Too Far Gone (Urban)

12| Friends of Friends

Maero↑

"Curly," the tattooed man called out.

Chenelle ducked her head between her shoulders as she stopped in her tracks.

"Shit.." she whispered sharply, relaxing her shoulders as she waited for the room to clear out. She turned around to face Carlos and the tattooed man, who stood at the bottom of the stairs looking up at her. Reluctantly, she walked back down the stairs.

"What's up?" she asked, looking directly at the tattooed man.

"Me and Carlos are gonna meet with the leader of the Brotherhood." the tattooed man replied.

If she remembered correctly, the Brotherhood consisted of the cast-outs and dredges of Stilwater society. Ostracised for their status and their tattoos, they were united as a solid force of strength and intimidation intent on avenging itself upon the police and the city.

They simply drive up to a store in a large truck and charge in and take what they want. If anyone gets in their way, they kill them. Their definition of subtle warfare is excessively violent extortion, and they also specialized in gun smuggling.

Judging by the pistols visibly tucked in their pockets she assumed it wasn't going to be a nice chat. Her eyebrows furrowed together at this.

"Hey, hey.." Carlos piped in, patting her on the shoulder. "Be cool. It's not so bad." A small smile formed on his face.

"Maero asked to sit down and have a chat." his gaze shifted from her to the boss as he removed his hand. "He wants to work something out before things get out of control."

Chenelle expressed her opposition by slouching her shoulders and hunching her back. She could have been halfway home by now. Looking up at the tattooed man, she noticed he towered over her by a couple of heads. She didn't notice how tall he was or how short she was compared to him until now. She must have been staring at him for a while, because his ample lips curled into a charming grin.

"Don't worry Curls." he began, placing one of his rather large hands on her shoulder. His touch sent a shocking, but light feathery feeling down her arm that rapidly spread like a conflagration throughout her body. This new feeling stunned her, and she could tell he felt that same tingling sensation aswell. His words seemed to be caught in his throat, for his lips were parted but no words were formed.

What was that? she thought to herself, peering at Carlos from the corner of her eye. Carlos also noticed the strange tension between the two, but only hung his head low and kicked at the ground.

"I.. uh.." the tattooed man cleared his throat and quickly removed his hand from her shoulder, concealing his embarrassment by continuing his statement. "If you're as good as Rascal claims, then you'll do fine."

"He wants to meet at Stilwater Caverns." Carlos informed. "We should go now.. I wouldn't want to be late.."

The tattooed man nodded at Carlos and flashed Chenelle another one of his bright smiles.

"You drive."

❦

Chenelle looked around the caverns as they crossed over a wooden bridge, which was held together with a steel frame. She peered down at the cavern's beautiful lake, glimmering amd shimmering. She looked up to see waves of reflected light traveling across the rock like the Northern Lights. A couple of tourists snapped pictures of this scene.

Carlos walked a few paces ahead of her and the tattooed man. He was the one who really knew where this Maero guy was, seeing as he was the only one who had contact with him, oddly. She glanced at the tattooed man to see he was looking around the caverns too. Though, he wasn't as interested in it as she was. He had one hand tucked into one of his jean pockets, the other one hanging limply at his side and swinging to and fro with every step he took. Her hand was so close to his, and she was so tempted to touch his hand just to get that same sensation she felt when he first touched her.

She still didn't comprehend what made her feel the way she did. Some say love can be recognized from the first touch. Could that be what she felt?

Chenelle giggled at this, catching the attention of the tattooed man.

"What's so funny?" he asked curiously, raising one of his eyebrows at her. She shook her head.

"Well," he sighed. "it ain't as funny as this poem I was thinking of telling you."

It was her turn to raise her eyebrow. Taking this as a 'go ahead and say it', he recited his poem, his eyes dead ahead.

"Your cheeks were red once those feelings grew. Did you feel the butterflies? 'Cause I felt them too."

Chenelle could only gush bashfully at his tiny poem, and her eyes suddenly fluttered as she smiled.

"That was adorable." she replied in a babylike voice, puckering her lips at him teasingly. He took her eyes off her and cheesed really hard. She enjoyed seeing him smile. He had very nice white teeth and the cutest dimples on both his cheeks that only showed when he smiled as hard as he did now. She couldn't believe this walking bringer of death she knew now as her boss could be so soft-hearted. She had to get used to calling him that. Boss..

This happy side of him rapidly dissolved into a vicious glare as his eyes met with something he wasn't too happy to see.

Following his gaze, her eyes also met with the cold eyes of a tatted man. He had a red mullet with the sides of his head shaved off. The red collard shirt he wore showed off his muscular body, and she could see a tattoo on his exposed chest. He also had identically colored tribal tattooes on one side of his face, taking up his entire right cheek.

"You Maero?" the boss asked, clearly displeased.

"That's right." Maero nodded. His voice sounded as if it was mostly made in his throat: deep and intimidating.

The tattooed man looked around the quiet caverns before glaring at Maero again. "Where's your crew then?"

Maero shrugged. "I don't need one."

"You sure 'bout that?" The boss questioned, pulling out his gun and pointing it directly at Maero's forehead. "I could kill you right now..."

"No," Maero slowly stood up, easily towering over the three of them. "you couldn't."

What's in the fucking milk? Chenelle thought as she shuffled behind the boss. She grew accustomed to the height of the boss, but this was completely new.

The boss figured attempting to fight this man wouldn't be good for either of them, and tucked his gun away in his back pocket.

"Whaddya want?" the boss said, changing his tone from serious to seriously annoyed.

"Listen," Maero sighed, backing up enough to give them space. "I'm not stupid, I know who you are. Now there's no reason for us to tear each other apart."

"I'm listening."

"Here's what I'm thinking: we divide Stil-"

Maero hushed quickly when the sound of footsteps headed their way.

"I hear voices this way!" Said a faint voice who's echo was louder than he was. Carlos's eyes widened.

"Shit!" Carlos tapped the boss. "We have to go!"

✝