Page 36 of All Tied Up
Typically, we went to the debts that were smaller and made our way up to the heavy ones. It got messier, the more money they owed, and once we got blood on our hands, we liked to go on home and clean up.
“Eh, they’re all pretty fucking high this time. Too many upsetson Thanksgiving weekend. A lot of fuckers lost big money,” he replied. “Linc let it slide until after Christmas, but the grace period is over.”
Thanksgiving Day, there had been three upsets in college ball and three in NFL games. Most of those placing bets had done so in hopes of extra cash for the holidays, but joke was on them. I never asked about the profit and loss within our bookmaking branch of the family unless we had to funnel money through the distillery. Then I wanted details.
The door behind Oz opened, and Forge climbed inside.
“Sorry, had to take a shit,” he said, pulling out his revolver and laying it on the seat beside him. “You got an extra .38? I could only find one,” he said, reaching for his seat belt.
“Under your seat,” Oz said without looking up from his phone.
“Thank fuck,” Forge muttered and bent to reach under and get the case with the extra firearms.
“All right, might as well hit up the former NFL star first. Get it over with,” Oz said as he hit the button that lifted the door to the garage.
“Not Draughn,” Forge said. “Not again.”
Rock Draughn was our local celebrity. He lived in Jackson now that he was retired with the baby momma he had finally settled down with three years ago. He was a Hall of Famer in the NFL. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the first time we’d had to go collect from him.
“Get over your man crush,” Oz drawled. “Bastard has an addiction, and I don’t mind feeding it as long as he pays what he owes. He bet on his former team Thanksgiving and got fucked. Time he pays up.”
“Fuck,” Forge groaned. “You threatened to puzzle his fingers last time. Please tell me you were full of shit. His hand is legendary.”
Oz glanced up at him through the rearview mirror. “I’m neverfull of shit. He doesn’t pay, then I am blamed. And his wife’s Instagram shows they were in Hawaii on a private yacht the week of Christmas. He needs to learn to manage his money properly. I don’t give one flying fuck about his hand. I care about the fifty grand he owes us.”
I let out a low whistle and shook my head. “Damn, dude should have married money, not some hot-piece-of-ass cheerleader.”
“No shit,” Oz agreed.
“What if he pays up? Do we leave the hand alone?” Forge asked.
Oz cut his eyes back to the rearview mirror again. “Did you not hear the part about the yacht? Fucker hasn’t paid because he’s broke. He’ll need time to sell something. And if that is what he tells me, which it will be, then his fingers are going between the nails.”
Forge let out a groan and leaned back dejectedly in his seat. “Fuck.”
I grinned and shook my head. “If I hadn’t witnessed you eating pussy like a damn addict, I’d think you wanted his cock in your mouth.”
Oz chuckled beside me, but said nothing.
“Nah, I wouldn’t take a cock in my mouth even if it was gonna save the golden grip.”
“It stopped being golden when arthritis set in,” I told him. “Hence his retirement.”
Forge stuck a cigarette between his lips and leaned forward to pull the lighter out of his pocket. “Yeah, but it’s still the hand that’s thrown six hundred and twenty-two touchdowns.”
“Brady broke that record,” Oz said.
“Doesn’t matter,” Forge told him. “Draughn is a Mississippi boy. That should mean something.”
Oz smirked as we pulled through the security gate and onto the main road.
“If I make my point with his left hand, will that shut you the fuck up?”
Forge’s brows lifted as hope lit his eyes. We were still discussing the fact that Oz was going to put a Hall of Famer’s hand on a wooden board with nails between each finger, then slam a hammer into the side of them, breaking them all at once and leaving them unnaturally bent. But since it wasn’t his former famous hand, then Forge was okay with it.
“Seriously?” he asked.
Oz nodded. “Yeah. But if you say one more goddamn word about his fucking hand, I will break both set of fingers.”
