IT WAS BAD news walking through the door.
They were coming his way: five of themâthree guys, two girlsâall of them looking older than him by a couple of years but probably still in high school. The guys had some muscle, but none of them was steroidal, meaning he could take any of them one-on-one. Collectively, he didnât stand a chance. Besides, Gabe wasnât spoiling for a fight. Last time that happened, he messed up his handâtemporarily. Heâd been lucky. Maybe heâd be lucky again. If not, he had to be smart.
He pushed his glasses up on his nose and kept his eyes on the book until the group was on top of him. Even then, he didnât look up. Nothing was going to happen to him inside a Starbucks ⦠staring at the page in front of him, his mind going a mile per sec.
âYouâre sitting in my seat,â one of the guys said.
His dad had always emphasized that if he were about to be jumped, it was best to take on the leader. Because once the leader was gone, the others fell like dominoes. Gabe counted to five before he looked up. The guy who spoke was the biggest of the three.
âExcuse me?â Gabe said.
âI said youâre sitting in my seat.â And as if to emphasize the point, he pulled back his jacket, giving Gabe a five-second peek at the gun stuck into his waistbandâpositively one of the worst places to keep an unharnessed weapon. There were only two people in the world that Gabe would take crap from and he wasnât looking at either one of them. To acquiesce would be a mistake. On the other hand, to confront would also be a mistake. Luckily, the dude gave him an out.
Gabe held up an index finger. âDo you mind?â Slowly and carefully, he pulled back the guyâs jacket with his finger and stared at the gun. âBeretta 92FS with some kind of a custom grip.â A pause. âSweet.â He let the jacket drop. âYou know the company just came out with an advanced modelâa 96A or something like that. Same thing as the 92 series except it has a higher magazine capacity.â
Gabe stood up. Nose to nose, he was a couple of inches taller than the gunslinger, but the height differential wasnât something he was about to flaunt. He took a half step back, giving them both some personal space.
âI like the plinkers ⦠like the 87 Cheetah .22LR. First of all, itâs got great reliability. Second, itâs one of those ambidextrous pieces. Iâm right-handed, but I got a real strong left. You know how it is. You never know which hand itâs gonna be convenient to use.â
They were locked in a staring contest, Gabeâs focus on the dude with the piece. As far as he was concerned, the other four didnât exist. Then, with a sudden, fluid motion, Gabe stepped aside and held out his hand, magnanimously offering the dude his seat. âBe my guest.â
A few seconds ticked by, each waiting for the other to blink.
Finally, the guy said to Gabe, âHave a seat.â
âAfter you.â
The two of them eyed each other, then they both sat down at the same time with the dude taking up the leather chair that Gabe had formerly occupied. He kept his eyes on the guyâs face, never letting up for a moment. Dude was around five ten, one eighty, broad chest, strong arms. Brown hair past his ears, blue eyes, strong chin. Under his leather jacket, he had on a gray T-shirt and wore black, tight-fitting jeans. He was a good-looking guy and probably had a posse of admirers.
Dude said, âWhereâd you learn about guns?â
Gabe shrugged. âMy dad.â
âWhat does he do?â
âMy father?â At this, Gabe broke into a slow grin. âUh ⦠actually, heâs a pimp.â The expected pause. âHe owns whorehouses in Nevada.â
The dude stared at him with newfound respect. âCool.â
âIt sounds a lot cooler than it is,â Gabe said. âMy dadâs a nasty guyâa real mean motherfucker. He also owns about a zillion guns and knows how to use every single one of them. I get along with him because I donât cross him. Plus, we donât live together anymore.â
âYou live with your mom?â
âNah, sheâs in India somewhere. She took off with her lover and dumped me into the care of complete strangersââ
âAre you shittinâ me?â
âI wish I was shittinâ you.â Gabe laughed. âLast year was a total nightmare.â He rubbed his hands together. âBut it worked out okay. I like where I am. My foster dad is a police lieutenant. Youâd expect him to be the hard-ass, but compared to my own dad, the man is a saint.â He looked at his watch. It was almost six in the evening and night was inches away. âI gotta go.â He stood up and so did Dude.