Just after Memo went inside the store, Chico heard his name being called by someone outside the van. When he looked in the rear view mirror and saw Leland he shook his head out of disgust. Out of all the people Chico couldn’t stand Leland was at the top of the list as the man appeared in his window. I mean he had sole possession of first place locked up Chico thought with a hiss. The street preacher called out his name again and pointed to the front of the van but with the windows rolled up Chico couldn’t make out what the man was saying about his ‘Fly’ ride.

“Man, what this fool want now?” Chico said rolling down the window. ”What you want Leland?”

“Hey Chico, my main man, how things been?” Leland asked smiling from ear to ear.

“Hey man what you want? I don't have the time to be messing with you right now.” Chico sneered.

“Hey, no problem bro, just wanted to know when you got that dent in the fender of this sweet ride?” Leland asked.

“Dent in my van!” Chico squealed looking dumfounded as he got out of the driver’s side door. ”I don't have a dent in the fender! Man if someone jacked up my ride I’ll shoot me a fool with a whole clip!”

But as the small Hispanic man rounded the front and saw there was no dent in the chrome fender Chico felt his blood boil and for a second he was about to reach around for the .38 caliber pistol hidden in the waistband of his jeans. He shook his head and walked toward Leland “That’s not right man, and you know it. Now get your ass out of here before I lose my patience!”

Leland raised both hands making sure to try and placate the angered young man because he sure didn’t want any business with the concealed gun. Chico shook his head some more, muttered some Spanish, and reached for the door to the van. The door though swung open in a vicious arc just as his fingers touched the handle. The blow was hard and fast knocking the young man out before he even knew what hit him, one second he was upset and the next there was nothing but darkness. How long Chico was out he was never really sure, something wet splashing against his face brought him out of unconsciousness. The water, or whatever it was, kept pouring causing the waking man to gag for a second and roll over to get away from a possible drowning. Chico got the gagging under control just in time to spit out a few words. “All right man! Stop with the damn water or I’m going to bust your ass!”

“Somehow, I am not really scared by the prospect of physical violence from you Chico.” A refined voice told him. Chico rolled back over to see a guy dressed in black jeans, a black t-shirt over white long sleeve one, and a pair of Doc Martin boots. Another one of his homie’s had a pair just like them, wore them all the time. Then the scene clicked for him, this was the guy in black, the dude trying to muscle in on Eight Ball’s turf. Chico decided to play it cool, show some machismo when needed, and then run like hell when the opportunity presented itself.

“You know who you’re messing with man?” Chico spit moving to a sitting position.

“Manuel Rodriguez,” the man said dropping an empty pitcher to the ground,” a man of the street said you might give me some information on a little enterprise you’ve been ‘running’ with.”

Chico looked around trying to figure where he was, it took about two seconds to see he was on some rooftop, but just where that rooftop was in the city only the guy dressed in black knew and he wasn’t about to tell him Chico sensed. It was promptly confirmed a second later.

“Looking around isn’t going to help Manuel, I took the liberty of getting us some privacy. I also took the gun you keep hidden in the back waistband of your pants. I want to be the only one with the surprises tonight.” The man in black said with a small grin. A quick check with Chico’s right hand confirmed the fact the pistol was missing from its usual spot.

“So I guess you expect me to just answer your damn questions.” Chico spat giving the man in black a little attitude to chew on.

“That would be the best thing to do if you don’t feel like flying.” The man in black said cryptically.

“Wha-“Chico started to respond with a giggle and a smart-ass remark when his chest caved inward driving all the air from his lungs. He had the sensation of someone carrying him effortlessly across the rooftop but air and breathing was the first priority now so Chico pretty much forgot about everything else for the moment. When he got some precious oxygen back into his lungs his eyes looked down and focused on the spot where his feet now dangled. Moreover, when the picture finally registered in Chico’s mind he began to scream like a little girl.

“Holy shit man, don’t drop me!” He wailed. Chico’s feet hung lazily out in space as he made out the alley some ten stories below. The only thing he saw holding him up was the arm of the man dressed in black so Chico clung to the cotton material of the long sleeve t-shirt like a newborn baby to its bottle.

“I think you better be quiet Manuel! All this noise might distract me. I might loosen my grip for a second and it’s a long way down as you can see.” The man in black stated.

“No! No!” Chico cried.

“Are you ready then to answer a question or two of mine Manuel?” The man in black asked calmly.

“Whatever you want man, just don’t drop me!”

“Now that’s what I wanted to hear. Let’s start by your rank with Eight Ball’s Organization?” The man in black asked.

“I ain’t got any rank man!” Chico yelled.

“That’s not what I have heard Manuel. I was told you have some personal connections, that you made some runs for Eight Ball. Special runs with special cargo.” The man in black stated.

“They were lying to you man!” Chico screamed.

“And you are not right now?”

“Hell No! I just want to get back to the roof man!” Chico sobbed.

“Then tell me the truth Manuel or I get to see how high you bounce.” The man in black demanded.

“Man, I can’t tell you! If they know I’d talk they’d kill me! They’d kill my whole family!”

“At this point I would be more worried about my piloting skills. The old saying ‘Any landing you can walk away from’ really does not apply right now I think.” Alexander hissed, and for emphasis he loosened his grip letting Chico slip just an inch.

“Oh No, don’t drop me man!” Chico wailed.

“Then start talking or start flapping your arms Manuel.” Alexander spat.

“Okay, okay man! I make the deliveries for Eight Ball, the ones off the books. Just a kilo here or there, not enough to draw attention but enough to bring in a good piece of green, you know man. He was just skimming, getting ready to strike out on his own.”

“Who’s working with Eight Ball? Who brings in the drugs that go to the Laurel?” Alexander asked quickly, wanting to keep the pressure on Chico.

“I don’t know man, but there’s this place up off 285, it’s the Shangri-La strip club. There’s a bartender there, Shane, and I owed him a lot of green for a bunch of bad bets so one day I get this call. He says Eight Ball needs a special driver, none of his people will do, and if I make this pick-up and delivery everything will be square between us, clean slate you know man. I get some keys by Fed Ex the next morning along with driving instructions. I pick up the package and drop it off real fast like I was told.” Chico explained.

“Who got the package?” The vampire demanded.

“Ice took it from me at the crack house, you know, the one that you blew up.” Chico stammered.

“And where did you pick the drugs up?”

“A Gym in Duluth, stashed in a locker. I told them Shane sent me and they just let me right on by man. It’s all true man, I swear to Jesus!” Chico said.

“Who runs the Shangri-La?” Alexander asked.

“A dude named Ray. Everyone says he connected, in deep with the Mexicans. That’s where Shane got the whole kilos from! Aw come on man, let me back on the roof!” Chico whined.

“I believe you Manuel, but I think I’m still going to drop you off the building.” The man in black remarked calmly.

“WHAT, NO WAIT, WHY?” Chico screamed so loud it turned to a shrill.

“I do not like having to work so hard for answers Manuel, and if the truth be known, I do not like you all that much either.” And with that Alexander let go of Chico’s shirt with a quick snap of his fingers.

Chico tried to scream for the man not to let go, but his voice was a second or two late with the plea, and the world began to float. He forgot about the words then and just screamed at the top of his lungs as the alley below began to rush up at him with blinding speed, the windows of the building whizzing by like some kind of crazy kaleidoscope. He flapped both arms, actually flapped them up and down like a bird, which caused his body to roll over instead of fly like he was hoping for, and then he was dropping headfirst. Impact was only seconds away. Chico stopped flapping his arms and brought them up to guard his face as he closed his eyes not wanting to see the end. Then, abruptly, he stopped falling. He was hanging by his left foot, or better yet, something had grabbed his foot right out of the air. Chico opened his eyes looking around and there he was, the man in black holding him by his foot just a few feet from the ground. The scene really hit home then and he noticed the fact that the man dressed in black was floating too. The two of them were hovering just off the ground like something out of Sci-Fi movie. Chico was just about to ask the man how he did that amazing scare-the-shit-out-me-by-letting-me-plummet-ten-stories trick when he felt his foot being let go. For a second time Chico wanted to say something only to be cut off by a loss of gravity, but hey at least he survived the second fall he thought. With a plop, Chico hit flat backed dead center in the middle of the alley.

Continues...