Chapter 4- Another Body Drops

Night had descended on the projects, casting shadows of darkness amongst objects that in daylight would seem harmless. Vash and Wolfwood walked out the house jumping at every roaming shadow in the night. It was a warm restless night that hovered over their erratic forms. They kept glancing at every moving object making sure no unmarked vans would be roaming by.

Getting courageous, Vash sauntered down the sidewalk like he always did. The patter of his shoes was the only sound as he walked down the empty street.

"There's no one out here, I don't even know why I'm tripping. I'm the boss of this hood!" he yelled loudly. "Believe me, Knives is the one who needs to…" His words stopped as both he and Wolfwood spotted a car coming down the street.

They both quickly ran back onto the lawn, hiding behind the thick trunk of a palm tree.

"Who's car is that coming down…"

"I don't know," Wolfwood responded as he peeked his head out, "but its kind of creepy…"

The car slowed down and stopped in front of Wolfwood's house with a lethargic screech.

"Hey what time is it?" Vash asked starring at the car cautiously.

"Around seven."

"Seven…Oh snap! That's Vin Diesel then!"

"Who?" Wolfwood asked swerving his head to the side to meet the blonde.

"Vin Diesel," Vash repeated grinning cheekily, "the guy Dom hooked me up with."

"He aint gonna look like Vin Diesel," Wolfwood said frowning, his eyes already turning back to the car.

"We'll see." Vash responded as he happily bounded down the sidewalk to the blue Tercel. He walked towards the drivers side were he saw a giant lump struggling to get out. Under the shadows of the dark, all Vash could see was a plump build of long muscles as a man stepped out of the vehicle.

"Ooooh Wassup?" he asked in a deep voice smiling broadly.

Vash scrunched up his face in disgust as he met the eyes of the man Dom had hooked him up with, "Not a

damn thing!"

On the porch, Wolfwood burst into hysterical laughter a he fell on his side, gasping for air. Vash looked tiny in comparison to the muscle bound man next to him. Vin Diesel my ass, Wolfwood thought through his hysterical laughter, looks more like Oprah on steroids.

"So we gonna kick it?" Monev asked scratching his thick brown hair hiding under a black trucker cap.

"Oh we can kick it, but-I gotta go pick up my mom."

"Oh we can go get her," Monev said removing his trucker hat, which included his hair.

"Daym!" Vash shouted leaping back, as he saw that Mo was really bald underneath, "Um yea, but you know my mom don't like a lot of people," He said gesturing wildly, "To go get her."

Angelina had just come home from work, stepping into the porch only to find her only son clutching his sides from laughter.

"Whose that boy with Vash?"

"Vin Diesel," Wolfwood managed to choke out in between laughter.

Angelina smiled as she watched the small blonde trying to squirm away from the massive figure trying to grope him, "He's a big one."

Wolfwood could only nod, as his laughter continued to ring across the yard.

"So you'll call me?''

"I'll call you," Vash promised, "But if you come by here again I wont, aight?"

"Ok," Monev said thoughtfully as he got back into his Tercel.

7: 20

Vash was upset. That would be an understatement. He was pissed. And his fist pounding against Dom's door would be the proof of this anger.

"What?" she asked in a hushed whisper as she opened the door.

"What? What do you mean what?" He growled flailing his arms about.. "Vin Diesel? Vin Diesel? More like Fat Albert!"

Dominique began chuckling, "Oh did Monev come by?"

"Come by? He almost stepped on me!"

"He is not that big," Dom laughed, "I thought you too would be cute together."

"I think I threw up just a little" Vash snarled at Dom who was trying to stop from laughin hysterically at the blonde.

It was then that Vash noticed the bike propped up on the side of the house. "Is Legato here?" He asked trying to peer through the door.

"Yea he's sleeping with Milly so-" She began gesturing for Vash to leave.

"What? Party up in here huh?"

"Uh uh," Dom replied ushering him off the porch, "You gotta go."

"Alright." Vash agreed peering at the open bedroom window.

7:54 pm

"Hahahaha," Wolfwood began accenting each laugh, "Vin Diesel's ass got a little fat."

"Man, forget that!" Vash exclaimed annoyed, "I almost had the money!"

His laughter was caught short as he looked at the serious blonde, "How?"

"I went to Dom's house to yell at her, and it turns out Legato was sleeping there, so I jump in through the open window and guess who decides to drop by?"

"Who?"

"The little crack head of E.G." Vash paused dramatically, before he started rambling again, "We were in there the whole time arguing. I didn't even get a single cent. I was gonna kick his ass afterwards but he ran off."

"Oh you aint catching no crackhead." Wolfwood said looking down the street, "Well let's go get it now, Legato's probably still asleep."

"You think so?"

"Yea, you're jumping in though."

"Alright," Vash agreed as they began their walk.

As soon as they headed off towards Dom's house they saw Legato ridding his stolen bike down the street. The rusted wheels slowly creaking, twisting almost in pain over the amount of weight being exposed upon them.

"There goes that plan." Wolfwood muttered, watching Legato go by. Vash sighed again exasperated with the whole situation. He was about to retreat back into the house when the sound of falling trashcans caught his attention. Just a couple of feet behind them Zazie was on his bike tipping cans over.

Wolfwood and Vash exchanged determined looks as they raced after him.

Zazie squealed when he realized they were both hot on his trail. It wasn't till he reached the next block that he noticed that Vash and Wolfwood were slowing down. Claiming victory he began to laugh at them, "Y'all bustas can't catch me!"

Upon hearing those words Vash started running faster, and with a burst of speed and determination Vash launched himself, catching Zazie of guard. Zazie and the bike fell as Vash proceeded to pummel the young boy.

In a fit of fury Vash quickly took of his belt and began hitting the boy on the ground, sending a few kicks his way. Wolfwood arrived in time to pry the blonde from the younger boy.

"Let me at him," Vash yelled thrashing about in Wolfwood's arms. Zazie took that opportunity to get back on his bike and tearfully make his escape.

Watching him go Vash began hopping up and down in victory, "Finally!' he shouted gleefully bouncing in Wolfwood's arms, "We finally got that little bastard!"

"Settle down," Wolfwood scolded trying to keep the grin off his face. He was trying to seem mad at Vash's childish behavior, but the pummeling the blonde had given had been way too funny. Bedsides that little punk deserved it.

"We finally got him though!" Vash exclaimed, jumping into Wolfwood's arms.

The weight on his arms was unexpected, but instead of letting him fall to the ground, Wolfwood clutched the body closer to him in order for the blonde to stay aloft.

Vash was so carried away by his excitement that he didn't notice their proximity, lips only inches apart, as they stared into one another's eyes.

8:00pm

"Whoa, who's that?" Wolfwood asked snapping away from Vash's waiting lips. The blonde reluctantly looked towards Wolfwood's direction to be greeted by a handful of thugs coming out of a van, armed with machine guns.

"Oh shit!" They both shouted in unison as the sound of the safety being taken of ten guns exploded through the projects.

Wolfwood quickly raced down the street jumping over cars with Vash still tightly wrapped around his neck. A torrent of bullets followed his trail, as he weaved in and out of yards.

After a block of running the weight on his arms began to get too heavy to carry.

"Vash, get off me!" Wolfwood yelled slowing down

"But I'm on you all day!" Vash protested before getting dropped on his ass in the middle of the street.

"This is no time to for sing alongs," Wolfwood scolded as he pulled out his heat. Jumping on top of a car he began shooting off his rounds before hoping on to a roof and disappearing at the other side of the house. Vash quickly followed, shrieking like a girl when a cascade of bullets trailed on his feet.

"They shootin!" Vash screamed as he crashed into a chain link fence.

"Hurry up!" Wolfwood yelled from the other side, helping the blonde get over the barbed wire.

Tripping over his long legs Vash stumbled onto a pickup truck lying flat on his back. Wolfwood hoped in after him cringing as he saw the headlights of a large black van, "Shit they're coming."

"What?"

"They're coming!" Wolfwood gritted through his teeth.

They both laid flat on their backs, struggling to calm their laborious breathing. Vash murmuring inaudible nothings to himself as he rocked back in forth.

"Be quiet."

"I can't I'm scared…Nick… I love you"

"Shut up."

"I really do, I know I bother you a lot but I love you Nicky."

"Just check if they're gone."

Vash shook his head whimpering, "I can't I'm too scared…"

"Just look, c'mon we'll do it together."

"Promise?"

"Yea, on three. One…two…three."

They both began to get up, but Wolfwood just turned over leaving Vash in a sitting position all by himself.

"Shit!" he growled quickly slamming himself back down, "I thought you were gonna look with me!"

"I lied," Wolfwood mumbled, "Are they coming?"

"Yea, they're right there," Vash whispered harshly slumping himself closer down.

The van carrying the thugs slowly passed by them. The soft sound of tires rolling by was the only audible sound in the night.

"Hey, look again." Wolfwood suggested.

"Fuck you!" Vash spat before he went back to his quiet whimpering.

9:00 pm

They both jogged back towards Wolfwood's house, apprehensively looking at their surroundings. Upon reaching the porch they found E.G sitting by Wolfwood's black lowrider.

"Yo Nick! Where've you been?"

"Where I've been, where the hell were you? I've been waiting for your ass all day."

"He was out stealing shit that didn't belong to him, that's what he was doing." Vash growled annoyed. He was ready to beat the crap out of anybody who wanted it, his day had not been good at all.

"Well, am I washing your car or what?"

"Right now?" Wolfwood asked glancing at his watch.

"Hey I'm open at all hours."

Wolfwood made a face of disgust, before turning to Vash, "I'll be back soon," he said getting inside his lowrider.

"You're leaving me?" Vash asked almost in a squeak.

"I gotta get my baby washed, I got a job interview tomorrow." Wolfwood said starting the engine.

"Alright," Vash agreed smiling pitifully. "You better come back soon!"

9:30 pm

"Yea I know it's a short notice but that's why I'm calling you." Vash was inside his house perked up on his desk talking on the phone. "Well I'd appreciate if you could do this for me as soon as possible." He paused listening intently to the voice on the other end. "Yea, that's perfect, meet you in the alley in 15?" He paused once again nodding at the flood of words coming from the other end. "Aight then, thanks man, I owe you one." With that he hung up with a determined look on his face.

9:45 P.M

"Everything you need is right here." The low voice said handing the case to Vash.

"Thanks man, I don't even know how to repay you."

"Just give it back safe and sound."

The blonde nodded, as he left the alley, gripping the metal case in his hand. He was strolling back home when a black lowrider eased its way down the street. Vash broke into a jog as he excitedly headed towards it, but before he could even near it, the car exploded. With a guttural roar the car burst into a ball of orange flames, sending debris flying through the air.

Vash stood in his spot, watching the whole neighborhood light up under the massive flames rising to the sky. He felt his throat go dry, arms get heavy, legs weak underneath him. An abysmal pain wretched at his heart as the gruesome image unfolded before him.

"Oh God, Wolfwood!' Was all he could scream before he crumbled on the ground.