Julio and friends.

-cowritten with sammycolt-

The front windshield was cracked in and covered in grime. So bad that even with Max's eye sight she couldn't make out who was inside. Both doors opened, the driver's smashing against the brick wall to his left. Max still couldn’t' see their faces but from the way the man hobbled out of the passenger side favoring his left knee she knew who it was.

“Julio!” Max greeted him with a sarcastic smile. She glanced behind herself to the other side of the alley; she could see cars driving past with the odd pedestrian. About fifty meters away, worst case she could run for it and be around the corner in four seconds.

Another man jumped out from the back. Max finally stepped off and away from her bike, leaning it against the wall. She twisted her feet in the mud soaked cement, making a note on how slippery the surface was.

“I didn't expect to see you so soon.” she smiled sweetly, “how's the knee?” Three men, all Hispanic, all roughly the same build. From their noses alone it was a safe bet to assume they were all related to Julio in some way.

“Yo, I want my equipment back.” Julio hobbled towards her, his two acquaintances followed his lead.

“Sorry,” Max shrugged. “I must have left your shit in my other pants.” The three men kept moving forward, she stepped back, planting her far leg into the ground.

There was a fire escape to her right, a metal monstrosity bolted ten feet off the ground and running up the length of the building. It was rusted to all hell. The lock holding the ladder up and off the ground looked like it would crumble to nothing if anything more than a slight breeze touched it. A large green steel dumpster was on her right, its front left wheel was broken leaving it leaning on its one corner. It too was rusted through, a grey brown liquid seeping from its many holes.

“Four thousand, that's what that shit cost me.” Julio and his crew had stopped just a few feet in front of Max.

Max looked at his two new friends and then back to Julio. “Where's Brad and Darren? Aren't they going to get jealous you have two new boyfriends...” She could almost hear Julio's jaw clench.

“Darren is a little bitch that isn't willing to do what needs to be done.”

“I can't argue with that,” Max replied quickly.

“Look you little whore, four thousand for the camera and computer you stole and destroyed. And…” Julio stopped to think. “another ten for the footage we were going to sell.”

“What about the knee? And the emotional trauma caused by getting beat up by a girl?” Max smiled, her eyes darted back and forth between the three men making sure none of them were about to do anything stupid. “Might as well just say it's an even fifty because either way a girl like me doesn't have that kind of money.”

“You can work it off,” came the first words from one of the men that had tagged along with Julio. He smiled, three of his front teeth replaced with gold and silver. “Pretty girl like you, I think we can work something out.”

“Right here?” Max asked looking down at the puddles and mud below them. “Or would you fuck me in your little **** van? How many gangbangs does fourteen thousand dollars buy anyway?”

The man was a little taken back by her nonchalant attitude and confidence. Max watched the look of confusion cross his face.

“Look, you little slut-”