The fight

Dust in the air and the smell of sweat filled the atmosphere, as blood dripped from Bob's bruised lips. Lina ran towards the big men, who held her brother. Observing their heights, muscles and the strength they possessed, she knew, she had to catch them by surprise. This was her best and the only option. The only way she could do something to help her brother was to act quickly.

Lina reached for the first bald guy that stood between her, and her brother, Bob. She curled her right hand into a fist and aimed for the front of his nose. Her fist hit the bridge of his nose, and blood splattered all over the ground, as he fell down on the floor reeling from the shock of that blow.

The sudden attack from the little girl took the men by surprise. They were not expecting this to happen after having noticed her cute and innocent face and her thin physique. The men turned their complete attention towards the crimson haired girl now.

The second bald guy, bigger than the first one, turned towards her, as he left Bob's arm that he was holding. Bob, who was too weak to stand on his own feet, fell down. This angered Lina even more.

The crimson haired waitress lunged forward quickly, grabbed the bald head of the second big guy, her fingers dug sharply into his scalp, as she slammed her right hand onto his face. The guy was stunned at the intensity of the hit.

It was becoming difficult to control Lina. The third guy decided to approach her from behind. His idea didn't help him much, as Lina saw him approaching from her back. She threw a punch at the second guy again and did a spinning back kick that connected with the third guy's midsection. The kick made him loose his balance and he fell down on the ground.

While the three guys fought Lina, she was forcefully pushed by another guy from her back. Lina slipped and fell down on the concrete floor. She got hurt as her head hit the floor. The higher number of her opponents let them dominate the scene.

"Help! Help! Somebody help!" Lina shouted.

Her shouts attracted attention of some people who walked nearby. The bald guys picked Bob up, and took him to their car, that was parked nearby. They pushed him into the back seat, as two other guys sat with him, and one of them hurriedly started the engine of the vehicle.

Lina's head hurt, her vision blurred as she forced herself to stand up. "Leave my brother alone," she yelled.

"You seem to be the one who wears the pants in the family. We are taking away your beloved brother!" the big man, who sat at the driver's seat yelled.

"Don't hurt him! I'll give your money," Lina requested.

"Haha! Look at your state! Poor girl! You can't afford a decent outfit, and you talk of giving us the cash.. now? Do you even know how much your brother owes us?" yelled the big man as he pulled Bob's hair in anger. "Your brother owes us 10,000 dollars.. from a long time now. We want our money back with interest. You have to give us 20,000 dollars now," the man demanded.

Lina was stunned after hearing the figures. The man was actually right. Lina had no money with her. And, paying back so much money was totally out of question. But, she had to do something to get her brother out of the car.

"We'll manage to bring back your money. Just leave my brother," yelled Lina as she hurriedly opened the car's back door.

The driver stepped out of the car and pushed Lina once again. "Don't force us to hurt you. We are just the employees, following our boss's orders. Your brother took money from our boss, and never returned. I can see, that you love your brother so much. You have 24 hours to get us our money back, or else you might never see your stupid brother again," threatened the bald guy, as he sat in the driver's seat again.

"How dare you!" shouted Lina as she kicked the car's door.

"Lina, just go home! I beg of you. Just go home!" shouted Bob from the car. He was scared to think that the bad guys might hurt her sister.

"Hear your brother, little girl. Just go home! You don't have much time. 24 hours.. remember! Not a minute more," laughed the man who grabbed Bob by his arms, as he covered Bob's mouth with his hands to stop him from uttering out anything more.

The car drove away. Lina picked up a stone and threw it at the moving car. The stone hit the glass shield at the back of the vehicle. Bob, turned back his face, as he sat helplessly in the vehicle, to look at Lina through the glass shield.

Lina stood alone, angry and impatient, clueless of what she needed to do next. Should she head back home and tell all this to her grandmother? But, this would not help. Grandmother would not be able to digest this. Should she tell this to Willie? But, Willie can't do much.

Lina had no money. Paying back 20,000 dollars was totally out of the question. Plus, she no longer had the job.

She had 24 hours, to save her brother from these guys, and her family from being thrown out of their house.