Out of Context

Halfway through our first month.

Black and Gold – Book 2: Relentless
Solomon Carter

The drugs, of course. The dealers had used their dependency as a reason for them to attack him. Get this guy. He destroyed all your crack…he stole it from you…bastard. Simon’s eyes tracked the mob until he found the mocking face with the ponytail. The guy was smiling as he came forward, ready to start throwing punches.

You can laugh now, pal…thought Simon

Then the ponytail turned to the man beside him, looking up like he was looking towards the top of a mountain. “Trev. Do me a favour. Break that bastard in half will you?”

The monstrous guy grunted. “What, now?”

“If you don’t mind, Trev.”

“No problem. I’ll have the mask as a souvenir.”

When the big man started walking the rest of them parted around him, like a re-enactment of the red sea. Tension was high.

But the thing that drove him to fight most wasn’t there. The blackness – the rage, the hatred, Simon was all but empty of it. He’d taken on two sets of villains and apart from the remnants in the green bag, he’d all but destroyed their business. He had vented everything in him. The anger had been poured out. And the ragged people in front of him were nothing but victims being used all over again. The emptiness scared him most of all.