Who: Kasumi and fistfuls of NPCs. What: Hooligans giving Kasumi a hard time When: Late Monday night Where: Joeyray's Status: Complete Rating: PG-13 for violence!
It was a slow night, which Kasumi didn’t mind much. It meant fewer tips, but more time to reflect on how much she enjoyed her job and the people she encountered. Others might describe some of the regular patrons as ‘pathetic’--drinking most nights of the week, sharing old war stories and commiserating about their ex-wives or lost loves--but Kasumi genuinely liked them.
A few of her regulars flirted with her now and then. They were entirely harmless. Most of them were older, several of them were married, and she knew they weren’t serious. They didn’t normally get attention from girls like Kasumi, and they appreciated it.
Tonight, though, there was a new player. Younger guy, balding prematurely, denim vest, chewing tobacco and spitting into a glass. The lengths people would go to to get around smoking bans. She wished the guy would’ve picked a table in the back somewhere, but he’d decided he wanted to be up close and personal with Kasumi. Kasumi tolerated the flirting from her regulars, but this guy rubbed her the wrong way.
When she brought him another beer, the creep grabbed her hand, stroking her wrist and saying something about ‘exotic beauty’ and ‘his china doll’. Kasumi yanked her hand away and informed him, with as much discretion as she could muster, that he could either keep his hands to himself, or he could get the fuck out of her bar.
A few of the regulars had noticed the exchange, and were starting to get protective of their bartender. They were good guys, and a handful of them were pretty dangerous in a fight. Between the vets and the bikers, it was a good bet half the guys in the bar had damn-near killed somebody at one time or another.
The new guy didn’t even have to touch her again. After he made a vulgar comment about Kasumi’s breasts, a regular--a 6’7” man Kasumi knew as ‘Brick’--laid a large hand on the man’s shoulder. “Time to leave the nice lady alone,” Brick said in his deep voice. “You want to walk yourself outside, or do you need me to join you?”
Kasumi knew Brick was a big teddy bear, but this new guy certainly didn’t see him that way. He scuttled out on his own, Brick got a free drink, and the rest of the evening was uneventful.
At the end of the night, Kasumi settled the tabs at closing time and cleaned up the bar after people had cleared out. She turned out the lights and headed out the back door and into the parking lot...
When someone standing just outside grabbed her hair and yanked her head back. Kasumi yelped, fumbling for the pepper spray on her keychain. There were spots in front of her eyes from how hard her attacker was pulling, but she saw a second guy and the glint of a knife in his hands. A third guy was approaching, too, and she recognized him as the creeper from earlier in the night.
Kasumi acted fast; it was like something switched on in her brain. Her hair still held, she sprayed a blast of pepper spray at the guy with the knife. Her other hand caught the knife as he dropped it, and in one fluid motion, she plunged it into the thigh of the hair-puller behind her. He yelped, letting her go as he stumbled backwards, holding his leg.
Still moving like fucking Neo from The Matrix (as she would later describe it), she grabbed Creep’s shoulders and drove a hard knee into his groin. Not the classiest move, but one he thoroughly deserved.
With all three men disabled, she ducked back into Joeyray’s, locking herself inside.