Chapter 7 - Ty

             I woke up screaming. Screaming from pain that tore through my thigh, radiated down my leg, and shot up my side to linger. If that wasn’t a splintered femur I didn’t know what was. I went to curl forward when I abruptly realized it to be an impossibly.

And the chains come back to make me a chandelier, I thought with vicious humor.

My feet weren't anchored down, but they were chained together and the weight of the thick metal pulled on me.

And it f*****g hurt.

"Son of a b***h!" I cried as I tried to collect myself.

Something blunt nudged me forcefully near my spine, "Eh, Ty. You like baseball?” I didn’t recognize the voice but I could tell it was male. It was a drawl that had a bit of a redneck ring, “I love baseball. Good ol’ Louis's been with me a long time." He came around to face me as a tried to find a position that caused less pain dangling in the air. He had rusty blond hair and was wearing a red and black plaid over shirt. His lazy gray eyes told me this was just another day in the office, but the idly swinging Louisville Slugger said he was itching to try for a few more home runs.

"You know, these are so much more fun when you weight ‘em. Gotta be careful though," He swung the bat up to rest it gingerly in his other hand. "Do it wrong and it totally screws your balance when ya swing. Gotta drill it again and do the whole thing over." He inspected the aluminum bat that I strongly suspected was lead filled before releasing it to swing at his side again. "So Tyler, you never answered me; you like baseball?"

"Not no f****n' more I don't."

His face split into a jokers' grin before he laughed. If you could call it laughing. It was more of a howl with a sandpaper edge.

"S**t Ty, that's funny. I think we're gonna be friends after all this unpleasant s**t." He regarded me for a minute before pushing the tip of the bat against my outer thigh. I bit back from howling myself, but for an entirely different reason.

He grinned wolfishly, "Awe bud, did I break ya already?"

"Nah, just a super sensitive to the touch kinda guy." I said venomously with the little breath I had. My ribs were in a cycle of pain that spiked with every inhale, not to mention that my left shoulder felt like it was half popped from the socket.

Either way I shifted my weight the pain continued to stab at me.

"Oh, whoa ho ho! Damn you are fun. Your sister ain't even half as fun when I get her under the covers!"

"You-!" I lunged my feet forward, an effort to connect with his head, but my femur ended up being reintroduced to 'Louis' instead.

"F**K!" I shouted. "F**K YOU!" I was angry. F**k that, I was fuming. Angry or broken, a coin toss between what I was more. Either way, it was all fuel. All the s**t, abuse, taunts, talk, pain; it boiled anger that simmered at best, and I was f*****g done.

"WHAT DO YOU F*****G PIECES OF S**T ACTUALLY F*****G WANT? WHAT? WHAT! ENOUGH WITH YOUR F*****G S**T! WHAT. DO YOU. F*****G. WANT."

"Cox told you-"

"NO. C**K DID NOT F*****G TELL ME. YOU WANT JULIUS, THAT'S F****N GREAT. HOW IN THE F**K DO YOU EXPECT ME TO GIVE HIM TO YOU? YOU F*****G KNOW WHERE HE LIVES! GO F*****G GET HIM! WHAT IN THE F**K DO YOU F***S REALLY F*****G WANT ME FOR? YOU WANT ME TO JOIN YOUR F*****G SIDE? THAT'S PRETTY F****N RICH, FORGET THAT YOU STRUNG MY SISTER LIKE F*****G BAIT! SO WHAT? WHAT IS THIS REALLY F****N ABOUT?"

My ribs were doing some screaming of their own at that point, but I ignored it to keep focus on Billy Joe f****n’ Jimbob and the still swinging bat.  

“Calm yourself down there Tyler. This’s all part a’ the process. You just be patient an’ do what you’re told. Cox wants you in, but if all you’re gonna do is fight then she ain’t gonna work out.”

“I don’t f*****g answer to you. So get the f**k out of my face. Where the f**k is your goddamn self-righteous leader anyway? He go f****n’ crawlin’ to the f****n’ hospital after I broke his f****n’ ankle? GIMME SOMEONE THAT KNOWS WHAT THE F**K’S GOIN’ ON!”

“Listen a*****e, I know what’s goin’ on. You ain’t allowed to have that information yet. All you need to know is that if you don’t start f****n’ listenin’ you’re gonna end up swimmin’. Permanently. You’re already treadin’ deep water without a raft; don’t you think you ain’t gonna die if you keep it up.”

He was right. At that moment I was definitely up the creek without a paddle. But I would not " could not " believe that I was screwed. There wasn’t much I didn’t believe in from my brother, and where that faith faltered, my faith in Julius began. They had to be looking for me, and they would find me.

As much as I hated to bow, it was probably my only chance to still be breathing when I was found. Taking a deep internal breath, I relaxed against the chains. It still hurt, but I pushed the pain out of my mind.

“Alright,” I said calmly, letting my head lower fractionally, “What do want me to do?”

Several expressions drifted across his face; surprise, suspicion, eagerness, and gleeful satisfaction before he settled back to suspicion. “You f****n’ with me Tyler?”

I shook my head, “Nope, just tell me what you want.”

He looked me up and down a few times, trying to gauge my angle. Was I playing him? Had I finally had enough? Would I turn around and take a shot the second he wasn’t looking?

You bet your f****n’ life on it, bud.

But, I put on my best poor boy mask, and despite my usual luck he bought it. “Alright. We’ll start with something simple. Let’s say… Where does Julius work? We see him all over the place, damn near impossible to tell which places matter and which don’t.”

“You expect me to know that? He doesn’t tell anyone half the s**t he does. I think he’s a bouncer.” Half truth; half lie. Julius wasn’t secretive, but he wasn’t really open either. And he was a bouncer, but it was only one of his many odd part time jobs.

“Really? And you got no idea where, eh?” He didn’t buy it, not quite.

“Well, probably downtown. There’s not much on the North end for bars.” Not a total lie, there were lounges on our side of the fence, but most of the real bars that required security were downtown. Last I was aware though Julius had a gig at both Spurs and The CBH, neither of which were downtown.  

His face cracked into a sly grin, “I knew you were f****n’ with me. Sit tight while I make some phone calls to get our people stationed there on the low.” He grinned more savagely before turning, “Thanks Ty. You keep havin’ changes of heart like that and you’ll be full-fledged in no time.”

“F**K!” I screamed as the door slammed shut behind him. Of all the f*****g times to speak without thinking, without recognizing, it would have to be the one time that really counted.

“F**k,” I repeated, but quietly, only for myself that time.

I wasn’t religious, hell, growing up with a dad that used you as a target for darts when he was drunk didn’t exactly inspire faith that ‘Jesus loves you’. And if that was ‘God’s plan’ for me, he could take those plans and shove ‘em where the sun don’t shine.

But in spite of that, I was still praying. Praying that my knowledge was out of date, or that Julius blew off work for a while, or that he could kill the sonsofbitches before they could make report back to their gang. Yeah, look at me break out the frickin’ rosary. I coulda given a nun a run for her money.

I stayed that way for a long time. Running through my mind and just praying to whatever the hell was up there that RD couldn’t make good on all their promises. Because that’s what they were, I realized suddenly as my stomach plummeted, they were promises. Dragons didn’t make threats, because threats implied you wouldn’t follow through.

The door screeched open just as I was about to swear at myself one more time. Scott was back with Mr-Redneck-if-you-please, who was still carrying his Slugger like it was a damn pet. Both were looking smug.

Well, whoop-de-f****n-doo.

“Redneck,” I nodded in greeting before turning to Scott, “Fuckhead.”

There was no playing around this time. Scott jerked the baseball bat out of Billy Joe Jimbob’s hand and thrust it like a spear to connect with my forehead.

And just like that, the lights were out.

 

 

****

 

I was fuzzy coming to, like when you half wake up but go back to sleep a few times before really waking up. Everything seems out of place and you’re not sure where the dreams ended and reality began.

Did I remember being in a car? No… that wasn’t right… I remembered being on a car. No, that still wasn’t right.

Ah, I thought, getting the glimpse of a tailgate as it slid through my mind. I’d been in the back of a truck. Why ruin good leather with all that blood when you could throw the guy in the box instead?

I tried to bring a hand up to my head and was pleasantly surprised to not be strung up like a cow in a slaughterhouse. That didn’t mean my hands were going anywhere.

Finally I opened my eyes to look around. I was in a much smaller space this time, at least half the size. I could see all the walls and other objects that occupied the space with vivid detail. Well, I would have seen the details if my vision hadn’t been blurry. As it was I could make out shapes and colours of pretty much everything in the place, but what those shapes were I wasn’t qualified to guess.

I was propped against a wall, or a box maybe, with my legs spread haphazardly in front of me. It felt like there was give against my back, but I could’ve imagined it. The restraints around my wrist that bound my arms behind me were definitely not my imagination though. They were cool and thick, I guessed them to be the middle child of shackles and handcuffs.

“Hmm,” I contemplated my current situation as though I didn’t have a care in the world. And really, what else was I going to do? Not like I was going anywhere.

I looked back at my leg. It was at an awkward angle, one that should have hurt, but I didn’t feel any pain from it. Curious, I jiggled my shoulders up and down. Nothing, not even a twinge.

“Huh, weird…” Hadn’t I been hurt? Hadn’t I been half bled to death with as many broken bones as Evil Knievel?

I leaned forward, looking for something but not really sure what. You got signs when you died right? Purgatory didn’t just magically carry on where life left off… did it?

“And you’re awake. Again.”

I looked up at the familiar voice and grinned. An honest one, not savage or bitter with dry humour or insanity. “F**k am I glad to see you.”

Chokecherry eyebrows pulled together in a look of confusion as Scott stared down at me, “Why the f**k are you happy to see me?”

“Because if I’m dead and you’re still here, then you’re dead too. But you don’t look dead, so I think I’m good.”

He was silent for a good few minutes as his expression went through several stages of confusion, puzzlement, surprise, and disbelief before he spoke. “20 was too much.”

I was still grinning, “20 what?”

“Milligrams of oxycodone,” he looked down at me with arms folded across his chest like he wasn’t sure whether he should be amused or kick me in the head.

“HAHA! No wonder I feel f****n’ great,” I exclaimed, leaning back against the box. I looked around again, reality slipping back to my mind for a minute, “Why the hell would you a******s give me painkillers? I thought I was on The Torture Show, not Nurse Betty.”

Scott rolled his eyes, and this time his expression wasn’t conflicted; he definitely wanted to kick me in the head. “If you must know, and it definitely wasn’t my idea, it was thought that if we doped you, you would be more inclined to talk to us. Also, Brayden doesn’t want you slipping out of consciousness all the time. It’s so dissatisfying to draw blood from one who doesn’t feel it.”

“Man, you’re so dark. Jesus, were you kicked around as a kid or something? Half-drowned? Shunned? F**k, my dad beat the hell out of me and I got nothing on you. Like s**t do you pop ‘homicide pills’ or drink the blood of Hannibal Lector? What is your evil secret?” I stared up at him, totally enthralled with the root of his hateful ways. He on the other hand, was not so interested to explore it.

“That’s none of your f*****g business. And even if it was, I still wouldn’t tell you,” his voice had gone from usual fury to cold stone. I’d struck a nerve there somewhere…

“S**t, I’m right,” I watched him tense under the revelation. “You go around like a total badass without a soul because… what? Mom and dad beat you down?” He twitched at the mention of mom but nothing else. “Just mom hey? She hate you? Yell all the time? Or did she always tell you to go play by yourself and totally ignore -”

“Shut up.”

Ding-ding-ding, we have a winner.

He hadn’t raised his voice, but he’d been final with the command all the same. His eyes pierced into me and there was a whirlwind of emotions going on behind them.

Finally I had something to throw back in his face. It was about damn time. But I’d save the ammunition for later, instead I let the drug take away more of the ‘real’ part in ‘reality’. I grinned up at him again, “You wanna hug it out? We could have a real bonding moment.”

He stepped towards me and crouched down so that his face was inches from mine. When he reached his hands out I thought he was actually going to take me up on the offer for a second before he started shaking me.

“WHY? WHY WON’T YOU GIVE US WHAT WE WANT? Jesus f*****g Christ, this was supposed to be easy! You’re tough but you weren’t supposed to be so goddamn stupid! F**K! What the hell do James and Julius do to their f*****g members? You f*****g freaks! It’s like you want to f*****g die! Where the f**k is your self-preservation? Why would you die for someone that DOESN’T GIVE A S**T ABOUT YOU?” He hollered before settling down on the shaking front.

I was a little surprised. I’d seen Scott swear and get mad, but I’d never seen him quite lose his s**t like that. “Well, s**t, I dunno what to tell ya. My gang is different than yours.”

Scott cocked his head at me like his mind didn’t compute what I’d said. “Who does Julius use? Who supplies him? You tell me that and I swear to God I will let you go.”

Huh. Tonight was a night of firsts from Scott. He actually sounded desperate. Cox must have been pushing him hard to get something from me, but I doubted that he would sanction letting me go.

“Supplies him? With what? F****n’ deodorant? I don’t f*****g know.”

Scott’s hands were a white-knuckled grip my arms, though I couldn’t feel it. “Drugs Ty. The cocaine, heroin, the opiates. And the guns. Semi-autos are showin’ up like nobody’s business and you’re the only ones that could possibly be takin’ our market.”

Vot der'mo… That’s what this s**t is about? They actually think Julius is running a drug & gun scene?

Holy f**k were they wrong.

I knew who was taking their business. Hell, I was part of it. But if I wanted to have any chance of walking out alive, my best bet was ignorance; ‘Drug trafficking and gun running from The Saints, you say? No f****n’ way!’

And that was true. Julius damn near lost it whenever he found out someone in the gang used drugs, and he never pushed a weapon on anyone. No, Julius was not their guy. But if they didn’t know who was really putting the drugs in the street, I wasn’t about to enlighten them.

I put a show of confusion on my face, and he must have bought it because he shook his head and released me.

“No,” he shook his head more violently, “NO. You have to know something. You have to know.”

“Sorry Scott, we don’t dabble in that s**t. Julius flips if he finds anyone using anything not prescribed. You’re barkin’ up the wrong tree.”

He continued to shake his head as he pushed himself up. “No. I don’t believe you,” he paused to look down at me as my heart jumped at the statement.

F**k Scotty, come on, you have to. I thought, fighting to not show that he’d struck gold.

A few seconds of tense silence passed before he spoke again, and I was relieved that the words didn’t sound reassured, but instead defiant.

“It has to be The Saints. We’ve already shaken every other tree in this city. It’s you, and if you really don’t know that, then you don’t know nearly as much about your gang as you think you do.” He looked at me like a man on the guillotine before turning to walk away, muttering, “Idiot, and we were supposed to learn s**t from you…”

I suppressed a laugh. They had no idea who they were really dealing with. And Scott looked like he was going to take a heavy fall from Brayden if he went back with nothing. Too bad that it wasn’t my problem.

I did like their drugs though.

“Scotty wait!” No way was I gonna let him just walk away with callin’ me out.

He turned back, annoyed and weary.

“I really gotta piss. And have you never heard of feeding the prisoner?”

Author's Note

Rough, first draft. I thought Ty could do with some humour. Thoughts...?