by Fresh8 on Tue Jan 17, 2006 8:18 pm
Chapter 4
“Hawks’ Forward Al Harrington has escaped charges of battery and assault following Hawks General Manager Will Sit’s decision not to further pursue the matter in which he was injured during a regular season game,” The late news presenter read out, “Harrington has been punished by the NBA with a seven game ban. Will Sit was punched by Harrington during their recent game against the New York Knicks resulting in the 21 year old to be admitted into a local hospital.”
Hawks owner Barry Johnston slowly picked up the television remote. He tried to tap the ‘power’ button on the small object but it fell out of his shaking hand. Barry looked down at the ground and sighed. He stood up and shuffled at a snail's pace towards the TV. The screen suddenly went blank before he even switched it off and he turned around to see his son.
“Dad, what are you doing?”
Barry smiled, “Just switching off the TV and getting a bit of exercise in at the same time.”
“The franchise is getting a lot of unwanted media attention,” Larry said, “Its bad attention.”
“Its ok son, we’ll see how all of this works out.”
“Do you really trust this Sit guy? Why don’t you just fire him?”
“I trust him but you’re right. His attitude and antics are a bit disturbing nut at the same time, he hasn’t done anything wrong.”
“Everyone dislikes him, isn’t that wrong enough? You can’t expect anyone to work with him, just bring back Billy Knight.”
“Billy,” Barry started, “That man was useless and you know very well we had our issues.”
Larry nodded and sighed, “Well, at least get some rest dad.”
The Hawks owner also nodded and turned to head towards his room.
“Dad, you look a bit sick. Are you alright?”
Barry waved it off and mumbled, “It’s nothing. Just the flu.”
“Welcome to this private function Mr Sit,” A stunningly attractive blonde lady announced, “I hope you are feeling better.”
“I feel fine miss,” Sit replied as the lady ticked his name off of the guest list.
The bouncer stepped aside and opened the door to the main function hall and Sit walked inside. Albino was just in front of Sit and he laughed at Sit as the Asian man approached him.
“What you laughing at?”
“You got wasted by Al Harrington.”
“Shut up,” Sit said.
“So what are we going to be up to tonight?”
“Just normal business,” Sit answered looking around at the crowd.
Sit spotted Harrington who walked past and said under his breath, “You’re dead Sit.”
What the… Sit thought.
Sit and Albino decided to talk to the guests, moving around the hall to greet them. Coach Woodson was present but all he did was pass a note to Albino. Sit unfolded it to reveal its message, I’m not impressed with how you treated my star player. Don’t try to be cute about it because something bad might happen.
Sit couldn’t believe how strange Harrington and Woodson were acting.
Albino whispered into Sit’s ear, “Ignore them. They’re only trying to cause trouble by stirring you up.”
Sit smiled and continued to talk and joke around with the other guests before blindly walking right into Rob Wilson.
“You again!” Wilson said in surprise, taking a step back from Sit, “Haven’t you had enough of making a fool of yourself in public?”
Sit felt the fire within him start to burn as he clenched his fists.
“Don’t get angry with me,” Wilson mocked Sit, “Come on, punch me! That’s all you can do. You never resolve anything without violence do you?”
Sit shouted, letting his bad temper get the better of him, “What do you want with me?”
The room went silent as Wilson replied, “I want you yo understand that when you pick a fight, don’t pick one with people who are better than you.”
Sit swung his fist at Wilson, hitting the man in the chest. Albino and another man ran and grabbed a hold of Sit. He struggled to get out of their grip.
“William Sit,” A voice boomed out aloud, “Get over here right now.”
Sit stopped and looked up at the stage where the microphone was set up and there stood Barry Johnston; owner of the Atlanta Hawks.
Trying to play God? Sit thought angrily to himself.
“I don’t appreciate what you are doing tonight Mr Sit.”
“What am I doing?” Sit asked threateningly.
“Look,” Barry started, “This isn’t a circus and I don’t want it to become one. Pick up your act and be responsible.”
“But Wilson, Harrington and Woodson… They…”
“No buts and I don’t care about your motives. Don’t blame others for your immaturity.”
‘Boss!” Sit shouted as he hopped onto the stage, “Don’t give me this bull in front of everyone. What’s wrong with you?”
Without having noticed that all of the guests and patrons in the hall had been listening into their talk, Barry grimaced before switching it off.
“I’m just asking what the heck is wrong with you ok?”
“Nothing’s wrong with me. This whole franchise is just bogus. It’s screwed up!” Sit screamed in his face in fury.
Barry slowly shuffled forwards and handed an envelope to Sit.
“This is your first and final official warning,” The team owner stated in a serious tone, “Don’t let me hear about your crazy acts again.”
Sit dropped the envelope onto the ground and looked at it in humility. Anger rose inside of him and he felt his fist clench up, wanting to strike the old man who was walking away.
He spoke through gritted teeth, “You are going to pay for this,” before stomping away.
His footsteps echoed in loudly and everyone heard him shout out, “I’ll be by the freaking bar!”
After Sit had left the main hall, Larry Johnston picked up a spare microphone and switched it on to announce, “Sorry for that. Let’s enjoy the rest of the evening please!”
The music started to play once again.
The night passed slowly, especially for Sit who had set up camp by the bar, drinking almost anything in sight. Albino looked at his watch that read 10:40 pm and then looked over at Sit who was talking to himself whilst shaking his head. Albino shook his own head thinking, Boy, he isn’t taking this too well.
“I’m going to go now,” Sit cried out.
Sit stood up, stumbling sideways before Albino quickly pulled him back and sat him back in his chair.
“You’re drunk,” Albino warned, “You’re not going anywhere.”
Sit started laughing hysterically before putting his head in between his arms, lying on the bar.
Barry shook hands with some of the VIP guests as his personal lawyer walked up to him. The two exchanged a few quiet words. Barry handed an envelope to his lawyer who was a short bald man.
“Jacque, here’s the documents you wanted,” Barry whispered.
The Frenchman took the envelope and replied in a deep accent, “Don’t worry Mister Johnston. I will look after these for you.”
Barry patted Jacque on the shoulder before retreating from the function. Larry joined him for the quiet limo ride home.
“He looks pretty much dead,” A familiar voice stated.
“Marvin,” O’Shea replied to Marvin Williams who wasn’t the slightest bit drunk because he was too young to drink.
Sit lay quietly next to the two of them as Marvin took a seat.
“Long night?” Albino asked.
“Yeah, he’s ok right?” Williams asked in a quiet voice.
The main hall was still filled with guests.
“So Marvin,” Albino started, “What do you think of all of this?”
Marvin thought about Albino’s inquiry before answering, “It’s all an act for the media.”
Albino shrugged, “You really think?”
Marvin shrugged too, “Beats me. All I know is that the owner has already gone home. Didn’t want to talk to anyone after what happened with Sit. I’d rather not think about it though, I don’t want to start taking sides.”
“So, what’s new?”
“Nothing.”
“Anything interesting happen out there?” Albino asked, gesturing out toward the main hall.
“Apart from what happened with Sit, me and Salim tried to get a drink and seeing Bobby Knight here again.” Marvin answered.
“Wait, Knight not supposed to be on the guest list because he’s not a member with the Hawks?”
“That’s exactly what I thought,” Marvin agreed, “Maybe the team might be preparing to fire…”
The two of them turned around to find Sit’s seat not his anymore. It was empty. Albino and Marvin cursed loudly, running out of the bar.
The Johnston’s limo rolled into the estate in the calm of the night. Father and son slowly started to move towards their front door.
“Dad,” Larry started in a concerned tone, “Are you really ok?”
Barry was shaking but managed to answer, “I’m just a bit cold son. And it’s been a long night anyway so maybe I’m a little bit tired.”
Larry nodded, understanding that his father was probably under a lot of stress.
His father’s mobile phone rang and the senior Johnston answered it.
“Alright, I’ll be there,” Barry talked into his phone before hanging up.
He looked at his son, “Son, I’ve got some business to attend to. Go and sleep early ok? I’m taking the car.”
Before his son could try to stop him, he had already turned to leave.
Barry then shouted, “I love you son.”
Larry Johnston thought to himself, He hasn’t said that in a long time.
Police officer Vince Thompson drove his squad car in the deserted streets of Atlanta. He had his hip hop music blaring and sipped his coffee as the vehicle moved along in the wee hours of the morning. Thompson hated his early morning shifts that usually resulted in nothing exciting. His partner for the night was an overweight lady whom Vince didn’t want to be seen with. Not surprisingly, he didn’t know her name either. As the car glided onto a bridge, his female partner switched off the music.
“You’re not black Vince,” She said.
“I know,” Vince sighed, “And don’t do that again! This is my car, Officer…”
“Davies,” She prompted him.
“Thank you,” Vince said before cranking the music up as he sped his car up to steer it onto a road off the bridge.
They approached an intersection and Davies suddenly said, “Look over there Vince!”
Vince had also spotted it too. As the car came to a halt, the two officers could clearly see the scene. It was a two car accident with one car in the middle of the road in front of them. The bonnet was crushed and smoke was rising from the engine. Further ahead, near the set of traffic lights was another car. This one was missing a wheel, the tyre was lying several metres away, and the car’s left hand side was flattened inwards. The windscreen was shattered and a man’s body was hanging out of the slightly open right hand side door; the passenger’s side.
Davies radioed into headquarters, “Patrol number 176, requesting backup and medical crew immediately. I repeat, Patrol number 176, requesting assistance immediately.”
Vince Thompson stepped out of the car and looked around the street that seemed to more and more resemble a ghost town.
Last edited by
Fresh8 on Wed Jan 18, 2006 9:51 am, edited 2 times in total.