Page 34 of Slaughtered Firefly
“No, if I wanted to fuck with you you’d know it, besides I’m not about to drive this car any further and you know this city better than I do,” she gave me a face of disgust recalling my start in the prescient numerous years ago. Of course I knew this city; it was my home for the longest time. I had clawed my way out of the poverty Midas had shoved me in when he killed my family. It was difficult; the only way for a seventeen-year-old to make money was by fighting or joining a gang. Fuck if I was going to trust anyone after that, so fighting was my only choice. When I was twenty-six I had enough to send myself to school, and soon after I was picked up by the feds. I threw my hoodie over my vest. I didn’t need to be the first thing anyone saw when I entered this shit hole.
The diner was just how I remembered it, the stale yellow lights that swung on an electrical wire that was a major fire hazard, the grease sizzling on the grill from some unknown meat and the coffee pot whistling ever so slightly. The booths filled with hookers, Johns and whoever the poor fools were thatunfortunately made this a stopover on a family vacation. I went directly to the bar that overhung the sink, not that the sink had been used for anything other than a place to put dirty dishes and utensils.
“We don’t serveyourkind here,” the waitress said from behind the counter. Simmons began to protest, but I reached down and threw a dirty steak knife towards her head. She screamed as it sailed by her, landing on the dartboard a few inches to her right. All the regular patrons looked up for half a second before minding their own business.
The vacation family took that as a sign to bolt without paying and the person we were there for started to holler as he came out the kitchen door, “What the fuck are you screaming about now you fucking — ” his eyes met mine and the rest of his sentence petered out, “useless whore.” He set down the container of sloppy joe, or at least that was what I hoped it was, before wiping his hands down his shirt. “Fuck me if it isn’tThe Strikeall grown up and what’s with the baggy cop?”
“Officer Simmons, and you should really think about updating your restaurant to code,” Simmons told the man as she walked toward him. I just took the coffee pot that the waitress was holding in shaky hands and poured myself a cup after finding the cleanest cup from behind the counter. This was all Simmons’ show, especially for not warning a man. I laughed into my mug and watched.
“Listen here tootsie roll, you might have a wonderful ass, but I don’t give a fuck if you managed to call all the city council members and report my joint to them. I’ll tell you the same thing I’ve told everyone who’s threatened my place. Let them come,” he said, coming face to face with Simmons.
Simmons was pissed and smacked the smile off his face before drawing her gun on the man. It was entertaining watching her lose her cool, but I knew I had to step in, “Jake,let me trade your Camaro for an hour maybe two tops, and Simmons your aiming the wrong direction, it’s his dick he cares more about than his heart,” I held the keys to the Camaro in my hands with a wicked smile as I watched her register what I said and adjust her positioning.
“Whatever,”Jake sighed in defeat and I grabbed Simmons by the shoulder and she relaxed for half a second before stashing her pistol.
“Toss the man your keys, and let’s go,” I said as the waitress adjusted her tits casually watching the whole scene.
Simmons, begrudgingly tossed Jake her keys, gave a stern look and then turned to follow me out the back door. As if an afterthought, Jake hollered, “Don’t wreck it and don’t even think about getting blood in my leather seats.”
“Try not to sell our tires, unless you want me to steal your baby,” I replied, throwing him the bird and pushing Simmons out the backdoor.
As soon as the door slammed shut, she started spouting off, “What the fuck? Why didn’t we arrest all those people? Why did we need — ”
“Shut up, and get in the car, I’ll explain on the way,” I interrupted as I slid into the driver’s seat of the beat-up Camaro.
I started it up, and instead of purring to life, the car sputtered and then roared as it turned on. I stared at Simmons through the cracked windshield, waiting for her stubborn ass to get in. Once her door slammed shut after the third try, I pulled out of the pothole-filled parking lot and drove.
I could feel her brooding next to me, waiting for an explanation of why I was so lax inside the diner, or why I had thrown a knife that could have killed a woman. Truth was, being back at the diner had stirred the ruthless side I suppressed when C.O.R.E. picked me up years ago. It was nice to lose control. I sighed and rubbed my head. “Listen cop instincts will only getyou killed in these parts, you can’t trust anyone. You thought you had ole Jake by the balls, but you didn’t see the pistol that bitchy waitress was aiming at you or the throwing knife the security had with your name on it.”
“There wasn’t any security there, and what pistol?” Simmons questioned.
“The group of patrons passing ether around in the corner, they all should have been high and yet the one in the middle was sober. Always check your surroundings and do not trust anyone in this city.” I repeated the last part slowly and clear hoping that Simmons would pickup on the hint I was one of the least trustable characters, but she just nodded and continued watching as we passed by streets that morphed in appearance from clean sidewalks to trash littered graffiti, even the city workers refused to go this far into lower Riven.
“The strike huh?” Summons questions after a few minutes.
“Yeah, when they pitted us, it was always how many strikes it took to knock or kill your opponent. I’d always bet against the odds even when the odds were stacked,” I pulled down a set of side roads and turned off the engine and began stripping my layers.
“What are you doing?” Simmons asked as I was mid-pull of my shirt.
“We are stripping out of the cop attire, take everything off including your shoes, you can strip to your underwear and bra but put this on,” I tossed her my hoodie.
“This is a little close for comfort,” she eyed me but obeyed. I reached into Jake’s back seat and stuffed our vests and badges into a smelly duffle. I rifled through my hair and wrinkled the button-down I’d been wearing. Then turned towards Simmons, who was shivering in the cool evening air.
“Loose the ponytail and smear some dirt under your nails,” I told her as I reached into the glove box and rifled around oldwrappers, pulling out a cheap bottle of perfume. I sprayed way too much the vehicle reeked of it. We were both coughing, but it was a necessity. “We have one shot to grab her before she bolts, or worse,” I coughed out as I flung the door open and leaned over.
“Stay close to me, keep your head down keep this in the pocket just don’t pull it out unless your life is in danger,” I said as I pulled my backup piece from my ankle holster untying my shoes in the process as I passed it behind me.
“What if you’re in danger?” Panic rose in her voice as I leaned back up, my hand smoothing a curl behind her ear. She caught my hand, but I shook it off. It was an intimate gesture, I knew, but it was to cover my ass if anyone was watching.
“If all goes well I won’t be in danger, if it doesn’t get out of this town as fast as you fucking can, don’t stop until you hit the station. Now climb over me and out of my door,” I told her, and she hesitated before nodding and doing just that.
The club’smusic thudded loudly overhead as I walked up to the bar, ordering a whiskey. Simmons glanced nervously around. I am sure she saw Madeline the same as I but there was no way we could just approach Addams’ ex-wife without causing a scene. A ridiculous plan formed in my head, and I was going to catch hell from Simmons’ wife later either way. Fuck it, I swallowed the amber liquid in a large gulp.
Strobe lights danced across Simmons’ bare feet as she bounced back and forth. It was enough nervous energy to pass as druggy behavior and I laughed cynically slamming the glass down and gripping her forcefully by the neck, panic flashed through her eyes, a yell of protest died on her lips as my handsqueezed, tears welled in those calculating brown eyes. A tear rolled down her cheek. I darted my tongue out, licking up the side of her face before releasing my hold.
“You stupid bitch, what will it take for you to get the message, I don’t fuck with druggies, so go find your fix somewhere else,” I spit the words shoving her away from me, slamming down a few hundreds for the bar and stormed towards an empty corner. I sank into the leather cushion, keeping my eye watching Simmons as she stumbled into some guy, lifting his keys out of his pocket as she apologized and quickly scrambled out the door.Good job.
I kept the fuming pretense as I pulled out a crumpled box of cigarettes and a lighter. I didn’t smoke; I lifted these off some poor fool around the entrance. I pulled the cig out, placing it between my lips. My hands fumbling with the lighter, missing the striker, a curse flew from my lips as I fumbled the lighter again.
