HARD LUCK

Sunday, April 1

Rodney screamed as the hammer came down on his left pinky finger breaking it at the three joints. Tears and blood ran down his bruised face where the brass knuckles got to know him more intimately. The hammer came down again on Rodney’s ring finger, breaking it at the three joints.

“I don’t like doing this, Rodney. I really don’t. But I have a business to run and my business involves investing money. And I can’t invest money if I don’t have money. I don’t have money if I don’t get money that’s owed to me. I don’t get money that’s owed to me if people don’t pay me my money. And if people don’t pay me my money, I gotta do this. Do you understand the complexities of this business plan?” Taurus said.

The hammer came down on this middle finger breaking it at the three joints. Rodney slipped into near unconsciousness but was brought back with a bucket full of ice-cold water. Taurus broke the rest of his fingers on his left hand. Then he broke his wrist, worked his way up to the elbow and then finally the collarbone. Rodney was awake the entire time. Rodney’s jaw was met by brass knuckles twice and he was doused with water to keep him awake. Taurus gave him one more chance to get the money before Rodney was “written off” as “bad debt.”

“You’ve got thirty days from the time you’re healed from this ‘gentle reminder’ to get my twenty thousand dollars. Now don’t think you can slip away after you get all fixed up because you will be watched by my brother Fidel and my sister Cecily. They will make sure those docs take really good care of you. And when you’re at home, they’ll make sure that you’re comfortable there too. But after you heal, you better get my money.”

They left him there in the warehouse with an Uber waiting to take him to the hospital.

Tuesday, May 18

“Where is the notebook? Where is my twenty thousand dollars?” She said rubbing her face and smearing her makeup.

“You’re going to tell me where that notebook and the twenty grand is. Or I’m going to…I’m going to put you on a first-class flight to the afterlife.” She said calmly.

Rodney told her what he did with the money and that the notebook was in a safe deposit box at the Wells Fargo on 16th Street and Mahony. Further, he told her the key to the safe deposit box was in an old briefcase in his office. She instructed one of her enforcers to go get it. She also threatened him that if it wasn’t there, she was to kill anyone in the house.

Rodney stared down the barrel of the well-used but immaculately clean firearm; with black and gold color, as she told him about how the notebook contained encrypted codes to millions of dollars’ worth of precious metals and diamonds. There were over three hundred codes that needed to be decrypted. The codes were the items’ locations, in banks and independent vaults. The money was pure uncirculated currency. There wasn’t tracking or identifiers on the cash, meaning the money didn’t exist. She said it was the last of the million plus dollars she invested in the codes and it was the only payment acceptable for the transaction. She him twice in the shoulder to demonstrate the painstaking process in the two months it took her to generate the cash.

One of her enforcers handed her the phone. They told her the key had been secured. She gave instructions to go to the bank, find the box, retrieve the notebook and to call her back immediately. She got up and told one of her enforcers to work him over while they were at the bank. Forty-five minutes later, she got another call. They told her they retrieved the notebook and were heading back. She composed herself and looked at Rodney.

“Well, your services are no longer required.” She shot him twice, in the heart and in the head.

A Little Backstory

Rodney looked at his investments tank as the pandemic spread throughout the country. The U.S. was now in month three and the bottom had fallen out of almost every single market including the housing market. Rodney invested money in a house that he planned to flip and sell within the year. However, with the unemployment rate skyrocketing and fear of catching the virus spreading, he was left with no contractors, a sinking property and increasing debt. Soon enough Rodney short sold the house and left with over two hundred twenty thousand dollars on a mortgage he was sure he could pay off with the income made from the house after events and the eventual sale. Rodney used much of his liquidity to pay off some of the debt but was still left with about fifty thousand dollars’ worth of debt.

Rodney spent weeks scrounging, begging, and pleading his way to the fifty thousand but was only able to get half; from his mother, selling off personal belongings, and dipping into his 401k. He was still thirty thousand dollars short. Rodney was sure that he could raise about five grand but that was it.

That Tuesday, Rodney and his best friend Gerald met for lunch during his break at a local coffee shop. They routinely met there to BS and look at the female medical personnel that happened their way in the shop, which was across the street from a hospital. However, Rodney was in no mood to BS or look at the thick nurses in figure teasing scrubs. Rodney told Gerald about his woes hoping to get some sort of advice or help from but got business as usual which he was not in the mood for. After lunch, Rodney worked the rest of his time in a haze and left for home in a different haze.

At home Rodney met bills ranging from gentle reminders to incredibly detailed threats against already stretched assets. He put them aside and began to look online for advice on getting extra cash or “robbing Peter to pay Paul and then asking Paul for money to pay Barry.”

The next day, Rodney found himself at Larry’s Lending Services negotiating terms with Larry “Taurus” Centeno. After a brief conversation, Rodney walked out with twenty thousand dollars with a “surprise payback date.”

Somewhere in Between

Thursday, April 30

After Rodney healed from his savage beating enough for it to look like an “unfortunate accident”, the clock started to get the twenty grand. He sold more assets and dipped further into his savings and 401k. However, with the pandemic and what was left from the bad deals, he only raised the “inconvenience fee” charged for the “gentle reminder” which was five thousand dollars. Rodney looked online and found he could cash in on old life insurance policies but between the paperwork and processing, someone else would be cashing in on it. The circumstances became too much for him and he decided to have a meeting with Jack, Jose, and Captain Morgan of the USS Sloshed.

A week passed and he was stalled in getting Taurus’ money. He couldn’t eat, he couldn’t sleep, and he barely used the bathroom. All he did was think about what it’d be like once he went to “the other side.” One day, after work, he left his car at the job site and walked home. Rodney, consumed with the situation, nearly walked into a manhole, was nearly impaled by exposed rebar from an open construction site, was nearly hit by three cars and three buses while walking too close to the sidewalk, and nearly walked into an electrified fence. Rodney soon found himself in an alleyway, which was not the smartest decision based on the neighborhood. Despite that, he continued to walk with his head down. He walked almost out of the alleyway when he found a black briefcase hidden in between two dumpsters. Rodney kept going and attempted to ignore what he saw. However, close to the street, he stopped, and thought about going back for the briefcase. After the fleeting thought, he continued walking home.

Another week went by and Rodney’s health rapidly deteriorated. He was frail, weak, and could barely hold his head up from walking around with his head down. Gerald tried to help him, but it always led back to “why the Hell would you borrow money from a loan shark.” Rodney walked back home, going through the alleyway. He stopped and looked at the briefcase that had been there all week. He walked over to it and exhaled. He cursed under his breath and grabbed it. He looked at the expensive briefcase and admired the handiwork. Then he took it home.

Rodney looked at the briefcase again and stared at it for two hours. Then he opened it quite easily. Inside that briefcase was twenty thousand dollars in crisp, clean, and sealed bills, and a small, black notebook. Rodney, seeing the money, nearly crapped himself. Rodney pinched himself to see if he was dreaming. After his arm hurt like Hell, he cried out and danced.

Rodney examined the notebook and then opened it. In the notebook were numbers that looked random and didn’t make sense. However, the sets of numbers were well organized on the pages. Rodney thought about disposing of the notebook but since it was tied to the money and in an expensive briefcase, he tucked the briefcase and the notebook away. Rodney celebrated that night.

The next week Rodney paid off Taurus and met Garrod for lunch at his place. Garrod recently recovered from COVID and wanted to share ideas for a Podcast on his bout with the virus. The two of them ate lunch at Rodney’s house. While Rodney was in the bathroom, Garrod found the briefcase and haphazardly opened it up and found the notebook. He opened it and then looked inside.

“Holy crap, Rodney come here.” He shouted.

Rodney came running in from the bathroom and Garrod beamed with the notebook in his hand. Rodney explained to Garrod he found the notebook. Then Garrod explain what was in the notebook. It was code, encryption, and from the looks it was easy to decrypt. Garrod was a code wizard and easily decrypted the code and determined that the codes were locations. Garrod pulled Rodney’s laptop and inputted about ten locations and found that they were locations of banks around the U.S.

Garrod questioned where the notebook came from and what else was in the briefcase. Rodney told him and Garrod called him stupid and told him to hide the notebook, fence the briefcase and tell no one how he got the money. Lastly, Garrod told him never to venture down that alleyway again. After Garrod left, Rodney set up a safe deposit box for the notebook. He drove out of state to sell the briefcase at a pawn shop for six hundred dollars. At home, Rodney hid the key in an old briefcase in his office and, like Garrod said, never spoke of the notebook or of the money.

Although the pandemic got worse, Rodney’s life got better. With the four stimulus packages passed and approved, Rodney was able to absorb some of his financial challenges.

Monday, May 17

Rodney walked home from work after a hard day at the office. On the way home, found himself frequently turning around and looking at a car following him. The car was the same car following him for a week straight. Against his better judgment, he ignored the car and continued home.