Fight (3 page)

5.

(Tripp)

My apartment was shitty and small,
but it had one amazing thing. The ocean wasn
’
t
too far away. I had my bed in the corner of my bedroom -
the only bedroom
- and when I opened the window I could hear the beach. I couldn
’
t see it though. The view to see
the beach came from the roof. But sitting in the corner of my room, window
open, I listened. The distance
slushing
of the waves. The call of the
seagulls. A crazy feeling that right there was the end of it all. The open sea.
Some kind of wild freedom and unknown world.

I looked at my hands. They were
swollen as hell. The back of my head still hurt to touch and I was probably
concussed. I didn
’
t give a
shit though. My job didn
’
t
come with health insurance. You either suffered or died.

When I woke up in the circle, I
figured Aldo would be standing there, waiting to shoot me. But he was gone.
Long fucking gone. And so was Endo
’
s
body. I was left with three guys, two of whom didn
’
t speak English. They gave me a couple shots to
numb my head and face and patched me up. They then gave me a baggie of pills to
take for pain and drove my ass home.

That was three nights ago.

I was down to the bare essentials
in the fridge. Three eggs, four slices of bread, a couple frozen burgers in the
freezer, and a six pack of lager. With my appetite, that would last me about
two hours.

I knew they were coming for me. It
was only a matter of time.

Aldo wasn
’
t a nice guy. He wasn
’
t
made to be a nice guy. He wasn
’
t
fair either. He was straight to the point. If you won your fight and won him
money, he liked you enough not to kill you. If you lost your fight, you ate a
bullet. That was it. I had no purpose in the world. I wasn
’
t meant to do anything but what
Aldo needed. I used the cash to pay for the shitty apartment, food, clothes,
and booze. I had a little speedster car that I had paid for with cash after a
really good fight a couple years ago.

My life was simple and everything
was underground.

My apartment was on the top floor
of the building. Under me were nothing but low life drug dealers and addicts.
The place got raided on a weekly basis. I got to know the police that would
bust in for two reasons. One - they were used to coming in to check on my place,
just doing their job. Two - some of them would come to the fights and bet on
me.

What a fucked up world.

There wasn
’
t a knock at the door but rather a thundering bang.
Someone with a fist, punching it.

They
’
re here.

I moved from the bed and grabbed my
leather jacket. I strutted through the apartment and looked around. It
’
d be the last time I
’
d see the place.

I opened the door and two of Aldo
’
s thugs were there.

“
Let
’
s go,
”
one said.

“
Yeah,
”
I said.

We went out back to a black car.

I had the backseat to myself as the
two thugs took the front.

I figured we were going out to an
open dessert. That
’
s where
Aldo liked to do it. He
’
d
take someone out to the middle of nowhere and kill them. Then bury them.

How did he not get caught?

Between him and the guys above him,
they fucking owned everything. Buildings, land, people, power.

I was shocked when the car took a
turn and we got closer to the beach. The ride was still another twenty minutes,
passing by all the commercial stuff for the beach. We were going up into the
hills, near the cliffs. That
’
s
where the expensive beach houses were.

That
’
s
where Aldo
’
s beach house
was.

I couldn
’
t believe that
’
s
where we stopped.

The two thugs pointed the direction
for me where to go. I pictured me getting to the door and then having bullets
rip through my back and kill me.

It didn
’
t happen.

I found Aldo standing outside, in a
full suit. Sweat collected at his black hairline as he turned and looked at me.

It was just me and him.

The air was comfortable, breezy,
the water down the cliff crashing into the rocks. The sight was serene. Way too
beautiful for the darkness that was my life.

“
You
look like shit,
”
Aldo said.

“
I
feel it. How
’
s Endo?
”

“
Coma.
The bullet was close to hitting his heart. Whoever pulled the trigger must have
been nervous. They hesitated just enough for Endo to move.
”

“
Is
he going to make it?
”

“
Don
’
t know yet. Doesn
’
t look good.
”

“
Jesus
Christ, Aldo. I am
…”

“
Save
it,
”
Aldo said, lifting a
hand.
“
You yelled for him.
That made him move. That saved him, for now.
”

I nodded.
“
Any idea who did it?
”

“
That
’
s my business. Not yours.
”

“
Of
course.
”
I looked around.
So this was it. Not wanting to be a fucking pussy and take this like a man, I
put my arms out.
“
Do it.
”

“
What
the fuck are you doing?
”
Aldo asked.

“
I
lost the fight. I know what happens next.
”

Aldo grinned.
“
You cost me a good paycheck,
Tripp.
”

“
I
shouldn
’
t have been
distracted.
”

“
It
was my son who was shot. I
’
ve
been replaying it over and over for days. I could have squeezed the books and
had the fight again, but that would have caused problems. There
’
s a lot of unhappy people with
the outcome. But we have the reason.
”

“
Okay.
”

Aldo stepped forward. He was at
least six inches shorter than me. He had no muscle, no tone, nothing. But his
power was greater than mine.

He reached up and touched my
shoulders. His hands slid down to my arms and he put my arms at my sides.

“
I
’
m not going to fucking shoot
you, Tripp. You
’
re not
going to die right now.
”

The feeling was hard to explain. I
thought about smiling. I was going to survive. Then again, Aldo didn
’
t do favors. Aldo didn
’
t give a fuck about loyalty.
Everything and everyone had a price. There was always a payment.

In other words, the bullet to the
head might have been better.

“
What
are you talking about?
”
I
asked.
“
I lost the fight. I
know the rules. No matter what.
”

“
I
’
ll get that money back,
”
Aldo said.
“
I thought about killing you,
Tripp. I considered all my options. I tended to my son and found out you
survived. Toughest guy I
’
ve
ever met, Tripp. That
’
s
you.
”

“
Yeah.
Thanks.
”

“
I
have another job for you.
”

There it was
…
the price of my
survival. The cost to not have a bullet tear through my skull and splatter my
brains all over the back deck to his beach house.

I didn
’
t speak. I didn
’
t
want to show thanks, need, regret, anything to Aldo. Because he collected
emotions like a kid would collect toy cars. And then he
’
d pair them up, crush them, and enjoy it.

So I had to stand like a chunk of
stone.

“
You
hear, Tripp?
”
Aldo asked.

“
Yes.
”

“
It
’
s a protection job.
”

“
Protection?
I
’
m a fighter, Aldo. I
fight.
”

“
Oh,
I
’
m sure you
’
ll have to fight,
”
Aldo said. He stepped even
closer to me. I could smell his expensive cologne pouring from his sweaty
pores.
“
This is your only
chance. You fuck this up and you will die.
”

“
Okay,
”
I said.

“
You
’
re protecting a woman. She
’
s recently a widow and there
’
s belief she
’
s the next to be killed. Your
job is to make sure that doesn
’
t
happen. She cannot die. Do you understand me?
”

“
Yes,
”
I said.

“
You
will protect her with your life. Because your life is on the line, Tripp. I
know you
’
ve never done a
protection job for me before, but it
’
s
always good to learn something new. How many times can you get smacked in the
head before your brain turns to mush, right?
”

“
I
haven
’
t thought that far out
in life.
”

“
Maybe
you should,
”
Aldo said, his
lip curling.
“
Now if you
don
’
t mind I have to visit
my son in the hospital. You
’
ll
be taken to your apartment. You
’
ll
be given an address. That
’
s
where you
’
ll go.
”

Aldo backed away. He turned and
grabbed the railing, looking out to the ocean.

“
Can
I at least have her name?
”
I asked.

“
Winter,
”
Aldo said.

Winter.

A woman named Winter.

And I have to protect
her
.
I have to keep her alive.

~ ~ ~

The two thugs threw me into my
apartment, literally. They cackled as they walked away. I was on the floor for
a few seconds before I jumped up and dusted myself off. They left a piece of
paper on the floor behind me.

I knew the general direction of the
address.

It was a few miles south. There
really wasn
’
t anything good
about the area. It was a heavy crime area, some of it organized, some of it
controlled by a motorcycle club through numbers and muscle. I couldn
’
t figure out what Aldo would
have wanted down there though. He had more power than anyone. He had more muscle.
Christ, if he needed a woman protected, he could have just given the orders to
have her taken and hidden somewhere. He could put her up in a house, a cabin,
fuck, a different goddamn country.

But he chose me.

Maybe a part of me wanted to be
excited. I mean, a protection call from Aldo. That was something like a
promotion in my line of business. I could handle this stuff. Keeping people
alive. Fighting those who got in my way. But there was always a darker side of
it.

Murder.

There was always murder. Everywhere.

I stood there, staring at the
address.

This wasn
’
t a fucking promotion. This was a punishment. Aldo
was sending me into this so I
’
d
get killed. That
’
s what it
was. That
’
s what my fate
came down to. Any other guy who lost a fight would get a bullet to the head.

Me?

I was being pushed into a
protection run that made no fucking sense.

I grabbed my leather jacket, my
keys, and left the apartment.

As I rode into a real shady part of
the town, I looked for the address. To my complete shock, the address was a
freaking coffeehouse. It was about a quarter mile from the real dark part of
town. Right on the cusp of stepping from shit into true hell.

I parked my car and went into the
coffeehouse. The smell was overwhelming. Everything in the place was mismatched
and probably bought from yard sales and shit, but it actually worked. The vibe
was a messy kind of chill place.

There were a handful of people
sitting around. Some sipping coffee. Some reading books. A couple people just
sitting there with earbuds in, listening to music, staring out the window. It
made me wonder what world they lived in, you know? To throw on some tunes and
disappear.

“
Can
I help you?
”

I spun around and looked at the
woman behind the counter. She was fucking beautiful. Naturally beautiful. Dirty
blonde hair cheaply pulled back with a few chunks left dangling to the sides of
her face. She wore not a spot of makeup, leaving her looking like she just
rolled out of bed. I was a sucker for a woman like that. There was nothing like
the pure beauty of woman. One who could just throw on some clothes and go for
the day.