New Story - again written exclusively on Steemit - WiP - Bouncer Part 14

I started a new story to share on Steemit. It's not my usual type of tale, but I decided it has legs so I'm going to let it run.

Meet Zack, my newest character. I hope you like him.

The first part was written a few weeks ago and since then, I've been mulling it over in my head where the story needs to go.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Part 12
Part 13

Pictures from Google free to use search

Please note: This is the FIRST DRAFT, no editing, written straight onto paper. I don't know how to highlight that any more than it is. I'll NOT be making any alterations to what's already been written. As a good friend and excellent author has said, First draft is a race to get the story down before it decides to stop telling itself to you. Thanks Glenn. @alienbutt

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Sinbad shook off the guys holding him back and spat at Taylor’s feet.

“You’ll keep,” he snarled and turned to leave. He stopped once to look back but Taylor had already re-joined his brother at the bar and was no longer concerned with him.

That seemed to rankle Sinbad’s pride and he turned back to have another go. Joe took his shoulders and physically manoeuvred him back to face the exit. Joe pushed Sinbad out to the fire doors and gently ‘encouraged’ him to leave.

“Don’t you start taking sides in this, Joe,” Sinbad said in a menacing tone.

Joe nodded in his quiet and calm way as though he understood and appreciated the warning. Joe’s massive hand snaked out and grabbed the front of Sinbad’s shirt. He snatched the smaller man toward him and upwards so Sinbad had to stand on tiptoe.

“Don’t thinks that I’m slow, stupid or unaware of what goes off around here,” Joe said quietly. “I know what you get up to and I don’t like it, but it’s none of my business. What is my business is when you threaten one of the lads in this town. We have enough to contend with without in-fighting. Now, I suggest you take some of your own advice. Go on, off you fuck.” Joe finished his speech with Sinbad’s phrase of the moment when dealing with people he’d ejected from the pub.

Sinbad realised he’d been humiliated, dismissed and his reputation had suffered a couple of massive blows that night. He had to figure out how to regain some of that lost respect.

Joe returned to the group and someone handed him a bottle of juice. Joe didn’t drink and no one questioned him on it.

Zack, Taylor, Joe and a few of the doormen adjourned to one of the back rooms for the meeting.

“You be careful, Taylor,” Joe said as they followed the rest of the group in. “Sinbad may not be a match for you these days, but he thinks he is in his mind and you just humiliated him.”

“He humiliated himself,” Taylor said.

Joe nodded.

“But thank you for the heads up, Joe. I’ll make sure I keep an eye out,” Taylor said. He shook Joe’s hand. “Thanks for having my back.”

“I’ll always have your back. You may have been a little shit when you were younger, but my family owes you.”

“You don’t owe me anything, Joe. He was my best friend, what was I supposed to do?”

“Yeah, well you could have both drowned…” Joe said.

“But we didn’t!” Taylor slapped Joe across the shoulders to try to break the maudlin mood overcoming the big man. “Come on, Jake’s coming out with us on Sunday. Zack invited you, didn’t he?”

“Yeah… yeah, I’m coming out with you lot. Someone’s got to keep you in line,” Joe said, lifting his chin and giving a half-hearted grin.

“Did you remind Sinbad?” Taylor said.

Joe’s expression dropped in shock. “You don’t really want him there, do you?” Taylor dodged out of his reach as Joe realised the younger man was pulling his leg. “You wait ‘til next time, I’ll let Sinbad teach you a lesson,” Joe growled his mock-threat.

“Stop twatting about!” Zack called from the other end of the room. “Why is it always you, Taylor?”

“It’s always me because I don’t get chance to do much twatting around in court and meetings!” Taylor said.

Zack shook his head. He stood on a raised area, used for presentations and the like. The lights in the main part of the room were dimmed so the ‘audience could see the main ‘speaker’. As Taylor joined him, Zack started to speak.

“I know you’ve all got questions and I’m going to try to answer as much of them as possible,” Zack said, addressing the crowd. “Don’t hand in your notice yet! We have a few contacts and one definite contract coming up, but we don’t have any idea on numbers.”

“Who’s top of your list though?” A shout came up from the floor. Zack couldn’t see who had spoken, but he recognised the voice.

“Is that you, Crackers?” he said. The grunt of ‘yeah’ came as confirmation and Zack continued. “The guys I’ve worked with before are at the top of the list. Not just those on my team at the club. Anyone I’ve worked with before that are here will be considered first. That means everyone here tonight is on our list.”

Zack waited for the rumble of conversation and speculation to die down.

“If you give us a few weeks, we should have places for all of you. A fair rate of pay – better than what you’re on now, I hope. Regular shifts, holiday pay…” he paused to allow that information to sink in.

“Holiday pay? You mean like nights off?”

“Yeah. Likeproper employment, lads. This will be your main job, if you want it and your day job can form the extra cash.”

“No cash in hand jobs then?”

“No. We’re not doing that. There’s too much shadiness in our industry. We plan to make this legit. There’s no room for dodgy-dealings, shirt-fillers and runners. We want a top-notch security firm, not the usual rent-a-thug business,” Taylor said.