Mandatory Meeting

Three scurried into the former dispatch room of the old warehouse, pretending not to notice the eyes of her fellow gang members upon her.

“You’re late,” Fausto observed.

From the other side of the room Speedball muttered, “Typical girl,” which earned him one of Gitana’s sharp elbows to his ribs.

Three squirmed onto a bench between Ozone and Peru. “No one’s late until the boss has arrived.” She made a show of looking around, even though she had already noticed Vince wasn’t in the room.“Where is he?”

“Who knows?” Gitana said in an aggrieved tone that suggested Vince had refused her latest advances.

“Do we at least know what he called us here for?”

“Said it was mandatory.” Speedball shrugged his big shoulders.

Before Three could make a sarcastic quip about such a helpful answer, Ozone added, “I don’t think he told anyone what it’s about. It’s probably a strategy meeting for our next job.”

Fausto looked up from toying with a knife. “I thought we were moving again. We never stay anywhere more than three or four months.”

“It’s only been two months,” Gitana informed him with a superior sniff.

“Yeah, but there was a city contractor hanging around here last week,” Peru reminded her. “He had a surveyor with him, or do you not know what that means?”

Gitana adopted an attitude of unconcern. “So someone’s looking to buy this dump. It takes months for those kinds of deals to go through, when they do at all, and in the meantime—”

“We still don’t know where Vince is,” Three finished for her, getting to her feet. “I’m going to go check if he’s in his office. Maybe he lost track of the time.”

“I’ll go with you,” Gitana offered, but was overruled by Ozone.

“I’m his second. I’ll go.” He exchanged a look with Peru, who nodded slightly then patted Three’s empty spot on the bench and invited Gitana to join him.

While Gitana reluctantly settled in with Peru, Three and Ozone headed out of the room and down the hall. Once they were out of earshot, Three asked, “What was that back there? And don’t say you don’t know what I’m talking about.”

Ozone sighed. “Someone came in a little before the meeting was supposed to start.”

“And?”

“A girl. You know how Gitana gets about that sort of thing.”

“We don’t need any more drama than we usually get out of her,” Three agreed. “You’d think she’d have figured it out by now that he’s not the monogamous type.”

“Every woman thinks she’ll be the one who can change a guy.”

Three gave Ozone a playful shove. “And what would you know about it? I’ve never known you to have a girlfriend.”

“I try to learn from other people’s mistakes.”

As they neared Vince’s office they became aware of a woman’s voice, screaming loudly enough to be heard through the thick walls and doors of the old warehouse. Her exact words, though, were muffled.

Three and Ozone stopped outside the door and exchanged a look.

“He’d probably like us to rescue him from that,” Ozone said.

“Don’t look at me.” Three took a step back. “I think she just called him a cheater, and I don’t want her thinking I’m part of his harem.”

“So I’ve got to do this alone?”

“What’s the big deal? You took on Lobo Salvatore single-handed when his gang jumped us down by the tracks. This is just some pissed-off girl.”

“Exactly.” Ozone gazed glumly at the door then squared his shoulders and tapped on it. Of course no one inside could hear, so he took a deep breath and knocked again, louder.

“You need to pound on it.” Three elbowed him aside and showed him by example. The woman inside stopped screaming.

“Come in!” Vince yelled.

Hesitantly, Ozone opened the door and poked his head in. “We’re supposed to be meeting—”

“Oh no you don’t,” the woman screeched.

Outside the office, Three flattened herself against the wall, trying to stay out of sight, but in range if Ozone needed rescue.

“You bunch of thugs and losers can go meet with each other all you want, but this guy has an appointment with me!”

Vince’s calm tones followed. “Go on, Ozone. Tell everyone to stay nearby. I’ll catch up with you later.”

“Right, boss.” Ozone slowly closed the door, then turned to Three. “I’d rather take on Lobo Salvatore any day.”

Three gave a grim little nod and they both started back toward the meeting room. “I feel bad for Vince, but then what did that girl expect? It isn’t like he doesn’t have a rep.”

“It’s like I said,” Ozone reminded her. “Every girl thinks she’ll be the one to change a guy.”

“Not every girl. There are plenty of women who don’t expect anything from Vince but a good time and maybe someone to beat up their ex for them.”

Ozone acknowledged that this was true and they walked the rest of the way down the hall in silence. As they neared the meeting room, though, they paused. “What should we tell them?”

“Just what he told us. Meeting is cancelled, but stay close by.”

“Yeah, but this meeting is supposed to be mandatory.”

“You overthink things sometimes.” Three flashed him a brilliant smile. “We’ll tell them that Vince got called into a mandatory meeting of his own.”

This was written for Sunday Scribblings 2.