AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Because turns out our little thief used a smuggler’s trick to steal our stuff.” I turned to Jax. “He swallowed them.”
“All 10 balloons?” He asked, eyes wide.
“I’m going to guess so.” I said and I looked down at the Russian. The fear in his eyes told me I was right. I grinned. “Tell me, Jax, have you ever run a bowel before?”
He blinked at me and shook his head.
“No, boss, can’t say I have.”
“Well, today you are going to learn.” I said and walked over to the corner where there was a meat hook hanging on a runner. I brought it over to where the Russian was starting to squirm again and I brought it down to touch the point to the center of his back. I tested the point of the hook, shrugged, and jammed it into the man’s back. He screamed and I drove it in deeper, trying to wedge it between the man’s ribs. I felt it snag and, satisfied, I went over to the controls on the wall and hit the up button. The chair attached to the hook began to rise and so did the screaming Russian. I waited until he was hanging with his belly about eye level and hit stop.
The man screamed as I came closer to him, eyes wide and unbelieving.
“Please!” He cried as I reached into my pocket for the pocket knife I always kept on me. “Please, I’ll pass them in a few days so long as they don’t break. You’ll get your drugs back, just wait! Wait! Please… you don’t have to do this!”
I looked up at him and grinned.
“I gave you the nice way option and you spit on me. So don’t even waste your last breaths pleading for sympathy. Maybe in your next life, you will learn not to fight bigger dogs than you. Now be a good little worm on a hook and stay still. If I puncture any of them, I’m going to be pissed.” I told him and plunged the pocket knife to his stomach.
Anita
Friday night was my last class of the week and it happened to be a good one. I had all my energetic students in one class which meant I could push as hard as I wanted without having to stop. They kept up with me and by the end of the class, we were all panting and spent.
I said goodbye to them happily and when Stella showed up to take me home even though she had canceled her classes for the day after having a harsh family get-together, I was very appreciative. I missed the yoga workout, but I understood why she couldn’t teach a class after spending the day with her parents and siblings. They fought like cats and dogs in the best of circumstances. I doubted she would have been able to meditate and teach others to keep calm when she was as rattled as I knew she would be.
And I was right.
“Gah! I Can’t Stand Lewis and his holier-than-thou attitude! You know he started in on me again about how I don’t have a real job and that yoga is a hobby, not a lifestyle. My brother is a complete idiot. Like he knows anything about it!” She yelled,throwing her hands up as I got in the car. “Then my dad agreed with him and said it was a shame that I couldn’t have stuck with being a professional ballerina. Like I had a choice in that!”
“You didn’t.” I agreed with her and tossed my bag over the seat into the back of her car then sat down, buckling myself in. Stella threw the car in reverse and backed out of the parking lot, still talking.
“No, I didn’t, but they seem to think that I quit or something. Like I didn’t go back because I was scared. They don’t understand that professional ballerinas have to be perfect, and unbroken. A break like that keeps me from doing point altogether because now I have a weak ankle. There is no way I could go back and ask for a job when as soon as I landed myself in the hospital, they had me replaced.”
“Possibly even sooner. That crowd is extremely competitive.” I agreed with her.
“They are! And you only have half a clue as to how bad they can be! I once met a woman who would put nails in the bottoms of her competitor’s slippers. She took out 3 women and two men that way because she either was threatened by their talent or she just didn’t like them. They ended up finding out who it was and she got blacklisted, but still! And there are so many more like her. It's one of the most cutthroat businesses in the world.”
“Oh, I believe it.” I said and watched as Stella began to settle down a little. Her fingers drummed on the steering wheel as we came to a red light and her knee jiggled up and down.
“You know what the most annoying part is?” She asked and I shrugged. “It’s that my mother refrains from saying anything. She just lets them rip into me about the most ridiculous things and leaves me to defend myself. Stephen and Chris weren't there this time, thank god, because otherwise I might have asked you to come with me and kick them all in the face. I can’t stand them!”
“I know, hun, I’m sorry.” I said and reached out and rubbed her shoulder. She gave a deep sigh and turned the corner, heading down our street. “Next time I’ll come with you and show them how a kickboxer handles things. We’ll see if they say anything mean to you after that.”
She giggled and smiled over at me, her natural bubbliness coming back, even just a little.
“Thanks Anita. You always know the right things to say.”
“Threatening violence is always the right thing to say when your best friend needs protecting. Even if it is against her own family.” I smirked.
She pulled into our shared driveway not too long after and we both got out. I made sure to grab my bag out of the back seat and I gave her a hug goodnight. Slowly, I made my way up the stairs to the second-floor condo I bought as soon as I graduated highschool. Okay, so I had my parents co-sign the loan and they gave me some money to help pay the down payment, but I had saved all the money I had made doing various jobs throughout highschool. In the end, I got the best little starter home.
I unlocked the front door and stepped into my living room. Crisco, my orange and white striped cat, came running towards the door, meowing his fool head off.
“Stop! I’ll feed you in a second, fat-so. You cannot be that hungry, I fed you before I left. ” I rolled my eyes at him, stepped over him and dumped my bag on the couch. The bag rolled once and settled against the blue suede fabric of the pillows.
I headed over to the kitchen and put some of Crisco’s food in the bowl, set it on the floor, and watched as he fell on it like he hadn’t eaten in years. I shook my head and headed for the bathroom. I was in desperate need of a shower.
Before long I was washed, dried, and wrapped in my comfiest pajamas that I owned. I took out my clothing from the workout bag, dumped it into the hamper, and set the bag on the floorof my bedroom. After that, I cooked myself a chicken breast with white rice and broccoli, then sat in front of the TV, ready to watch an episode of my favorite show, which right now happened to be a show called Carnival.
