Tyson, Martin, and Adrian walked out of the alleyway, Tyson leading the group to the pizza restaurant. He turned right while the others followed him. They kept walking down the street till they saw a sign on the side of the building saying "Barstool Pizza".
"Is that the place?" Martin asked as he pointed at the sign.
"Yeah, it is," Tyson said looking back at Martin. "Let me do the talking."
"Okay," Adrian said. Martin looks confused at Tyson.
"Why you," Martin asked as Tyson opened the door to the restaurant.
Tyson turned to look at Martin, "shut up Martin." Tyson walked into the lobby and straight to the counter. At the counter was an older gentleman with a thick pair of glasses on, along with a bald head and thinner blonde beard.
"Do you have your reservation sir?" The man asked in a quieter tone. Tyson reached into his pocket and pulled out a card. He showed it to the man. The man grabbed the card and looked at the card for a bit. "How many for a table do you want, sir?" The man asked as he gave Tyson back the card.
"Twelve people, please," Tyson said to the man as he put his card back in his pocket.
"Right this way," The man said as he grabbed twelve menus. He walked away from the counter to lead the three past the tables and to a locked door. The man grabbed a key from his pocket and unlocked the door. Inside was a big table that was made from a good quality of wood, more a redwood appearance compared to a more oak look on the tables outside of the room. The three walked to take a seat at the table. There were twenty-two chairs, ten on each side and one on the shorter side of it. In the room were two large televisions, one on each side of the table. Behind the table were two refrigerators in the back, Tyson opened the left one to reveal soda cans, while Martin looked at the right one to see a variety of alcohol.
"What the hell is this room?" Adrian asked as he looked at the menu.
"Mr. Syvone sponsors the stores and restaurants across the street," Tyson said while drinking a soda. "He pays them to hand out promotional information about the fights and he provides their promotional information for no cost. In exchange, the stores and restaurants just allow his fighters to have more privileges than most customers."
"Name some of these benefits to be more specific, Tyson?" Martin asked, confused by this newly presented information.
"Like this restaurant, they allow us to eat for free and provide us one of these if no one is renting them out for a high price," Tyson says as he sits down in the chair next to Martin and allows him to look at Adrian. "Other restaurants provide discounts better than they provide the normal customers or stores allow us to pre order items off of their inventory they are receiving."
"Damn I am going to enjoy that," Adrian said as he looked deeper into his menu. "What did you show them?"
"Oh this," Tyson said as he reached back into his pocket to show a card that said Tyson's full name and above "Mr. Syvone's Fighter". "Do you have one?"
Adrian looked at Martin, and Martin shook his head saying no. "Mr. Syvone has not given us one yet. How do we get one?"
"Just talk to Mr. Syvone tomorrow and he will take you to his office to give you guys it," Tyson said as he heard a knock on the door, Martin got up to open the door to see Jeremy and eight other men behind them. They walked into the room and most of them looked familiar to Adrian and Martin. Only three of them were unfamiliar to Adrian and Martin. The other people were Landon Harris, Aaron Levi, Nico Coleman, James Benson, and sadly Mycola Cherny. They all took their seats at the table and looked at the menus.
"Are you two new guys going to like the benefits you get?" Jeremy asked as he looked up from his menu with a smile on his face.
"I think I am going to enjoy that," Adrian said as he placed his menu down.
"It depends on what the other stores are," Martin said as he continues to look at the menu.
"Oh yeah let me introduce you to the guys," Jeremy said as he looks at the other guys around him.
Nico dropped his menu down and looked at the men. "My name is Nico Coleman, nice to meet you guys," Nico said as he reached his hand out to shake their hand. Both the new guys acknowledge Nico's greeting.
Then it was James' turn, "Howdy Y'all my name is James Benson it is a pleasure to meet you guys."
"Nice to meet you too," Adrian said as he shook James' hand. "I enjoyed the match at the end and especially your sportsmanship."
"Thank you, it is something that I take pride in as a person and even more so as a fighter," James said, looking like he was moved by that statement.
Aaron applauded the moment, "Touching moment," Aaron said before he dropped the empathetic look on his face. "Sup, my name is Aaron."
Adrian and Martin waved back at him before Mycola tried to introduce himself. One of the new people gave him a glare, "Shut your pathetic ass up boy, I don't even know why you showed up."
"Fuck you said to me, Jerome?" Mycola said as he stood from his chair as he looked directly at him.
Yeah "Did I stutter?" Jerome said nonchalantly, the dark-skinned tall, and lanky built man pushed his chair back a little bit.
"GUYS! The fuck did I say," Jeremy said yelling at the two of them. "Do we want a repeat of last time?"
"My bad, y'all," Jerome said with legit remorse in his voice. "The name is Jerome."
"Nice to meet you Jerome," Martin said, turning his attention to the smallest of the people there. "Let me guess, you are Landon Harris?"
"That is not me, asshole." Landon said, looking up from his menu. "That is my little brother, his name is Edward."
"My bad, Edward," Martin said, apologizing for his confusion." Nice to meet the two of you."
"Nice to meet," Edward said in a higher pitch tone.
"So who are you?" Adrian said, looking at the last guy to introduce himself. The person dropped his menu to reveal that they had seen him, it was one of the managers who had to clean up Tyson during his match.
"The name is Justin," the whiter looking man said, his curly hair was a blond color but still brown within it. His blue eyes look like they can pierce steel with just a glance.
"Nice to meet you, Justin." Martin said as he looked around the people with them. "Ready to order?"
Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. "Want me to go get the waiter then?" Jeremy said as he pushed his chair back.
"Sure," Adrian said as he placed his menu on the table. Jeremy got up and left the room as he went to get the waiter. As that happens James pulls out a deck of playing cards and looks at the other people around him.
"Want to play Texas Hold'em?" James asked as he began shuffling the card.
"More of a poker guy," Martin said, surprised that someone brought cards with them in their pockets.
"I am fine playing poker," James said as he continued to shuffle his deck of cards. "Anyone else want to join?"
Everyone at the table raises their hand and James starts dealing the cards to the players.
"How much money should we put in this time?" Asked as he begins to pull out his wallet.
"How about one hundred dollars?" James said as he heard a knock at the door. He got to open it seeing it was Jeremy and their server. A short Asian woman with a more revealing V-neck shirt on and leggings around her nice thick legs.
"Hello guys I am Sophia, I will be your server, are you guys ready to order?"
Jeremy went to the guys and asked them what they wanted. After getting the answers, he turned to Sophia. "Yeah, I will be the representative for the table, can we get one deep dish pizza, three thin crust with basic cheese, sausage and pepperoni please?"
"Right away, sir and how are you guys in terms of drinks at the moment?" Sophia asked, writing down the orders.
"I think we will be fine for now. I will look for you if that changes," Jeremy said as he is getting dealt his hand by James.
"Okay, it is my pleasure to serve you guys tonight," Sophia said as she turned around and walked out with a feminine sway in her wide hips that seemed to get Mycola's attention.
"Don't even look at that woman like that, she won't date your ugly ass," Adrian said out of nowhere, which caused everyone to be shocked at the sudden outburst but then everyone started to laugh at it. Mycola did not appreciate that at all.
"Shut up, you fat ass bitch," Mycola blurted out in response as the red started showing on his face.
"My man ain't even fat and besides he gets more women than you," Tyson responded immediately back not letting his guy get insulted by someone.
"Oh really, prove it," Mycola said, irritated by these insults being thrown at him.
Adrian pulled out his phone and turned it on, he got up to Mycola and showed him the wallpaper on his phone. It was a shorter woman, looks to be hispanic, she had longer brown hair with beige highlights in it. She was lying on her bed holding two stuffed teddy bears, one was white and the other one was red. "I would try to go after women, but I do not have to, I am in a happy relationship with a girl that I love," Adrian said, turning off his phone and putting it back in his pocket.
"Dude, she doesn't even look attra…" Mycola said before getting absolutely punched in the face by Adrian's large dominant hands. Mycola was knocked off of his chair and is laying on the ground in pain having his hand near his face. "Why would you do that, you pussy."
Adrian reached down and grabbed Mycola by his collar and picked him up in the air. He stared directly into Mycola's eyes and Mycola seemed to be nervous. "You of all people should not have any right to say what is attractive or not, you disgusting looking rat."
"Why the fuck, you calling me a rat," Mycola said trying to pull Adrian's hand from his collar. "I ain't snitch on anyone."
"Not rat as in snitch, you dumbass," Adrian said, still holding him up Mycola. "You just look like a rat to me."
"Let go of me, you bitch," Mycola said as he was trying to break Adrian's grip on him. Adrian hit him one more time with a punch to his face. This one seems a little hard as when Mycola hit the floor, he was hardly moving. Jeremy gets out of his chair and checks on Mycola.
"You dumbass strong man," Jeremy said as he was looking at Mycola. "Why did you punch him again?"
"Because the motherfucker was annoying me," Adrian said defending his decision "Plus that guy has too much arrogance to be talking like that."
"You are not wrong," Jeremy said nodding his head at first in agreement before quickly changing his mind. "But still what are we going to do with him?"
"Jeremy just placed him on the table with bottles near him and said he passed out drunk," Tyson said, trying to get both of their attention. "Besides, if he wakes up, he will probably just start drinking."
"You know that is a smart idea," Jeremy said as he picked up Mycola, Mycola started to move. Jeremy moved back, placing Mycola back on the ground. Mycola got up and was holding his head.
"YOU GOT KNOCK THE FUCK OUT!" Tyson yelled as he jumped onto the table. Mycola begins to have tears forming in his eyes. Everyone started to chuckle a bit from what Tyson is doing.
"YOU KNOW WHAT," Mycola screamed as he began to run out of the door. "I HATE ALl of you," Mycola screamed as he ran out of the door, noises fading as the people in the restaurant saw this ending of the scene and looked at the people in the room.
Sophia walks into the room with the food as she sees what is happening. "Usual Mycola I assume." She said as she placed the pizzas on the table.
"Yeah," Jeremy said as he put his head in his head in disappointment and embarrassment. "I will tip you extra that we normally do."
"It is fine, besides I never liked him anyways," Sophia said, shaking her head. "He was always so weird and tried making advances on any woman he could find. I remember times he would just walk in and just flirt with women, he even did it to me and he was just weird."
"That man disgust me," Adrian said in a more serious tone.
"Guys, let's just calm down and play a couple games of poker," James said, sitting there with cards and eating a slice of pizza.
"You know what you are right," Jeremy said as he sits down and Sophia walks out of the room. "How much are we putting down?"
"I do not know," James said, trying to think to himself about what is a fair amount to bet. "I know some of these young guys do not have a lot of money…"
"Fuck you mean I am broke," Edward said interrupting James, as he pulls out his wallet, Landon looks disappointed. "Do you see this ten, this twenty, ONE HUNDRED DOLLAR bills, you broke ass bitch!"
James starts to give out that good hearty laugh, the type of one to cause people around them to laugh along with, like what was happening here. "I like that attitude kid," James said as he was calming himself from laughing. "How about one hundred dollars?"
"Oh you are on," Adrian said as he slaps a hundred dollars down
"Do we have to put money in to play?" Martin said, rolling his eyes.
"What are you, broke?" Tyson said jokingly.
"Yes, Tyson," Martin said, annoyed by Tyson's taunt. "Do you want me to destroy you in poker?"
"Put some money in then, you pussy." Tyson said as he slapped one hundred dollars. Martin took a hundred dollar bill and slapped it down on the table.
"You are on, bitch," Martin said with confidence and arrogance in his voice. Everyone was getting excited about it. Everyone else slapped down hundred dollar bills. They played a hand. Edward won one thousand and a hundred dollars and Jeremy looks to be thinking too much.
"Are you counting cards you bitchass old man?" Adrian said out loud for everyone to hear. Everyone turned to stare at mine.
"Guys it is not what you think, I am just thinking to myself about my cards," Jeremy said trying to defend himself against this false claim. "Besides you act like I win most of the time."
"You do though," Nico spoke up. "You card counting motherfucker."
"Boy, let just keep playing before I leave to go fuck your mom," Jeremy said causing the group to laugh.
"That's funny," James said as he placed another one hundred dollars in the pile, everyone put more money in the pile. Martin placed the lowest with twenty dollars while Edward put everything but the initial one hundred dollars. He begins to deal out another round of cards to his fellow fighters. They kept playing cards, eating the pizza, gambling the money until Martin had a question to ask.
"Jeremy, how long have you been at that gym?" Martin asked. Jeremy looked at Martin and pondered for a bit.
"I was there for about…" Jeremy said keep thinking to himself. "For about fourteen years, that is when I got my eye injury." Jeremy pointed to his glass eye.
"Ah ok," Martin said, looking like he forgot about that detail about Jeremy. "How long have Mr. Syvone been in charge of the gym?"
"He came in after my first full year, he bought it off the other owner, he was an older man, I respect the hell out of him, but it was going out of business and Mr. Syvone had the money to revive it into something for us "city fighters" wanting to get out of our situations to do something," Jeremy said to Martin. "What exactly are you asking?" The group starts looking at Martin confused by this sudden question.
"Well my question was is there anything noticeable different from when ownership shifted?" Martin said as everyone now looked at Jeremy for an answer, now looking curious because Jeremy is the oldest fighter on the team.
"Well other than more fights, better equipment and the storage room having more boxes than there ever was, are the only things I can say truly changed," Jeremy told Martin.
"Ah ok" Martin said, satisfied by the answer he received. "I was just curious."
As the group continues to play poker, outside near the front Mr. Syvone is in the building dressed in a leather jacket, dress pants, fancier shoes and with his cigar lightened as usual. He walked up to the guy in the front. "Is Mycola Cherny in here right now?" Mr. Syvone said, looking at the old man from earlier.
"You mean that creep?" The older man said as he was disgusted at the mentioning of his name. "That guy upstairs at the bar keeps trying to flirt with literally EVERY WOMEN there."
"Do not worry about him," Mr. Syvone assured the old man. "Just go upstairs and tell him that Boss Syvone is here."
"Right away sir," the old man said excitedly as he walked up the stairs to the bar. It takes a little bit before Mycola comes walking down the stairs, Mr. Syvone looks more and more pissed as he sees Mycola with his usual smug look on his face.
"Mycola, I want a word with you" Mr. Syvone said as he stood there with enough swaggerful style that it made a mafia dawn jealous.
"What do you want, boss?" Mycola said with an ignorant attitude of a child being denied to stay up an extra 30 minutes later.
"Outside now!" Mr. Syvone said as he snapped his fingers and marched outside with Mycola following behind him sighing. Mr. Syvone walks down the street till he gets to a more quiet section of Mr. Syvone's territory.
"So what exactly do you need to talk about…," Mycola said before two men from the alleyway pulled Mycola into it along with putting a bag over his head.
"Perfect," Mr. Syvone said as he sees Mycola struggling as the thugs hold him down with a bag over his head. "Pull him in deeper."
"Yes boss," one of the thugs said as they moved their prey into the alleyway. They dragged him to the end where there were studs on the wall the men tied up Mycola on to it. His arms were stuck but his legs were free. The bag was still on his face.
"Mycola," Mr. Syvone said in a surprisingly calm tone. "I know you have something of mine and I want it back now."
"I don't know what you are talking about," Mycola said, shaking his head and speaking with his voice muffled. "I don't have anything that belongs to you."
"Search him," Mr. Syvone said as he snapped his fingers, the two thugs went up to Mycola and grabbed his clothes. Moving them around and searching through every pocket that Mycola has on him.
"I promise there is nothing that belongs to you, Mr. Syvone," Mycola said as he began to feel uncomfortable with the men grabbing him and his clothes. That was until a wad of cash dropped from his jacket. One of the men noticed the dropped goods.
"Is this your boss?" The man asked as he turned around showing the cash to Mr. Syvone.
"Let me count it please?" Mr. Syvone asked as he held his hand out waiting for money. The man passed the stack to the boss. He counted through the stack, shifting his finger slowly, then he did it again but faster. He kept going and going with his face increasingly looking more pissed off at this situation. "You got to be fucking kidding, you are one dumb ass motherfucker," Mr. Syvone said as he began to chuckle to himself. Both of the thugs start to look more concerned about what is happening.
"This motherfucker is crazy as shit," one of the thugs whispered to the other. The other guy nodded in agreement.
Mr. Syvone walked up to Mycola and pulled out a knife and cut out two holes for where Mycola can see better with. "WHERE THE FUCK IS THE REST OF THIS MONEY, THERE WAS TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS IN THIS STACK, NOW THERE ARE ONLY EIGHT THOUSAND WHERE IS THE OTHER TWO THOUSAND?" Mr. Syvone screamed at Mycola. Mycola begins to look very nervous.
"I gave it to my sisters, they needed the money, PLEASE DO NOT HURT THEM!" Mycola begged as he sees the enragement on Mr. Syvone's face. Even the thugs are surprised by the level or rage on Mr. Syvone's face.
"Fuck are you going to do about that?" Mr. Syvone asked, twirling the knife in his hand as he stared directly into Mycola's green fear filled eyes.
"I am going to call the poli…" Mycola started until he felt a sharp pain in the stomach. Mr. Syvone stabbed him, pulled out the knife causing a river of blood to pour out of him. More tears formed in his eyes as he realized what was going to happen to him. "Please do not kill me."
Mr. Syvone pulled out a pistol from his coat, it had a silencer on it. Mycola started to weep loudly as he did not want to accept this faith. "You disappointed me so fucking much, Mycola, besides no one cares about you anyways."
"Please I will do anything you I swear," Mycola blurted out as the bullet fired out of the pistol and into his chest. Mycola begins to wheeze as more bullets are fired into him by Mr. Syvone. Mr. Syvone is pissed as he unloads multiple clips into him out of frustration and anger. After he was done, all there was a Mycola body full of holes from the bullets, blood spreading across the floor as the thugs step a little bit away to let the blood spread. Mr. Syvone walked up to one of the thugs and gave them a piece of paper.
"You guys know what to do," Mr. Syvone said as he put his pistol back into his jacket. The men looked at the paper and gave Mr. Syvone a nod. They went to Mycola's body to pick it up, they carried the mangled corpse of a man from the alleyway into a car that was slowly pulling up after what happened almost as if it was planned. They loaded the body into the car and drove off. Mr. Syvone stood and watched waiting for the car to drive off to complete its mission. Mr. Syvone then walked off smoking his cigar with a fiendish smirk across his face as he walks from the alleyway whistling along the moonlit road as he walks away from the death of a fighter who had lost his value to him.