Blood
He pressed his knife deeper against the man’s throat. It’s dark in the dingy alleyway, but he can see a trickle of blood run down his collarbone, staining his shirt.
This would have been much easier if he hadn’t run away.
“You know you still owe me you bastard.” he hisses, knowing that the man is terrified.
“Please, I’ll pay just let me go,”
the man is panicking now, squirming beneath his knife, the knife that he uses specifically for dirty jobs just like this one. The man just makes it worse and more bloody every time he moves. Deeper, and more painful. Not just for the man under the knife either, the effort to keep his own knife and hands steady is pulling heavily at the fresh cuts on his forearms, making them bleed and deepen quickly.
At this rate, the blood will soak through my shirt sleeves through the bandages, making the black even deeper. It’s my fault though, so there’s really nothing to complain about.
But the man beneath his knife is lying and he knows it.
Crow cased his house recently and most of his things had already been sold to keep paying for his addiction. He sighs, unable to keep his annoyance to himself anymore.
This poor idiot should have quit long ago.
“Damn you, of course you can’t pay, but we’ll be generous this time, you have a week.” He says, pressing the knife a little deeper.
Tears are sliding down the man’s cheeks now, I wonder if it’s from cravings, pain, or pure relief. Any of them make sense, I’ll assume it’s all three. Leverage. he feels a smile touch the corners of his lips,
I have him where I want him now.
“Remember,” he whispers into his ear, low and steady, “if you don’t pay up, well, I’ll have to clean my knife a bit more.” he inwardly cringes a bit, it sounds so ridiculous, but the man needs to be scared. They cooperate much better when they’re scared. More blood is dripping down the man’s neck now, and he realizes that he’s shaking along with him.
I need to end this now, I need to head back to base before, well, before I start feeling sick again, and before my cuts open up even more.
I can tell I did a good job on this one, he’ll find a way to pay now. It’s a job well done for me, and that means more money for all of us. If I make the Don happy enough, she might even be happy enough to let me have a good night partying with the crew.
He pulls his knife away from the addict’s throat and walks deeper into the alley as he sheathes it. His first few steps are shaky as he tries to regain his balance, but remembering how to walk comes back quickly. The man falls to the ground in the alley, stunned.
He can’t help but feel quite sorry for him, even though he doesn’t know him at all outside of strictly business and deals. Not even his name.
I was right where he was not even four years ago.
He shakes his head and keeps walking steadily, paying close attention to his steps, until he comes out the other side of the darkened alley and onto a mostly deserted road. He looks at the side,
It’s sunset, pretty…
He turns right and follows the street for a mile or so, walking toward the setting sun, fighting for his composure and self control a little more with every step. The sky darkens even more, it’s late. He tries to keep his arms close to his sides as he walks, even though the streets are mostly deserted, it would be less than fortunate if someone saw the now large blood stains spreading over his sleeves. There would be far too many questions, and he has no answers.
It’s hard for him to stop thinking about the man in the alley. I don’t know his name, or his past, or anything about him really. Just that he has no more money and needs more of the shit that I can provide. And I just threatened him, is that better or worse than threatening someone I know?
He shook his head quickly, trying in vain to make the thoughts leave his mind, and started walking faster, trying to ignore the pain in his arms and the slight quiver in his stride. Barely realizing it, he ends up right at the place that he has called home for the past three years, the rooms over a restaurant and garage,
He walked up along a rickety metal fire escape along the garage on the left until the second floor and paused at the landing.
This is going to be loud, he thinks to himself, and strolls into the apartments of the most powerful mafia in all of town.
