Part 8- Young Dead Men by The Black Angels

Billy sat at a worn table with his men in the back of Four Roses, having a few beers and relaxing from the hard day he had. He had come up short again with Bones' money and neither men were happy about it. Only making slightly over two grand, Billy and his boys had felt the effects of such a deficiency when Bones had threatened to kill all of them, practically chasing them out of the shop with his shotgun cocked and ready to fire in their direction.

"You ain't comin' on my turf, boy, with only two fuckin' grand! You half-wits wanna work for me, you better do your fuckin' job! Otherwise, I know you're stealing my shit, and I'm gonna put a fuckin' bullet through each of your skulls! Got it!?"

Upon leaving, Billy had been vehemently furious. He didn't know why he took directions from Bones anymore. Billy hardly went to him other than to give him the night's profits. He was fully capable of holding his own business as well as taking over the body shop if he chose to do so. It would be almost too easy for him to be the one to put a bullet through Bones' fat head, but he held back. After all, he was still his father, even if Bones was always reluctant to admit that.

"She was pretty sweet, you say? Hey, Billy, listen to this."

Billy looked down the table to see his friend Baggy grinning widely, leaning on his elbows across the table to look at him. A short, stocky man who was a regular at Four Roses stood behind him with the same smile. Everyone turned their heads to look at them both curiously.

"Yo, listen. Danny here said some chick was in here asking about us earlier today. He said she was real sweet and he wanted to know if she was gonna coming back."

"How the fuck should I know? I don't even know who the hell you're talking about," Billy looked to the short man and took a puff from his cigarette. It dangled from his lips while he continued talking, "What was her name?"

"I donno, man. She only talked to Sammy, but she sure was a nice little thing," Danny replied.

Billy immediately became curious. He wondered if it could have been the same girl he had seen last night and earlier that day. She definitely was a good-looking girl; too good-looking to be in this part of town. She also drove a nice car. He perceived that there was something different about her when he first saw her across the street from the bar last night, trying to blend in. He knew she was up to something the second time he saw her. All he need was another fucking undercover cop on his ass again. If she got too close, he was gonna have to do something about it; though killing her would be a shame.

He pinched his cigarette between his thumb and index finger, licking his lips quickly before continuing, "What she look like?"

"Well, she was small and had long, curly brown hair with a tight body. I mean tight," Danny emphasized. "And not stripper tight, but like she was works out a lot, but not too over done like those crazy bodybuilder chicks are. Shit like that is just disgusting, but she was smoking. I'd love to-"

"Okay, Danny. I got it," Billy interrupted him; not wanting to know what he had fantasized about this girl. It was definitely the one who had been following him. The men around the table started chuckling.

"Well, shit, Billy. I'd wanna know when she was coming back, too, from the sound of her," Joe laughed along.

"Yo, Sammy!" Billy called over to the bartender, "I got a couple of questions for ya."

Sammy finished pouring a beer for a customer and then stalked over while wiping his hands on his stained jeans.

"What up, esé?"

"Tell us a little bit more about this girl who was in here earlier today."

Sammy instantly tensed up and looked around the table nervously before shooting a glare at Danny, "What you wanna know?"

"I wanna know what she was doing in here asking you questions about us, if you don't mind tellin'."

"She was just curious, bro. Said she knows you from a while ago. Wanted to get back in touch."

"She knows us? How? Did she say?"

"No, man. She was being really vague, talking about "unfinished business" and "having her reasons." She wouldn't tell me her name either."

Billy turned his head back to the table, looking at all his men who all looked just about confused as he was. He was almost positive she had to be the police. Why else would a girl like her be in here asking about them?

"She look like a cop to you?" Billy asked Sammy.

"I don't know, man. She looked a little too young for that. She was just curious, I don't know why," Sammy never thought of her being a cop. She had looked way too young and innocent for that, but then what other excuse would there for her being in here. He had never seen her before and definitely not with Billy or any of his gang for that matter.

"Sammy, did you tell her where we keep the business?"

Sammy's eyes shot down to his feet, to the table, to the other customers crowded around in the bar. Anywhere except at Billy Darley and his boys. His anxiety spiked. He had been good friends with them since he started working at the bar five years ago, but he never completely trusted them. No one could wholly trust people like Darley and his gang, and if they found out he told a cop where they made their drugs, he was sure their five year friendship wouldn't be enough to save him. All men stared intently at him as they digested what this might mean.

"Sammy, I asked you a question."

"What, man? No," Sammy lied, getting defensive with his distress. He really didn't want any trouble. "I didn't tell her anything man. She was only here for two minutes before she left."

Billy nodded his head, snuffing out his cigarette and then stood up from the table beside Sammy. He smiled down at him and Sammy flashed a nervous smile back, looking around the table again. Swiftly, Billy had Sammy's left wrist tight in his hand, bring it around his back and pulling it upwards. He cried out as Billy slammed him down on the table, beer sloshing over the surface from tipped glasses. He yanked Sammy's arm up higher, close to the point where the bone could easily snap.

"Now, I'm gonna ask you one more time, Sammy. And I'll know you're telling me the truth 'cause we've been good friends for a while. Did you tell her where we keep the business?" Billy was close to his ear.

Sammy let out a strangled grunt and took in a few quick breaths before responding, "Yes, but she wasn't any fuckin' cop, man! I swear!"

"How can you be so sure of that? You see a nice looking girl and you're so quick to rat out your friends? I'm disappointed, Sammy. I thought you were smarter than that. You see, if I have a fuckin' cop chasing me around, my boys and I aren't gonna be able to sell and that results in us losin' money. You got the funds to supplement our loses?"

"No, man, I'm sorry! Just let me go! I swear I didn't know! I'm sorry!" Sammy pleaded with him.

Billy pulled Sammy's arm tighter for a couple of more seconds before letting him go. He fell to the floor, wet from the spilt beer and clutching his arm. Billy sniffed and wiped a hand under his nose.

"You're gonna be the first person I come to if cops show up at my door, esé. Understand what you're dealing with before you give free information out like it's a fuckin' bedtime story," he threatened before slamming his foot into the bartender's side.

"Billy."

He jerked his head up to the sound of Heco saying his name, anger still flaring inside of him, "What?"

"I know who she is," he said in a low voice. His facial expression was one of anger. Billy gave him a look that told him to keep talking. "I saw her sitting outside last night. I didn't recognize her at first… Remember the gas station about a year ago?"

Realization suddenly dawned on everyone's face as they compared Danny's description of the girl seen in the bar to the one they remembered from a year ago. They all looked around at each other, not sure about what this meant.

"What do you think she wants?" Billy asked Heco.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, let me deal with it. Like the bitch said, we have some "unfinished business."'

Billy remembered how she had latched onto Heco that night, trying to get him off of her friend. She had been easy to hinder back then, so he wondered what she could possibly want with them now. She saw what they were capable of and, as attractive as she was, she had to be pretty dumb to come looking for more trouble.

Billy stepped back from Sammy, looking down at him with disgust and indignation in his light blue eyes. He still lay on the floor, but he clutched at his side now, groaning.

"Yeah, I remember her. Bitch kicked me in my jaw. She couldn't even testify against me in court," Joe spoke up. "I think I remember her name. Rachel, Raymond, Rambo, Nancy… Dammit, what was it? Oh yeah, Ramona! That was it."

"You got a last name rambling around in there?" Billy questioned Joe.

"Where the hell did you get Ramona from all of that? Nancy?" Bodie asked with amusement and curiosity mixed on his dark face. Joe gave them both a cold look before responding to both unanswered questions.

"Well, I was trying to remember and they all sorta sound the same to me," he turned to Billy then, "And it's Stone, if I remember correctly."

Bodie let out a high pitched laugh before gulping half of his beer that he managed to save from Billy's little scrap with Sammy.

"Well, that's our girl. I want you guys tryin' to find as much information as you can on her. See what she wants," Billy placed both hands at the end of the table and it groaned under his weight. "Let's try to figure out what Miss Drew is plannin', huh?"

Bodie let out another high pitched laugh before smacking Joe on the back in good humor, downing the rest of his drink.