Thank the Lucky Stars

"What are you doin'? What the fuck are you doin'?! No, no, no!" Brett said pushing T.K away from Charlie.

"You fucker! I was sittin' on a straight flush there!" Ira whined.

"Brett, will you relax? He doesn't have the blood pressure to walk around the room! Look at him, man! What are you worried about?"

"What I am worried about? We had a fuckin' plan! That's what I'm worried about! I want to stick to the plan!"

"Obviously the plans not working well if Charlie's bleeding to death ya dumbass."

"Stay out of it Nikki." Brett said through gritted teeth.

"You got me and my baby involved with this plan. So don't fucking tell me to stay out of it." Nicole said standing up threateningly.

Uh, maybe that's not all you're worried about, huh?" Ira said jumping in.

"What the fuck does that mean Ira?"

"Go ahead, T.K. Ask him?"

"Ask me what?"

"Go on T.K." Ira said.

"Ask me what?" Brett said again.

"T.K."

"Shut up!" Brett said turning to Ira then back to T.K. "Ask me what?"

"Just answer this question, ok? All that money in Atlantic City that you lost-how were you gonna pay it back?" T.K asked calmly.

Brett had the deer in the headlights look. Max grabbed Nikki's hand and made her sit back down.

"Don't do anything stupid." He whispered in her ear before he let her hand go.

"Yeah, how are you gonna pay it back?" Ira taunted.

"None of your fuckin' business, Ira. Why?" Brett said through clenched teeth.

"Well, you see, it's been brought to Charlie's attention that one of us might be in on Elise's kidnapping."

"What?" He asked chuckling.

"Yeah. Well, that's how I felt ya know. But, you know, Maybe it's not that crazy. And uh, twenty thousand dollars is a lot of money." T.K explained.

"So, if you have nothing to hide, you should have no problem telling us how you were gonna pay it back, right?" Ira said bravely.

"Ira, you're my friend. Listen to me, shut the fuck up! Shut up!"

"You set Elise's kidnapping up didn't you? Just so you could get the money!" Nikki said shocked.

"He sounds guilty to me."

"Ira." T.K warned.

"Fuckin' faggot! Come here!" Brett said going after Ira.

Ira ran around the table for safety and Avery caught Brett. Max put a hand on Nikki's thigh to keep her in place.

"Hey, Brett! Come on."

"Avery, Avery. Don't tell me you're buyin' into this fuckin' load of bullshit! Come on you guys, he's makin' up stories to save his own ass!"

"Brett, look, you calm down, alright? I don't think that anybody here is involved with Elise's kidnapping, alright? But I think that it might be time that we reevaluate our plan." Avery reasoned.

"Why? The plan's working, man. He fucking made the call. Why?"

"I think we should just let Charlie go."

"Me too."

"Ira, shut the fuck up."

"He's not doin' so well. We should get him to a hospital." T.K stated.

"What the fuck? I leave the room, you guys roll over like five-dollar whores or Nikki. You have a drink with the guy, next thing you know, he's the best man at your wedding. What the fuck did he do? Sprinkle fairy dust up your skirts? Come-" Brett stopped abruptly when his head turned the other way.

Nikki got up and slapped him so hard that her hand was stinging and his face had a clear distinct bright pink hand print.

"Brett, don't you EVER call me a whore again. Last time I checked I slept with one guy, you! And that was six and a half months ago! Two, don't be coming after all of us because they've got you cornered and you can't get out! If you ever go after one of them threateningly again or call me a whore I will rip off your dick and make you eat it. Then I'll take that gun that you have and shoot you. Do you understand me?" Nicole asked glaring at him.

Brett didn't know what to say. He manipulated her for the three years that they were dating. He'd never have thought that she would ever stand up to him like this. Nikki took hold of his tie and yanked on it.

"Do you understand?"

"Yeah. Now let go of me."

"I don't have a hold of you. I have a hold of your tie, dumbass. And if you wake Tyler up, I'm going to beat the living shit outta you."

"Let's go." T.K said grabbing her arm and pulling her away from Brett.

He made her sit next to Max again.

"Stay put." T.K said firmly then went back to Brett.

"Nikki, calm down." Max whispered while he run his hand up and down her thigh soothingly.

"Avery, come on, this your sister's life we're talking about, man. What the fuck?" Brett said.

"Man, look at us. Look at us. We cut his fuckin' finger off! Man, you're walkin' around with a gun! This isn't us. We're no better than he is."

"Tell Elise that." Brett said and started walking away.

"He had nothing to do with Elise's kidnapping. He had nothing to do with it. Can't you understand that? He didn't do anything!"

"It doesn't matter! We're all a like. Whoever did the actual kidnapping-it's fucking technicality!"

"Yeah. Go ahead. Look that up in the constitution." Max butted in.

"Max, shut up." Brett said.

"D-" Nicole started but stopped when Max squeezed her thigh in warning.

"He's not guilty." T.K said.

"But he's responsible, man. Come on. Let me tell you something. The best soap in the world won't wash the scum off this guy's hands. I promise. Let me enlighten you, Avery, about your new friend here Charlie; about what he's really like. You want to tell him about the dogs or should I?"

"No, you're going good."

"Jump in any time. About a year ago, Charlie had a house in Jersey. He moves in. Next door neighbors have dogs. Two dogs? They're barkin' all night long. Charlie goes over, the nice guy that he is, asked them to keep the noise down. Next night after that, same fuckin' dogs-bark, bark, bark. All fuckin' night long. Next night after that and the next night after that, until one night-nothin' man. Silence. No more noise. Cops got there about a week later. Found the dogs, the dogs were fine. Happier than pigs in shit, munchin' on top sirloin. The neighbors-Avery, the neighbors-they never fuckin' found. Ok? Gone. How am I doin', Charlie? Is that right?"

"Almost."

"Bet that was a rumor. He's not involved with the mob anymore." Avery reasoned.

"Oh, give me a fuckin' break! How do you think he was able to find your sister with one phone call? One call. Coincidence? Come on."

Everybody was silent waiting for Charlie to explain.

"Your friend is right. It's not a coincidence. I was able to contact the right people, the way you counted on. It's a good thing for you that I am who I am and I do what I do and I know who I know otherwise, your princess would be chopped up and in the blender by now." I'll tell you somethin' else; even after what you did to me, I kept my part of the bargain. No more. Who do you think you're dealing with? Guess again. You want to know what else I could do with one phone call? How about I have your ass made into mincemeat?"

Nicole shivered in fear, why did the boys have to go and get someone who was going to kill them all.

"I'll tell you what in fact happened with my neighbors. It's got nothing to do with barking dogs. That family, way back, did something...vicious to mine. Everything your pal Brett said is true, except he left out one detail; those dogs-it was not steak they were eating."

Nikki became horrified, she started having a panic attack.

"Nikki, what's the matter?" Max said worriedly as he took his hand off her thigh.

T.K went to her quickly and kneeled in front of her.

"Nikki, it's going to be ok. Just relax and take slow deep breaths, alright." He said. "Nikk's c'mon quit breathing like you're in labor and breath slowly." T.K said as he started to breath slowly with her. "That's it. Slow deep breaths." He said as he stood slowly.

His pager started going off when he stood fully. He looked at it and sighed.

"Guys, it's for him."

T.K and Brett wheeled him back into the living room. Max took Nicole's shaky hand and led her into the room and sat her down on the couch while the others came in.

"Charlie, are you there?" A voice came through the phone's speaker.

"Yeah."

"good news; the terms have been offered and accepted. These guys are gonna make sure the money is in play, that I'm gone and nobody's watching us, and then they're gonna drop the girl off at the emergency room at the Lennox Hill Hospital. Ya got that? And Charlie I'll be fronting you the money. I know you're good for it. Just remember, the banks don't open till ten so don't be dying on me. Remember, I'm a lawyer. I got friends in Hell. So what? Is it still a go, or what?"

"One second. You wanna play...still?...Good. Now we play my way. I give my friend the go ahead. You tell him where we are. I want my own driver waiting outside that door. So's you got no opportunity whatsoever-crap out on your part of this."

"Max." She said going into panic again.

"I'm right here." He said sitting next to her and hugging her lightly.

"Forget it Charlie. You're going to have to trust us."

"No. You trust me. Well, how 'bout something nearby?"

"Yeah, not here."

"A hotel."

"Yeah, good." Ira said.

"Hmm? Restaurant. Gas station. No comment?"

Silence.

"Marty, call the whole thing off."

"No. No, please."

"Middlebury Inn. It's a half-mile away. It's in Montauk. It's got a coffee shop." Brett said rubbing the back of his neck.

"Middlebury Inn. Montauk. Got that?"

"The Middlebury Inn. Ok, so how do I get there?"

"How do you get there?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah, it's easy. Take 124th street to-" T.K started then the guys started arguing about directions.

"You ok?" Max asked softly.

"Yeah. Thanks."

He took hold of her hands and kissed her knuckles on her right hand before getting up.

"Just shut up, shut up." Max stated with annoyance.

"Charlie, who do you got there? The New York taxi drivers' union?"

"Take Central Park West to Parkway Central to Lennox then to 125th; 125th to the Tribrough Bridge, the Central Park Expressway or the Southern States. Your choice. Let's just get this over with." Max snapped.

"You got that?"

"Yeah, I got it. Take care of yourself brother."

T.K hit the end call button and Nikki looked over at Charlie. She didn't like that look on his face at all.

Why is he looking at Max like that?

"Good. So, she's ok?" Avery asked.

"Yeah."

"Thank you, Mr. Barret."

"Anytime, kid. I must say that those were terrific directions, Max."

Nicole looked over at Max, who was standing near the fireplace trying to collect himself.

"Turns out you're some kind of Eagle Scout. I had no idea you spent that much time uptown."

"I used the library up there to do some studying at Columbia sometimes."

"You got balls, kid. I'd hate to get stuck up there alone, especially at night. It happened to me once. When I was a kid, I started out taking bets, making collections for numbers. All of the five boroughs. I ran my ass off. I knew every street upside down and backwards, but I'd never been that far uptown before. I fell asleep on a subway and missed my stop. I come out, I looked around. To me it was like...I landed on, uh-what Max said-the dark side of the moon. Yeah."

Nikki got up from the couch and stood by Max, Charlie was creeping her out more.

"I'm sorry. I'd love to sit around and reminisce, but can someone tell me the point of this fuckin' memoir?"

Wow! Me and Brett thinking the same thing? Hell musta froze over.

"Well, I'm wondering how come a day and a half ago, Max can't navigate his way around Harlem with a Sherpa Guide, but tonight he knows the place like his backyard."

"I don't know what the Hell you're talkin' about, Charlie." He said walking over to the couch and sitting on the arm.

Nikki knew this action, he was getting defensive. But why?

"What I said. How could you get lost up there, as well as you know the place? Isn't that where you were with the girl when this happened?"

"Yeah? So? Like I said it was dark out. It was raining. It could happen to anybody. It happened to you. You said so yourself."

"Well, yeah, I was eight at that time."

"Don't tell me you're back on this inside player thing, Charlie." Brett said.

"I'm bleeding to death. Humor me."

"You wanna waste your breath? Go ahead."

"Well, one more question-how'd they know to find you there?"

"Look, how the fuck should I know?" Max snapped.

"We've all been through this with the police. I don't see how saying it one more time is gonna help anybody." Avery said.

"Cops can't find their dick with both hands. Or, maybe it happened differently. What do I know? I'm old. I'm tired. I'm a senior citizen."

"I think you had a little too much blood loss to the brain there, Charlie. Max mouthed off.

"Maybe. Maybe not. You know, Max, I understand how this could happen. I'm not sayin' it's ok it happened, but in a certain light it's not as crazy as it seems."

"What is he talking about Max?" Nicole said lowly, still standing by the fireplace.

"I don't know." He said looking at her apologetically. "I don't know what the fuck you're talkin' about Charlie." Max said looking at him with a poker face.

Tears welled up in her eyes. He was a part of the kidnapping, Charlie was right, it was an inside job. But why would Max do such a thing.

"Stay with me. See if it seems crazy don't start to make sense. See I know guys that could talk the virgin Mary into posing far a centerfold and make her think it was her idea in the first place. Let's say you owe these kinda guys something. Let's say you can't pay them back. Not now. So, they wear you down. They scare you pretty bad. They make you feel there's no way out of this mess you got yourself into. Then they tell you it's your lucky day. They're gonna do you a favor. Not a favor they'd do for anybody. Also if they tell you do what they say, nobody gets hurt. Am I gettin' warm?"

"You haven't moved from Mercury yet Charlie." Max said lowly.

Nicole knew better than that, she knew Charlie was close.

"I'm not far off Max, am I? By the time these bottom feeders finish turning dogshit into diamonds, you let yourself be talked into doing something you'd never do in a million years, Max. Huh? It could happen."

"Shut up, Charlie." Max said in warning.

"It does happen. And it starts off with the first bet or babe or snort, fix, whatever, until it becomes easy, and after that you don't feel nothin'...at all. Right? T.K?"

"You're full of shit, Charlie. You know that?" Max said.

"Tell 'em Max?" Brett said.

"Yeah. Tell me, Max."

"You don't know shit, Charlie, alright." Max said again.

"Your eyes are floatin', Max."

"Fuck you Charlie! You don't know who I am."

"You're guilty as shit, Max."

Nicole couldn't take it anymore, she wiped her eyes quickly and headed out of the room.

"Nikki, come back!" Max pleaded loudly.

She ignored him and went upstairs. Once she reached the top she locked herself into the bathroom and cried. Now two guys broke her heart, one meant it and the other didn't.

What am I supposed to do now?