The Lion Tamer (Completed)

Chapter Two - Visiting Tim

The four walked down the street to the Cadillac that was parked crookedly. The wind was blowing the snow into a frenzy and each man shaded his eyes against the relentless storm. Eddie did not, however, and looked up into the sky that was colored orange-pink from the street lights and he grinned. His coat was open and as they piled into the long silver car he waited until Leo grabbed his coat sleeve and pulled him into the back seat. Tommy and Danny rode in front with Tommy behind the wheel.

“Fuck me!” he yelled as he slammed the door and started the engine. The radio came on immediately and WGRT was advertising itself as the Home of the Hits! Danny pulled loose a handkerchief and blew his nose loudly. “Hope we get this done soon, Leo, I don’t wanna get stuck in this shit!”

“Won’t take but a minute, hey?” Leo answered and removed his hat. He could feel his body slide a bit toward his brother’s side of the car. “Ya gotta piece of ass waitin’ for ya?”

“Got that right,” Tommy answered.

“And how does the wife fell about that, hey?”

“Hey,” he answered, looking over to Danny and slapping his arm with the back of his hand, “She’s into it!”

That garnered chuckles from the three. Eddie smiled and nodded, then wiped his window clear of mist with his sleeve.

They pulled away and drove down Astick Street until it met Broad and then they moved off into the night, the wind blowing hypnotic patterns of snow across the streets.

Eddie looked out the car window silently for a while and everyone seemed to be gathering strength after the cold and before their job. The radio bleated out Nancy Sinatra’s “These Boots are Made for Walkin’”.

“You know, with the money you make, you could at least buy a decent fuckin’ radio,” Tommy said to Danny but Danny didn’t answer because this argument had been played out already. The car was Danny’s and it was the one they used most for their jobs. First, it lend a bit of class to their crew (at least that’s what Leo claimed), and secondly it the only car that could fit all four of them, given that Eddie was the size of two men. Danny remained quiet as he often did.

Leo smiled from the back seat, “Won’t make the songs any less shittier, though.”

“Ain’t that the fuckin’ truth,” Tommy said and spun the knob through raspy static until he heard “We are the Champions” by Queen. He navigated the caddy back onto the road. “I drive, I get to pick the fuckin’ station.”

Eddie pulled the comic book from his pocket and leaned against the window. He flipped the pages slowly and let his tongue play wetly over his lips.

Tommy checked himself in the rearview mirror and then saw Eddie hunched over in the pink-orange light from the storm.

“Whatchu readin’ Eddie? Batman or Superman?” he smiled when he asked, no hint of mocking in his voice. You didn’t do that with someone like Eddie Lumskin.

Eddie shook his head and continued gazing down at the pages. Leo leaned over him and poked his head closer to see. “Black Panther,” he said.

“Black who?”

“Black Panther. Looks like he dresses up in a black suit, kinda like batman. I don’t know, never heard of ‘im.”

Eddie kept his head down and his brows tight together in concentration. “He’s a black guy that used to be part of the Avengers, but now he’s got his own comic and…”

“A nigger super hero? You’re kidding me, right?”

Eddie looked up and shook his head slowly from side to side.

Tommy continued, “I ain’t never heard of any nigger super hero, did you Danny?” Danny shook his head but remained silent. “I mean the best super heroes are ones like Batman or Superman, am I right?” Danny nodded, again, silently.

“You know who I always liked? Someone who really got my rocks off? Wonder Woman! Man, she kept me going all through my younger years. I musta jerked off to her every damn day, ya know?” He broke into laughter and Danny started nodding again.

They drove onto I-95 and moved north. The light faded too much to read anymore and Eddie kept the comic on his lap as they rode through the night, the rhythmic thumping of the wipers the only other sound other than the crackling radio.

Twenty five minutes later they had pulled up in front of a small apartment building that was located under the El tracks. There were no other cars parked directly in front but Tommy followed Leo’s instruction and pulled into a side street just past the front door.

Two young girls, one black and one white, were strolling down the street holding hands. The young white girl looked pale and thin and she wore a short skirt over ripped stockings that exposed bruises on her thighs. Her hair was parted in the middle and was of no mentionable color. She wrapped herself in an oversized brown leather jacket and pulled on a cigarette with one shaky hand. Her eyes were sunken pools of fear and addiction.

Her companion, an older black woman, was dressed for the night as well, with long white stocking and a fake fur coat that came down to just below her hips. She wore a lot of makeup and spoke to the girl through bright red, painted lips. She tugged the girl along by her wrist and took the cigarette from her and puffed at it, leaving the filter red and greasy looking.

As the four men turned the corner, they past the two and the black woman turned back and offered up the young girl to one of them.

“Rock ya night forever,” she said, pulling the girl close to her and displaying her. The girl was shivering but smiled a wooden and vacant smile, one that was meant to seduce on these streets.

“The fuck outta here,” Leo said and they moved on to the front door. The two moved on down the empty block, the woman now spitting cusses at the men and threatening that her man was right around the corner.

“Go get him, bitch,” Tommy yelled, “and then I can kill both of ya fuckheads.”

Leo pulled him along by the shoulder. He’d say something to him later about that. One of the first rules of their job was not to attract attention, don’t give anybody anything to remember you by.

“Shut the fuck up,” he said and they stood by the front door, their breath coming out in cLeods. Tommy looked at him and his expression changed to someone who had been slapped. “Sorry,” he said. “It’s just…”

“Nevermind, hey?” Leo snapped back. “You and Eddie go round back and make sure that this shithead doesn’t try to get out a window again. Eddie, if you get him back there, don’t do anything ‘til I get back there, hey?”

Eddie nodded, his large mouth hung open, exposing three missing upper teeth on the right side. Tommy slapped him on the shoulder and the two rounded the corner of the house and disappeared down the alley.

Danny opened the front door of the building. Inside it was cold and the vestibule was dark. A dimly lit staircase led straight up and a narrow black hallway led towards the back of the building.

They would have a little more liberty with Tim this time, Leo thought to himself. Amazing the kind of promises a hand inside a vise can evoke from someone. He had begged and pleaded only a week ago that he would come up with at least the first payment plus by yesterday. The day came and went and the fuckin’ idiot didn’t even try to run or hide, he was seen all over the street by folks, talking shit and acting big.

‘Course, a guy who bets with money he doesn’t have can’t be that bright to begin with, can he? And then talkin’ shit on top of it? No, this guy was off the hook stupid.

This time John said that he wanted fingers or money and Leo made sure that he had a tiny bag in his coat pocket.

They waited long enough for Tommy and Eddie to position themselves out back before they climbed the stairs. Tim’s door was on the second floor, he remembered from last week. They shook and threatened him for twenty minutes and not a soul knocked on his door and that was the way Leo liked it. No one around here asked questions or were curious about screams behind closed doors.

They reached the landing and Danny quietly tried the doorknob. He turned to Leo and shook his head. At least Tim had the brains to lock his damn door, Leo thought. He nodded to Danny and Danny rocked back on the balls of one foot and then planted his shoulder against the door. It cracked open and they walked in.

A woman screamed from somewhere inside and Leo reached to the right of the doorway and found a switch. He flicked it and it brought to life a small bulb that hung from the middle of the ceiling. Tim’s bed was in the corner, a rickety single bed on a metal frame and he and a young woman were lying naked atop the rumpled and gray sheets.

The woman, actually a girl, and pretty in a sort of neglected and disheveled way, kept screaming and pulled the sheet over her pale body. Tim, his hair looking wiry and wild, shook his head and tried to focus his eyes in the newly introduced light. He tried to grab some of the sheets but the girl leaped from the bed and ran for the door. Danny stopped her before she reached it, grabbing a bit more of her young body than he really needed to. Leo told her to shut up. Tim, now apparently realizing who had interrupted them, stared wide-eyed at the girl and Danny. He covered himself up with her pillow.

The girl was still shaking in Danny’s arms and although her light brown hair had fallen over her face Leo could see that she was terrified. Her eyes darted from on to the other and her breath was coming out in spurts. She reminded Leo of a caged animal and for a few second he got really hot about that thought.

“Shhh,” he whispered, getting closer to her and she winced reflexively and pulled away a bit. Danny kept a tight hold on her waist and tits. She bit her lip and trembled. Leo tried to soothe her once again with a simple hush. She seemed to calm after a minute. Looking at her, she couldn’t have been seventeen yet. Her eyes betrayed her body’s claim to womanhood.

“It’s okay, we’re not here to hurt you,” he said. He brushed a few rebellious strands from her face and looked at her. Tim so far still had said nothing from his corner.

And that’s not going to help you one bit, Tim, thought Leo.

“Did he pay you yet?” he asked her and after a pause to look in Tim’s direction she shook her head.

Leo nodded and turned to Tim. “Pay her.”

Tim looked confused for a second. “Uh,” he said, closing his lips and then looking out the window. His expression changed when he no doubt saw Eddie and Tommy out there waiting like hungry wolves below.

“Pay her, fuckface,” Leo repeated.

“But, but I ain’t fucked her yet,” he complained. He leaned back from the window. Leo didn’t answer, but walked over to the window and threw it open and a march of chilled air blew in. Tim wrapped his arms around his thin, hairless frame. Leo leaned out and called Tommy to come up.

“Eddie you stay there,” he ordered. Eddie nodded and clapped his meaty hands together.

Leo turned back to Tim who was trembling from either fear or the cold or both. His eyes were small black pearls on white and he nervously tried to calm his tussled hair with one hand. “Pay her the money you owe her, asshole,” he said and reached behind him and pulled up a wooden folding chair. He turned it around and sat in it, his legs straddling either side. He imagined that was probably what the whore would have been doing about now if they hadn’t been interrupted. Danny was still pawing the girl and Leo let him but had the fleeting thought that it was always the quiet ones that ended up being the real perverts.

“But Leo, I ain’t fu…”

Leo’s fist came quick and hard and it cracked into the side of Tim’s head making a thump sound. Tim didn’t cry out but he grabbed both temples and let out a dull moan.

“Imagine this Tim. That is what I’m doing to get back this whore’s money and get her on her way. Imagine, hey? Imagine what we’re going to do to you to get back John’s.” Leo stayed seated and turned when he saw Tommy come in the door.

The girl squirmed in Danny’s grip but he held her fast.

“Look, guys,” she said in a voice that cracked with fear, “I don’t need my money or nothin’. I just want to get outta here. Please.”

“Shut up,” Leo snapped. He turned back again to Tim who was sitting up again and holding his head. He flinched and blinked his eyes when Leo leaned in close to him.

“Where is her money?” Leo demanded. Tim hesitated, breathing deep and considering his options before slowly reaching to the rickety and stained table near the bed and pulling out the one drawer that sat under the surface. He fumbled at first but produced a few bills which Leo pulled from his fingers and counted.

“How much does he owe you, whore?”

The look of fear had vanished for a second, as if she was about to pronounce herself slighted by the title but then it returned and she licked her lips quickly and brushed a few strands back from her face again. She was getting sickened by this asshole feeling her up for free but she knew her limits and this was way past them.

“50 bucks,” she said.

“You lying bitch,” Tim yelled. “You told me $30 and said you wouldn’t even let me go up your ass!” Leo ignored the plea and got up and walked over to her.

“Here’s 40.” She took it quickly and tried to pull away from Danny but he wouldn’t let go. Leo had to admit he liked watching her young body struggle and he wouldn’t mind giving her a ride himself but they had work to do. Maybe he’d find her again, maybe later this week.

He leaned close to her, close enough that he could hear her halting breath, the sound of a creature threatened. It excited him. He took her face in his hand and looked into her animal eyes that cried for an escape.

“I’ll be seeing you soon, okay? That money will cover me then. Got it?”

She stared wide-eyed at him, her mouth pursed shut, her lips white. Leo could sense the muscles in her locking, the tendons in her neck beginning to reveal themselves. She nodded silently. He looked to Danny and she was released. She quickly ran over and grabbed what clothes she could from the floor and darted for the door.

Tim tried to grab her by the arm to stop her but she pulled away.

“Sorry, asshole, but you’re on your own,” she said and took quick strides to the door.

Danny stepped aside and they could hear her pounding down the stairs and slamming the front door.

Tim looked as if he had just watched the last lifeboat float away from the deck of his sinking ship. He curled up tighter in the corner and his head jerked nervously from face to face that surrounded him.

Tommy tightened his jacket around him and said, “Jesus, Leo, close the fuckin’ window.”

Leo shook his head and sat back down in the seat again, close to Tim who was now licking his lips every few seconds. “No, Tommy. That is for the benefit of Tim here, okay?”

“Benefit?” Tommy asked. His breath was white smoke. Leo looked comfortable, though and he nodded.

“Yeah, a benefit, Tommy. You know how they say that the cold helps to slow bleeding?” Leo reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small purple felt bag. Stitched on the side in bright gold and red was words, “Crown Royal”.

Tim was staring at the pouch, unable, apparently, to comprehend its function now that it was empty. His chest rose and fell rapidly and Leo could see the ribs beneath his white skin.

He finally spoke, in a fractured and trembling voice. “Look…Leo, I…really meant to call you or…get you the money. I know John…is…pissed,” he blurted out. Now his lips were shiny and wet and he was swallowing a lot. His eyes were rimmed in red and his face was puffy as if he was about to cry.

Leo thought he looked like Eddie when he was younger, always crying over the smallest things. He loved Eddie but hated that he always cried. It made him have to protect him more from the other kids. At least until he started growing.

“Oh, he’s not just pissed Timmy,” he said and folded the empty violet bag in his hands mindlessly. “You insulted him, and apparently you have cash for fuckin’ and don’t feel like John is important enough to pay him back. Wait ‘til he hears that one.”

“Yeah, he’s going to go fuckin’ nuts,” Tommy added, pulling a pack of Pall Malls from his jacket pocket.

Tim was not letting his eyes stray from the soft-looking bag with the gold cinch that Leo let dangle from his hand. “Wh-what…how much time can you give me?”

Leo’s face became knitted, his brow furrowing in a series of lines that gave off the appearance of genuine confusion. “Time? Timmy, you used up all your time. You know that, don’t you? I can only give you so many breaks before it starts to look bad on me. I have to answer to John, you know. Now we catch you acting like a dumb fuck in your own apartment with a cheap whore, spending John’s money,” he said.

Tim interrupted, “But I…”

Leo shot towards him, knocking the chair over and grabbed him by the throat and screamed, “John’s money!” He pushed Tim back onto the bed and had a good hold on his neck. Tim was too small to put up much of a fight, anyway. He squealed and struggled but Leo pulled his face close to his and their eyes locked, Tim’s frightened and watery, simple pinholes in white paper and Leo’s dark, stabbing and purposeful.

“This is it, Tim. John’s sick of fuckin’around with you. You’re small fuckin’ change compared to someone like him and you think you’re so smart that you can walk the streets and spend his fuckin’ money?” He drove his fist into Tim’s face hard and felt his knuckle hit something that yielded with a crack. Tim screamed for real now and it sounded muffled as Leo shoved his forearm into his bleeding mouth.

“Here is the new deal, Timmy, my boy. I’m going to ask you a number and that is exactly how much money you are going to give me right now and it better be every fuckin’ thing in this shit hole of yours, got it? What you don’t hand me I’m going to take and I really don’t think you’re going to like that, got it?”

Tim squeezed his eyes shut as if trying to clear his head, the black wool sleeve of Leo’s overcoat still rammed between his jaws. His eyes spun around for a second and then settled on Leo and the two men smoking behind him and leaning against his rented walls. He tried to gain some control over his breathing, the air from his nostrils shooting out in desperate sucking sounds. It gradually slowed and then he blinked.

“Ready?” Leo asked and Tim nodded. He slowly removed his sleeve from his mouth.

Tim’s sunken eyes looked as if they were about to start weeping and Leo thought that if he starts begging I’m going to let Tommy have him for a while.

“Se-seventy…something,” Tim managed to get out and his face cringed at the words as if they in themselves a death sentence. His upper lip was split and fresh blood was running down his chin.

Leo looked at him, not believing the words. “Seventy something? What the fuck you mean ‘seventy something’ ? Where?”

Tim pointed his shaking hand back towards the open drawer again. “Pu-please, that’s it…that’s all I got. I swear.”

Leo sat back and reached in. He pulled out some condoms that were still in the wrapper, packs of matches, some SEPTA tokens and some crumpled bills. Counting them, they added up to seventy four dollars. Leo crumpled the bills up and pushed his fist into Tim’s face. “This is all you got? Are you fuckin’ kidding me?”

He could tell from Tim’s broken face that it was true and sending Danny and Tommy rummaging through this rat trap wasn’t going to scare up any magical bags of cash. If the money was here he would have coughed it up by now. Stupid, stupid fucker.

Leo sat on the edge of the bed now and tossed the wad of bills on the floor. Tim looked at it with wide eyes but didn’t move. He made a hacking, gagging noise in his throat as he swallowed some more blood and Leo had to suppress the urge to hit him again just for being so stupid. He might not stop if he started. He raised himself from the bed and waved over Tommy and Danny.

Tommy stubbed out his cigarette on the wall and followed Danny to the bed. Tim looked up from the bed like a boy who was always selected last for the team and hoping that this time might be different. He glanced from face to face and sweat ran from his temple despite the chill.

All he got out was, “Wait…” and they pounced on him. Danny and Tommy throwing solid fists down on top of Tim’s face and head. Blasts of white air erupted from both men’s mouths as they pummeled any part that was exposed. He screamed and pleaded and it sounded watery to Leo as he stepped back and pulled out a pair of gardening shears from his coat pocket. He waited for a few minutes more to let the boys get it out of their system.

He was always amazed, though, that when it was called for them to do this, that it was Danny who was always the roughest. The damn quiet ones, they’re the ones you always keep your eye on. He relished beating the living shit out of someone and on the surface you’d think that it was Tommy who would be more in his element when it came to raining down blows on some poor asshole. But, no, it was Danny who smiled and showed his perfect teeth when they were in the throes of a ass kicking.

He approached. “Okay, okay.”

The two stopped but Danny brought down one more brutal fist into Tim’s belly that folded him up. Tim moaned and rolled from side to side on the mattress, the sheets now lying on the bare floor next to the bed. He covered his face and he was sobbing.

Outside, Eddie was flapping his large arms against his sides and he paced towards the front of the house. Leo told him to stay in the yard, but he was bored so he wandered towards the distant cold sounds of the street. He heard the EL coming and he jogged a few steps to see it race past above. He pictured Spiderman swinging below the tracks on silver thread-like strands trying to keep up and catch the bad guy driving the train. Spiderman would shoot webs from his wrists over and over again, but who was the bad guy driving the train he wondered?

Hobgoblin?

Electro?

Maybe both! And what would they do when Spidey finally caught them and…

The clacking of the tracks muted to a rumble and then finally faded from his ears. He was bored again. A stray cay padded its course across the dark street and disappeared into a crowd of steel trashcans parked outside of a closed appliance store. He walked over to the large front window with the metal gate over it and tried to peer into the glass. He could see some mixers and a few large dishwashers in the back, faded into shadows, and some old television sets next to a group of dusty blenders. He heard the steady beat of approaching footsteps on the pavement and turned to look up the street.

Under the glow of the streetlight he could see three men approaching, heads down and tucked into their collars. Their hands were in their pockets and one broke off from the others and jogged to the other side of the street. As the two other men neared, they looked up and spotted Eddie with the dull eyes sunk into his massive head and his hands stuffed in his pockets. They watched as he slowly began to pull his hand from his coat pocket.

The one man, sandy-haired under a wool cap and wearing a weathered gray trench coat jabbed his companion who was wearing a heavy corduroy coat and a similar blue knit cap and then drew his eyes to the ground again.

The two hustled onward down the street and were rejoined by the man who had crossed the street. Eddie watched them.

He pulled a Baby Ruth bar from his long black coat and ripped the wrapper off with his teeth and took a bite. Then he began to think about the Black Panther and how he hated to wait until tomorrow to buy the next issue.

Leo waited until Tim could form words again and it took a few minutes, minutes that he was willing to wait before the next session.

“I swear, I swear to fuckin’ God Leo, I’ll get the money. Please.” His words came out in deep-breathed sobs and they sounded mangled. Looking at his face, Leo could see why. His cheek had already swelled and was purpling and blood dripped from his lips in a shiny, black-looking strand. His voice was raspy and each word took an effort.

“We’re past that Tim and you know it. You mess with John and you gotta pay, right? You know that, hey?” He showed him the shears and Tim went wild, making a dash for the window but Tommy caught him by the chest and Danny pulled him back down to the bed. Tim was screaming while Leo went over and shut the window. He looked out and saw that Eddie was gone from the yard and shook his head.

“Jesus Christ, Leo, no! Please, no! Not my fuckin’ balls…oh, for Christ sake, no!” Tommy and Danny were laying on top of his naked body and he struggled feverishly to pull himself up.

“C’mon, Leo, let’s get this over with, for fuck’s sake,” Tommy said through a voice strained by trying to keep his weight on Tim.

Leo walked from the window and kneeled down, putting his lips near Tim’s ear. His head bobbed up and down in an effort to escape and Leo grabbed him by the hair and pulled until he cried out and stopped. His eyes went to Leo’s as he spoke.

“We’re not taking your balls, Tim, but we should, we should, hey? I’m going to give you a choice because when John told me to do this he wasn’t specific so I’ll give you a choice,” he said and grabbed his arm and wrenched it free from across his chest. Danny held his forearm and Leo grabbed his hand.

“Wh-what, what choice?” he asked, again his breathing was labored and sounded bubbly under the weight of the blood running down his throat.

Leo looked at him but Tim had gone solo, his eyes gazing at the ceiling and his lips moving without making any sounds. He might have been praying, he couldn’t tell.

“John wants a finger, Tim.” Leo pulled the shears close to his face and that brought Tim’s eyes back in focus for a moment.

“What?” he asked, his mouth falling open and his eyes narrowing as if he truly didn’t understand. He had stopped struggling but then again Leo and his men were ready for that last desperate surge of strength that every person in this situation tried. Save your strength and then push with all your might. It never worked.

“Fingers, Tim. John told me that he wants a finger, but he never said which one. I’ll let you pick which one, okay?”

Tim still had a wild look in his eyes and he tried once more to push both men off him but he was spent. Leo waited and then grabbed his face and turned it towards him.

“Tim! Which fuckin’ finger do you want to lose? You have to make a choice!”

Tim shook terribly now and mouthed words but nothing came out but a high-pitched whine that made Leo furious.

“I’m gonna cut off your fuckin’ thumbs if you don’t answer me asshole, you got it? Which finger do you want to lose, fuckface? It’s not a hard question, is it?”

His lips were trembling and Leo put the blade of the shears over his left thumb when he realized that the lips were forming words - very crudely, but under the circumstance he had to allow for that. He waited and put his ear to Tim’s lips.

“Pu-pu-pu…pin…”

“Pinky? Is that what you trying to say Tim?”

He got no response but Tim was shaking badly now. He looked like he was being shot with a powerful current of electricity. His one good eye was blinking furiously and spit ran from his bottom lip, mixing with the still fresh splashes of blood. He turned to Leo and nodded.

They put their full weight on him and Leo moved the shears to the last finger on Tim’s left hand.

“Only take a second, Tim, okay?” he said as Tim started screaming and kicking.

“No, wait! No! No!”

Leo locked down the flailing arm and with Danny’s help, cut off the small finger. He heard the bone crack and he tried to get it as close to the knuckle as possible but with all the squirming it was hard. He had to grasp the handles with both hands to finish it. Blood oozed and Tim began crying hysterically.

No one knocked at the door even though Tim was screaming like he had been just gifted with a brand new voice. Tommy told him to stop being such a fuckin’ baby and Danny smiled the whole time.

They left Tim wimpering on the bed, clutching himself into a tiny, pale ball of flesh. Leo and Danny tied off his wrist with his pillow cases and it slowed the bleeding a bit, but not much. They offered to drive him to St. Anne’s a few blocks away but he simply rocked and cried so they picked up the pinky off the floor, dropped it in the Crown Royal pouch and pulled the gold cinch closed. As they tramped down the stairs they could still hear Tim’s heavy moans.