A week later on a Friday evening, all hell broke loose. The Sampson twins confronted Alfredo by pushing him into a lamppost. David locked him against the post while Goliath forced his neck up and to the back onto the pillar, possibly to snap it, “Where is the first payment you agreed to pay?”
Alfredo, worried sick, pleaded with them, “I’ll get the payment to you within a couple of days!”
David whispered in his ear, “You better, or we’ll slit your throat!”
Alfredo couldn’t lose his rag, and instead agreed profusely. “I will, I will, I promise”
“You’d better, or else!”, David murmured in his ear, and then he threatened to cut him by literally bringing his right hand up to his neckline, and with his fingertips pointed, crossed from one side to the other like a knife’s movement slitting his esophagus.
“Yes, yes, yes, I will.”
Alfredo was scared stiff. He hadn’t been hounded like this before. It was new and he was seriously worried for his life.
The Sampson twins had good cause to zone in on Alfredo as the only blood relative to be responsible for the full amount of outstanding funds. They gave him a tight armlock after already threatening him, and then when Mariano was defenseless and extremely vulnerable, “You’ve got until Tuesday to come up with $10,000 down payment!”
Alfredo pleaded for his life, “I’ll find the money even if I have to sell my body’s services on the street corner!”
David looked at Goliath and they both started chuckling, “If it comes to that, I couldn’t care a less. Do it!”
In other words, they meant business. If Alfredo was incapable of delivering, his life was on the line.
He needed a strong whisky nightcap that evening before going to bed. Even after that to help him relax, he couldn’t get a good night’s sleep!
Take care!
Prof. Carl Boniface
Vocabulary builder:
Fingertips (n) = 1: the tip of a finger. 2: a protective covering for the end of a finger.
When all hell breaks loose (idiom) = informal expression used to describe what happens when violent, destructive, and confused activity suddenly begins. "I heard people shouting at each other, and suddenly all hell broke loose."
Lose your rag (idiom) = to get very angry. “Get up now, before I really lose my rag!” Synonyms and related words. To be, or to become angry or annoyed.
Scared stiff (idiom) = very afraid, frightened, scared, terrified, petrified
Hounded (v) = to hound is to harass, pester, hunt, badger, chase. (n) Hound dogs are hunting dogs.
Armlock (n) = a method of restraining someone by holding an arm tightly behind their back. "One of the cops put an armlock on me"
Pleaded (v) = begged, implored, appealed, prayed, beseeched
Chuckling (v) = giggling, laughing, laugh inwardly, laugh quietly
Put one’s life on the line (idiom) = in harm's way to achieve something, especially at the risk of losing one's life. (Sometimes used hyperbolically 1*.) "It's important to honor the men and women in the military who put their lives on the line every day defending our country." 1* exaggeratedly
Nightcap (n) = drink, bedtime drink, hot drink, bedcap, hat, sleeping cap
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