Kiss The Ring

It was four in the morning.
There had been a party going on in the warehouse for most of the night, a few stragglers still remaining to hassle the DJ for a few more songs. A lot of people were dozing on the various sofas and cushions slung about the place, a few couples doing a little more than that. For the most part however, the night was drawing to a close.
In one of the back rooms Bert and Jepha were sleeping off a very satisfactory evening. There had been boys, girls, drugs, drink and some other slightly weird shit that neither could now remember very well. Jepha was dozing as Bert lay on one of the couches, counting the cracks in the ceiling. It had gone smooth, no-one had noticed the 3% they had skimmed, running it through the Don’s own accountant had been a stroke of genius. Not like anyone was gonna look there.
So they had blown their money on a good time, knowing another, bigger payday lurked around the corner. Sweetest bit was they could keep on doing this. Bert couldn’t deny that getting one over on as powerful a man as Frank Iero was the biggest fucking turn on he had ever had in his life.
Bert smiled, closing his eyes to enjoy the moment. He felt someone tap him on the shoulder.
“Fuck off.”
“That was rude don’t you think baby ?”
Bert’s eyes snapped open, suddenly and horrifically sober. He looked up, already sweating. He knew Mikey Way of course, everybody did and made sure to stay as far away from the fucking psychopath and his pal as possible. Mikey wasn’t looking at him though. Bert turned to follow his gaze and had to swallow back a scream.
James was sitting on the other end of the sofa as calm as anything. Jepha sat beside him, his pleading eyes meeting Bert’s. James had his arm around Jepha’s shoulder, the sharp gleaming knife pressed to his throat. A pleasant smile on his face as he looked at Mikey.
“Really rude considering what these fucks have been doing.”
Bert scrambled to his feet, fixing Mikey with a pleading stare.
“We ain’t done nothing Mikey, whatever you heard. Nothing.”
Mikey smiled. Under other circumstances Bert would have loved nothing better than that smile. Mikey was so beautiful, a tenderness to that look that would have been impossible to resist. Now however, Bert knew he was gonna die.
“Don’t bother. We know. The Don knows.”
Bert licked his lips nervously, glancing at his friend.
“We’ll cut you in. Tell him you sorted it. You guys are freelance, not like you owe them anything.”
Mikey’s smile vanished. One glance at James was all it took.
Jepha had no time to scream so Bert did it for him. James simply stuck the knife into his knee, turning it savagely before pushing Jepha onto the floor. He picked up a baseball bat and started on the other one as Mikey backed Bert into the wall.
“We’re freelance because that’s how we like it. We are however fucking loyal. Are you loyal ? What if I said that I’d let you live if that poor cocksucker there took the blame huh ?”
Bert looked at Jepha. Both legs were badly broken now as the man lay in a heap on the floor, sobbing gently. James leant against the bat, friendly smile still in place. Bert knew his friend would never walk again even if he did live. Self preservation took over.
“Sure I’m loyal. Get me out of this and I’ll do whatever you want. Please. I don’t care, anything.”
A smirk crossed Mikey’s face.
“Fuck you really are thick.”
Bert never saw the fist coming, only heard the crack of his own jaw breaking. As he slumped to the floor, he saw the steel chain wound around Mikey’s right hand. Mikey looked down at him.
“Loyalty means not fucking over your friends. The Don was good to you boys, he accepted you in the family when he could have left you to rot. So you repay him by ripping him off.”
James kicked Jepha in the head, knocking him out cold before walking over to Mikey. His hand instantly went to the boys waist pulling him close. Somehow violence turned Mikey on no end. He planted soft kisses along James’ cheek before looking back down at Bert.
“Go get the hacksaw, the boss needs to know we did this right.”
James nodded, aiming another nasty kick at Jepha as he passed.
“You thought he wouldn’t know ?”
Bert shook his head, accepting death now and praying it would come quick. Regret was no longer in his head at all. He watched numbly as James reappeared, Jepha hidden now by the two men. The resulting screams told him all he needed to know. Tears of self pity started to roll down his face.
Mikey wrapped two thumbs up in rags, careful not to drip blood on himself. He looked over to where James had pulled a smart Beretta from his pocket.
“Finish that off sweetheart. Now what to do with this one…”
The sound of the gunshot echoed around the warehouse causing Bert to flinch. He noticed the look of pleasure that flitted across James’s face as blood started to creep across the floor. He didn’t want to think about what was going to happen so closed his eyes and started to pray. Rough hands pulled him to his feet.
“We’re pretty high up Mikes, we could just drop him out the window.”
“Sweet but we were told to make this a warning so something else is required.”
Bert felt himself being dragged over to the table in the far corner of the room. Cold air hit his chest as his shirt was pulled away. Strong hands held his shoulders against the hard wood. Bert started to whimper softly.
When the acid started hitting him he started to scream. James was surprised at just how loud he could scream considering the broken jaw. Mikey was completely unfazed, wanting to get the wording just right. This was one way of making sure nobody would fuck with the boss again. Plus a big fat pay check would be handy. Mikey had some expensive tastes at times and he liked to show James a good time.
Finally satisfied, he looked at James.
“Off the roof ?”
“Sure.”
Between them they lifted the unconscious body up and dragged Bert up four more flights of stairs to the roof. The cold air hit them, the night having given way to a picturesque dawn. Down below the streets were starting to come awake.
Bert felt the sun through the haze off pain and knew what was coming. The breeze was cooling, he wondered about heaven.
It was a short flight, the car down below breaking his fall and just about everything else. Not much time to scream. Mikey and James listened as other screams broke out and then turned back for the stairs. The little message had been explicit - thieves are fucked. Should get the message across.
Mikey ruffled James’ hair.
“What’s for breakfast ?”

Notes