Free Enforcing Home by A. American Page B

trailed off, “I don’t like having anyone deal with my problems.”
    “You know me; I’ll help you in any way I can. What’s up?”
    Mario nodded his head, “You’ll see here in a minute, ‘cause here it comes.”
    We all turned to see two men walking down the row of tables. At each they’d stop and talk to who was there; and at a couple, take something from the table before moving on to the next.
    “What’s that about?” Danny asked.
    “They say it’s to pay for their protection, that they protect the traders here; so they should be paid for their service,” Shelly replied.
    Looking at Mario, I asked, “Have you seen any trouble around here?”
    “The only trouble we have is them; they want honey.” He turned and looked at the Kawasaki Mule sitting behind him; “and of course they want that.”
    “They want candles too; actually, they want everything. They take from everyone around here,” Shelly added.
    “Fuck them,” Sarge snorted.
    “That’s what I said,” Mario replied. “They haven’t tried too hard yet, only because I’ve got just as many guns as they do.”
    I looked at Mario wide-eyed, “They got that many?” And smiled.
    Mario smiled in return, “Here anyway.”
    The two men approached the table, looking us over as they did. We all moved to make room for them just so we could hear what they had to say.
    “Mario, you have ours ready for us?” The taller of the two asked.
    “I’ll tell you the same thing I told you last time, fuck off.”
    “And we told you last time that wasn’t going to work for long,” the man replied. He waved his arm out behind him, “everyone else here pays; you have to too.”
    “And why is that?” I asked.
    He looked at me, “This don’t concern you none; mind your own business.”
    When Thad was serious his voice took an even deeper baritone, “It is our business.”
    “Unless you plan to pay for your honey, do like the man said; fuck off,” Sarge said.
    The man looked back at Mario, “Billy’s not going to be happy about this; he wanted those candles. He said to tell you if you gave us any trouble that you’d have to deal with him next time.”
    “Billy?” Sarge shouted, “Tall fucker with a beard, black hair?”
    The two men stiffened a bit, “Yeah.” He looked at me, then the badge. “You the ones that killed our three men the other day?”
    “No; my daughters killed two of them,” I said.
    Mario interrupted the conversation, “Look, I’ll give you a peace offering.”
    The man looked at Mario, “I knew you’d come around to your senses.”
    I looked at Mario, trying to let him know that we had his back. He winked at me in reply. Looking back to the two men, he said, “It’s over here,” and headed towards the Mule.
    The two men followed him, and I started to, but Shelly grabbed my arm. I looked at her curiously. She shook her head, so I stopped and watched Mario lead the men to collect their tax. At the Mule Mario reached into the bed and pulled out a box and handed it to one of the men, then a second to the other man.
    “That’s honey,” Mario said as he picked up another box. “This one has candles; who wants it?” Mario asked with a smile.
    “I’ll take it,” one of them replied.
    Mario lifted the two top flaps of the box, quickly gripping the sides, and pitched it at them. The bees had been in the box all morning and weren’t real happy about it. They exploded from the box, covering both of their faces. Mario casually walked away as the men screamed and dropped their boxes, the jars breaking as they hit the ground.
    “Oh hell no,” Thad said. “I don’t do bees,” and started to walk away.
    Danny was hot on his heels, “Me neither.”
    Sarge started to laugh as the two men slapped at the mass of bees on their faces and arms, only encouraging them to sting even more. As soon as the first bee was struck it released the sting here pheromone. Both men screamed and thrashed as they tried to get the stinging