The Dark Knight

3. King of the Streets

‘Guys we started a war of sorts with the hit on Big Joe and now we have to put up the bodyguard defenses around me, Lucy and her family’ Jerry said to his henchmen as he sat in his office

Diesel and Julian nodded, both sharing the office in the small hideout they set up for themselves

‘The boys have been stationed Boss. There is a young recruit I am training now, he is passionate, his name is Vince, he will be ready to work with your personal detail soon and learn all we throw at him’ Diesel said

‘Good, I also need to get a house, a good place far from this neighbourhood’ Jerry said with a slight smile on his lips and a far-away look in his eyes

‘For you and your childhood sweetheart’ Julian said, chuckling

‘Shut up Julian’ Diesel said

Jerry laughed ‘Yes for me and my sweet Lucy’ he said, wiggling his brow at them

‘You know she can stay on her own at home with her sister and her aunt right?’ Julian teased further

Jerry stopped laughing and a stern look was back ‘Well that’s not gonna happen, after our hit on Joe last month, they will be reeling from the impact and will soon gather forces and want to retaliate’ he said firmly, he wanted them to understand the seriousness of the aftermath that was sure to come

‘Yea, so we change addresses?’ Julian asked, only now catching on to the enormity of what was ahead

‘Yea all addresses, we set up proper office structures and our homes’ Jerry said, looking at Diesel letting him know he was the one to go begin on the tasks as he stated them

‘Do we have the funds for that?’ Diesel asked, puzzled at the scope of this assignment knowing the limits of their purse compared to what his Boss was demanding to get done

‘That’s Julian’s job now, to get us the funds. Time he put his IT wizardry to work’ Jerry said with a knowing look at him

‘Julian, we have rolled together since the orphanage days’ right man?’ Jerry asked him, knowing he had to motivate him to do what they needed done

Julian nodded, ‘Yes Jx since we were kids’ he said smiling and nodding, knowing where this conversation would lead to

‘And have I ever failed you?’ Jerry asked, a smile playing on his lips

‘No boss, you have been my defender ever since the 5th grade’ Julian said proudly, laughing

‘How so?’ Diesel asked, looking from Julian to Jerry and back, a confused look on his face

‘Oh well I wasn’t always this buff, so when kids in the community would pick a fight with me, Jerry would step up and whoop them bad’ Julian chuckled

‘Oh right that’s true, you guys grew up in the same orphanage right?’ Diesel said, remembering the story Julian told him years ago when being recruited into Jerry’s dark crew

‘Yeah, we were together before his Pops, our community plumber adopted him, God bless his soul’ Julian said, looking sadly at Jerry

Jerry had lost his foster Dad recently and that’s when he really went wild as a street urchin and became a dark assassin, available for hire. His grief made him who he became, the king of streets and he was feared in their world.

Jerry shrugged and looked away from him facing Diesel instead ‘I was dubbed Mr Black Eye then when we were kids’ he smiled

‘Mr black eye?’ Diesel asked, amused

‘Yeah. anyone who crossed his path automatically got branded with his left hook imprint and thereafter black eyes’ Julian said laughing

Jerry laughed loudly, ‘The black eye effect’

‘Yeah.’ Julian said as they continued laughing. They calmed down after a while and began setting up their office ready for the day’s work

‘How about Marx?... what do I do with him? Diesel asked hesitantly, when Jerry ordered him to finish the men off, he only killed Joe’s men and guards but spared Marx for personal reasons

‘Well you let him live so you decide’ Jerry said shrugging and getting his laptop out, it was time for some business

Diesel shrugged as Julian looked on in amusement also powering on his laptop

‘Okay Boss, he is in the hospital, the surgery was successful and doctors say he will recover fully in a couple of months but some physiotherapy has to be done on his leg’ Diesel said, it was sad his friend’s punishment came at his hand but he felt it was better than him dying

‘Humph’ was Jerry’s only reply

‘He should be warned, next double cross is death’ Julian said sternly

‘He was your right hand man Jx please’ Diesel begged, he wanted Jerry to forgive Marx and keep him on board otherwise he knew Marx would go over to the mercenary gangs and his life wasted before he knew it. They had made some enemies who all knew that Marx worked for Jerry so he wouldn’t be safe out there on his own

‘Well I could never trust him again now’ Jerry said quietly, pulling out the files he was about to work on

‘He is deeply remorseful’ Diesel pushed further

Jerry snorted ‘That remains to be seen, loyalty is key in this our business, you know that. Now enough of this, we have funds to acquire’ he said, rubbing his hands together in excitement

Diesel sighed and got up, shaking his head ‘Okay Boss’ he said, knowing that was the end of it

‘Julian open up the system and break into their mainframe let’s start the extraction’ Jerry instructed and they got to work

Diesel chuckled, ‘I will leave you guys to this, I want to get cracking on the security and house movement duties Jx’ he said, heading to the door

Jerry nodded absentmindedly, already working with Julian on their cyberattack, they were going to begin taking down the financial empires of all the criminals connected with Big Joe. Jerry was out for blood and he always got what he wanted. This time would not be different

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Two months later, Meredith and Katie were visiting Lucy at home and Jerry was there with his men also relaxing

‘Hey Boss, instead of being assassins and all this stuff we do, how about we focus on this cyber take-over of all the criminals and drug lords we know’ Julian said, sipping his drink slowly

They were sprawled out in Jerry’s new house by the pool enjoying the comfort they had brought themselves, Lucy was reclined on a lounge chair far from them, dressed in a bikini, basking in the sun

‘Yeah right’ Jerry chuckled, collecting the drink Diesel brought to him from the cooler beside them

‘Yeah Boss, look how we siphoned all these and took down Joe’s empire’ Marx chipped in, looking around with shining eyes. Jerry had admitted him back into their fold when he was discharged from the hospital

‘Well serves him right for trying to harm my sweetheart’ Jerry said, looking over lovingly at Lucy, as she lay on her chair, her sister Katie beside her on the next recliner

‘You love her much’ Marx said, following his gaze, admiring the view

Jerry looked at him and nodded. They had come to a truce since he recovered but Jerry wouldn’t let down his guard with him, He told him it was a trust he had to earn all over again and Marx was all too willing to try. He got his daily bread from Jerry so he had to be smart

Meredith called out from the doorway ‘Lunch is served kids, come and eat’ she called out or rather bellowed. She was a strict matronly woman but they all loved her dearly. Jerry thought the world of her since he himself never knew his mum or biological dad, so her love for Lucy had overflown to him too these past three months they had been together and she treated him as her son

‘Oh Mama let’s serve it outside here, the weather is so nice’ Katie said, making her aunt laugh and shake her head. All the guys gazed at her, admiring the 18 year old’s sing-song voice and bikini-clad body. She was admired by Jerry’s men but he had warned them to keep off, she was a good girl and he didn’t want her tainted in any way. Besides Lucy would not let them get close

‘Okay dear, guys come give me a hand here’ Meredith said to the guys and went back inside, Lucy giggling with Katie and high-fiving themselves on the impromptu pool party she had made happen

Marx and Julian were prompt to respond and got up to go give Meredith a hand to bring out the meal and serve them. Diesel eventually tore his eyes away from Katie and he got up as well and followed after the guys, signaling to Katie to come along, they had a crush thing going on but he was bound by Jerry’s rules so they secretly flirted, dated. Diesel always volunteering to be her bodyguard when sent out on errands, giving them the opportunity to be together at those times.

Jerry motioned to Lucy to come over to where he was seated and she shook her head playfully and smiled getting up and going over there. Katie whistling as Lucy sashayed over to him

‘Oh stop that whistling Katie’ Lucy warned her sister over her shoulder, laughing

‘No way girl, go for some lovin’ Katie teased, Jerry trying to hide the smirk growing on his face

‘Hi’ Lucy said shyly as she got close to where Jerry was relaxing

As soon as she was close enough, he pulled her down to sit on his laps and she straddled his hips, placing her hands on his chest gently smiling up at him. They had become very fond of each other since the night they met and with him moving into their new house, he wanted to make things official and let the world know she was his woman

‘Hi’ he replied, leaning forward to kiss her lips softly, he smiled as he lifted his head, placing his forehead on hers

‘So where do we go from here?’ she asked breathlessly, overwhelmed by the sudden change in her life. One moment she was a quiet sales girl in her aunt’s bookstore by day and an exotic dance and Escort at night with struggling finances. Then the next moment she is under protection with Jerry being pampered and catered for with every need met. She couldn’t be happier

‘We make things official, I have always had this crush on you babygirl and now it has fully grown to love, if you will have me, I am yours baby’ Jerry said kissing her softly. He had lived a wild life and had access to anything in skirts but after the night he rescued Lucy he had not allowed any other girl come close, well there was the occasional shindigs but that was weeks ago in his weak state, he shrugged those images off, the girl in his arms was it for him and he wanted his world to know that

Lucy smiled and without thinking twice she nodded ‘Ofcourse baby, I have grown feelings for you too and I am glad you brought me into your life, into this life’ she said looking around. Jerry had taken care of her and she couldn’t say she lacked for anything. His clandestine ways were no stranger to her since she also grew up in the dark neck of woods but then she was also not comfortable with it and decided to voice it out now she had the chance

‘I don’t like the life of crime baby’ she said, stroking his cheek softly with her hands, leaning in to peck his lips ‘I love you’ she said softly

He closed his eyes over and when he opened them, she could see he was struggling with what she said about beating his life of crime but his love for her was stronger it seemed. He nodded ‘I know baby, I will work things out okay, trust me, I love you’ he said, kissing her again, she soon forgot what she was saying as she gave into the kiss

Just then the men came in with the meal plates and began setting up a table for it, Katie bringing up the rear with more dish plates. The couple still in a heated make-out not minding their audience

‘Food is here lovebirds, spare us please’ Katie called out laughing, making them break the kiss and join the others as they laughed

Katie then got everyone to sit down and she began serving the dishes they had brought from inside the house

Meredith smiled widely at them as they ate and joked and laughed. She was glad her niece was protected now, she had been so shocked when she heard the details of the kidnap and was happy the notorious Street King Jerry was on their side protecting them. She only prayed that Jerry and Lucy would both live better lives and join she and Katie in their church. She could only hope and pray

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‘So what do we do now?.. it’s been three months since the tavern got torched, the businesses have all closed up, Joe gone’ Ken asked a stone-faced Bosco as they counted their losses in the backroom of the casino he ran

‘Did you get a trace on the person who did this?’ Dan queried

Bosco looked over at him and heaved a sigh ‘We know who did it. Question is how to confront him. He wants us all dead and that’s why we are in hiding, me and the rest of Joe’s men who survived that attack. When the time is right we will resurface’ Bosco said grimly, a dark look in his eyes

Ken snorted ‘So you will wake up Joe’s bar and all?’ he asked, secretly interested in buying up the place if auctioned at a giveaway price

‘Yeah we will do that when the time is right too, give it a couple of years till Jx thinks we are out of the picture and then we hit back good’ Bosco said with a sneer

Ken chuckled, ‘That’s good’

‘We need to approach Gary, he can help fund the reopening of the Bar and once proceeds come up we can repay him’ Dan suggested

‘Okay you guys can do that and I will always run it from underground, appoint a bar manager to oversee things and front for me till I can make it open that I am alive’ Bosco said

‘Yeah Jx will strike once he is aware. I don’t even think we ourselves are in the clear’ Dan said, he had been having funny occurrences at his company, his drug shipment mixing up locations and funds mysteriously depleting, they were clueless at to the reasons for this

‘Hm, how about Harry, he could also loan us the money we need if Gary isn’t forthcoming. He had some business deal with Joe at a time I think’ Bosco said

Dan snorted ‘Harold is a bugger, likes to think he is better than us. I should deal with him one of these days…put him in his place’ Dan sneered maliciously

‘Whoa there, cool it man, Harry isn’t the enemy. Sheesh! if this is how you treat a fellow friend then I am bothered man’ Ken said startled

Dan laughed ‘Aw come on man, we are brothers, I trust you with my life. Harold though, I do not know’ he snickered

‘You are just jealous the guy ain’t like you’ Ken teased laughing, both men oblivious to the irritation Bosco felt at their happy demeanor in the midst of his own sensitive state

‘Great to see you guys are in a good mood, I will leave now, we will talk later, I have an appointment with a hitman, we will begin plotting our revenge on Jx and that girl. No matter how long it takes, once their guard is down, we will make them pay’ Bosco said, a sinister look on his face as he got up and excused himself from the room, fading away into the shadows

Ken looked at Dan and shook his head ‘I am only a Casino owner, you drug lords and assassins should let me be’ he said gruffly

‘You are one of us now bro… we die together’ Dan joked, taking a swig of his beer and encouraging Ken to continue with their game of poker