"Smiling"Act Two: Part Three-Take the Cheese

I woke up in a cold sweat bare naked in a half filled bath tub. Everything is blurry. I felt like I had been drunk for three days non stop. I hear someone talking in the other room. I can't make out who it is but its three guys. They had stopped talking. One threw on a coat and walked out. The other two turned to me and approached me. The bigger one said "He's awake." The smaller one grabbed a rag and got it damp. He then proceeded to sit next to me on the tub. He looked at me. My vision started to get worse.” Lay down, you need some rest" he said smiling.

I arose from the water of the tub. The pain strikes me till I am paralyzed on the back of the tub wall. C-Rag approaches me from the other room. "Relax, you need to be careful". C-Rag gets up and hands me a note. "You know that if that rat ain't caught soon, all hell will break lose?" I try to sit up as the pain shoots through me like knives. I tell him, agonized with pain, "Yeah. If we don't get to the bottom of this, everyone will get exposed." He looked at me and said, "We? No, No this is all you. No one else can. Scats says you’re the man who has to do it. No one else." I look at him pissed and confused,” Let me get this straight, I got to tend the motherfuckin' Garden while the rest of you watch drinking tea? What the FUCK!" C-Rag puts his hands on my face and holds me sternly. He gives me a straight forward look and slaps me hard across the face. "You motherfucker, we all tend the garden, you just pull the weeds." A harsh snap back to reality. Leave it to the doc to bring a demon a back to earth. C-Rag gets up and heads to the bathroom door. As he walks through the doorway, he says "Now get the hell up, you have weeds to pull." I reach for the pack of cigs next to the tub, and light up a stick. I exhale and slide deeper into the tub. The thought of what’s to come makes me smile.

It's late night and my cancer stick is lit and ready to go. I walk over to Vid's place to make the transaction. I approach the building and notice the lights are off. I toss my smoke to the ground and ready my nine. I exhale the smoke and walk slowly to the back door. I slowly grab the knob to the door when sharp pains shoots through my body. I wince and quietly grunt. I slam the door open and quickly duck to safe ground. Nothing. I get up and check the area nothing. I find my way to the office. Before I open the door I look down to see blood pooling below it. I quickly open the door with my nine leading the way. It was empty of living souls. But there on the desk lay the body and major parts of Vids head. His face still had a smile.

"Hello?" A voice answered

I calmed myself enough to say "Who is this?"

"This is fish, why what’s up?" Fish said.

"You with anyone?" I said calm as a Hindu cow.

"Cuts, why what the fuck do you need?"

"There's some clean up needed, bring what you can to the hardware store"
*click*
I thought to myself for a moment then I called Scats.

"Hello" His voice disgruntled like he just woke up.

"Vid's is dead. Shot in the back of the head."

"SHIT! FUCK! GOD FUCKING SHIT! Clean it up, and get over here!" He yells.
*click*
I help them get the body in the bag. I take a scan around the area and look for any clues of what to expect. I put a cig and suck it down like candy. Cuts approaches me and says "We got everything we need. What do you want to do with this place?" I look around and respond "Ya know..." Memories clog my thoughts. I look down at my cig then up at Cuts,"...lets burn this place down." The deep end just got deeper and the lifeguard is smiling.

I knock three times. His cats open the door and lead me into the room. They're packing heat more than usual. Scats is sitting in his spot with his head in his hands. He's not crying he's frustrated. He looks up at me with his face red and his tongue tonguing his cheeks searching for the right words. He gets up from his chair and gestures for me to sit. He signals the cats to leave. I put my gun on the table and sit and relax. Scats sighs than says to me "Ya remember how we first met?" He looks over his shoulder to see me nod. "I grew up with Vids. Me and him used to always go to my dad's shop. My dad owned that mechanics place on main." He pauses for a moment and light up a smoke. "I remember how we both got into this business. My dad ran a small operation for the family. Every once in awhile my pa would take us with him on small runs. That’s how Vids got big on guns. He loved seeing my dad's stuff." I respond “You remember how you get into this?" He puts his hand on the wall and looks down. "When I was young I watched my dad flip his hundreds and fifties. Not one bill smaller. I wanted that. I wanted to feel that. I remember the night me and Vids say my ma with that fucker. Donnie was his name. They we're going "out to eat". He owned that bike repair shop across the street from my pa's shop. I was young, real young. Later Vids left and I went home. I got home and I heard yelling in my dad's office. It was my ma and pa yelling about my dad not giving her some money. She stormed out. I ran in there and told him what we saw." I ashed my cig and asked "Then what?" He looked at me and said "Then I met you. Uncle Joe or rather Big Toe Joe decided it was time I joined the family. I planned it down to a tee. All you had to do was ride along. My first big task and your first task." He looked at me. "We had done the recon extensively. Better than any other rookies. I remember the look on Donnie's face when I came bearing through his door. We drug him out and tossed him into the car." I add a little bit, "I think he shit his pants cause the car stunk when he got in." Scats responds "Ha yeah. Uncle Joe, the head honcho himself rode with us. Everything was going smooth. We went into the other side of town and brought him to a dark alley. You pulled him out and threw him to the ground. He said something like uh, god save my soul. I said something, what did I say?" I look at him, exhale and say "Something like, um, load something." He looked at me "Ya, ya. I said 'My ma took your load, now on behalf of my father, here's mine.' I remember jamming that gun down his throat and pulling the trigger. I had always thought that my first kill I would be shaking but I felt calm killing him. Then I remember right after you cleaned the gun, they started to come down on us. You shot as many as you could. I remember you pushing your foot on the pedal when that shot broke through the glass and landed right into Uncle Joe's upper chest. Inches from my own self. I watched my Uncle die right in my arms. Two days later my ma left my pa. The gang was crumbling and pa became ill. Two years later he passed away. Shortly after that the love of my life, April, dies saving children in some far off country. Now Vids?" He sits down and rests his head in his hands. Slowly he raises his head. His right hand pounds the table several times and says "Why is it that he has to take everyone around me? When the few get close, he pulls them away! We are at the point in life in which life starts taking rather than giving. HE TAKES AND HE TAKES,WHEN WILL I GET TO COLLECT!!? I CAN SEE HIM SMILING NOW!"

I look at him and ash my cig. He looks at me with a deathly stare. "We go to the ball, and pretend nothing has happened. Ya hear? We meet The Creeper and hopefully arrange a meeting with Cool Hands Luke. Spread the word amongst the boys to act accordingly. Be sure to wear your best by the way, you'll be on duty." Finally we can get the ball rolling. I can't hold back my smile.

I wake up to the sound of my ears ringing. It's the morning before the ball. My chest is in pain, and my breathes are short. I make my way back over to Scats place saying my greetings to Rosa. I get to his place and some old hag of a man is measuring him up and down. "Sit down for a moment" Scats says while motioning everyone else to leave us. I light up my cig and eye ball the room. Scats pulls from the inside of his tux coat a ratted envelope with the name 'Santa' on it. "It’s that time of the month again." He hands it to me and motions for the rest to come back in. "You know what to do with it. Oh and by the way, when you get back, there will be some clothes for you to wear." I got up from my chair and ashed the cig. I look at Scats and I hope its black and red. The thought of something that would blend in with blood and still look good makes my smile appear.

'Santa' is the name of a charity organization known for helping missionary work in developing countries. Since he first emerged in the business, Scats, has been paying the charity for two reasons: One to look like a more legitimate business. And most importantly, reason two: April. April was Scats love interest long before Limps came into the picture and long before we met. A long time ago, when he was rising up the ranks, he was left with two choices. Stay with his dying father, or leave to some far off war riddled country with his love April. He chose family over love. When she left, they promised to write to each other. He also promised to make monthly contributions to the Santa organization that would be directly sent to where she was. When she was gone however, he stopped receiving her letters. He wrote her everyday until the day after the death of his father. For two years he wrote, and received nothing back. Months later, "Santa Claws" brought him the horrible news. The country, for which she had been stationed, was attacked and burned. She was killed, but died in an honor cause . Scats was crushed, but preceded to keep his promise alive amongst pressure from his mind and from the Santa Claws pushed philosophy that continued funding keeps her dream alive along with saving lives. For years this has continued. For a long time the thought of her brought a smile to his face.

Everyday Santa Claws would work the same corner on Main Street. He'd stand there ringing a bell holding a pot for money and wearing a Santa suit. Hence the name Santa Claws. I approach him with the envelope. He looks like a drunken Santa and smells like dead rabbits. I swear every time I see him, his looks get worse along with the smell. Oddly enough, however, his organization is the most respected in the city. I drop the envelope in the bucket when he says, "I see the business gots the money to help others, why don't you empty ya pockets and share the wealth?" I look at him sternly and say "You want my money? Clean yourself, then maybe you'll get my money. I don't give to an organization of people who smell like dead rabbits." I slowly start to walk away when he grabs my shoulder. "Listen here, the charity is having some uh…shortfalls financially, tell your boss Scats, he should put a little more in next time. In fact tell him he has too, or we might go under." I look at him and walk away. I can feel his smile two blocks away.

(to be continued)