Black Friday; Part 5

                                           MEANWHILE, BACK ON AISLE THIRTEEN


Harvey steeled himself after being knocked backward and focused his gaze forward onto the momentarily  shifting blurs before him as he replaced the glasses upon his face.
He hadn't a clue why Lloyd hadn't the decency to speak up for this aggression or
where the hell he had run off to so abruptly, but he wouldn't let that little detail stop him from seeking vindication for this momentary aggression.


So he stood up, adjusting his frames as he rose and setting his gaze on the double-mint douche bags that did this to him.
His fists balled, his muscles tensing in preparation for the impending conflict.
That's just about when his ears were met with an all too familiar voice and his eyes met with an all too familiar sight, the brothers Tornatorio.


"Harvey, you old stick in the mud! It's been too long."


Horace beamed with nostalgic glee upon recognizing an old chum, Harvey was in a bit too much shock to feign reflected fondness. True to form Alfred looked as though he could not care less and that helped stabilize Harvey in the moment at least. 
He knew that he could not show the fear he felt towards these twin specters of human awfulness, fear was the drug they could never get enough of.


"Horace, Alfred, I thought you two were long gone."
Harvey knew how disingenuous he sounded, he just hoped that these two hideous sots wouldn't care enough to catch on, he knew too well what sort of awfulness could ensue if they did.
From the corner of his eye he noticed a disgustingly overweight, ghostly pale woman appear on the tool aisle with them, he hoped this would help keep this unfortunate reunion brief.


"Now why would you think such a thing? Horace and I are mainstays of this fine community, you are the one who pulled up the stakes and left town." 
The words pulled through Harvey slowly, like a rusty bicycle chain through thick sludge as they fell out of Alfred's dreadful face. His dead eyed and soulless stare did nothing to alleviate his discomfort, forcing Harvey into diversionary dialogue mode.


"I suppose that's true, So how have you two been? Still..."
"Killing and torturing the people who piss us off? You know it old boy!"
Harvey jovially replied with a huge, idiotic smile upon his Putnam, beaming at his old friend.while Alfred continued his death staring.


"I see, well old habits die hard I suppose."
Harvey said this, because he really had no clue what else to say.


"Yes....they certainly do, and what about you  Harvey Carvey, still keeping your lady loves in cages to build up to the butchering, or have you gone the straight and narrow?"


Harvey was aghast at Horace's nonchalant verbiage, people never really do change, and neither do these gremlins. He thought better than to respond and merely flashed him a slight smile instead.
Alfred opened his mouth to speak, that's when they were fatefully interrupted.


"Excuse me sirs do any of you work here?" 
Asked the fat woman who was clearly clueless to the topic of conversation as she stood holding two different hammers. Alfred's face finally gave way to an expression, the expression of pure annoyance and disdain as none of them bothered to placate her with an answer, hoping she would just go away.
Horace and Alfred exchanged a brief glance at one another as she repeated the dubious phrase.


"So then, what say we kick up some dirt tonight for old time sake? Unless you already have plans to start a few more fires of your own this evening." 
Harvey's spine shivered under the weight of those very pointed words and he knew that the fear in his eyes was now impossible to conceal now, he had no idea how they knew about his dirty little secret but he knew that for all intents and purposes, he was now their hostage.