One Too Many

 “Your usual today, Buddy?” The bartender called out to Bosko who was at the end of the counter.
 “Might as well, probably’ll be a while ‘til my buddy gets here so I guess I’ll be starting the party without him.”

            The bartender filled up Bosko’s cup with his favorite drink “Devil’s Wing” and an added ice ball for class. Even someone like Bosko with a high tolerance to alcohol could Knock out with just enough drinks. After the 5^th round, his vision started to get fuzzy. He was having trouble even just sitting up. Out of the corner of his eye, a large brown figure slowly approached him, then several fuzzier figures circled around him.

          “Who the fuck *hiccup* are you?” Bosko asked trying to focus. He could make out the person’s face. A large brown bear wearing a black and yellow tracksuit.  The brown figure spoke with a strong thick Russian-like accent. “The boss wants a chat with you, little man.”

          “Oh yeah? Well, tell your boss to shove it. And all of you can shove it too!” He was having a hard time sitting in place when he felt like the room was spinning.

             The large bear wrapped his massive hand around Bosko’s neck and lifted him off the chair. Bosko squirmed around trying to gasp for air. Normally he could defend himself, but being batshit drunk was making it a hell of a lot harder. He grunted and groaned while the Bartender was crouched in the corner calling the police.

       “I wasn’t asking if you can come. You will be coming with us, no exceptions.” The bear stuffed Bosko into a bag, where he seemingly bumped his head hard, and carried him away. “Let’s head out and Take care of the bartender...no witnesses.” He commanded the other members who followed suit. Bosko tried his best to escape but to no avail; he began to drift in and out of consciousness.

                   After what felt like an hour he was dumped out of the bag and onto solid concrete. When he came to, he realized his arms were tied back. He attempted to wiggle himself free but gave up after a moment. He was trying to make sense of his surroundings but a large spotlight was blinding him. He squinted as he heard a very familiar voice call out from behind the light.

 
          “Well, well, it’s been a while, hasn’t it, mate.” The voice sent a slight shiver down his arm and spine. He recognized that voice; It was the voice of his former gang leader Acher Atkins. He and Drayven had a fallout some years back. They couldn’t see eye to eye so the boys abandoned the gang. This made Acher resentful and has been out seeking revenge ever since then.

            Acher turned off the light, and Bosko’s vision began to adjust. There were many unfamiliar faces. These people looked vicious but young, and many of them had weapons such as pipes and bats; he swallowed, trying to keep calm. He looked over to Acher, who looked scruffier than he remembered. A large bandana was covering his right eye but Bosko could only assume it was the number Drayven had done on him a year and a half ago.

 “Acher? What the fuck happened to your face? ­­­What the fuck did you bring me here for…?” He grunted as he tried once more to wiggle himself free.  Bosko isn’t usually easily intimidated but he was highly outnumbered and was at a disadvantage to his state of being drunk.
           
              “Oh, this? Just a mere scratch, I have our pal Drayven to thank for that. As to why I brought you here, well, I just wanna talk is all...I have a proposition for you, you see.” He gave a toothy smile and let out a chuckle. Acher walked over to Bosko and knelt by him.

  “You have something I need, Bandley, and I’m hoping we can come to an... agreement. “

               Acher patted Bosko’s face rather harshly before pulling out a fairly large sum of money from his back pocket and waved it around Bosko’s face. Bosko knew Acher was not to be trusted so he looked away and pouted a bit.

 “Awh, come on, lad, don’t ya wanna at least hear me out first?” Bosko looked back at him unamused.

        “See, I always knew you were a valuable asset to the gang. We could use someone with your kinda ‘spertise in the group. I was hoping you’d join us on future heists, maybe even just give us a hand - help us out a bit when The Raiders need some real muscle on the field. Plus, you’d be better off with us than that two-timing asshole, Drayven. You can’t tell me you don’t miss the high, the cash, the women. We need someone like you to help us show these guys how the big boys roll.”

          Bosko scoffed, “So you want me on as drill sergeant for punks and scumbags? That a fucking joke? I don’t see it happening, man. Drayvens like a brother to me, and you’re out of your fucking mind if you think I’d come back to this washed-up ball of thugs.”

            Acher pulled out his trusty knife and waved it around Bosko’s neck.
“Is that so? Maybe I wasn’t being as convincing as I wanted to be.”
          He reached into his jacket and tossed him some polaroid pictures of Dawn at her bakery. She is unseeingly aware she’s being photographed. “We heard you got a new girl. After what happened with Monika, never thought you’d be able to recover. But here you are. A prissy little rich girl riding her way through life through daddy’s money. And you want in on that huh? Would be a shame if she suffered Monika’s same fate.” He said sarcastically.


         Bosko’s eyes widened in confusion and fear. “You’ve been…spying on her?!... You sick fuck..! I’ll kill you myself if you lay a finger on her!” Acher let out a hardy chuckle. “You hear that fella’s he’s getting feisty!” The men in the background let out a small chuckle. He pulled out another picture and tossed it at him again. “Her though, we don’t really recognize her. Mind filling us in on who this lovely Sheila is?”

      Bosko looked at the polaroid to see a picture of Drayven, Emerald, and himself hanging out.
“I ain’t telling you shit, now untie me, you shithead.” Acher was displeased with this answer, he snapped his fingers and the large brown bear from earlier approached him.

    “Ranger, teach this fool a lesson about manners, if he won’t tell us what we need to know, well bleed the answers out of him instead.” The bear cracked his knuckles and nodded his head.

      He spun around and kicked Bosko over, sending him flying a couple of feet. He walked over and picked him off the ground. And began punching him. Blood dripped down Bosko’s nose and into his shirt. He had cuts and bruises, and he was beginning to feel light-headed and there wasn’t much Bosko could do with his arms and hands tied. He figured this might have been the end for him; Acher walked over and pressed his knife up his neck.

        “So Bandley, you either come with us as a friend, or you’re an enemy. Now I’ll ask you one last time. Join us and tell me who the bitch is, or I’m fucking you up right here, right no-“

      Acher’s knife was knocked right out of his hand by a rock someone threw. It clanked as it hit the floor and slid away. “Who the fuck did that?! I’ll fucking kill you!” He looked around at his gang of thugs, but they too were confused about who it was. Just then Drayven dropped in from an open window pane in the warehouse’s ceiling and stepped into the light. “That’s a low even for you man, ganging up on one man while his hands are tied. Psh, you’re pathetic.”

       The gang members raised their weapons and prepared to fight. Ranger walked in front of Acher to protect him as Acher spoke. “Well, if it ain’t the bloke of the hour. Was just talking about you mate. Fancy you’d drop by like this, there’s actually a score I wanna settle with you.” The three shifted around the room, Drayven slowly reaching Bosko, he quickly untied him and they stood for battle.

“How’d you know where I was, man?” Bosko asked pleasantly surprised.

“I got to the bar and saw Acher’s guys beating up the bartender in the alley. After I helped him out, he told me everything. Looks like I got here just in time...” Drayven looked down and saw the pictures of the girls. He more or less got a gist of what was going on by then. Bosko stood up behind him ready to fight. “Yeah, I was afraid you’d miss out on the ass-kicking, glad you made it, hehe.”

        Ranger ran up to Bosko where they quarreled a bit. Acher picked up his knife and followed in running up to Drayven and began to fling his knife at him. Drayven blocked and kicked him away but he came back swiping violently aiming for his chest. Unfortunately for Acher, Drayven was faster, and once more delivered a kick to his chin where blood shot out of his mouth as he stumbled backward. He signaled his minions to attack, and they slowly swarmed around them ready to kill.

    While Bosko was distracted, Ranger tried running up to him and grabbing him from behind, but Drayven chucked the last remaining rock he had in his pocket at Ranger, busting up his eyebrow and leaving a nasty scar. Ranger roared in pain as blood dripped around his eye.

    “You’ll pay for that Bitch-Boy!” Ranger yelled. Bosko tackled Ranger away as Acher came back for one last attempt and successfully wounded Drayven’s shoulder. Drayven pushed Acher into a nearby wall and began to choke him out.

“What’s your fucking problem asshole! You better leave the girls out of it, This is between me and you!” Acher smiled under his breath. “…I see now, She’s your girl, ain’t she.” Drayven stared him down. “You’ll see, I’ll make you feel what I did when I lost my girl, and then I’m gonna kill you once and for all.”

      He punched Drayven in the gut and once he was free, he stumbled away toward the exit, where he yelled at his men, “Fuck ‘em up, boys! Show these yobbos what you got!” He laughed sinisterly then whistled to Ranger to signal him to head out with him. Ranger kicked Bosko off of him and chased down Acher where they both successfully escaped.


 Bosko and Drayven back into each other."You take the left side, I take the right?" Bosko grinned. "Yeah, let's do this!" Said Drayven grabbed as he grabbed a nearby chair and knocked out a few thugs with one swing. Bosko drop-kicked a larger thug and then injured a few smaller ones. The fight went on for a few good minutes but then at last the room was quiet. The only sound was the sound of the boy's heavy breathing.

“Can you believe this shithead?! He’s been spying on them…on us!” Bosko picked up the polaroid and handed them to Drayven.

 He looked back at Bosko. “Assholes…he knew it was a lost cause, so they took off at the first opportunity. Acher may have lost an eye but he hasn’t lost sight of his thirst for vengeance. Guessing he’s got more influence on the streets, and we better start taking him seriously…”