David

“Hey man, are you okay? You don’t look so good.”

The dirty face standing over me was not one that I recognized. I grabbed the man’s shirt and pulled him down so that I could see him through the blood in my eyes. Was he one of the ones that had jumped me? I didn’t get to see them all, didn’t even know how many there were, so I wasn’t letting go of the man in front of me until I found out who he was.

“Who are you?”

“I just came here to do a bump and I found you lying here. I thought you were dead man.”

At the moment, I almost guaranteed that he wished that I was dead. He was shaking in my grip and after a few failed attempts to get free, he didn’t even try anymore.

“Did you do this to me?”

The vagrant shook his head and I knew that he wasn’t one of them. He didn’t seem to have a bone in his body to hurt anyone and that made me feel a little bit better. That meant that the others were gone.

“Where am I?”

“You are in the old Douglas house. It hasn’t been used in years, except by men like me.”

I let go of him and fell back down to the ground. I had never hurt so much in all of my life. Every movement hurt and I remembered the song about only hurting when I breathe. It was definitely doing that and I wished that I didn’t have to do it to survive. I needed to get up and get to my bike, but I was feeling nauseous from moving the little bit that I did.

When I tried again, I felt blackness coming for me again. I wanted to say something, but I couldn’t. All I could think about was who had done this to me and how they were going to pay for it. I was going to find out, I always did and there would be hell to pay.

***

“Mr. Lorefft. We are glad to see you are finally up.”

My eyes closed to the bright light above me and it was nothing like where I had been last time that I woke up. I was no longer in the dirty, dark house. When I opened my eyes again, I saw that the man who was talking to me was in a pair of blue scrubs, so I knew that I was at a hospital.

“How did I get here?”

“You were found like this and someone called you an ambulance. I would say that this is your lucky day.”

I tried to get up and grimaced. “It doesn’t feel like good luck.”

He chuckled and told me to lay back. “Take it easy big guy. You will have plenty of time later to do what you want, but for now take it easy and let yourself heal.”

“I was attacked.”

“That’s pretty obvious. You took quite a beating. I keep expecting the other guy to show up. You have enough scars on you that it is certain that this isn’t your first time.”

I didn’t have anything to say. I wanted to find out who had done this to me. “What is the damage Doc?”

“Well, not too much. A few broken bones and a whole lot of bruising and lacerations pretty much all over. I would say you were rather lucky.”

That was the second time that he had said that and I was starting to question if he understood what that word even meant. “Still not feeling like it.”

“No permanent damage so that is what many would call lucky. I also saw the gunshot wound in your chest. That one made you look lucky too. I wouldn’t have thought that a man wouldn’t have lived through that.”

“Yeah, they said it was close. I didn’t have to stay in the hospital too long. When can I leave?”

“Why are you in such a rush?”

I gestured towards myself in the bed. Did he not see the why?

“I just have things to take care of.”

“I want to keep you overnight for observation.”

“What is today?”

“Friday.”

I had been out a whole day and I still didn’t know why. I didn’t have another night to lose. I didn’t want whoever it was to think that got the best of me. They might have had the jump on me, but that was because I allowed it. I could have walked away, should have when I think about it now.

“I don’t think that is going to work for me. I have to get out of here.”

“I am running a few more tests. Wait until they come back and I will give you something to take home for the pain.”

I would need it, hell I needed it now. I laid back in the bed and told him I would wait a little while. I wasn’t going to promise long, but I was so tired. Even after all of the sleep that I had gotten, I was exhausted. That or the nurse slipped something into my IV when I wasn’t looking. Either way, the doctor was going to get a little more time for his tests.

***

When I came to again, the doctor was gone and it was light out again. I still felt off and I wasn’t sure what was going on or what day it was even. All I know is that I needed to get out of here and make some calls. I couldn’t let this go and I wanted to know who did this to me. I had every intention of taking care of whoever they were before I left town.

Getting dressed, I took it slow, but it was still almost enough pain to bring on the darkness again. I wasn’t at my top at the moment, that much was clear, but it didn’t matter. I wasn’t going to let it just go. I couldn’t. I never was one of those types of people to just leave it be. If I was, I wouldn’t be in the position that I was in. If only I wasn’t so damn sore everywhere.

The sun outside about blinded me and I can imagine how I looked searching desperately for my shades. It took a minute to get myself together enough to get my phone and realize that I didn’t have any battery life yet. It must have been on when I was out.

Hailing a cab, I had it take me to Joel’s apartment building. All of my stuff was in the spare one that he had let me use. I needed to get a shower and fresh clothes, maybe something to eat. I needed to feel human again.

“Hey David, what the hell happened to you?”

His voice fought into my thoughts and I looked up.

“Damn David. I thought you had found you a woman to shack up with the last couple of nights. What the hell happened to you? Marcus has been over here several times looking for you, said that you had called about meeting him somewhere?”

“Yeah I got jumped. I don’t know by who yet, but when I do, I am going to make sure that they all feel it.”

I knew that he didn’t have anything to do with. He was one of the only ones that I did trust and the shocked wide-eyes were another indication of his innocence.

“I will see what I can find out. Do you want me to ask Lucas?”

There was an internal tug inside of me when he asked that. I didn’t really know Lucas, but I knew that he would be the one that could get information the quickest. I wasn’t ready for that yet. Food and a shower were sidetracking me from what was important. Once I had something to eat, I would be able to think a little clearer.

“Nah, not right now. I need to go get my mind right before I talk to him. Are you going to be around for a while?”

“Yeah, just come down if you need anything.”

I thanked him and made my way to the staircase. He tried to come forward and help, but I told him I was fine. “I am just moving slow. That’s all.”

“Alright, let me know if you need anything.”

I had always liked Joel, even if he was a little soft. Soft or not though, he was loyal and I was thankful to have someone like him in my corner. I made my way upstairs slowly and cursed myself for the tenth time in five minutes. I just had to go into that building, knowing what was in store for me. It was reckless and every step reminded me of that fact. There was nothing I could do but learn from the lesson that was handed to me. Learn and foster the anger that resulted.

After a shower, dinner and another nap, I went down to Joel’s and seen if he had heard anything. It wasn’t hard to imagine that he had checked into and he had.

“There is no word on the streets. If it was another gang, they would have claimed it just to start beef. I don’t know what happened, but Marcus said they had to have been at the big Devil’s party the other night. That was where him and his phone were.”

“How many people were close enough to get a hold of it?”

Joel’s face and demeanor changed. “That’s the thing. It was only Devils there and his phone was left on a table for a while. Said that his girlfriend got drunk and horny and he forgot about it.”

I had to chuckle, that was my luck. When I realized how much it hurt, I grabbed my side with the cracked and broken ribs and closed my eyes to the pain. “Yeah that sounds about right. So it is one of Lucas’ guys?”

“It looks that way. I have never had any trouble here, so I don’t know why they would target you.”

“I don’t know. I think it might have something to do with Lucas wanting me to stay down here and work for a bit. Maybe I am stepping on someone’s toes and they don’t like it. They could have shot me if they wanted me dead or if it was another gang that did it to make a point. The only thing that makes sense is it was someone that I directly offended.”

My mind already had a few people in mind. Leo kept popping up in my head and I remember maybe a vague memory of him being there. The longer I was awake, the more I started to remember, glimpses of people that I had never seen before. I was convinced that if I ever seen them again, I would be able to recognize them. This was my hope anyways.

“Who do you think it is?”

His question brought me back to reality. I didn’t want to name who I was almost sure it was. I didn’t want it to get around that I knew. When I came to them, I wanted them to be as surprised as I was about it. I wanted them to know what it was like to walk into a room and be the target of such an action. I knew enough people here that I would make sure that I had help or take them out one by one. Even if I had to go against the boss, Lucas, I was going to get my justice.

“I don’t know. I am going to go talk to Marcus and see if I can get a feel. Knowing that they are a Devil is half of the battle taken care of. Thanks.”

He just kind of nodded his head. There was a warning on his lips, I could see it in his eyes, but he shut his mouth. I didn’t take kindly to that sort of thing. I knew what I was getting into and I didn’t have to be reminded of that.

“Just don’t do anything stupid David.”

That got a laugh out of me. “I am sure I will.”