The wheels of the red Ford pickup truck kicked up dust and rocks as it paced down the old dirt road. They'd come off of the main stretch of highway a half hour or so back. Adonis had no idea where the fuck he was. All he knew was they'd soon come across a skeleton to an Oldsmobile Curved Dash on their right. At that point, they'd take a left down the driveway it sat across from. And that the rusted out car would be at the roots of an old hanging tree. He hoped.

The instructions were quite clear. The road they were travelling along, not so much. Wild grass had covered some of it, and what was left of it wasn't exactly made to be driven on. Not at the speed they were going, anyways. It was a bumpy ride, and alongside him in the drivers seat was none other than @Louie_Canicatti.

The two weren't the closest of pals. Not before today, anyways. What would follow would bring them together, as most mischief did for like minded individuals. The not knowing if you were coming out alive part was what usually did it, especially when faced with unlikely odds. It's that kind of thing that Adonis lived for. For the adrenaline of the hunt. And for the recognition and fame that these kinds of stories might add to his growing legacy.

Louie had helped Joe out when he was in the shit. The trip they were taking was the returning of that favor. But right at this point, it seemed a far stretch. The road, and the idea that this would be a sure thing. Right now, it seemed like they were being led on a wild goose chase.

"Trust me, Louie. You have to trust me on this. My guy never gets this shit wrong. I already told ya that." Joe said with a confident declaration.

"We just gotta hit the oldsmobile and we're practically there." He continued as they bounced over a rough patch of the not so common track they were still persisting along. All that could be seen in front of them, out the windscreen, were trees coming and going and overgrown bushes that lined the sides of the road they were on.

His voice was sounding like a broken record, but Louie had every right to question things. They'd been on the same stretch of nothing for what seemed longer than it actually was. Even Joe, in the back of his mind, was starting to question things.

But he held strong in his belief. If anything, this was an adventure, and they'd find something else to bring back with them, from somewhere, anywhere. Even if that meant they didn't happen upon the farm that he was told would be out here, and that was actually a marijuana plantation ripe for the picking.

"Adonis, where the fuck did you say I was going again?"

This was irritating. Imaging the thought of a gold mine somewhere down this stretch of barren, deserted back roads was starting to become far-fetched, but the thought lingered in my mind that it was a green gold mine. Joe had tipped me off about a marijuana plantation back at the shop. Told me he needed a wingman to help him get in and drive him back out. Would have been simple enough, had Joe known where the fuck we where.

The pick-up swung the two of us left and right inside the cabin where I was fiddling with the gearshift to get it through the trail. We were deep in the back woods of Illinois, South of Springfield sort of on the way to St. Louis, Missouri. Hours from home, about an hour from true civilization, with a Philly guy who had no idea where we were, typical of me.

Adonis was attempted to focus on a piece of paper which he had scrawled some information across. We've been weaving down the trail for about 10 minutes or so now. Up ahead was a fork in the road. I yelled out to him;

"Which way?"

I could have sworn I heard Adonis say something but couldn't quite make it out over the bumping and rattling of the truck.

"Speak up!"

"Left... LEFT!"

Adonis half felt like he was jerking the car sideways as he leaned against the inside of the door as the car swung a hard left. He should've maybe been holding on to something other than his ambitions to make this into one of the biggest scores they'd likely come across for quite some time.

The old guy who'd given him the info said it would be packed to the rafters with trees. With plants. The kind you went of your way to sneak a peak at if they were growing in your neck of the woods. Nature's gift to man. The one's that gave off the scent of God's vagina to some. Hopefully they'd hit it big, but first they had to get to the spot. And make it there without fucking up the truck in the process.

"Fuck a rooster!" Joe let fly as he peeled himself off the door panel and side window, leaving a bit of saliva behind.

"We keep going inwards from here until we see the oldsmobile."

Adonis glanced around for the bit of paper which had now disappeared under the seat, dropped on account of Louie's driving, or so Joe thought, but may have actually been down to his own last minuet call on which way to go. He was half winging it, and half remembering what the old man had said. A few drinks at the jovial guy's local was where they met, and a few too many later to remember the whole conversation clearly.

"By the way, thanks again for that shit back in Chicago." Joe offered up, trying to put the conversation back onto a more positive note.

Louie swung the pick-up to the left of the trail, and continued to traverse the woods. This trail never looked much different, not many landmarks. Just trail. And trees. And bushes. I was feeling very hopeless about this whole situation already, and Adonis piped up;

"By the way, thanks again for that shit back in Chicago."

I looked at him, and said;

"It's what any decent person would have done. But swear to god, Joe. If I don't make it home for dinner."

I swung my eyes back onto the road, trying to keep a straight face. "Should I be looking for any landmarks in particular?" I said as I eyeballed the sides of the trail. Maybe I would see a barn, shack, or house of some sort. We continued down the pathway for quite a long while scouting the scenery seeing practically nothing.

'But swear to god, Joe. If I don't make it home for dinner.' Joe smirked at the remark, all the while looking out for something to latch onto to make this journey more than just hunting for fools gold. Finally, out in front of them to the right side of the trail there was a large tree with what looked to be something metal underneath it.

"There!" Joe shouted as he pointed at the landmark that just showed itself off in the distance.

"Fuckin' told ya, Louie. Dinner might be late, but expect it to taste like victory." He said, getting a little ahead of himself.

The truck roared along and as it came closer and closer to the large tree, that practically out grew everything else in the area, it became clear that there was the shell of a vehicle underneath it among the grass that had it surrounded and had grown through parts of it.

"See, that's it!" Joe said with gusto.

"And there!"

Joe pointed towards the entrance to a driveway to the left of the tree, that was now becoming noticeable as they moved closer.

Louie was surprised to see the vehicle there at the tree and continued slowly towards the driveway. Once he reached the end of the driveway and stopped and peer down the path. He saw a barn but couldn't see past it or if anything was behind it. We needed to get closer but I was hesitant.

"Adonis, are you sure this is the place? This could be any old barn, man."

I spun the wheel and headed in down the path slowly. This whole scenario stunk to me but we gotta see what's in store at this barn.

"Hey, look, you know as much as I do right now."

Joe seemed anxious. He was a little weary of the place already. The barn wasn't the issue. It looked like any old barn. Huge wooden doors at the front, beneath a pointed roof that seemed to be trying to take off like a rocket. The worn red paint showed that it had been there for sometime. The barn seemed normal. It was the amount of cars parked outside it that was the issue.

"Should there be that many cars here?" Joe questioned with a curious look on his face. He was half asking Louie, and half just speaking aloud, his thoughts no longer swimming around his mind of this being an easy score, instead now tiptoeing into what the fuck is this territory.

"Pull up, pull up." Joe instructed, hoping Louie was seeing what he was and maybe also had more to add to the surveying of what lay just a short distance ahead of them.

"Should there be that many cars here?"

"Does it look like we're still downtown? Fuck no."

I stopped the truck right here and switched off the ignition. I reached over into the glove compartment in front of Adonis and pulled out my switchblade. 

"Arm up, we're going on an expedited trip."

I hopped out of the truck and reached under the driver seat, pulling a Colt. 45 out from underneath. I slipped out the magazine, which I found to be 8 rounds full, chucked it back into the gun, cocked a round in the chamber and slipped the safety on. I tucked it into the back of my pants and grabbed the two extra magazine I had under the seat and put those into my left breast pocket.

"Check under your seat, and the glovebox for some tools. Or, I think there's something a little bigger in the trunk depending how you wanna handle this..."

The choice is up to Joe, but the outcome was clear. We were going to likely have some resistance within the barn but luckily we're in the middle of nowhere. No help is coming for an hour at least, and that's if they know the way. We could go to town and light these fucker's up, or we can keep it quiet and clean, it just depends on the approach Adonis wants to take. If we want to go to war, Adonis should probably check the trunk for a real cannon.  

"Check under your seat, and the glovebox for some tools. Or, I think there's something a little bigger in the trunk depending how you wanna handle this..."

Things. Just. Got. Serious.

Joe tucked his hand under the seat and began feeling around. His fingertips brushed over the bit of paper from earlier. Unless he was going in with the idea of torture by ten thousand paper cuts, it just wouldn't do. After digging further back and waving his hand around in the space beneath his passenger side seat, he pulled himself back up, coming up with naught but a white cotton piece from a ladies undergarment.

Adonis cocked an eyebrow, then tossed it out the window. Where they were going, there would be no need for the waving of anything white. He flicked down the glovebox.

"Oh." He said with a hint of surprise, and plenty of satisfaction.

In there lay a ten inch hunting knife in its sheath, which Adonis quickly grabbed and had a quick look at, sliding it out of the leather housing slightly. Satisfied, he joined Louie outside the truck, making sure to not close the door completely on account of trying not to make too much noise.

Besides the snub-nosed colt in a holster inside his jacket, he hoped this would be enough. He gripped the still sheathed knife firmly in his right hand and walked around the truck to join Louie.

Before either could start yapping out a plan, the side of the barn door flung open. It rattled loud against the outer wall, as it seemed to more have been kicked open with force than anything. Out swayed a man dressed in white, with a hood on, who seemed to be a little intoxicated and in need of draining his bladder.

Looks like this fool was drunk out of his mind. I was gonna let Adonis take this one, I'll play wingman. 

"Adonis, I'm going to get his attention, you gotta take him out."

Adonis understood what needed to be done and he wanted to do this the quiet way. I had to think of something fast, I didn't know how I was gonna distract this guy to remain quiet. Then, a thought hit me. I ordered Adonis to get low by the truck while a crouched-walked up to the side of the barn.

At this point, I was fairly close to the barn, and the drunk guy was at his tree pissing. I crouched low by the corner of the barn, signaled to Adonis to wait. I looked around and found an empty liquor bottle left on a barrel by the barn. I gave it a good heave at a tree on the other side of the truck and Adonis dropped to the floor. I wonder if he shit himself.

The drunk was just finishing his piss when the bottle shattered on the tree, startling him. He zipped his pants then turned, revealing a gun holstered at his hip. I signaled to Adonis with a finger gun slapping my hip and he nodded, peering under the car at the drunkards feet walking towards the tree on the flip side of the pickup.

Gun on hip. Was the signal. 'What the fuck was a simple farmer doing with a gat?' Adonis thought as he shuffled low towards the front of the red ford with his back against the side of it, listening out for sounds of the drunkard moving. They weren't rhythmic at all. Kind of haphazard, and almost as if he was dragging his feet along.

"Who's there?" Was the call as the man moved past the front and towards the tree where Louie had tossed the bottle, almost leaving Adonis with skid-marks in his briefs.

A bird swooped by and let out a cackle, surprising the man to such an extent he ended up with his pistol drawn and the finger on the trigger. He aimed at the eastern bluebird and squeezed away. The bright blue plumage flapping away revealed a male, likely protecting a nest with eggs or chicks that was perched high in the tree.

But, nothing. With piss stains on his pants, he glanced down at the gun. As his double-vision noticed the safety was still on, Adonis slid up behind him and dug the hunting blade into the side of his neck, having slowly edged around the front of the truck as the man was toying with the bird.

With a hand over the drunks mouth, Adonis helped him to the ground with a kick at the back of his right knee. The blade was then swiftly removed, blood splattering through Joe's fingers out of the drunk's gasping mouth, and out the gaping wound in his neck.

Joe helped the man down gently onto his front. As gently as he could, given he was now nothing more than a meat suit. He hit the grass hard. Adonis moved back towards the front of the truck and glanced out from behind its cover, giving a thumbs up to his wingman. He wiped the back of the bloody knife on his jacket, some of it tracing across his white shirt underneath.

In the melee take-down the brown cover to the hunter's tool was flung off to the side. No need for it now. Adonis slowly made his way over to where Louie was waiting. Having just carved up his first body with a knife, he gave a crimson red, blood splattered grin, his cheeks having caught some of the outpouring of the man's last hoorah.

"I think that worked well." He said in a low tone.

"Check what we're up against inside."

Joe waited for Louie. If they were going to get what they came for, they'd need to know what they're up against first. A guy wielding a gun in practically a white sheet wasn't a good sign.

Upon closer inspection of the man Adonis operated on, his robes had a red and white cross over the heart. We exchanged glances after realizing just who we were up against.

"You see the insignia? Looks religious."

Suddenly I think Adonis was following my thought too. He's got a gun, he's drunk, and there's more of them. Louie then wondered to himself how he's managed to get mixed up with the Ku Klux Klan.

"I don't think these guys are going to appreciate us on their property..."

We moved up closer to the barn doors and peered inside. A few more Klansmen were gathered on the inside, having some celebration. Loud music could be heard inside and they were hooting and hollering. I was wondering when me and Adonis would bump into one of their victims.

"Adonis, switch places with me, what do you see? I'll watch behind us."

'Fuuuuuuck' was what run through Joe's mind. That old man was either talking shit, or talking major shit. Hopefully the part about the crops wasn't completely full of shit.

"I see it. This is fucked up. That old piece of..."

"Adonis, switch places with me, what do you see? I'll watch behind us." Louie's words cut Adonis out of his depression session. He nodded and shuffled forward towards the doors, keeping as close to the wall as he could as he moved past.

Inside was a scene alright. He began describing what he was seeing in a low tone, hoping Louie could hear him, and helping that part along with swift turns of his head back towards Louie was as he spoke, before peering in again..

"Celebrating... 'Bout six of them... Oh shit..."

Joe turned to face Louie.

"They got someone tied up on a chair."

Initially the group and their antics were obstructing their view from what was a dark skinned women tied to a chair. Her hands were bound behind her back. Her mouth gagged shut. She looked unconscious, her head draped forward, and her blood stained and matted hair making it impossible to see her face. 

"The fuck man!" Joe exclaimed yet still as low in volume as he could. He looked pissed off.

"They got someone tied to a chair."

What kind of sick fucks are these people? What do they have him in there for and what's all the ruckus about anyway. Sick fucks.

"The fuck man!" Joe exclaimed.

"Shh! Where's the dope!?" 

Louie motioned for Adonis to follow him and he motioned around the broad side of the barn. The ruckus continued blasting out of the windows above our heads as we crept to the back lot. Adonis and I reached the edge of the corner of the barn and I halted. Joe stopped behind me as well.

Within the back lot, was greenhouses galore. I guess we couldn't quite make them out before but we could see the silhouettes of them within the dark.

"Adonis, how do you plan on boosting all this pot? Who knows how long their little reunion with buddy on the chair is gonna take. If we're gonna grab this dope, we gotta look for the ones ready to harvest and take the whole plant with us. We don't have time to trim this shit. And I most definitely am not ready to scrap with six angry Klansmen."

Adonis couldn't let the thought of what was going down inside the barn shake, but he was here for work, and not the kind that involved him being a knight in shining oxfords. The kind that more resembled Robin Hood. Take from the Klan, sell for a profit in their pockets. It made more sense in his mind. He had to focus.

He followed Louie's lead, staying close. Upon seeing the shadows of plants, which right now seemed more like trees, he gasped.

"Holy sh..."

"Adonis, how do you plan on boosting all this pot? Who knows how long their little reunion with buddy on the chair is gonna take. If we're gonna grab this dope, we gotta look for the ones ready to harvest and take the whole plant with us. We don't have time to trim this shit. And I most definitely am not ready to scrap with six angry Klansmen."

Louie had grabbed Adonis by his arm as he queried their next move, shaking him as he did. He was right. There was no way they were going to get all green thumb about it. He planned initially that they'd simply roll in, put the squeeze on the operators, maybe with a gentle one or two on the trigger, and take their time to pack it all into the Ford. That plan was now dead in the grass, like the guy laying next to their truck.

"Alright, let's get in and out as quick as we can before we end up joining their party as another special guest."

The two entered the closest greenhouse with the same quiet movements they'd arrived outside of it, this time Adonis hit the front. Suddenly, he grabbed Louie by the shirt and pointed towards the far end, where a whistling sound was coming from. It sounded like the type a guy would be making as he went about a menial task. Like possibly attending to the plants. The two ducked down out of sight.

Joe nodded towards Louie hoping he'd get the gist of what he was implying, which was simply, 'You're up pal'.

This guy just kept whistling and wandering around the plantation area for what seemed like hours while Adonis and I crouched within the green leaves. Finally, the guy had to go for a piss.

I laughed at myself, thinking, 'another guy needing a piss, how much are they drinking?'. As the fellow travelled towards the closest available tree, I was slowly creeping behind him waiting for him to quit paying attention. I spun back to Joe and held a finger to my lips, shh. I revealed the switchblade from within my pockets and held it firmly in my grip, waiting for the moment to spring it open. The moment came where the man stopped at the tree, planted his feet and let it loose. I continued to sneak closer as he relieved himself.

I was so close I could smell the alcohol when I swiped his chin and cupped his mouth, dragging him to the ground between my legs and sprung the switchblade across his throat. His eyes gleam so widely in the shimmer of the blade I could see his pupils within the pitch black night. I looked him dead in the eyes and pressed the blade right beneath his jaw. I got very close to his ear and whispered to him.

"You make a fuckin' sound louder than this whisper and I'll cut you deep. Short answers only. Who's on the chair?"

"D-Don't hurt me. I'll tell you!" He exclaimed. I could feel him quiver as his heartrate rose. He stammered on;

"The kid in there is a black guy from their church. He's been speaking out against some racism bullshit, fairness and what-not. We captured him and brought him here to teach him a lesson. His name was...I don't know - King, King something. That's all I know!"

As the man shook in my arms, I looked to the barn and laughed. I couldn't say I didn't agree with the kid, growing up in Chicago. As a teenager, I was always the pointman in hustles but my crew was almost always mixed race. That's how it was growing in the slums but we made the money. He wondered who the kid was but knew he didn't have time to worry about it. With a reassurance of his safety and a gentle shh into the man ear, he began to settle down. At that point, it was all over with a swift slash across the neck, as I left his body by the tree, and crouched back over to Adonis.

"Well, that's another dealt with. What's that leave, five? Joe, that guy told me they got a kid in there, a black kid. They're gonna beat him for speaking out against racism. That should give us some time to start chopping some of these trees. We need to take the whole thing, so help me cut 'em off at the bottom and start bringing them to the truck and remain unnoticed. Weed first, then we'll talk about the kid, if there's anything left of him."

We had our work cut out for us. Loading up the back of the truck may take us a while but the clock was ticking. We still needed to walk away alive, at the very least.

"Some more time? The fuck is you on, Louie?"

Joe had already left the scene unfolding in the barn on account of a need to secure the score. Money seemed to make the world go round. Especially in the world they lived in. If you had it, you had power. And if you had power, you had respect. It was one and the same. You stood a little taller. And walked a little more lively. People actually looked at you differently on account of how much you had, or how much you didn't.

But it wasn't everything. Not to Joe. There was more to life than just kicking up. There had to be. His father never had much in the way of materialistic things he valued, leaving him only a dented cigarette tin. But somehow he gave him so much more, and the types of things that you just couldn't put a price on. Wisdom. Respect. And honor.

And that's what this world was about to Joe. He listened to Louie flapping his gums about the score. It rubbed him the wrong way. The kind of prickle you copped if you tried leaning up against a cactus.

"You really want to just let this guy get done like that?"

Joe tried keeping his voice down but felt his temperature rising, and it wasn't on account of the greenhouse they were seeking cover inside. They didn't have much time. The celebration would be over soon enough. It was either/or. It couldn't be both. They couldn't have it both ways. They'd have to choose. It was taking the loot and letting the man be another statistic, or rain on their white supremacist parade.

They were outnumbered. Possibly outgunned. It was more or less a suicide mission. But sometimes in life you had to die to be truly free. Sometimes, you just had to let lady luck get involved and roll the dice...

"Look at you, big softie. Getting all boiled up about some preacher kid."

Louie laughed out loud as Adonis gained a flush complexion but in his mind knew Adonis was conflicted. Fuck, so was I, Adonis 'owed me one' and here I was, deciding between a score, a friend, and a soul. Not to mention the two me and Adonis already sent up for our work. It was five on two, but we had the advantage of surprise. There was a large score outside, but if we save the kid, we technically got one extra pair of hands and no more people to worry about spotting us.

"Hey, Joe. Remember I mentioned I had that tool in the trunk? I think it's time to retrieve that..."

Joe seemed suddenly relieved that I was willing to help the kid. He may or may not have know that I planned to make him help us boost the dope, but hey, it's business right? Seems like a fair trade to me. We sneaked our way back to the truck, and I pulled my pistol out from my waist and handed it to Joe.

"Take this piece, hang on to it in case you run out of rounds. Or double clutch them, if you think you can handle it."

I opened the tailgate of the old Ford and inside racked on some cables was a long, old Remington Model 10 Pump-Action shotgun. I thumbed around inside the toolbox and fished out 6 buckshot rounds and chucked them into the receiver of the shotgun, giving it a firm pump.

"Last chance, do you think we should rush in with surprise and get that kid back? Do you think maybe there is someway to do it quiet still, or maybe even negotiate? I'm not seeing many other options here but I can put the shotgun back if you got a better idea..."

Silence. As if things just simply went awash with nothingness. That's how Adonis felt as Louie led them back to the truck. Empty. Like he was back in the car that night. Behind the wheel. After he'd accidentally put that kid to rest. He remembers it vividly. Like it were yesterday.

The bloody shoes on the road as he moved towards him, to see if he was okay. The headlights illuminating his mangled body. Yet there was only him. Only them. And a throbbing heart pounding away inside his chest. That's all he needed to remember. The rest was a blur, with a silent background. He tried to forget, but it continued to haunt him. Even after all these years.

He flashed back to that night as Louie removed a shotgun from the back of the pickup truck. Joe was lost to himself and to the present moment. The black kid inside the barn. He couldn't let it happen again. Maybe this was his opportunity to redeem himself. To make good on leaving the scene and that kid there to die on the side of the road.

"Last chance, do you think we should rush in with surprise and get that kid back?"

Adonis vaguely heard what followed next, or what was said before it, yet the words 'get that kid back' kicked him into gear. He tossed the knife onto the back of the Ford and removed his colt. He already knew it was loaded. It always was. He quickly checked the other pistol as he began moving towards the barn, flicking off both safeties after making sure it was also loaded.

Joe forgot to inform Louie what his decision was, but given his look of determination and quickened steps it should've been obvious. He marched towards the celebration with both hands full, a colt .45 in one and a detective special in the other. Nothing else mattered. Not the score. Not even Louie. Just the feeling of two index fingers squeezing on the triggers as he abruptly entered where the first drunk had left open the door...

Secretly, Louie knew Adonis was going to wield both pistols, he just wanted to hit him with a verbal joust before marching into impending doom. Apparently Adonis wasn't having any of that. I wondered if he was angry with me as he marched over to the barn. I guess now I knew what his decision was and I jogged on over to join him. I was only halfway to him by the time he spun the corner of the barn door and let out two shots.

By the time I got to the door, Joe was already deeper inside behind a stable, letting some rounds out from around the corner. I peeked around the corner and spotted one of them running across the barn, so I stepped out and gave him a pound of buckshot. I watched as the lead balls pierced him all over and sent blood returning back out as he collapsed in the barn.

I ran deeper into the barn and crouched behind a stack of crates, but was receiving a lot of aggro since I was the last one to move. I pumped the shotgun and held it over my head above the crate and gave it a pop in those fuckers direction. If I stick any flesh out from cover they're gonna shoot it, and their eyes are all on me right now.

"Joe, I need you to do something, I'm getting shot to shit over here!"