IT’S GOING TO BE A LONG NIGHT

Walking down the damp sidewalk as the last hints of daylight slowly fade away, my mind is focused on where I would find my next job.  A day at the shipyards, literally begging for any type of work had not produced any leads.  Money was getting tight and a certain level of desperation was beginning to seep into my mind.

Sidestepping to avoid a puddle of water and coming around a corner, green and yellow light reflects off the wet pavement as Obrien’s comes into view.  I begin to smile and regain a pep in my step.  The smile isn’t for the first drink of many tonight, but from the thoughts of Red.  Just the thought of that dame is enough to push any negative thoughts from my mind.  From curving hips to partially unbuttoned blouse showing just enough cleavage, there isn’t anything about Red that isn’t seductive.  But by far, the taste of those lips for the first time last night was a memory that would never fade.

Pushing open the door, I step into a dimly lit bar.  Mike is behind the counter as usual, wiping down glasses in preparation for a busy night following a shift change at the shipyard.  Mike looks up from his duties and gives me a nod of acknowledgement as I walk up to the bar.  No one else is at the counter and a couple sits at a table in the back corner, leaning close and apparently sharing an intimate conversation.  I pull up a stool and say “Mike, give me the usual with some of that special ice!”  Mike looks at me quizzically and says “Special Ice?”  This brings out a small laugh as I explain “Yeah, the special invisible ice.  In other words, give me my whisky straight and hell, make it a double”.  Mike grins and says “Must have been a tough day if your starting with a double”.  Mike sets down the freshly polished glass and agile as a fox, grabs the bottle, flipping it upside down, allowing the brown liquid to quickly fill the glass.

As I take my first sip and I feel the fire racing down my throat and a warmth filling my stomach, my mind once again drifts back to the intimate interaction I had with Red the night before.  I can still remember the taste of those lips, the smell of freshly applied lipstick, and the lightly applied perfume coming from the side of her neck.  Lost in thoughts of Red, I never noticed who entered the bar behind me.  Lost in thoughts of Red, I didn’t even notice when they had walked directly up behind me.  Then two sets of strong hands grab each of my arms and something dark is pulled over my head as a attempt to move in vain.  I hear Mike yell “Gent’s, I don’t want any problems here and…”.  Mike’s protest is stopped short by the sound of multiple pistols being cocked and something hard being pressed against the back of my head.  Then I hear a raspy voice say “Goose, we can do this the hard way or the easy way.  You can either walk out of here OR we can drag you out of here and your buddy Mike can clean up the mess.  Choose is yours.”  Knowing the strength of the hands holding each of my arms and being blind from having something pulled over my head, I smuggle state “I’ll take the easy option, for Mike’s sake”.

I feel the hands guiding me to slide off the stool and I stand up.  Turning away from the door, I realize that I’m not being taken out front, but toward the back of the bar.  Having been a patron of the bar many years, I know with trepidation that I’m being lead to the back door which leads to a secluded alleyway behind the building.  I say to myself “It’s going to be a long night”.  An iron grip on my right arm pulls me forward and then I hear the squeak of hinges and the back door is opened in front of me.  From the sounds alone, there appears to be three individuals as someone has opened the door while two others are holding my arms tightly.  Stumbling over the threshold and entering the cool evening air that I had just left minutes before, I’m guided out into the alley way.  Trying desperately to keep my breathing under control, I won’t give them the satisfaction of knowing how truly scared I am of this situation.  Hearing the back door close with a thud, my escorts push me to the left and deeper down the dead end alleyway.  But I’m only hearing two other sets of footsteps as we transverse the trash and boxes that have littered the area.  Then I hear the creak of a car door and quick steps of someone being rushed down from the entrance of the alley.

Iron grips turn me around and hold me prone.  Not knowing who my assailants are or why this is even happening, I ask “Can someone let me know what the hell is going on?  If I pissed someone off th…..”  Stopped mid sentence by a heavy blow to the side of my face and another almost at the same exact time to my mid section, not only am I seeing white spots in my world of darkness, but all the air is driven from my lunges and my knees buckle.  The grip on my arms remain firm and I’m not allowed to fall.  But not a work is spoken by my attackers and I’m forced to stand up once again.  The quick steps are getting closer followed by much heavier steps from someone much larger.  Then the quick steps come to a halt a short distance in front of me and the raspy voice says “Remove the sack and show me his face!”  The cloth is pulled off my head and I see an well dressed older man standing next to Red.

Immediately I see that Red has been roughed up.  One eye is swollen shut and blood runs down from lips that have been damaged from numerous blows.  Those lips that had been heavenly the night before may never be the same and obviously the raspy voice man is the cause.  When she sees me, she begins to sob, holding her hands to her mouth and a look of sadness comes across her face as she knows that she has betrayed me to this ruthless man.

Staring the raspy voiced man in the face, I say “Wanna fill me in on what’s going on here?”  As a smile crosses his lips, he looks to my right and then my left and then simply nods.  The grip on my arms is released and at the same time blows from heavy fists land all over my body.  The first few cause me to drop to the ground and I curl up with my arms wrapped around my head for protection.  Then the kicking begins with one aggressor kicking at my head and the other choosing to target my groin area.  Any attempts to adjust or cover up just seem to expose another delicate area and I can feel myself begin to lose consciousness as the world begins to go black.  Then I hear the raspy voice say “Enough” and the kicking stops.  Everything hurts and I roll onto my back, closing my eyes and feeling the cold water soak into my clothes from the puddle of water where I happened to have fallen.  The taste of copper fills my mouth and I feel blood running down my scalp and the side of my face from numerous cuts.  Then with a startle, I open my eyes to see the old raspy voice man as he says “Goose, I think I’m going to kill you tonight” and points a pistol down at my face.  All I can do is stare straight into the eyes of this old man that I didn’t even know existed a few minutes ago.  After a few seconds which felt like an eternity, he smiles and says “Your a lucky man Goose.  You see, I won ALOT of money when your Don Tyki_Mikk won his boxing match and I owe him a personal favor also.  But sleeping with my girl last night should have been your death sentence.  Tell your Don that we are even and now YOU own him the favor.  Never touch my Red again….Understand?”  Attempting to speak and feeling sharp pains that make me realize I might also have a broken jaw, I simply nod in agreement.

Then all three men turn around and begin walking back toward their parked car with only Red standing still, staring at me.  The look of sadness and sympathy is evident in her expression, but then the raspy voice breaks the silence “Red, get your ass in the car…NOW!” Red turns, racing in quick footsteps down to the car.  By the time she gets to the car, one of the large men has opened the back door and she steps into the car on the passenger side while the raspy voice man steps into the back drivers side compartment.  Laying there assessing my numerous injuries, hearing the car start and then drive off into the night, my mind drifts off to the taste of Red’s lips.  It’s going to be a long night.