Collections (attn: Krystel)

Kostya's eyes are closed as he lies prone on the 18c Marie Antoinette feinting couch in the receiving area, an MP3 player in hand blasting music through small earbuds. Even above the cacophony of sound he can hear Renee's shrill voice, "Get your fucking boots off that couch Kostya! It cost me 23 grand!"

He raises his arm up and salutes her, wherever she is, with his middle finger -- never bothering to open his eyes.

Jackie barrels through the room, leaping over Kostya and the feinting couch in one exaggerated leap. Then, after making bows to his imaginary, cheering crowd, he turns slowly around the room in mock amazement and disappointment with his arms out, palms up.

"So? Where the hell is 'Meth'? I thought we agree 9pm? It's 9:30pm..."

Before anyone can respond, the thumping bass from outside announces Krystel's presence like an anthem. Then, silence, followed shortly by a knock at the door.

Both of them hear the base thumping, and are prepared for the impending approach.

"It's almost like he's got a little cat bell on, eh? We always know when he's coming." Jackie laughs and throws a right punch at Kostya's arm, which Kostya deftly deflects without so much as a sideways glance.

"Yeah, cat bell." Kostya smirks and slowly raises himself to a seated position. "This guy better be cool, that's all I can say. He's not much for following instructions so far."

"He will be." Jackie is leaping back over the couch, this time using the cushions as a springboard. You can hear the shrilling again and then a cooler voice attempting to mollify her in the background. The warehouse door suddenly opens violently and Jackie is in front of you.

"You're late, homeboy."

"You said to meet you here 'early,' and as far as I can tell, it's still early."

He shrugs, "You're still here, too, so I'm obviously not missing anything."

Kostya rolls his eyes and settles back into the couch growling something incoherent. Jackie indicates for you to follow and makes his way back to the receiving area, talking as he walks. "Don't sweat it dude. We weren't going to leave without you. You're the star of this little production."

Kostya sighs dramatically and Jackie flops into an overstuffed chair with his legs splayed over the sides, pointing for you to have a seat if you like. Renee parades by with Sebastian shadowing her, shaking her head at all of you. "Can you animals quit destroying my furniture? This is for…"

"...our parlor company." Sebastian finishes the sentence smugly for his Twin, their minds in perfect sync.

Kostya raises his middle finger to her again. Both Twins shake their heads self-righteously. Jackie assures the blondes they’ll be out soon enough.

As soon as the Twins have left, Jackie turns to you. “Here’s the plan, dude. There’s a guy, he owes us some money. A lot of money. We bought his debt off, well, it doesn’t matter who really. All that matters is, it’s past due time to collect on this motherfucker. He’s been avoiding us pretty efficiently, but I got word where he’ll be tonight, pretty reliable word. We’ll cut you in for 10% if you help us collect. You in?”

It’s Kostya that looks up now, suddenly interested to see how you’ll react.

Krystel takes a seat when offered, and listens to Jackie's proposal.

"Yeah, I'm in. Not my regular gig, but I've done this kinda work before."

Kostya laughs cynically now and pulls the ear buds out. When he speaks, it's the first time you've heard him -- his voice is quite low and a bit menacing.

"So, that's it 'Meth'? You aren't going to ask any questions? You don't give a shit about the details? You don't want to know where this might go down or what kind of back up you're going to get or even what you're cutting 10% off of?"

Kostya narrows his eyes suspiciously at you, then at Jackie.

He shrugs, frowning slightly to Kostya.

"It's Krystel, not Meth, and no... I'm not. I'm the new guy, here, and if you think I need to know something, you'll tell me. If I asked too many questions before I accepted the job, I'd probably look like a narc, anyway."

You can almost see the hackles of short hairs on Kostya's neck bristle up at the "narc" comment, and Jackie laughs, attempting to disarm the situation.

"Kostya -- shut the fuck up. He's cool. Why do you have to be like that?"

"I'd just like to wake up tomorrow night, preferably without a big old splinter through my chest. How about you, bro? He just shows up here? Madison is all over him like a fly on shit and you too? And he doesn't ask one goddamn question about what we're going to do or how much he's getting for it? Excuse the fuck out of me if that raises a flag."

Jackie turns back to you now. "We're all cool, right dude? You wouldn't double-deal, would you? Because seriously, I hear some bad shit about torpor and torpor-land is where you'd be headed. You don't want that, do you?" He flips back the dark sunglasses he always wears -- his signature look -- so you can see the criss-cross of scars around his eyes and the strange, blackened orbs in the sockets. An immediate creep-factor crawls across your skin.

Krystel shakes his head, and he tries his best to maintain eye contact with Jackie.

"We're cool. What's the job, then?"

"Fine then. See Kostya? You asshole."

Jackie chucks an ashtray at him which Kostya deftly deflects away.

"Alright then, his name is Walter Baranski; some dude from the GM factory, probably a union boy that got in over his head with the ponies or something. Anyway, he owed somebody 20 Gs, and now he owes it to us. I got word he'll be at the Whiskey tonight, and it was a particularly good day at the track, go figure. He should have 25K on him. Bar is in Hamtramck, but I don't think that should be a problem." Jackie looks to Kostya who shrugs his shoulders.

"Anyway, I was thinking our pal Walt might recognize Kos and I, since he's had the pleasure of our company before. But he won't know you. If you can somehow lure him out of the bar, we can relieve him of his money, or "encourage" him to tell us where he's hiding it, if it's not on him. Whatever we need to do. What do you think K-man?"

"Sounds easy enough, V. I never heard of Hamtramck," he has a bit of trouble pronouncing that, "so I'm not sure what to expect there. Anything I need to know?"

"Carthian's have peed all over Hamtramck. But I don't think we should have any trouble. This isn't a family issue, after all." He grins. "Let's get going. Two cars, OK? Just in case. Follow us.


((ST NOTE: Thread continues here: Whiskey in a Jar))