Hit

Mary Jane ‘Bricktop’….fuck me. I’m sure my face turned a disgusting shade of green because the boys jumped immediately.

“Katie…” Jimmy almost warns. I ignored him…Mary Jane ‘Bricktop’, I repeated in my head. She is the nastiest female I know, given the name ‘Bricktop’ because of her red hair and her toughness…a major bitch. An incredible story she has however, she grew up in the alleys of New York and became a prostitute at the age of twelve, but she entered the hit business when she was seventeen. When we meet, we connected because of our young ages, I was younger and better, but she was nastier.

“Katie…”Matt repeats. My eyes snap up to meet the boys worried faces, besides Brian who was drawing a purple cow on the paper.

“‘Bricktop’ is involved in this now.” I sighed. That realization made me completely angry…are they going to keep sending people till I die? Will it ever end? A mixture of confusion and anger spread across the boy’s faces. “I tried to warn you guys. You shouldn’t have gotten involved in this.”

“How do you guys know each other?” Matt wondered…I guess he knows who she is.

“We use to work together because we were so close in age; she is two years older than me. But we had a hit that went incredibly wrong, machine guns were involved, and she ran. Leaving me by myself to kill nine armed men with my knives. When I was done, I was so pissed, I found her, shot her then left…I would say she has a right to be pissed at me. I wouldn’t be surprised if she asked the German’s if she could find me.” I almost laughed, that fucking bitch.

“All right, well, let’s finish up, get back to the house and figure this out.” Val said, always trying to calm down everyone. We silently piled into the car. I rested my head on Zack’s shoulder and thought about the situation. But as I tried to sort everything out, I felt like my mind was being bombarded with my own questions. Why can’t it just end, why can’t I just live with the only people in my life that have accepted me. I sighed and Zack softly took my hand and raised it to his lips. I smiled when I felt the cold metal of his piercings softly bite into my skin. I buried myself further into his shoulder and tried to relax, then I realized, the only time I can push out all the hit man business is when I think of Zack. I smiled again.

We arrived at the house and entered the living room without a word. We sat on the couches and began the conversation of ‘Bricktop’.

“First of all, we need to find out if she is being sent by the Germans or if she’s doing this herself.” Matt said as he leaned back and crossed his arms across his chest.

“I honestly think it is personal. We have such a bad history together, I mean, when we worked together, we were lethal, but now we have a mutual hatred.” I looked at Matt and watched his face as he took in information.

“She seems smart though. Now would be the perfect time to attack you, you are no longer under the protection of the Germans. But, does she know about us?” Johnny muses.

“You guys…I’m not doing this again I-“

“Oh shut up!” Jimmy interrupts me, my mouth hangs open slightly.

“No, no! You are not getting involved in this! ‘Brick’ is my responsibility, you guys are not my ‘protection’, you are my friends and family.”

“Are we really going to do this again?” Jimmy complains.

“Yes!” I yell as I reach over and smack him in the chest. He rolls his eyes, gets up, simply pushes me to the floor and sits on me. He’s definitely stronger than he looks. “You guys!” I whine.

“Anyway…do you think she will come to us?” Zack speaks for the first time as he tries not to smile when he sees me struggling under Jimmy.

“Oh yea! She’ll walk through the front door! She might even bring a fucking welcoming cake! Bitch.” I mumble. “If you guys help me which you probably will because no matter what I do or say, I lose every battle.” I whine again.

“That’s right!” Johnny smiles.

“I just want to warn you guys.” My voice goes from playful to a serious almost deadly tone. “She, of course, has followers, they are despicable, vile, brutal. They don’t fuck around, and neither does ‘Brick’. This is business to us. To them, it isn’t. It’s a game to them, they love this kind of shit. Please…please, don’t take this lightly. Now…I’m going to go drown myself in the pool.” I say humbly as I push Jimmy off me, enter the kitchen and walk to the backyard. I sat at the edge of the pool, rolled my pants up and placed my feet in the semi-cold water. I leaned back on my hands and looked up at the sky. The sun was beginning to set, sending oranges and pinks across the sky. I closed my eyes and the first thought that ran through my mind was the boys. I could never live with myself if something happened to any of them. They need protection that I don’t think I can give.

There has to be something I can do, there has to be someone I can work for…

I heard muffled footsteps behind me, I stiffened, then heard a comforting voice.

“It’s gonna be alright Kate.” Zack tried to comfort me as he sits next to me. His arm wraps around
my shoulders and he pulls me close.

“I worried about this one Zack.” I mumbled, which caused him to laugh.

“And you weren’t worried about the last one?”

“Mark was different, I knew him like the back of my hand. ‘Brick’, she’s different, she’s so…unstructured. Does what she wants when she wants. Doesn’t care who sees what. She’s wreckless. And the wreckless are the most dangerous. She doesn’t care about the money, she cares about how she going to kill me when she gets a hold of me.”

“We aren’t going to let that happen. I will not let that happen.” He turns his head and looks straight at me, but I continued to stare at the ripples of water in the pool. He softly took my hand, kissed it, and held it in his lap. “Everything is going to be perfect.” The gentleness in his voice made me look at him. My eyes trailed from his gorgeous green eyes to his full lips. I hesitated then rested my head on his shoulder.

“Zackary…” I mumbled. With that said, I felt him lower his head, his beautiful lips hovered over mine for a few seconds until I arched my back and softly pressed my lips to his. I lifted my head from his shoulder and lightly tugged on his lip rings which made him smile into the kiss. I wrapped my arms loosely around his neck, his arms around my waist, and I scooted closer to him. Both of us leaned forward into each other, but when our bodies met, we leaned to the side, causing us both to fumble into the pool. We both resurfaced choking and laughing. He trudged over to me, wrapped me up and placed his lips on mine again. Again, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer.

“I think we should go in.” I whispered between his sweet kisses. We chuckled one last time and climbed out of the pool. Hand in hand we walked to the kitchen door, where Val met us.

“You guys need towels, Kate, come with me.” She said very quickly as she pushed us both into the kitchen.

“Val I’m soaking wet!” I said as she took my hand and started dragging me up the stairs. I looked back at Zack and watched him smile and shake his head at us. While in the bathroom, Val handed me two big towels.

“He’s a good kid.” She smiled. I rolled my eyes and began to dry my hair.

“Val…” I begin.

“Oh, don’t even begin to deny it, you guys kissed!” She laughs.

“How do you know!”

“Well…I was minding my own business as I watched out the kitchen window.” She shrugs her shoulders as she starts to walk out the door. I throw my towel at her and laughed. I got up and met her in the hallway. “Now…go get your man!” She screams pushing me towards the stairs.

“I’m right here.” Brian smirks a he wraps me up. I roll my eyes and send Val a massive glare. It took me a few threats and punches to get out of Brian’s grasp, then I made my way down stairs. Zack was still standing in the kitchen, his arms wrapped tightly around his stomach with a little puddle surrounding him. I giggled when I saw him. I wrapped the towel around him, frantically rubbed my hands up and down his arms, I almost walked away, but he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me in for another kiss. I smiled into his lush lips and began to giggle.

“We are going to get caught.” I said as I nibbled his lower lip.

“Well, I don’t see you trying to stop.” He mused while deepening the kiss. I giggled again, grabbed his hand and pulled him to the living room with me where we, both of us still soaking wet, cuddled on the coach; I’m sure Val will kick our ass later. Under our towels, he wrapped both of his arms tightly around my waist and pulled me into his chest. I snuggled into his muscled, warm chest and deeply smiled. Soon, I felt a warm cotton blanket fall over my shoulder. I looked back and saw Val with an almost sinister smile.

“Thanks Val…” I sternly said, but I couldn’t help but smile. But, once again, we were interrupted, the phone rang, but, since we were too lazy to answer the phone, we let Val get it.

“Uh, Kate? Phone.” Val said as she gave me a very, very odd look. Both Zack and I groaned as I untangled myself and stood up, receiving the phone.

Me- Hello?

I answered. The voice on the other end sounded familiar, but it didn’t scream a name out to me.
Frantically I look around then rush to get outside.

Voice- It’s Pauly.

His solid, almost angry Italian voice rang. I sighed…no reason to be rude Katie, I warn myself.

Me- Hey Pauly, what can I do for you?

Pauly- I believe I have a big opportunity for you. I hear you might need some protection.

Me- How did you hear about ‘Brick’?

Pauly- Sweetheart, I know everything.

Me- I don’t need protection, but I do have a few friends that I don’t want touched by both ‘Brick’s’ men and the German’s. I can take care of myself. But, not only do I want my friends protected, I want ‘Brick’s’ men taken care of. Now, what do I have to do to get the guaranteed?

I know if the boys knew that, at this very moment, I was making deals with another mob boss for their protection, they would be so disappointed in me.

Pauly- Work for me. I have a few pains in my ass that I want taken care of. Get those jobs done and I will do as you ask. Your request will be taken care of as soon as you start.

Me- When can I start?

Pauly- Tomorrow morning, I will have a file delivered to you.

With that he hung up the phone. I sure hope this is going to work out the way I want it to.
Before I entered the house, I need to organize everything I just did. I took a few more steps from the house and sat on the front yard. Pauly, somehow got this phone number, still surprised at that, I looked through the phone and saw he used an untraceable number. While that was mysterious, Pauly was mysterious himself. He used to be a part of the Italian mob, but after many disagreements with the Italian mob boss, Pauly broke apart and created the Scarlet Hand, his own little, brutal, vile group. However, while they are small, they are extremely powerful and dangerous, the men that run with this group are called The Sons of Silence, these men are insane, but the protection they offer is well rounded. I hope they can keep my boys safe. I heavily sighed, now tomorrow, Joey, I’m sure, who is Pauly’s right hand man, will deliver a file that will contain everything about the person I will be killing…great. I stood up and brushed excess grass off my butt the returned to Zack and the welcoming couch.

“What was that all about?” He mumbled as he buried his face in my hair. What am I supposed to tell him?

“Just a friend.” I tried to wave the phone call off.

We fell asleep but I woke when I felt him place his hand on my hip.

“What time is it?” I mumbled into the crook of his neck.

“Almost 11.”

“Bed.” I slowly picked myself off the couch, then reached down and helped him up. Together we stumbled to my room, changed our clothes, then fell into each other’s arms, then fell into my bed.

I woke early in the morning, already nervous, awaiting Joey and the file. I untangle myself from Zack and quietly made my way outside. I sat on the front porch in my PJs and played with my long, brown hair. I was almost in a daze, but quickly snapped to attention when a black Chrysler 300 pulled up and parked by the mailbox. I stood up and slowly walked to the side walk and waited. Black, Italian leather shoes peeked out from under the door, followed by an expensive suit covered man. Joey. Tall, dark and handsome. Pauly practically raised him.

“Hey Kate.” He smiled with a slight blush. I smiled at him, he was adorable, perfectly harmless.

“Hi Joey, who do we have today.” I gently took the file from his hands and opened it, but not before
I frantically looked around.

“Victor Cunning. Owes Pauly an apology.” I quickly skimmed through the folder, snapped it shut then looked up at Joey.

“Okay, thank you.” As I began to turn away, he opened his mouth like he was going to say something. I paused and waited. He shook his head and pushed his hands into his pockets with another blush.

“Bye Kate.”

A little taken back by his behavior I turned my back to him then walked back to the house. I entered the house with my head down looking into the file. As soon as I turned my back from closing the door, I saw Matt walking through the living room, heading towards the kitchen. With wide eyes, I immediately stashed the file under my shirt and sent a smile. He looked at me with raised eye brows, then shook his head, but continued his walk to the kitchen. Without any thought, I reopened the front door, walked out and walked around the house and entered the backyard. I sat on a bench by the rose garden, laid the file out in front of me and began to study my victim. There was a picture of the man, mid- 30s, blonde hair, tan skin, Hollywood smile. Just by looking at him, I could tell he got involved with the wrong people, and that mistake is going to cost him his life. The file also told me when and where I could find him; I had at least an hour to get dressed and to get my weapons together. I picked myself up and walked back inside, straight to my room Zack was still passed out on my bed, I had to fight a tremendous urge to join him. I quickly got dressed in a plain white shirt and a pair of jeans.

“Why are you getting dressed?” Zack nearly incoherently mumbled. I sat on the bed with my back to him, before one word exited my mouth, my head already dropped, I’m already regretting what I’m about to do.

“Zack, I need you to drive me to my apartment so I can get my car… I have a job to do.” I mumbled. I soon felt his hand on the small of my back.

“What do you mean by ‘job’?” He questioned, fully awake. I couldn’t answer. “Okay, babe, let’s go.” He quickly hobbled to his room where he got dressed. Then we went to the garage where I was presented with five, absolutely beautiful cars. I stood in awe.

“Which one is your?” I smiled. He grinned and walked me over to a black and red sported out

Camaro. “Nice…” I smirked. As we drove to my apartment, I continued to curse myself off for three reasons. 1) Why the hell did I leave my car at my apartment?! 2) Why am I on my way to kill someone? And 3) Why am I not in bed cuddling with Zack right now? I pushed all three of those argument out of my head and directed Zack on where to turn.

As we pulled up to my apartment Zack went to open his door. “Babe, it’s alright.” I smiled. I leaned over and softly kissed him ‘goodbye’. I watched him drive away, then I ventured to my car. I ran my hands over her black paint then opened the door, started her up and rev the engine. I drove to the outskirts of Atlantic City, the richest part. I had the file open on the passenger seat as I looked for Bayville Road, finally I found it and made a sharp right turn onto the road that contained beautiful, but similar houses. The file didn’t say anything about a family, so I parked in the driveway and go out. As I walked to the door, I made sure my knives were secure and I checked my gun. I walked the brick walkway and walked right into the house. I don’t knock…ever. The TV was on but all the lights were off. I walked up the stairs and looked in all the room and found a small nursey, painted blue and green. There was a picture of a happy pregnant woman with her growing belly resting on a small dresser. A family portrait with a baby with soft blonde hair…this is the family the file forgot to mention. I closed my eyes and ran my hand through my hair and almost groaned. I left the room and continued to look for the man, there was only one left. I found him sitting Indian style on the floor of the Master Bedroom, bent over a picture album. I quickly, emotionlessly, pulled my gun out and shot him in the back of the head, his blood splattered to my shirt. I don’t want to hear him speak, I don’t want to see his eyes. I looked down at the photo album he was making, he was getting ready to put a picture of him and his little boy in, and I ruined that. I turned on my heel and left the house as fast as possible. I got into my car, slammed the door, punched the steering wheel a few times, then burnt rubber as I left the house behind. I don’t want to go straight home, I don’t want to face the guys, especially Matt…he will know what I did just by looking at my face. After an hour of driving, I found myself parked outside of the boys’ house. I climbed out of my car and zipped up my leather jacket all the way so they wouldn’t see the blood. I opened the front door and walked in, trying to act as normal as possible. Everyone, of course, was in the living room.