Page 23 of Justified
Why couldn’t people just be satisfied with smoking weed when they wanted to get high?Shit, Jordan still puffs from time to time.I would do it more often if I could still enjoy it, but with my metabolism, the high didn’t stick around.By the time I got a good buzz going, five minutes later, I was sober.I might have gotten some amazing abilities, but there was always a price to pay.
I slipped the drugs back into a pouch on my belt and pulled out the wad of cash, then started counting.Pretty good hustle if I may say so, twelve hundred dollars.This would be added to the rest of the money I’d been collecting since becoming a vigilante.I didn’t rob from the poor, but what I did take, I kept for myself.Shit, I was out here risking—okay, I’d admit—very little, but still, I was putting in real hard work here.I deserved compensation.Besides, I was only taking from motherfuckers who deserved to be robbed, so my conscious was clear.
Also, with the money I’d accumulated, I made sure to put some of it aside for Jordan’s education.Now, instead of working, he was going back to college and finishing his degree.One of us should have a bright future.Plus, with the new shit he was learning regarding computers, he could help me out even more.
I checked the time on my cell phone, I’d been out there two hours already and had only taken down one drug dealer.Either it was a slow night or I was being lazy stalking the streets.I needed to make the most of the time before I turned in.I rolled the money up and put it back into one of my pouches.One addition I’d added to my sexy costume was a utility belt, and that damn thing was really coming in handy.I now had places to keep my garrote, flashlight, lock-picking tools, mace, and extra ammunition clips.
I truly felt and looked the part of a vigilante these days and I liked the feeling of being one.I leaped onto another rooftop, and then another one, until I was a mile away from where I’d taken out the drug dealer.I ended up in another shady area of the city where a lot of crimes seemed to happen.I made myself comfortable and kept my eyes and ears open for anything going down.I reached into one of my pouches and pulled out a stick of gum.I was thirsty but I didn’t have anything to drink, so gum would have to do.
I watched as people went about their day, and I couldn’t help but wonder just what kind of day they had.Were they happy?Pissed?Homicidal?Yeah, I was the curious sort.I sat on the rooftop for another forty minutes and, just when I rose to stretch my legs and possibly leave, I saw something suspicious.A guy was being followed by another shorter male and he was completely unaware he was being tailed because of his headphones and texting.
I kept my eyes on them and watched as the man following began to quicken his pace, closing the distance between the two.And just when the other man reached the alley by the building next to mine, he shoved him into it.I leaped onto the next building so I could get a better look at what was going on.My immediate thought was to jump down there and save the dumbass right away, but maybe this bit of fear he was experiencing was good for him.It would teach him to be more aware of his surroundings in the future.
“Give me your fucking money and that damn iphone, bitch!”his assailant demanded at gun point.
“Please, oh god, please don’t kill me.You can have whatever you want,” the guy whimpered as he handed over his phone with trembling hands.
“Yeah, up those Jordans, too, motherfucker,” the robber demanded with his greedy ass.
“Aww, come on, man, don’t take my fucking Jordans,” the victim pleaded.
Okay, I had to intervene.If Jordan ever found out I let an innocent person actually be robbed of the latest additions of the extremely popular sneaker, I’d never hear the end of it.As the guy was stepping out of his brand new Jordan shoes, I jumped down, striking the robber directly on his shoulder, which made him drop his gun.
“Oh shit!”the victim shouted and jumped back against the wall.
The robber fell to the ground, moaning as he was holding his sore arm.I reached down, grabbing him by the collar of his hoodie, and snatched his mask off, revealing an African American youth.The boy looked to be no more than sixteen years old; and by the look of his wide-eyed gaze, he was worried.What the fuck?He should be at home doing homework, not out at one in the fucking morning robbing people.Maybe I could scare him straight.I pulled out my very impressive Beretta, pointing it at his head to see if he liked the feeling.
“I normally kill people I see fucking with innocent people,” I told him.
He was the one trembling then as he looked up at me.“Please don’t kill me,” he begged in a shaky voice.
“Give me a reason not to,” I told him, then cocked my gun.That was when I saw a dark spot on his baggy blue jeans appear at his crotch, and then a puddle forming between his legs.“You’re just a little punk playing at being bad.Robbing people when you should be asleep, because don’t you have school in a few hours, or did you already drop out to pursue your illustrious life of crime?”
“No… I—I got school,” he said.He was shaking really hard now.
“Oh, so maybe you think school isn’t the way and robbing people at gunpoint will get you what you want out of life?A lifetime criminal in the making.Perhaps I should just spare your would-be future victims and put a bullet in your head now.”
“No!”he cried out and tried to pull away from me, but I hit him with my pistol hard enough to bust his nose and lip.I let him keep his teeth, but if he tried to get away again… a few of them might have to go.He moaned in pain as blood ran down his nose and chin from the injuries I had given him.
“Don’t try that shit again, boy,” I snapped in a pretty no-nonsense tone I could tell struck a chord with him.
“I—I don’t want to die.Please, I… I wasn’t really going to hurt him,” the kid whined.
“Oh, you were just going to rob me, you little fuck?”the man asked as he snatched up his cell phone that had fallen to the ground when I attacked the thief.He looked at it and cursed.“Son of a bitch, the screen is broke!You know how hard it’s going to be to replace this?I might as well get a new damn iphone.Awww, shit, now I have to go to the damn Apple store and deal with their bullshit.”
I had to chuckle at the guy, he seemed awfully relaxed after almost having been robbed.I guess he felt safe now that I was there.But how did he know that I wasn’t going to rob him next?
Anyway, I turned my attention back to the kid.“I’m still waiting to hear a reason why I shouldn’t put a bullet in your head.”
“I won’t ever rob anyone again, I swear!Please don’t kill me,” the kid begged.
I uncocked my gun and put it back into my holster.“You better not.”I held onto him as I searched his pockets, finding his wallet.I looked at it.“Darryl Harrison, sixteen years old and you live at forty-two fifty-Six Pinecone Drive,” I rattled off, then looked down at him.“Now I know who you are and where you live.Your victim knows, too.So I suggest you apologize for being a dick.”
Darryl looked at the guy he had been robbing and, with tears streaming from his eyes, he began to apologize.“I’m so fucking sorry, dawg.I swear, I won’t ever do it again.”
“I’m not your ‘dawg’ and you better not, because I’m taking your picture,” the man said, then snapped a photo.“I’ll post this shit online if you don’t keep your ass in school and put forth effort.Now that I know where you live, I’ll be keeping my eye on you to make sure you keep your shit straight.”
I had to stifle a laugh, because this situation, though sad in a way, was turning out to be hilarious.I looked at the kid.“Okay, get the fuck out of here and take your ass home.”I let him go, unharmed for the most part.He would surely have a big bruise on his shoulder where I’d struck him and a swollen nose and lip.
