Kami, he was in so much trouble. Iceburg was going to kill him when he got back. "Come back here, brat!" screamed the man chasing him. Paulie could escape him, of course. The man was slow, fat, and foreign to Water 7. But everyone in town recognized him as Iceburg's apprentice. It didn't help that he was wearing his 'Galley-La' jacket either. They'd find him, and they'd kill him (if Iceburg didn't get to it first that is).
Why did he do this to himself? He'd gone cold turkey for 14 days, and he just had to succumb at the last second. He had tried to justify it with himself. 'It's my birthday today. I can do what I want. Poker isn't gambling anyways. Poker's just a card game… That you play with money. Yeah, no, I'm an addicted idiot'. Day after day now, debt collectors were chasing after him. They'd even threatened to call the police. This meant nothing, since Galley-La was the unspoken law enforcement group of Water 7. But what scared Paulie was the fact that they were mad enough to even resort to that option. Jailing him would mean running the risk of never receiving Paulie's debt money. And to those cash-hungry sharks, that was an almost inconceivable concept.
Paulie raced down an old alleyway, stumbling over a discarded pop can, but catching himself before he fell. Garbage littered the street. Ripped paper was strewn everywhere, and food remanants were rotting in piles along the walls. It was disgusting. But it was the perfect hiding place. Those snooty debt-collectors wouldn't venture near this dump. Paulie picked his way through the trash, and hid behind two large garbage bags.
"Where'd he go?!" he heard one of the men squawk.
"Damnit, let's split up," said the other. "I'll go down this alley, you keep lookin'."
Paulie swore. The hell were these guys willing to pick through this junk to get to him?
"Right, meet you at Galley-La in one hour."
Paulie could hear one of the men getting closer. A sound like wood hitting flesh revertebrated against the buildings. Like a slugger getting ready to swing his next home run. A baseball bat... He was a hired thug. Typical. The debt-collectors couldn't get their hands dirty, after all. It was sick, really. A couple thousand Beri, and they were after him like hounds? They could easily swindle the next guy and get twice as much... Paulie felt sick. Kami, he was terrible. Blaming his addiction on debt collectors was not the way to fix things. He had to make things right. He'd work a double shift at Galley-La if that were what it would take. He would be a new man. He could hear the thug picking through the discarded potato peels.
Paulie was about to save him some time and step out of the shadows when suddenly, a new voice rung through the alley.
"May I help you, sir?" rung a soft but clear baritone. Iceburg. Paulie could recognize that man's orders and directions from across a shipyard.
"Uh… Yeah," said the Thug. "I'm lookin' for a guy with blonde hair, goggles—"
"In a Galley-La uniform?" asked Iceburg.
"Yeah! How'd you know?"
Iceburg sighed.
"That would be my apprentice, Paulie. He's gotten himself into trouble again, I see."
Paulie pouted. He wasn't always getting into trouble. Every other week was hardly what he would call 'trouble'… There he went again! Making excuses for himself! Kami, he was pathetic!
"In any case," continued Iceburg, "I'll ensure the money is delivered to you straight out of his salary."
"Uh… Thanks, man?" said the thug. Paulie wrinkled his nose. The man was talking to freaking president of the Galley-La Company. He could have a little bit of respect for the man who practically re-invented the basic caravel design.
"No worries," said Iceburg. "Please have one of your employers contact me at Galley-La headquarters. Tell them to ask for Iceburg."
"Come out from there, Paulie,"
Paulie froze. His head peeked over the pile of trash bags, and he saw that the thug had left. Paulie emerged from his hiding place, bowing his head in shame.
"Firstly, shame on you," said Iceburg. "I had a surprise birthday party planned and everything. Secondly, did you hear me? This is all coming out of your paycheck. And thirdly, how can you stand this smell?"
Paulie shrugged. He'd grown up on the streets of Water 7. It was gross, but he was used to it.
"Remind me to give a large donation to our street-cleaning organization later today," said Iceburg.
Paulie gave him a small smile, still too embarassed to say a word.
"Paulie," sighed Iceburg, "one of these days, I'm not going to save you. You need to nip this little problem of yours in the bud. Otherwise gambling will lead you to theft, and Kami knows I can't help you then."
Paulie nodded, but it didn't register with him. 'One day' was so vague. Was it tomorrow, or 5 years from now? Paulie could try, but how long would it be before he learnt his lesson for good?
A.N.: Ah, Galley-La. Love 'em. They're as quirky as CP9. And sometimes just as destructive~ I feel like Water 7 was huge for interesting personalities and whimsical characters. There was such an abundance of them being thrown at us. Dissecting Paulie was interesting. I thought about what angle of his personality to show him in, and just as I show bad guys as being good, I wanted to see how a bad guy could be evil. One Piece holds a lot of perspective to it. Playing around with those perspectives, and manipulating characters into different settings; that's what makes my job really fun~ Reviews, Favourites, Subscriptions, Birthdays, and Requests are welcomed and much appreciated! I'll see you on the 15th for Corazon A.K.A. Donquixote Rosinante.