"Why would you…" Henko wanted to ask, but he stopped. He was met with Ivan's eyes as he stared right into Henko's.
"I told you. You will pay our protection fee. So, when are you going to pay." Henko was quiet for a moment before speaking.
"How…How much is the fee?" He asked his voice barely above a whisper. Ivan took in another puff and blew it out.
"One hundred thousand dollars." Henko's eyes went wide.
"There is no…no way to pay that." Ivan looked at Henko before putting out the cigarette.
"You will need to pay it, or your bar will have more damage done to it then what you can see right now." Henko stared at the man for a moment longer before nodding. "Good." Ivan stood up. "Then we will see you later for the payment." Henko watched as Ivan disappeared between the sea of men and they too soon disappeared out of his vision. Henko fell to the ground. He couldn't believe what just happened. The man that he liked, the man he kissed, was actually from the Mafia. How could this happen.
"Mama…Mama…Are you alright." The girls came running over to Henko seeing him sitting on the floor. Henko looked up at the girls. He tried to smile, but he couldn't. Tears fell from his eyes and he tried his best to wipe them away. He was so scared. That man had saved him from almost being killed, yet he comes to his bar and shoots the place up.
"I'm so sorry everyone." Henko choked out.
"Mama, it's not your fault. Those men are at fault." One of the girls spoke out. Henko looked at the bar and the rest of the club. It was in complete disaster. There was no way that he would be able to pay for all the liquor and repair, plus pay the mafia that type of money. He didn't know what to say, or what to do. All he could do was apologizing to his girls and to the customers that were there.
After things calmed down. Henko requested for his customers to leave the shop due to the incident that just happened. Of course, none of the customers argued too much with the request. The girls were finally the only ones left. Henko looked around at the bar. He couldn't believe that they had shot up the place.
"I can't believe they actually shot up the bar." One of the girls spoke out breaking the silence.
"I have heard that they have threatened the owners, but nothing like this." Another replied. Henko started to think to himself. What would cause them to go this far? Was it because it was a gay bar? Because they were in drag? Both? Henko didn't know the answer.
"Let's not think about that." Ashley spoke. Henko looked up at the woman and noticed she was holding a bottle of liquor. It was one of many that barely made it through the shooting. She poured a glass for each one of the girls, including Henko. Henko drank the glass with no problem. Taking another look around, he began to think of what his next step would be. Of course, he had the extra money to replace the booze, and furniture. Also, if he dug pretty deep, he could find some really good contractors that could fix up the place with the right amount of money. The only think though, was how he was supposed to pay the protection fee. There was no way he could pay that. Especially if he had to put money back into his bar to fix it up. If he paid the men their fee, he won't have money to pay for the repairs. Yet, if he paid for the repairs, he wouldn't have the money to pay for the fee.
"No matter what. We can work to solve this issue. We just have to work hard. Okay Mama. Don't worry." One of the girls spoke out. Henko was happy that the girls were trying to cheer him up. However, he knew that saying and doing were two completely different things.
"Everyone. I do appreciate all the kind things that you have done so fare. But you all need to go home and rest. We can find out what we can do tomorrow. But for the time being, you should all go home. I want you all to be safe at home." Henko spoke in a soft tone. He really wanted to make sure the girls were safe.
"But Mama. Will you be okay?" Sandra asked.
"Yeah, Mama. After what happened. Wouldn't you rather have us beside you?" Amy asked in her deep voice. Henko smiled at the girls. He wanted to show them that he was fine.
"Don't worry about me. I am okay. I want all of you to go home and rest. I will stay here just a bit longer." The girls looked at each other before they agreed to leave. Several had asked multiple times if Henko was alright and several times, he would reply with a yes.
Once the girls had left, Henko sat in silence surrounded by the destruction. Everything going through his mind. How would he be able to pay for both? There was no way to get extra money from the bank. Especially the amount that the mob was asking for. He already had a loan for the bar that was through the bank. He was still paying it off, so he knew they wouldn't allow him to get more money. Also, he knew that he couldn't bow down to his parents for money. That was something that he would never bring himself to do since he had become depended from them. Henko poured some more liquor in the cup and downed it. He really didn't want to think about the matter. He wanted to forget what had happened, even though he knew he would have to face it again tomorrow. After taking a few more shots. Henko followed his own advice and decided that it was time to head home.