Chapter 3: Got Hung Up

Leviathan jolted as he came to and opened his eyes slowly. He felt funny, like his head had way too much pressure in it. Pain throbbed like a heartbeat on the back of his head and spread towards his face. What was that around his ankle? His vision was blurry as he blinked away the darkness.

What’s going on? he thought. *Where am I? And how did I get here? *He tried to wade through the fog that hung heavy on his mind. Wasn’t he going somewhere to do something important? Hadn’t it involved Bessy’s chocolate milk?

He blinked a few more times, clearing his vision enough to see that he was in a warehouse. His feet were above his head, which explained why he felt so weird. The rope holding his ankle was hanging from one of the exposed rafters above. There were rows of crates on either side of him, forming an aisle between them. He craned his neck and found the floor was a few feet away from his head.

“Oy, boss! He’s waking up.” A gravelly voice called out near him.

*I know that voice… don’t I? *The fog in his brain started to lift. *Why do I know that voice? *He tried to turn to see who it was, but wasn’t able to contort himself enough to do so.

“Good,” another voice replied. This one he definitely knew.

Buggsy… I shoulda known.

“Wake up ya big lump!” Buggsy said, kicking him hard in the ribs. Leviathan jerked in response to the pain and coughed as the air abruptly left his lungs. “Unlike you, I don’t have time to *hang around *all day.”

Several of Buggsy’s henchmen laughed at his joke. Leviathan had heard that Buggsy liked to treat his victims this way, but hadn’t found himself in the predicament before. Somehow, whether by sheer dumb luck or something else, he had always managed to scrape together enough cash for his monthly payment. That is, until now. Apparently three days late was what it took to end up in this situation.

“Listen, Buggsy, I got your money,” Leviathan said. His head pounded with his heartbeat and he felt a little nauseous. “Just let me down from here and I’ll give it to you.”

“That’s what they all say,” Buggsy replied. “You’re late, Jones…and we can’t have that. Do you know what happens to people when they’re late?”

Leviathan didn’t know, but he certainly had a good idea of what might happen and he wasn’t a fan of the thought.

“Wait, wait, wait! Buggsy, we can talk about this, can’t we?”

“There’s nothing to talk about, Jones. You borrowed money from me and you refuse to make payments by the deadline. We have a contract and I take those very seriously.”

“Three days, Buggsy. I’m three days late! Give me a break here! Cases dried up for a few weeks is all. I’m on one now… a good one. I’ll be early next month, I swear!”

“You better be. I won’t be so nice next time,” the boss replied. “Breaks my little heart that you can’t find work. Truly, it does. But I gave you an opportunity to have meaningful employment and you refused.”

Like I’d ever join the mob, he thought.

“Give him a reminder of what happens when someone crosses me, Toad.”

“You got it, boss,” Toad, the largest troll cronie replied, cracking his knuckles.

“Let this serve as a reminder that being true to your word matters, Jones. Don’t cross me again, unless you want to be sleeping with the moles.”

“Can’t we talk about this or something?”

“There’s nothing to talk about, Jones.” With that Buggsy shuffled towards the edge of the room, but stopped just before the exit. “My offer still stands, Jones. Come work for me and your debts go away. I could really use a man of your talents.”

Toad cracked his neck as the door slammed shut behind the boss. “I’ve been looking forward to this, Detective,” he said. “Come on boys. Let’s teach this gargoyle a thing or two.”

Levi had experienced a troll thumping more than once in his life, so he knew what to expect. Being one of the only goyles in a school full of trolls and dwarves had not been easy. Three of Buggsy’s giant henchmen walloped on him like a punching bag for ten minutes or so, until his thick leathery Goyle skin began to burst around his ribs. The only thing he could do was cover his face and hope the time would pass quickly.

He refused to scream out in pain, giving them the satisfaction of breaking him. He had learned a long time ago that bullies liked to feel like they were in control. Like they were more powerful than their prey. By refusing to let them know you were hurting, you could hold something over their heads.

After they were done, Toad cut him down. He crumpled into a gray leathery ball, then flopped onto his back. The cold cave floor felt good against the pain all over his body.

“Don’t be late again,” Toad said, kicking him in the back one last time. Leviathan grunted and jerked away from his assailant.

“Yeah, yeah, I got it,” he replied.

“Come on boys, we’ve got places to go and creatures to see.” Toad said with a chuckle.

“I’ll go get the car ready,” one of the other henchmen replied. “Boss said Gnometown was on the agenda today.”

Their voices faded as they walked out of the warehouse, leaving Leviathan alone in a puddle of pain. He groaned aloud and rolled to a seated position, hugging his knees into his chest. The pain would subside, but his pride would be hurt a lot longer. It always was after a bully had done their damage.

Dumb trolls, he thought, shaking his head. All that and they didn’t even collect the money. He stood up and reached into his pocket to fish out the cash, but came up empty-handed. Right… they took all my money… why not…