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  “Who the hell are you?” the leader asked.

  “Me?” Recker asked with a slight laugh. “Oh, I’m just the neighborhood watch. Heard there was some trouble.”

  The leader of the group looked at him with a puzzled face, not sure if the man was serious or just plain crazy. “You tryin’ to be funny or something?”

  “Who me? No, I never try to be funny. Just kind of comes natural.”

  “Yo, I ain’t got time for this shit. Get lost before something bad happens to you.”

  “Now you’re the one who’s trying to be funny,” Recker said.

  “Is this even for real?”

  “Oh, it’s for real. Darnell, you can go home.”

  Darnell started to leave before the gang stopped him. “Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait…you ain’t going nowhere, man. Not till I say so.”

  Darnell looked at both sides and remained in his spot, frozen, not sure what he should do.

  “You know, I heard your little speech there, and it was good,” Recker stated. “But you oughtta give it up. You clearly don’t have the mental capacity to one day challenge Vincent or Jeremiah, both of whom I know quite well.”

  “You just call me stupid?”

  “No. It’s just very clear and obvious that you don’t have what it takes to one day be up there with the big boys.”

  “Yo, I’m about to cap your ass in a minute,” the leader threatened, losing his patience.

  “Darnell, why don’t you go home?”

  “Yo, I already told you, I give the orders around here. He ain’t going nowhere.”

  “Do you really want him to see what I’m gonna do to you guys?” Recker nonchalantly asked.

  “What you’re gonna do to us?” the leader responded, his voice rising in disbelief of the audacity of the man. “You do know there’s four of us right? There’s only one of you.”

  “I know. The odds are in my favor,” Recker said, getting a laugh out of the gang. Recker even got a smile out of their hilarity over the situation.

  “Yo man, you’re crazy,” the leader told him. “I almost hate to kill you.”

  “I’m gonna reach into my pocket for something,” Recker said, putting his hand up. “It’s not a gun so don’t shoot or anything.”

  The leader of the gang was so captivated by Recker’s outlandishness that he was willing to wait a few extra minutes before killing him. He just had to see what kind of craziness Recker was going to pull out of his pocket. Recker took out some keys, the keys to his car. He tossed them over to Darnell, getting a confused look by each member of the gang who was unsure what the guy was doing. Darnell himself wasn’t even sure what was going on.

  “That’s the keys to my car. It’s the black Ford Explorer to the left. I want you to go sit in the passenger seat until I get back. I’ll drive you home. This’ll only take a few more minutes,” Recker told him.

  Darnell looked at the gang, hesitating about moving without their permission.

  “Go on,” Recker reinforced. “You don’t need their approval.”

  Darnell did as Recker asked and quickly shuffled away from the confrontation, running toward the black SUV. The gang didn’t even try to stop him this time.

  “That’s all right,” the leader said. “After we kill you, then we’re gonna take your car. Thanks for pointing out which one it was.”

  “Are you guys really gonna make me kill you?” Recker asked.

  “Dude, this guy gets crazier by the minute,” the leader said to one of the others.

  “If you leave Darnell alone, and you ask me really, really nicely, I might be able to put you in touch with Jeremiah or Vincent. Maybe they could use you somehow. I kind of doubt they’d stoop to hiring you idiots but you never know.”

  “You know Vincent and Jeremiah?”

  “Sure do. Knew the Italians too. Well, that is until I took them out.”

  “You took out the Italians?”

  “Sure did. I don’t mind saying it since you’re not gonna be around to tell anybody,” Recker bluntly told them.

  While they seemed a little off guard and not watching him very carefully, Recker quickly removed his gun from his pocket, along with the one from his belt. He just stood there with a gun firmly entrenched in both hands, dropped down to his side as he waited for someone to make the first move. Recker was pretty much done talking at that point and was just ready to finish the job.

  “Looks like we’re doing this old west style,” Recker said.

  The leader of the group wasn’t looking quite as confident as he was before, but he still wasn’t ready to back down. He wasn’t even sure the man was telling him the truth about everything. He could’ve just been saying it hoping that they’d back down.

  “Yo, I don’t believe none of that shit you just said,” the leader told him. “I don’t believe you took down the Italians all by yourself.”

  Recker just shrugged, unconcerned. “Suit yourself.”

  “Yeah, whatever man. You stand there all cool and calm and badass like you think you’re The Silencer or something? You know the guy that goes around helping people and shit.”

  “That’s because I am The Silencer,” Recker responded, almost sounding to himself like he was in a movie or something.

  Recker could see it in the eyes of the four gang members, that they weren’t quite as confident as they were before. There was some doubt that had crept into their minds. Before, they thought he was just some idiot who happened to stumble up on them. Now, they knew they were in a lot of trouble, numbers or not. Unless he wasn’t really who he said he was, but they were all pretty sure he wasn’t bluffing. There was a certain confidence about him, a swagger that most men wouldn’t have.

  “I’m not gonna stand here all day,” Recker told them, eager to get it over with. “I got things to do.”

  “You might be The Silencer, but it don’t change the fact that we still got the numbers,” the leader puffed. “Still four of us and only one of you.”

  “And like I said earlier…odds are still in my favor.”

  Another minute went by, filled with silence, none of the gang members too eager to take the first shot. Recker’s reputation on the streets had grown steadily since his name first got thrown in the paper, and since then, a lot of things had been attributed to him, some of which were true, but some not. There were some killings that people assumed he was involved with, even if he wasn’t, and some made up stories about him that made his legend and street rep grow even further. Nobody was too anxious to meet and do battle with him. Even though the numbers were on the gang’s side, Recker was an intimidating presence standing there. Not so much him physically, since he was just an average looking kind of guy, but the bodies that had piled up behind him over the months that he’d been there did all the talking that was necessary.

  “Like I said, I got things to do, so I’ll give you gentlemen till the count of five, then I’m just gonna start shooting,” Recker told them.

  Recker wasn’t bluffing, and though he didn’t really like shooting first, it didn’t bother him too much if he did. Especially when dealing with deplorable or the morally corrupt, he usually just felt that they had it coming to them. He didn’t owe them the right to shoot first. He thought sometimes people got too wrapped up over who took the first shot, like the good guy can only shoot if he’s shot at first. He thought that was nonsense. Especially when you’re dealing with those of questionable character. This wasn’t the movies. Who shot first didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered, was who shot last, and who walked out alive. And that would always be him. Recker counted to five under his breath and then brought his guns up, ready to fire.

  “Well, if you insist,” Recker whispered.

  He aimed for the leader of the group first, as Recker believed he was the most dangerous of the four. He also seemed to have his gun in the best position to fire back. Recker fired his Glock, hitting the leader of the gang square in the chest, knocking him onto his back. He quickly fired
at the other two members on the end, shooting simultaneously with both hands, hitting them both, though not fatally in either case. The fourth member of the group got his gun out and took a shot at Recker, though he missed with his shot. Recker did not, though. With the other three on the ground, he took aim at the final member of the gang still standing and unloaded two shots with the gun in his right hand, killing the man instantly. Recker slowly walked over to the group laying on the ground, three of them writhing in pain from their injuries. They were still breathing, and it was possible that they could’ve still survived if they were quickly taken to a hospital. Recker couldn’t allow it, though. Even if they were patched up, he knew they’d come right back to the street and start recruiting kids to their gang and terrorizing the neighborhood. Without thinking about it too much more, Recker raised his gun, and quickly put one more shot in each of the three remaining gang members.

  Recker stood over the dead bodies for a minute, just to make sure there wasn’t a speck of life left within any of them. He was slightly startled though when he heard movement just around the corner to the back of the duplexes. Thinking he might have more trouble, like maybe there were more members of the gang, he cautiously walked over to the corner of the house, clinging to the wall. He peeked around the corner and saw a group of what appeared to be normal, everyday citizens walking closer. Not noticing a gun in plain sight, Recker walked out into the open in front of the approaching group. He wasn’t sure exactly what to expect and kept his guns firmly in his hand, ready to fire again if need be, though looking at the age of the crowd, he didn’t really expect it to be necessary. There were seven of them, and five of them appeared to be well into their sixties, and possibly beyond that. Only two of them looked young enough, probably in their forties, to give him a hard time.

  “Can I help you people?” Recker asked.

  The youngest of the group, a forty year old homeowner that owned a house a few doors down, spoke up. “Yo, you’re The Silencer, I heard you!” he yelled in excitement.

  Recker grinned, still not sure what the group was after. One of the elder statesmen of the group then spoke up.

  “Forgive the excitement of my friend here, but we saw what was going on from the window of the house next door,” the man said.

  “Oh,” Recker said, worried about what he might have to do.

  “Don’t worry, we just wanted to come over as a group and say thank you for taking out these thugs. They’ve been terrorizing this neighborhood for months, recruiting the kids in the area, robbing businesses, stealing from people, even beating up people who are just walking down the street.”

  Recker relaxed slightly, knowing that the group didn’t pose any sort of threat. “Why haven’t you done something about it?” he asked.

  “We reported everything to the police. They took in the reports and you see them patrol the neighborhood every now and then, but,” the man shrugged. “I guess they just couldn’t find them, I guess. I don’t know. Most of us are too old to do anything about these young bucks. Maybe in my younger days I could give them a thumpin’, but not now.”

  “Well, I guess you won’t have to worry about them anymore,” Recker replied.

  “I know. It’s a shame what it had to come down to, but, it is what it is, I guess.”

  “Are these the only ones or are there more of them floating around somewhere?”

  “These four are the main ones,” the man answered.” I think there’s two or three more but once they get wind of this, I suspect they’ll be scarce around here from now on. They all took their cues from that one there anyway,” he said, pointing to the leader. “With him gone, the other ones won’t come back.”

  Recker nodded slightly, satisfied that his work there was done. “Well, I’m gonna have to get going. The police will probably be here soon enough.”

  “We understand. Thank you again.”

  “Oh, and uhh, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell the police I was here,” Recker said.

  “Man, I didn’t see nothin’,” one of the younger men happily responded.

  Then the elder man spoke up again. “I suppose it was probably another gang that did it. I don’t know though, none of us really saw what happened. We just heard the shots,” he said with a smile.

  Recker returned the smile, knowing that he didn’t have anything to worry about with these people. Even if they did tell the police it was him that killed the gang, it really wouldn’t have changed anything. The only issue would be if they described his face and the police got a sketch on him, but even then, Recker was confident in his ability to allude authorities, whether they recognized his appearance or not. And public opinion would be on his side, glad that he rid the world of a bunch of thugs, so he wouldn’t have to worry about every Tom, Dick, and Harry being on the lookout for him every time he crossed the street.

  Before Recker turned to leave, the elderly man stuck his hand out, hoping to shake The Silencer’s hand. Recker tucked his gun back in his coat pocket and returned the handshake. Then, out of the corner of his eye, Recker turned and saw Darnell approaching.

  “I thought I told you to stay in my car,” Recker told him.

  “Well, I heard the shots a few minutes ago,” Darnell replied. “I figured if you were still alive that you would’ve been back by now. I was getting worried that you were dead.”

  “Not likely.”

  “Thank you again,” the elderly man stated.

  “My pleasure.”

  “Bless you, young man,” an older woman said, walking over to Recker to give him a hug and kiss on the cheek.

  Recker almost blushed at the welcome he was receiving. “Thank you, ma’am.”

  “You make sure you take care of yourself.”

  “I will,” Recker responded.

  Recker began to leave and started walking toward Darnell, putting his arm around him.

  “I’ll drive you home,” Recker said.

  “Thanks. For everything,” Darnell replied.

  Recker suddenly stopped walking and took his arm off of Darnell and turned back toward the group of people.

  “If you guys ever need anything, a group like this comes back, or if you have any other problems that the police can’t solve, you guys let me know and I’ll come back,” Recker offered.

  “How will we know how to get in touch with you?” the elderly man asked.

  “You just get the word out, I’ll hear it. I’ll hear it.”

  “Bless you, brother, bless you.”

  Chapter 9

  Recker and Darnell talked about the kid’s future almost the entire drive back to the Gibson home. Recker found out a little about what Darnell liked to do in his spare time and what his hopes were for the future. Just listening to him talk, Recker liked him. For a teenager, he had a pretty good head on his shoulders. It was actually good for him to listen and talk to someone in depth that wasn’t involved in the usual business that he was wrapped up in.

  “I can’t thank you enough for what you did back there for me,” Darnell said.

  “You already did.”

  “It’s tough, you know, even though you know there’s something that you don’t wanna do. Even though you know something’s wrong. One bad choice and things go bad. Changes everything.”

  “All it takes is one bad decision to steer your life in the wrong direction,” Recker told him.

  “I know. That’s why I told my brother about all this. That’s a life that’s not for me. I don’t want any part of it.”

  “You’re a smart kid.”

  “So am I ever gonna see you again?” Darnell wondered.

  “Probably not.”

  Once they pulled up to Darnell’s house, Recker noticed Tyrell sitting on the front steps of the row home, waiting for them. The two brothers hugged for a moment before Tyrell told his little brother to go inside where their mother was waiting for him. Once Darnell was out of sight, Tyrell walked over to Recker’s car to thank him once again. They shook hands as T
yrell spilled his emotions out.

  “Just wanna thank you again, man,” Tyrell began.

  “You already did. So did he. Multiple times.”

  “I know, but,” Tyrell said, stopping as he started to choke up. “That’s my little brother, man. You know what I mean?”

  Recker could see that he was deeply affected thinking about what could’ve happened. “There’s nothing more important than family.”

  “I promised my mother that he wouldn’t turn out like me. That he wouldn’t be out here in the streets fighting for survival. That he’d use those brains of his to get out of here and make something with his life.”

  “Seems like you’re doing a pretty good job so far,” Recker told him.

  “I just hope I can keep it up. There’s a lot of distractions out here, bad things, bad people. A lot of things that can go wrong and push him off the wrong track.”

  “Well, we’ll just have to make sure we keep him on the right one.”

  “We?” Tyrell asked.

  “Darnell seems like a good kid. We talked on the way over here about what he wanted to do with his life. We’ll make sure it happens for him.”

  “Recker, man, I appreciate everything you’ve done for him so far, for me, but I can’t ask you to do any more for him. He’s not your blood, you don’t have to do that,” Tyrell said.

  “I came to this city to help people. To make sure bad things didn’t happen to good people. Darnell’s a part of that. Because he’s your brother, if some people know that, there’s a chance he might be targeted more than some.”

  “I know it.”

  “So we’ll have to make sure that doesn’t happen. And because he’s your brother, he’ll have me watching over him from a distance,” Recker said.

  Recker could see that Tyrell was genuinely touched by the gesture he made of helping to keep his brother safe. Tyrell wanted to say something profound, something that could express how much that meant to him, other than just a simple thanks. But there were no words powerful enough to express his gratitude. And Recker didn’t need them. He could see that Tyrell was deeply moved by his offer and that was enough for him.