Nighthawk: A Superhero Story (closed for Siobhancan99)

[siobhancan99]

Monica first thought about sitting, then thought again about it. She looked at the cat. Why did financially irresponsible people always seem to have pets? That question sort of answered itself though.

She looked around "yeah i heard. Listen, I'm not going to beat around the bush. I'm not getting you out from under your 10 grand. You're gonna pay that. Probably some more in interest. What's going to happen though is you're going to offer a reasonable payment arrangement based on your means, and he's going to accept it. You're also going to follow through with it or I'm not helping. So the bottom line is, I need you to sit down, right now, make a budget and we will see what you can afford when we strip out all your luxuries and unnecessary items. then we go talk to this guy"

 

[Halcyon638]

Brian Loffler’s face grew paler. “Look, I…I don’t really think it’s even about the money with this guy. He’s, like, a psycho. He just wants me dead,” he said. “It just started out as a thousand, which I was going to pay back, but the interest…that’s why I’m at 10,000.”

“She’s going to help us settle on a fair amount, okay?” Lily said reassuringly, grabbing a room-temperature can of store-brand cola off the counter and opening it. “How much could you pay?”

“I don’t know,” he said.

“Brian. You have to fucking try to figure this out,” his sister said, taking a sip and then seeming to regret it.

“I don’t know. Maybe a 100? It won’t matter, though. He’s going to kill me anyways.”

Lily sighed. Turning to Monica, she said, “We can probably do 200. 250, but start at 2.”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica sighed and rubbed her temples "how much was the principal, and what was the interest and how long have you been in under this guy?"

 

[Halcyon638]

“It was…$2,000,” Brian said, itching a red eye. “The interest was supposed to be 20%, and this was, like, 2 months ago. The last time I saw Branko, he said it’s $10,000! I don’t know where the hell he got that. I told you he’s crazy. Like, he’s a total psycho. You should haul his ass off to jail.”

 

[siobhancan99]

"well then, we will offer him 2400 in 12 payments of 200 dollars. So I need you to call this guy and set up a meeting."

 

[Halcyon638]

Brian nodded. “Okay. Sure, that makes sense,” he said. He slowly made his way over to the small kitchen counter where his phone sat. A few seconds later, he began to speak into the phone. “Hey. It’s me. Brian…Loffler. I owe you some money. Yeah. I need to meet up with you. Um…yeah, I’ll have it. 30 minutes? S-sure. See you there.”

He looked over at Monica. “He wants to meet me at The Palace in 30 minutes.” He gave Lily a pleading look.

“Fine,” she said, tossing him her car keys.

“Just need to grab my jacket,” Brian said. “Cold out there.” He walked into his bedroom.

“Thank you,” Lily said. “Just please don’t let him get himself killed. Okay?”

 

[siobhancan99]

Nodding "sure thing" Monica waited for him to collect his shit, then headed out with him into the night "Do not do anything stupid. Do not say anything other than, 'she's here to do the talking' you let me handle this."

They got into the car and she looked over at him "you need to understand two things. You don't make these payments and I will not help you. you borrow more money and I will not help you. This is a one time get your life in order chance. you can do it or not, but I'm not here to hold your fucking hand. just to keep you from being tossed off a roof"

 

[Halcyon638]

“Sure,” Brian said. “I’m going to these Gamblers Anonymous meetings. Well, will be going. I looked them up. There’s one I plan on going to this month."

The Palace was a neon-blanketed strip club. “So, he said he’d meet me in one of the backrooms,” Brian told her once they’d parked. “You’re coming in with me, right?” he said, nodding toward the front entrance.

 

[siobhancan99]

"not coming with you would defeat the point entirely"

All she could think was "christ no wonder this fucking idiot is in over his head" But she left that unspoken. She got out of the car, then headed towards the door. No doorman. this wasn't that kind of place. Which was good, because there was nowhere for an ID on her and she didn't want to wait 2 years to have this conversation. She stepped into the bar, hoping for one of those cinematic record scratch moments, but it seemed at first nobody took notice in the dim interior.

 

[Halcyon638]

A moment later, a loud beat dropped, and music blared as another performer took the stage. At the same time, a barrel-chested bouncer caught sight of Monica. He spoke into a walkie-talkie, then made his way over while another large man approached from the other side of the room.

“Here to see Branko,” Brian shouted above the crowd.

“What she doing here?” the larger of the two men asked in an Eastern European accent. Both bouncers glanced back and forth at one another as if waiting for the other to do something.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica gestured "i'm here to do all the actual talking." She stood next to Brian "So we're here to see Branko. I am sure it won't take overly long, and then this gentleman will be back every month with some money." She kept her stance neutral, though she had to shout over the music as it filled the night. "So yeah if you could just you know, let us back there that'd be super great."

 

[Halcyon638]

After a few moments, one of the bouncers spoke. “Wait here.” He moved toward the back of the club. The other bouncer folded his arms, breathing hard like a cartoon bull getting ready to charge, while Brian not-so-subtly ogled a petite, topless, red-haired woman. The bouncer narrowed his eyes as if angered at the notion he was getting to look for free.

The other bouncer returned and waved them over. They made their way through darkened hallways, though Monica had no trouble seeing. Patrons, dancers, and staff alike stopped and gawked at her. When they reached the closed door of a backroom, the same bouncer said, “Hands.”

Brian hesitated before the bouncer began patting him down, while the other man gestured for Monica to put her arms up.

“The fuck?” the bouncer said suddenly, pulling a handgun from the back of Brian’s coat before grabbing him by the neck of the jacket. “What is this?” he asked angrily as Brian’s thick eyebrows arched over wide dark eyes.

The other bouncer reached behind back in reaction as if reaching for a firearm of his own.

 

[siobhancan99]

"good fucking god. he lives in a bad neighborhood." she snapped, impatient. "take the god damn gun and give it back to him when we leave, or lose your god damn minds, and then you and i go at it. you watch the news meathead? you think you live through that with limbs that function properly?" she reached over and gave Brian a smack on the back of your head "you tell them about your gun BEFORE they pat you down. Christ almighty if you aren't the dumbest piece of shit on this planet I don't know who is."

She looked over at the guys, hoping they chilled out, but her patience was at an end. She was tired, she wanted to be with Gabi, and if that meant killing everyone in this bar well. Ok probably not that but she'd be gloves off.

 

[Halcyon638]

The second bouncer produced a gun and aimed it at Brian, then Monica, then back at Brian. “Piece of shit,” the other bouncer repeated. “We should fucking drag your ass out back.”

“No, she’s right,” he said. “I always carry one. I wasn’t going to—” The same bouncer that had grabbed his collar backhanded him across the face, looking at Monica as he did.

A second later, he grabbed Brian’s collar again. “Come on, shitbag.” The other bouncer kept the gun raised while the other opened the backroom door.

The room they entered looked to be some kind of office. Another large man stood guard against the far wall of the room. Nearby, a curvy young woman with golden hair in disarray was slipping on a pair of uncomfortable-looking leather boots, while a dark-haired, brown-eyed man sat nursing a drink at a table. He was distractingly good-looking, in his late 20s, with mid-length, unruly hair and a compact, but powerful frame.

“This fuckhead bring a gun!” the bouncer declared. “She say he—”

The seated man extended his hand and made a downward patting motion, as if telling him to calm down. At the same time, he scrolled his phone casually. “It’s not very often we get celebrity in here,” he noted in an Eastern European accent, glancing at Monica. He looked at Brian. “You have brought me my money?”

 

[siobhancan99]

"We are here to clarify some poor math in arriving at the numbers, and establish a reasonable payment plan according to the original terms offered." Monica kept her voice calm and friendly. "As I understand it, the original principal was 2000, and the interest rate was 20 percent. over the course of a year that would net 400 dollars in interest, so 12 payments of 200 dollars should suffice. I think your accounting department might have some sort of software issue, since they think the balance owed after 2 months is 10,000 when in reality it would be something like... 2060 dollars."

She stood, trying to adopt a casual pose that wasn't leaning on anything or would inhibit her ability to snap into action. "to get to 10,000, even under compound interest it would take something like 7 years, and under simple interest something along the lines of literal decades. Brian here was concerned about the errors and so he asked me to come along and help straighten all that out."

 

[Halcyon638]

Branko looked at his phone again, viewing a social media app. “Sorry. Have you seen the one of the dog going down the slide?” he said casually, lifting his eyes to Monica once more. “I think the poor math is on your friend’s side,” he said, equally calm. “Or he has not been as honest with you as he should have.” He looked at Brian. “Maybe you should tell her the truth?”

Brian said nothing. Branko stood up from the table. “It looks like you have forgotten how to talk now. The principal was 8,000. This was two months ago, so he owes me…11,200 now.” Looking to Brian, he said, “You promised to bring me $2,000 in a month, and yet…nothing. Nada. Zero.”

“Things have been tough,” Brian said, “but I’m working on it.” The bouncer behind him raised the barrel of the gun so it was level with the back of his head.

“Please,” Branko said, indicating with his hand to lower the gun. “There are girls here.” He uttered something in a foreign language to the blonde, who nodded, waved distractedly, and headed out. “I think this man was not telling you the truth. I will. This is not your concern. You should be out saving good people, yes? Innocent people. This is a private matter, and this guy…he is not innocent.”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica rubbed her temples "to be honest, I don't want to save him. His sister wants to save him and I need her for something." She gestures "Do you mind if I sit?" then she pulled a chair out "I need to take him back to his sister alive. If your bouncer pulls that trigger I promise you that if I could blow his head up like this is the 1981 David Cronenberg classic movie "scanners" i would destroy him with the power of my annoyance alone. Fortunately, since I can lift a small car over my head I don't need that to pulverize his hand and make sure he never pulls a trigger again." She shifted "If he's been lying to me, and his sister, well. That's obviously a horse of a different color. two months though would still only be 4 percent or about 320 dollars. So he'd owe you 8320. im assuming 20 percent is annual and not monthly because monthly would be usurious and I'd have to take an interest in that. you're not a usurer, are you Mr. Branko?"

 

[Halcyon638]

“This sounds stressful for you,” the dark-haired man said, a look of something approximating sympathy on his face. “Please, sit.” He folded his arms across his chest. “I like a girl who is good with money.” His eyes were on Brian now. “I do not know this word, ‘user-us?’ The rate was 5 percent but when he did not bring me anything after one month—after he lied to me…lied to my face…I raise.”

He regarded Brian with narrowed eyes, then looked down at Monica. “I tell you what. You are famous Nighthawk and do good things—you are hero—so I will drop it back down to 5 for him. 8,800 it is. It is good number. Do you have money tonight?”

“I…I have 40 bucks,” Brian said, quietly.

Branko began curling his right hand into a fist, uncurling it, then curling it again, doing it a number of times. “That is not a payment. If you cannot make pay with money, you pay another way.” He looked at Monica. “You understand this, yes? We will keep him alive, though. You can keep promise to sister.”

“No,” Brian pleaded, his voice getting louder, “No.”

“Leave us,” Branko said to Monica. “You will have him back in five minutes.”

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica inhaled, then exhaled "if he's hurt she's probably not going to help me." She turned to Brian "what are they going to do to you?" She kept her tone conversational, even though she was tense. Her intense dislike of Brian didn't mean she was going to turn him over to these thugs."you know if you would have been honest with me, Brian, we wouldn't have come down here. See you've put me in a pretty bad spot here by lying. If you'd have been honest from the jump with me and your sister about how much you really borrowed. Well you wouldn't be here. So. Tell me what you think is going to happen." She stood up, really so she could be ready to fight. "And then tell me why you lied to me. and what you expected to happen when we got here."

 

[Halcyon638]

Brian looked at Monica. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I don’t know what…I have a problem,” he said. “I didn’t want Lily to know how bad.”

“Maybe there is way,” Branko said, eyes on Monica. “Maybe you and I can…negotiate? Just the two of us. Something fair.”

 

[siobhancan99]

"Mr. Branko, given your line of work I'm going to guess that there's little in the way of our interests which overlaps. I am willing to hear you out though, for Brian's sake. Even if he is the biggest fuck up in the world. Also, Brian. How much is the car worth?" she gestured outside "surely its worth something."

 

[Halcyon638]

Brian scratched his chin. “Lily’s car?” He lowered his voice a bit. “3, 4 grand maybe?”

“I think you might find we can negotiate something…in private,” Branko said to Monica, as a charming-yet-self-satisfied grin spread to his lips. Two of the security personnel began to mirror his knowing smile. "You might find that our interests...overlap more than you thought."

 

[siobhancan99]

"brian. Go wait in the car" she kept her stance neutral. She didn't want them to pick up on the fact that if they thought there was gonna be some kinda foursome, that she might show them that the Centauri were killers at heart. "Go out to the car I'll be a bit" she waved him towards the door "If you're not there when i get out of here, i will kill you myself."

 

[Halcyon638]

Brian’s eyes widened. Branko said something in his language and the guards reacted. The two who had entered with Monica went out with the hapless gambler, while the other followed, but paused next to their boss. They spoke again in their language, then the man cast a suspicious glance at Monica before passing by her.

Branko eyed Monica expectantly. “That’s better,” he said. “You know, I find you very interesting. And you do good things. I would rather not be your enemy. I am just a businessman. Though sometimes I have to do hard things,” he said, reaching for a bottle of scotch. He poured a shot. “You drink?”

“Maybe you can give me what I want and you…you get what you want? It is good business. No one needs to get hurt.” A smarmy smile had reasserted itself on his face.

 

[siobhancan99]

Monica waved off the drink "no thank you, not while I'm working" she sat and crossed her legs, looking across the desk at the man. While the man probably wanted something untoward from here, she could always say no. It wouldn't pay to be rude "I get that, and honestly if he'd have been honest from the jump i'd have told his sister the only way to save him is to put him on a plane with a one way ticket."