It was a rainy afternoon, I was just chilling outside of a bar here in Venice California when all of a sudden a large white van stopped and parked a couple of blocks next to me.
"Hey, stupid!" A guy with a funny looking hair shouted while pointing to me.
"Who the hell are you calling stupid, buddy?" I told as I scowled at him furiously.
"Weren't you part of that gang, what name was it? Deadbeat Vermins?" The man asked.
"Yeah, what of it? You here for some trouble?" I said. Judging by the tone of his voice, I'd say he was looking for one.
"Easy there tough guy, I'm just here to negotiate with you." He said while lighting up a cigar. He offered me one but I refused because I don't smoke.
"I don't negotiate with anyone. I don't even know who the hell you are." I said, turning my back and got on my motorcycle. "Especially to punks like yourself who thinks he can just call people stupid anytime they want."
The man chuckled after blowing some smoke. The clean air reeked of tobacco. It bothered me a lot but I didn't give it any attention.
"What if I told you that you can get five thousand dollars if you do one thing I say? Does that sound good?" The man asked. I paused to think, that's a heck of a lot of money. There's no way this guy has that kind of money.
"Yeah right, get out of here. You look broke as hell." I said laughing at the guy.
"Don't believe me? Check this out." He gestures to his body guards and they took out a brief case off the back of the van. They opened the case and lo and behold, five hundred dollars. I had to raise my sunglasses just to confirm. "So are you willing to negotiate now?"
I didn't have any money on me, and this was a perfect opportunity for me to turn that around. I had to take this.
"What do you want me to do?"
The bar was loud and boisterous, it was perfect to converse in secret. The man ordered his usual, Jack Daniels and offered me a drink as well. I don't really drink any kind of alcohol but heck, I didn't want him to think that I'm a pussy or anything so I took a drink.
"By the way, I'm Brad Practice." He said, reaching out a hand.
"Call me Strong." I said as I shake his hand. "He looked a little surprised at how firm my hand grip was.
"You know, you look a little too young to be part of crazy gang like the Deadbeat Vermins. How old are you?" He asked.
"I'm nineteen, and for your information, I have no time to chit chat. I mean business here. I'm not trying to make friends." I told glaring at him until he breaks eye contact.
"I respect that." He said with a smile. "Let's get right to the chase then."
After a minute, he finally finished explaining what he wants me to do. I take a brief pause, processing everything that he said.
"So you're telling me, you want me to kidnap a teenage girl with red hair?" I asked.
"Yup." Brad told.
"And you said that she is a little cuckoo in the brain?"
"Seems easy right?"
"I know it's easy, so why don't you just order your big ass guards around and do it for you?" I told.
"Oh believe me, I tried." Brad said.
"What happened?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Sam Puckett happened." Brad told.
"Who's Sam Puckett?" I asked.
"The meanest most dangerous girl I know. You see big Mike out there?" Brad said, pointing to Mike near the entrance of the bar. "He got both of his knees blown out because the crazy girl pushed him off the roof, onto the concrete."
"Damn man." I said, wincing.
"And that man Gerald over there, was bedridden for a month because he got pummeled multiple times with a sock filled with butter."
"A what?" I asked, bewildered at the nonsense that I was hearing.
"Yeah, true story man, I'm not joking. This girl is the real deal." He said, taking a small sip of his drink.
To be honest I didn't believe in what he's saying. A teenage girl taking on huge body guards is something new to me.
"Show me what she looks like." I said. He took his phone from his pocket and quickly scrolled through his gallery full of screen shots he had taken.
"Here, take a long look." He told. I did take a long look, maybe a little longer than I thought. I glanced at him, trying not to burst out of laughter.
"Her? That's the girl that has been causing you trouble?" I asked, pointing to the phone. "That girl is nothing."
"Are you sure about that?" Brad asked.
"Hey, you're talking to a member of the Deadbeat Vermins, the most vicious gang in Venice, California." I said, standing up out of my stool. "So you better get that money ready because I'm gonna get you your little redhead and make that blonde chick my bitch."