Chapter 18 – Tyler
I don’t feel bad shaking that asshole down. Not one bit.
Unlike the pawn shop fiasco, knocking Colin around a bit felt good. Scum bags like him that knock a girl up and then run off without any responsibility to his family drive me crazy. When I was a father, when I had a family, I provided the best I could. My wife and I worked together as a team. Colin has no sense of that what so ever and only cares about one thing—himself.
How the state hasn’t figured out his game yet and forced him to pay Jenny is beyond me. Just more incompetence from our government employees.
Jenny can’t stop fiddling with the envelope of cash in her lap. I don’t think the reality of it has really sunk in just yet. With all the bullshit going on in my life right now it feels great to be able to do something for someone that will actually matter. She doesn’t know what to say, and it’s adorable.
The guys at the club probably just see her as a sex symbol or something to fetishize. The stripper girl. They picture her in heels and thongs and lingerie and nothing else. But there’s so much more to Jenny they’re all missing out on, and that’s the good stuff. That’s the stuff that makes you want to spend time with someone—and if it’s really good—makes you want to spend the rest of your life with them.
I don’t know what I’m doing thinking about all this now. I just pulled a fucking nail out of my hand from a botched robbery, and Moore is dead. Barry and I got the hell out of there as fast as we could. Motorcycle Mike actually was as good as they said. He had us half way across town before I had a chance to really realize what had happened to my hand.
Barry got out of town for a bit and went to stay with a buddy of his in upstate New York. Mike was apparently unfazed by the entire thing, and since no one saw his face, he just went home to the naked chick in his dump of an apartment. I still haven’t decided what I’m going to do. No doubt Nicky knows by now that I was involved, and there’s no telling what he’ll do.
At least Nicky doesn’t know about Jenny. If I get her into any trouble, I’ll never forgive myself.
“Here it is,” Jenny says, pulling into the parking lot of another typical rip-off garage with a big sign saying Greg’s above it.
“This is it, huh?” I say with a sigh.
“Yeah, why?” she says, hearing the tone in my voice.
“Eh, nothing.”
We pull in and Jenny parks. I see a guy walking across the parking lot that must be the owner, and my suspicions are confirmed when she points his way.
“That’s him,” she says.
Thought so.
I follow Jenny out of the truck and across the parking lot. I see Greg give me a nervous glance before smiling a big fake smile to Jenny.
“Jenny!” he exclaims, putting on his best nice guy act.
“Hey, Greg,” Jenny replies. “Got some more money.”
“Oh, great,” he says. “We should have her ready tomorrow.”
“Which one is it?” I whisper in Jenny’s ear. She points to the maroon SUV parked across the lot.
“What’s it need?” I ask Greg. He looks taken aback for a minute, but replies.
“Brakes and rotors.”
I nod and stride over to Jenny’s car. His explanation confirms my suspicions. This guys a rip off artist. Cars barely ever need rotors. Brakes yes, but unless Jenny’s been driving with worn out breaks for months, ignoring the obnoxious squealing they’d be putting out, her rotors are probably fine. Greg knows, as most of these guys know, that your average person, especially your average girl, knows nothing about cars and will just shell out money for repairs he says she needs.
I hear them making small talk over by the shop, but I can feel Greg watching me as I bend down and stick my head under her car. Back left is fine. Brake pads are a little low, but they don’t need to be changed yet. Front left is fine too.
I stand up and shoot Greg a glance, grin to myself as I watch him tense up. He knows I know, and is preparing some bullshit excuse now for when I walk back over. I check the other side and find the same thing; Jenny’s car is fine, and he’s just milking her for more cash. The urge to break his face is strong as I walk back over to him, and I clench one fist at my side just to put him on edge.
“Brakes and rotors, huh?” I ask him, taking my place at Jenny’s side.
“Yeah, uh that’s what my mechanic said,” Greg stutters, trying to pass the buck onto his employees.
“Right,” I say. “Tough to find good help these days, because I hate to break this to you, Greg, but her brakes and rotors are fine.”
“Uh—they’re fine? You sure?”
“Yeah, Greg. I’m sure,” I say. “Was that all that was wrong with it you said?”
Greg clearly wants to bullshit more, but I think he sees the look on my face and decides against it.
“Yea, that was it.”
“And then she can get her inspection sticker?”
“Yes …” he mutters. I can just see the steam coming off his head. I just cost this dickhead eight hundred bucks. I feel Jenny’s hand slide around my waist and pull me towards her. A rush of happiness runs through me. Taking care of these two idiots for her has been the highlight of my life since … well hell, I can’t even remember. And I want to do more.
“Okay, great. Just head inside and grab the sticker for us will ya? We’ll be waiting over by the car.”
I slide my arm around Jenny and we walk together over to her car. Greg must be absolutely steaming, but what’s he going to do? Strong arm me? I don’t think so.
“You didn’t tell me you knew about cars?” Jenny says.
“You didn’t ask.”
“Is there anything you’re not good at?”
“Nuclear physics,” I joke. I pull Jenny close as I lean back against her car, lift her slightly and pull her lips to mine. It’s just like our first kiss. I feel my cock swelling against my jeans and could take her right here right now if I didn’t have a little bit of self control.
“Mmmm,” she moans as she kisses me back. Her lips are soft against mine, and I suck her bottom lip gently, sliding my hand under her shirt and feeling the skin of her lower back. I have to fight the urge to stick my hand down her pants and cup her ass.
I hear Greg clear his throat behind Jenny. I let her down slowly and she smiles up at me before turning around.
“We all set?” I ask him.
“Just need to get in real quick,” Greg says.
“No problem,” I tell him, picking Jenny up and moving aside. Greg opens the front door and leans inside, scrapes off the old sticker and replaces it with a new one.
“There you go,” Greg says, brushing dirt off his hands.
“Thanks, Greg. Appreciate it,” I chuckle.
“No problem,” Greg says, heading off in the direction of the shop.
“Hey, get rid of that mechanic you got working for you. He’s making you look bad!” I call after him. He doesn’t turn, just waves over his shoulder, obviously eager for us to be gone.
“Meet you back at your place?” I ask Jenny?
She bites her lip and looks up at me with the cutest face I’ve ever seen. She’s practically bouncing in place and just nods up and down quickly. I plant another kiss on her lips.
“Okay, see you there,” I tell her. As I step passed her towards my truck, I give her a slap on the ass. She yelps in surprise, but turns around and gives me a look that says “Mmmm I like that.” I grin and get in my truck.
In my rearview I see her pull out of the parking lot, and just as I reverse out to follow her, my phone rings. I pull it out of my pocket. It’s Barry. I answer.
“Hey. What’s going on man? You in New York yet?”
“Nah, I uh … decided to stick around,” he says, sounding nervous.
“Really? You’re gonna risk it? Thought you were gonna go stay with your buddies.”
“Nah, I’m gonna stick around,” he repeats. “What about you? You still around?”
“Yeah, I’m still around, why?”
“I could use your help with something,” he says. Something’s going on. I can tell. “Moore’s brother is here.”
“Moore’s brother?” I say questioningly. “I didn’t even know Moore had a brother.”
“Neither did I,” he replies. “But he does … and he’s here, and I don’t know what to tell the guy. He’s real upset. Could you come by?”
“Come on, man. I don’t know what to say to the guy. Can’t you deal with it?”
“Just come on, man. Don’t be a dick. This is hard, I’m still shook up over this.”
I can’t help but groan. This is the last thing I want to be doing right now. I want to follow Jenny home, get her into bed and work her over before her kids get home. But I hear the desperation in Barry’s voice, and no matter how ridiculous he’s being, I should help him out.
“Fine,” I grumble. “You at your place I assume?”
“Yeah,” he replies, not sounding much better.
“All right, I’ll be there in five.”
I hang up and make a move to call Jenny, but I realize I still don’t have her number. I never even asked for it. That’s the first time I went to a girl’s place, slept with her, spend a couple of days with her and never had her number. This whole thing has been a reversal of expectations from the get go.
The turn towards Barry’s is coming up, so I wave to Jenny and try to motion to her in some odd way that I’ll be going that way and I’ll see her later, but there’s no way she got the message. I probably just look like a mad man as I pull off the main road.
A few minutes later and I’m at Barry’s. I pull up and park. There’s a green sedan in the driveway. Must be Moore’s brother’s car. I never even heard of his brother before. And what the hell could he want that Barry needs me to deal with it? With a deep sigh, I try and mentally prepare myself for dealing with a grieving relative and step up to the front door.
When I open the door I realize the situation.
Sitting in the center of the room, duct taped to a chair, is Barry, and seated around him are Vinnie, Don and Little Nicky.
“Good day, Ty,” Nicky says, a frightening grin on his face. I tense up, ready to fight or run. Barry looks like he’s been worked over pretty badly. They made him lie to me to lure me here. I can’t blame him for going along with it. There’s no telling what these guys would have done to him if he didn’t cooperate.
“Nicky,” I manage to grumble, calculating my options. Don has a gun aimed right at me, and I know it would be the end of Barry’s life if I was somehow able to make it out the door. I’m stuck here. Yet again, Nicky has one up on me.
“You know. You and your boys are about one sandwich short of a picnic I’ll tell you what.”
Nicky doesn’t even bother standing up. This is how I know how pissed off he is. He’s seething with anger and the only overt sign is his right leg quickly bouncing up and down.
“You know, any other time this sort of thing happens, I just kill everyone. I find the blokes responsible and I kill ‘em. String ‘em up, gut ‘em, feed them to the pigs, hunt down their families and kill them to to make an example. Take ‘em for everything they have. But you know what, Ty? You ain’t worth peanuts. You haven’t got shit. I can’t even rob you. You’re worth shit!”
Finally, Nicky snaps and stands up, clenching his fists at his sides. His face twists with anger that might be humorous if not for the situation.
“You aren’t worth shit!” he shouts again, in a voice so uncharacteristically loud that even his goons jump in their seats. Barry looks like he’s ready to piss himself, or just did. “So here’s what we’re gonna do, Ty.”
Nicky slowly paces towards me, rubbing his hands together. I’ve never seen him so out of composure before. He’s even sweating. My fight or flight reflex is on full alert, and it’s taking everything I have in me not to lash out and blast him in the face with a right hook. Don would blast me six times before I made my next move. And Barry would die next.
“You are going to throw a fucking fight for me, and if you don’t throw that fucking fight for me, I’m going to head over to that hospital, look up that dear mum of yours, let the boys here take turns on her, have a go myself, slit her open like a fish and watch her slowly die. Do you understand me, you son of a bitch!”
My blood pressure must be sky high, and my heart feels like a thousand volts of electricity are racing through it. I feel like I’ve just run a mile sprint. Everything in me wants to grab Nicky by the neck and choke the life out of him.
But what the hell am I going to do? He’s got me over a barrel here.
“My hand,” I say, raising the bandage so he can see.
“What a-fucking-bout it? You’re throwing the fight, you stupid piece of shit. Get up there and throw it!”
Nicky takes a final step forward, getting right into my face. I can smell the sausage on his breath and the hint of a day old cologne. But I keep my eyes locked on his. All I’m picturing is the revenge I will have on him when this is all over. I don’t know how yet, but it will come, and Nicky will sorely regret ever knocking on the door to my shop.
“All right, Nicky. You got it,” I say through my teeth. We stare at each other. I know we’re both thinking the same thing: I want to kill this son of a bitch.
“Good boy,” Nicky says, slapping me “affectionately” on the cheek. “Untie him,” he shouts to his boys before walking past me out the door.