A Debt Collected
The alley behind the Grand Reserve was a different kind of world. It was a world of shadows, of discarded promises, and the cold reality of a life that had gone wrong. We found them there, a small, pathetic trio, clustered together by a dumpster. The “lucky” player, a man named Gus, stood with his arms crossed, a sneer on his face. Next to him was Lola, her face a mask of fear, her hand clasped in the old lady’s.
“I think you have something that belongs to my friend, Gus,” I said, my voice as flat as the pavement.
Gus’s sneer widened. He was all talk, a man who had built his reputation on the backs of two women. “And who are you, pal? The welcome wagon?”
I didn’t answer with words. I answered with my fist. The first punch was a right hook, a thing of pure physics. It caught him on the jaw and sent him stumbling back against the brick wall. He slid to the ground, a surprised look on his face.
“Don’t,” Lola said, her voice a plea, her eyes darting between me and Gus. “Please, just stop. I can’t stand the sight of blood.”
I didn’t listen. I grabbed Gus by the collar, Gus needed a hard lesson, and I was going to school him. I pulled him to his feet, and put him against the wall again. “Talk,” I said, my voice a growl. “Start talking.”
The Truth Revealed
Gus just grunted, a broken animal. But the old lady, tears streaming down her face, couldn’t hold it in any longer. “He’s a loan shark,” she sobbed. “My husband died, and we couldn’t pay his debts. He came for us. Threatened to hurt my daughter.”
Lola nodded, the fear in her eyes replaced by a quiet, desperate courage. “He shackled us into the game,” she said. “We didn’t have a choice.”
I looked at Gus, the sneer gone from his face, replaced by a kind of pathetic terror. The cold knot in my gut, the one that had been there all night, was now a hard, cold fact. This wasn’t just a grift. It was a cage. I gave Gus one last punch, a hard, cold beatdown that wasn’t about the money. It was about all the women he had caged and all the men like him who preyed on the desperate.
Jamie walked over to the old lady. He pulled the thick roll of money from Gus’s pocket and handed it to the old lady. “He can’t touch you now,” he said, his voice quiet. He then looked at Lola, who was staring at him with a mix of fear and gratitude. “I have a friend who runs a very classy restaurant. He’s looking for a hostess. You can get a good, honest job. Are you interested?” Lola nodded, tears of relief streaking her face.
I looked at the three of them, two broken birds huddled together and the man who had just saved them. This wasn’t a game, it was a debt being paid. And Jamie, the man who had been swindled, was the one who had finally made it right.
