HARDCORE: Storm MC(122)

Burger snapped off a quick salute, while Matches just chewed on his matchstick and looked at her blankly. Missy realized how weird it must be for them to take orders from her.



Well, that's tough shit, boys, she thought, because when all this is over, you'll be seeing a hell of a lot more of me. If we all survive.



She walked across the street to the salon, peering in. When she didn't see Christina, she rapped on the window gently.



Christina emerged from the back, looking at Missy owlishly from behind her thick glasses and wringing her hands nervously. Under her work smock, she wore a bland denim dress that looked like something a middle-school art teacher would own. She smiled timidly when she saw Missy and unlocked the door, beckoning her in.



“Um, hey, Missy! Thanks for, uh, y'know, coming by. Here, let's get you over to the sink,” Christina said, locking the door again behind Missy.



“Look, now that I'm here, can't we just talk? It's not like I really need my hair done...”



Christina's already-pale face turned an even sicklier color, and she started gnawing on her lower lip anxiously. “No, um, it's probably better if we go ahead and, uh, do your hair anyway,” she said, stealing a glance out the window. “We need to act like nothing's going on in case, y'know, they're...”



She clearly couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence, but one look in her haunted, glassy eyes told Missy how terrified Christina was that they were being watched. She took Christina's shoulders and spoke to her in as soothing a voice as possible. “Christina, you can relax now. I'm here, I'm armed, I've got two of the Eagles parked across the street looking out for trouble...whatever's going on, you're safe now. We'll protect you.”



Christina's eyes became misty with tears. “No. I'm not. You could be armed with a bazooka and have twenty guys outside, and it wouldn't be enough. You don't know these guys, Missy. You think you do, but you have no idea what they're capable of.”



Missy nodded patiently. It looked like Christina was about to have a full-on breakdown right in front of her, and this meeting was too important for her to waste time trying to help the hairdresser pull herself together again. “Okay. It's fine. If it makes you feel safer and more comfortable, you can do my hair while we talk, all right?”



Christina managed a grateful smile. “Thanks. I won't, um, charge you for it or anything.”



Damn right you won't, Missy thought, settling into a seat and tilting her head backward into the sink behind it.



Christina tucked a bib under Missy's chin and turned on the faucet, wetting Missy's hair and kneading shampoo into it. “So, uh, my mom...Pauline...like I said, she runs the Teepee, y'know? And a couple weeks ago, Gaspar and his guys went to see her, and they told her they were gonna be using a couple of the rooms to store all their guns and, um, drugs and stuff. When she tried to say no, they held her down while Gaspar broke one of her legs with a baseball bat, and they said they'd rape and kill both of us and burn the whole motel down. Mom's almost sixty, y'know? She's scared to death.”



“Christina, we've known each other almost since we were kids,” Missy said. “You knew my brother was the president of the Eagles. You could have come to me at the beginning of all this.”



“I wanted to, but I couldn't!” Christina said, her voice breaking. “Mom wouldn't let me. She said it was too big a risk, and she didn't want her motel caught up in the middle of some gang war. I mean, she doesn't even know I'm talking to you now, y'know? Maybe I shouldn't be. Maybe I should have just kept my mouth shut, but...then I heard about what happened with you at the Shop-N-Stop, and I didn't want anything bad to happen to you. I couldn't live with myself if that happened, after how long we've known each other. Mom thinks if she just keeps quiet and does what Gaspar tells her this will all blow over somehow, but it won't, Missy, I know it won't! They'll just take more and more from us until we're all used up, and then they'll...they'll...”



Christina broke down, sobbing. Missy sat up, reaching for a nearby towel and wrapping it around her damp hair. Then she took Christina's hand and looked deep into her eyes. “Okay. I understand. But Christina, we've lost one of our guys to these monsters already, and before this is over we could lose a whole lot more. I want to help you, but first I need you to try to help me. I'm going to ask you just a few questions, and I really need you to think hard before you give me the answers. Can you do that?”



Christina nodded, sniffling.



“Okay, good. Thank you. Now, my first question—you said they took over two rooms at the Teepee. Do you know which rooms?”