The Gambler 4

G'day everyone,

Here's another offering. I've taken another well worn plot and hopefully given it a bit of a different slant. I guess you'll be the judge of that.

I was originally going to split it in two but decided to post it all together. At various points of the story the narrator changes so I've signposted these by putting the character's name in at the appropriate breaks.

Thanks once again to Capt Obvious for his help editing.

Be sure to let me know what you think.

Cheers

CharlieB4

*****

The Gambler.

Part One.

Jeremy

I should have left work when everybody else did. I knew they were looking for me. Fucking Bronco's! Who gives up a twelve point lead with five to go. The calls had been coming to my phone all day. I just let them go to message bank. I'd stayed behind to talk to my boss in private. It had been a long shot but he wasn't going to give me a Christmas bonus early.

I didn't see them. I was reaching out for the car door when the bat smashed into my forearm. Both bones snapped and I crumpled to the concrete screaming. Instinctively I tucked myself into a ball as the bat came down again on my side smashing into my ribs.

"Where the fuck you been Jeremy?" The bat came down again. "We've been calling you all day."

Again the bat thundered into my thigh.

"Well? You got an answer? Or do we have to hit you some more?

I rolled back a little and peeked out under my arm. The bat wasn't raised so I lowered my arm and looked at my attackers. There were two, a tall guy in a leather coat was the talker. Beside him a shorter more thick set guy. His clothes bulged around his biceps and chest. He had the bat.

"A..a..at work guys, that's all." I stuttered.

"Why didn't you answer your phone? Mr. D he gets pissed when degenerates who can't pay their debts don't answer the phone."

"My mobiles broken, I left it at a shop to get the screen fixed today." I lied.

Tall guy reached into his pocket and pulled out his mobile. His thumb moved across the screen and then my phone buzzed in my discarded briefcase.

"Well, what the fuck's that?" He asked aggressively kicking my case towards me.

"I just picked it up," I explained.

The tall guy sighed and nodded to his shorter companion and the bat went up again.

Four more blows rained down on me. The first two hit my legs, the third my back causing me to straighten exposing the back of my head. He took the opportunity and hit my head so my vision wavered.

"Jeremy? Jeremy?" a voice called through the fog. A hand grabbed my coat and rolled me onto my back. "You gonna lie to me again Jeremy?"

My vision cleared and the tall guy was squatting down next to me. I shook my head signaling no and immediately regretted it as saw double again.

"Good boy Jeremy. We don't want to hurt you. You're to valuable alive. Mr. D just needs some money man. You are in deep now and he needs to know you can start paying some back."

"Okay," I muttered with my eyes closed.

"That's a boy Jeremy. I told Mr. D, you don't have to worry about Jeremy. He's good for it. Didn't I Omar?"

Bat boy grunted his agreement.

"Now Jeremy, how much you got on you right now?"

"Couple of hundred." I mumbled and then screamed again as tall guy grabbed my broken forearm and squeezed it.

"That's not enough J, you are in the hole for close to fifty large. We go back to Mr. D with a couple of hundred he'll put us in a hole."

"I'll get more, I'll get more," I squealed and he released my arm. "I just need a couple of days."

The pain came back and I screamed louder than before as he squeezed and twisted my broken appendage. I could feel the broken bones rubbing against each other.

"You are out of time Jeremy. I'm sorry man, Mr. D he wants five grand tonight otherwise..." He left the consequences to my imagination.

Just then a new voice called out.

"Heh? You two?" What are you doing there?" It was my boss Mr. Cooper.

"You stay away old man," tall guy warned. "We just got some business with your boy here."

I could hear footsteps as Mr. Cooper got closer.

"Jesus, Jeremy! Is that you?"

"Butt out old man or you'll end up down there with him." Tall guy cautioned him again.

"What's this about?"

Tall guy sighed realizing Mr. Cooper wasn't taking any notice.

"Your boy has a problem. He couldn't pick the winner of a one horse race. My employer has asked me to enquire as to when he is going to settle up his debts."

"So that's why you wanted your Christmas bonus early?" Mr. Cooper said sternly.

I chanced a glance in his direction. He was about ten metres from Omar who was facing him and twirling his bat menacingly.

"Do as they say Mr. Cooper. I don't want you getting hurt." I replied resigned to my fate.

Mr. Cooper ignored me.

"How much do you want?" He asked the tall guy.

"Five grand."

"Well I sure we can sort something out. Come back tomorrow and..." Tall guy cut him off.

"That's five grand tonight, he owes over forty."

"Fucking hell Jeremy! That's nearly your yearly salary." Mr. Cooper exploded.

I looked away. Right then I felt as low as I thought I could go.

"I told you old man, your boy's a lousy gambler."

"Alright, alright, but I haven't got that much money on me." Mr. Cooper complained.

"I can take a credit card." Tall guy offered pulling a device out of his pocket and plugging it into his mobile.

"What?" Mr. Cooper gasped in shock. "What about Jeremy's credit cards?"

"Already maxed out aren't they Jeremy." Tall guy said with a chuckle.

Mr. Cooper sighed and pulled out his wallet. Omar stepped back and tall guy walked over and took the credit card.

"There is a five percent surcharge on credit card transactions to cover extra costs." Tall guy explained. "Do you still want to proceed?"

"Just get on with it." Mr. Cooper grunted.

Tall guy tapped away his phone. It was surreal, the hired muscle of a bookie using portable eftpos. The transaction complete the two thugs walked away. Mr. Cooper helped me over to his car. Once we were on the road he called my wife and told her to meet us at the hospital. She was obviously worried but he cut off any explanation.

As we drove on in silence I looked across at him and wondered why he had saved me. I did my job but I was hardly employee of the year. He'd shown no inclination to give me any money twenty minutes before and then he shells out five grand seemingly without a second thought. Maybe he didn't want the hassle of a violent death in the company car park?

"I'll pay you back Mr. Cooper," I mumbled. "With interest." I added.

"You can count on that Jeremy. You can definitely count on that." He said as he flicked his turn indicator and turned towards the hospital casualty sign.

Something about the way he said it sent a shiver down my spine. The unease was forgotten as he hit a speed bump in the casualty drive way too fast and we were jolted up and down. Pain shot through the broken arm I was supporting with my other hand. My vision went blurry and I passed out.

I came too in a hospital bed with my arm bandaged and held up with wires. An IV snaked down from a stand beside the bed into the back of my other hand. A machine beeped in time with my heart beat above the bed head. Across the room my wife, Kate, stood up and came to the bedside.

"How are you feeling?" She asked as her hand touched mine.

"Sore," I tried to smile.

"Don't smile at me you bastard!" Kate hissed, "you promised you'd never gamble again."

"What did Mr. Cooper tell you?" I saw a tear break free from her eye.

"Just that he baled you out of a debt with a bookie." The look of disappointment on her face made me look away.

"What did he tell the doctors?"

"He said he found you on the road near the car park. He thought you'd been hit by a car. That's what he told the police too."

"The police?" I looked back at her alarmed.

"The doctors had to report your injuries, for some reason they think you were attacked with a blunt instrument." Kate rolled her eyes.

"Fuck," I groaned, now the fun stoppers were involved.

"Bob said you should pretend you can't remember. Otherwise those thugs might come back and finish the job."

"Bob said?" I raised my voice a little in alarm.

"You know, Mr. Cooper. Your boss, the guy who saved your life?"

There was a knock on the door and a police constable popped his head in.

"Is it alright if we ask you a few questions Mr Johnson?"

My wife answered for me.

"He's a bit woozy but you can try." Kate replied brightly before looking back at me. "I'll just go and get a coffee." Her voice was all sweetness and light but the look she gave me could have melted steel.

The police asked a few questions and I played dumb. I didn't see anything, I couldn't remember, I didn't have any enemies. Their heart wasn't in it either so they were soon gone. If I wasn't going to make a fuss neither were they. When Kate came back she explained I'd gone straight from casualty into an operating theatre. Apparently one of the blows to my back had lacerated a kidney and they had to stop the bleeding. While I was under another surgeon pinned the bones in my forearm.

I stayed in hospital for four days with my wife beside me most of the time. She didn't like me very much but she still loved me. The morning I was released Kate had an important presentation at work so she organized for Mr. Cooper to pick me up and take me home. The old prick never took time off work and I was very surprised when she told me he was doing it. Apparently he'd been checking in with Kate regularly to see how I was going. When she told him of her dilemma he'd offered to drive me home.

An orderly wheeled me down to the entrance in a wheelchair. Mr. Cooper's car was waiting just outside. I signed the release forms and walked out of the hospital. For someone who was so concerned about me he didn't seemed pleased to see me and barely spoke on the drive to my house. At the apartment block I thanked him and was getting out of the car when he shut off the engine and got out too.

"It's okay Mr. Cooper, I'll be all right from here."

"No Jeremy, we need to talk and it might be better to do so in private."

He followed me up the stairs to our apartment. Kate had left a key with a neighbour so I got it and we went inside. I put my overnight bag in the bedroom and my medicine in the cabinet behind the bathroom mirror. When I came out Mr. Cooper was sitting in one of the armchairs in the lounge area. He pointed to one of the others and I sat down opposite him.

"Jeremy, I have a dilemma. At work yesterday I had a visitor."

I nodded I wasn't sure where this was going.

"A large black man, Mr Delacourt. I think you may know him as Mr. D."

"Ohh." Now I knew where this was going.

"He wasn't very happy Jeremy. With either of us. It appears he was hoping his henchmen were going to make more of an example out of you."

I held up my plastered arm.

"I think they did a pretty thorough job." I added.

"Well from what he told me he put the taller gentleman, who was supposed to fix his problem with you into the same hospital. Cracked his skull with a seven iron."

I suppressed a laugh.

"It's not funny Jeremy," Mr. Cooper cautioned. "Apparently he is having trouble with, how did he put it, preppy college boy types. He has quite a set against your generation. Mr. D thinks generation Ys don't respect the rules and expect everybody to make allowances for them. Anyway the long and the short of it is he wanted his henchmen to bust a lot more than your arm so he could show others that he shouldn't be trifled with."

"I guess I was lucky you came along Mr. Cooper."

"Yes you were but Mr. Delacourt is not satisfied. He gave me an ultimatum yesterday instead of you. Either I buy all your markers off him or I butt out I let him finish his business with you."

"But you gave him five grand." I argued.

"That's true but I'm not sure Mr. Delacourt follows any ethical business code. So my dilemma is do I say goodbye to my five grand and let him do what he wants to you. Or do I invest more money in your sorry ass and hope you pay me back."

"I will Mr. Cooper. I'll do overtime for nothing. I'll work holidays. I'll do whatever it takes."

"Hmmm," Mr. Cooper scratched his chin. "These assurances are good Jeremy but I understand you gave your wife similar assurances that you wouldn't gamble again two years ago. Look how that turned out."

"It will be different this time Mr. Cooper, I promise."

"I've got to be honest with you Jeremy. After speaking with Kate over the last few days I'm afraid I don't trust you."

"Mr. Cooper please..." I pleaded.

"As I said I don't trust you but..." He paused and creepy smirk appeared on his face. "Maybe there is a way I can help you. If you and Kate are prepared to "help" me."

"This has nothing to do with Kate."

"She's your wife Jeremy. Do you think Mr. D would be satisfied with just maiming or killing you? He would still want the money and he would come to your spouse to get it. Who do you think it would be better to deal with?"

"I'll go to the police." I was clutching at straws.

"And admit that you lied to them? Do you think they can save you when Mr. Delacourt finds out you're squealing on him?"

I shrugged and immediately regretted it as pain shot up my spine. "Maybe I could get witness protection?" I said grimacing.

Mr. Cooper laughed out loud. "For a small time bookie? More likely they'll tail you around and hope they can get him on a murder charge after he's finished with you. Don't forget you have already given a sworn statement that you were hit by a car. You go to the police then you have already got one charge of making a false statement."

"What would we have to do to "help" you?" I asked dreading what his demands might be.

"You would have to do very little. Just sit there and look like the pathetic soul you are. Kate on the other hand..." I butted in before he could continue.

"No fucking way, no way no how. I'd rather die." I mumbled through gritted teeth.

"Fine, if that's the way you want it." Mr. Cooper stood up abruptly and started for the door. He stopped on the threshold with the door open and turned back towards me. "Of course, while Kate's grieving about your premature demise, I'll be sure to comfort her... regularly."

With that parting remark hanging in the air between us he left. I took a couple of pain killers and then laid on our bed. I tried to sleep but couldn't find a position that didn't hurt. Mr. Cooper's offer and final remark didn't help. I got up when I heard the front door open as Kate came home.

"Jeremy, Jeremy? I'm home." She called as I made my way to the living area.

As I got closer I could hear her talking to someone else.

"Just put those on the bench. Thanks so much for all you've done Bob. I don't know how I would have coped without you."

I came around the corner to see Bob placing bags of groceries on the kitchen counter. Kate was bending over putting something away in the bottom of the fridge. He looked at me and then deliberately turned his gaze towards her ass as it poked out towards him. The evil Bob grin returned as he swivelled back and winked at me.

"Well I'd best be going. You two probably have a lot to talk about."

"Oh Bob can't you stay for a drink? You can tell Jeremy about your offer." Kate had stood up and placed her hand on his arm.

"No, no. I don't want to be in the way. I'll see myself out. You take care now Jeremy." He walked out whistling.

Kate saw me standing in the doorway and she hurried towards me.

"Should you be out of bed?" She asked before giving me a kiss on the cheek.

"I'm fine," I replied brusquely, "what did Bob offer us?"

My abrupt tone didn't phase Kate as she pushed past me and began shedding her work clothes. Her skirt dropped down as she went past the bathroom and with a deft flick of her foot she deposited it on top of the laundry hamper just inside the doorway. I ogled her arse and legs as she continued walking away from me.

Kate wasn't tall, I think an apt description might be stocky except it was all muscle. She worked out and rode a bike a lot. Her legs had well defined calves and were much thicker at the top. Above them an amazing booty. One of my friends from college often said she had a white body but a black arse. I was mesmerized by the way her butt swayed when I realized she'd been talking to me.

"What do you think?" She asked looking back over her shoulder at me from the bedroom.

"Umm sorry I didn't catch what you said..." I said looking away.

"I see part of you still works."

There was a hint of the old Kate smile as she moved away out of view. I looked down and saw my pants tented out by my hungry cock. I moved as quickly as I could to the bedroom anticipating a little action. Inside Kate was bent over getting some shorts out of her wardrobe and I moved behind her and caressed her panty covered butt. She whirled around and I saw I had drastically misread the signals.

"What the fuck do you think you are doing? You gamble away all our money and more we don't have and you think you get to fuck me?"

She stepped around me and proceeded to put on some old clothes.

"Sorry honey, I... I'll fix it okay. It won't happen again."

"That's what you said last time, and the first time when you blew all our honeymoon spending money in one night."

"I said I'm sorry."

"Yeah well sorry doesn't get Bob his five thousand dollars back."

"Fuck Bob!" I shouted in exasperation.

"Fuck Bob? Fuck Bob? Bob saved your fucking life you degenerate! Bob paid your fucking debt! Bob offered me a job to help pay it back."

"I bet he did. So did you give him a blow job before you got home?" I sneered and immediately regretted it as she recoiled like a snake.

"What is fucking wrong with you? He asked me to come in on Saturday mornings and work on the front desk."

"And that's really going to pay off fifty thousand dollars." I continued sarcastically.

"Fifty thousand? Didn't he just pay five?" Kate looked confused then it dawned on her. She grabbed the nearest object, a bedside lamp and hurled it at me. "Fifty thousand?" She screamed.

The power cord stopped the lamp and it landed on the bed so it didn't even break. I fended off the book that followed it but the hair brush hit me flush across the bridge of my nose. Bob hadn't told her the full story. I was in deep shit.

Fifty fucking thousand? Fifty fucking thousand?" Kate collapsed on the bed sobbing.

I moved towards her but she lashed out with her feet.

"Stay the fuck away from me you arsehole."

"Kate please, Mr Cooper he told me this afternoon he wanted you to "help" him." I used my fingers to put quotation marks around the help as I said it. "His idea of "help" is not working the front desk unless you're bent over it while he's fucking you."

She looked up at me, tears streamed down her face.

"Fifty thousand Jeremy. What else have we got to sell to make fifty thousand?"

"Katie, Katie, we will work something out. Maybe your parents..."

"Get the fuck out! Get out!" She screamed and I beat a hasty retreat.

I would have to wait until she calmed down. Then we could work something out. Maybe we could make a run for the border? It was an hour before she came out of the bedroom and she went straight to the bathroom and locked the door. I sat in the living area with the TV turned on but the sound way down. I was rehearsing what I was going to say in my mind. Getting myself ready for when Kate came back out.

When she finally came into the living room my jaw dropped. She was wearing a short, short black leather skirt that I hadn't seen her wear in years. On top under a short black leather jacket she wore a tight white midriff top. She wasn't wearing a bra and her nipples could be seen easily when the jacket exposed them. She strutted straight past me towards the kitchen her high heels clicking on the timber floor.