The bar's backroom is a narrow hallway with casks and glasses hanging from metal racks on each wall. Glass shards Kriste probably dropped crunch under my shoes as I squeeze through the dimly lit passage to a light brown door at the end of it.
I can feel the boy's stomach recoil and move while quiet tears of his dropped to the ground. Honestly, I'm feeling guilty having to treat the little guy like this, but I'd do it a million times over if Miss Melanie told me to!
The door is closed but a faint light shines from below it. The sound of shuffling and laughter cut through the door, and one of those voices sounds just like the man I'm looking for!
Great, he's home! Arthur probably knows everyone in New York! He can find Bianca no problem!
I push the door open to the sound of a loud BANG in front of me. A bright flash accompanies something loud that strikes the wooden wall next to my right ear.
"Wahhhh!!!" The boy screams.
A clicking noise turns a lamp on after the explosive noise and works with the candles in the room to light the room up. Arthur always talked about how this room was his home, no matter how much success he fell into. He says this is where everything started, and it's not a bad place to start.
The room is intimate, a bit smaller than a studio apartment. A queen-sized bed carries Arthur in front of me, and an oak drawer carries the frilled lamp bringing light to the room. A TV on a dresser to the left of the door plays smooth jazz. Yuck, he always seemed more like an R&B guy. Two doors, one normal and one sliding oppose each other next to the bed, and a dead lightbulb hangs by a wire in the very center of the room.
A soft aromatic scent surrounds the room like a warm blanket, easing any stress in my body. But it doesn't look like it's working on Arthur or the boy because they seem stressed for some reason. The boy's shivering in my arm and plugging his ears even though the gunshot's been over for nearly five seconds. And Arthur is sitting up in his bed, his abs peeking above the covers, and the letters Y&F are tattooed on his chest. A 9-millimeter pistol in Arthur's left hand still bellowing smoke from the barrel stares me down while Arthur does the same. His short flat top haircut stands proudly. I don't remember him having a flattop the last time I saw him, must be new.
Scented candles, smooth jazz, Arthur booty butt naked. So that's why Kristie told me not to come in... Oh well, can't do anything about it now!
"Hey Arthur!" I shut the door behind me. The scowl on his face makes it look like he wasn't happy to see me, but that can't be true, he loves me! He's one of my oldest friends, he's always so cool and dependable.
Another BANG damages the kid's ears and a second bullet hole plucks splinters from the wall.
"Aughhh!" The boy jumps.
"Arthur it's me! V ilma! Bestie for the restie!"
"I know it's you, that's why you're not dead. Come into my room without any warning again and I'll fix that." He says, sliding his gun into the drawer next to him.
"Oh you, always so dramatic. That bullet wouldn't have hurt me." I say, crouching under the doorway and closing the door.
"It won't just be a bullet flying at your head next time."
"Who's there Arthur? We were just getting to the fun part." Something under the covers pops its head out.
A woman with long black hair and a few brown highlights puffs her cheeks at Arthur. Her shoulders, skinny arms, and a bit of her upper chest are exposed, and the boy takes his hands off his ears and covers his eyes at her nakedness. I want to do the same, but that'd look too suspicious. Even if it feels like I'm looking at a 10/10, I have to stay calm and remember not to stare at her.
"That's Vilma," Arthur says, "my airhead friend who should be guarding my business partner instead of interrupting us."
"Hey Vilma." The woman calmly says.
"Hi..."
Now that she's looking at me like that, she is really pretty. Like she's the closest anyone has come to Miss Melanie's beauty. Her skin looks flawless, her nose has a beautiful shape, and there's a small mole on the bottom of her chin that's got a stranglehold on me. She's... gifted in some areas. She could be an actress or a supermodel if she wanted to. Miss Melanie is ten times more beautiful though, but she's the second most beautiful woman I've seen.
"Hi." I look away from her marble eyes while I wipe the sweat on my palms across my pants and nearly drop the kid. My cheeks are probably bright red about now. Does my skin even do that? Gosh, I've got to stop embarrassing myself.
"If you want her to join, I'm fine with it." The offer makes my heart pause and my blood freeze still. "But the kid has to go."
"Not happening! Vilma, I get two hours a day when I'm not working, and Laura just came back from a long trip. So, I'll be busy for the next hour with a beautiful woman and I don't have time for anything other than that. That includes you." Is he saying I'm... I mean I know I'm ugly, but I didn't expect to hear it from him. "Wait, I didn't mean it like..."
"I might not always understand some things all the time, but I understand what you meant. If that's how you feel about me, then fine!" I turned my body away from him entirely and step towards the door.
"Shit."
"I'll just find and kill Bianca on my own."
"Wait Bianca? Bianca Solaine?"
"Yep! That's who I'm gonna go kill without you."
"You needed my help?"
"Not anymore."
"I'm in."
"You are!!?" Wait I'm supposed to be mad at him right now! "It doesn't matter, I don't need you anymore."
"Solaine is encroaching on my business prospects and the territory I've had for years. The drug her gang has been peddling is also causing unnecessary headaches for me and the neighborhood. Kids keep begging at our doorstep for alcohol because it supposedly makes the high on her drug better. I've been meaning to do this for-"
"LA LA LA LA!!! Don't care and don't need you! I'm probably better off without you!"
"And I didn't ask for your permission. If I say I'm doing something I'm doing it."
Oof, he's glaring at me. He's real serious about this one. "Hmph. Well at the very least you could apologize."
"That's fair. I'm sorry for what I said, Vilma. You're a very beautiful woman."
Wow, I didn't think he'd cave that easy. "Fine, you can come."
"Again, I didn't ask for permission." He tosses the covers forward and rises from the bed. Like I thought, he was naked under the covers.
"Kid, do yourself a favor and keep your eyes covered." Just because I kidnapped him doesn't mean I need to mentally scar him! I, on the other hand, don't mind seeing Arthur like this. Sure, he's attractive for a guy, probably, maybe, honestly I don't know. He kinda just looks the same as all the other guys I've seen. But either way, he's nothing to get flustered over!
"Sorry Laura, but business calls. You'll just have to wait for me to get back." Arthur opens the door to his right, retrieves a pair of boxers, and covers himself up.
"Fine" She sighs. "But I expect you to make up for it." She mimics Arthur and gets up from the bed and at that moment, I catch a glimpse of heaven.
"Gah- spuh- um-" Is all I can say before I have to turn around. Trying to describe what I saw wouldn't even do it justice. I wipe the blood dripping from my nose with my sleeve and scrub the image from my mind to keep it on Miss Melanie.
"And if you want her to join us sometime I wouldn't mind." She repeats.
"Don't even put that idea in my head or hers. It's not happening." Arthur grunts.
"Just a thought." I hear the door to the left close and Laura disappears after I open my eyes. The sound of running water trickling from a shower comes from behind the door that just closed.
"Kristine!" The room quivers at Arthur's shout and provokes a soft thumping sound dampened by the door behind me.
"Ah!" The door violently swings open and bashes my nose in.
"Oh, sorry Vilma." Kristie apologizes while holding shot glasses in both hands.
"Kristine."
"Y-Yes, sir."
"Get King's Edge ready and call my tailor. I'll see Vilma out."
"Yes sir!"
"And one more thing. The next time I tell you to not let anyone in, I don't care if it's Vilma, Melanie, or the damn President. Don't let anyone in!"
"Yes sir!" She almost trips sprinting out the way she came. And after putting on a plain white undershirt and shorts, Arthur leads me and the boy the same way.
"Kristine broke more of my glasses..." He grumbles stepping over the crunchy shards.
We come out from the backroom and everyone previously at the bar is gone, but their money sits respectfully on the bar top.
"By the way," Arthur starts, "I know I'll regret asking, but why are you holding a kid?"
Arthur's always had a soft spot for children, and if I tell him the truth he might not want to help me anymore. I need to be tactful about this!
"He's my nephew."
"You're an only child."
"Miss Melanie's nephew."
"She's an only child."
"She actually had a long-lost brother."
"Vilma!"
Man, I thought I had it with that one, but he's just too good at reading me! I guess that's why we're best friends. So, I tell him everything that happened today. About the boy's mom and how she cheated Miss Melanie. How we kidnapped him, and she sent me on a mission to kill Bianca.
"I- You've gotta be kidding me." Yeah, I knew he'd be mad about this. Him pinching the bridge of his nose isn't a sign of acceptance of what I told him. "I'll have to talk to Mel about this later, but until then the child will stay here. Kristie!!!"
"Woah wait, we can't do that! Miss Melanie specifically said that she wanted the boy to kill Bianca! If I can't do this, she'll hate me!"
"You'd put what Miss Melanie says over the well-being of a kid who didn't ask to be a part of any of this?"
"Of course! Who wouldn't!"
Arthur lets out a deep sigh and scratches his head. "Fine. I'll overlook this if you promise to keep him safe. He has to be your top priority."
"Deal!"
"And you promise to get him back to his parents after we're done."
"Promise!" With Arthur helping, this mission is as good as done!
"Now get out, go to the address I text you, and wait for me there. If we're going to kill Bianca we're going to do it right."
Arthur pushes me to the doorway and opens to a surprise of flashing sirens and police vehicles barring cars and pedestrians from the street in front of us. Behind their vehicles, officers with guns coordinated their sights on my and Arthur's bodies, looking for any excuse to blow my head off.
"What the hell did you do?" Arthur whispers, not taking his eyes off the mob of officers.
"Nothing!"
"Does this shit look like nothing to you!?" He shouts at me.
"No, but it's not my fault! I just really needed to talk to you!"
"So, you chose to piss off the police!?"
"There's a perfectly fine explanation for it! You see, what had happened was…"
"So it is your fault then!" He accusingly pokes my chest.
"THIS IS THE NEW YORK CITY POLICE! DROP THE CHILD AND PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!" An old officer with a gray mustache shouts into a megaphone.
"Vilma, you're going to pay me back for this one day. And if this doesn't work, run in and grab King's Edge from Kristine and we'll have to fight our way out."
"Can't we just fight them regardless?"
"You can't solve every problem with your fists. But be ready." He whispers before approaching the officer with the megaphone. "Alright, you can pack it up and go home! You have my word everything is under control!"
The dusty old police officer glares at Arthur then lowers his megaphone and turns around to his fellow officers. "Holster your weapons and clear out! We're done here!" The officers look at one another before eventually obeying the old man's order.
"What?!!" A familiar voice screeches.
From behind one of the police cars, the hefty policewoman I cracked in the face stomps a warpath toward the older officer.
"What are you talking about!?" The woman plants her feet two inches away from the man's. "That woman assaulted a police officer and kidnapped a child! She needs to be arrested!"
"Officer Camry, I am your superior and you will listen to my commands unless you want to lose this job. If you have a problem with my calls, then you can take them up with me or my superiors back at the station. But until then, you will follow my orders. Understood?"
For some reason, the female police officer scowls at me and consoles her aching cheek like it had anything to do with me.
"Let it go." The old officer pleads.
She and her balloon cheek think for a bit longer until she unlocks her gaze and storms off in a huff with the other officers who disperse their cruisers with confusion.
Wow. Arthur always talked about how he was the King of New York but I thought he was exaggerating.
"Phew." Sweat rolls down Arthur's forehead.
"Woah! How'd you do that!?"
"I'm influential in New York. Without me, the city would be a mess." He smirks. "My name is worth gold in every corner of the city."
"If you were so confident, why were you sweating?"
"Because I don't know how bad what you did was! I'm not a miracle worker!" He retrieves his phone and types something in. Once he finishes, the phone Miss Melanie graciously gifted me when I started working for her rumbles in my pants. "Go to that address and wait for me. I need to pick up something before we go."
"Cool. Thanks Arthur!"
"Vilma," He says before we could go. "Do not go in until I get there!"
"Ok, I won't." He has so little trust in me. I came to ask him for help, so I'll wait for him to get what he needs so we can get to Miss Melanie!