"Words"
He quietly walked down the alleyway. It was a quiet night in Houston. He smiled. It wasn't going to last. He knew where the action was, yet he took a path that he was certain the object of pursuit would be going down.
"You know better than to walk alone at night don'cha?" A voice from the shadows. Accented his ears told him. Considering the neighborhood, the nationality was up to only so much debate. What was not up to debate was that unsavory individuals had singled him out.
"Yes, I do," he calmly replied to the shadows. "But tonight, is so beautiful that I simply could not keep inside. Besides things are happening tonight that I simply must observe. Forgive this most unexpected intrusion upon yourselves."
"Ah, a fancypants eh?" chuckled another voice.
"My jeans have nothing whatsoever to do with this conversation. And quit skulking about. Come out what where you may be seen."
Several figures, dirty and grinning, stepped out into the light. A few more were behind. So… he had been tailed by them. He mentally sighed. Careless. But, then again, he had been in a bit of hurry to find a good spot of observation. It was quite possible that there would be… more than one… unfortunate happening this night. Couldn't be helped.
"Let me pass please. I have precious time that cannot be spent standing around here debating with you."
"Oh, you pass," chuckled one guy, thumping a rod in his left palm, "if you empty them pockets."
"Yeh get some a you nice stuff. We likes nice."
"No. It would be wasted upon you. You have no appreciation or understanding of valuables."
"Don't matte what'cha say. We get wha-hat we wadt." This one sounded like he was missing teeth, so his words were garbled slightly. 'Lost Teeth' advanced upon his six.
"Stop." The crunching footsteps halted. A grunt of confusion and predictable bewilderment. He had put a little effort into his words this time. But they had no true knowledge. Not yet. He would like to avoid any more effort than was necessary. He didn't move. Wait and see what the reaction was.
"Whatt'ya doin'?" demanded a voice.
"I wha-has movin'… den…"
"He scare you?"
"Doh," bristled the man. So, they were starting to get impatient, angry, emotional. Well it was potentially unavoidable now. They would back off and consider him not worth the trouble. Come to think of it, this neighborhood might be one of those lesser patrolled areas.
"He playin' some tricks, usin' words, but unless you a fightah," stated the rod-wielder, "you gonna make this more painful for youself."
"For someone," he agreed. "But not me." He looked up and stared intently at the advancing man, who scowled, but didn't stop, just came more guarded and prepared for resistance. "Now you are warned: Leave enough alone now; or what happens is upon your souls, not mine."
. . . . .
He grimaced slightly at his shoes. He liked these. But he could clean off the blood on the bottoms later. He was not visibly dirty from the recent events, and even if he was, he did not want to miss you tonight's action.
Quite regrettable the mess he had left back there, but it was necessary in the end. He could not afford to be detained, and besides, there was no trace to find upon the various deaths that had occurred. Rather, the authorities would have to make up their own guesses upon the mysterious nature.