He Was Given The Gun

Act Two: The Guns The Glory The Pain

Chapter Four: He Was Given The Gun

 

A Hispanic man sat at the end of a long table, the color of his eyes was shrouded with the light grey smoke that hazed over the entire room. The scent of cigarettes, cigars and beer filled the air inside the bar. Cellophane sat at the other end of the table waiting for the man to speak to him, the man’s long jet black greasy hair was held back and his face was littered with scars. He sat down the half smoked cigar he had been chewing on for the past five minutes and leaned forward,

                “Hector tells me you are a dependable guy,” The man said staring straight at Cellophane. Cellophane cleared his throat to reply, but the man interrupted.

                “However I will make that observation on my own. In time.” The man widened his eyes as he said the word ‘Observation’ as if it were a swear.  Cellophane nodded and awaited further conversation.

                “How are you with a gun boy?”

                “To be honest sir, not very. I am better with knives and words.” The men sitting behind the black haired man chuckled at Cellophanes response, but a quick “cállate la boca” from the man shut them all up. The man then placed several pictures on the table and pushed them down towards Cellophane who grabbed them and looked at them. The man then asked, in response to Cellophanes facial reaction,

                “You remember this Vato?”

Cellophane nodded as his mind filled images from five years ago. The pictures showed the mangled remains of a man who was stalking Juicy back when she and Cellophane where dating. Cellophane knew immediately how this man had become in possession of these photos.

                “That is Daniel Esposito. Hector give you these photographs?” Cellophane knew he should not be asking any questions, but without hesitation the man nodded and replied,

                “Yes, five years ago last month he came to us saying he needed to get rid of the evidence of a crime his daughters’ stupid a*s boyfriend committed.  When I saw the body though I did not see the crime of a hot headed kid.”

Cellophane raised his head from the gory photos in confusion. ‘I thought I was just here for a bar security gig…’ he thought to himself making direct eye contact with the man now, he could see the man’s cold emotionless eyes that sent fear into his very being.

                “well that is what it is… he was stalking the girl I was with, I confronted him. He pulled a knife; I pulled two and put him down. I barely even remember it.” Cellophane wanted to say more but the man began to bust out laughing at his response.

                “No amigo, there is no way in hell you ‘Barely remember’ any of this. The coldest of the cold remember this kind of s**t.” The man then stood and walked over to where Cellophane was sitting. He sat in the chair to his left and placed a common black pistol on top of the pictures and said,

                “That was back when you were just a teenager. In America that is rare amigo.” Cellophane was now staring at the gun while still listening to the man expecting to hear something like ‘you killed my son’ or ‘that boy was my little brother’ and that in fact Hector had sent Cellophane here to be killed. But instead of offing him or delivering earth shattering news, the man placed his hand on Cellophane’s shoulder and said,

                        “I know Hector told you that this was a security gig, and at first that was all it would have ever been. But when he revealed to me that you where the boy who gutted this creeper f**k, I couldn’t help but see the potential hidden away in there. For now, you can be a part time bouncer. But I wanted to personally let you know that if you ever wished to join the ranks of the North Texas beasts. You just let me know son.” 

Cellophane let out a breath he seemed to be holding for a while and said,

                        “I appreciate the offer sir,-“

                        “my employees call me Mendez.” He interrupted.

                        “Mendez, but for now I just want to make some money the safest way I know.” Cellophane was afraid this was going to be a god father scenario in which the man turns down the favor and get killed for showing disrespect. However Mendez smiled and pushed the gun closer to Cellophane,

                        “Very well. You will start off at two-fifty a night, you show some perseverance and it will double in three months. You come on Monday, Tuesday and Friday nights starting next week. ” Mendez then held his hand out and they shook, before Cellophane could make it to the door Mendez stopped him handing him the gun he had purposely tried to leave in the room.

                        “Take this, you will need it, and eh… Mario will show you how to use it if you come on Wednesday evenings, Just put it somewhere safe when you are not here. And DO NOT carry it on you in public. We don’t bail out members so we damn sure wont bail out employees.” He said it with such an oddly hilarious smile it almost made Cellophane not feel completely insane for taking the job, like this guy might not be a monster.

                       

                        The hoodie Cellophane wore was leaning on his left from the weight of the gun in the pocket. He thought about putting the gun in his pants, but was convinced he would be the first guy in human history to blow his dick off doing so. He walked around the square waiting for either the Diamond  or Sepia to pick him up. The sunlight was gone and the chilly Sunday night air rested upon his cheeks. He walked into the bookstore, the place he always hung out at back when he had no friends. Back when the memory of watching the DEA drag him away from his parents was fresh in his mind and the seven years of living with his biological father or grandparents felt like being tossed back and forth like a hot potato.

He sat at one of the desks provided for readers and looked out the window at the people, the hipsters and college students, The jocks and their carbon copied blond cheerleader girlfriends and the middle school children who thought they were adult for hanging out at the historical square. Everything was so monotonous, so vague and weak that it made him sick to his stomach. But then he realized that it wasn’t the people… it was actually his body. He ran to the washroom and proceeded to involuntarily vomit everything in his stomach.

 

                        “Cell! Cell get up! Cell are you ok?!” Sepia’s voice slowly coaxed him out of his blackout; he was passed out on the washroom floor of the bookstore. He could see out of the doorway that the store was closed and he had been out of it for at least an hour. Sepia was wide eyed and was very obviously confused on what to do.

                        “Did you take too many god damn pills?!” she immediately asked, Cellophane shook his head. He had not taken any since throttle had slapped him the day before, though he needed one several times he decided that he would look passed the pain for a bit and see how it went.

                        “I’m fine, I just need to get to the house.” He rose slowly and caught his breath. Sepia looked at him concerned, but quickly helped him to the car. The owner of the bookstore stood at the door with a phone in hand asking if she should call the police, after convincing her that Cellophane would be just fine she locked up the store and left.

 

                        The car ride to the house was silent, the radio was not on and all that could be heard was the sound of the car engine and the wind passing through the car. Cellophane leaned back in the chair and tried to relax himself, assuring his body that soon the painkillers would be in his system and the pain would be dumbed down a bit, his body did not agree.

                        “So, how did the job interview go?” Sepia asked in an attempt to break the silence.

Cellophane then remembered the gun in his pocket, he knew that he could never let Sepia or the Diamond  know what mess he had just signed up for, so he shrugged and said,

                        “It went ok, I start next Monday. Just security, you know like a bouncer.” Sepia began laughing so hard that she almost keeled over in the driver seat.

                        “Oh my god, you! A Bouncer?!  Tight black T-shirt and a gold tooth?!” her laughter made it almost impossible to know what she was saying in full. Cellophane recognized the mocking tone in her voice. The girls did not know much about his life before he met them a little over four years ago, though they quickly became close like family he knew he could never let them know about the events involving Daniel Esposito’s death.  Cellophane would rather the girls laugh at him as they pictured a skinny white boy being a bouncer at a bar frequented by bikers, gang members and thugs… rather than fear him as they pictured a murderer who killed a young man whose life had not even begun yet. 

That night, memories and images of the night Daniel Esposito was murdered filled his dreams. The blood, the pleas for mercy and the rush…the intoxicating drug of victory, these where the sounds and feelings that filled his mind.

 

Author's Note

I am not getting any reviews for this one :( i havent been able to do much reading on anyone's poems and books though recently so i guess it makes sense.. this one is just flowing out of me i hope people like it.

Reviews

[A]

THIS IS MY FAVORITE THING EVER
also i appreciate the incorporation of the master plan.
and that i get to be mad at you.
i also like that you get slapped.
and you're awesome.
love, sepia. xD