Sold To The Dun Boy • Joshler SHORT STORY

2

The streetlights scanned over Tyler's face, every other second. He slowly opened his eyes, the pain in the back of his head and in his nose was immense and he couldn't help but whimper. He then jumped up when he heard a man telling him to be quiet.

He looked over at the man who spoke to him, he was driving and Tyler could see the permanent frown on his face through the rear view. He began sitting up, finding himself alone in the back and another man in the passenger seat.

"Where are you taking me?" He asked with as much firmness in his voice as possible, but it came out a bit small but no doubt the men heard it. The one in the passenger, his hair was black, but at his sideburns, they were turning gray.

His eyes were bleak and staring down Tyler with venom, he instantly backed in more to the leather seats, looking away. "Didn't you hear him, Be quiet!" The man then scoffed. "Only give half of the boxes and a twenty-three-year-old boy. You think he'll still pay the full?"

The man driving took a look at Tyler in the rearview. He then chuckled a bit, looking back to the road. "He's not expecting it, and we might get our asses kicked, but it's all we have." Tyler whimpered once again, moving so he was out of their sights, but the car wasn't big enough to swallow him. "Besides, I'm expecting him to lower the price."

The two men then began laughing, not because of what he said, but the small sob that was pulled from Tyler. His tears were rolling as he sobbed into his mouth. "You're father was too willing boy. Needing that ten grand for something it seems." The one in the passenger called.

"Hmm, sad that he's only going to find half of it. The other half is fake since he can't keep up on his side with our deal. Too bad, you're daddy done gave you away for five grand. But he won't be our problem for long." The man smiled evil towards Tyler.

"W- What are you gonna do to h- him?" Tyler asked them both with a still quiet voice.

"Oh don't worry, we won't be doing anything. But the man we are seeing probably will, he's got a rep, and your dad didn't own up. It'll look bad on the guy, he couldn't let anyone get away with something like that." The driver said.

Tyler looked down, rubbing his finger pad on the leather, "Where are you taking me?"

"The do- " The passenger was hit on his side instantly and a groan let out his mouth.

"We are done talking now. We're almost there." The car ride became silent and Tyler did everything he could to just not believe he was here. Not believe that his life had been going downhill since he turned eighteen.

+.+

The car came to a stop, making Tyler perk up awake and look out the window. The car was under a street light making it look like it was under a spotlight. He was so ought to his surroundings that he didn't hear the door behind him open.

A hand was on his elbow and he was pulled out of the vehicle, he yelped, beginning to hit the hand, do whatever he could to let loose. The cold weather bit at his body and he looked down to see he was still in his boxers.

He was weak, he was embarrassed, he was ashamed and became so numb in the man's grasp. He was crying, he wasn't going to hide it as his vision became blurry and his cheeks burned red.

"What the hell is this?" A new voice spoke. Tyler didn't care, instead he looked down, he was dirty, he was still dizzy, but he could function quite okay. The hand on his elbow gripped tighter and he was forced up to get the deal that the man holding him wanted him to stand tall.

"Chris needs to be taught that we have deadlines. He couldn't get us what we wanted, so we took something else." The man that wasn't holding Tyler's elbow said.

"So, what the hell is this!?" The new voice spoke again, but louder and much more stern, like he was pissed. "I needed ten boxes. Not- not this boy!"

"We only have half of it, Dun. Chris didn't own up." The man gripped his elbow even more. "We were gonna give him the full ten, but since we got half, he gets half. And a visit."

The other man just hummed. Tyler was blacking out. He couldn't believe this was happening. When his eyes opened again to look at the asphalt ground, he saw that another pair of clad shoes were in front of him. He looked up and almost shrieked at the dull brown eyes that were staring at him.

"Hmm," was all the man said. "You look like you haven't showered in weeks," he said as he scanned Tyler's body. He looked at the two men, "What did you do, pull the boy out of his bed while he was resting?"

"He's the one that puts the boxes together. Chris doesn't do anything but take the money." The other man said.

"Hmm." The other said once more. "Knock him out, put him in my car."