Seeing as he was becoming rather handy with his fists of late Jim thought he would start the day by punching Rod in the face.
He did this as soon as he got back home.
'Your the one to blame for all of this madness! You are scum to me! I should never have gone into partnership with you. What was I thinking? There is an old saying back in my town, never go into business with friends. And never ever go into business with idiots - not unless you can control them. And I thought I could control you, Rod. I mean, look at you. Dithering fool. All you had to do was put us up, let me and Butch do our business, brew our drink, and stay out of things! NO! I won't let you speak, Rod. You are listening to me now. You have a lot to answer for. You don't understand how much I have lost in the last few days. I came to Fenwick with nothing. Not a coin in my pocket, not a dream in my head. Then i found the recipe, and I thought, "This is it! My lucky break! Finally." Everyone gets a lucky break and this was mine. But you had to mess it up! What was it again? O yes - "We need a loan!" But Fenwick does not have a bank, like a normal city so we have to get involved with a cult! That on you, Rod. Do you have any idea what they tried to do to me? They tried to jab me with a damn needle! They wanted me to join the army and fight for them half away across the world. How does that happen, Rod? It happens in my life. This is what happens tome, time and time again. When things are finally going well for me something stupid happens. Fine. We needed a loan. I agree But how am I supposed to spend it building my business when I am across the Atlantic fighting the Brazilians? Answer me tat Rod. How do I brew G-Juice when I have a gun in my hand, and another in my face? Do you have any idea what you have put me through, what I had to go through trying to escape from those lunatics? Two madmen took a chainsaw to me! That's right. I almost died. I had to fight my way out. Look at my knuckles they are bloody! But now I think it is time to bloody them up some more. With your blood, Rod, and... o wait! Where did you get all those bruises from? I haven't started to beat you up yet?'
'The Tailors raided the house while you were away. They didn't take anything but they attacked me, and left me for dead. I am lucky to be alive right now Jim,' Rod replied. 'You see, you are not the only one who has paid the price. You look in good shape for a man nearly jabbed and sent packing abroad. Me. I can barely walk right now. I think they might have broken one of my legs...'
'Damn! I am sorry Rod. I can't believe they did this to you,' said Jim. 'Don't worry!' he patted him gently on the shoulder. 'We will figure this out. You have got a friend standing right here, Rod. We are in the same mess and we are going to help each other out. Do you understand? Good.'
'It's no good. Nothing can help us now. This is a war,' Rod replied. 'I know the Tailors. I know them from old. Once they have marked you, they get you. They reap what they sow.'
Rod showed his right wrist. He had there the mark of the Tailors too.
It was a horrible sight.
'I am in their pocket,' Rod continued. 'I owe them my life. They have been good tome in the past. They have given me work. They have helped me make money. But now it is time for them to reap! Alas! I don't think I have much longer left to breathe in this world. When they return, they will finish me. I am content to die. It is what it is. But YOU, Jim. You are young. It's not your time, not yet. I think the reason why you are still alive is because it was meant to be. The Brazilians didn't kill you, Jim, because it is not yet your time. I say again, my end is nigh, but I beseech you, Jim, run away. Get out of Fenwick before it is too late.'
Suddenly Butch was standing at the front of the room, and he had a firearm holstered on his hip...
He looked calm, and yet ominous.
'He's right. We have to escape. And I know a way,' he said. 'I have been looking around town and I have found a way of escape. Are you with me? We must act soon, before they return...'
Jim told his friends that he needed time to think...
He didn't tell them that he also needed a drink - he kept that to himself, until he found a bottle of whiskey he had hidden away upstairs. And to the succulent ravages of the old demon he emptied his soul:
'I am not going to die!' he said. 'I am going to live and I am going to be rich!'
He said it again and again as the molten grain gushed down his throat:
I am going to live! I am going to be rich!
Jim was standing in his bedroom alone listening to the buzz of the lights - the hum of the electrics it comforted him. Like a man who loves the countryside loves to listen to the songs of the birds, Jim a man who loved the city loved listening to the sound of electricity humming in the gloom.
He made his decision then.
He was going to go with Butch.
In those moments he made a plan and it was this:
Escape the tailors. Wait for the war to go quiet. And then return to reclaim his fortune!
Simple and pure.
It couldn't fail!
He called Butch in:
'I am ready to go with you.'
Jim said goodbye to Rod, it was the last time he was going to see him. The poor man had been marked, and the Tailors were going to reap him soon.
Jim only had this one thing to say to Rod before he left:
'Stay safe.'
After that Jim followed Butch all the way to the train station.
And a train finally pulled in - and O it was a long thing...
Until it final stopped.
But it was the end carriage that caught Jim's attention, for it was ornately grooved and ostentatiously coloured. It looked like something that should have been attached to a carnival, with bright reds and golds, like it was on fire!
Jim saw the curtains twitch on the rear room - someone was watching him from there...
There was a bad feeling about that train!
That was when Jim noticed something very frightening...
The track back out of Fenwick was still closed!!
No!
What was this?
Was Jim being led into a trap?
But Butch was loyal!
Right?
...Surely this wasn't happening...
Jim didn't know whether to play cool, like everything was fine and normal, or go crazy and make a run for it.
He wasn't going to fight Butch - there was no way Jim would be able to tackle such a huge man - Butch had enough fat on him to absorb any punch thrown in his direction. And his skin was tough like leather - clock him one and you would actually do yourself an injury.
So fighting was off the menu.
But he could still run away...
That was a viable option.
But run where?
Jim was running out of hideouts.
He couldn't go back to Rod's place. Rod would most certainly be dead by now and his home would be under the control of the Tailors.
There was nowhere for Jim to go!
'All aboard,' said Butch. 'You better go first, Jim. Don't worry. I will be right behind you.'
Butch had unholstered his firearm.
'Are there bullets in that gun of yours, Butch?' said Jim.
'The gun is real,' Butch replied. 'I don't play at war. It will keep us safe.'
'Safe form who?'
'The enemy,' Butch replied.
'Surely that last thing we want is to draw attention,' said Jim. 'Anyway. i though the plan was to leave Fenwick. Once we are out of town the war will be over...'
Butch started waving his firearm at Jim, motioning him to move into the carriage. 'We better get moving,' he said.
'It looks like you are ordering me onto this train, Butch,' Jim continued. 'But this train isn't going anywhere is it, Butch? Because the tunnel pout of town is still closed. I have eyes, Butch. I can see, funnily enough. So perhaps you would like to tell me what this is? Why are you armed? Why are we getting onto this dead train?'
Butch cocked the firearm and raised it to the back of Jim's head. 'It's over boss,' he said. 'I would have dropped you in the Sewer - that's where most goons go to die. But they wanted to see you first. Now move, before you make me pull the trigger. Let's not make am mess of this, Jim. The safety is off and a bullet will fly if you test me!'
'You can't do this Butch!'
'Yes I can!'
'Why?'
'Times change!'
Jim couldn't except the other mans explanation.
There had to be more to this than meets the eye.
"I reckon they have bought him!" Jim thought. "Greedy scumbag! If I can only delay him from pulling that trigger... Damn! I'll have revenge!"
Jim decided to fall back on his only remaining option, which was to start begging for his life - again.
Twice in one day!
Begging for mercy from the Brazilians and now his supposed best mate. It didn't seem logical that one man could be dealt so much bad luck in such a short space of time!
'Don't do this Butch,' Jim started. 'We need each other. Together we are a team, and as a team we can survive. I am going to guess that the enemy is paying you to do this. They want you to change sides. Well listen to me now! They will betray you. Put the gun down now and let us talk about this like adult men.'
'I don't want to talk,' Butch replied. 'I just want you to get onto the train.'
'I don't want to get on that train.'
'Then I am going to have to shoot you.'
'So that's it then, eh? That's how things are going to end, you putting a bullet in the back of my head, executing me like some prisoner of war. This is outrageous! We are supposed to be friends Butch. We are supposed to be looking out for one another! It can't end like this!'
'It can end like this, and it will,' said Butch. 'And I don't have friends. I don't need friends. I do what I have to. I am a survivor. It's the Fenwick way. If you were a local, you would understand.'
'But we are business partners. We were going to sell G-Juice and make a fortune! We have just signed a lucrative business contract...'
Then Jim noticed the mark of the Tailors on Butch's right fist.
'So you have seen it?' Butch replied. 'Yes. That's right. I am with the Tailors now, Jim. And they want your business, literally. And as a partner I am happy to hand them the deeds. The keys to the kingdom, as it were. There is no point trying to resist these guys, Jim. The Tailors rule Fenwick! That's right. They are literal the kings and queens of this town. You can't go against royalty. It's impossible, even with all the money in the world. No business deal can save you against their might. Once you become their enemy, it is over. Literally OVER! Now get on board the train!'
Jim heard this, and in his heart knew Butch to be right - there was no fighting a power like the Tailors. The Tailors were the DNA of the town - if the might of the Brazilian army couldn't topple them then nobody could.
Jim was an outsider, and he was alone.
Jim had lost everything at that point:
His business.
His friends.
But he wasn't about to give up on his life.
Jim could have, should have died weeks ago. But he didn't. he felt that there was a reason why fate chose to keep him alive.
So Jim continued to argue for his right to live.
'Now listen to me Butch,' he pressed on. 'I understand your position. The Tailors are very powerful and yes, very scary as well. but it doesn't mean to say we should cower before them! We can still make it big by ourselves. The G-Juice deal with Mr King still stands. Let's work together again. We will make peace with the Tailors. We will give them a sizeable cut of the business! We can all benefit from this!'
When Butch heard this he sneered, and then he threw back at Jim this nugget:
'People who work with you end up dying, horribly! Jo, remember him? And Rod. I don't want to end up like them, at the bottom of the Sewer. No Way. I want to live a long and good life. And that is what the Tailors have promised me. They have given me bread and money and a roof over my head. They have given me a way out! I don't have to be a gangster no more. I never wanted this violent life. I know I look like the kind of guy cut out for all that rough and tough business, but it's all just an act! All I have ever wanted is a normal life, you know what I mean? I want a family and I want kids.'
Jim couldn't believe what he was listening to.
What madness was this?
Had Butch been cloned?
Had he been abducted by aliens and replaced by a lily livered doppelgänger?
'Have you gone soft in the head Butch?' Jim replied. 'Everyone knows you to be a vicious thug. And you also live in Fenwick. I have only been in this town for a few weeks but I can tell you this much and that is Fenwick is no right place to raise children. Good lord man! I imagine you must have a small brain to compensate for your large girth but try to think about it for a second at least. There is a war going on in the streets! What are going to do when the fighting starts again? Are you going to train your kids to duck and dive from the roving Brazilian militia? Are you going to sign them up with the Tailors? Is that the plan? By the age of twelve they will be injected and sent across the Atlantic to fight for the Americans somewhere lord knows where. Is that what you want for you children, Butch? Do you really want them to be turned into aggressive drugged up warriors fighting for another man's cause? Because that is what will happen, I am telling you! This town is dangerous! It is full of shadows and secrets. And you want to raise your children in a hell hole like this? Don't do it Butch! They will hate you when they finally grow up - and they will grow up, kids have a funny habit of doing that. And when the time comes they will say of you, "My father was a bastard who raised me in a pit!" Is that what you want Butch? You want your children to hate you? Don't add more wood to the spreading fires of this dark war.'
It was a fine speech.
But Butch just acted like he hadn't listened to a word of it.
'This is the last time I am going to tell you to get into the train, Jim,' he replied.
It was no use!
Jim had been defeated...
Jim cursed and started shaking his head.
It was over.
Jim was too tired to continue the fight.
Excepting his dark fate Jim slowly he turned around and limped aboard the train...
(Remember! All spelling errors and grammatical mistakes are intentional - the author 😆)
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