Chapter 22: Getting Down To Business

Apartment 42, The Bowerstone Apartment Complex, 4th And Flint Street, The Attison District, Temple City (3040).....

By the time Baddwulf had stepped out of his bedroom, freshly showered and dressed in one of his usual nonpressed and sloppily thrown-together suits, this time with a cream-colored button-down shirt with an open collar and dark trousers with a pair of dark brown dress shoes, he had thrown on a dark suit jacket this time wanting to forgo the trench coat in light of the heat wave that was still going on. Jake and Sullivan had been chatting it up in the kitchen as Baddwulf entered making his way to the retro iron fridge and grabbing a carton of orange juice from it as he held the door open. It was dark inside indicating that the bulb had gone out once again but he didn't seem to care much as he turned up the carton and drank directly out of the opening. Jake shook his head as he watched his less-than-mannerable boss move about his kitchen and put the carton back as he turned his attention to Jake and Sully.

"You two done making out or am I gonna have to hose you down?" he asked with an arched brow.

Sully narrowed his eyes at Baddwulf and leaped off the counter and headed toward the living room. Jake shook his head as he turned his attention back to his big bad boss.

"Well at least you're dressed," he said noting the older man had managed to put clothes on.

Baddwulf rolled his eyes and they headed out of the kitchen and toward the front door. Jake stepped out into the hall first and Sully leaped into Baddwulf's chair glaring at him and flicking his tail before curling into a dark grey ball as the brute stepped out into the hall and locked the door behind him.

He rolled his eyes as he shoved his keys into his pockets and turned his attention toward walking through the mess he and his uninvited guests made of the lobby noting the traces of blood, broken wood fibers, and the scattered but various holes in the walls.

"Making new friends I see," said Jake shaking his head.

"What can I say, I'm a friendly kind of guy," replied Baddwulf about to stuff a cigarette into his mouth when he took note of Jake's arched brow.

The older man rolled his eyes not wishing to get into another discussion about the dangers of secondhand smoke and his lungs so he put it back into his front pocket and they headed out the main doors and onto the sidewalk.

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Open Street, The Attison District, Temple City (3040).....

Baddwulf had been in something of an odd mood, his being attacked by the goons from Blacky Clay had been bothering him still and the issue of The Dope Diamond being burned to the ground only made his life more complicated. He knew his favorite girl had gotten out but he had missed seeing her when the going got rough. Jake knew all too well about what happened to Baddwulf's favorite club and he was pretty sure that he'd been more than willing to take Slim up on his offer.

"So about Blacky Clay," said Jake with a sheepish expression.

"I'm gonna nail that asshole to the wall for burnin' down The Dope Diamond," growled Baddwulf. "Besides he's got it comin' all the fuckin' trouble the lousy bastard's been giving me and now this."

"How you wanna handle this?" asked Jake with an arched brow. "You know I could get some of my best toys on it."

"That won't be necessary kid," said Baddwulf with a smirk.

Jake had wanted to know what suddenly improved the brute's mood enough to cause him to smirk when he took notice of a couple of goons harassing one of the local shopkeepers.

"A shakedown for protection money, how original," said Jake disappointed.

"Sometimes you just can't beat the classics," replied Baddwulf before taking off across the street and toward the little corner shop.

Jake shook his head and headed back toward the office, being in the direct line of fire, especially when Baddwulf had been at work wasn't an ideal place to be and he had not been much of the fighting type all things considered, he let Baddwulf handle all the "rough stuff" in the operation in any case.

Baddwulf pulled out his cigarette and walked into the shop as if he owned the place. He took note of the damage the goons in what the digital vids referred to as "Zoot Suits" had done to the formerly nicely managed corner store.

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Interior, Local Corner Store, The Attison District, Temple City (3040).....

The sight of a huddling old man with wild white hair wearing thin golden framed glasses with pale leathery skin dressed rather professionally for an oddball had made Baddwulf's blood boil when he noted the old man had been struck in the head and was bleeding from the wound by way of a loud mouth two-bit hood in a tan zoot suit. He quickly marched inside amid the broken glass, toppled plants, and books as the two hoods aimed their poorly constructed pistols at the old man who seemed to have a genuine fear of them filed across his aged face.

"Hey Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, my associates and I would like a word with you for your behavior in vandalizing this fine establishment," said Baddwulf still puffing on his cigarette.

The thin cloud of white smoke blew in their direction as they both took aim at Baddwulf in place of the old man. The second gunman had been wearing a grey zoot suit and had low eyes.

"And just who are these associates that want to have a word with us?" asked the hood in the tan zoot suit.

"Their names are Mr. Right and Mr. Left," said Baddwulf once the gun-toting fool got close enough to point the barrel at his chest.

A look of confusion filed across the collective faces of the gun-toting hoods when Baddwulf suddenly leveled the closest one by way of his fists giving the hood all the rights and lefts he could handle as he pounded the hood's face bloody, before knocking him out cold and swiftly avoiding being shot by the second hood in the grey zoot suit that attempted to fire at him when his friend hit the ground.

"SHIT!" hissed the hood in the gray suit still trying to shoot Baddwulf and finding his gun had jammed.

Baddwulf had known the model and about the jamming and as a result, he was prepared for it with a smooth right hook to the grey suit-wearing hood's jaw knocking him out cold.

Once the second assailant had been down, Baddwulf took a moment to check on the old man. He seemed to be shocked that someone came to his rescue given where they were and that it had been Baddwulf himself.

"You alright Old timer?" asked Baddwulf still puffing on his cigarette amazed it had not gone out during the fight or dropped from his mouth.

"I-I'll be fine." replied the grateful old man. "You really did a number on them."

"No more than they deserved for what they did to you," replied Baddwulf shaking off the cobwebs from the fight. "

"Well if there's anything you need.." replied the grateful shopkeeper.

Baddwulf puffed on his cigarette as he looked down at the snappy-dressed hoods he'd left out cold on the floor.

"As a matter of fact old timer," Baddwulf said looking down at the unconscious hoods once more before turning his attention back to the old man. "Do you have a basement of some sort, I got a funny feeling these two have something to say after that display and I wanna make them real comfortable beforehand."

"As a matter of fact I do." replied the shopkeeper leading the way.

Baddwulf smirked as he looked down at the unconscious hoods, the orange glow of the end of his cigarette lit up a bit as he exhaled a thin cloud of smoke.

As of that moment, he had great plans for the likes of them and if he'd been correct in his assessment, they were gonna lead him right to the place he needed to be to get his hands on the infamous hoodlum Blacky Clay.