“Are you fucking kidding me? He failed? Again? What kind of useless boys do you hire at your place at all?”
Rex winced as a furious Barry spat venom over the phone. It had been a couple of days since the Circle debacle. Romeo had been arrested by the police for assault, and getting him released had not been as straightforward as expected.
In contacting his links in the police force, he discovered that a simple offer to pay for the boy’s treatment would suffice with the officers in charge. Thus, he sent one henchman to act as Romeo’s guardian and make the offer so the case would be closed quickly.
The boy’s mother, however, was not ready to accept the offer. Everyone who heard her at the police station that afternoon could tell she saw nothing but red and was out for the blood of her son’s aggressor.
“OFFICER, I’M TAKING THIS BASTARD TO COURT! I’M NOT TAKING ANY MONEY! GO AND SEE WHAT HE HAS DONE TO MY SON! I DON’T WANT ANY MONEY! THIS MAN MUST ROT IN JAIL! FOR WHAT HE DID TO MY SON? I DON’T NEED HIS MONEY! NO NO NO NO NO! I WANT JUSTICE! THE COURTS MUST GIVE ME JUSTICE!”
No amount of reasoning from the prosecutors could sway her. Not even the fact that her son had snatched Romeo’s wallet meant anything to her. The only concern was to see Romeo severely punished.
Hughie, the henchman, had come to give Rex the report. As one would expect, he was not pleased at all.
“Stupid ass bitch! Does she know what she’s dealing with?” he snarled as he sat on his desk. “I’m offering good money and she’s there screaming about justice? Well, since she doesn’t want things done the soft way, we’re switching to dark mode!”
The very next night, Denny and V.A paid the boy’s family a ‘friendly’ visit.
‘Friendly’ because they didn’t break any bones like they normally would do. All they did was turn the house upside down, serve each member of the family with some hefty slaps and warn them to accept the money or accept those ‘friendly’ visits as a regular thing.
The mother of the boy, who had received the heaviest of the slaps, immediately called the prosecutors the next day and told them she’d accept the package from the accused person’s guardian.
Of course, Barry was unaware of all these things, and as he called and received the news, was on a major meltdown.
Rex usually had zero tolerance for clients coming after him for jobs not well done. But he thought it would be better to show a little diplomacy.
“Look, Mr. Evan, listen. I know you’re not happy. But try to understand. Fine, the first time was entirely his fault. I’m not gonna defend him on that. Not at all. But for this one, you can’t blame him. He was just about doing what he had to do when some silly kid snatched his wallet…”
“I don’t give a crap about all those foolish excuses! I give y’all a job, and I expect y’all to do it. No useless excuses!”
“Mr. Evan, will you calm down a bit?” Rex shot back, shaking his head as his eyes fell upon Romeo, who was sitting across the table from him, his expression sullen and grave. “These things happen. You don’t expect him to just ignore the thief and keep moving on, do you? Would you do that if you were in his shoes?”
“Will you stop it with the foolish excuses! I give you my hard-earned cash to take out one simple human being, and you can’t even get it right without being some hopeless slackers! Christ, you’re some stupid jokers over there!”
Rex narrowed his eyes. This was one of the easiest ways to get on his bad side; trash talk him and tell him he didn’t do a good job.
“Listen, old man. I don’t think you know exactly who you’re talking to. Coz if you did, you’d be a lot more circumspect in your wording,” he began slowly, his tone taking on a menacing one.
“Excuse me, did you just call me an old man?”
“You’re damn right I did. You’re in a fucking wheelchair, you fucking geezer! What the fuck do you think you are, Brad Pitt in his 20s or something? You’re a whole old man, Mr. Evan, and you better watch your mouth when you talk to me. Coz you do not know who you’re dealing with. You let that slimy little tongue in your mouth diss or disrespect me one more time, and I swear to Christ, you and your family will have me visiting your premises. Don’t you fucking test me, old man. I mean it.”
The line was silent for a couple of seconds. Barry had not expected such pushback from Rex. And the fury in his voice made it clear a visit to his premises would not be a friendly one.
Stuttering nervously, he said, “I’m… I’m sorry, Mr. Rex. I… I… I didn’t mean to…”
“Shove your bullshit explanations up that numb ass of yours! Now listen to me. What happened was due to circumstances beyond our control. It wasn’t our fault. But I can assure you that we go again. And this time, when you hear from my boy, you’re gonna get the feedback you want. Are you happy now?”
“Uh, yes, yes, I get it now, I get it. That’s fine.”
“Better! I’ll be in touch when it’s time to move.”
Rex tossed the phone onto the table. “Lame ass motherfucker,” he muttered.
“Um, boss? Thanks for bailing me out on that one,” Romeo carefully spoke from the other side of the table. “I sure as hell didn’t think I’d…”
A swift slap silenced him.
Rex was far too pissed to be calmed down by any shows of gratitude at that moment.
“That’s for letting this crippled son of a bitch tell me all that shit!” he snapped. “Now you listen and listen good, you stupid punk. This is your second strike. You are slowly losing credibility in my eyes, nigga. I gave you leeway coz I thought you were a potential world-class gangsta, but Christ above, you’re proving me wrong! And you do not wanna make me regret giving you a chance, coz you’ll wish I never gave you one from the very start!”
Romeo had his head down as he held his cheek. He should have known Rex would not let it go.
“You get one more chance, you hear me? One more fucking chance! And that’s only because of how you beat the shit out of that little fucker. Yeah, Hughie showed me the photos. Smashed his face so damn good, my dick got erect just seeing it. So that’s your saving grace on this one. Mess this final chance up, and I am kicking your slimy ass outta this garrison. I do not deal in fuck ups, and you are not gonna be the first one. Do you hear me?”
Still holding his cheek, Romeo murmured, “Y-Y-yes, sir.”
“Get the fuck outta my office! Now!”
***
The Nissan Patrol was parked by the side of the road, as Gilbert sat in, waiting for Elisabeth who was buying some items at a nearby shop.
He was busily nodding along to the music on the radio when he looked through the windscreen and saw a Toyota Avenza passing by.
The inhabitants did not see him, but he saw them all.
Barry and his twin boys, with one of them in the driver’s seat.
He watched as the Avenza moved further and further away.
He sighed as he felt a twinge of jealousy rise up in his chest. Jealousy that was triggered by the sight his eyes had just witnessed.
Yes, he had dealt with Barry many years ago. Yes, he was living the high life and all. But this tint of sadness at never actually having his own family was something that bothered him every now and then. And this just happened to be one of those times.
Hmmm. He still has his wife. And two sons who love him unconditionally. And me… I have nobody. Just this old hag who wants to buy anything and everything from anywhere and everywhere…
Gilbert leaned back for a moment, a frown on his face as all those wishful thoughts of the past came rushing in.
Those mental pictures he conjured in the past where he was having fun with his little ones while his wife watched on. Thoughts of them growing up before his very eyes. Having them drive him around…
At that moment, as Gilbert sat there, overtaken by those old wishes and desires of years gone by, it honestly felt like, in spite of everything he had obtained in the past decade and a half, he didn’t really have it all…
Maybe… just maybe… my life isn’t better than Barry’s…
Those words snapped Gilbert out of his trance. He shook his head vigorously and sat up.
“What nonsense!” he scoffed to himself. “Better than me in what sense? The son of a bitch can’t walk, for fucks sake! There’s no way his life is better than mine in any way. And please, who cares about family and whatnot? Look at the life I’m living. That’s what real living is. Ugh, these silly old thoughts…”
“Gilbert?”
Elisabeth’s voice interrupted his self-rebuke as she entered the car, holding a polythene bag with items in it.
“Oh, uh, I was just talking to myself about some outing,” he said, smiling as she strapped herself in. “Some little party at Santoku.”
“Oh, really? What are the details?”
As Gilbert moved the car back onto the road while giving her the details, he nodded as he felt his soul return to default settings. That’s what it was all about: having fun, mingling with the crème de la crème. That’s what brought him joy.
Who cared about having a wife and kids? They would only draw him back and keep him from the happiness he really craved and needed. Barry and his family could burn in hell for he cared.
He was content.
Gilbert’s lying to himself, isn’t he? And Romeo sure is getting lucky with Rex. Is his next attempt going to work at all? Well, you wouldn’t be wrong to doubt him, but let’s see…
