Page 19 of Domino
“What do you want?” he cries out.
“You’re going to empty all your pockets. All your cash. All your dope. Everything. And when you’re done, you’re going to get into your car, on a bus, or call an Uber, and get the fuck out of here. Forever. You are never going to come back to Blue Rock again. Ever. Do you understand me?”
“Go fuck yourself.”
I give his wrist another cruel twist and he screams like a little girl, then I give him a savage kick to the midsection and bring my fist down on the back of the neck, driving him to the ground. Rip curls into a fetal position and starts to cry. Kneeling down beside him, I search his pockets and clean him out. I take all of his drugs, all of his money, and a fancy switchblade to boot.
Applause draws my attention and I turn to see the guys standing in the doorway. Smiling to myself, I shake my head.
“Get over here, Prospect,” I say.
Derek comes over and I hand him all the baggies of drugs. He whistles low as he inspects the stash in his hands.
“Tell Mike to pour that shit down the drain. All of it,” I tell him.
“Yeah, okay. And you better knock that prospect shit off.”
He walks out and I reach down again, grabbing Rip by the hair. Pulling him up, he stumbles alone as I drag him through the bar. All of the patrons sitting around the tables are watching us with wide eyes as we go. And when we get to the parking lot, I shove him, then give him a kick in the ass, propelling him forward. He hits the ground with a grunt and rolls over, blood covering his face, looking like a beaten man.
“I see you in Blue Rock again, hell, if I even hear of you setting foot in this city again, I will kill you,” I tell him. “Do you understand? I’ll fuckin’ kill you.”
He gets to his feet and stumbles over to some old beater and jumps behind the wheel. The boys come out and we watch him drive off in a cloud of smoke and squealing tires.
“Think he’ll come back?” Cosmo asks.
“Pretty sure he will.”
“Hope he doesn’t. You’ll have to make good on that threat if he does. You don’t, and he’ll never respect your word again. Nobody will.”
I get the point he’s making and nod. “Yeah, shouldn’t have gone with the I’ll kill you line right away.”
“Yeah, you need to give yourself a little wiggle room,” Poe adds.
I shake my head and laugh. I’ve still got a lot to learn. But hey, the important thing is, I scored a win for us. We got some drugs off the street and potentially got a dealer out of town, too. All I can do now is hope he doesn’t come back.
Looking over, I see Cosmo grinning. He’s holding a shiny chrome .38 revolver in his hand, admiring it.
“I don’t want to say I told you so, but I do recall saying these fuckin’ crackheads are always strapped.”
“Yeah, well, he never got a shot off, did he?”
“You’re lucky.”
“Nah. I’m just that good.”
He looks at me, that wolfish smile widening. “If you were really that good, he never would have been able to draw down on you in the first place.”
I laugh. “Don’t be an asshole.”
He shrugs. “It’s just so hard being right all the time.”
“Yeah, whatever.”
Our job done, we mount up and ride back for the clubhouse. And as we pass the coffeehouse, I feel a pang of disappointment when I see that little stunner isn’t still sitting there.
Chapter Nine
Ashley
