A Short Story: Brighton City of Gold by Frank Sonderborg (Republic of B Chapter 3)

Republic of B by Frank Sonderborg

Chapter 3
Brighton City of Gold

Judy was up boiling water for tea. Jed dropped the bag of coins at her feet and she snatched them up and hid them in their tent.
“Are you crazy Jed? The place is full of thieves and cut throats.”
“Yea, said Jed, yawning, I’ve noticed.”
He went on, “there was a rumble last night on the Bradford crew. Got beaten back. I’m sure it was our friend the Arab.”
Judy just drank her tea and said nothing.
Thought, something’s up with Judy. Then dismissed it. Thought about that AK47. Not many weapon’s like that about.

Well lots of weapon’s, but no ammunition to fire the fucking things. The Arab won’t try again when he knows the odds are much reduced with an equalizer like an AK47.

Jed got packing as they continued the run down to Sin City. The starving mobs gave them a wide berth as they moved through the country side. Arriving at the walled up Sin City, The Republic of B.
High wooden ramparts stretched in all directions. Their high walls guarded with lots of Mercs waving swords longbows and the odd rifle.

The fix was in. So they should be welcomed with out stretched arms. The marched through the open gates. And where promptly placed in a holding pen.

The filth that passed as guards went through their stuff. Stealing what they could get away with. And confiscating any weapons they were carrying.

Khan and his crew where given the V.I.P treatment and escorted out of the enclosure by well-armed professionals. Jed was shocked to see they were armed with HK416 assault rifles. If they had ammunition for those what else had they here.

The place stank of piss and garbage but mostly it stank of money. Jed could see his business line would do very well here.

When they finally where processed out of the pens.
Jed went to get a room down by the sea.
When he came back he found Judy standing with Ginkgo.

Judy said” I'm sorry Jed, buts its goodbye” And then she was gone. With all of his cash. And most of his future.

Should have seen that coming. Didn’t. But felt no anger toward Judy.
Just that cold emptiness that always seemed to fill his soul.

Jed bought a bottle of cheap hooch and retired to his rented room to lick his broken heart.
He had enough silver to rent for a couple of nights. Then he would be back on the street. And the filth that passed as enforcers in Sin City, would throw him out to the rabble.
Where he, more than likely, would end up in someone’s cooking pot.

Judy had all the connections and the loot. And now Judy was gone.
With that fucking chess piece Ginkgo. Now Ginkgo he could hate.
He knew why, of course. He could not offer her any love.
Physical or otherwise. He was dead inside and had been, for as long as he could remember.
He adored Judy. But he could not love her.
He lay on his bed drinking. The alley widow open to the effervescence sound of the sea and the sea gulls. And below that the sound of the bustling crowds of Brighton moving by.

He was awoke by the screams of a child just outside his window.
Which he decided to ignore. No business of him. Stay out of it.

Mort Cerf had thought him that, along with the sharp end of the killing business.
"Business is money the rest is just a childish foolishness from a time when morals meant something. "
“Morals will get you killed kid.” Mort Cerf made him recite it every day for a year.

But he had a chance to slice Khan and steal some loot.
And didn’t. Mort Cerf would not be impressed.
No, forget about it, he was just a stranger in a strange town pondering his non future.

A female screaming, took him out of his bed and to the window.
In the back alley, a familiar scene was playing itself out.
A female, Chinese by the looks of her was trying to protect her two small children from three thugs.
Another Neanderthal was kicking something on the ground.
It took a while for Jed to see it was a bloodied body.
The female turned and caught Jed looking and cried out for help.
One of the punks, a blonde looking animal, with bad teeth and a bad-ass attitude, looked his way and said “stay out of it stranger. Or you will end up like Mr Wong here.”
And grinning, he pointed at the bloodied heap on the ground.
Just then three Brighton MF-Tec Mounties stopped at the end of the lane.
Jed relaxed, Law and Order to the rescue. He could go back to his bottle.
The mother turned her attention to the Red Coats.
She implored them. “Please, Sirs, help me.”
Jed watched as they first checked out the assailants. Nodded to them like old friends and then moved on.
Shit, thought Jed, no better than Londinium.
Mob rule fixers. Paid off with a bag of Moolah.
Without thinking it through, he dropped out of the window.
The alcohol was affecting him, making him angry. This he knew. But it was not as bad as he thought it would be.
Jed was starting to enjoy the anger. He was angry now at Judy. Angry at Ginkgo. Angry at the world in general.
And now he felt an ice cold anger at these jerk offs. Amateurs, punks who need killing.
Never mix business and pleasure had been one of Mort Cerf’s big lessons.
But they had ruined the only bit of pleasure he was having and now it was back to his business.
Blondie had his hand on the women’s hair.
“Nice, Nice. Should fetch a fair whack. And the kids will be a bonus. Boss-man will be pleased.”
The Neanderthal with the axe had stopped kicking the bloodied body and was watching the crowds passing the lane entrance.
The two others stood, while Blondie finished checking out their newly acquired property.
Jed waited until they noticed his arrival on the scene.
Blondie saw him first.
“I told you once stranger, to stay out of it. Now I’m afraid it’s too late. Go get him boys.”
The other two punks turned and smiled and started moving towards Jed.
The Neanderthal was nearer Jed and came swinging in with his long axe.
The axe was still over his head. When Jed drove a knuckle punch through his throat.
Sweeping past and taking the axe from lose lifeless fingers. As Neanderthal hit the deck.
Turning in a half circle he swung and buried the axe in the nearest punk’s chest.
The other punk was finishing a stabbing move with a half sword which missed as Jed had moved on and was now behind him.
Grabbing him by his back collar Jed pulled as he kicked the punk in his back leg muscle. The punk dropped his half sword as he fell backwards. A bad career move. As Jed picked it up and buried it, leaning and twisting in the punk’s chest.
Blondie had now got very busy. And was pulling an old sawn off shotgun out of a hold-all, to blow the stranger back where he came from.
Thought, Jed, shit, a shotgun end game, this was not a good thing.
But then the Blondie guy let out a scream as Tiger Mom stuck him, with a long hair pin in the neck. Blondie turned to shoot his tormentor.
Jed took this as an invitation to bury the half sword deep into the Blondie’s back.
He still had that wide eyed ‘Can this happen to me,’ look of confusion as he slumped face down into the alley.
The Tiger Mom still stood in front of her kids, waving the long bloodied hair pin at Jed.
They both turned as the shouting started from the street.
Shit, thought Jed, some good citizens of Sin City now decide they have a conscience and where screaming for the Mounties to do something.
“Murder, murder, get the Mountie’s”
They should be paying me a bounty for clearing away this scum, thought Jed.
“OK Mam,” said Jed, “we need to get the hell out of here.”
“My kids,” she said, “my husband,” pointing at the bloodied heap on the ground.

Jed took the Tiger Mom’s bag and started stuffing it with booty from the fallen stand-up citizens of Sin City.
Business thought Jed, now its business, as he lifted the dead men’s wallets and weapons and stashed them in Blondie's hold-all.
She helped her husband to his feet. Jed threw him over his shoulder and they started down the alley away from the gathering crowd.
“I hope you’ve somewhere to go to,” said Jed. More in hope than conviction as they scarpered away.
Tiger Mom took the lead as her kids ran along with her. They wove in and out of side alley ways, always keeping away from the main streets.
They finally came to an area that seemed all Chinese.
Jed looked at her.
“Gook Town,” she said, “Were safe now.”

They entered a small hotel lobby. The place was in an uproar as someone took the bloodied body off him.
The wife and kids had also disappeared. Jed sat in the lobby and placed the booty bag at his feet.
Not in Sin City a day and he was up Shit Street without a paddle.
He got up and went to the receptionist. “Got any rooms.”
“No rooms, No rooms,” said the frightened boy behind the counter.
Then the Tiger Mom was back and she was screaming at the boy. He handed her a key and she gave this to Jed.
“Room 42. Best room in the house,”
Was all she said then she disappeared into the back of the hotel. The frightened boy was still staring at Jed.
Room 42, thought Jed it’s an omen. The answer to life the universe and everything lies in room 42.

Jed leaned over and said,” Whiskey, get me a bottle of whiskey or whatever passes for aqua vita around here.” Then he rummaged around in his booty bag and threw some silver coins at the boy.
“Bring it to my room. And food. Bring food.” and he threw some more coins at the boy.
Then he climbed the stairs and found the room. And collapsed onto the bed.
He would have to go back to work.
Jed, knife for hire, no job to big or small. He just smiled at that thought.
No, not knife for hire.
That was another lifetime. He would have to rebuild his business in Sin City.
A bit more subtlety was needed. A push in the back or a silent hammer on the head.
With the world in chaos there was always room for one more rodent eliminator.
And so he slept. He dreamed of hungry Tigers and Mort Cerf, always of Mort Cerf.
Knowing when he awoke the killing business would have to start again.