later the Corvette screeched out of the parking lot and back onto the highway. A few hours later the two of them found themselves at the Sunny Star Motel.
"Jesus Bill," Elle muttered..staring down at one of the post it notes in her hand, "Why did he have to chose this dump?" Actually, the Motel looked far better than the others surrounding it. Shifting through the papers, Elle came across her answer, "Ah...it appears that bitch's place is just down the road. Jamie Rallins." Elle drawled. "Dumb name." Elle hefted her bag from the trunk, along with another unmarked black tote. They had stopped for some weapons along the way. Nothing too exotic of course, a couple knives, a few firearms....anything they could get easily in the state of Alabama....which was actually quite a bit. "So," she turned her eye on Beatrix. "Does your skinny ass need a rest or are you ready to do this thing?" Beatrix scowled quietly. "My skinny ass is ready to get this done." She flashed a mocking smile before kneeling down to one of the black tote bags. She unzipped it to reveal that nice assortment of weaponry. No one was in the parking lot so there were no worries there. Beatrix picked herself up a trusty 9mm, two daggers, and a pocket knife. Fully equipped she rose to her full height. "So, my fine blonde...friend..." she began through gritted teeth. "Mrs. Rallins supposedly does a lot with bear wrestling. I'd sure like to see that," she mused, a smirk on her face. "Anyway, this bitch's specialty lies in her knife handling. I'll go in first acting like the ditzy blonde tourist that I play oh so well. You do whatever the hell you're best at. Unless you've got a better plan of action."
"Sounds just peachy to me," Elle replied.
As Beatrix armed herself, Elle did likewise. They both had been trained to disguise their weaponry quite well. When finished, not a gun handle or knife blade was in sight. As they walked the shot distance to their destination, Elle laughed, "Bear fighting...oh please! I'm sure Bill just made that up. He likes all that dramatic shit." The street they were walking down was pretty shabby. Small shops and used car lots lined most of it. The few passers by gave the two blonde women strange looks....a few of them rather leering. They reached a tall rundown building...a few of its windows boarded up. Metal siding was thrown in the "yard" and a few beat up cars were parked around it. "Hmmm..charming," Elle noted. "Alright, I'll wait out back....I'm giving you five minutes....if I don't hear any commotion by then, I'm bursting in." With that, she began climbing over the debris and inching along the side of the building.
"Bye," Beatrix muttered as Elle walked in her direction and she took her own. She slipped the glasses off and stuck them in her pocket. Upon approaching the door she rang the door bell. Hearing yells from inside as whomever was home tried to answer the door, Bea took this opportunity to ruffle up her hair a little. Sloppy pony tail; bangs disheveled, fix the look. As the door creaked open she turned her attention immediately to the woman at home. It was Jamie Rallins all right. Not unattractive but not attractive either. She was wearing a pair of tight black jeans, a shabby looking t-shirt that had a bear head painted on the front. She had frizzy brown hair and her face had a pudgy effect. She eyed Beatrix in high annoyance and disapproval. "Yeah?" Came her thick southern accent.
"Hey there," Beatrix piped up, adding excitement to her character. "Are you Mrs. Rallins? That gal I heard about on the internet? Oh my gawd, I am such a big fan! See, I was driving around here and my car broke down. I was hoping I could use a phone but..Wow..I never expected to come here." The woman obviously wasn't too smart as she believed every inch of Bea's story. She actually seemed quite flattered. Beatrix was led into the house. A glance over her shoulder before she stepped inside. The home was poorly furnished. All the necessary rooms cluttered with unkempt furniture, left out pizza boxes, and dying plants. Slender brows rose as she followed Jamie into the kitchen. She pointed. "There's da phone, deary."
"Thank you kindly." Bea turned her back to the woman to reach for the phone receiver. That's when she felt the edge of sharp blade prodding at her back. "You fucking bitch, I'm not that gawd-damn stupid," Jamie growled from behind her. Beatrix just grinned wide. "And I'm not that gawd-damn stupid either," she replied in her bitter, deadly tone of voice. She whipped around with a quickened movement that seemed to startle the woman. Her hand came out to snatch at Jamie's wrist, the one with the knife as her other went to retrieve the 9mm at her side. Jamie wasn't as stupid as Beatrix expected. Before she was able to get out her gun she felt the agonizing pain shoot through her shoulder. Bea grimaced in pain as the southern bitch pulled out the crimson dagger from Bea's shoulder. Smirking with glee. That smirk didn't last long as Beatrix grabbed out her gun and shot.
Elle had been leaning up against the back screen door. Thanks to its many holes, she was able to hear some of the conversation but it wasn't until Beatrix's gun shot went ringing through the air that Elle went into action. Kicking in the screen door, gun drawn, she burst into the back of the kitchen. It took only a few seconds for her one eye to assess the situation."Freeze right there bitch!" She screamed, pistol aimed at Jamie's face. For a moment Jamie froze, her muddied features conveyed a good amount of shock. Off to the right there was a loud thudding and Elle swung her gun around just in time to have it kicked out of her hands by a huge farm boy looking kid. "Don' think so!" The large kid drawled, swinging a huge fist at Elle, who quickly ducked. His fist went smashing through a glass cabinet. While the giant lug reeled from the pain, Elle leapt onto Jamie. But the woman was good her knife slashed out giving Elle with a good slash on the knee.
Elle screamed, grabbing the gushing cut. Beatrix had received her own wound. This was not good it was always best to have at least one of them unhurt. The odds had apparently changed. Rearing up, Elle managed to punch the knife out of Jamie's hand but she was grabbed from behind by the large kid who literally picked her up. No problem of course, Elle swiftly kicked him right in the groin, she was promptly dropped. But now Jamie was back on Beatrix knife in hand.
Beatrix muttered a curse under her breath as Jamie approached her, a vicious glare in her eyes. Seconds earlier when Elle made her entrance Bea took the time to give some aid to her wound, which wasn't much. The crimson liquid continued streaming from her shoulder blade and drenching her blouse. She was ready none the less. As Jamie ran at her with a hostile speed, knife clenched in her hand, and rose in the air to strike down at her. Black Mamba met her half way; her own hand went up to grab at Jamie's wrist, pushing her back firmly against to crash into the wall. A large amount of struggling preceded as Beatrix tried to twist the knife from Jamie's grip while not getting herself slashed in the process. This was getting nowhere as the woman obviously wasn't going to give up the knife any time soon. Fierce growls of frustration admitted through Beatrix's clenched teeth, her free hand wandered down to that hidden holster and snatched out her 9mm she had tried to go for before. She cocked the gun in Jamie's face, white longer finger clenched to the trigger. "Here's a gift from your husband," Beatrix hissed. Her finger pulled back on the trigger.
Two gun shots sounded in unison at that point. Jamie slipped down to the floor, blood running down the wall as her body slumped to the ground, her wide mouth open in an awe affect. Emotionless blue hues watched the body for a brief moment before she blinked and a hand slipped to touch at the back of her blouse. Slender digits revealed a large amount of blood. "Fuck." Bea whipped around with immense speed and accuracy; gun poised and shot at nowhere in particular it seemed. Right where that final gun shot went off a younger man's body, perhaps a body guard, fell to the ground with a loud thud. Bastard shot her while she wasn't looking and Elle had been preoccupied.
From her current place on the kitchen floor, Elle saw Beatrix shoot Jamie point blank in the face, executioner style. Damn, the woman was colder than Elle had initially thought. Unfortunately for Beatrix, she got shot herself but at least she had gotten rid of another one of Jamie's cronies in the process. The tall blonde had collapsed, a good amount of blood pooling around her. Leaping off of the floor, Elle spun around to the giant buffoon who had finally gotten over her kick to his groin. He seemed visibly upset to have seen Jamie's face blown off. Elle wondered briefly if the man had been her son or perhaps been other older woman's boy toy. In the end, she didn't really give a shit. The son of bitch was about to join Jamie anyways.
Elle faced him full on, smirking, "Come and get it baby." The young man made some terrible noise that sounded like a whimper and he came full on towards Elle. "Dumbass." She murmured. With an amazingly high kick she nailed him right in the face, her spiked heel jabbing straight into his right eye. The man screamed, grabbing at his face. Elle took the opportunity to spin kick him in the chest. He fell backwards right onto the stove. Blinded by his own blood, there was little he could do. Elle bent and scooped up her own pistol and shot him in the chest. With a loud thud, the man fell. Elle took a few seconds to relish the sight and then made her way over to Beatrix.
"Damn Bea." she pulled at Beatrix's shoulders, "Bitch got ya good.We've got to get you outta here." She began to drag Beatrix out of the house. There was no well in hell they were walking back to the car now. Getting around the house was a real pain in the ass but Elle kept herself motivated by thinking of what Bill would do to her if Beatrix bled to death. Scanning the parked cars with her eye, Elle drug Beatrix over to the nearest car. It was an old blue Ford pickup at least thirty years old. With a loud groan she shoved Beatrix, not all too gently, into the passenger seat. Running around the car, she had the thing hotwired in under a minute. The tires smoked as Elle peeled the truck away from the house back towards the motel. She lit a cigarette, casting a cycloptic glance over at Beatrix. "Feels pretty shitty huh Bea?"
The shift from lying on the floor in her own blood, to being half dragged, and than roughly put into a car only aggravated Beatrix's wounds. Her shoulder wound wasn't that bad but her back hurt like all hell. A mix of blunt pain and immense stinging along her spinal cord and various internal organs could be felt. In the passenger seat of the car, Bea had her legs stretched out, back arched and head bent back to try and subdue the pain. "Shitty doesn't do this fucker justice," she groaned between clenched teeth. Her head was swimming and her eyes were slowly glossing over but she kept awake knowing to slip into unconsciousness would be a deadly mistake. She gulped down a wave of nausea. "Dammit, Elle, get me to a doctor."
"Hrm...nah, thought I would let ya die in the seat of this old piece of shit truck." She swerved around a few parked cars. "I remember the first time I got shot really good. Fuck, I think I would rather have died." Elle certainly didn't have the best bedside manner in the world; she was acting as if Beatrix had sprained her ankle.
In what seemed like hours (although it only took about two minutes) they pulled into the parking lot of the Sunny Star Hotel. She jumped out of the truck and strode over to her red Corvette proceeding to rummage through the luggage in the trunk.
She returned a few minutes later, a small black leather book in her hand. "You see Bea people like us simply cannot stroll into Emergency Rooms. Too many questions and paperwork. Of course Bill thought of that one decades ago." She began flipping through the small book, "In here...listed so conveniently by state is a list of doctors who, shall we say don't ask any questions." Thankfully Alabama started with an A, and Elle found what she was looking for quickly enough. "Well Bea," she tossed the book on the dash, "Let's hope I can find this place and that this guy's not dead or something. I don't think Bill has updated this thing in a few years." She was about to restart the car, but hesitated. With a look of true distain she removed her black blazer. "Here wrap this around your torso. Press as hard as you can you've got to slow that bleeding down or I'll be looking up a mortician in that book." she pulled out, spinning the steering wheel, "....and believe me...Bill's included those as well."
For some odd reason Elle decided to whistle the entire way to the "doctor's", cigarette hanging from her red lips. She flipped a few people off on the way, screaming obscenities out of the window. "Goddamn people don't know how to drive," she mumbled at one point. Now, that was pretty funny coming from Elle. As much as Beatrix disliked (to say the least) Elle, she couldn't have been more thankful for her smart ass comments, whistling, and foul language given to the other drivers. It kept her awake and for brief moments away from the pain. The blazer had been tied taut about her torso, already soaked through with blood, but the speed had decreased dramaticly. She made a decision in that car that if she lived through this she was going to 'think' about thanking Elle. And that was saying a lot. Finally, Elle drove the truck up a long windy gravel driveway. The dingy city had given way to a more rural setting. Almost everything was obscured with trees. The house the driveway led to looked more like a log cabin. Elle's cigarette hung from her mouth. "What the fuck is this?" Slamming the break on, she jumped of the car. "Come on Bea." she once again pulled Beatrix out of the cab and towards the front door of the "cabin" "I hope....." she grunted, ".....that we aren't about to find some hick wearing a coonskin hat and an.......ax in one hand......" With a boney hand, Elle rapped loudly on the door.
Beatrix's arm was draped over Elle's shoulder to help support her weight as they approached the supposed cabin door. A few moments passed another feeling of fifty hours, until the door creaked open to reveal an elderly woman. Pudgy in appearance, double chin, sagging skin, thinning auburn hair tied up in a tight bun, she wore a white t-shirt and a pair of khaki blue jeans. She had green eyes that darted suspiciously between the two women at the door. The one blonde with the eye patch looked rather aggravated to say the least. The other blonde looked like shit. Beatrix had taken on a sickly pale complexion, sweaty bangs were plastered against her forehead, and her breathing was shallow. The older woman pursed her lips as if debating something until she spoke up with a thick southern accent, "Fuck, don't you two lil ladies look like hell." A hearty laugh was given. This obviously wasn't a rare sight for the older woman. Though, she trailed off immediately catching the vicious and venomous glare from Beatrix. "You two gals come on in, now." She watched them cautiously and stepped to the side to allow them in. "Right on down the hall there is a small room. I'll 'ave the doctor be with ya two in just a second."
Elle, although she was tempted to say something sarcastic or at the very least somewhat bitchy to the old woman, kept quiet. Following the woman's instructions, she helped Beatrix down the hallway. It was dark and consisted mostly of wood paneling and shag carpet. The room at the end was something of an improvement. In the middle was a large "hospital" style bed. There were various cabinets and a sink that were pretty typical for a doctor's type office setting. Elle helped Beatrix onto the bed. Beatrix looked awful. For the first time during the whole ordeal, Elle felt slightly concerned.
"Ah, you must be our two new guests..." A man's voice, quiet and gentle in mood stated from the doorway. Elle swallowed an acidic "no shit" comment and smiled at him as nicely as she could. The "doctor" was a nice looking man in his late 40's. He was small and skinny. His short grey hair was cut in high military fashion. He moved quickly and with purposeful movements. "Hrm," he rapidly examined Beatrix's wounds. Elle hated it when doctors said shit like 'Hrm" and "Mmm." But she resided to stand in the corner, her arms crossed over her blood spattered blouse. "Well...the bullet went clean through," the man said, unwrapping Elle's now blood soaked jacket. "But, I'm afraid it tore her up quite a bit in the process. I hope this won't require any sort of surgery." he began to mumble to himself getting down to work.
Just then, Elle's cell phone rang. She made a grab for it...but remembered it was in her coat jacket. Searching through the wet piece of clothing, she pulled out the phone. "Bill...hi.." Elle pressed her lips tightly together, her demeanor changing, "Yeah.....yeah...it's done. Oh..a total bitch.....nah....Beatrix blew her head off, you'd of loved it......no.......well....nothing much. Ah....yeah.....Bea got shot. No, no...no big deal really. She's fine. We're taking care of it now. Ok...alright....yup, bye." She slapped the phone shut. While this short conversation had been going on, the "doctor" had given Beatrix enough painkillers to dope up a horse. He was now proceeding to shut the wound up the best he could. He gave no reaction to Elle's phone conversation. "So, what's up doc?"
"Hrm...well....hard to say yet...." the man answered still busy. For one thing Beatrix despised getting herself drunk and acting like a horses' ass but right now she seemed to have no choice. Blue eyes that always held intense and emotional glints were now glossed over and dilated. Her head was turned to the side in Elle's direction. Brows knit together watching Elle finish up on the phone. She turned her head away thinking a shit to herself. Bill was probably pissed off she got herself shot, that showed she wasn't being careful enough. Or maybe she was just over reacting due to the large amount of sedatives and morphine in her system. Her features took on a sloppy serious expression that if the situation wasn't so critical it would appear quite funny. Her words came out choppy and slurred, "Am I gonna die?" A point blank question.
The small doctor looked at Beatrix, "No dear." He seemed like a really nice man. ".....I think your going to be fine. But you need to stay very still or your going to make it worse. You've lost allot of blood. I'm going to need to stitch you up in a few minutes. You shouldn't feel it, I've pumped you full of drugs." He seemed a little too entertained at this idea, "But, if you do feel it scream." Elle, in her corner, looked rather amused. She took out a cigarette with a red sticky hand. So, she'd told a little fib to Bill, nothing major, nothing that she hadn't done before. If she'd told Bill that Beatrix looked like she was on her deathbed at that moment well he probably would have blamed her for getting Beatrix hurt. Idiot. It was Beatrix's own damn fault she got shot.
"Alright," the doctor piped up finally. He had a small spool of stitching in his hand. "Your going to want to get these replaced in a few days but this should do the job for now. The entry and exit wounds are not very big. Elle suddenly became interested as the doctor proceeded to stitch up the small gash in Beatrix's side, and after making the groggy woman roll over, the gash in her back. It was quite disgusting and Elle watched fascinated, as she smoked away. After he was finished the doctor removed his gloves. "Well, that should do it for now." He turned to Elle, "Keep her doped up," He handed her a not entirely legal looking bottle of medication. "Don't mov'er allot and try and get her to a real doctor as soon as you get back...to wherever." Elle thought it was funny that this doctor referred to "real doctors."
"Okie dokie..." Elle nodded, standing up. The doctor and the old woman helped Elle get Beatrix out to the truck. They had wrapped her in a large tan blanket. As Elle started the car, the doctor came up to her window, "If she starts to go into shock take her to an ER, it's worth the risk, believe me." Elle nodded.
"And tell Bill that Jake the Butcher says 'hi'"
Elle snorted, "No prob." With that she backed out and headed back into civilization.