Enforcer by Travis Hill

fucking being,” Connor said, and punched Larry in the stomach, causing the junkie to throw up near Petre’s shoes. Petre took a step back. “I don’t give a shit that she’s a whore. But human beings don’t wear collars. And they don’t. Deserve. To. Be. Beat.” Each word was punctuated by a fist to Larry’s face.
    Connor let go of the junkie’s hair and stood up. He walked to the dirty kitchen and looked for a towel or napkin to clean the blood from his hands and elbow. He couldn’t find anything except garbage and dirty dishes strewn everywhere. He turned on the faucet and washed the blood off, walked back to Larry when he was done, and wiped his hands on the back of the meth head’s shirt.
    He looked over at Jera. She finished separating and stacking the money. Connor walked to the counter, thumbed through the stacks, then pocketed the money.
    “If he hits you again, I want you to run to the Gas-Mart down the road. Do you know where it is?” he asked her.
    Jera nodded her head but refused to look at Connor. He reached out and grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him.
    “What did I just say?” he asked.
    “To run to the gas station if he hits me,” she said, trying to force her head down.
    “I’m going to tell every clerk on every shift that if you come in, they are to call me or my friend here, and to keep you safe until one of us arrives. Do you understand me?”
    “Yes,” Jera mumbled.
    “I mean it. You run to the gas station, I don’t care if you are naked and bleeding. They’ll keep you safe until we get there. You don’t deserve this. You don’t deserve him ,” Connor said, looking at Larry, who returned his stare with one that contained fantasies of slow torture and death.
    He let go of her chin and stepped back toward Petre. Jera immediately ran to Larry, fell to her knees and put her arms around him. Connor thought Larry would shove her off, but Larry decided he’d had enough punishment for one day. His eyes never left Connor’s face.
    Petre thumbed the hammer of the pistol forward and put the gun into its holster. He gave Larry a look that said I’m sad I didn’t get to put a few rounds into your face . Larry didn’t notice. He was still staring at Connor with hatred. Connor clapped his partner on the shoulder and said, “Let’s go.”
     
    *****
     
    “I’m sorry, sir, but I can’t do that,” the assistant manager said to Connor.
    “Listen, Jake,” Connor said, reading the man’s name tag, “There’s a girl who is in a lot of trouble. If she comes in here, whether in five minutes, or at three in the morning a month from now, whoever is on duty is to keep her safe and call me or my friend.” Connor handed the man a piece of paper with two phone numbers on it.
    “But—”
    “No buts,” Petre said, towering over the man. He leaned forward until his face was inches from Jake’s. “Do as my friend asks. We will make it worth your while, I promise.”
    Jake’s eyes bulged as Petre leaned back and his coat opened just enough for the gun and holster to be visible.
    “Listen, friend,” Connor said again, getting the man’s attention, “He doesn’t mean we’ll bring you trouble. He means we’ll make it worth your while. This girl, she’s important to us. You wouldn’t want to see anything bad happen to your mother, or sisters, or wife would you?”
    Jake took it as a threat and began to shake.
    “That’s not what I meant,” Connor said, trying again. “I meant, you wouldn’t want to see someone doing bad things to your sisters or wife or mother and no one would help her if she was in trouble, would you? If this girl comes in, she’ll be in trouble. Not police trouble. Trouble that comes from a man’s fists. I’m sure you can agree that no woman should be subject to such things, right?” he asked as he dropped a hundred dollar bill into the front pocket on of Jake’s bright blue Gas-Mart vest.
    “Nuh…nuh…no,” the assistant manager said,