Taste of Iron

Thirty Nine: Gangsters Deserve Insurance Too

Thirty Nine: Gangsters Deserve Insurance Too

tw: kidnapping, light violence

Atlas woke up with a jolt as someone splashed a bucket of water on his face. He looked around, panicked, and tried to move only to find that he was tied to a chair. In front of him stood two men he had never seen in his entire life, both staring at him with detest.

"Where the fuck am I? Who are you?" Atlas questioned.

"Are you sure this is him?" Spoke the man with sandy-brown hair, looking Atlas up and down.

"Aye, boss. This is him," replied the other kidnapper.

"Huh," the 'boss' hummed, pursing his lips as he folded his arms in front of his chest. "Nothing special, no? Didn't know Alvarez was into emo punks like him."

"I'm not an emo punk," Atlas defended.

"Your blue hair probably begs to differ," he huffed.

"Look, I don't even know why you—" Atlas paused, blinking as he looked from one man to another, before settling his gaze on the 'boss'. "You're Randy, aren't you?"

"How do you know that?" Randy retorted, immediately alerted.

"Hey, cool down. Emil mentioned he had beef with some guy named Randy and if I'm being kidnapped then... I just joined the dots, okay?" Atlas explained.

"You look awfully calm for someone that just got kidnapped," Randy noted, making Atlas shrug.

"Very calm," added the other man.

"No point in screaming or you'll just duct tape my mouth," Atlas reasoned.

"Fair enough."

"So just tell me what you want from me and we'll get this over with and go home to get a good night's sleep in our own beds, yeah?"

"Smart man. Fine. I want you to call Emil and talk to him as if nothing is wrong. And then I want you to ask him to come over to your apartment. From there... from there we will take over and no harm will come to you," Randy stated.

"No harm," spoke the other as he nodded his head.

"Shut it, Rocky."

Randy and Rocky? Atlas seriously got kidnapped by two gangsters named Randy and Rocky?

"Right..." Atlas trailed off. "Yeah, no. I'm not doing that."

There was no way in hell that Atlas was going to agree to this scheme of Randy's. It was clear that Randy wanted Emil to be unarmed and off guard. Why else would he ask Atlas to call him normally? If Emil found out that Atlas had been taken then all hell would break loose, and it was Randy's best bet to use Atlas to lure him alone.

"I take back what I said, then. Not a smart man," Randy rolled his eyes. "Listen, dude, I have no bad blood with you. My mess is with Emil, and I'd hate for you to get hurt in the crossfire. So why don't you be a good little boy and call your boyfriend, eh?"

"And what will that solve? You'll strike and then he'll strike harder after that. It will keep on going and going and no resolution will come out of it! Why don't you be the bigger person and let this go?"

"Bigger person?" Randy scoffed. "That bastard slept with my girlfriend! My favorite girlfriend!"

"Your... favorite girlfriend?" Atlas blinked.

"Yes! She was my favorite out of the three! But then she fucked Emil and I had to break up with her out of principal!" Randy groaned in frustration. "Now I only have two girlfriends. Just two! And I don't even like them that much! Not as much as I liked Ronnie!"