“Let’s get down to brass tacks, Taurino. We all know why we’re here, and what we’ve got to do.” The boss raises his hands to his chin and looks our lead rival dead in the eye. A face off? Just more macho bullshit if you ask me, but at least it’s going the way Taurino said it would.
“Look here, Kwalski,” he says shuffling in the chair, leaning a little forward and pulling up the thigh of his too tight trousers. “We’ve got what you need. And hey, we think we’re giving you a fair price. You know what the asking rate is for this stuff at the moment?”
“Taurino, quit with your bullshit!” He drums his hands on the table and turns his head to me. “You’ve got the product, but I’ve got the muscle. You couldn’t shift a shipment like that in this city and you know it. Cut 10% of your asking price, and we’ve got a deal.” He looks back over to him and I can feel the adrenaline crawling up my spine, he’ll make his move now, or soon. He’s got to.
“Muscle, Kwalski? What muscle have you got?” He stands up and lights a cigarette. This fucking bravado, I’ve almost had enough of it but he’s giving me the biggest cut I’ve ever had.
“Taurino, I fucking own this town!” Now the boss is on his feet, fuck, not for much longer. “Lucy, show these punks who’s got the muscle in this town.”
There’s a flicker there, a moment as I look down at the boss. Fucking Kwalski. What’s it been now, five years under this guy? He’s organised alright but he needs me more than he might think and he’s been slack on what you might call ‘rewards’ for loyalty. So, I smile and pull out my gun and Taurino’s muscle doesn’t move an inch. This is when Kwalski knows. He’s a smart cookie, he’s not been sitting over this town for this long to be stupid, but he’s not fast, not any more.
“Here, let me take that for you, Kwalski.” I have my gun against his temple and pull his pistol out of his hand.
“Fucking Kwalski?! After all these years, after everything I’ve done for you, I’m just fucking Kwalski now?! What the hell is this punk giving you that I haven’t?!” He’s shaking.
“Now she’ll call me, Boss.” Taurino stands up and pats down his cheap suit. Jesus Christ, I’m going to work for this guy? “Isn’t that right, Lucy?” He smiles that grease-ball smile of his, chewing his gum.
“Tell you what…” I keep one gun to the temple of Kwalski whilst drawing the other. “Why don’t I just fucking kill everyone?” Why the hell didn’t I think of this sooner? Every fucker in the room at the same time – Kwalski thinking I’ll protect him, Taurino thinking his two-man band of shotgun toting morons offer him some form of protection, and the goods, sat there in the middle of us all.
“Fuck,” Kwalski says very slowly.
“You know what? I’m the fucking muscle in this town.” I say. “And now, everyone will call me boss.” I smile as I dive through the gunfire and into the future.
About the Creator
Outrun Stories
Short sci-fi stories in 500 words or less deriving from the Outrun, tech-noir and NewWave aesthetic.
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