《The Monster and the Rifle Girl》 The Monster and The Rifle Girl- Chapter 1- Rock Stars The Round Man ¡°Humpty Dumpty, sat on the wall!¡± Was all Rica Reyes heard in her head. The song lyrics and the sight of the round man with the round head, sitting at the desk in front of her, tickled the pre-teen assassin¡¯s spirit. ¡°Had a great fall, heh, heh!¡± Rica blurted out loud. Rica¡¯s mother, Reyna, gave Rica a sharp look, quieting her twelve year old. Rica straightened up. She knew the look Reyna gave her wasn¡¯t a look of, ¡°Be quiet!¡± No, the look she gave said, ¡°You¡¯re a professional, pay attention to your surroundings!¡± Rica focused, and considered their situation. It was 1 am, Reyna and Rica were in Brooklyn. The mother-daughter assassin duo stood in the rear office of the beautiful Brazilian restaurant Macei¨®. A closed for the night eatery built directly under the Williamsburg bridge and separated from the main street by a quarter of a mile. A lot of things could happen in an on open space like this, at this time of night, Rica thought. The round man seated at the desk was the owner of Macei¨®, Alonso. A mid level Brooklyn crime boss with a heavy Brazilian accent and a penchant for shaking people down. As Reyna and Alonso spoke, Rica could tell they were speaking the language of gangster subtlety. Saying things without saying them. Especially Alonso. ¡°Reyna, when I heard about, how do you say, this tragedy that happened in the Bronx to Tseka¡¯s crew. I imagined how heavy the hearts of their families, their brothers, must felt. You don¡¯t agree?..¡± Reyna saw right through Alonso, she knew he¡¯d figured out who killed Boss Edi Tseka¡¯s men in the Bronx, and now wanted to blackmail her and make her work for him. But The Villain Reyna ¹í Rai, doesn¡¯t scare easy. ¡°Agree?..Alonso, when I heard your message I thought to myself, now I know Alonso hasn¡¯t lost his ever loving mind, thinking he¡¯s going to shake me down, but it wouldn¡¯t hurt to find out. Now here I am, talking to a dead man.¡± Alonso shot a dry smirk at Reyna while Rica¡¯s eyes shifted to the office door. Rica could hear the restaurant doors opening outside the office, and footsteps, four big men were in the restaurant. Reyna could hear them too, and she whispered one word, ¡°Rica.¡± and Rica responded. In one motion little Rica leapt and landed in front of the seated Alonso with her left hand grabbing his neck and in her right her Model 5906 9mm handgun, pressed against his head. Alonso was impressed at her speed, but he wasn¡¯t afraid of the twelve year old daughter of Reyna. Rica, sensing Alonso¡¯s apathy, talked shit to him ¡°Oi, Humpty Dumpty, you see this gun (pushed the gun barrel in his temple), his name is Cop Gun! Heee! And if those four men try to come in here I¡¯ll..¡± Alonso cut her off, he was in no way afraid of Rica, ¡°Ha, you''re a cute little girl, I tell you wha..¡± Pop! Pop! Pop! Three shots fired off in the restaurant outside of the office. Startled, Rica took a defensive stance. ¡°Calm down baby, we were bait for this catch,¡± said Reyna referring to Alonso. Rica didn¡¯t know what Reyna meant, but the gunfire outside of the office stopped and switched to sounds of crashing and fighting. Alonso jumped up from his desk and pushed his way past the Reyna and Rica to the office door to find out what happened in his restaurant. As soon as Alonso opened the door a booted left foot smashed into his face, kicking him backward and onto the office floor. Rica looked up and the kicker appeared in the door, and for a moment Rica was breathless. The kicker was a boyishly pretty ponytailed Asian girl in jeans and a black zip up hooded sweatshirt, with an evil smile on her face, talking shit to round man Alonso. ¡°God damn you got fat, Alonso!¡± said the cute Asian tomboy. She then shot a glance at Reyna, who kept her back to the door. "Yo, wassup Reyna, hope we didn¡¯t scare ya! haha!" said the Asian tomboy. Reyna, didn¡¯t turn around to greet the girl, she merely replied, ¡°Hello, Tara.¡± And when Reyna said this name, Rica''s mouth gaped. "Y..You''re Bad Tara!" Tara, jumped out of the office doorway when another kicked man flew into the door past Tara and onto the ground next to Alonso, unconscious. ¡°What the hell? Come on, Kitty, you messin up my cool doorway stance, man!¡± yelled Tara. Another, higher pitched, female voice yelled back at Tara from outside, ¡°Hey, Shut up!¡± Tara left the doorway and ran back into the melee in the restaurant she¡¯d left before kicking Alonso on to the office floor. Rica, hearing the second voice, yelled out to Reyna, ¡°Mom, they¡¯re both here!¡± and ran to the office door to see the legends for herself. When Rica reached the door she gasped when she saw the second girl. A fiendishly beautiful shorter Asian girl with long black hair, fighting alongside the ponytailed girl. Rica smiled and knew that these two girls were the notorious Outlaw Sisters, Bad Tara and Kitty! Rock Stars of the criminal elite. Rica watched from the office doorway as the two sisters brutalized the remaining three of Alonso¡¯s goons with punches, kicks and lightning speed. Tara fought two goons at once, but not for long as Rica watched Tara hop straight up and Muay Thai crack her knee into one the goon¡¯s nose, sending him down on the ground bleeding. The next goon, she lined up for fun. ¡°Yo Kitty, watch this!¡± Tara yelled as the goon threw a strong right punch directly at Tara¡¯s face. Tara waited for the punch, then spun into and away from the punch 360 degrees and delivered a whipping roundhouse kick to the goon¡¯s temple, knocking him clean out! Tara then looked over at little Rica, who watched the spectacle, and yelled to her ¡°Yo, little Rifle Girl, did you see his head spin? Haaa haaa!¡± amused at her own handiwork. Rica, happy to be a spectator blurted out to Tara ¡°Oh, yes! Wow!¡± as Tara grinned in acknowledgment . Kitty saw the exchange of Tara and Rica and wanted to show off her own skills to Reyna¡¯s pre-teen child. Kitty¡¯s opponent, the biggest and strongest of Alonso¡¯s goons, fought stifled. Every punch he threw at kitty she evaded and countered with hard slaps to his face. Slap! Kitty wasn''t trying to take the goon down, she was humiliating him and showing off in front of Rica, who watched in amazement. The goon Kitty fought was Alonso¡¯s last goon standing and he was beyond angry, beyond outraged, and Kitty slapped him again and asked him, ¡°What¡¯choo gonna do big boy, cause you boring me now!¡± In a rage the man charged at and threw two monster punches at Kitty. Unfazed, Kitty ducked the punches then dropped down and kicked the goon in his nuts, hard. The big man yelped and fell with a thud, holding himself. The last of Alonso¡¯s four goons was down, and he would not get back up. ¡°Jeezis Kitty, the jewels?¡± laughed Tara ¡°Hey, he kept moving around and pissing me off, he¡¯s lucky I didn''t break anything!¡± barked Kitty slapping five with Tara. The sisters amused at their own violence. When the last man went down, six big dudes waiting outside the restaurant entered. These six dudes brandished guns, keeping all of Alonso¡¯s beaten goons on the ground. These six dudes were Tara and Kitty¡¯s crew, and they knew better than to interfere when Boss Tara and her little sister, (little boss) Kitty, wanted to beat people up. Four of Eight With the restaurant secure, the sisters walked into the office and extended greetings to everyone. But Kitty focused on one person, little Rica. For Rica it was love at first sight. Kitty was a beautiful Cantonese girl, and young, with a light voice full of mischief. With a smile Kitty spoke to Reyna while staring at Rica. Kitty: Ray-na! Where did you get such a cute loli? I so want one! Rica: Eh? did you call me a loli? Kitty: Yes I did, do you protect Reyna? Rica, nervous in the presence of the legendary Kitty, looked at Reyna for confirmation to answer. Reyna nodded and Rica engaged with confidence. Rica: Yes, but my mother.umm..Reyna, is pretty tough. She doesn''t need a bodyguard..except when she does need one. Kitty: Except when she does? Kawaii nya! Rica: Eh? ..did you just say, ¡°Kawaii nya?¡± Kitty: (giggle) Maybe! What¡¯s your name? The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Rica: I¡¯m Rica..um...Hajimemashite! (*nice to meet you in Japanese*) Kitty: Cool! You speak the kawaii language, D¨­zo yoroshiku! (*another way of saying nice to meet you in Japanese*). Rica: Yaan! Did you take classes? Kitty: No, just a lot of anime! Rica: Whaaa! Me too! Rica was enamored with Kitty and Bad Tara was super cool too. But there was no time for this as Tara, who had been harassing Alonso turned to Reyna. Tara: Yo Reyna-Reyna, the boys and me need a few minutes with Alonso here, seems he thinks he knows what¡¯s going on in the Bronx, isn''t that right you Fat Fuck! Alonso: Tara! It¡¯s not like that, I don¡¯t know anything you.. Tara: Oh Yeah? Well we gonna find out what you know right now. Alonso snapped shut. He was in trouble, and in no position to toy with Boss Tara. And it was not lost on Alonso that in his office, at that very moment, stood three legendary killers. Rica knew it too, and swelled with pride, as she was well aware that Tara and Kitty were two total bad asses. Tara- Íà The (Wild) Rabbit Kitty- è The (Feral) Cat Reyna- ¹í The Ghost Rica- è÷ø The Mongoose Tara switched from evil boss to friendly girl to address the evil Reyna who ignored her. Tara: Hey Reyna-man (smiling) I guess I¡¯m asking, can you and your pretty little daughter meet us at the studio in an hour? Yeah, maybe, Rifle Girl, hm? Reyna wasn''t amused with Tara. Reyna: You ask a lot, Tara. Kitty: Sure she does, but you gotta lot to pay for, don''t you Reyna? Reyna glared evil eyes at Kitty, who smiled back. Rica could tell that Reyna wasn''t friends with the Outlaw Sisters. It seemed Reyna just tolerated them, but agreed to their terms. ¡°Let''s go, Rica, we gotta stop in Chinatown, ¡± said Reyna. Rica wasn¡¯t sure what happened but went with the flow. ¡°Yes, ma''am!¡± Tara and Kitty waved goodbye to Reyna and Rica with squint eyed smiles, and Rica waved back like a proper groupie! ¡°Cool, cool, see you guys later!¡± said Tara Reyna never said goodbye or looked back as she and Rica exited the restaurant, and Alonso to his fate with Tara. The Ride To Chinatown Reyna and Rica drove over the Williamsburg bridge into lower Manhattan heading for Chinatown. Rica, not sure of what just happened, questioned Reyna. Rica: Mom, what¡¯s going on? Since events were in motion, Reyna felt should could answer. Reyna: Baby, you know who those girls were right? Rica: Of course I do! Those were the Gun Girls Bad Tara and Kitty aka, The Outlaw Sisters, The Wild Íà Rabbit and The Feral è Cat! Oh my god, did you see the way they fought? They were so freaking awesome! (stars in her eyes all groupie-groupie)....But what do they want with us? Reyna: What does anyone want with us? Rica: Eh? You mean they need mechanic work? But I didn''t think fellow Gun Girls needed our services. Reyna: They don¡¯t. Tara is just a pain in the ass. Rica: I¡¯m sure she is but the way she handled everything you can tell she¡¯s the boss. And the way you spoke to her. Hmm..Mom, were you and Bad Tara ever...lovers? Reyna: What? That self-serving bitch Tara will never love anyone outside of her crew and her damn little sister. Hmph! those two girls take blood and water to another level, let me tell you. Rica didn¡¯t understand what Reyna said as a sentence, but what Reyna conveyed in her statement was that Tara and Reyna may have been close at one time, but not anymore. Rica: I see, so why did we go to that restaurant? Reyna: A lot of people paid attention to all of the noise we made fighting with the Tseka crew in the Bronx. And now that Tseka¡¯s crew is gone, and the Gashi crew crippled, a power vacuum formed in that area.* (NOTE * All of what Reyna just said about Tsekas crew happened in the last book. The point is Reyna now owes Tara a favor to shush all of that trouble from the first book up. The trouble that Rica actually caused, but of course Reyna will pay the debt for Rica. Mommy loves her baby). Rica: But isn¡¯t Tara the boss of all of the Bronx? Reyna: Ha Ha, yes and no baby. Tara and her crew are certainly the strongest crew in the Bronx, especially the North Bronx. But she¡¯s certainly not a Queen, as she''ll have you believe. And remember the Bronx is a large borough with a lot people and a lot of smaller crews wanting to make names for themselves. Rica: Oh, so since we killed all those Tseka guys, different crews want to take their place. So we kinda caused trouble for Bad Tara¡¯s crew, huh? Reyna: Oh please, it¡¯s nothing she can¡¯t handle. But still, we need her help to squash any problems with any bosses in the bronx. Rica: Do you still love her? Reyna: What? I never! Rica! get your mind out the gutter...like I could love a tomboy flirt like Tara. Rica: But Mom, you tell me to flirt all the time, but to make sure I don''t give up any of my, "sweet goodness!" Reyna: Ha, ha, sweety I do tell you that, but you''re twelve, Tara''s not! Rica: Heh, heh, but she''s got your number! Reyna: And only calls when she needs something. Hmph! Rica: That''s not what I meant! Anyway, you know that Kitty she¡¯s really a nya-nya otaku, and she''s the prettiest Chinese girl I''ve ever seen! Reyna smiled and touched Rica¡¯s face. Reyna: Yeah she''s cute enough, and she knows it. Well, I see you¡¯ll get along with those two dizzy blondes just fine. Rica: Eh? But their hair was black like ours? Reyna: Ha, ha, see, I rest my case! Rica: Eh? I don''t get it! @_@ Reyna continuing laughing and squeezed Rica¡¯s cheeks in a you¡¯re so cute way. Reyna: Baby, that''s why you''re my clever girl! Joking with Rica in the car lifted Reyna¡¯s ill feelings about Tara and kitty. It was one thirty am as the duo crossed the bridge from Brooklyn into Manhattan, heading for Bad Tara¡¯s Kung Fu studio in Chinatown. ..... Reyna and Rica Bad Tara and Kitty Chapter 2- Ghost Technique The Outlaw Sisters- Bad Tara and Kitty Nya Nya Bad Tara¡¯s Kung Fu studio, Chinatown NYC. Chinese weapons of all types adorned the walls of the small studio. Swords, spears, a Chinese dragon head costume for use in the Chinatown parades! Rica loved it. The pretty pre-teen chicana walked around and touched everything. She looked at each photo showing the history of the studio, to include pictures of Bad Tara and Kitty as little-little girls. ¡°Omg, so cute!¡± Rica could see that Tara and Kitty have trained as fighters since they were little eggs. Rica stopped on one photo as it puzzled her. A big black brother in the photo seemed to be in a lot of personal pictures of the girls. As Rica stared at the photograph a voice shot at her from the studio entrance, ¡°That¡¯s our dad!¡± It was Tara followed by Kitty and two of their crew from the restaurant. Rica: Oh, I wasn''t.. Tara: It¡¯s ok! He was awesome! (Tara glanced at Reyna) The same way your mom is awesome! (wink) Reyna: Hmph! Rica: Heh, heh! She has her moments~ Tara: I know she does, you mind if I borrow her? I¡¯ll bring her back. Rica: Oh..umm..ok. Tara: Cool, cool! Come on Reyna, I won¡¯t waste your time! Reyna: Empty promises. Tara and Reyna walked to a private back office as Kitty engaged her new favorite loli, Rica-chan. Kitty: So Rica-chan, what anime do you watch? Rica: You mean, what anime don¡¯t I watch! Nya! Kitty: Nya!!! To a non-otaku their conversation sounded like a series of nya nya mixed with the word kawaii. No matter, their conversation made sense to them. Terms In the back office Tara and Reyna spoke about the current situation as Tara let Reyna know that she needed Reyna to find and kill a money man who fled to Texas before Tara could get to him. That''s the favor. Tara: That¡¯s what it is Reyna. That sum-bitch is in Texas, I¡¯m not sure where exactly, but the rest of those slavers are hiding in the Bronx. Three of them and I think I know who¡¯s protecting them. Either way, I can handle the three here. Reyna listened to Tara and decided on her terms. Reyna moved closer to Tara, staring Tara in the face with evil intent. Tara backed away. Tara: Hey man, I knew your terms would be difficult, but don¡¯t be an asshole, Reyna. That was Reyna¡¯s last straw, she would take no more shit from Tara. Reyna walked up on Tara and pinned Tara¡¯s hands behind her on the wall. Tara tried to look away but Reyna cupped her face and made Tara look in her eyes. Reyna: Asshole? Me? Never that, but I can certainly be a cunt! Reyna pushed her lips on Tara¡¯s and forced her tongue into Tara¡¯s mouth and kissed Tara hard. Tara (half assed) tried to escape even letting out a feeble, ¡°Rape!¡± Reyna didn¡¯t care and told Tara. Reyna: This is happening, and you better like it! Tara: I don¡¯t..umph! Reyna silenced Tara¡¯s with another tongue kiss. Reyna then opened Tara¡¯s jeans buttons. Tara tried to push back, but wound up feeling Reyna¡¯s breast. And then Tara felt Reyna¡¯s other breast. Tara: Reyna? Reyna: Shutup! Technique Outside in the studio, Rica spoke with Kitty and her two lieutenants, Marshall ¡°Bling¡± a light skinned brother with corn rows and Ian B, a Bronx native Irish dude from the last of the Bronx Irish neighborhoods called Woodlawn. These two men, Bling and Ian, were not stupid goons. They were Tara and Kitty¡¯s most loyal left and right hands, and their personal hatchet men. Rica understood this, but at the present moment, they were funny and cute! Rica: Nya! it looks cool on me, see Ian! Rica showed Ian the four finger gold ring on her hand encrusted with diamonds spelling out the name, ¡°BLING!¡± Rica borrowed it from Marshall. Ian: Whad¡¯ya kiddin me? That ring¡¯s as big as your head! Rica: But that¡¯s what makes it so cute! Bling: Don¡¯t talk to him, he ain¡¯t got no style, just look at him with that army jacket. Steppin outta 1998! Ian: Hey, that was the best year evah! Bling: Yeah, the year you bought that jacket! As the four of them laughed, Rica could see Reyna and Tara step out into the hallway from the office and into the studio. Something was wrong, Reyna appeared¡­ Rica: Mom, why is your hair all messed up? Reyna: Eh? (blush) Snarky Kitty explained to Rica. Rica: Her hair is like that for the same reason that Tara¡¯s glowing! Tara: What? I¡¯m not..Shut up, Kitty! (blush) This time Kitty, Ian and Bling laughed while Rica didn¡¯t get the joke ¡°Hunh? o_0¡± Tara ended the laughter and barked a strange order to Bling and Ian. Tara: Boys, you see that little girl. Don¡¯t let her leave this room. Bling and Ian looked at Tara for further instructions. They heard her, but weren''t sure what she meant. Until Reyna spoke. Reyna: Rica, those two men are your enemies now. Get past them and get out of this room! Rica heard Reyna¡¯s order, and normally she would have reacted faster, but Rica needed to pause and adjust herself. She understood Reyna¡¯s order, but she didn''t want to hurt Bling and Ian. Both of the men looked over at Rica and then positioned themselves in front of the only exit door to the studio. Ian spoke. Ian: Let¡¯s go kiddo, let¡¯s see if you ain¡¯t all talk. Rica looked around at all of the faces. The only one not serious was Tara, who kept a friendly smirk. Kitty crossed her arms and watched with analyzing eyes. Everyone waited to see what Rica would do. Rica: Bling-san, Ian-san. Forgive me in advance. But I won¡¯t hold back. Bling: Glad to hear it, but you ain¡¯t gettin past us. With that statement Rica¡¯s bangs fell in front of her eyes, and she smiled evil and moved into a running- fighting stance, the same way Reyna would. No sound could be heard in the room as the tension built...And finally. Rica: You shouldn¡¯t underestimate me! And then she leapt in the face of Ian, real fast! Ian: SHIT! So fast! Rica¡¯s first move, a blinding fist to Ian¡¯s face caused the experienced Ian to use both of his arms to block his face and midsection, just as Rica expected. Using the momentum from his block, Rica pushed off of Ian and swung a kick at Bling¡¯s face. Bling saw it coming, blocked and countered with an attempted strike to her midsection, but Rica was too fast for that. Rica spun from Bling¡¯s midsection attack and swung a backhanded fist toward his face. He reacted with a block but Rica dropped low and continued her spin and kicked Bling¡¯s knee, moving him sideways. But Ian was right behind him, waiting for Rica with a forward kick! On pure reflex Rica spun away from Ian¡¯s kick, dropped again, spun and attempted to sweep Ian¡¯s leg. No good, Ian lifted his leg, causing Rica to miss the sweep. And Instead Ian brought his foot down on Rica to stomp her, but she¡¯s a quick little mongoose and evaded the stomp and jumped back to where she started. Tara: Wow! She¡¯s fast, you see that Kitty? Yeee! Kitty: I¡¯m watching her (Looks at Reyna) She¡¯s still rough, room for improvement. Reyna: Tch! Kitty infuriated Reyna with her statement, no one talked bad about Reyna¡¯s precious baby. Reyna yelled at Rica! Rica: Rica! Stop fucking around! Ghost Technique! Ghost ¹í Technique. Reyna¡¯s signature style. Rica got serious. She glanced at Ian and Bling who both stood in front of the exit door and made the hand gestures of, ¡°Come on little girl, let¡¯s see what you got!¡± Rica took a moment to gauge the distance of her opponents, and once again, flew at them with blinding speed. This time Ian was ready. Rica, again, attempted to punch Ian and again, Ian double blocked¡­ Only this time he never felt the punch, in fact, Rica vanished from his sight, like a ghost! Ian: Crap! In the split hair second it took Ian to look for her, Rica¡¯s foot struck from below and kicked Ian dead in his stomach, knocking the tough guy backward on his ass. Stunning him. Rica lured Ian into exposing his stomach with her fake punch to his face. Ian: Huh! Not bad! Ian sat on his butt and didn¡¯t get back up, he wasn¡¯t hurt at all. He just wanted to see what Rica would do to Bling. Bling backed up to better cover the door and took firm stance, he wasn¡¯t going to go easy on Rica. Fine, Rica didn¡¯t expect him too. Rica could tell Bling was a smarter fighter than Ian and kept his eyes on Rica and her movement. Rica baited Bling by engaging him directly, she knew he wouldn''t step too far away from the door or she would get past him. With that knowledge, she laid her trap. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Rica punched, kicked and parried with Bling, forcing him to move from left to right to engage her. His eyes swung back and forth following her combinations. Then Rica stepped in to make a powerful punch with her left to his right side, he saw the punch coming and positioned to counter with a textbook block. But Rica read that same textbook. With Bling¡¯s eyes focused on Rica¡¯s left fist, the loli dropped low again and all but vanished from his eye sight! When Rica dropped, she spun on her left foot and kicked in Bling¡¯s right knee toppling him. Bling: What the? On instinct Bling put his hands out to stop his fall. That¡¯s what Rica wanted, and now she had him. As his arms reached for the ground Rica forward kicked Bling in his chest into the exit doorway. As his body flew back he reached out and grabbed each side of the doorway with his butt and back hanging out the door. bad luck for him, as Rica looked dead in his eyes and told him. Rica: I win. Rica threw a hard sidekick at Bling¡¯s chest, forcing him to move his arms to block the kick. The momentum of the kick pushed him out the door, and onto his ass. Rica stepped out into the hallway with her fists at the ready. Bling: Whoa, you right, you win! You a bad motherfucka! Rica wasn¡¯t happy. Rica: But Bling-san, you held back! Bling: Whaaaaat? Who told you that lie? Bling lied, him and Ian totally held back. But Inside the studio Kitty,Tara and Ian clapped while Reyna cracked an evil smile of maternal pride and stepped in front of Rica to inspect her face and rub her hair. Then Reyna silenced everyone. Reyna: Even if you boys did go all out my little anime girl would have still beaten you, because she¡¯s my daughter! Reyna looked in Rica¡¯s eyes. Reyna: Good job, baby, you showed em what Rifle Girls are made of! Rica beamed with pride, acknowledged by Reyna, she felt invincible. Tara was sincerely impressed, and let Reyna know. Tara: You win Reyna, if she can track and shoot as good as she fights, I can use her. Reyna: Hmph! Rica: A job? Tara-senpai, I¡¯m more than useful I have tracked over 20 men I.. Reyna: Rica! Compose yourself!! Rica: Yes ma''am! Rica felt embarrassed. She she got so carried away with her little victory and the thought of working a job with Tara and Kitty, that she¡¯d forgotten one of the strictest rules of an Assassin. The Shut the fuck up about past jobs, rule. If the person you are speaking too doesn¡¯t know your resume, then they don¡¯t need to know. Tara gave Reyna grief in defense of Rica. Tara: Take it easy Reyna, we already know about her, we just wanted to see for ourselves. Tara turns with a smile and pats Rica¡¯s head. Tara: You really take after your mom. I bet she¡¯s strict! ;) Rica: As a teacher, yes, very strict! As a parent, nya, not so much! Everyone laughed and Kitty also walked over to touch Rica¡¯s hair. *Gun Girls like touching Rica¡¯s hair, like she¡¯s a baby doll or something. But Rica didn¡¯t mind, she wanted to touch Tara and Kitty¡¯s hair too, just like she rubs and pulls Reyna''s hair. Could be a Gun Girl thing, she supposed. Kitty: Well, she certainly has heart. Her moves aren''t perfect because she''s using your style Reyna. (Rubs Rica¡¯s hair) Personally I think she needs her own style. Reyna: And personally I don''t give a damn what you think, Katya! Rica: Katya? How pretty, is that your real name? Kitty: (giggle) Thank you, and yes it is. Rica: That makes sense now. I was going to ask you about Rule #3 of the Gun Girls! Kitty: Ha, ha, do you follow those arcane, homemade internet rules of the ¡°Gun Girl¡± that some internet dweeb posted on the dark web? Rica: Yes, don¡¯t you? Kitty: Of course I do! We all do. But none of us know why. Go figure! 0_o Rica looked around and the acknowledgment of the Gun Girl rules were in the face of Kitty, Tara and Reyna. They all followed the rules, but Kitty was right. These rules were totally fabricated online. Along with the term Gun Girl and Rifle Girl. When a Gun Girl says, ¡°There is no such thing as a Gun Girl¡± or Rifle Girl, they are not lying. The eight Gun Girls never woke up and had a meeting and said, ¡°We are Gun Girls!¡± Nope. The titles, the sigils, the rules of the Gun Girls, were something that just appeared on a page on the darknet one day. On a site where someone listed the exploits of the individual girls, without saying their names in full. This person (or persons) then placed Chinese characters- sigils- totems of a kind next to each girl¡¯s name to signify their individual abilities. Law enforcement, always and forever behind the curve, to this day knows nothing about this darknet site. But elite criminals do, and these criminals, do seek out Gun Girls, for precisely the strengths each girl possesses. Rule # 3 of the Gun Girls: What Rica referred to in the case of Kitty, is an obscure and strange rule. The rule states that only girls whose name ends with the letter ¡°A¡± can be Gun Girls. Not a problem, as all of the known Gun Girls have an ¡°A¡± ending name. Except Kitty. Rica always wondered why she was the exception, but now she knows ¡°Kitty¡± is just her nickname, and her real name, Katya, is a perfect and pretty name for a Gun Girl. Rica: Kitty-san, would it be ok if I called you, Kitty-ne-chan? Ne-chan, is a short cute way of pronouncing, ¡°Oh-neh-san¡± the Japanese word for ¡°Older Sister.¡± Otaku-Kitty loved the sound of it. Kitty: Of course! We''re already sisters, see we share the same Chinese character on our sigils! Rica: We do? Kitty pulled out one of her sigil cards, Rica did the same and was shocked. Rica could not read Chinese but just now noticed that Kitty¡¯s sigil è Cat was the same prefix for Rica¡¯s sigil è÷ø Mongoose. Kitty explained. Kitty: You see your first character is è Cat your second character ÷ø is Ferret. Rica: Oh, wow! So in chinese, you say Cat-Ferret for Mongoose? Kitty: Um..in a roundabout way yes. Lost in translation a bit (giggle)! All it means is were sisters! Rica: Oh Yesh! Kitty-ne-chan, i won¡¯t disappoint you on this job...Umm..whatever it is. Reyna: Rica! Kitty: Calm down Reyna! (back to Rica) I believe you little sis. It¡¯s not my call anyway. It seems Reyna already decided for Tara that you were on this job. Ain¡¯t that right, Reyna? Reyna: I wouldn¡¯t recommend her if she wasn¡¯t ready, Kitty! (Turns to Rica) Rica! Rica: Yes mother? Reyna: Let¡¯s go, you have school in the morning. Rica: Oh! Reyna: Don¡¯t worry, you¡¯ll be back down here tomorrow. You¡¯re new found ¡°sisters¡± will brief you on their less than perfect plan. Reyna, being Reyna, then walked out of the studio without saying goodbye to anyone, leaving Rica. Rica, excited about working with her new sisters, turned and bowed and thanked them all. And to Kitty. Rica: Kitty-ne-chan, I know I need work, just...please have faith in me. Kitty: No worries little sis, I believe in you! And with that Rica ran down the staircase to chase after Reyna, leaving the four North Bronx Crew members (who for some reason hung out in Chinatown) alone to discuss the little Rifle Girl. Kitty: So cute, and she is a little prodigy, maybe I''m just being overprotective of her. Tara: Yes, you are! Did you see the way she moved? Not that it matters because she¡¯s working with us. Reyna made it clear that if we want that hit in Texas, we have to employ her little mongoose. Kitty: So Reyna¡¯s gonna handle that Texas thing? Good, she¡¯s way better at that sort of thing than us. And goddamn you Reyna I¡¯m so Jealous! Oooooooohhh! Tara: About what? Kitty: I want a precious little loli student who can fight like that. I would teach her her own style and make her sooo perfect! Nyaaaaaaa!! :¡¯( Tara and the boys laughed till their bellies hurt. But Kitty made another observation that they all agreed with. Kitty: Rica is a diamond in the rough. A prodigy. Give her time and she¡¯ll surpass all of us. Tara: Yup, she¡¯s way stronger than we were at that age. At that moment Tara and Kitty fully acknowledged Rica Reyes as a fellow fighter. The Outlaw Sisters knew, what Rica lacked in experience, she made up for in prodigious talent and the ruthless heart to win, at all cost. .... Chapter 3 - The White Rabbit Two Weeks Friday morning, Reyna and Rica¡¯s apartment. As Rica got dressed for school Reyna let her know that she would be in Texas for two weeks. Rica: Two weeks? Why? Reyna: Part of my deal with Tara. Honey, that incident at the lumberyard with Caleb and you, it shifted the order of things. It made the people who usually hire us very nervous with all these upstart crews wanting to come in and make names for themselves. Tara is leading from the front to put things back in order. And even though I don¡¯t owe that bitch a damn thing, it¡¯s best I handle this Texas job for her. Rica: Why so long? Reyna: All I know is the mark is in Texas, most likely Dallas. With just that info I have to start from scratch. I need to track him, find him and deal with him. Rica looked sad and Reyna assured her. Reyna: You know me pumpkin, I¡¯ll get him before then. I¡¯ll be back before you know it. In the meantime you have a job with Tara and Kitty! Rica: I know. Reyna: Then stop giving me a sad face. You¡¯re a professional, and I need you to act like one. Rica: Yes, ma''am! Reyna: Baby, don¡¯t disappoint me on your mission. You make it so I can brag about you and rub it in Tara and Kitty¡¯s face that you''re my precious baby! You know how much I love that! Rica: Heh heh, I know! Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll show em how it¡¯s done! Reyna: I expect nothing less from you young lady! Rica: Mmm :( Reyna wanted to be strict with Rica, but couldn¡¯t. Rica is her little baby, and they¡¯ve been together since Rica was six years old. In that time, Rica¡¯s life has been combat training, tracking, and killing, all for her Reyna. None of this was lost on her. No more strict talk, Rica had to go to school and Reyna had to catch a private jet. Reyna hugged Rica and rubbed her hair. Reyna: Baby there¡¯s food in the fridge and you need to cook. I don¡¯t want you eating out everyday, that stuff¡¯s bad for you. Rica: It¡¯s ok, Caleb cooks for me, heh! Reyna: What? Rica, are you trying to stress me before I leave? Hmm? I know why? Rica: Heh heh, it¡¯s not because I don¡¯t love you! Reyna: Just admit that you don¡¯t and break my heart, because that''s what you want! Rica: Heh, heh! Mom, why you so jealous?! Reyna hugs Rica tight. Reyna: Because Mommy loves you so much! And remember, you¡¯re a Gun Girl. And what¡¯s the most important rule? Rica knew the rules better than anyone and got real motivated when she cited Rule #4 of the Gun Girls: Rica: Rule number 4, the most important rule: Gun Girls don¡¯t lose, not to you, not for you, or to anyone. We-Don¡¯t-Lose. Period! Reyna pulled back from Rica with arrogant pride. Reyna: That¡¯s right baby, now you take your butt to school, you have to meet Tara and Kitty afterwards. Rica: Yes, ma''am! Rica had to leave or she would be late. Rica kissed Reyna goodbye then walked past Reyna¡¯s suitcase and a tall black rifle bag in the hallway. Rica stopped and peeked in the rifle bag. Inside was Reyna¡¯s rifle, Jezriel. Rica pet him and spoke to him. Rica: Jezriel, make sure you fire true, and don¡¯t jam! And take care of Mom! Rica yelled a last goodbye to Reyna, and took off to school. Reyna had a mission and so did Rica. Ballin! 2:30 pm, St. George¡¯s Middle School, The Bronx. The last bell rang and Rica, Alexa and Tiara stepped out of the building into the crowd of students leaving school for the day. The girls made plans. Tiara: Rica, you coming to Alexa¡¯s house? Alexa: Yeah, girl, come to my house, or are you gonna wait for stupid Caleb?! Rica: Heh, heh! I can¡¯t do either really, I have to go downtown and handle something for my mom. Alexa: Ok, we¡¯ll be there for a minute if you...Who the hell is blasting music like that? Tiara: That Escalade! The three students looked down the block and could hear and see a beautiful, brand new Black Cadillac Escalade with a bumping sound system rolling toward them in front of the school. Rica and every student exiting St. George¡¯s watched the loud attention seeking truck roll toward the three latina girls. Caleb and Norman appeared and walked up on Rica and the girls. When the truck reached ten feet in front of all of them, the passenger window opened and a super pretty Chinese girl stuck her head out, smiled and yelled, ¡°Rica-chaaaaaan!¡± Rica: Eh?! Kitty-ne-chan? When Rica looked again she saw the driver was Marshall Bling. Then the rear window lowered, Ian and Bad Tara in the back. Tara yelled, ¡°Yo, Mongoose!¡± Rica was surprised as hell to see them and also thought, "how noisy and troublesome," as the Cadillac came to a stop. Bling only slightly turned down the Hip Hop/R&B track blasting from the speakers as Kitty hopped out with all smiles. Kitty: Rica-chan, come on, we gotta go shopping! Rica: We do? From the back seat Tara yelled. Tara: I don¡¯t want to go shopping! Kitty: Yeah? Too bad! It¡¯s not a want, it¡¯s a need. Tara: What need? Your need to dress me like a doll? Kitty sought Rica¡¯s approval. Kitty: Do you hear her, she¡¯s always like this when she has to wear a dress. You want to help me pick one out for her? We have to pick a white one, cause she¡¯s the White Rabbit! Rica: Uh..The White Rabbit? Kitty: Nya! And shoes too! Rica didn¡¯t introduce any of her friends, who all stood gaping in awe at the beautiful Kitty. Caleb manned up and asked Rica. Caleb: So, are these..friends of yours? Everyone stared at Rica. The entire school exiting the building stared at Rica. She was on the hot seat. Rica: Um..she~ Kitty: Friends nothing, were sisters! Kitty grabbed Rica and hugged her and kissed her head. Mua! Rica: Eeep! Kitty: Rica, is he your boyfriend? He¡¯s cute! Hi, I¡¯m Kitty! Caleb: Hello! Tara: Kitty, stop hitting on little kids you chester-molesting cougar! Ha ha ha! Tara, Bling and Ian all laughed at Kitty from inside the Cadillac. Kitty fought back! Kitty: You shut the hell up! I want to meet Rica¡¯s boyfriend, see if he¡¯s a good guy and stuff! If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Tara: So take him out for a drink! Waa ha ha ha! He is cute though! Rica¡¯s face turned apple red with embarrassment as her classmates witnessed the behavior of these strange girls who were obviously here for Rica. Alexa: Rica, that girl said she¡¯s your sister, and I met your mom and she looks really Asian. Are you mixed? Rica: Huh? Yes, I¡¯m Mexican and Puerto Rican. Alexa: Oh because..what? Rica realized she couldn¡¯t explain who Tara and Kitty were and decided to make them leave, then she wouldn¡¯t have to explain anything. Rica grabbed Kitty¡¯s hand and pulled her into the front seat of the truck with her. There Rica took charge as she could see that the Outlaw Sisters were troublemaking hoodlums! Rica: Bling-san, please turn the music down and drive away from here! Bling: Why, what¡¯s the rush, we chillin! Rica: The longer you stay here the longer I have to explain who you are! Ian: You sayin were embarassin you? Rica: Yes! The Cadillac laughed again! No one felt sorry for red faced Rica. Rica: You guys are terrible! Tara: Yeah we are! Bling, get us out of here. Let¡¯s go to White Plains mall. We¡¯ll take Rica shopping! Rica: Eh? Rica waved goodbye to her classmates and Tara and Kitty waved goodbye to Rica''s classmates too. As the truck rolled along the jokes and the laughing continued and Rica finally lightened up and joined the fun in the Cadillac. Rica could see that the Outlaw Sisters and their crew did not hide who they were, at least their personalities. This made sense to Rica as Tara was a boss, and the perception she gave off to people was important. The same with her crew. They were all loud and fun loving, and extremely violent. The Mall and The Mission Tara and her crew were not kidding about shopping for Rica. For the first two hours at the mall Rica endured the life of a princess. Tara, Kitty, Ian and Bling combined to spend three thousand dollars on just Rica alone! Tara randomly bought for Rica anything Rica looked at in any store. Kitty was the worst. Every dress and pair of shoes Kitty bought for herself she also bought for Rica. Even though some of the dresses were too revealing for a twelve year old, but they were pretty (and expensive). Bling bought Rica five pairs of sneakers at foot locker, every color she wanted, and five pairs of skinny jeans and tops to match. All flavors and cuts. Ian bought Rica a $500 dollar Mongoose bicycle only because Rica commented on the bike being pretty and, of course, having the name Mongoose. Ian: Do you ride? Rica: I do, but Mom and me get the rental bikes.. Ian: Rental bikes? Fuck outta here! Come on, you gettin this bike here~ Rica: Eh? Rica now owns a $500 dollar Mongoose bicycle. Ian also bought Rica a wicked titanium boot knife and an old school Alpha industries black army coat with the liner in Rica¡¯s size! In fact, more than half the shopping bags in the Cadillac were for Rica, and lord were there a lot of bags. And Rica tried repeatedly to protest, ¡°No, it¡¯s ok, (Tara, Kitty, Ian, or Bling) you don¡¯t have to buy this for me!¡± But none of the four listened to her, they were having too much fun ballin and blowing cash. Rica did love every item everyone bought for her. But she felt guilty as she had not earned any of it. After two hours Bling and Ian got bored with the girls and headed to the mall¡¯s sports bar to drink beer and watch the Yankee game. The Outlaw Sisters, including Rica who was now an official Outlaw Sister, continued to shop at Nordstrom. Kitty was determined to find a sexy white dress for Tara tonight, as the mission involved going to a club. Rica and Tara waited by the changing room as Kitty took off in search of the dress. This gave Rica a moment to speak to Tara. Rica: Tara-senpai, umm..thank you for buying me all of this but..umm. Tara: Heh, heh, I can see you keep worrying about all of this, but it¡¯s ok. Let me tell you something, Kitty, Bling, Ian..they don¡¯t always get a chance to show off and show that ..I don¡¯t know..that deep down, they''re good people. Even though what we do is wrong. But ..you know..they see you and it feels good to buy you stuff cause you keep smiling, even though you keep saying no. Ya know? Heh, heh. Rica: (blush) I understand..and I appreciate it..but Senpai, you bought me more stuff than anyone..do you feel this way too? Tara: Me? Not at all, I only bought you all that stuff to piss your bitchy Mother off, ha ha ha ha! Rica smiled and felt warm, it was obvious Tara was lying, she was just as bad the other three. But Rica was having a lot of fun with her and her troublesome crew. Tara: Mongoose, let¡¯s talk about your mission~ Rica: Eh? Here? Tara: Yo~ Rica looked to make sure no one was around before allowing Tara to continue. Tara: Kitty¡¯s crazy! She wants me to wear this damn dress so we can throw off this guy Gustavo who wants to kill me, what an asshole! That¡¯s why we''re surprising him at his club tonight, I want to have a conversation with him, look him in his eyes, see what he knows. Ya know? Rica: ...Hunh? Tara: That¡¯s exactly what he¡¯s gonna say when he sees me in my dress, that fucktard! Rica: Umm..do you want me to kill this Gustavo guy? Tara: Nah, he¡¯s too easy, not worth your time, I¡¯ll deal with him. But here¡¯s what¡¯s gonna happen. When we get to that club, Gustavo will be surprised as hell to see me. And he won¡¯t be able to do anything about it once me and the boys walk in. But I know that piece-a-shit is scheming to move his slave business up to my areas. And I don¡¯t take kindly to that type of business, and he knows it! Rica: I see..so.. Tara: Here¡¯s the deal, Gustavo won¡¯t make a move while we¡¯re in the club, but I¡¯m gonna piss him off so much that he¡¯ll call on someone, and that someone is a shooter. A shooter with your skill sets, and he''s the one I want taken out. Rica: I understand. When you get inside the club, this shooter will show up outside, and I guess wait for you. Is he a sniper or? Tara: Long range for sure, he won¡¯t pull no ghetto ass driveby. More importantly, I think that shooter will be in that club when I get there, so keep an eye on the rear entrance. Rica: Got it, is it just one? Tara: Actually its three guys that have it coming. The shooter and his fucked up child trafficking crew. But don¡¯t worry about the other two guys, I don¡¯t even think they¡¯ll be there. But take out that shooter, he''s Gustavo''s main muscle. I''m just the bait to lure him out, the White Rabbit! Ya got me? Rica: The White Rabbit? Oooh, I understand now. Don''t worry Senpai! I''ll take him out, he''ll never touch you! Tara: I know he won''t, you Reyna¡¯s daughter, so I know you villainous! Rica: I''m a god damn Death Dealer! Tara: Oh yeah? Then it¡¯s gonna be a wild night! Rica: For sure! .... Chapter 4 - Come at The King! Bad Tara actress Celia Au in White Rabbit dress, photographed by Didi Sea. The Party Gustavo, the man Boss Tara wanted to ¡°speak with¡± didn¡¯t really own a club. Gustavo owned the Leirum Art Gallery building on Bruckner blvd in the South Bronx. The upper floors and the penthouse of the building were where Gustavo held the most private of parties for high end clients. From the street view around the building on this link, one can see the neighborhood is not residential, composing of storage buildings, car dealerships and warehouses. And after midnight, every night, the population of people in a three block radius around Gustavo¡¯s building dropped to zero. Making Gustavo¡¯s parties truly private events. That Friday night, just before midnight, two well dressed bald headed men stood in front of the Leirum Art Gallery building. Both men wore earpieces and looked so much like the standard NYC club bouncers that they seemed like caricatures. Gustavo hosted a private party that night in the penthouse. The job of the two bald bouncers downstairs was to not let anyone in the building who were not cleared on multiple guest lists for the private party. One of the bouncers scrolled different screens on a tablet while the other spoke on his earpiece. Both men noticed the slow rolling, all white, Cadillac Escalade cruise toward the building. The white Escalade was followed by a second black Escalade. The two trucks pulled in front of the bouncers who watched seven big mean looking brown, black, white and yellow dudes exit the vehicles. Each man wore a suit, and each man looked scarier than the last. Except for the driver of the white truck. He was a corn-rowed pretty brother and his name was Marshall Bling. Marshall opened the back of the white truck and out stepped the beautiful Outlaw Sisters, Bad Tara and Kitty. Tara in her white rabbit dress, and Kitty complimenting Tara in a form fitting black dress. The bouncers guarding the door watched the two candy sweet Cantonese girls. Tara and Kitty, taller than ever in their Manolo Blahnik high heels, strutted to the building entrance. The two bouncers walked toward the sisters when the second bouncer recognized them, called upstairs in his earpiece, and backed off. The first bouncer, with the tablet, tried to delay the girls as Tara and Kitty were not on any invite lists to the private penthouse party. The first bouncer with the tablet was a big man, and in a firm voice spoke to Tara. Bouncer 1: I¡¯m sorry, this is a private ev.. WHACK! The punch from Tara''s guard knocked the tablet holding bouncer so hard that him, his earpiece and his tablet fell on the ground along with two of his teeth. The bouncer on the ground dazed, lifted his head up and held his bleeding mouth. He looked up and over at his partner, who looked back at him with a face that asked, ¡°Do you have death wish? Don¡¯t you know who these girls are?¡± The bouncer on the ground looked again and watched Tara and Kitty and her entourage walk in the building, past the second bouncer. The second bouncer knew better than to say anything to Tara and Kitty and kept his eyes down in fear. Tara¡¯s guard, the big brown Latino brother who punched the first bouncer, now stood over that bouncer. The guard''s name was Erwin, one of Tara¡¯s personal brute men, and he had a few words for both of the entrance bouncers. ¡°Yo! If you two clowns don¡¯t get off this block in the next ten seconds, I¡¯m gonna knock the teeth out of both ya¡¯ll fuckin mouths!¡± Erwin balled two big ham fists and stared at both bouncers, daring them to fight back. The second bouncer got the message and helped his partner off the ground. They took whatever belongings they had there with them and hurried off the block, forever. Now the only person guarding the entrance to Gustavo¡¯s building and Gustavo¡¯s party, was Tara¡¯s man Erwin. And no one else would get in that building that night. Sentries North of the building a black Lexus crept slowly and circled the block. The two occupants in the Lexus were sentries and they watched Erwin knock the bouncer to the ground. The sentries were Rica and Ian. Ian: Fuck me! That bouncer¡¯s lucky Erwin didn¡¯t break his jaw! Rica: Ya, he hit him so hard I felt it from here! Rica and Ian arrived ten minutes before Tara and her Cadillac entourage. After casing the block to check for an ambush point, Rica decided that a shooter going after Tara would definitely be in a vehicle and definitely would come from the north of the block heading south where they could flee to Manhattan. This would be the logical route. Ian: The shooter¡¯s gonna do a driveby? Some boyz-in-the hood shit? Rica: Hmm, sort of. If he has a powerful rifle he could park on either of these corners and shoot off. From each corner he can get to the expressway and escape. Ian: What about that alley next to the building? He can come from there too since it leads to the back of the building. Rica: Right, and that¡¯s why you¡¯re gonna patrol the front, I¡¯ll be in the back watching the rear and the alley. Rica pulled her rifle Strongbow from her bag to attach his suppressor. Ian watched her pull the rifle out and marveled at the little girl¡¯s expert handling of the four foot long black rifle. Ian: How old are you Rica? Rica: Twelve. Ian: Fuck me! So you uh..know how to use that thing? Rica: He ain¡¯t no thing, Strongbow¡¯s my baby boy! A heavy Click! Clack! sound echoed in the car as Rica locked and loaded a five round clip of 175 Grain Hollow Point Boat Tail Bullets, for maximum stopping power. Ian noted the bullets. Ian: You shoot a man with them hollow points he ain''t gettin back up. Rica: That¡¯s the plan. Ok, drive around to the back, I''ll get out there. You watch the front but don¡¯t let anyone see you, if they do.. Ian: Little boss, who you think you talkin too? This ain''t my first day on the job! Rica: I know, but you gotta be thorough! Ian: Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯m thorough! Rica exited the Lexus behind the building and noticed a second door inside the alley, this meant she would have to watch both doors while hiding across the street. In better circumstances there would be more sentries than just Rica and Ian (and Erwin). But they had to move light, too many guards and the bad guys would be afraid to attack. Rica needed Tara¡¯s security to appear inadequate. Rica set up across the street from the rear of the building and watched the rear door and the alley. With an earpiece Rica could communicate with Ian and Kitty who reported from inside the club. Now it was up to Tara to pick a fight with Gustavo. It wouldn''t be hard, she already crashed his party. Gustavo Tara, Kitty and their six guards rode the elevator to the penthouse, but four bouncers greeted them as the elevator door opened. That¡¯s what Tara wanted. Tara: Guess we still ain¡¯t invited to this party. Change their minds boys! Tara¡¯s brutes responded by punching and kicking their way out of the elevator and quickly overpowered the four bouncers. Kitty yelled orders. Kitty: Oi, don¡¯t hurt em too much, they¡¯re not who we¡¯re here for! With that order the six big guards eased back into position surrounding Tara. Two of the four bouncers they punched were knocked out on the ground. Frightened party guests near the elevator moved away from the violent scene. ¡°Hey, hey! Is this what you''re about,Tara?¡± yelled a slim man in a white jacket, it was Gustavo. He was flanked by two big men and appeared composed but angry. Bling answered his question. Bling: That¡¯s Boss Tara to you, Motherfucker! Tara¡¯s guards tensed as Gustavo¡¯s two men shielded him. Tara broke the stare down. Tara: Easy boys, I¡¯m sure I can handle him from here, thank you though~ All Six of Tara Guards: ? Bossss!! ? Tara: (giggle!) You boys! Tara walked past everyone and into the large penthouse party. There were around 150 people, more females than men. In the shadows, Tara saw three more hulking bouncers, but these guys looked different, they weren¡¯t Gustavo''s men. She also noticed that all of the girls dancing and talking with the men were middle eastern in appearance, and many looked like teenagers. Gustavo attempted civility with Tara and led her to a VIP table with a champagne bottle. Gustavo: Have a seat, champagne? Tara: Nah, were good, sit down, man. I gotta ask you something. While Tara spoke with Gustavo Kitty tapped Bling and the two of them left Tara surrounded by her five remaining guards. Tara was safest there. Kitty and Bling walked toward the bar and saw two guards blocking the entrance to a back room. They also noticed that three shadow bouncers were watching them. Bling: Yo, I bet they don¡¯t want us to see what¡¯s back there. Kitty: Money and girls. But none of these girls are keeping any money. Bling: Do you think he¡¯s back there. Kitty: Let¡¯s take a look. The he that Kitty and Bling were referring to was a man named Kocak, a Turkish national. Kocak and his crew were direct market slavers. He supplied the girls for Gustavo¡¯s party from war torn areas in the middle east, primarily Syria, Libya and Egypt. Kocak was bad news in the North Bronx and didn''t care for Tara and her crew. For Tara the feeling was mutual and she wanted Kocak dead. Come at The King Tara didn¡¯t intend to mince words with Gustavo. She wanted information from him, and after that he could die for all she cared. Tara: Let me tell you something, those two bitches you got standing next to you ain¡¯t gonna help you. So you answer my question and maybe I leave here without causing you too much trouble. Gustavo: I would like for you to not cause me any more trouble, and leave. What exactly do you want, Tara? Tara: Can you believe this fucking guy here, talking to me like this? Ok, I''ll let your rude response pass while I drop this on you. Gustavo, I know about your money man, Muhtar. The one that skipped town for Texas. And I know you¡¯re working with Kocak and bringing in slave bitches from wherever, and I don¡¯t like it! This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Gustavo attempted a poker face, but his frustration with Tara showed in his eyes. This told Tara that he was surprised with what she knew. Good, that¡¯s what she wanted. Gustavo: I don¡¯t have clue who those men are or what you¡¯re talking about. So please, have a drink, or don¡¯t, but don¡¯t make any more trouble in this party, excuse me. Gustavo gets up to leave. Tara: Hold up! Who the fuck told you could leave? Tara¡¯s guards surround Gustavo who moves behind his own bodyguards. One of Gustavo¡¯s bodyguards pulls a gun, but never gets it above his waist. Tara¡¯s five guards swarm on top of Gustavo¡¯s bodyguards and violently stomp the life out of them, in front of all the party guests. Gustavo tries to run away, only to be grabbed, punched and brought back in front of Tara. Tara: I told you not to leave. The crowd of men attending the private event could no longer accept the violence that Tara caused and filed to the elevators and staircase. The three hulking bouncers from the shadows moved into the crowd, not to face Tara and her boys but to herd the middle eastern girls to the rear of the penthouse. Tara would have none of it and barked orders to her brute men. Tara: Bobby, Lewis, Pascal! Go rescue those girls! Hector, beat Gustavo until he tells you where that dude in Texas is! Biggie, you''re with me, let¡¯s draw fire were gonna find that Kocak guy! Let¡¯s go boys! Remember, they come at the king, they best not miss! All five of Tara guards yell back at her, ¡°Right Boss!¡± confirming her orders. At Street Level Rica and Ian listened on their earpieces as Kitty described how Tara caused a riot in the party. But Rica and Ian had their own problems. Rica watched the rear of the art gallery building from the shadow of a narrow alley across the street. She scanned every car that passed or even hinted at looking suspicious. Then she found one. A dark grey Chevy Blazer. It slowed down and stopped in the rear of the building, but didn''t park. Rica looked through her scope, two men, the passenger on the phone, the driver looking around. Rica called Ian. Rica: Ian, two men in a dark grey blazer.. wait, they¡¯re driving off! Ian: Tell me if they hit the corner, I¡¯ll see em then! As the truck increased speed Rica followed the passenger and driver''s actions with her rifle scope and watched the passenger pull out a rifle. Rica: Ian, don¡¯t engage the truck! let them pass you, they''re.. Ian: Fuck me! Brrraaatt! Brraaatt! Too late, they made Ian! Rica heard the automatic gunfire and sprinted out of her hidden position yelling into the communicator. Rica: Ian! Rica ran full speed to the corner, rifle out! When she hit the corner she could see the two men half out of the Blazer with AK-47s firing at Ian who was completely out of his Lexus and behind a parked car. Ian was not outgunned as he fired back with a Mac 10. Brrrrrat! Brrrrrrrrrrrrrat! The two men in the truck were not expecting this much resistance. Their plan was to gun down Erwin in the front and maybe storm into the building allowing Kocak and the other goons a way out. They did not expect a dude with a machine pistol shooting it out with them. As the two assailants engaged Ian, the passenger assailant was totally unprepared when he heard a suppressed shot from behind him. Fwap! The passenger assailant watched his driver partner¡¯s head explode into the steering wheel of the truck. The Blazer then drove on its own and crashed into Ian¡¯s Lexus, blocking it. The passenger jumped out of the Blazer before it crashed. On the street he turned around and saw a small person running toward him with a large black rifle. On reflex, he ducked behind two parked cars and fired his AK-47 behind him and in front of him at both of his attackers. Brrraatt! Rica ducked behind a building corner and tried to line the assailant up for another shot, but disengaged when she saw another problem. A dirty dark blue van flew past Rica and screeched to a halt in the rear of the building. ¡°Dammit!¡± she yelled to herself. She wanted to help Ian, but she had to get back to the rear of the building and deal with the van. Back at the Party In the penthouse, amid all of the fighting, Tara and her one guard Biggie, punched past the remaining bouncers and into the back of the penthouse. Tara saw Bling scuffling with two bouncers in a hallway, with Kitty behind him. Tara yelled out. Tara: Kitty, who¡¯s back there? There would be no spoken response to Tara, only violence. As Bling kicked one of the bouncers back a man emerged from the hallway, in his hands a Heckler and Koch MR762A1. The man''s name was Kocak and he yelled in his language. Kocak: kaltak ?lmek!! (die bitch!) He unloaded the rifle on full auto. Bratatat! Bratatatatatatatatatatata! Everyone jumped out of the way as the bullets hit random people in the crowd. Tara¡¯s guard, Biggie, grabbed Tara and dove on top of her, catching two grazing bullets on his shoulder and his cheek! Tara: Biggie? Biggie: Boss, stay down! Kitty ducked behind the small bar near the rear and pulled a weapon out of her leg garter. A small .25 caliber, and shot back four times. Kocak ducked down and sprayed the entire party, forcing everyone to duck for cover. The crowd panicked and stormed every door as Kocak backed in the rear of the penthouse and vanished. Tara saw him! Tara: Kitty! Bling, get that Fuck! Bling: I¡¯m on him!! Tara¡¯s other brute, Lewis ran toward Biggie and Tara yelling bad news. Lewis: Boss, they shot Hector! Tara looked back to the table, her brute Hector was on the ground bleeding from his arm and stomach. Bobby was with him. Tara: Hector?! Tara ran to her downed brute, her boys meant the world to her! Hector: Boss, I¡¯m sorry, Gustavo yo! Tara: Hector, stop talking! Jesus papa, he got you good! Pascal, go help Kitty and Bling! Bobby, Lewis get Hector in the truck and get him to a hospital, if he dies I will fucking blame the two of you! Tara¡¯s brute men answer without question, ¡°Right Boss!!¡± Tara looked at the direction where Hector lay and could see another door behind a couch, it was not closed all the way. Gustavo must have escaped that way. Tara: Biggie, we¡¯re going after Gustavo! The White Rabbit, in heels with her brute man Biggie, ran down the stairs. Meanwhile on the Street Rica was damn near around the block when she saw the van heading to the rear of the building. She doubled back as fast as she could. She could see two men get out of the van and open the back door of the building. And what she saw, caused her to lose focus. When the rear door of the building opened, Rica watched four young girls run out and run toward her yelling for help. Two of the young girls could not have been five or six years old. The older ones barely older than Rica, maybe fourteen and fifteen. All four of the girls looked in Rica¡¯s eyes. Rica ran to them and time stood still. As fast as she could run she was too far away. The four girls never made it past the building as the three men grabbed all of them and tossed them in the van. The youngest of the little girls again looked at Rica and waved her hand screaming for help. Rica didn¡¯t know what to do. She was too far away and couldn''t fire on the three men by the van or she would hit the girls. Running straight for the van, she did the only thing she could, she yelled. Rica: No! Leave them alone! The van¡¯s double rear door closed and backed up! But only a few feet, near the alley of the building where the other exit door was. Rica knew if the van could stay for a second she would.... Oh no! As Rica got closer she saw who the three men in the van were waiting for. Out of the building door in the alley a big man with a battle rifle flew out. When Rica saw the rifle she knew. This was the Turk, Kocak. This is the shooter Tara wanted dead! As Rica got close she raised her rifle. Kocak ran from the alley to the back of the van with his rifle aimed at the alley door, and no sooner did Kocak reach the van door did Kitty and Bling come flying out into the alley. Kocak raised his weapon and pulled the trigger. So did Rica. FWAP! Rica¡¯s bullet burst open in Kocak¡¯s rib cage causing him to drop his rifle and misfire at Kitty and Bling. Rica had saved their lives. Kocak, on pure adrenaline, jumped into the van and yelled for them to take off. But it was too late, Rica had caught up and fired another round at Kocak as he climbed into the van. FWAP! Rica¡¯s dead shot entered Kocak¡¯s back and tore through his spine, killing him. His body fell forward in the back of the van and then fell out to the street. The van driver momentarily stopped as one of the three men ran to the back to check on their boss, Kocak. The man saw Kocak and tried to say something, but he was dead. The man opened the double doors of the van and jumped in the back, but before he could close the double doors another person jumped in the van with him and that person broke his jaw with the steel plate of a rifle butt. CRACK! ¡°Aaarrgh!¡± The man yelled out. The four captive girls and the two other big men in the van watched as the little rifle girl, went for another blow on the third man¡¯s face. Only her tall rifle Strongbow hit the van roof on her downswing, stopping her second blow. The man seeing this kicked Rica as hard as he could. Rica blocked with Strongbow but caught a bad angle and got knocked backward in the moving van. The kick caused Rica to lose her grip on Strongbow, until he flew out of her hands...and out the back door. Rica watched Strongbow hit the street, flip and crack in two places before landing, ¡°Strongbow!¡± Rica did not have time to think.In less than a millisecond she pulled out her second weapon. The crack jawed man thought he was going to take the last of his strength and kick Rica out of the van. A last hope, as Rica stuck her 9mm, Cop Gun, into his mouth and pulled the trigger. POP! The four young girls screamed as the dead man¡¯s blood flew everywhere and on them. Rica was furious, she was going to kill all of these men in this van! She turned Cop Gun to the passenger, who shielded himself with one of the captive girls. Rica moved her gun to take a shot at him, but the driver violently shook the van, causing Rica to lose balance. That was all the time the passenger needed as he cracked Rica on the side of her head with the weapon in his hand, a small pipe wrench. WHACK! The blow knocked Rica onto the van floor and Cop Gun fell toward the rear door. On instinct she reached to grab her weapon. The passenger hit her again. PONG! The strike knocked Rica¡¯s earpiece out as she felt nothing and blacked out on the van floor. The passenger goon picked up Rica¡¯s gun and threw her earpiece out of the window. The passenger then told the driver go faster and get far away from that building, and away from anyone that could help Rica. Chapter 5- Heat Tool Rica stood in her bedroom holding her gunmetal grey AR-15 rifle, Jack Rabbit. Rica didn''t remember him being this grey color as Jack Rabbit was always black. When Rica looked up at her bedroom door it wasn¡¯t there anymore. She was at the rifle range with her Reyna. Rica asked her about her rifle. ¡°Mom, I don¡¯t have to use Jack Rabbit, I can use a battle rifle..I can shoot Jezriel.¡± Reyna turned and looked at Rica while Rica pointed her rifle down range at a target. Reyna replied, ¡°Not the right tool for the job.¡± Rica fired her rifle at the target and missed every shot. But she knew the truth and told her rifle, ¡°I love you Jack Rabbit, but here I need...¡± Reyna completed Rica¡¯s sentence. ¡°You need the king!¡± Rica was surprised to hear this, ¡°The king? You think so? Mom, is Strongbow ok?¡± Reyna walked close to Rica and kneeled down, ¡°Rica..wake up!¡± When Rica heard this, she woke up. In the Dark..¡°Someone..is pulling..¡± Rica''s eyes opened and a big ugly man had her on his lap, and he was trying to take her pants off. That is, until she jammed her thumb in his eye. ¡°Yaaaah!¡± The man yelled to the heavens and dropped her to the ground with a thud. Rica, groggy with two wounds to her head, stumbled up and looked around. She was in a large dark room with four boilers of some type, no windows. She had no time, the man shouted at Rica and charged her, ¡°You little bitch, Raaah!¡± and tried to kick her like a dog. Rica barely dodged his kick as she was still out of it. Relying on instinct she ran past the ugly man toward the one door she saw and pulled on the handle, ¡°Come on!¡± and it opened. Rica flung herself through the barely opened door but the ugly man grabbed her from behind and punched her, ¡°Ahh!¡± Rica tried to wiggle away and block his hammer fists punch, but his grip was too strong. So she got fancy. ¡°Ghost Technique!¡± she yelled, dropped and spun out of the ugly man¡¯s grip and swung a kick at the side of his knee. Direct hit, only the ugly man barely flinched. Rica¡¯s move had no power and didn¡¯t work. He grabbed her again and pulled her back in the room. She dropped and spun again, but too slow. The ugly man kneed Rica in her gut, knocking the wind out of the loli rifle girl. The ugly man lifted Rica on her feet, he wanted to hurt her some more, but she was ready, ¡°Come on!¡± she barked at him, until the door opened. ¡°No man! No!¡± Another big ugly man stormed in the room and punched the one fighting Rica while shouting at him. This new ugly man was in charge and had more muscle than his fat partner. While they were occupied Rica tried to run past them, but she was too late and too slow. The two men combined a barrage of punches and kicks at Rica and pushed her into what looked like a low closet where she fell on her butt. The ugly men slammed the door behind her. Rica felt around. The floor was smooth, this wasn¡¯t a closet. It was a cage, then the man in charge spoke. ¡°Hey, hey ninja girl, you got too much energy, I¡¯ll fix that!¡± Rica looked up and saw a serving slit in the cage door, the ugly man in charge talked through the slit and harassed Rica. ¡°You gotta take it easy and I¡¯m gonna sap that energy and I¡¯m a sell you good. Yeah, you¡¯re a pretty one, but you dangerous! Hunh, I saw what you did to Kocak. That¡¯s bad man. He was my money, so you gonna pay. I¡¯m gonna sell you!¡± Rica didn¡¯t listen, she only thought of escape, but she still talked back ¡°You try to touch me I¡¯ll kill you! Do you think I¡¯m kidding? Ask your partner about his eye.¡± The man in charge looked at his fat ugly partner who nursed his right eye and asked him, ¡°How¡¯s your eye?¡± The fat partner showed his eye, it was bloodshot and he couldn¡¯t see out of it, ¡°I¡¯m gonna kill her!¡± he moaned while holding his eye. The man in charge laughed at his fat partner, ¡°Ha ha ha, that¡¯s good that happened to you. Being stupid should be painful ha ha ha! But I¡¯m gonna cook this girl, you hear me little girl?¡± He looked cold at Rica through the slit. ¡°I¡¯m going to cook you before I sell you. And when I do you¡¯ll soften up and stop wiggling so much.¡± Rica looked at him with hate. He taunted her. ¡°Hey hey, look what I got?¡± he pulled a gun and pointed at her through the slit door. The gun was Cop Gun. ¡°Haaaa, this is my gun now, I¡¯ll show you!¡± Pow! The man fired a shot that barely missed Rica who pulled her body into a corner, her heart racing. The man continued pointing the gun at her. ¡°Damn! You are fast..ahh...you won¡¯t be so fast in the morning..you¡¯re gonna cook. Then we see how fast you move...heh..¡± He stared at her for a long time, looking at her from head to toe. The man made Rica sick, but she stared back, she would not lose to him. The man knew Rica was dangerous, he thought he should kill her, but that would be a waste. ¡°Heh, you¡¯ll be a sweet girl soon..watch..sweat first and you¡¯ll see!¡± The man walked away from the door. Rica felt the walls, they were smooth metal. Six feet tall and six feet all around. This wasn''t a cage it was a box. Rica could stand but didn¡¯t have much room to move. The only light in the cage came from the door slit. She bent down and looked out the slit. Rica saw the men talking and operating the four boilers. She knew she was in a building basement. A boiler room, hidden from the world. After a few loud noises the boilers sprang to life. And the man in charge looked over at Rica looking through the slit and spoke. ¡°Hey, we¡¯ll talk soon!¡± As he and the fat ugly man stepped out of the boiler room the fat man turned around and threw a wrench at Rica¡¯s cage door, causing a deafening bang sound that caused Rica to reel back and cover her ears. The two men laughed at her and slammed the boiler room door behind them. Leaving Rica in the dark, alone. The light from the boiler fires was bright outside her cage door, but not inside. And within minutes the temperature of the room shot to over one hundred and twenty degrees..and Rica felt it in every part of her body. ¡°Huh..so that¡¯s what he meant by cook me...tch!¡± Rica sat still and breathed slowly. She couldn¡¯t let the heat take her. Day One ¡°FUUUUUCK!!¡± Tara screamed in her uptown stash house. She was surrounded by twenty of her goons and Kitty. Tara had words for everyone. ¡°Listen to me all of you, we handled that good, but not good enough! Hector got hit, Ian damned near got shot up and worse yet Gustavo is missing and so is Rica! And I¡¯m telling you now, you motherfuckers don¡¯t need to be doin nothin else but finding them! Do you hear me?!¡± You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. All twenty loyal men yelled back at their boss, ¡°Right Boss!¡± and then charged into the night. Tara, Kitty, Bling and Ian stayed behind to figure out what happened to Rica. Kitty spoke first. ¡°I¡¯m telling you, those guys worked in some union before they met Kocak. They were kiddie porn pushers before they hit the big leagues, and the union is how they know each other.¡± Ian concluded, ¡°You mean like carpenter¡¯s union or somethin? I mean I know some people but I wouldn¡¯t know no kiddie porn dealers, at least I don¡¯t think I do.¡± Tara answered, ¡°This is what you do, find out what union guy got fired somewhere over kiddie porn recently. If they were Teamsters you know a story like that got legs, somebody will know something.¡± Ian snapped his finger, he had something, ¡°That Indian city attorney that handles union contracts. He would know.¡± Kitty chimed in, ¡°Sonny Persad, I know where he lives, let¡¯s go talk to him.¡± As Kitty and Ian got up to leave, Tara stopped Kitty and told her, as a big sister, ¡°We¡¯ll find Rica!¡± Kitty nodded in agreement, ¡°I know we will, and whoever took her is gonna be in a world of hurt¡± she said as her and Ian slammed the door behind them. Tara and Bling watched the door for a moment, both of them thinking about Rica, and how if they would have just got downstairs fast enough. Frustrated, Bling spoke to Tara. ¡°Boss, let¡¯s go crack skulls yo, motherfuckers know where Gustavo is.¡± Tara agreed one hundred percent. ¡°Fuck yeah they do, let¡¯s go!¡± Then Boss Tara and her hatchet man, hit the street. A Few Hours Rica dozed off and woke up frequently. It was difficult to breath in the heat and she was soaked in warm sweat. She had no idea what time it was but she knew it was morning. And then screaming. A child¡¯s scream, it came closer to the boiler room. Rica looked through the cage door slit. The boiler room door flung open and Rica watched the ugly man in charge toss a screaming child to the floor. A little middle eastern girl, maybe four years old screaming uncontrollably. The girl got up and tried to run past the ugly man who pushed her back with his leg like a soccer ball and laughed and repeated the action, playing with the screaming little girl. He looked over to Rica¡¯s cage. ¡°Hey, hey, you babysit this girl, she¡¯s got too much energy, but she¡¯ll be like you soon¡± As the little girl cried he locked the boiler room door and walked over to Rica¡¯s cage to talk to her through the slit. Rica backed up as he spoke. ¡°Oh, boy, you look real hot, and I mean it both ways ha ha ha!¡± He looked at the crying child who wasn¡¯t as loud as when she walked in the room, and he wiped the sweat from his brow and spoke again. ¡°You see that? It won¡¯t take her long to shut up, this heat in here woo! Too hot to be screaming like that or fightin like you¡­.you thirsty? I know you are, here!¡± The man pulled out a bottled water and poured it through the slit in the door on to the cage floor. Rica stared at him, not blinking. He stared back...not blinking. Then he told her. ¡°Yeah...you and her gonna be worth a lot...hmm..but you so fiery..man..those people will think I sold them a bill of goods ha ha ha. Fuck all of them though, they¡¯ll make more money off of you than they¡¯ll lose heh heh!¡± The little girl crying lost her spirit and whimpered. The man taunted Rica again. ¡°You hear her? That¡¯ll be you...just takes a little time...keep cooking. I¡¯ll see you again.¡± The man got up and Rica spoke to him. ¡°Monster.¡± ¡°Huh? Did you say something? ¡°You¡¯re a monster.¡± She repeated ¡°Me? A monster? Ha ha ha ha, hey look here little girl, I saw you put a gun in a man¡¯s mouth and pull the trigger, so what does that make you, heh heh?¡± The man laughed at Rica and she answered him. ¡°I¡¯m a monster killer..¡± The man heard her and laughed harder and louder and over the whimpers of the little girl on the floor behind him. ¡°Ha Ha Ha, you so funny, like I said, it just takes time..and you drink that water I spilled in there. Might save you heh heh...monster killer ha ha ha!¡± The man walked past the little girl on the ground and out the boiler room, slamming the door shut behind him. Rica quickly started drinking the water off of the cage floor and door. ¡°Monster!¡± she mumbled. Rica knew that the man was not going to feed her, but he had to keep her hydrated or she would die. The man wanted to sell Rica broken, but not dead. The crying little girl got up and tried to open the boiler room door. Rica called out to her but only in whispers. Rica¡¯s strength drained in the heat. ¡°Hey, Hey!¡± Rica tapped on her cage door to get the girl¡¯s attention. The little girl turned around and looked at the cage door confused. Rica called her again, ¡°Hey, little girl, come here!¡± The little girl turned to Rica¡¯s cage and said something ¡°Merhaba?¡± Rica didn¡¯t understand the word, the little girl must not speak English. The little girl said it again. ¡°Merhaba?¡± Rica responded, ¡°Yes, Mer-haba, come here!¡± The little girl realized Rica was another girl and walked over to the cage door and looked in. For Rica speaking with someone, anyone, raised Rica¡¯s energy level. Rica communicated. ¡°Hi! I¡¯m Rica¡± she tapped her own chest and said her name again, ¡°Rica!¡± The little girl understood, and tapped her own chest and said. ¡°Nisa! Nisa!¡± She smiled. Rica got it, she made progress, and now she had to ask the impossible. ¡°Nisa, good, Nisa look there!¡± Rica pointed at the wrench on the floor in a corner. ¡°Nisa, get that, please, Nisa!¡± The little girl walked to the wrench and picked it up. Rica¡¯s energy level returned. ¡°Good girl, Nisa! Now bring it to me¡± Nisa walked the tool to the cage. Rica''s hope raised, she didn''t have a plan, but now she had a wrench. Chapter 6- One Swing Boom! Boom! Boom! Ding Dong, Ding Dong! ¡°I¡¯m coming, just a moment!¡± Sonny shouted at his front door while wrapping himself in a house coat. He couldn¡¯t believe someone was banging on his door at 4 am, waking his wife and five year old son. ¡°It must be the police or something!¡± He muttered as he looked in the peephole and saw. ¡°Huh?...Why are you..¡± Sonny hesitated to open the door as he recognized the beautiful person on the other side. Boom! Boom! ¡°Yes, yes!¡± Sonny cracked the door and Kitty and Ian, gently, pushed their way into his home. Kitty spoke first. ¡°Persad, I know it¡¯s early, or late but I need you to get on your computer and find some people.¡± Sonny wasn¡¯t prepared for this. He tried to deal with Kitty diplomatically. ¡°..Uh..Kitty..my family is sleeping now but if maybe..¡± Kitty wasn¡¯t listening, she¡¯d looked behind Sonny and saw the cutest thing. ¡°Oh my god! Sonny is that your son? He¡¯s so cute! Come here little man!¡± Kitty ambushed the sleepy faced little boy, still wearing his blue pajamas with sleep in his face. Normally he would have cried, but no child, man nor beast can resist the charms of Kitty. She picked him up and hugged him and he hugged her back. ¡°Nyah! what¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°His name is Jared.¡± Sonny answered, shook up watching his son being held by a dangerous woman. And like any father Sonny wanted to protect his boy, but he knew better than to cross Kitty, or Ian. ¡°So uh Sonny, the lady requested you get on your computer there and find something for us.¡± Sonny tried again, ¡°Ian, if you and Kitty could stop by the office in a few hours.¡± Ian cut it short. ¡°No, we need it now and Sonny...¡± Ian¡¯s face grew cold and cruel as he got close to Sonny and growled. ¡°This ain''t no fuckin request!¡± Sonny did what he was told. Four Grand ¡°Come on Freddy, quit being a bitch! pour me a drink!¡± ¡°Tara you owe me four grand! Now you gotta show me good faith..¡± ¡°Oh I¡¯ll give you good faith...you...mmph..here! I just happen to have a deck a cards, so this is what we''re gonna do!¡± ¡°Fuck you Tara, gimme my money!¡± Bling ignored Tara while she argued with Freddy, the owner of the Candlelight bar in the south Bronx. The bar wasn¡¯t exactly open, but Tara and the boys did deals here and Tara, a gambler like her father, was used to owing Freddy these small sums of money she could easily pay. But Tara didn¡¯t pay, because she was a dick. ¡°Alright Freddy, I tell you what, heh heh, I¡¯ll give you a thousand dollars for the drink, but hear me out blah blah!¡± Bling laughed at Tara and sipped the Johnny Walker he paid cash for and watched the messages on his phone. Things were happening. And then his phone rang, and he interrupted Tara¡¯s absurd conversation. ¡°Boss, they got Gustavo.¡± ¡°Oh yeah? Good, we¡¯ll take him to the junkyard and put the dogs on him, see what he knows ha, ha, ha!¡± Bling appreciated Tara¡¯s lame ¡°Pulp Fiction¡± reference, but there would be no more torturing Gustavo for information. ¡°Boss, they found him dead. Whoever killed him... cut his hands off first.¡± ¡°Wow, grisly!¡± She downed her thousand dollar shot and grew serious. ¡°Well, that¡¯s the Turks for you. They¡¯re letting me know they severed all ties with him¡­.Now I don¡¯t know what that fuckin asshole knew¡­. Freddy, pour me another one..¡­.Bling, call Kitty.¡± Bling went to dial Kitty¡¯s number, but his phone rang instead, it was Ian. ¡°Talk to me¡­.What?¡± Bling, spun and looked at Tara, it was on! Boiler Room Rica woke again in the dark, her eyes hurt. She was dehydrated, but holding on. She didn¡¯t know what time it was but knew she¡¯d been in this cage at least eight hours. The little girl Nisa was sleeping by the front door, the coolest spot in the room. Then the boiler room door clanged and opened waking up Nisa. The two ugly men walked inside. The fat man picked up Nisa, who whimpered, but was too weak to scream like she did earlier. Rica, tried to yell from her cage. ¡°Leave her alone!¡± Rica¡¯s voice just above a whisper. She had no strength. The fat man took Nisa and left the room, but the man in charge decided to have fun with Rica. ¡°Hey, hey, you still got spirit?¡± He bent down to look in the cage. He could see Rica sitting with her back against the cage wall, half out of it. She had stripped to her underwear and t-shirt in an effort to cool her body off. ¡°Oh, look at you naked, hunh? Got hot in those boots and pants hunh?¡± He stared at her below the waist, Rica wanted to kill him. ¡°Oh boy, I guess I oughta give you a drink, can¡¯t have you dying yet.¡± The man pulled out an eight oz bottled water, literally a cup and showed it to Rica. Rica saw it, and wanted it. But before the man opened the cage door to give it to her, he pulled his gun and pointed it in the slit. ¡°Hey, hey! Before I give you this bottle, you should give me what you¡¯re hiding.¡± Rica looked at him confused. That made him mad. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that you little liar, because I know you got something in that cage with you because you think you¡¯re smart.¡± The man opened the cage door and pointed the gun at Rica. ¡°Yeah, you really thought I forgot about that wrench that that asshole threw at you?¡± Rica just stared at him as he reached inside the cage and grabbed her clothes. He never took his eyes off of her as he felt the pants, shirt and boots until he found it, and held it up to her face. ¡°Ha, ha, a wrench? This was your hope? Aaaahh...You ain''t fixing anything with this.¡± The man took the bottled water and poured it on her face. ¡°Here you go, drink up~¡± Rica licked the water from her face, and stared at the man. The man stopped talking and stared back at Rica with the gun in his hand. Rica hoped he would come a little closer, she even provoked him. ¡°I''m right here man..Try it..¡± The man heard Rica¡¯s whispered threat and smiled. ¡°You are a tough one, but no.¡± He took the wrench and her clothes out of the cage and closed the cage door. Then his phone rang. ¡°What?.....He did?...By who?... The Turks?...Oh boy...nah keep quiet, don¡¯t tell anyone. If you need me I¡¯ll be at the old palladian, but call and calm those people down for me...nah..nah, I gotta cut my losses here and ditch this asshole¡­How long you gonna be in Texas?........What the fuck man that¡¯s too long! Whatever dude, I gotta sell these bitches now before the Turks catch up!¡± Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. The man in charge heard his fat partner return and hung up. The fat partner let the man know that Nisa and the three other girls were in the van. And then the fat man continued an earlier argument with the man in charge. ¡°Hey man, where you going with those girls anyway? That¡¯s my money too!¡± ¡°I told you stop worrying, Ima check out a new local, in the mean time keep this little one busy till I get back.¡± The man in charge looked in the slit at Rica one more time and smiled at Rica. ¡°Hey, ninja girl..I¡¯ll be seein ya.¡± Rica stared daggers at the man in charge, but she was took weak to waste energy cursing at him. but she did whisper. ¡°I promise you will..¡± The man in charge smirked at Rica. ¡°Heh heh, you got a lot of spirit. If I had time I¡¯d break you, but being I don¡¯t my partner here will.¡± The man in charge raised up smiling at Rica and left the boiler room and the building. Leaving Rica alone with the fat man. The fat man seemed confused as to Rica and the man in charge¡¯s conversation. He bent down to look in the slit at Rica and noticed how naked she was. ¡°Hunh..that heat got to you¡­.I bet you wanna come out here and cool off?¡± Rica looked at the fat man and whispered. ¡°The Turks are coming here to kill you. Your partner set you up.¡± The fat man heard Rica and considered what she said, and she continued. ¡°You¡¯re too stupid to see it. The Turks are coming here to kill you and take their girls back..but he took em somewhere else, and you don¡¯t know where.¡± The fat man banged on the cage. ¡°You shut up! Turks don¡¯t know we¡¯re here, and were good with them anyway!¡± The fat man was stupid and Rica had him. ¡°Water...give me water.¡± She whispered. ¡°Give you water? After you plugged my eye? Fuck you!¡± Rica leaned back in the cell and closed her eyes, and, slightly, opened her legs. ¡°You give me water, I can help you..¡± ¡°Help me with what? I don¡¯t need your help!¡± Rica leaned back and let the fat man stare at her, until he couldn¡¯t take it anymore. ¡°Ok..I¡¯ll give you water..but just enough..¡± He opened the cage door, Rica didn¡¯t move, her energy depleted. The man grabbed her leg and pulled her toward him and out of the cage, watching her for any sudden moves. She didn¡¯t resist. The man lifted her up and rubbed his hand up and and down her leg, her eyes opened. ¡°Yeah, you ain''t so tough no more are you? Here, sit up here, and I¡¯ll give you water.¡± He sat down on a plastic chair and placed her limp body on his lap. The same way he had her when she first woke up, and he talked to her. ¡°Yeah, see...that guy, he ain¡¯t here to protect you no more, yeah..¡± Lusting, he looked at her body and caressed her legs. Rica whispered to him. ¡°You don¡¯t learn..¡± Faster than he could glimpse, Rica jammed the boot knife, hidden in her panties, in his eye, all the way to the hilt. ¡°YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!¡± The fat man fell backward screaming as blood spewed from his knife struck eye. Rica fell in front of the chair and crawled to the front door as she couldn¡¯t walk. The man continued yelling behind her as he got up and also ran to the front door charging at Rica. Rica saw him and fell back on her butt and tried to push herself out of his way. He was going to stomp her. She braced herself with a block. Bong! Rica blinked. The man never touched her, instead she watched the fat man get hit in the face with a metal baseball bat. ¡°Ian?¡± Ian didn¡¯t answer he just kept hitting the fat man in his face over and over and over again, until his face was gone. Then Rica heard her name called and standing in the door were Kitty, Bling and Tara. Kitty saw Rica and flipped. ¡°Rica! Oh my god! Bling pick her up!¡± ¡°I got her!¡± Bling wrapped Rica in his leather jacket and carried her out of the building with Kitty behind. Rica blacking in and out. When Rica hit the fresh air she saw her captive building for what it was, an abandoned metal press factory. Not big, but located away from everything. ¡°We gotta find the little girl.....The monster...took her..¡± Rica barely whispered and Kitty heard her. ¡°Sssh Rica, don¡¯t talk, we got you!¡± Rica responded with a half awake, ¡°I know,¡± and by the time Bling placed her in the truck, Rica blacked out. Back in the Boiler Room Ian panted as he stood over the bloody fat man. Tara gave him shit. ¡°Damn, Ian, you fucked him up! Now how we supposed to ask him any questions?¡± Ian didn¡¯t care. ¡°What the fuck would he know?... Hey look...he¡¯s still breathing, if you still want to ask him somethin.¡± ¡°What¡¯s he gonna tell me, he aint got a jaw no more, gimme that goddamn bat!¡± Tara snatched the bat from Ian and the two sadist laughed at the fat man beneath them. Then Tara slapped Ian¡¯s arm and told him. ¡°Yo E! Watch me tee off, I bet I get that knife out of his eye in one swing, hee hee!¡± Ian wanted in! ¡°Bullshit! Fifty bucks says you can¡¯t do it!¡± ¡°You crazy! you just lost your fifty bucks, hmph, you should a bet a hundred!¡± Tara kicked the fat man in the face. ¡°Hey, child rapist, you still there? You got anything left?¡± The fat man, with his left eye, broken and bloody looked at Tara and groaned. That¡¯s what Tara wanted. ¡°Don¡¯t worry buddy, I¡¯m gonna get that knife outta your eye¡­¡­.In one swing, heh!¡± Tara lined up the knife sticking out of the man¡¯s eye, and swung the bat, Whack! Klink! Rica¡¯s boot knife ripped out of the man¡¯s skull and hit the wall. The fat man cried in pain, but Tara and Ian laughed at him. Then kept him alive...for another thirty minutes. Chapter 7 - Let Me Tell You a Story. ¡°Nisa, are you still there?...I can¡¯t see you.¡± Rica looked out at the dark boiler room from the slit in her cage door. Then his voice. ¡°Hey, hey! Can¡¯t have you dying! I¡¯m gonna give you water!¡± The man in charge was in the cage, bear hugging Rica. ¡°Get off of me!¡± she wiggled, but he held her tight and poured the water on her face from the small bottle. ¡°Get off of me!¡± Rica screamed awake on her couch in her living room, surrounded by the North Bronx crew. Tara, Kitty, Bling and Ian all stared at Rica, embarrassing her. Kitty broke the tension with a cup of fruit juice. ¡°Hey sleepy Rifle Girl, how you feeling? Here I made this with your juice machine!¡± Rica took the cup and drank the cool fruit concoction Kitty made, ¡°Oh, that¡¯s good, I¡¯m good, thank you Ne-chan.¡± Rica answered half dazed. Rica laid back down and looked around. Ian and Bling were watching the Yankee game but talking football. Tara wandered in from the kitchen with a plate of food and gave Rica a head rub. ¡°Rifle Girl, you and Reyna got a swell place here with all that organic crap in the fridge, what are ya¡¯ll, fuggin vegetarians? Ha ha!¡± Kitty defended Rica. ¡°Shut up Tara, only you like eating shit all day!¡± and then Kitty burst into Chinese ¡°¿´¿´Ë­ÔÚ˵»°¡£ÄãÐèÒª¼õ·Ê!¡± Tara responded! ¡°What!, Ôٴδòµç»°¸øÎÒµÄÖ¬·¾! Watch what happens!¡± Ian protested, ¡°Hey, speak English!¡± Bling helped him,¡°What country ya¡¯ll think this is?¡± Kitty and Tara fought back! ¡°Ya¡¯ll some old racist!¡± ¡°Tell em Kitty!¡± Rica watched the bad comedy unfold in her living room and felt warm. She wasn¡¯t in that bad place anymore. That hot box. Tara sat down almost on top of Rica on the couch and yelled at Bling and Ian. ¡°Don¡¯t you boys got pickups today? I know we been busy, but damn, let¡¯s get that new money!¡± Bling and Ian got up, they knew they had things to do, and Rica was safe. The boys leaned over to Rica and gave her tough love with a back and forth along the lines of, ¡°What¡¯s the matter with you chasing a van, hunh? We was worried, but you heard what we did to that motherfucker, right? Oh, you was sleep! We gotta go, what you need? Candy? Swedish fish and Sour patch kids? Don¡¯t worry we got you girl, we¡¯ll check on you later!¡± Rica felt the genuine concern for her safety behind the voices of these two most violent men, Bling and Ian. And as they walked out the door Rica, still dazed and still a yandere, Rica was jealous that Tara and Kitty had Bling and Ian as goons! ¡°I want goons!¡± Rica dead-panned. Tara and Kitty looked at her and chuckled. Kitty rubbed Rica¡¯s head, ¡°I see you¡¯re ok. You have to eat though, and keep drinking fluids.¡± Rica confirmed with a,¡°Nya!¡± But Rica had a lot on her mind and didn¡¯t want to burden Tara and Kitty, but she had to say it. ¡°Tara-senpai, Kitty-ne-chan..I¡¯m not ok¡­.I¡¯m..I was in a box...they put me in a box.¡± Tara and Kitty watched as Rica trembled and her eyes teared, not in fear, in rage. ¡°That monster...he wanted to break me!..He...raaah!¡± Bam! Rica slammed her fist on the coffee table and looked forward, her eyes somewhere else. Tara and Kitty looked at each other, not sure what to say to Rica. Rica spoke again. ¡°That monster took that little girl...Nisa...her name is Nisa...she couldn¡¯t understand me, but I told her I would kill that monster if she helped me...and she did help me,¡± tears well up in Rica¡¯s eyes, ¡°She helped me...I wasn¡¯t strong enough...I couldn¡¯t.¡± ¡°Rifle Girl, what do you want, hmm? What do you want me to tell you?¡± Tara was blunt. Kitty didn¡¯t like it, ¡°Tara, stop it!¡± But Rica defended Tara. ¡°Ne-chan, no! Tara-senpai is correct. I just..I just wanted to say that.¡± Tara continued. ¡°Still, Rica, what do you want to do, and I¡¯m serious, because...you know..I quarterbacked that whole incident that night so all the responsibility falls on me, you know.¡± Rica thought this was ridiculous, none of what happened to her was in any way Tara¡¯s fault. ¡°Senpai? How is what I did your fault?¡± Tara cracked an awkward smile and answered. ¡°Heh heh, Rifle Girl, when you the boss everything''s your fault, and you better own up to it, or those streets will make you pay!¡± Tara continued, ¡°Now, while you were sleep, Ian told me you saved his life by spotting that truck that came around the corner. He told me they had the drop on him, and then you killed one of em." "Then you saved Kitty and Bling flying down dem alley steps when you shot Kocak and killed his ass, thank you! So the way I figure it I still you owe you one because I messed up as a boss, and you bailed me out!¡± Tara smirked and moved closer to Rica and told her, ¡°And you know, no good deed goes unpunished. So I¡¯m gonna ask you again...What do you wanna do, Rifle Girl? What can I do for you?¡± Rica felt pressured, ¡°Senpai..I..¡± Rica looked away, her confidence waning. She heard Tara, she believed Tara, but, ¡°I know you believe in me Senpai..but I lost my rifle...and..I wasn¡¯t ¡­¡± Kitty saw where Rica was heading and intervened. ¡°We found you¡¯re rifle in the street. Bling took it to your man Blessed Gee!¡± Blessed Gee was a weapon''s dealer who supplied Reyna and Rica and also maintained their rifles. Rica heard this and energized, ¡°You took Strongbow to Gee-san? What did he say?¡± ¡°He said the chamber is fine, but the barrel and handguard is cracked and the stock dented. He said give him a week and Strongbow will be better than new.¡± Rica was happy to hear this good news, but disappointed. She caused all that damage to reliable Strongbow, and now she couldn¡¯t see him for a week. Then Rica remembered something else. ¡°That monster has my gun.¡± Cop Gun, she lost him because she wasn¡¯t strong enough to hold him, or Strongbow...or Nisa! ¡°How could I be so stupid!¡± Tara and Kitty understood Rica¡¯s feeling of despair. But Tara had an ace up her sleeve. Let Me Tell You a Story ¡°Rica, I see that you want to head down the path of feeling sorry for yourself, and I understand, it¡¯s easy, it feels good, to let it all out I mean. That¡¯s how we move past things. But I want to help you!¡± Tara smiled and winked at Rica. ¡°Help me?¡± ¡°Yup, by telling you a story gangsters tell their kids to straighten them out!¡± Rica was certainly curious to know what the heck Tara was talking about and Tara continued. ¡°Let me ask you, Rica. Do you know how your mom got all those evil names, The Villain Reyna Rai, The Devil, and her sigil, ¹í Ghost?¡± ¡°No, she never told me.¡± Rica answered wide eyed. Kitty laughed and said to Rica, ¡°It¡¯s a true story, we know, we were there, but I should tell it cause Tara¡¯s gonna mess it up!¡± ¡°Shut up Kitty! Ima tell it!¡± Rica laughed at them and Tara continued. ¡°Ok, no bullshit, ask Kitty ask Ian. Ask any boss at the time. But this is what happened,¡± Tara narrates. ¡°About six years ago, Reyna, was new to this city, having come up here from Florida and making a name for herself with the Colombian and Cuban cartels, you know. But she had trouble getting work because people didn''t know her." ¡°But there was this one underboss, pretty strong and full of himself, named Garza. He operated out of Brooklyn and he decided to take a chance on Reyna, and gave her a contract. So Reyna takes the contract and whacks some guy for Garza in like record time, like within a week, she ghosted the guy.¡± The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Rica questioned, ¡°Ghosted? You mean she made him disappear?¡± and Kitty answered. ¡°Not exactly, if he disappeared Reyna couldn¡¯t prove his death and get paid. But what your mom did, by Garza''s request, was make sure the guy couldn''t have an open casket funeral.¡± Rica tried to follow them, ¡°Uh, open casket? Hunh?¡± The sisters laughed and Tara continued the explanation. ¡°Ha Ha, ok, when you ghost someone for a funeral, you make it so that the people who attend can only think about the victim in spirit, because they''re not allowed to look at the body in the casket.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Rica whispered the question and Tara flashed an evil smile and answered. ¡°Because Reyna blew that fucker¡¯s face off with a shotgun!¡± Rica¡¯s eyes widened, ¡°She did? Well...she¡¯s like that.¡± but Tara wasn¡¯t finished. ¡°The story is not over, no, no. You see, after Reyna did that contract she went back to Garza to get her money!¡± ¡°Wait? Did this Garza try to stiff my mom?¡± ¡°Worse! You see Reyna was new on the scene back then, hell she was only seventeen years old, a baby, cute as hell too! So anyway, this guy Garza only hired her because she was an outsider and he never had any intention of paying her. And why should he when he can kill her instead. So instead of paying her Garza sent four of his goons to whack her!¡± Rica listened intently, ¡°Wow, that was a stupid move, did my mom kill them?¡± Rica looked at Tara and Kitty who both kept smiling. Kitty answered Rica. ¡°Kill them? Maybe, but they were certainly ghosts.¡± Rica was confused, ¡°Ghosts? But she..hunh?¡± Tara explained with a wry smile. ¡°Remember what you asked earlier, if she made the contract disappear? Well, that¡¯s what she did to the four guys. You see one day they were here, and then one day they were gone¡­.like ghosts.¡± Rica got it. ¡°Eh? All four of them disappeared, oh..My mom is wicked.¡± But Tara wasn¡¯t finished.¡± ¡°That¡¯s story¡¯s not over. Nope. You see by making that stupid move, Garza pissed Reyna off and no man on earth should ever piss Reyna Rai off...or me or Kitty, hee!¡± They all chuckle and Tara continued. "So now a week goes by and Garza is scared, but no one in Garza¡¯s crew heard from Reyna, no demands no anything.¡± ¡°Then after a week Garza¡¯s top lieutenant disappeared. A few days later, two of Garza¡¯s bag men go missing with Garza¡¯s money, about the same amount he owed Reyna. Now Garza was scared, so he hired two replacement killers to find Reyna and take her out¡­.and within three days...they vanished too.¡± ¡°And after about a month of this, with something like twelve of Garza¡¯s men disappearing, he started to go nuts. He was paranoid. He couldn¡¯t understand why no one could find and kill Reyna, meanwhile everyone knows this is happening to him and Reyna starts making a name for herself Ha, ha, ha, can you fucking believe the irony?¡± Tara slaps her own thigh while Kitty shakes her head looking at Tara. Rica listened and responded, ¡°So what happened to Boss Garza? Did she ghost him too?¡± Tara responds. ¡°She didn¡¯t have too. Once word got around, Garza¡¯s peers figured he was a cursed fool who made a deal with the devil¡­.and lost his soul. And if he wasn¡¯t dealt with, he would bring bad mojo to the cartel. So they got rid of him.¡± Rica on the edge of the sofa asked, ¡°Got rid of him?..What did they do?¡± ¡°They ghosted him¡­.They blew Garza¡¯s face off with a shotgun¡­¡± Rica absorbed Tara''s story about Reyna, ¡°My mother did all of that? Wow, so that¡¯s why they call her the Ghost, and the Devil...and Villain is a natural name for her.¡± Kitty asks Rica, ¡°But did you understand the moral of the story?¡± Rica answered quickly, ¡°Yes, the moral is don¡¯t mess with my mom!¡± Tara and Kitty erupt in laughter and Tara corrects Rica. ¡°Ha! That¡¯s one moral. But the real moral of the story is this...they tried to kill your mother, and they failed...and because of this she got stronger and more ruthless!¡± Kitty added, ¡°Little sister, whatever doesn¡¯t kill you makes you stronger. And more importantly, that story Tara told you is true. Reyna is one of the most ruthless bitches I¡¯ve ever met! You got big shoes to fill, little girl.¡± Kitty¡¯s tough words hit Rica hard. Rica put her head down, grit her teeth and balled her fists till they hurt. Then the loli rifle girl looked at the sisters with a scowl hidden by her hair and replied. ¡°Ne-chan, Senpai...I hear you...and I promise you...I will never tarnish the name or the sigil of Reyna Rai! And I won¡¯t fall into despair...But the truth is I¡¯m not as strong as her...yet...but I won¡¯t give up¡­.and Senpai Tara...you asked me what you can do for me?...Please..Senpai, Ne-chan, please be there when I call.¡± The Outlaw Sisters smiled villainous smiles and Kitty replied, ¡°Ha, you ask for so little, just like your mother, ne Tara?¡± ¡°Yup, this little girl is a villain in training. But don¡¯t worry we got you Rifle Girl! I know you¡¯re thinking about that little girl and that asshole. But we got our ears out, we¡¯re looking for him too, and we want to take him out before he sets up with another crew, so be cool.¡± Rica heard Tara and replied, ¡°Senpai, I¡¯ll find him.¡± Tara hit back, ¡°Yeah? You will? And what will you do when you find him?¡± Rica didn¡¯t hesitate, ¡°What do you think?¡± Tara and Kitty looked in Rica''s eyes and no longer saw a little rifle girl..they saw someone else standing in front of them. Tara answered Rica. ¡°I think...I believe you...What do you think Kitty?¡± ¡°I think she¡¯ll be fine¡± Kitty clears Rica¡¯s hair out of her eyes and tells her. ¡°Rica, me and Tara gotta split, you gonna be ok for awhile? We¡¯ll be back-¡± ¡°It¡¯s ok, you don¡¯t have to worry about me.¡± Rica said with confidence. That¡¯s what the Outlaw sisters wanted to hear. Confidence. After that Kitty dropped her tough guy act and hugged Rica, and Tara gave her a pound and a, ¡°Be good Rifle Girl, call us whenever, and I mean it!¡± ¡°I will!¡± Rica closed her apartment door and looked at the clock. It was 6pm Sunday night. She¡¯d spent her weekend in a box in a boiler room. Fine, she¡¯d deal with it. But right now Tara¡¯s story about Reyna stuck in Rica¡¯s mind. And Rica knew. ¡°Mom would never break, and she¡¯d find that monster!...And so will I!¡± Rica walked into Reyna''s bedroom and pulled a long bag out from her closet, laid it on the floor and unzipped it. She looked inside at the contents with wide eyes and spoke to the contents. ¡°King, was it you who helped mom back then, in Tara¡¯s story? I alway knew you were awesome. But King...Strongbow is hurt, and Cop Gun got kidnapped...I could use Jack Rabbit but I don¡¯t think an AR-15 will pack enough punch...but I know you will.¡± Rica smiled at the contents and spoke once more. ¡°King, I know I¡¯ve never worked with you before...the truth is I¡¯ve always been afraid of you...and I know that¡¯s stupid, but I¡¯m not afraid anymore...and I¡¯m sorry if I offended you. But once I heard that story..how you helped Mom..I know you¡¯ll help me too.¡± Rica lifted the King out of his bag and felt the raw weight of the Winchester 1300 twelve gauge shotgun monster killer, appropriately named.... KING GHIDORA! Chapter 8- Call of Caleb! Smart Boy Vrrrrm! Caleb¡¯s phone buzzed and Mean Loli displayed on the caller id. He smiled and answered the call. ¡°City morgue, you kill em we keep em!¡± ¡°Ha, ha! You silly boy! What¡¯re you doin?¡± ¡°I was saving the world in Call of Conflict 6 until you interrupted, you babygirl. What-choo-doin?¡± ¡°I¡¯m two steps from your building, buzz me in, and you better had cooked! Click!¡± she hung up. ¡°Tch, bratty girl!¡± Caleb laughed to himself hit his buzzer and waited for Rica. He heard her hustle up the stairs and he knew she would jump him. And when Rica reached the top step and saw Caleb, she jumped him. ¡°Rica, no! Aaah!¡± she climbed on top of him kissing and biting him amid his protest, ¡°Rica, oww!¡± She responded with evil, ¡°Hee, hee, hee!¡± Caleb manned up and fought back. He bear hugged Rica, pinning her arms to her side until she stopped struggling, and behaved. Holding her he interrogated her, ¡°Where you been? Hunh, I been calling you since Friday?¡± Rica hid her face in his chest and half answered him, ¡°Nnnn...those bad Chinese girls had my phone, and that¡¯s all I can say.¡± Caleb read Rica¡¯s body language and knew not to press her. He took the bag she carried off of her shoulder and saw her school uniform in it. Caleb guessed she was sleeping over. He teased her. ¡°Cranky girl crashing here tonight? Hm? I bet you¡¯re hungry.¡± She pouted a response, ¡°Hmph!¡± Rica was hungry, but also needy and wouldn¡¯t let Caleb go. ¡°Babygirl, I can¡¯t cook if you''re hugging me like this," he said. ¡°You can¡¯t or you won¡¯t? Choose wisely!¡± ¡°Rica, you have to-¡± ¡°No!¡± she pouted. ¡°Oi!¡± Don¡¯t worry, Caleb can handle her. He baby talked Rica into sitting in the kitchen with him while he cooked, ¡°Hmph!¡± she compromised and helped him clean his kitchen table. Fuses, gunpowder and firecracker chemistry crowded the table top. But Rica pointed out the little square paper thingies. ¡°Caleb-kun? These paper thingies?¡± She picked one up. ¡°Careful babe, those things are super flammable, here, lemme show you!¡± The paper thingies were double the size of a postage stamp and called strikers. Caleb took a striker and wrapped it around a fuse string and rubbed the two together between his thumb and index finger, Tiss! The fuse lit on fire. Caleb held up the burning fuse for Rica. ¡°Wow! You can light a firecracker without a match?¡± ¡°Yup! They''re called strikers, for the pyro on the go, bro!¡± he smiled,happy with his rhyme. ¡°Oh my god, you are so lame! Ha, ha!¡± she had to let him know! The baka couple laughed and ate and laughed some more. Later Rica asked Caleb to look something up for her. Something important. But not now. Right now she wanted, ¡°My Caleb pillow, nya!¡± all bratty and cute. ¡°But babygirl, that means you gonna fall asleep on top of me and-¡± ¡°And what? You mad cause I won¡¯t let you play Call me Connie Six with your boyfriends, hmm?¡± Caleb defended his gamer honor, ¡°It¡¯s Call of Conflict 6, and they ain¡¯t my boyfriends, they¡¯re mah clan! And they need me!¡± ¡°Anh hanh, Cock-6! A boys love game made by a boy lover! Admit it, hee, hee, hee and that¡¯s why you like it!¡± accused the mean loli! Caleb lost the argument but he had a plan. Since he made Rica a big-ole-plate of food, it only took twenty minutes laying on him on his couch before she passed out. Snoring and everything. Caleb slipped from under Rica and shifted her on the couch to let her sleep. He knew she was stressed about something, and knew she wouldn''t tell him the details. That''s fine, as long as she''s safe. ¡°What am I gonna do with you?¡± he whispered in her sleeping ear and rubbed her hair. But now it was time for some Call of Conflict 6. Caleb grabbed his game controller and spawned in with his clan. His fighter name, CruelFateBx! Style After school the next day Rica made a surprise visit to Tara and Kitty¡¯s Kung Fu studio in Chinatown. When Rica arrived she found the studio loud and busy as Kitty-Ne-chan lead a class of ten young students in kicking and blocking drills. Rica waited in the back for the class to end, when. ¡°Hi Rica-chan! Are you here for a class today? How cool!¡± Kitty spoke loud and her students turned and gawked at Rica. Rica turned red. ¡°Uhh, Kitty-Ne-chan...I um!¡± ¡°Yo, Mongoose!¡± Tara walked in from somewhere and patted Rica¡¯s head from behind. ¡°Oh, Senpai! Ne-chan, I needed to talk to you both, with action.¡± Rica mumbled the last part and Tara and Kitty didn¡¯t know what she meant, but it was cool, Rica''s their baby sis. ¡°Ok, why don¡¯t you and Tara wait for me in the other studio, I¡¯ll be there in a second.¡± said Kitty. Tara and Rica entered the adjacent empty studio and flicked on the lights. Tara checked herself in the big wall mirror and joked with Rica. ¡°Dag, It must be urgent you came all the way down here, little Rifle Girl. You didn¡¯t kill anyone did you? Ha ha!¡± Rica smirked and removed her school blazer and white shirt. Under Rica¡¯s shirt, a dark grey tank top, with the Chinese characters on the back, è÷ø Mongoose. ¡°Ooh, what are you doin there uh...Rica?¡± asked Tara, unsure. ¡°Senpai, that man...that monster, is strong, very strong. But he¡¯s not you.¡± Rica deadpanned. ¡°Uh, hunh? Oh..so what? You think if you come here and beat me up, you can beat this monster?¡± Tara guessed and Rica confirmed. ¡°Senpai, I can¡¯t beat you up and you know it!¡± ¡°That¡¯s right Waataaaa!!!¡± Tara kicked in the air doing her Bruce Lee impression. She was so lame and Rica loved her. ¡°Ha, Ha, Senpai, I can¡¯t beat you, yet...But I don¡¯t need to beat you. I just need to move you!¡± Tara caught on. ¡°Move me, hunh?...So you sized this guy up and you think that¡¯s what it takes to beat him?¡± ¡°Yes I do, and I can beat him...if I can move you.¡± ¡°Hunh, hunh, hunh...Why don¡¯t you just shoot him?¡± ¡°Because he deserves much worse. And I¡¯m going to give it to him¡± Rica stripped down to shorts and a tank top. She tightened her ponytail and positioned into a fighter¡¯s stance. ¡°Senpai, I will move you!¡± ¡°Well, you seem convinced.¡± Tara unzipped her own hooded sweatshirt and, all cool, revealed her own dark grey tank top with her Chinese character, Íà Rabbit! Rica smiled, she was ready. Tara drew an imaginary circle around herself with her foot. ¡°Little Mongoose, you talk a big game, but let¡¯s see you move me outta this circle...and don¡¯t waste my time.¡± Rica lowered her gaze, took a deep breath...And attacked! A full frontal assault with a right punch directly at Tara¡¯s face. ¡°Won¡¯t work kid!¡± Tara raised her left hand to block, and Rica vanished! But Tara knew this trick. She couldn''t see Rica, but Tara jumped and avoided Rica''s spinning kick aimed at Tara''s knee. Tara then kicked to her right side into the gut of the reappeared Rica, knocking the Rifle Girl backward in the studio. ¡°God!¡± Rica cried out as she rolled twice on the floor, holding her belly in a fetal position. Tara wasn¡¯t impressed. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Sooooo, you were all talk then, hmm? Well I guess you-¡± ¡°Wait! Cough, cough...I¡¯m not done..cough, cough¡­I¡¯ll move you.¡± ¡°Hunh, hunh. Are you sure that¡¯s what you want? I mean, if I kick you again-¡± ¡°You won¡¯t kick her again!¡± Kitty stormed in the studio and helped Rica up. ¡°Rica-chan, I know what you¡¯re trying to do here, but getting the shit kicked out of you by Tara won¡¯t help you!¡± Rica heard Kitty. ¡°I know, that¡¯s why I didn¡¯t want to fight you Ne-chan. I knew if I fought Tara-senpai, you would see what i did wrong and tell me what to do, hee!¡± Rica smiled at Kitty, she knew Kitty would help her. ¡°What? You planned this, hunh? Ha, ha, you little sadomasochist!¡± Kitty patted Rica¡¯s head. ¡°Hey, what ya¡¯ll talkin about!¡± Tara yelled from the circle. Kitty yelled back, ¡°Nothing! Stay in the circle and shut up!¡± Kitty then broke Rica¡¯s inefficiency down for her. And Rica listened. ¡°Rica, me and you are cat sisters, nya?¡± ¡°Oh yesh!¡± Rica agreed. ¡°Ok, so you have to listen to me. We cats are fast and sharp, but we¡¯re small. And you and I are not as strong as Tara and all these other big dudes. But I beat Tara all the time!¡± Rica¡¯s eyes widened, ¡°You do?¡± Tara yelled in defense, ¡°No she doesn¡¯t, she¡¯s a liar!¡± ¡°If I¡¯m a liar than step out the circle and watch me prove it!¡± Kitty scowled at Tara, scaring her. ¡°Uhhh? To hell with you Kitty! Just hurry up and teach that brat something.¡± Tara pouted but didn¡¯t want to fight with Kitty, those fights hurt. Kitty turned back to Rica, ¡°Honey, when you fight, you use Reyna¡¯s technique. But I gotta tell you, that ghost technique works for Reyna because she¡¯s perfected it for her speed and strength. But you, little one, are not there yet.¡± ¡°But..I can get-¡± ¡°Take it easy Mongoose. I¡¯m not saying to abandon what Reyna taught you. What I am saying is you need to adjust your style to what you are...A mongoose, or as we say in Chinese, a cat-ferret.¡± Kitty motivated Rica. ¡°I want to be a cat-ferret! What do I have to do, Ne-chan?¡± ¡°Ha, ha! Well, you¡¯re already fast but you need to adjust for your power. Now, when you drop out of your opponent¡¯s view, using your ghost move. I see that you spin and side kick, or side elbow to knees and stuff. And that''s a good move, if you¡¯re as fast and as strong as Reyna. But what I want you to do is this. Instead of swinging out to the side, and lowering your speed and impact. I want you to drop and forward kick Tara with everything you got, like a coiled spring. And you¡¯ll also find another advantage.¡± ¡°Another advantage?¡± Rica asked. ¡°Yes, go do what I told you. You''ll find the advantage, and you''ll move her!¡± But Rica wasn''t so sure. ¡°How do you know? What if-¡± ¡°Like a coiled spring! And because I have faith in you, nya!¡± Kitty spun Rica to face Tara. Tara taunted Rica. ¡°Hunh! So are you gonna keep wastin my time?¡± Rica shot back, ¡°No. Get ready!¡± and attacked Tara again. Full frontal and faster than her first attack. But this time Rica threw a full right punch at Tara! ¡°Heh!¡± Tara chuckled and blocked Rica¡¯s punch with her left fist, and with her same left fist punched at Rica, trying to lead Rica to Tara¡¯s right fist. But Rica evaded both of Tara¡¯s punches and spun 360 and side kicked Tara. Tara blocked with her leg, jumped up and forward kicked Rica back. But little Rica, blocked, and merely slid backward on the floor, one hand slowing her down, like a proper shinobi! Tara loved it. ¡°Not bad brat, but you still ain''t showed me nothin, heh, heh, heh!¡± Tara taunted Rica again. But Rica learned fast. ¡°Raaaah!¡± Rica charged full speed at Tara. Tara smirked, she knew what was coming. Then Rica, vanished. But before Tara could jump for a side kick, Rica appeared directly in front and below Tara and forward kicked up at Tara¡¯s gut, ¡°Raaaah!¡± like a coiled spring. ¡°Shit!¡± Tara yelled as she crossed her arms for the block. Pow! Rica struck Tara¡¯s center, but Tara managed to block and talk smack, ¡°Ha! Ima brick house! you can¡¯t-¡± But Rica¡¯s new move, had an advantage. From her forward facing position Rica pivoted lower and side kicked Tara¡¯s knee, Whack! ¡°Fuck!¡± Tara stumbled back,¡°No! I won¡¯t-¡± and teetered, refusing to fall down! ¡°Yes you will!¡± growled the evil Rica as she stood over the teetering Tara. Until, Thump! Tara fell out of the circle and on her butt. ¡°Aaah, I didn¡¯t fall! You cheated, you brat! We gotta do it again!¡± Tara shouted, and Kitty shouted back, ¡°Shut up, she beat you fair and square!¡± ¡°Kitty you couldn¡¯t a taught her a move like that on the fly, bullshit!¡± ¡°Yes I did, and she executed, didn¡¯t you?¡± Kitty patted Rica¡¯s back. Rica glowed with pride and embarrassment. ¡°I did what you told me, Ne-chan. And when I positioned myself forward, I had more power and...I was able to get off another kick since I wasn¡¯t spinning on her side like the first time. That¡¯s the advantage, I think!¡± Kitty loved it, ¡°Ha, ha! You are a quick study, and I knew Tara kicked blindly. She just guessed where you were. And since you were in a position to pivot, you used your speed to get that second kick. And that, little one, is how cats fight, meow!¡± Rica lit up, but stayed humble. ¡°Thank you, Ne-chan, but I still need practice!¡± Tara shouted, ¡°Yeah you do, that was luck,¡± and patted Rica¡¯s head, ¡°But a win is a win, good job you!¡± Rica felt her confidence swell. But knew she had to stay grounded. ¡°Ne-chan, Senpai...I¡¯m close to finding that guy. That monster that took those girls.¡± Tara and Kitty let Rica explain. ¡°That monster said something on the phone to another man in Texas. A name. When I find out what that name is, I¡¯ll find those girls...and that monster.¡± Tara didn¡¯t like it, ¡°Hey man, he ain¡¯t your enemy. He¡¯s some shit me and Kitty gotta deal with. So if you find him, all you have to do is call us-¡± Rica cut her off, ¡°No!...I mean...Senpai, when I call you, please, just trust me.¡± Kitty didn¡¯t like it either, ¡°Rica-chan, you don¡¯t have to do this alone.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t say I¡¯d be alone, not completely, just, when I call...Ne-chan, Senpai, please lend me your strength. And let me handle this the way my mom would expect. The Rifle Girl way!¡± Tara felt Rica¡¯s conviction, ¡°Aiyaa! Leave her be, Kitty! Rica¡¯s gonna do what she wants anyway. Let¡¯s just hope she doesn¡¯t kill herself, and then ask for our help afterward, ha, ha!¡± Tara palmed Rica¡¯s hair and rustled it good. Then Tara gave Rica a ¡°Good luck, Mongoose!¡± wave, and Tara left the studio. Kitty faced Rica and asked, ¡°So you think you got this, hunh? But you know as your big sister I don¡¯t approve-¡± ¡°That¡¯s because you want to protect me, Ne-chan! And I understand. But yes, I got this. Please have faith in me.¡± Rica stood firm. Kitty disapproved of everything Rica said. But Kitty knew the little Rifle Girl would ultimately do what she wanted, and Kitty had to respect that. But since Rica was in Chinatown, Kitty could take her to, ¡°Joe¡¯s Shanghai! The best soup dumplings in all of New York City, matter fact, all of America, yum!¡± Kitty explained. Rica loved dumplings, ¡°Ya! that sounds yummy, let¡¯s go!¡± The cat sisters took off to Joe''s Shanghai. On the way they conversed in awful weeaboo Japanese mixed with nya sounds. In the middle of Chinatown. Because Otakus have no shame. Tara and Kitty at Manga-con: Read it here: http://royalroadl.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=24613 Chapter 9- The Dreaded Sweeps Tuesday, 9 pm. ¡°King, guess what? Caleb found him! I told you he would cuz my boy¡¯s good at that kind of stuff, hee!" Rica lay the mighty King Ghidora across her lap to clean his barrel and finish the story. ¡°Remember I told you that monster said a name, Palladian? Turns out it was a sheet press company in the South Bronx. But they got bought out, so I couldn¡¯t find them because the name Palladian doesn¡¯t exist anymore!¡± The 12 gauge shotgun listened as Rica spoke. ¡°But Caleb dug deeper and found out the buying company closed too. And the only thing left from the old Palladian is that half abandoned factory on Oakpoint ave. And you know what that means?¡± Rica wiped King Ghidora¡¯s barrel, and whispered cryptic words to him. ¡°That monster took those girls there¡­and when I see him...when we see him...¡± Rica trembled as her blood boiled. When she thought of the man who put her in that box she squeezed King until her fingers turned red, and loaded three shells in his chamber. ¡°I know King, I¡¯m okay. And yes, we¡¯re going hunting¡± Click! Clack! Pocket Jacks ¡°Hupp, Hupp, there it is! Bam! Now gimme my money, haha!¡± Tara slapped two jacks on the table with little girl glee. The three other players slammed their cards frustrated at Tara''s hot streak. The gambling crime boss just won six grand in Texas Hold''em at the Candlelight bar in the South Bronx. Eight of Tara¡¯s crew hung out with her at the Candlelight. Including Kitty, Bling and Ian who each sat at the bar joking with cute girls and hip patrons. Good music, great vibe. Bling-ling-ling-ling-ling! The sound of jewelry pouring out of a treasure chest, Bling-ling-ling-ling! ¡°Yo, your phone is ringin, B!¡± Kitty yelled at Bling who entertained two young ladies at the edge of the bar. Bling¡¯s phone rang in his jacket pocket next to Kitty. Curious and evil, she reached in Bling¡¯s jacket pocket and checked the caller ID. ¡°What the hell?¡± Kitty recognized the number and answered his phone. ¡°Hello, Rica-chan? Why are you calling Bling¡¯s phone?¡± ¡°Eh? Kitty-ne-chan? Umm, here¡¯s a better question, why are you answering Bling¡¯s phone? How suspicious!¡± ¡°What? Don¡¯t flip this on me little sis, I only answered because I saw you calling. Now spill it! Why you callin Bling?¡± Kitty asked. ¡°Umm.....Bling and Ian said they were going to bring me Swedish fish and candy and stuff.¡± she responded. Kitty didn¡¯t buy it, ¡°That¡¯s the creepiest shit you ever said to me. Why would you want them bringing you candy?¡± ¡°Cuz candy tastes good. And I have a sweet tooth¡­.¡± "I bet you do!" Kitty replied with evil. Bling, finally, arrived to check his phone. "Yo Kitty, who you talkin to on my phone?¡± Kitty giggled at the confused Bling and answered, ¡°I¡¯m talking to a little girl who wants candy.¡± Bling grabbed the phone. ¡°Hello, who dis?¡± ¡°Bling-san, are you really busy?¡± replied a sweet Rica. ¡°Rica? Hey, yeah man. I mean, you know, wassup?¡± ¡°I um...I need a ride.¡± ¡°A ride?...Is that all you need?¡± ¡°Yes...I can the handle the rest.¡± she whispered back. Bling understood. ¡°I hear you lil mamma..but um, how about if I bring Ian too. We¡¯ll all take a ride. Is that cool?¡± ¡°Yes, that¡¯d be great!¡± Her voice raised. ¡°Cool, give us ten minutes. We¡¯ll be by you. Click!¡± Bling hung up and turned to Kitty who heard the conversation. He asked her, ¡°What do you think?¡± ¡°I think you and Ian should give her a ride. And Bling, you boys watch her back!¡± Kitty replied. Bling laughed, ¡°Trouble making little girl!¡± ¡°Yeah she is, and she¡¯s after my heart, hee hee! So please take care of her!¡± Kitty demanded. ¡°Little boss, you know how I get down...Yo Ee, we gotta head uptown real quick!¡± Within a minute Bling and Ian left the Candlelight bar. Tara saw them leave and asked Kitty. ¡°Hey, where those two Nimrods goin?¡± ¡°To keep a promise to Rica,¡± said Kitty ¡°To Rica? Really? She called those two Pocket Jacks and not me? Man, she¡¯s crazy like Reyna! Whateva yo, come-on ya¡¯ll, let¡¯s play some cards!¡± said Tara. Only Kitty caught Tara¡¯s worry for Rica and the boys in her statement. That¡¯s fine, because Tara¡¯s the boss. And a boss can never, ever, appear worried or rattled. Not in the Bronx. Sour When Bling and Ian reached uptown they stopped at a deli on the corner of Rica¡¯s block. ¡°What¡¯d you get her, B?¡± Ian asked Bling who carried a bag full of candy, he responded. ¡°I got her...Swedish Fish, Sour Skittles and watermelon Sour Patch Kids. I think she¡¯ll like that.¡± Ian agreed and placed the bag in the back seat and, there she was. ¡°Ne! Bling-san, Ian-san, I¡¯ve never tasted sour Skittles before, hee!¡± said Rica, who somehow magically appeared in the back seat of the car. Scaring the crap out of Bling and Ian. ¡°What the fuck! How did you? When did you? What the hell are you little girl?¡± they yelled. ¡°Nya, ha ha ha, you guys have no idea how Rifle Girls work! I was already outside my house and I saw you guys drive up to the corner store. And just as Bling got out, I got in, like the shinobi that I am!" her happy answer. ¡°Girl you a sneaky mongoose!¡± said Bling. Ian added, ¡°Yeah, and why¡¯d you do that? We coulda killed you!¡± Rica showed them an evil smile, then tore open and ate a handful of Sour Skittles. ¡°Ya! you think you could¡¯ve, nom nom, but I¡¯m too...oh my god! These are so sour and so good..yum!¡± full sour face. The boys erupted, ¡°Ha! Look at your face!¡± Embarrassed, Rica fought back, ¡°Don¡¯t laugh at me! I had to show you guys I¡¯m not playing around...nom nom, oh, but these are so good!¡± ¡°I¡¯m happy you like them, and we know you bad lil mamma, but what¡¯re we doing? Are we takin it to somebody tonight, or what?¡± Bling asked, noticing Rica¡¯s tactical black clothing, and her rifle bag. ¡°Yes, one person. And rescue four girls. I¡¯ll tell Boss Tara to give you boys my cut from the Gustavo job.¡± She was serious. Ian responded, ¡°Slow down, Rica, we¡¯ll talk about the money another day. Who¡¯s this guy we¡¯re goin after?¡± Ian wanted facts, and Rica gave a straight answer. ¡°The last monster in that trafficking crew. But the Turks want him too. If they kill him first they¡¯ll take the little girls. We can¡¯t let that happen.¡± Bling didn¡¯t care, he had Rica¡¯s back, ¡°Whatever you wanna do little boss, you quarterback I got you. What about you E?¡± ¡°You already know my answer, B! Plus we got two aluminum bats and two .45¡¯s in the back, let¡¯s fuckin go already!¡± Enough said, Bling gunned the car engine and peeled off! Skrrrrrrrrrt! Destination, South Bronx, the monster''s lair. But Bling had a question for Rica. ¡°Yo, little boss. Let me ask you, why¡¯d you call my phone? Why didn¡¯t you call Kitty or Tara?¡± Rica blushed. ¡°Eh? Why¡¯d I call you?...umm...you promise not to laugh?¡± ¡°Aw man, by you asking that means we¡¯re guaranteed to laugh, so now you gotta spill it! Why¡¯d you call Bling¡¯s phone?¡± Ian stared at Rica waiting for an answer while Bling laughed and drove. ¡°Eh...well...I called you guys because...because...Because it¡¯s SO COOL that Tara and Kitty have two awesome bodyguards like you two and I want to be cool and have two awesome bodyguards and-¡± ¡°What? Ha ha ha!¡± Bling and Ian exploded in laughter, Rica couldn¡¯t say another word, ¡°Ha ha ha, yo she wants the look, yo!¡± Bling slapped Ian¡¯s shoulder while the two tried to contain their amusement. Rica felt silly. Ian cheered her up,¡°Were messin with you, man. We¡¯re actually fuckin flattered.¡± Bling added,¡°Yeah, yo. You know you made the right choice callin us lil mamma, cuz ain¡¯t nothin happenin to you! Not while we¡¯re here, ya heard!¡± Rica felt invincible, now she had goons! ¡°You guys are so cool!¡± she yelled at them and then informed them, ¡°Ok, so the name of our gang, whenever we do jobs, is ¡­.ahem...The Dreaded Sweeps, now it¡¯s an old Transformers ref-¡± Bling and Ian erupted in laughter, again. ¡°Ha ha ha!¡± And Rica pouted, ¡°What¡¯s so funny? It¡¯s a cool name?¡± Bling and Ian laughed all the way downtown. These Guys ¡°You think I don¡¯t see you there?...I see you. I knew you were coming. I knew I couldn¡¯t trust that idiot. I¡¯ll bet he¡¯s dead in Texas, or worse ha ha,...Hey! hey, little girl come here!¡± The ugly man in charged gestured for the youngest girl of the four, Nisa, to come over to him. ¡°No!¡± she hid her face amongst the other girls, angering the man. ¡°I said come the fuck here!¡± He grabbed Nisa and kicked the older girl defending her to the ground. All four girls screamed, they were all shell shocked by the man in charge. The man forced Nisa¡¯s face to look out of a small window. He was crazy. ¡°There, look!¡± He pushed her face against window, she cried. ¡°Stop fucking crying and look! You see that truck? That truck is full assholes from your country and they want to kill me and take you all from me. But no one wants to pay me...and the way it¡¯s looking now...I may cut my losses!¡± He pulled a gun and showed it to Nisa and to the other girls. ¡°On the other hand, I kill them Turks out there in that truck, and take one of em hostage then hey, hey! Ya¡¯ll could speak that gibber jabber, yeah? Then I can get the money!¡± Nisa and the other girls feared this man who grew more unstable every day he confined them. And now he saw a truck outside, that added to his crazy. Palladian Rica and the boys, also known as, The Dreaded Sweeps, arrived on the abandoned sheet press factory block. Rica scanned the small buildings and wide dark space between them. ¡°Yup, he¡¯s here.¡± She mumbled to Bling and Ian. Bling drove slow while Ian peered into the dark parking lot and darker factory, ¡°Can¡¯t see a damn thing!¡± Ian muttered and turned to Rica, ¡°So what¡¯s the plan, little boss? We kick in the front door or what?¡± If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Rica didn¡¯t answer right away. Her eyes focused on the dark factory, shotgun in her lap. ¡°Yes, you two go through the front. The monster won¡¯t expect you. But be careful, because he¡¯s expecting them!¡± Bling and Ian both asked, ¡°Them? Who¡¯s them?¡± And turned to Rica. But she wasn¡¯t there, only an open back door. ¡°Yo, where¡¯d she go?¡± Bling yelled. Both men scanned the dark and saw a small figure in black, jump on a light pole then over the factory fence, and vanish¡­ ¡°Did you see that? She just jumped over that fence-¡± Ian muttered and Bling denied it, ¡°Nah, yo! I don¡¯t know what I just saw...no little girl moves like that¡­.nah yo...¡± Ian pulled the back door closed, and the two drove around the large fenced in compound to the front of the building. That¡¯s when they saw them. ¡°B, slow down, clip the lights!¡± Bling shut the lights and car off and coasted in neutral down the dark block. One hundred meters ahead, a black SUV parked away from the the factory entrance. And unlike the abandoned cars parked around the facility, this SUV sparkled new. ¡°Fuck me dude, you think it¡¯s the Turks?¡± Ian asked Bling. ¡°Could be them or the cops! Let¡¯s chill here for a second-¡± ¡°B, Look!¡± Ian pointed at the side of the factory building and saw the oddest thing. In the shadow, behind the fence they saw something, someone crawling on the ground. ¡°Hold up? Is that dude...crawling? Wait! yo,he¡¯s crawling to that truck!¡± said Bling. ¡°He¡¯s got a gun in his hand. I think he¡¯s gonna ambush that truck! What''s goin on here, haha?¡± laughed Ian in a whisper. Then the shit hit the fan. The driver¡¯s door opened on the black SUV and out jumped a heavy set driver aiming a suppressed Heckler & Koch .45 UMP at the shadow man crawling behind the fence. The crawling man, seeing the driver¡¯s door open, jumped up and ran behind a shed near the fence. The driver shot at him, Pop Pop Pop Pop Pop! The shadow man returned fired with a handgun and three more men hopped out of the SUV, all with suppressed HK-UMP¡¯s. They were here to kill this shadow man, and take those little girls from him. The three other men opened fire on the shed. The shadow man popped out and fired one shot, hitting the driver between his eyes, Thwack! The driver dropped like a rock. ¡°Hey, hey, you ain¡¯t so tough you fucking illegals!¡± the shadow man yelled and ran along the side of the fence to the front of the building. One of the remaining three killers chased the shadow man and shot at him through the fence, Pop Pop Pop Pop Pop! Bullets grazing him, the shadow man ran to the factory front entrance. If he could lure the three gunmen into that dark factory he¡¯d kill them, take their truck and split, with maybe one girl...the little girl, Nisa. Pop Pop Pop Pop Pop! ¡°Fuck, fuck, fuck!¡± yelled the shadowman, the bullets ricocheting close. He had to get to the door entrance and, Pow! In a fleeting moment, the shadow men felt nothing as his body reeled backward to the ground. Something hit him hard across his cheek...He knew that, and he saw everything. It happened so fast his mind couldn¡¯t grasp it right away. But on his way down, he saw everything. He saw the man outside the fence shooting at him stop and re-aim his HK-Ump at..too late. BOOOOOOOOOOM! CLICK CLACK! BOOOOOOOOOM! From the ground the shadow man heard the roar of the mighty King Ghidora and watched the man with the HK go down, with a hole in his chest. ¡°Ninja girl? No! No no no no no no! Fuck you you¡¯re dead!¡± The shadow man snapped at the sight of Rica Reyes, who just saved his life. He leapt at her from the ground and grabbed her shotgun with both hands, and Rica¡­sweet Rica¡­kicked him in his balls, Thwack! ¡°Aaaaaaaaaaah!¡± The shadow man stumbled backward and watched Rica duck and cover from the shots fired Pop Pop Pop Pop Pop! The last two Turks from the truck fired at both Rica and the shadow man. And Rica fired back, Boooom! Click! Clack! King Ghidorah¡¯s steel pellets grazed the Turks, who split and dropped out of Rica¡¯s sight. The shadow man took the opening and ran into the factory, past Rica. ¡°No me jodas!¡± Rica yelled in Spanish at the fleeing shadow man and chased him. The two Turks outside the fence rallied to follow Rica and the shadowman into the factory. But before the Turks reached the door a hail of bullets flew from behind. Bling and Ian, firing Glock .45s at the Turks. One shot from Bling and Ian struck each of the Turks, one in the head, one in the back, but not lethal shots. The Turks ran to the side of the building and out of the gun range of Bling and Ian. And returned fire! Tat Tat Tat Tat! Pop Pop Pop Pop Pop! Tat Tat Tat Tat! Pop Pop Pop Pop Pop! ..A straight up South Bronx shootout, and no one around to hear. Belly The shadow man AKA The man in charge, ran top speed into the factory, unarmed, and into the main office area where he held the four girls captive. Only one girl mattered, Nisa. The four girls screamed when the man entered the office and slapped at all of them, looking for Nisa, who hid in a corner. He grabbed her, ¡°No! no touch!¡± Nisa cried the only English she knew, to no avail. The man picked her up and hurled a chair at the office entrance at the exact moment Rica reached the door. Crash! ¡°Ya!¡± Rica screamed and blocked the flying chair with her shotgun, but one of the legs hit her head full on. Rica fell backward on the hallway floor with a thud, ¡°Oof!¡± she cried. ¡°Ninja!¡± shouted the man and grabbed her shotgun. ¡°No, get off!¡± Rica yelled and kicked at the man, and he kicked back hard! ¡°Yaaa!¡± Rica screamed at the strike to her side and let go of her shotgun. The man kicked again and she blocked with her arms, she yelled. The man was strong and his kicks damaged her. ¡°Hey, hey!¡± he flipped the shotgun and aimed it at Rica, and she braced to evade and strike when. ¡°Rica!¡± yelled little Nisa. The four year old pushed the shotgun barrel away from Rica''s face. The man, furious, jabbed the shotgun butt at Nisa¡¯s face! ¡°No!¡± Rica leapt between Nisa and the man and blocked the shotgun butt with her right palm and pushed Nisa back with her left hand. So fast, the man couldn¡¯t keep up when Rica then roundhoused him in the gut, POW! ¡°Koooooooooffff!¡± All of the air exhaled from the man as he fell back, but he caught his balance, and didn¡¯t let go of the shotgun. Rica charged him at full speed, and he aimed the shotgun at her, but she dropped and punched the barrel up. Boom! he shot the ceiling. ¡°You little¡± he yelled and felt a sharp pain in his gut, and saw a seven inch blade sticking out of him. ¡°What?¡± The man couldn¡¯t believe it, when did she stab him? He stumbled backward. Rica pounced and yanked the shotgun out of his hand. ¡°Gimme my King!¡± she screamed and struck the blade deeper in his gut with King¡¯s buttstock. The man screamed, he was in trouble and he knew it, time to go. ¡°You stay away from me!¡± he yelled and ran bleeding into the dark of the factory. ¡°Rica? Rica?¡± Nisa ran to Rica and the other four girls joined her. ¡°Nisa! all of you stay here, I¡¯ll come back!¡± Rica told them and stepped into the dark. ¡°Rica, no!¡± Nisa held Rica in a ¡®please don¡¯t go!¡¯ gesture. Rica understood and promised Nisa, ¡°I¡¯ll be back!¡± And ran into the factory. Click! Clack! With mighty King Ghidorah, locked and loaded. Sweeps ¡°Nah B, don¡¯t move too fast!¡± Ian and Bling, still outside the factory chased the two Turks around the side of the factory. Until Bling saw one Turk and lowered his weapon. The Turk with the headshot lay dead. They watched his partner run top speed toward the fence, and away from them. ¡°You see that? They don¡¯t want none of this, E!¡± Bling laughed and Ian joined him,¡°Fuck yeah, B, we the Dreaded Sweeps!¡± Ian and Bling slapped five and turned serious, ¡°We ain''t done yet Pa!¡± Ian growled and the two ran back to the factory front. Lair Heat and darkness, the monster¡¯s lair. The mongoose could hear him and feel his fear. She ran faster. Plink! the sound of metal and a dim light. There, twenty feet ahead, she could see a room, then him. She fired a shot. Boooom! Click Clack! The man ducked behind the door, ¡°You get away from me, you''re not real, you''re dead!¡± he bellowed and swung a crowbar at Rica, who dodged his blow and cracked his knee with her shotgun barrel, Pow! ¡°Aaaah! Fuck!¡± he screamed and swung the crowbar again from the doorway, Whoosh! Crash! Striking the concrete wall just missing Rica¡¯s face. She charged again, ripping her seven inch blade out of his stomach, ¡°Arrrrh!¡± The man bled out from the hole in his gut, but monsters don¡¯t die easy. He swung the crowbar downward, she blocked with her shotgun and smacked him with the butt stock. And finally, decided to finish him. Booom! Click Clack, ¡°Raaaah!¡± Rica shot his right knee at point blank. He fell on that knee and swung that crowbar again, Boom! Click! Clack! She fired again and blew the fingers off his crowbar hand, the iron bar landed with a clunk in front of her...and King was out of ammo. ¡°You..I¡¯ll kill you!..¡± The man lifted on one leg, still ready to fight. Rica stood in front of him and with her hair in her eyes and a cruel smile replied, ¡°No, you won¡¯t!¡± then charged at him. He was ready. ¡°You come here!¡± he tried to grab her when she charged, but she vanished, dropped and kicked him full force in his bloody gut. ¡°Aaah!¡± he screamed and reeled back falling and knocking down a locker. And still... ¡°Raaah, fuck you!¡± He yelled at Rica, who stood motionless in front of him. The man¡¯s rage lifted him for a final charge. On his last leg and bleeding he would kill her! ¡°Aaaaahhh!¡± he charged. And Rica...sweet Rica...pinched a striker, Tiss! and plucked a small ball out of her palm at his face. When the man saw the ball in his face, the fuse burned and the ball exploded. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! An M80, courtesy of that boy Caleb. Rica ducked and covered her ears for the explosion. When she rose up she saw smoke everywhere and could hear Bling and Ian calling her in the dark. Her ears rang but she heard the man still breathing, ¡°Good!¡± she thought. The explosion blinded the man and blew off his nose, and his face. Rica leaned in and whispered, ¡°I warned you...¡± The man whimpered and bled. ¡°Yo Rica, we gotta- Oh shit!¡± Bling stopped short and Ian asked, ¡°What''d you do to him?¡± The grim-loli turned and faced Bling and Ian, and what they saw, and what they would later tell Tara is....Rica''s face...it wasn''t Rica...it was someone...something else. And that person answered them... ¡°...I did...what I promised him I¡¯d do...Now let''s get those girls and go...¡± and she vanished, into the dark. .... Chapter 10- Resolution Chinatown- Tara¡¯s Kung Fu- Studio ¡°Mah keys!¡± grumbled Tara, unlocking and entering her Kung Fu studio. And when she stepped inside, there in the middle of the studio, was the villain Reyna Rai, weilding Strongbow. ¡°Aaaah! What the fuck, dude! you tryna scare the shit out of me?¡± Tara screamed at Reyna. ¡°Maybe, whatever works,¡± replied the black haired villain. ¡°Reyna, you bitch! You know I got a forty five, right? Wait here Ima get it and shoot you!¡± ¡°Where¡¯s my kid, Tara?¡± ¡°Oh, Rica-chan? Kitty and the boys took her to the Sister¡¯s Mission on Bowery.¡± ¡°Sister''s Mission? That¡¯s an orphanage.¡± ¡°Yeah, sort of, Rica wanted to give toys and stuff to the kids. Kitty and them too!¡± answered Tara, being vague about the little girl Rica went to see. ¡°I see, how charitable of you all.¡± Reyna slinked closer to Tara, ¡°Seems I was in the neighborhood after getting a call from Blessed G, to tell me he¡¯d repaired Strongbow," Reyna stared Venom at Tara, "Funny, I wasn''t aware Strongbow was damaged...so now I want to know¡± she faced Tara, ¡°What the fuck happened to my kid, Tara?¡± Reyna was furious, and Tara felt it. Meanwhile ¡°Bling-san, I¡¯ll race you up the steps!¡± yelled Rica, at the base of the studio staircase. ¡°You crazy, I ain¡¯t runnin up there, I¡¯m old!¡± he growled. ¡°Ha! Yeah you are!¡± and Rica ran up the stairs and into the studio and saw...Tara? With her arms above her head, pinned against the wall, by..hunh? ¡°Mom? Why are you here? And why are you pinning Tara to the wall?¡± asked Rica, confused. Tara yelled,¡°Cuz she''s out of her goddamn mind, I told her I got a gun!¡± arms pinned above her head, in bondage. Reyna released Tara and put on a ''sweet mom'' voice, ¡°Baby, we were just playing. I¡¯m only here because Strongbow-¡± ¡°Strongbow!¡± yelled Rica, running to grab her beloved rifle, and hug Reyna. That argument settled, Reyna gave Tara and her crew a dirty look and said to Rica, ¡°Baby, put Strongbow in his bag and take him to the car, we have to go!¡± ¡°Aww!¡± cried Rica. ¡°Aww, nothing, we gotta go~¡± ¡°Nya!¡± Rica hugged everyone and told them, ¡°I¡¯ll see you guys Saturday!¡± she''d signed up for Tara¡¯s knife fighting class, cool, then she darted out. After Rica left, Reyna turned to Tara, with a cruel smile, and whispered something in her ear. Tara heard Reyna, and went pale, like she¡¯d seen a ghost. Reyna then stepped in front of Kitty and the boys and told them, ¡°Thank you for watching Rica''s back while I was away.¡± Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Not a problem, the kid¡¯s alright,¡± said Kitty. ¡°I know that, Katya!¡± Reyna stared daggers at Kitty, ¡°After all, she is my student!¡± then Reyna flipped her hair and left the studio, slamming the door behind her. Kitty and the boys broke into laughter, ¡°Yoooo, what is up with that bitch? Boss, what happened?¡± asked Bling laughing. Tara smirked and spoke in a low fun voice, ¡°Hey man, she asked me what happened, and I told her the truth, most of it anyway, heh!¡± ¡°Nya? You told her what Rica did to that dude?¡± asked Kitty. ¡°Hell Yeah! I told her how she messed him up and how he stayed alive for twelve hours in agonizing pain until the fire department found him...dead...fuckin monster.¡± Ian added, ¡°Yo boss, I¡¯m telling you, when me and B ran in there, that dude didn¡¯t have a face, and Rica¡­¡± Tara picked up, ¡°I know, E, I know..Hey, you know what Reyna said when I told her what Rica did?¡± All eyes turned to Tara waiting for an answer. ¡°Reyna said,¡± doing her best Reyna impression, ¡°ahem...''Fortunate for that monster that Rica''s always been a merciful child!...¡± and Tara flipped her hair like Reyna would. Kitty and the boys broke out laughing at Tara''s Reyna impression, pretty good. ¡°Merciful? Haa, Jesus Crack, the mom is fucked up and so is her kid, oh boy!¡± laughed Bling and then Ian added ¡°But not for nothin, I¡¯m glad Rica¡¯s on our side, she''s good and she keeps that crazy Reyna in check!¡± Everyone nodded in agreement. But Kitty had to ask Tara, ¡°Hey, what did Reyna whisper in your ear before she left?¡± Tara hesitated, ¡°Oh...uh...she um¡­..she told me what she would¡¯ve done to me if anything woulda happened to Rica..¡± Tara stopped laughing, and stared at the exit. The atmosphere changed as Kitty and the boys watched Tara¡¯s face grow somber. Tara didn¡¯t say specifically what Reyna told her, and no one asked. Then Tara cracked a smile and belted out, ¡°Come on you bums! Ya''ll look like somebody died, let¡¯s play some cards already!¡± And just like that her crew snapped back to what they call normal. And for the rest of the day, they''d forget about crazy ass Reyna Rai and her super cute, villain in training, daughter, Rica Reyes. And Tara wasn''t worried, she knew there''d be plenty of time to deal with those goddamn Rifle Girls in another adventure, on another day....and sooner than all you cool cats think ;) - Thanks for reading everyone ^_^ Bad Tara, Kitty, Bling, and Ian. illustrated by Cinnamonsao.