Page 8 of Justified
He nodded again.“Yep.”
“Shit.Who picks that ungodly hour for a business transaction?”
“Businessmen with things to do.They wanted to meet at six, I bought you an extra hour of beauty rest.”
“Are you coming with?”
He shook his head.“I’m the brains behind the brawn.If shit goes south and they try to double cross us, I’ll just get in the way.You’ll be able to kick ass better on your own.As much as I love seeing you do it, it’s safer for me to stay in the shadows.”
He had a point.Jordan couldn’t fight to save his life, in spite of me trying to teach him basic self-defense tactics.His fucking nerd ass was hopeless.I sighed.“Fine.But I’m going back to sleep when I get home.”
“Fair enough.”
We chatted about some other random bullshit like movies we wanted to see and TV shows that were new coming this fall season until our food came.Then, for me at least, it was all about devouring calories.I had to be careful not to eat like this all of the time.Sure, my metabolism burned like a furnace, but I could still gain weight and I happened to love my eight-pack washboard abs.Jordan had a grilled cheese sandwich with bacon and fries.When I finished my meal off, I started eating the fries I knew he wasn’t going to eat.He knew it too, which was why he didn’t bother to protest.
“Okay, you ready to go?”I asked, swallowing the last fry.
“Yeah, let me just pay the bill.”
I called the waitress over and she started making her way towards us just as two white men dressed in dark hoodies entered the diner and took seats at the counter.Now, they could’ve just been here for a late meal like we were, but my cretin-factor senses were tingling.Better known as my intuition.I didn’t trust this duo.I looked at Jordan.
“Maybe you should go to the bathroom and stay low.”
“Why?”he asked, looking up from his wallet.
God, sometimes he could be so fucking clueless, like a deer caught in headlights in the face of imminent danger.I gestured with my eyes towards the suspicious two and he finally caught my drift.He got up and walked into the bathroom like I’d told him to.If bullets were going to start flying, I didn’t want him in the way of their trajectories.
I sat back in the booth casually, not wanting to let the two men think I was on to them.Our waitress returned with the check and I thanked her.I looked at it, our meal had been under twenty-dollars, which was why I enjoyed eating at these family-owned establishments.They understood not everyone was rolling in dough, but needed a full meal.The exact opposite of some of those fancy-schmancy restaurants downtown where you pay an arm and a leg and get a pinky finger for a meal.
As for the two at the counter, they looked like they were legit customers as they placed their orders.Fine.I guessed it was about time to get Jordan.I called his phone and he came out of the men’s room.He pulled out a twenty and left it on the table.It covered our bill and gave our waitress a four dollar tip.I stood up from the booth and Jordan and I walked towards the door.As we approached the men, one of them swung around in his swivel stool and grabbed my arm.
“Sit the fuck back down,” he growled to me in a low, menacing voice.
Shit, I knew it!Why hadn’t they just let us leave?This was what I got for not following my intuition.If I pulled something right now and his partner retaliated, I may not be fast enough to stop others from getting hurt.By others, I meant Jordan.Did I take that chance?Jordan backed up several steps like he was reading my mind, and I was happy he was putting some distance between us.
“Get your fucking hand off me,” I snarled back.
That was when he pulled out his 9mm pistol from the middle pocket of his hoodie.Fantastic.“You’ll be the first one I kill, bitch,” he warned me.
I was getting really sick and tired of being called a bitch tonight.
“That is if you don’t sit the fuck down, now,” he added.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see his partner reaching into his pocket, pulling out his weapon since the jig was up.I took a few steps back and sat in the booth closest to them.The waitress saw what was happening and she walked over to the two men very cautiously, and bravely, I might add.
“Please, we don’t want any trouble.We’ll give you whatever you want, please, just don’t hurt anyone,” she begged.
The asshole aimed his gun at her, while his partner kept his gun on us, panning it from Jordan to the other customer, then to me.
“Shut up, whore.Give us all of the money in the register.Then go in the back where you keep your safe and give us the money in there, too.My boy here is going to go with you to make sure you don’t get any bright ideas,” the brains of their operation said.He was the one who kept his back to me.
“Just do what he says, Marnie,” the cook said from the kitchen.
That was when the bad guy boss pointed his gun at the cook.“Get out from back there, motherfucker, and come up here where I can keep my eyes on you.”
The cook did as he was told, and came to the front with his arms held up high.I must say, they were either pretty desperate or dumb as fuck… or maybe both, to pull this stunt with all of these windows.They were taking the risk of a cop driving by or even stopping in and catching them.But of course, it was late as hell and they might just get away with it.They might.
The guy who had told me to sit down hopped off the stool to “assist” Marnie.He stood over her as she shoved the money from the register into a plastic bag.
