Once the pair finished their game, they decided it was probably best if they went inside to help the others sort through the mountains of financial papers for Hog Eye.
"Will you quit sniffing it. The smell isn't going away any time soon." Izzy said sarcastically as they entered the office.
"Pea isn't used to the smell of clean Isabelle, leave him be." Ali responded Nonchalantly. Her eyes glued to the forms in front of her, twirling a pen between her fingers. Toni and Fangs snorted almost immediately at her comment whilst Sweet Pea just stood there scowling at her.
"Take a photo Pea it'll last longer." She remarked in the same casual manner as before, her eyes still fixated on the pages before her.
"There isn't a camera strong enough to capture that much ugly without combusting." Sweet Pea grumbled taking a seat and starting on the papers Izzy had handed him.
"Sure there is, just use yours. If it can handle your ugly mug it can certainly handle mine." Ali responded taking a bite out of her cheese burger. Toni and Fangs now struggling to contain the knowing grins that were slowly taking over them. Sweet Pea went to reply but came up blank, instead he just opened and closed his mouth like a goldfish. Ali flicked her eyes up at Sweet Peas slack-jawed expression. Raising a devilish eyebrow at him, a small smirk toying on her lips.
"Cat got your tongue?" She teased sending everyone into a short burst of snorting giggles.
Izzy raised her chin to Toni and Fangs before making the same cartoon fall sound she had made earlier. Jerking her head slightly, towards Sweet Pea making them laugh even harder.
"Rock, Meet Bottom." Ali playfully teased, her positive vibe and insufferably bright smile obliviating any potential for insult. Instead, pulling a small chuckle from Sweet Peas throat.
"You got me there, that was good." He chuckled pulling out a pen and note pad to start writing down some calculations. Toni and Fangs stared up at him, shock sprawled across their faces at his comment. He never admitted defeat. Let alone complimented someone over it. Sweet Pea looked up from his calculations, feeling their gaze burning into the top of his skull.
"What? believe it or not I actually pay attention in class." He defended thinking they were surprised at his maths skills. Remaining completely oblivious to the real reason they were star struck.
"Ok so from these stock and profit forms, Hog Eye seems to be charging 10 bucks per shot and 15 per beer. I get that a lot of money earnt isn't through the purchase of alcohol, but you've got to give some excuse that's legal." Rosie piped up finally looking up from the scattered papers she had been pouring over for the last few hours.
"So why don't we put the excess profit down as payment for space hire, to cover how he's getting the money. I mean for all we know thats whats happening." Ali suggests holding her hand up to silence the three Serpents. "Plausible deniability if you please."
"Ok so how do we explain where its going then?" Fangs questioned looking up from his own calculations.
"That's obvious isn't it." Sweet Pea chimed in, gently biting the end of his pen. The group shook their head simultaneously.
"Please Elaborate." Izzy pushed politely, twisting herself round on Sweet Pea's lap to face him properly. He was becoming more and more like a big brother to her.
"Well so far he isn't accounting for Toni's 'Overtime' money." He began, air quoting the word 'overtime'. "He's also missed out the car and bike payments. So we've already covered a fifth of his spendings just with overtime money and vehicle maintenance. Then there's the money to keep the bar insured and pay for the alcohol licenses for his staff when he's not at the bar. There's another fifth. Give or take a bit. And since the rest is snake money, we can put that down to protection money. He pays the Serpents to keep his bar and family safe." Sweet Pea explained sending multiple jaws hitting the ground in a wave of shear disbelief.
"Ok this could work. We need to start adding up all bar profits and snake profits separately, so we can divide it up in the correct ratio." Toni thought after a moments reflection. The team nodded in agreement before clearing the desk and starting from scratch. Putting their heads together to figure out what was what. After several hours gruelling hard work, they decided to call it quits and finish for the day. It was evening after all. The team headed out into the now busy bar, waving to Hog Eye so they could grab a round of drinks before taking their mind off things and playing a few rounds of pool.
YOU ARE READING
Ali-Cat- This Better Work!
Novela Juvenil"Who is this Northsider and why is she here?" Sweet Pea questioned giving Ali a disgusted scowl making Toni chuckle a bit. His scowl was different from his usual northside hatred glare. "I, my dear flower," Ali replied sweetly, stepping forward and...
