“I just want you to do one thing, Hank, and that’s hear me out. Okay?”
“Okay,” I said, gritting my teeth.
“No, really. I need you to hear out what I have to say.”
“Alright,” I said, annoyed.
Then Been-e pulled a pistol out from under the table, pointed it at my head, and fired.
There were screams all across the restaurant and people ran to the exits in a panic.
“What the hell!” I yelled at him.
He immediately put the gun down on the table in front of us and put his hands up. He wore the same apologetic expression.
“Just listen to me, Hank. I’m really sorry!”
I felt up where I was shot and there was a bullet stuck in my forehead. Just the very tip had embedded itself in my skin. When I pulled back to view my fingers there was no blood, though it stung like a bitch.
As the restaurant emptied, I looked at Been-e and motioned for him to start explaining.
“Right. So Zadeck is kind of mad at you,” he began tentatively.
“You don’t say.”
“You dragged that Dredel Led over to Wallow and got them to fight. He kind of felt you should be punished for that. You know how bosses are.”
“Oh, please. Wallow probably didn’t even break a sweat ripping that thing to pieces.”
“Well, I think it was more a point that he wanted you to know,” and Been-e seemed to think about this, like he was reciting a message from Zadeck. “He thought you kind of stepped over the line. Used him, or whatever.”
“So he tried to have me killed?” I shouted.
“Oh, no. He knew this wasn’t going to kill you. Everyone told him that. It was more…just to do it, I guess.”
“And so you volunteered?” I asked.
“I told you, it’s been hard. And I’ve known you so long, I figured you might blow away some stupid kid who did it. At least you’d hear me out. And I knew it wouldn’t do you no harm. I seen you get shot all over. I even loaded the cartridge light—but don’t tell that to Zadeck, please.”
“You got some nerve asking me for favors.”
I felt the bullet in my head again. It wasn’t a small bullet but it really was superficial, I was sure I could pop it from my skin with no problems. But I decided to leave it there.
Then I looked down at the pistol.
“Where did you get that?” I asked.
“Um, I bought it from Ioshiyn. Why?”
I slumped.
“I sold him that gun,” I replied, irked.
“Really?” Been-e said. I could see he was wondering how this changed my reaction towards him.
“But Hank,” he broke in, “I loaded light. I knew this wasn’t going to do nothing. At all. Look, you’re sitting here talking to me. I told Zadeck this would happen. And I said I’d be a good guy to do it, because we worked together.”
“Yeah, that’s why he wanted you. Because he liked the idea of getting a friend to shoot me. Makes him feel bigger,” I stated glumly.
“Well, you did try and get Wallow killed,” he said.
“To save the station,” I barked, “including him.”
“I know that. I know that. But Hank, you’re not thinking like a boss. Zadeck without Wallow is nothing. You almost…more than killed, Zadeck. You almost made him a nobody.”
I took a breath and thought about this. Been-e definitely understood Belvaille.
“How much did you get paid?” I asked casually.
“Five grand.”
“What?”
I tried to jump to my feet in outrage, but I bumped into the table.
“I know it’s not a great price, but like I said, it’s been tough finding work and I need to sock away some cash.”
I could take getting shot in the face. Getting shot in the face by an old friend. Getting shot in the face by an old friend for trying to save everybody. But I wasn’t going to sit here and be demeaned by the fact the prospective killer was only paid five thousand. That was beyond an insult. He was saying “here is what I think Hank is worth,” and then scraping some crud off his shoe.
“How do you think that makes me feel? How would you like to know someone got paid that little to kill you?”
“It wasn’t really a hit. It was more a”—and he bounced his head around trying to come up with a better term—“a thing. Like. Hey. Hey!”
I sat there stewing. Bullet in my forehead. Five grand. That was nothing. That was humiliating.
“So what do you think I should have asked for?” Been-e finally asked.
“Like fifty grand. Easy. I mean, I’m bulletproof, right? I’m muscle, right? Or I thought I was. I just killed TWO Dredel Led. Five grand? You don’t even kill little old ladies for that. That’s an insult to you, too.”