Chapter 177
“Are you alright?” Veronica walked up to Alex, who sat on the floor with his back against the wall.
“Do I look alright to you?” Alex raised his eyebrows and taunted Veronica. His face was covered in bruises, his jacket was sliced in many places, and his white shirt had turned red, “Did you enjoy the show? I hope the corner had a nice view?”
*Five minutes earlier.
“Guys, we can still talk it out. I didn’t mean to do it, and your boss needs...” Alex tried to reason with Ibn’s henchmen one last time. He was standing beside the three henchmen, crouching on the floor, looking after their boss, with his face turned towards the rest.
But while Alex was trying to reason with those in front of him, the one crouching closest to him jumped on him before he could complete his words.
But Alex was vigilant. He had already grabbed a fork in his hand, and as soon as the man was close enough, Alex did not hesitate to stick it deep into the attacker’s shoulder. Right at the base of his neck.
.....
“I am talking, aren’t I?” Alex snapped at the man, “Why are you in such a hurry to throw your life away?” Alex looked at the man straight into his eyes as he twisted the fork in his shoulder and pushed him back to crouching.
“... Believe me, I won’t mind putting all of you in the ground, but who will take your boss to the hospital?” Alex asked.
“Aaghhh...” Not wanting to let out his groan, the man gritted his teeth and looked at Alex angrily. He would also occasionally spew some spit on Alex’s jacket when trying not to let his groan be heard.
“Now, I am going to let you go. I hope you will coopera...” Alex said to the man.
But seeing their friend was on his knees, Another one jumped at Alex, not letting Alex finish his sentence again. But the surprise attack was no good. Alex was still quicker on his feet. Alex pressed his hands against the man’s shoulder, crouching in front of him and averted the attack. But in the process he dug the fork even further into his neck.
“Augghh... Let go of me... Fucking asshole... Let go of me...” The man with his body twisted awkwardly, and the fork deep in his neck cursed at Alex. He wriggled, slapped and did everything he could to push Alex away. But all he got in return was more excruciating pain.
“Say, Papa... Papa, please let me go,” Alex mimicked, acted like a kid and asked the man to repeat after him.
“As if I would,” The man rejected without a single thought, “Over my dead...” but before he could say more, Alex pushed the fork deeper and twisted it.
“Papa, please... Please let me go, papa... I was wrong... I am just a small-time thug...” The man begged, “I won’t ever harass a girl ever again. I will book a ticket straight for my village and take care of my sick mother all my life.”
“You don’t have a sick mother, do you?” As soon as the man finished, Alex asked.
“I ha...” The man wanted to assert that he did, but Alex was a step faster.
“Think it through. I won’t give you a second chance,” Alex said, interrupting the man.
“No... I don’t,” The man replied. He was hesitant, but he chose to speak the truth.
“Now that’s a good boy,” Alex patted the back of the man’s head, “Let me reward you for that.”
And with that, without any warning, Alex pulled out the work. And because of all the twisting and turning, as soon as he did that, a fountain of blood flew straight at him, covering his face, jacket and his shirt. And to avoid any complications, Alex grabbed the man by his hair and smashed his head into the wall.
“Sleep tight, nitwit.”
“One down,” Alex smirked, “Six more to go.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“What do you think I should have done then?” Veronica asked as she undid her heels and pummeled the man groaning right next to her in the thigh, “Should I be brawling with them?” Veronica complained but did not even care how deep she had dug the heel in his thigh.
“... You didn’t hear me cheering for you,” Veronica scorned and pulled out a handkerchief from her handbag, “Do you think I would cheer for just anyone? Anyone else would die of the happiness alone. And you are complaining,” Veronica wiped the blood off his face gently.
Alex smiled, hearing her. She might act brash and uncaring, but her actions spoke otherwise, “I guess that’s the most I can hope...” Alex decided to tease.
But before he knew it, Veronica bent forward and planted a kiss on his lips. Alex had not expected that, but after doing the deed with Susan and Jessica, he was not lost to even react. He wanted to reciprocate, but before he could enjoy her soft lips, veronica backed away.
“That should be enough,” Veronica smiled. She did not act shy as one would expect after watching movies, particularly anime.
“Wasn’t that too short?” Alex asked, jokingly wiping his lips, “And what is with you girls and strawberries?”
“Why do you always complain?” Veronica glared at him and tried to hit him, but he caught her hand.
“I would love to continue, but we are not done yet,” Alex smiled, “So don’t injure me now. I am sure we will end up going a couple of rounds soon,” Alex winked at Veronica and stood up.
And Alex was right. There was still one more guy left to take care of. Who might turn out to be the most difficult opponent of them all, Popat. Popat was still standing away from all the fight, holding on to Brad, who had already passed out.
Limping, Alex walked up to Popat and stopped five to six feet away from him. He wanted to have enough distance between them to dodge any attack. As the two of them stood face to face, none of them spoke a word.
Finally, Alex was the one who broke the silence after a minute of stalemate.
“Why... You... Not... Attack... Me?” Alex asked as he spoke in broken English and tried to explain with hand signs.
“Boss... Not... Ask... To... Attack...” Popat replied.
“Why... Not... Help... Boss,” Even though it was not necessary, Alex continued, “Help... Boss, boss... Stabbed... Blood... Phoosh... Phoosh... Fountain... He... Die...”
“What are you doing,” Veronica, when saw Alex talk the way he did, thought he was intentionally making fun of Popat, the big bulky guy. Afraid that he might end up dead, she got beside him, “He will crush you into a meat pie with one punch.”
“Oh, no, he won’t,” Alex whispered with a smirk, “This guy is all brawn but no brain.” And Alex looked at Popat with a smile plastered on his face.
“You... Escape,” Popat replied, scratching his cheek, “The girl too. I... Put... Hehe... Hehe... Fuck... Her?” Popat laughed as he crossed his fingers and licked them. Even if it was vulgar, the way he talked was so childlike that even though Veronica wanted to get angry hearing him, she could not. In the end, all she could do was turn her face away.
“But... If... Boss... Die... Boss... Family... Fuck... You...” Alex ignored Popat’s jibe at Veronica and said, “Popat... Likes... Banana?” Alex asked.
“Yes,” Popat nodded.
“Does... Popat... Likes... Banana... In... Ass?” Alex turned his back towards Popat and rubbed his ass.
And the big guy hurriedly shook his head, “No... Not like that,” And Popat took a step back.
“A day... Boss put me on bed... And put a long... in my ass,” Popat said as his hand moved back and caressed his butt, “It hurt.”
“Then... Save... Boss... Boss alive... Happy family... No fuck Popat... Boss die... Angry family... Fuck Popat,” Alex shrugged.
“No... fuck, Popat,” Popat roared and threw Brad on the floor. He then rushed towards Ibn and flung everyone who lay beside his boss. It was all so fast that before Alex could turn, Popat had already princess carried Ibn.
Lifting his boss, who was already unconscious, Popat did not care about anyone else and, breaking open the door, walked out of the room. He did not even spare Alex or the others another look.
Finally, after Popat left did, Alex took a breath of relief.
“We should leave as well,” Alex turned to look at the other few men in the room who were nothing but dead-weight all along, “And pick him up as well,” Alex said, pointing at Brad, who lay unconscious in the pool of blood.
But God had other plans. Maybe Alex had forgotten about the four guys keeping watch outside, or he wanted to leave before they came running inside. Whatever the case may be, but before they could leave the room, three of the four ruffians came running as well. Now, this was a problem, and Alex knew he could not count on anyone else.
But he was not the only one in a dilemma. The three new arrivals were left shocked as well. They had been out of the room for just a few minutes, and something unexpected had happened. Just a few minutes ago, they were cursing their luck, but now they were relieved. Sceptical? Yes, but relieved as well. The room was a mess. Everyone who stayed with the boss was on the floor, covered in blood and groaning in pain. Not to forget that they came across Popat, carrying their boss, who was stabbed in his butt.
The three wanted to run towards their men and inquire about what happened in here. But without even knowing the situation, they were hesitant to do so. Because When they left, there were ten men from their side and five or six from the other. But now, everyone from their side was down while the other party had everyone standing in front, practically unharmed.
‘Did they take us by surprise?’ the men thought but quickly threw that thought away. The room was small. So when face to face, there can’t be a surprise attack.
While the three henchmen of Ibn were standing there assessing the situation, Alex tried to gamble. He signalled those with him and, without even looking at those three men, slowly made his way out of the room. Veronica closely walked beside Alex while the others grabbed the unconscious Brad and followed closely behind.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“We need to leave,” Alex said and pulled out his phone. They had just exited the restaurant. And outside were four ambulances. Alex could also see Popat standing beside a stretcher on which Ibn was lying upside down.
“Aren’t we going already?” Veronica looked confused, “I can’t run in these heels, you know.”
“Simon, can you look for an alternate flight?” Alex did not reply to Veronica. Instead, he got on the call with a guy from his company, “No, not for me. For every one of us. I want us to leave early.” Alex told Simon.
“We are leaving early, but why? I don’t wanna.” Veronica held Alex by his arm and shook him, but he ignored her and pushed her away.
“Yes, do look. Let me know whatever the case is.” Alex replied, “I want us to leave Thar as soon as possible.” Alex instructed Simon and ended the call. While talking with Simon, Alex had already been by the road. He quickly waved his hand and stopped a taxi.
Looking at the guys coming behind, he said, “You guys head back to the hotel first and pack your stuff. We might be leaving early.” Alex ordered, and none of them questioned Alex’s intentions. They quickly boarded the taxi and made their way to the hotel.
Sending the men, Alex stopped another taxi, “You leave as well,” Alex told Veronica, “By the way, what happened to the other girls who were with you?” Alex had totally forgotten about them during the confrontation with Ibn and his men.
“I got their message. While that scum followed me, they left.” Veronica explained.
“Some friends you have,” Alex could not stop himself from taunting.
“They are not my friends,” Veronica looked annoyed and denied.
“If you are both going to have a couple fight, then I a leaving,” the driver interfered.
“We are not...” Veronica tried to deny it, but Alex pulled her away.
“Take her straight to the hotel. I have your vehicle number. If anything were to happen to her. I won’t mind putting you under a saw and tear you apart limb by limb. Do you get it?” Alex warned the driver.
Normally with the sort of face Alex had, this wouldn’t have worked, but up close, the driver could see the bruises on Alex’s face and the blood on his shirt, and he felt genuinely threatened. Apart from nodding his head vigorously, the driver could do nothing.
Nodding his head, Alex pulled out a hundred-dollar bill from his wallet and gave it to the driver, “Straight to the hotel without stopping... Anywhere.”
Alex then made Veronica sit in the cab.
“But where are you going?” Veronica peeked her head out of the window and asked.
“I have to take care of things here,” Alex said, pushing her head inside. He then hit the door twice, signalling the driver to get going.
Only after Veronica’s taxi was out of sight did Alex turn to look for another ride.
‘I better see a doctor first,’
Alex thought as his hand made its way to his chest. He felt like his ribs were at least cracked, if not broken.
.....
* * * * *