I shrugged. “How should I know?”
“Who told me that?!” Tyzee raised her voice some. “Who could have told me that…? I… How… It was someone I knew, before… A man. But I can't see his face, name, anything. Great, remembering stupid nonsense is just what I need right now.” She used her hand to push back a few stray strands of hair, then put the palm of her hand against her forehead for a minute.
“Maybe it was your father, you know, giving you fatherly advice.” I didn’t know what to make of what just happened, so I put a hand on her shoulder, tried to talk to her in a calm voice. “You okay? You startin’ to remember some things, huh? That’s good.” I smiled at her. “Hey, that’s great, really. That’s progress, right? It might take some time, but it’ll all come back to you, you just gotta be patient.”
She looked into my eyes, gave me a half-hearted smile and nodded. “You’re right... It’s just… It’s really frustrating.” The beautiful orc girl sighed, hit the joint one more time and passed it back to me, just a couple resinous hits left that I tossed. “So, you’re going to be gone all day tomorrow too, I guess?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. But believe me...” I gently took hold of her chin, bringing her face and eyes level with mine. “It ain’t like I’m tryin’ to get away from you two, but I gotta get this bread, or else how we gonna eat? Where we gonna live? Shit, how we gonna live?”
She nodded rapidly, then threw her arms around me and kissed me on the cheek again.
I was starting to get all hot again, each time I was around this girl I wanted to see more, touch more, know more. But what could I really know about a girl who had no memories? “Listen, I better get some rest.” I pulled back from her. “Got a long day tomorrow.”
I woke up early as fuck again the next morning, havin’ had more strange dreams that I didn't quite remember, then headed over to Dunkin’ again to get a spread of donuts and coffee.
“Come eat!” I hollered to the room. “I gotta keep it pushin’.”
Tyzee scowled but came and sat at the table, startin’ to pick at the hot, greasy breakfast food and sweet smelling donuts and coffee.
“You know… it’s definitely not healthy to eat like this...” Alelicia began, but then noticed me and Tyzee had shot her an annoyed glance. “But it does taste good!”
I snorted a laugh. “Okay. I’ll be back later.”
“When?” Tyzee looked up at me quickly, a donut in her hand poised for the bite.
“We headin’ out now, boss?” Skreech yawned, scampering over to the food on the table.
Sippin’ on my coffee, I raised an eyebrow over the cup. “I gotta do this on my own again, pal, you’re stayin’ here.”
“Aw, shit, boss,” the goblin whined, “take me with ya, you might need back up.”
I shook my head. “I need you to stay here again, keep an eye out on the girls, alright?”
Tyzee shot a dubious look over at Skreech, and was about to say somethin’ flippant but I wasn’t in the mood to hear it, so I put a red hand up to stop her from talkin’. She gave me an odd look, smiled briefly, and looked down at her donut. Alelicia was bein’ extra quiet, not even bothering to look up at me from the food in front of her. Skreech was lookin’ dejected but I shrugged my shoulders. One day he’ll realize. I looked down at the little goblin. That I was lookin’ out for his goofy ass. I gotta go meet up with these orcs who’d talk all kinds of shit to him, and I can’t risk taking him around Shal and the others just yet, he might inadvertently spill the fuckin’ beans about the girls and why we even came out here. I looked away from Skreech for a moment, then, turning back to him, I’m gonna need to sit him down, maybe tonight. It wouldn’t hurt to have him out and about with me, but he’s gonna need to know that he’s gotta keep his fuckin’ mouth shut and his thoughts to himself around the other goblins. When the goblins start chattin’ and gossipin’ together, they were worse than a bunch of old ladies meetin’ up for tea.
I started to head for the door.
“Hey!” Tyzee called out to me. “When are you comin’ back? You didn’t say.”
I turned to look at her, saw both she and Alelicia were starin’ at me intently, while Skreech was grumbling and walkin’ back all crestfallen and disappointed over to the futon.
“I don’t know, I’ll try and get back by dinner time, okay?” Then I turned back towards the door, not waitin’ for a response.
I lit up a joint as I walked over to the Mustang, poppin’ the door and sliding into the seat. Shal told me the orc I was goin’ to meet up with, this Big Fat Ton, conducted his business openly at the old playground, a little passed Mayfair. I hadn’t been there in ages, but I remembered it to be a massive park that was converted into a playground and picnic area long ago, there was jungle gyms and all sorts of play sets for the kids. I turned right on route 13, headin’ down to Mayfair. As I hit the edge of Kobold Town, I saw a group of scraggly bearded kobolds at a bus stop corner causin’ a commotion, and where normally I would have passed ‘em by with nothin’ but a glance and a derisive chuckle, I nearly slammed into the car in front of me when I noticed they were waving around some sort of banner, a white plain with a large, ugly dragon eye in the center, and the eye was engulfed in flames.
“The great god, Garyx, will return! The time is come, he will remake the world with fire and death!” One of the bearded kobolds was yelling.
“The dragon lord, the father of fire, shall walk amongst us!” Another bearded kobold shouted as I passed by the group. “He will cleanse the souls of the world with fire, and we will be reborn in his image!”
I shook my head, a little unnerved by such a visual reminder, however distant, of the boss I had betrayed back in California, then put my boot down on the gas pedal, speeding away from the bearded kobolds and their fanatical ranting, their crazed bullshit.
I was a little anxious as I got closer to the old playground passed Mayfair, I definitely coulda done without some kobold cult yellin’ at passers-by about their shitty fuckin’ dragon god comin’ and destroying the world. I pulled up to the playground, finally, and truth be told I couldn’t believe my fuckin’ eyes. It was just as my cousin Shal had said. There was orcs fuckin’ everywhere, a lot of them definitely in their youth, runnin’ around and screamin’, ‘causin’ a fuckin’ ruckus like you wouldn’t believe. There was orcs clearly hustling and sellin’ dope in the corners of the playground, some playin’ dice and gambling a little ways away from the younger orcs. I peered around the playground, tryin’ to remember it how it was back in the day. Humans and their kids used to claim this park, only reluctantly sharing the space with some elves, then the hobgoblins had it for a time, when we controlled the area, and then it passed back to the humans and elves before gettin’ claimed by the orcs.
What a shithole they turned it into, I thought bitterly, recalling the lush vegetation, the different varieties of trees sprinkled around, the clean cut grass. Now it resembled more of a dry swamp, the trees lookin’ half-dead, some torn from the ground, the grass overgrown and patchy in some areas, churned up in others. As I peered around the old playground, I spotted a massive, fat orc—muddafucker looked like a great big wreckin’ ball that sprouted arms and legs—sittin’ on top of a heap of twisted metal. It was like he had some of his guys grab a couple of the playground sets like the green and blue colored tower and the metal dome that kids would climb on and then smushed them together somehow, turnin’ it into an ugly, crude throne. This fat lardo was laughin’ and talkin’ with some orcs that were standing around him.
I took a deep breath and got out of the car, walkin’ slowly over to an open gate section of the fencing around the playground, which seemed to be guarded by a couple orcs drinkin’ forties. When I was a few feet away on the sidewalk, comin’ closer to them, they started to notice me and stopped chattin’, lookin’ at me curiously.
I raised my hand in the air, showin’ I came in peace. “Hey, fellas.”
“What you want ‘round here, hob?
You lost or somethin’?” The orc on the left with the shades on rumbled.
The orc on the right elbowed his buddy. He was skinny for an orc, but not any less menacing, had scars all along his arms, those tattoos you make by just digging into the flesh, scarring it with no ink. And he had a mohawk, orange hair striping his green skull. “Yea, I ain’t seen a hob ‘round here since I was a fuckin’ yougin’. Big Fat call you in to entertain the kids or some shit? I remember he was sayin’ somethin’ ‘bout hirin’ a clown, didn’t think he was serious, though.”
These orcs were a real pair of fuckin’ ball busters, but I knew I had to keep my cool, it wouldn’t look good if I got feisty with these two jerk offs before I even got a chance to talk to Big Fat Ton. An image flashed across my mind’s eye of me laid out on the sidewalk right here, next to the fuckin’ orc playground, in some shitty orc neighborhood a little passed shitty Mayfair, with these two fuckin’ orcs lookin’ down at my dead body, laughin’, drinkin’ their fuckin’ forties, and then Skreech and the girls, waitin’ night after night, for a guy to come home that ain’t ever comin’ home again.
Shaking my head, I looked at both orcs hard in the eye. “Somethin’ like that,” I replied as evenly as I could, flashin’ a fake grin at them. “I got some business to discuss with your skipper over there.” I nodded vaguely in the direction of the gargantuan orc, sittin’ on top of a heap of twisted and smashed playground equipment. The orc on the left with the shades guffawed, like he couldn’t possibly fuckin’ believe his fat piece of shit boss would ever deal with a lowly hobgoblin like myself, but the mohawk orc took what I said a little more seriously.
Keepin’ his eyes on me, he patted the gut of his buddy next to him. “B-Robb, go tell Big Fat he’s got a special fuckin’ guest over here, a fuckin’ hob requesting an audience, if he can believe it.” The other orc, B-Robb, nodded, glared at me briefly, then jogged over to where Big Fat was holdin’ court, in the center of the playground.
“Wait here, he’ll be back in a minute,” the remaining orc said coldly, “and if Big Fat don’t wanna see you, you better keep it fuckin’ movin’, you got me? We don’t fuck with goblins ‘round here, and as far as I know, we ain’t lookin’ to start.”
“Yea, I got you,” I growled back, gettin’ agitated and impatient, remembering how that asshole, Brag the fuckin’ Crag, had said somethin’ similar to me that night when I was dickin’ it outta that triple titted orc girl’s place, back in California. Back in my other life, the one that’s over. I saw that B-Robb was havin’ some sort of discussion with the giant, fat orc, there was some shaking and nodding of heads, then B-Robb hustled back over. I couldn’t tell if I was gonna be welcomed or told to kick rocks, so I braced myself in case this didn’t go as planned.
“Big Fat says he’ll talk to the hob.” B-Robb huffed as he came back over, his eyes on me. “Must be curious ‘bout you, red. Go, he ain’t got all day.” He nodded back to his boss. I quickly walked past the two orcs guardin’ the open fence, keepin’ my eyes on the huge orc looming ahead of me.
Chapter 12
As I walked by the gaggle of orcs around Big Fat Ton’s seat, I got the distinct impression that I wasn’t welcome. It wasn’t so much what they said, ‘cause they either weren’t sayin’ nothin’ or they were angrily grumbling as I walked by, voices too low for me to catch what was bein’ said, but I knew it was about me, and it wasn’t nothin’ good. That didn’t bother me as much as the orcs who stood there, sayin’ nothin’, their eyes beamin’ pure hatred and loathing at me. I ignored it as best as I could, and approached Big Fat Ton.
“A special fuckin’ guest, indeed!” The massive orc crowed, gettin’ some brief chuckles from his crew standin’ around. His voice was so deep it was like a damn tuba speaking. “Ain’t this a surprise? When’s the last time a hob came down this way to my hood?” He pretended to ponder, scratchin’ at his fat, bristly double chins. “Well, my interest is piqued. Whatchu want, little hob? What’s the story?” He sparked up an incredibly fat joint which he had pulled from the pocket on his shirt, which was so fuckin’ big you could probably have dressed an elephant with it. Over this he had a powder blue jacket and these black pants with flag stripes all over em’. His joint was so large and pungent that I actually got a little envious of it, as he puffed out great clouds of smoke.
I looked up at him, putting a little bass in my voice. “Name’s Teek. I just moved back to Philly and I’m lookin’ to get my own action goin’, that’s all. Figured I’d come by, make sure you knew I wasn’t tryin’ to step on nobody’s toes.”
The big orc looked at me curiously, possibly tryin’ to discern if I was fuckin’ with him somehow. Some of the orcs around me grumbled.
Big Fat’s already narrow, puffy eyes narrowed even more. “Okay. Whatever. What’s this got to do with me? Is this some sneaky hob way of tellin’ me you red shitheads are makin’ a move?”
“No.” I was startin’ to sweat a little. The orcs were grillin’ me hard, and I could tell that if I said the wrong thing, it would be a simple matter for him to bark a quick order and I’d be torn limb from limb by his crew.
“Then what’s this got to do with me, Teek?” Big Fat rumbled menacingly.
“I ain’t here workin’ for my people,” I growled back, “I’m here workin’ for me. Me comin’ to you now ain’t got nothin’ to do with Baron’s Street and the hobgoblins. I’m makin’ my own way in the world.”
“Did your own kinfolk exile you?”
“No, I ain’t an exile.”
“Then again, what’s this got to do with me? Why the fuck you here? Did that shithead flash runt capo… What’s his name… Shal… Send you here to fuck with me?”
I shook my head. “Shal’s my cousin.” Some of the orcs outright snarled at that. “And no, I asked him where I could find you. He told me this is where you stayed, so here I am.”
“I wouldn’t go around braggin’ that asshole is your cuz, especially not around orcs,” Big Fat muttered.
“Big Fat, just give the word and I’ll tear this little red mothafucka’s throat out with my teeth.” An orc with a reflective green jacket over a black beater said. Big Fat Ton just waved him away like a fly.
I shrugged. “It is what it is. I ain’t here for nothin’ nefarious, I came to pay my respects. This is your turf.” I paused, lookin’ at the fat orc in his puffy eyes. “I’m just tryin’ to quietly earn a livin’, that’s all. Nothin’ more, nothin’ less.”
Big Fat nodded slightly, lookin’ back at me thoughtfully. “I’ll be damned before I get in the way of someone earnin’, even if it’s a hob.” The giant orc chuckled, his prodigious gut wobbling with his laughs. “But why you comin’ to me? Why are you really here, instead of with your own kind?”
I let out a hot breath, decided to play into his bullshit a bit. “Well, truth be told, Big Fat...” I paused, saw a couple orcs nod that I had addressed their boss respectfully. “As you know, us hobs, we don’t work together that well. Plus, I’m the sorta cat that likes to be his own boss, ya know what I’m sayin’? I’m not really into takin’ orders, and they’re big on givin’ ‘em back on Baron’s.” I nodded vaguely in the direction of Baron’s Street, hobgoblin territory.
“I think I get the gist.” Big Fat nodded. “So you rather come work for an orc than a hobgoblin, eh? Can’t say I blame ya, I ain’t big on micromanagin’ my people, personally.”
“No.” I interjected simply.
“No? No what?” Big Fat shouted.
“I ain’t comin’ to work for you, Big Fat,” I said cautiously, feelin’ the air around me grow hostile again.
“Then what the fuck…?” He looked at me incredulously, a fat hand extended out towards me.
“Kobold Town. As I understand, it ain’t run by any capo. The kobolds run it how they want it, and they made a deal with you so they can do their thing freely.”
“Okay? And?”
“Since Kobold Town ain’t under your’s or anyone’s direct cont
rol...” I paused, my red eyes boring into the rotund orc’s beady dark eyes, sunken into his fat face. “That’s where I’ll set up shop.”
“What you settin’ up, hob? What is it you think you bring to the fuckin’ table, exactly?” Big Fat Ton interrupted, growin’ agitated.
“I can do a little bit of everything, Big Fat,” I responded cheerfully. “And—”
The giant fat orc thug snorted. “And shit. So you tellin’ me what? That you want a piece of Kobold Town to run your little operation? You see, the thing is...” His eyes looked me up and down. “My crew pays a tax.”
I shook my head vehemently. “I ain’t on your crew, and I ain’t lookin’ to be on your crew.”
“Just shut up and listen,” Big Fat rumbled, adjusting himself on his playground seat, makin’ old twisted metal and hard plastic groan under his girth. The orc with the mohawk took a step toward me, and I aint gonna lie I flinched a little, near reached for the piece at my hip. Big Fat turned to some of his orc crew nearby, rolled his eyes and growled, “what’d I tell ya? Keep your dick in your hand when you’re dealin’ with these red bastards.” They all grunted and laughed in approval, then he turned back to me. “You got some balls, comin’ here, talkin’ to me like this, I’ll give ya props for that.” His eyes roved around the area in front of him, his crew, before turnin’ back to me once more, tippin’ an absurdly large ash from the tip of his joint. “As I was sayin’, my crew pays a tax on territory they work for me. If you want a piece of Kobold Town, you gotta kick up to me, not some fuckin’ hob that ain’t even there to begin with, and definitely not some fuckin’ kobold.”
I took a deep breath and let it out slow. “Big Fat, I ain’t one of your guys, and for all intents and purposes, Kobold Town don’t belong to nobody, so how you gonna tax me?”
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