Man's Take Magazine

Part Two: Interview with a Hitman

This story is continued from Part One of Interview with a Hitman by Jacob James McAndrew.

“He whacks my girl right in the face and both of the guys start laughing. I don’t know what the hell these guys were on, but I was enraged.”

Darlene was silent for a moment. There was something odd about his story she couldn’t quite put her finger on. Finally she prompted him, “What did you do next?”

 “To this day I can’t recall the exact sequence of events, or the details. But I have these little movie clips buried in my mind. That’s all I can remember. I know I charged at the guy who had the branch. I remember the surprised look on his face as we both slammed into the wall. I pretty much lost it.”

“So what happened?”

“I started swinging my fists, punching the guy over and over again. I remember the second guy coming up behind me. I stomped on his foot and… I’m not sure exactly. Somewhere I picked up that ridiculous tree branch and clobbered him with it. He hit the ground hard and didn’t get back up.”

“What about the other guy? The one who hit your girl?”

“Vanessa Taylor.”

“What’s that?” She said with confused surprise.

“Her name was Vanessa. I probably shouldn’t tell you that, but it just came to me. Don’t write that down.” He noticed that she uncrossed her legs and was sitting up in her chair. Her furious scribbles in her notepad had altogether ceased.

“Again, I don’t know the order of events, but somehow I ended up sitting on the chest of that guy… pounding his face with my fists. Then I grabbed him by the hair and just started smashing his head into the pavement. He was totally limp by then.”

Darlene shivered uncontrollably at the mental picture. Jack was looking at the floor briefly, and she hoped he hadn’t noticed her shiver.

When Jack’s eyes met hers, he looked a little sad. “I’m pretty sure I beat that guy for at least two minutes after he was dead. That first surprised look when I charged that guy haunted me for years. And the feel of his limp head in my hands as it smashed it down. Warm blood spraying in my face. Man I had a lot of nightmares about that.”

“I’m sure.”

“It didn’t make sense to me. The guy clearly deserved it, yet I was the one paying for it emotionally. It actually pissed me off. I was one angry kid with a broken hand.”

“So what happened?”

“Nothing. I ran the hell away. Vanessa was gone when I got off the guy. She didn’t ever speak to me again… She might not have ever spoken to anyone. I don’t know. I never heard anything from her. But no one came knocking at my door asking if I beat some thug to death, that’s for sure.”

“So what about the nightmares? Did they stop?”

“They finally stopped when I started living my own nightmare.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean I joined the military.”

“Oh? What did you do there?”

“That’s a little too close to home. You could say I got very lucky, in that I tested well, worked hard, and was able to land a spot in a very elite unit.”

“What branch did you serve in?”

“I’d prefer not to say that either. But suffice it to say I saw my share of action.”

“Really? You don’t look much over 30… Where did you see action? In Iraq?”

Jack chuckled briefly. “I was in the Gulf, but I wasn’t flying planes or marching through the desert. I was in a lot of other places too. Places you’re not supposed to know about.”

“Classified missions?”

“Yeah, but I’m not really worried about Uncle Sam coming after my ass, I’ve got bigger fish out there. I’m more worried about giving out identifiable information from my former life.”

“Ok. I get it. So you joined the military and the nightmares stopped?”

“Actually no. The nightmare from the alley faded away. But I had new nightmares. I won’t get into them, but I saw the faces of people who were no longer alive thanks to me. It was troubling, but I dealt with it. We all did. I became very detached from my emotions and finally it just stopped happening. It was all water under the bridge. It still bothered me sometimes. In the wee hours of the morning, or late at night when I was by myself sitting out in the moonlight.”

“So what about now?”

“Now? Hah. I’m a very different person now.”

“How so Jack?”

“Well Darlene…” He emphasized her name, as if to say he could play that game also. “Back then I hated people. I hated them all and wanted nothing to do with them. That was my defense mechanism. I saw the evil in each person and wanted to exterminate it. They were wasting my oxygen, after all. That was how I rationalized what I did.”

“Not because your country needed you, or for the greater good?”

“No, that shit never worked for me. I just became a cold-hearted bastard.”

“So then what happened?”

“Hah. Guess?”

“You got in trouble? No wait… You met a girl…”

“Bingo. Actually you’re right on both counts. I got in some trouble that forced me out my job, and… not long afterward I met a girl. Not just any girl though, THE girl.”

“What was she like?”

“She was like the best parts of every dream I ever had about a girl. She was truly my fantasy chick.”

“What did she look like?”

“Black hair, tight little body… very athletic, nice ra—“ He cleared his throat. “She was awesome. Just gorgeous, and so much fun. My god.”

“Something bad happened, didn’t it?”

“Something good maybe. Good for me at least. I like to think things are now better than if we had stayed together.”

“Please don’t tell me you played some part in her death…”

Jack laughed out loud this time. He bent forward, still laughing. He shook his head, still laughing a little bit. Darlene didn’t think it was funny at all, but she found herself smiling just at his contagious laughter.

“No Darlene. She didn’t die. She’s probably still alive and well, I actually don’t know. It’s not so dramatic of a story. I won her over, somehow. Even though I clearly didn’t deserve a chick like that, and I really wasn’t very experienced with women at the time. I was 26, unemployed, and had as much tenderness as a hambone.”

“So she dumped you?”

“Absolutely. We made it for 2 months. I was… well I don’t know what I was. I should have been in love. I should have been madly in love. But I wasn’t there. I had built the great wall of China around myself, and there was just no penetrating it. She got tired of dating a piece of drywall, so she told me I was an emotionless jerkoff, and she’d be better off dating a statue.”

“Ouch.”

“Yeah, but you know what? She was right. I wasn’t ready for her, and I didn’t deserve her. I wallowed for a while. I started drinking heavily. That was a habit I never really had. In the military I used exercise and well… my job to get out aggressions. I never needed to drink to let loose.”

“I’m sure drinking didn’t help your emotional state.”

“No, clearly not. I got into some fights… Spent a little time running from the law in a few states. Hah. I wonder what the statute of limitations is on assault and battery in a bar fight? Hmm…”

“So what did you do?”

“I changed.”

Darlene looked at him with her eyebrows raised expectantly.

“I decided that it was time I got to know people. I tore down the walls and let some people inside. I didn’t give them the dirty shit from my past, but I let them in on my feelings and what I liked. It was good.”

“So did that pose a problem for your profession?”

“I wasn’t in the business yet, as it turns out. I was doing some odd jobs, traveling around the country. I’m not proud of what I did in those times…”

She looked surprised at this. “What did you do that you’re ashamed of now?”

“I robbed people. Broke into houses and businesses. I needed the money.”

“Wait, you feel remorse for stealing things, but not for killing people?”

Jack laughed again. “I’m a mess. What can I say? I’m an animal lover too.”

Darlene shook her head in confusion. “Ok, well I’ll never get my head around that. I’m not even going to try. What did you do after that?”

“I picked a fight with the wrong cowboy.”

“You got your ass kicked?”

“And then some. I was a bad dude, and I knew it. But I found one that was worse. And worse still, he had some serious backup. He was tied into some government stuff I’m definitely not going to talk about. After he smashed in my face, broke a few bones, you know… a friendly sort of greeting. After all that we became friends. He got me involved in the business. And that’s what I’ve been doing ever since.”

“You still see this person?”

“Nope. Not for many years.”

“Are you still friends?”

“Sure, we’re on good terms. No arguments. But if I see him, I do have a favor to return… Jack wants a rematch.” He grinned broadly and flicked his eyebrows upward.

Darlene shook her head. “Is there room for me in this room with all your bravado?”

“I think I can… squeeze you in.” He gave her a wink.

“Oh spare me Jack. So what about your head? Your emotions. Were you still a blank slate?”

“No, actually I was a changed man. I started enjoying the process of identifying with people. I started to understand them. I actually studied psychology, and learned why people did the crazy shit they do.”

“And no more nightmares?”

“None. Not a single one.”         

 “Any idea why?”

“I think partly because I redeemed my emotions. I created balance in my life. I started giving back to the community. I was helping out. I was enriching lives.”

She cocked her head at the last part. Her pen went still momentarily as she listened eagerly.

“I know, hard to believe, right? But it’s true. I started helping in the community.”

“You mean handing out money?”

He snickered. “Yeah, I tossed out some coin. How much do you think I gave away?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t have any way of kno—“

“Take a guess Darlene. Come on. Humor me… “

“Uh… Twenty thousand.”

“Now wouldn’t I feel like an ass if it was only five grand?”

“Sorry…”

“No, it’s ok. Because the answer is actually higher. Quite a bit. I don’t have an exact figure, but my estimate is around 800 large.”

“800 large? As in 800,000?”

“Yeah.” He said casually, almost remorsefully. “I’d like to say it was a mil, but I think I’m still short. In the next year or two I want to make it a million though. So I figure I need to give away another 200k.”

“That’s amazing. Who did you give all this money to?”

“Kids, families. People who needed it. I’m talking about individual people who needed it, not some bullshit charities. Fuck the Red Cross, I bought food for inner city mothers with a dead husband and six mouths to feed. I used my free time to help build houses and serve the slop from the soup kitchens. I gave kids Christmas presents that wouldn’t have gotten anything on Christmas morning.”

“Wow, that’s really great. That’s a lot of money. Seems pretty strange for someone in your… line of work.”

“I told you… I’m an odd one. But no, it’s my way of creating balance. Sometimes I think it’s not enough. But it keeps the nightmares away. So far.”

“I don’t get it Jack.”

“Don’t get what?”

“How can you be so compassionate, and yet…kill someone?”

He shrugged. “Emotional detachment and control I guess. I can separate my emotions at different times without intermingling them. It’s not that hard once you let yourself go. I had to give in to my emotions first, and I had to really understand myself. Does that make sense?”

“Maybe. It’s not crystal clear though, that’s for sure.”

“Yeah, it’s a little muddy to me too. But it works. I used to despise people, but now I understand why people are selfish. I really do. And it’s ok with me. I don’t take anything personally. I enjoy people and I like helping them. I try to do quite a bit of that anonymously. I don’t really like the praise and thanks. I think that detracts from the balance.”

“You’re one strange guy Jack.”

He winked at her deviously. His gaze flicked down to her blouse. It was unbuttoned at least one more button than it was when they’d first sat down. He wasn’t sure when that had happened, and he chastised himself for missing that little detail. He could see the swell of her breasts pushing out the red jacket, and dropping off to a very trim waistline, but he still couldn’t glimpse any cleavage. He almost sighed with disappointment.

“Tell me about a situation where you got into trouble. Maybe things didn’t go as planned. You were injured or almost caught.”

He considered for a minute. “Well I don’t come straight at people, so it’s exceedingly rare that anything goes the way you describe. I attack from angles they don’t expect and at times and places they’ll never guess. But sometimes people do get lucky and make the right move at the right time.”

“So what’s the scariest one? The closest call…”

He thought for a moment. “Once I come upon a target I go into another frame of mind completely. There isn’t much room for conscious thought. That means there’s no fear. I just act and react. But there was an occasion when nothing seemed to be going according to plan.

“I waited for hours in this hotel room. My legs were cramping, I was tired as hell, but wide awake ready for the big moment. Just as I was getting ready to give up and leave, the target comes back to his room. It must have been 4 AM. I thought he might come back with a girl, but no… he and two guys walk into the room. Bodyguards.

“Where they came from, I have no idea. I’d been following him for days, weeks even, and I never caught any signs of these fellows. Talk about ruining your plans.”

“So what happened?”

“They all walked in and chained the door shut. The one bodyguard goes and checks the balcony, under the bed, and all that. The other one checks the bathroom and then the closet. Which is where I was… in the closet. He was a big dude too. He had to be 6’5” or so, weighed around 350 pounds. I remember his hands… they were huge. He had fingers like sausages.

“My heart was racing because I knew they were probably armed. As soon as he threw the door open I sprung out. He didn’t bother to stand to the side or anything, so I guess he wasn’t much of an expert. I buried my knife in his throat because his chest was too big to be sure the blade would kill him quick enough. Even with that knife in his throat, he wrapped his huge meaty hands around my neck and threw me across the room.

“Of course that was his last move.”

“Oh my. What then?”

“Much to my dismay, the other bodyguard turned on me, and he was even bigger than the first one. I’m sure you think I’m making this stuff up, but it’s true. He was enormous. One of the largest men I’ve ever seen in my life. I rolled, sidestepped him and shot the target several times in the chest. I wanted to make sure he was out of the picture first.”

Darlene winced a little at his vivid description.

“I really shouldn’t be telling you this much detail. You can’t print any of this you know, right?”

“No details.” She nodded.

“Ok. So anyway, I turned to shoot the big dude but he was on me too quickly. He knocked the gun out of my hand and then backhanded me. I thought my head was going to come off he hit me so hard. If he’d have punched me straight, I’d have been out. That would have been it for Jack.

“Luckily for me it was just a backhand and thought I saw stars, I was able to stay on my feet. He took half a step back and drew his own pistol. I got out of the line of fire, grabbed it and tried to turn the muzzle back at him. There are some techniques you can use to get the leverage from the length of the barrel. No suppressor on his piece though, so it wasn’t long enough. He was just too damn strong. So I’m trying to control the pistol and I knee him square in the balls.

“The pistol goes off right near my ear… And it was a large caliber too. It was so loud I saw stars when it went off and nearly fell over. My ear was ringing for a week or more. Anyway, I knee the joker in the balls and what does he do? He grins at me! Then, of all things, he headbutts me. I dropped like a sack of potatoes, but I didn’t lose my shit.

“I got behind him and jumped on his back. I was holding onto his throat with one arm and poking out his eyes with the other hand. He starts freaking out and slams me into the wall. I thought my lungs had caved in. This dude was heavy. He broke two ribs when he did that. My ribs, of course, not his.

“So anyway, I lost my grip and slid off him. He turns around and starts shooting. Luckily he couldn’t see very well at the moment. I spotted the gun, but suddenly I was blind myself. The room was fairly dark and the flashes from the gun burned huge red spots into my vision. So I dove for my gun and got lucky… sort of. I came up with it and shot him twice in the chest point-blank.

He saw Darlene shiver. “Guess what he did?”

“Died?”

“Nope. The stupid ogre grinned at me again. Then he slapped me out of the way like a red-headed stepchild. Then… he shot me.”

“Holy shit. How did you get out of it?”

“I shot him in the head. I emptied the rest of my magazine into him, actually. Then I reloaded and shot all three of the bastards in the room five more times. Then I limped the hell out of there and found a doctor to get the stupid bullet out of my leg. “

“Wow, that’s quite a story.”

“Yeah well, it’s not the kind of story I like. I like the ones where I slip in and out and get the job done quickly and neatly. That’s what I strive for. And in most cases, it’s what happens.

 “So what kinds of weapons do you use? You mentioned the gun and knife.”

“I’ll use anything… or nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“Well, my hands could be considered weapons. I don’t have a permit for these bad boys though, so don’t tell anyone.” He held up his fists and flashed her a grin.

She smiled back at him. He was slender, but he looked very solid and strong. She could see the veins standing out in his exposed wrists as he flexed his fists.

“So what’s your favorite weapon? A gun? Or what?”

“It really depends on the situation. Give me three armed bastards in a hotel room like that, and I want an H&K MP-10SD.”

“What’s that?”

“Submachine gun. 10mm. Full auto, three round burst, suppressed… Fancy equipment. The FBI uses them. Well, they use the A3s without the suppressor. Anyway, it’s not very realistic.”

“Why’s that?”

“No one shoots 10mm rounds. You put a dozen of those in a guy, and it clearly looks professional. That’s not a common piece of hardware, so you just can’t keep doing stuff like that. In special cases, maybe. And of course you can’t exactly put that in your pocket. But in hindsight I would have had a much better year if I’d had one in that hotel room I just told you about.”

“Ok, so that’s your favorite?”

This story by Jacob James McAndrew continues in Part Three of Interview with a Hitman.

Related posts:

1. Fiction: Interview with a Hitman [Part 1]
2. Part Three: Interview with a Hitman

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