Page 46 of He is Poison
“No. I need to make sureno one gives you some nasty infection. You can never know with these people.”And with that, he made a broad gesture with his arm, indicating theunsuspecting patrons.
“Well too bad, you’regetting one anyway,” Seth spat and emptied his last drink straight intoDomenico’s face. Dom didn’t flinch, didn’t try to avoid it. He just squeezedhis eyes shut, and then fished out a clean fabric handkerchief and used it todry his face.
Seth grinned at thesight. He’d have preferred to see Domenico more angry, but this had to do. Hissmile faltered the moment Domenico moved, slamming his fist right into Seth’ssolar plexus. He choked, fell back, and suddenly didn’t know what was the differencebetween the floor and the ceiling. Domenico was over him, yanking him up into astanding position.
“Fucking dog," Domgrowled, with his fangs bared.
Seth could barely catchhis breath, managing only to put his hands on Domenico’s arms in a measly attemptto push him away. He was gasping in pain. The world was pulsing around him whensomeone got closer to ask if he was all right, but him Domenico didn’t hit.
He was not all right!His stomach hurt so bad that he’d rather just lie on the floor. The amount ofalcohol he’d had only muddled the pain by a fraction. Seth tried to shoveDomenico away, but with his breathing out of order, it wasn't very effective.
He was aware thatDomenico put his arms around him, like a friend wanting to lead a drunkcompanion home. He spoke in German to a bulky man who looked like a securityguard. Seth was still choking for air, but he was getting better. The cold fromthe outside helped him get to his metaphorical feet, while the heat ofDomenico’s body definitely didn't.
The security guy crookedhis head to look straight into Seth’s eyes. Pointing at Domenico, he asked inEnglish: “You okay with him?”
“No!” Seth rasped,shaking his head. He wanted out! He wanted out of all of this family business.Back to the US, to university, to cooking a great meal on a lazy afternoon witha book.
“You want to stay?Should we call the police?” the security guy asked. Another man kept arguingwith Domenico, still in German. Seth realized Dom sounded different than heusually did. Harsh, commanding. Was this how he always sounded in German, orwas it just this situation?
Seth bit his lips. Evenif it was this bad, he couldn’t have the police called. That would be out oforder. “Taxi? I have... money,” he said after another long breath.
The guard nodded andfished out his cell, shooting Domenico another suspicious look.
“What the fuck are youdoing?” snarled Dom.
“I’ll meet you at home,”replied Seth with the same courtesy in his voice.
Chapter 9
Domenico couldn’t believethat little spoiled son of a bitch. Did Seth think Dom would just let it go?The kid needed to learn some respect for those stronger and more experiencedthan him. To say Domenico was embarrassed by being ditched at a club was anunderstatement. And the manager actually threatened him with the police! Whatthe actual fuck?
So Seth, the pussy,didn’t dare look into Dom’s eyes as the bouncers separated them, and Dom wasleft to watch Seth escorted to a taxi. He took out his phone and typed in thenumber of the cab company. Ignoring the looks he was getting, Domenico startedto walk down the one-way street Seth's cab disappeared in. He memorized thelicense plates and wouldn’t hesitate to use them. His only problem was that hewanted to sound foreign, and it was always hard to ditch a proper accent onceyou’ve learned it.
A block away from theclub, he finally dialed the taxi company number. Dom was pretty sure the idiotwould actually go home, since he didn’t know the city, but Domenico wouldn'tleave that to chance.
After a brief moment oflistening to Mozart, he heard a female voice on the other end of the line andin his best Italo-German, he explained to her what had happened. His drunkfriend had ditched him at a club, and all Domenico saw was the license plate ofthe taxi the friend used. The problem was, the guy didn’t know any German, andhe didn’t know the address of the place they were staying at. And it wasn’tsomething easy, like a hotel, because they chose the budget option ofshort-term renting. Would the nice lady be so kind to get a taxi for Domenicoand then send the one with Seth over to the same place Domenico was heading?
And of course, he gotwhat he wanted. Civilians. He could talk them into anything. Dom checked thecity plan on his phone for a good secluded place by their house where he couldtake Seth back into his care without causing a public scene, since he imaginedthat once again Seth would make a fuss.
Ten minutes later, hewas already sitting in a cab, his soggy shirt a reminder of the fight. Thoughhe could hardly call it that. Seth behaved like a prima donna, and Dom gotpunishedfor fucking correcting him! Unbelievable! The little spoiledbastard was so going to get what he deserved.
Five minutes offrustrated visualizations of torture later, the cab stopped in front of anoverpass, which led over a wide range of railways. Domenico paid the driver andgot out of the car, looking around to spot the other taxi. It was alreadydriving away, and a lonely figure walked along the deserted road to get to theother side of the overpass. The ground under Dom's feet shook when a trainpassed underneath them with a deafening rattle.
He growled, picking uphis pace to join Seth. The man’s walk was all drunk and wobbly, but fortunatelythere were no cars on the road. But then it got worse. Dom’s eyes went widewhen he noticed that the moment Seth got to the walkway, he started strugglingover the fucking railing!The hell you will, you fucking dumbass!
Domenico ran onto theviaduct, and from the corner of his eye he saw a movement down below. A subwaytrain was approaching.
“Seth, get your ass backhere!” It was more a reprimand than a command, but he couldn’t help thinkingthat the latter might make Seth even more interested in the outer side of thatrailing.
Seth’s eyes shot up athim from the outer side of the metal barrier. “You’re not the boss of me.” Itwasn’t even a shout but a whine followed by a sniff.
Domenico instantlystarted calculating. The overpass wasn’t that high up. A few meters. Six,perhaps? Unless Seth fell in a really unlucky way, he’d break something atworst. The trains were more of a threat.
“I’m not,” Domenicoreluctantly agreed, flinching when the train passed them and Seth’s jacketfloated in the air rushing up from below. “I’m here to protect you!” He had toraise his voice to be heard through the ramble.
“What do you care? Youcalled me a slut!” Seth sniffed again, moving away from Dom inch by inch. Bigfucking baby.
“That’s not a reason tokill yourself,” said Domenico with a deepening frown. “Things like thathappen.” They certainly did to people who sucked guys through glory holes.