me and brandan got in line, grabbing our trays full of slop...i mean food. that mystery meat had to be one of the most disgusting things i'd ever seen. brandan looked back at me, and let out a laugh at my expression.
"it really isnt that bad," he shrugged. i didn't believe him.
we walked through the rows of tables, trying to find a place to sit. it reminded me of highschool; everyone seemed to have their clique...excepts these cliques were separated by the type of crime not the type of clothes. brandan dropped his tray at a table in the back, next to some tall scrawny guy. he didnt look threatening thank god
"zacky boy, i want you to meet my good friend the reverend," brandan said, patting the lanky guy on the shoulder. i waved as i sat down, and he waved back.
"why are you called the reverend?" i asked, taking a bite of my food, immediately regretting it. i nearly spit it out, receiving a roar of laughter from the two.
"well, you see, i'm called the reverend because i got all the advice. for some reason, everyone like to confess their sins to me, and i tell them how to fix things. i think they do it cause i used to be a janitor at a church." the reverend shrugged, scratching his head.
just then there was a loud thud. my head snapped back to see a guy on the ground, food spilled all over him, and two guys standing over him. the guys above him looked exactly alike, which was kinda creepy. guess they're twins
"where's our money tony," the taller twin asked the guy, who was attempting to brush the food off of himself. he didnt answer.
"WHERE'S OUR MONEY TONY!" the smaller twin shouted. this time tony looked up, a bit startled. everyone was turned around watching at this point. tony still sat there, speechless.
"who are those guys?" i asked brandan, pointing to the two standing.
"those are the madden twins. big one's joel, little one's benjiman, or benji. they run a big crime ring: drugs, prostitution, murder, you name it, they got their hands in on it. they basically run this prison on account of everyone's afraid of them."
the was a loud whack, and i looked back to see tony holding his cheek. looks like benji gave him a good crack on his face.
"tony, tony, tony," joel cooed, crouching down beside him, "now you know i think of you as a friend, but you've been saying you'd have this money for far too long, and i've grown impatient. i take care of you tony. i get you your coke, and you dont fucking pay me! now does that sound fair to you?"
tony shook his head, still holding his face. i watched the scene, a bit confused.
"wait," i looked to brandan, "everyone is afraid of them? even you?! they don't look all that strong." i looked at the twins again. yea, they definately were not big guys at all.
"ha, you think if it was just them i'd be afraid?!" brandan laughed, the reverend joining him.
"its their goon we're afraid of," jimmy said, nodding over to one of the tables. i followed his eyes, and saw it. there seated at the table by the madden twins was the goon, a hulking mass of tattooed muscle. he was hunched over in his chair watching the scene before him unfold. he could probably snap brandan like a toothpick. and i thought brandan was big! the all too familiar sense of fear rose in my throat. i gulped it back down.
"yea, that's matt sanders, the orange county butcher,"brandan told me.
"he hacked up over 30 people. its been said that the way he killed them makes the manson family look like the brady bunch," the reverend informed me.
"thank you for that. i think i'm gonna go piss myself now."
i looked back at the situation in the room, and saw joel nod over to matt. tony started to go into hysterics as the goon got up.
"just give me one more week! i'll have your money I SWEAR!" he pleaded, tears starting to whell up.
the twins just stepped aside, as matt came foward, smirking. his eyes were cold, dead. as tony pleaded, the smirk grew into a wide grin, and matt cranked back his huge arm and fully extended, planting a punch into tony's jaw. blood spewed out his mouth and onto the floor. the beast then leaned over, picking the much smaller man off the floor with one hand and up into the air, throwing more punches into his face and body. i looked over at the guards frantically, to see them just standing there, watching the beating take place.
"why arent they doing anything?!!" i screamed, shaking at the sight before me.
"you think they want that to happen to them?" the reverend smirked. "besides, tony lavato there is nothing but a coked up rapist, and nobody likes coke heads....or rapists."
i couldn't believe that nobody was going to help him. clearly matt wasn't going to stop anytime soon, he was enjoying this. and tony was starting to go limp. HE'S GOING TO KILL HIM!
without thinking, i got up, and did easily one of the dumbest things i'd ever done in my life.
