The female owner then stared at us for a moment, before she curve her lips for a smile, and then her smile turned into chuckling, and then chuckling into a full blown laughter.
We stood as we eyed the laughing woman in front of us, we can even slightly feel the mockery and amusement in her laugh.
The f*ck this b*tch is laughing at...?
Growing irritated, I began to bite my lower lips, as I also clenched both of my fists hard.
With the laughter still continuing, I can feel the others behind me growing impatient, I even heard Nick whispering that we should just trash the whole place to make her stop.
After a few more seconds, the owner's laughter began to gradually calm down.
"So.." she wiped the last tears from her eyes before continuing, "How do you plan in getting rid of them?" she sneered at us.
"Simple" I said as I grabbed the .38 pistol from my pants and placed it on the counter, but not before glancing around the whole store to see if there are any nearby customers or cameras.
The smile on the owner's face immediately disappeared, and her face turned into a mixture of pure shock and fear.
"Ah..." the woman stammered as she stared at the gun on the counter.
"What?" I began smiling at her funny expression.
"Y-You're going to get rid of them using... that?" she pointed at the gun.
Becoming Irritated, I lowered my smile as I raised and immediately brought two of my hands down at the counter, surprising the owner.
"You think we're f*cking around?" I grabbed the gun from the counter and cocked it.
She began to sweat as her eyes begin to dart between me and the boys behind.
"Y-You..." she stammered.
"It's simple, give us the f*cking cash and we're getting rid of those troublemakers." I explained to her.
"Or perhaps we're getting rid of you and get the cash for ourselves." Nick added, making the rest chuckle, except Christian who was a bit nervous.
The woman paled at this and immediately opened the cash register and began scrambling for any money to give us.
"H-How many?" she asked.
Look at this pitiful and pathetic b*tch...
"A hundred dollars." I replied, making her eyes go wide.
"Just promise me you'll take care of the problem!" she begged.
"Sure" I replied as I quickly tucked my gun and grabbed the hundred dollar cash she just handed to me.
Gesturing for the others to follow, we began to make our way towards the door leading outside the store.
Oh wait, I forgot to tell her something.
Stopping in my tracks, I turned to look at the owner behind the counter again.
"We'll stop by next week to 'help' you solve some problems that you may encounter soon, so if you have any other ideas..." I stopped talking and smiled to her.
She gulped as she stared at us, while sweating nervously.
"Good day, madam." I said before stepping outside the store.
Once we were outside, we then suddenly began laughing.
"That look on her face.." Kevin laughed.
"She really look miserable." Christian sighed.
Walking down the sidewalk, I began to lead the boys towards where I've last seen those group of thugs and dealers.
"So, are we really doing it?" Dave asked.
What kind of stupid question is that?
Stopping in my tracks, I turned towards him and stared deeply at him.
Can we do it?
Killing another person seems like... I don't know, weird?
I know I've already killed someone, but I was mad at that time, and honestly I feel a little strange doing it again.
I have to get used to this new kind of life, because in the future, I might have to cap more people, that's why I think it is better to make myself numb from such things.
Emotions, it's going to be an obstacle and at the same time not, I don't want to turn myself into a cold emotionless killer, yet I also have to make sure that emotions don't get in the way of my job.
What if I have to dispose someone close to me because he betrayed me, and I have to show an example to everyone.
Ah, f*ck it...
I'll do what's only necessary.
Things.... things are just going to be hard from now on.
"Albert" Kevin's voice brought me back from my thoughts.
"Y-Yeah?" I answered him, but at this time, the whole group has their eyes on me now.
"Don't tell me you're backing out now that we have the cash." Kevin said.
"No I'm not!" I quickly retorted.
"Then what's the matter?" Kevin asked again.
Taking a deep breath, I glanced at everyone before finally speaking.
"Are you all ready? I mean, seriously ready to stain their hands with blood if needed?" I asked everyone.
At this, they kept silent and began to tense up, especially Christian who was sweating hard.
"Shit" Christian gritted his teeth.
"Hey, you can just be the lookout." I placed a hand on Christian's back as I reassured him.
"But still, we're going to be murderers." Christian began to shake.
"I don't mind-" Dave wasn't able to finish his sentence as Nick immediately smacked him on the head.
"What was that for?"
"Shut up!"
Turning towards Kevin, he gave me a gesture that shows he agrees with me in killing the thugs.
Sighing, I turn my head towards Christian.
"We aren't going to necessarily kill them." I said to him.
"What do you mean?" he suddenly perked up at this.
"Just a few scraps and lessons we're going to give them is all." I explained to them.
Well if they don't do something stupid, they might get to live.
"The important thing is that we need to show the other people that we can be trusted, if people doubt us because we hesitated in our work then our future operations would be greatly affected, not only that, we would be vulnerable to betrayals." I explained to everyone.
Kevin and Nick nodded at my words, while Dave and Christian are still thinking to themselves whether to agree with me or not.
All that talk about changing... really Christian?
After a minute, both of them finally and reluctantly agreed.
And just like that, we continued on our way towards our destination.
Glancing at Christian, I can see he has now finally resolved himself a little bit.
Just a little... since I can still see him slightly shaking.
"It's going to be fine." I reassured him again.
"To think I'm still this weak and cowardly." he muttered.
Poor guy..
Keeping silent and not responding, after a minute of walking, we finally arrived in front of a dark alley between a pawn shop and the laundry store that I used to go to.
"Are they here?" asked Kevin.
Nodding my head at him, I began to make my way inside of the alley, followed by the others.
Smelling the stinky odor from the nearby garbage that was piled on each sides of the alley way, I immediately covered my nose while I slowly grabbed the gun that was tucked in my pants.
The smell f*cking sucks!
Better to get this over with..
Hearing faint voices as we went deeper in the alleyway, I immediately stopped in my tracks and stared at the group following behind me.
"You heard that?" I asked them quiietly.
"Yeah" Kevin said as he nods his head.
"Follow me quietly." I gave them a hush gesture as I turn my head back at the front and began to walk towards the direction of the faint voices.
Arriving at a corner where ahead is a path that leads west from our position, I can now clearly hear the voices.
"Yeah, he was really stupid to do that." said a man's voice.
"It was her girl anyway." another voice said.
Glancing at the others behind me, I can see they can also hear the conversation behind the wall.
"Come on let's go." I called out to them quietly.
Making my way towards the edge and placing my back on the wall, the others followed suit as I slowly peek my head over the concrete.
Okay, here we go!
Seeing a group of men chatting with each other, I began to observe them for a while and finally confirmed that they really were the guys who were causing troubles to that particular flower shop.
Pulling my head back in, I turned towards the boys besides me.
"You found them?" Kevin asked.
Nodding my head, I turned my gaze towards the rest of the gang.
"There are six of them." I whispered to them.
At this, their face immediately paled.
"Shit, let's just go back." Christian said nervously.
"Bastard, we got this." I showed the gun in front of his face.
"How many bullets?"
"Four"
They all took a deep breath and stared at me.
"F*ck this, we're all in." Christian finally said.
"We're just waiting for you." Dave snorted.
Sighing, I opened my mouth again to speak.
"I ask again, are you all ready?" I asked them.
They all nodded their heads in response.
"F*ck, let's go!"
.
.
.
CHAPTER DONE!