Kurt travelled back in his mind, thinking about the days he spent with his old man at their cabin up in Silverado Creek. He always had a great time up in the woods, wandering around, using his imagination telling himself tales about Cowboys and Indians, alien ships landing down at the river path and of course weird looking yeti-like creatures trying to scare him. But Kurt, ‘he ain’t never got scared’, because that was what his father went on to teach him when they went up there.
Stand your ground,an advice that Kurt Kowalksy always kept in mind, right now, he couldn’t have been more thankful for doing so. These two creeps came through the back door while Chaneult slept and he was out doing a show at one of these hipster fashion boutiques down in Little Tokyo. They tied her to the bed and threatened to burn the whole house down, including her and the dog, if he would not join Mammoth at the pier at 1a.m. with his money cashed out in a plastic bag.
‘Stupid fuckin’ hipsters’, he thought, ‘what’s up with their love for semi enjoyable sushi and a whacky steak, which I tried to prevent from being as badly cooked as it should have been, and why is not even one of themcarrying a goddamn gun?’ After remembering that he stashed his back up rifle in the trunk of his Stardust, Kowalsky was speeding up the 010 to get to the beach district.
The cell rang three times, seconds later a message from the same number. The Clerk picked a spot where Kowalsky could receive the package. He loved that man for his accuracy and promptitude.
‘Sometimes, bad things turn out to be the best things that can happen to you’, he said to himself while trying to remember his last accountants name and the day he was shot.
Three red lights and a Chevy loaded with a bunch of hoodlumps later, he reached the Carl’s Jr. on Lincoln and Alameda. The Clerk’s arrangements were settled as always and after ordering a ‘Double Double’ at the drive thru, Kowalsky received a paper bag that could have easily carried a dozen cheeseburgers.
‘After all these sushi rolls, a greasy cheeseburger actually would be the right thing….’.
He put the pedal to the floor and drove towards the beach access road. ‘Is she even worth it? Am I just taking her kidnapping as an excuse and an opportunity to end this feud with Mammoth without looking like a total sissy to the rest of the Chefs? Whatever…if he really made it out of his crappy office and dragged is gigantic ass to the old diner at the very end of the pier, maybe he deserves to die there.’
Kowalsky parked the car and went down the road a last few feet until he could here the creaking of the old wooden pier. At night, it could give you haunting thoughts or fears, but it also brought a lot of piece to the people who came here with the right state of mind. Through the dusky air, Kowalksy could recognize a large silhouette of an outrageously obese man. Mammoth indeed waited for him. He brought out two of his minions and had Chaneult tied up, standing besides him, struggling, in fear. In some kind of way they looked like Jabba the Hut and Leya.
‘You’re weird, man’, Kowalsky thought to himself as he made sure once more, that the gun stuck steady in the back of his jeans. It was almost 1 o’clock in the morning.
‘You’re a piece of shit Kowalsky, but at least you’ve always been an accurate piece of shit’, Jabba the Mammoth said with a grin. ‘Lets make this quick, throw over the money.‘
‘Free her first.’
‘No way, you know how this works, I get the money, you get the girl.’
‘Fuck you, Mammoth.’
Kowalsky threw the paper bag in the air, pulled out the gun and put a whole into the yummy cheeseburgers.
‘BOOM!’ For a second sunlight was beaming down on the old diner and Kowalksy could see another two men coming up behind the shack. ‘4 shots should do’, he thought while running towards the fat man, who dropped to the ground unable to move in shock, firing.
Bam, one down, bam bam, another one dead and the third wounded. The fourth little pussy was already running up the pier.
He grabbed Chaneult who seemed to be heavily disturbed by what just happened or whatever happened during the last three hours. Then he put the gun to Mammoths head and thought about the right words before ending his life when….
‘Max, Mahax! DUDE! The freakin’ burgers will burn man!’
‘Wait what? … Ah that’s right. There is no fine chef from an imaginary badass gangster town. No Kurt Kowalsky. It’s just me in the burger shack on Main Street hating my job. God, people should change the music around this place. Its just creepy.’