Some Things Never Change

Chapter 6

“The man of the hour has finally arrived.” Said Fat Boy.

“Whatever man.” He bumped fists with the twins, then did the same with a few other members of the crew.

“Where’s Sizzla?” Wayne asked.

“He’s inside with Crazy T and the other groups.”

“You left them alone in there?”

“He’s not alone a few of us are with them, besides Sizzla said not to come in until you’ve arrived.”

“Ok then, I’m here guys let’s go.”

When Wayne had first arrived at the pound, the place was deserted except for a few scattered cars. Clearly tonight’s event was invitation only. They followed the sound of the dogs barking, a match was going on. Sal was the owner of “The Pound” and would be raking in big money from the popular black market dog fights. Everyone would watch the live dog baiting until all the important people had arrived then the real bartering would go down. The moment he had been waiting for and anxious about all day had finally arrived.

“Sizzla, what did I miss?”

“Lost fifty on that worthless mongrel lying in the corner, all bark and no bite. Now that you’re here we will all go around the back and make our bid with the others. We can only take a third of our men with us.”

“You’re cool with that bro?”

“Not really Crazy T hates the idea even more than I do but we don’t have a choice. Those are the rules of the house.”

“Are you sure these guys are trustworthy?”

“No. The only person I trust is Sal, he and Crazy T go way back. He’s always been fair but I don’t know if the others will keep their word. I’m willing to overlook that because we need the edge this new drug can give us with the competitors.”

They walked along a corridor until they reached a large open area and saw nothing but Bainbridge hoodlums ahead of them. “What are these guys doing here?”

“Did you really believe that we would just allow you guys to take over our base and drive us out of business without a fight?” Shouted the Bainbridge Leader

His voice came from directly behind Wayne. They would have been in the room all along and waiting patiently for their guests to arrive. Suddenly overhead lights were turned on. He saw Sal the owner of The Pound was bound and gagged in the corner.

“It is time we taught you guys a lesson. This is what happens to people who try to compete with us.”

He spoke loudly and with authority so everyone in the room could hear him. The Dutty Bloodz were severely outnumbered, things weren’t looking good. To think that it was a ruse, there was no hot new drug on the market. They had fallen into a wicked trap, like a moth caught in a spider’s web, they had walked into this blind. They tricked the Dutty Bloodz with their greed to get them all in one place. They had them by the balls and was squeezing tight. It was a no brainer that if a battle was to go down the Bainbridge boys would come out on top.

“Guys calm down, let’s work something out.” Said Wayne ever the peacemaker.

“Shut up!” screamed Crazy T. “Don’t you see that these guys want to run us out of business.”

“There is nothing to work out. Pay for your disrespect.” Replied the Bainbridge Leader.

He signaled to his men and they closed in around the group and circled. The enemies had blood in their eyes from the last altercation outside the club. Most of their people had been apprehended by the police and they were still upset about that incident.

“No way I’m gonna die in this dump tonight Sizzla, do something.” Wayne whispered low so that only Sizzla could hear him.

“This was your plan the whole time. How dare you take us for fools and make a mockery of our business.” Sizzla was outraged.

“Say your goodbyes now, this will be your final resting place.” Said the Bainbridge leader’s right hand man.

“Not if I have anything to do with it.” Shouted Crazy T. He brandished his machete in a flurry of moves that had everyone riveted. The blade gleamed and the edge was sharp, it could cut a single strand of hair in two with ease. “We’ll end this tonight.”

 Sizzla nodded in agreement. “I’m not going down without a fight and if I do, I’m taking you with me. Dutty Bloodz today we fight. We have our pride and no one can take that from us.”

“For once I agree with that nut job, it ends tonight.” Said the Enemy’s leader.

Powder shivered behind Wayne, he didn’t want to fight any more than Wayne did. Blood lust filled the air, no one escaped it’s impact and all felt crazed. The fight had started amidst hoarse shouts and obscenities being hurled by the opposing sides.

Sizzla staggered from the fierce blow flung by the Bainbridge leader. He then bounced back like his feet were on springs and jumped on the enemy. Crazy T and the enemy’s right hand man circled each other in the open just shy of the exit. No one wanted to rumble near them for fear they got a knife or machete chop if they were in their vicinity. They feinted to the left or the right and looked for an opening to strike and catch their opponent off guard.

They continued to size each other up. They looked for any form of weakness in their target. It was going to be a brutal showdown once they got each other’s measure. He had looked in Sizzla’s direction just in time to see him fling the Bainbridge Leader across the room and watched his body dent the wall on impact. Sizzla had his back against the wall so that no one could tack him from behind. Crazy T had his opponent cornered and wielded his knives making mincemeat of his enemy. Powder gripped Wayne’s arms and turned his attention back to him.   He realized Wayne was inching near Sizzla, determined to help his best friend. Wayne’s anger was aroused. He needed to get himself out of this alive. This was about survival, the betrayal was fuel for his rage. The thought of finally having found true love with Lou only to lose her weighed heavily on his conscience. He felt incredibly stupid for having fallen so neatly into this trap.