“Yo, Rel, if you start that shit in here, you’re gonna be a sorry muthafucka!”

Rel stepped closer to her, causing Yoshi to step back. “You threatening me? I done laid niggaz down for less serious offenses. Bitch, stop acting like you don’t know my résumé.”

“Rel, I’m telling you—” Yoshi didn’t get any further before Rel tossed his drink in her face. Liquor saturated her hair and dripped down her face and vest as she stood there shocked. The potent whiskey stung her eyes, making it hard to see, but Yoshi could make out a figure approaching behind Rel.

A fist came from behind Rel, hitting him square in his lip. His teeth struck against the interior of his bottom lip, causing blood to pour from his soup coolers. Rel turned around to defend himself, but was met by a left to the eye. That preceded a shot to the gut and a combo to the face. The crowd parted, allowing Rel to fall to the ground. The young drunk lay there counting sheep, while Jah stood over him, breathing like a wild man.

“Jah, what are you doing!” Yoshi shouted, grabbing him about the waist, keeping him from officially finishing Rel off.

Feeling someone’s hands on him, Jah turned around, still ready for combat. When he saw that the hands belonged to Yoshi some of the fire burned from his eyes. Jah surveyed his surroundings and saw that the deck was stacked against him. From one direction, security bulls dozing their way through the crowd toward the scene and from the other, two young men were doing the same, cursing and knocking over people who got in their way. The guy leading the charge bore a striking resemblance to the dude Ralph was working for. Jah figured that a good run beat a bad stand any day and made his move.

“We gotta boogie!” Jah said, grabbing Yoshi by the arm and leading her through the crowd.

“Wait,” she said, pulling away, “what about my girls?”

“We’ll call them from outside.” He reinforced the grip on her arm and continued pulling.

Yoshi stumbled along behind Jah, trying to keep from busting her ass in the heels she was wearing. A good Samaritan tried to block their path, but Jah removed him with a clobbering blow with the butt of his gun. The Samaritan fell back, leaving a clear lane to the door. Yoshi spared one last glance over her shoulder and the last thing she saw was someone pointing security in their direction as darkness stole her vision.