The Little Black Book

It was a beautiful summer morning in June 2013, in New York City. I had an awesome feeling about my day at work, If only I knew that was going to be so far from the truth.

That afternoon, this attractive Italian looking woman, in her mid forties, walked in the showroom of the car dealership that I used to work at. As I approached her, I noticed an older man with a toddler on the other side of the store.

She just moved from Europe with her son and husband, whose charming farther started talking about politics and lifestyles comparing America with the rest of the world, especially Europe. Meanwhile, she was on the phone with her husband telling him about this beautiful truck she had set her eyes on.

Since he worked as a CEO at TransNational Microbiome Inc., a worldwide company with many affiliates, they were well off, but they had no credit record in the States, which they wanted to establish, also, registering the vehicle under his name was another issue. After looking at every single option possible, knowing that she needed the car for her personal transportation and the baby, I decided to really help them out. We got him approved through a local Credit Union, and got the car registered only under his name. I became their instant hero and friend. They even invited me for dinner and gave me a gorgeous bottle of Vermouth. They were a really nice family and I hope they are doing well...safe, especially.

They would call me for everything related to the truck and he even brought me a couple of souvenirs from one of his work related trips to my country of origin. Always a pleasure to see them. I will called them Francesco and Sofia, to keep their identity secret. And talking about secrets, I came across a little black book which unleashed the tragic events that developed next.

In November of 2018, about a year before all the craziness of the pandemic started, Francesco came to see me and told me that they had to go back to their country as soon as possible and asked if I could help them sell the truck. I asked if there was anything wrong, he said everything was fine and that his father wasn't doing well lately. It seemed a little drastic to leave and establish position and move his wife and two kids back across the Atlantic again. During those days, he was going back and forth to Europe, leaving his truck with me for weeks at the time. Also, trying to sell the house they also bought.

We were friends on a couple of social media platforms and he'd say that I was very harsh on my social and political rants. I'd reply the government is corrupt, serving their own agendas and we should look for the safe future of our kids. He would smile in agreement.

When the day came to do the transaction, I was helping him clear his belongings from the vehicle while they were processing the check. I was putting most of his stuff in a plastic bag, but I missed this little black book that I came across later. It had a nice leather cover yellow pages and it was the size of my palm. He had already left, so I called him to see if he needed it, he said no and we say good for the last time before they flew back home the next morning with connections in Madrid.

I took it home and left it at the counter for a couple of days and did nothing with it. I came back to it a week later and when I started reading it, I realized that among the quick notes and scribbles there was some interesting data regarding food supply and population control in Latin America and other parts of the world. The words that kept reappearing were "Foundation", "Agenda", "Global Warming" and "Depop", in every other page. Names of the largest countries usually preceded by a specific percentage. It mentioned the GDP of all these countries in a before and after section, next to "depop".

This is all around the end of 2018. Like I said previously, about a year before the world was about to have a rude awakening with one of the most deadly viruses ever existed. Since I had no idea of what to make out of the info in that little black book, I called another good friend of mine and client, Stephen J. Brody, who wrote for one of the most renowned newspapers and a recipient of a Pulitzer Prize, but he had already retired. Stephen, always with his investigative instinct, recommended me to his nephew, whom he helped to get a position in the known paper. Tony was a young investigative reporter, who like his uncle, had his eyes set on a Pulitzer Prize. His face lit up as he started going through those notes in the little black book. He exclaimed excitedly: "I knew it", and ran to his desk looking for some notes he was already working on that somehow linked to what I brought him. Tony made copies of all the pages, which were about 20 and said that he will bring it to his Editor along with the other findings and he would call me the next day. Not without letting me know he was going for the Pulitzer with this report. I asked, how much were the winnings, he said $20,000. I shook his hand as I left and reminded him with a smirk... "We are splitting it, buddy". He said, "Of course"!!!

A couple of days later, Tony called me sounding very disturbed, and asked "Who else knew about the book?! I told him, only his uncle, Francesco, who wrote it, him and I. He said to keep it like that and not to talk or show it to anyone.

The weekend passed, I heard no word from Tony, so I started calling him on his cell phone. For an entire day it just rang. I called his uncle Stephen, who had no idea of Tony's whereabouts. I finally got a call from Tony's cell, but when I answered, it was someone else asking me persistently, "who's this?!", "who is this?! I asked back: "Who are you?!" He replied: "You've been calling this number all day yesterday and today!!!". That really intrigued me, how did he know?! So, I answered: "Obviously, I wasn't calling you!! and hung up quick but nervously. Many thoughts crossed my mind. What did I step on?! Who is this guy?! and where in the hell is Tony??

That night I went home. I live in a three story building with a bodega in the first floor that belonged to my Dominican friend and occasional bookie, Santos. When I waked him into his bodega, he quickly pulled me by the arm to the back to let me know that two suspicious fellows looking like the Men in Black were asking if he knew where I was or where I worked. I said: Santos, what did you tell them?? He said : "Look, Primo, I'm a businessman, not a rat!! He also advised me to use the fire escape ladder to get to my apartment, which he did not recommend, but I had many things that I was going to need in case I had to disappear for a few days. Maybe longer.

Next morning, I received a call from Stephen asking me If I heard the news? I said, I had no idea what he meant. He continued, Tony was found hung by his belt in his apartment, an apparent suicide!!! He asked me to go see him, but I just hung up with the only thought of what really was in that little black book?!! How could a guy who was looking forward to probably getting an award, money and recognition for his work just kill himself, was just unheard. I decided right there, that I had to go to the source, Francesco. He had already changed his cell phone number, but I still followed them on social media. I called him and he was shocked to know it was me. But, as soon as I asked him about the little black book and what were those notes about?! There was a dead silence and he said: "Amigo mio, stop right there, don't try to contact me again and please take care of yourself and yours. This is not safe... nothing is safe anymore!!" I asked him what he meant, but he just hung up.

I was hoping to get some light from Francesco and instead I was invaded with this dreadful feeling and concern for me and my family's safety. The only person who could help me clear some of the tragic events this little black book brought us was out of the picture, and Tony was dead.

I stayed for a couple of days at a friends house in New Jersey, doing some research myself. When I tried to google Francesco or Sofia, I could not find anything that was posted as personal or professional information like before, everything was completely wiped out. I changed my cell phone number and called Santos. Things got worse when he said that those guys went back to my place and went through all my stuff. He asked: "looking for what?!" I explained that he was better off not knowing, but I was going to need his help. See? Santos is a connected guy and his bodega, well, is just a front. I told him I needed to get out of the country and he promised me to help me with every document, information and transportation needed. I told him I just needed to say goodbye to my family who live in another State, in case I'll never see them again.

When I went back to meet with Santos at a planned location, we got ambushed by a group of people in 2 suburbans. Everything happened so fast, but as soon as I saw those guys were armed, Santos gave me a gun and told me to take the dark alley and he will cover me. I ran so fast when I heard shots fired, that I prayed to God for forgiveness for not staying with Santos, but I was terrified and could not even look back.

Before all this started, I was only a car salesman. I never had an issue with the police, I was a regular citizen and now I was involved in a major cover up. I got everything I needed to flee the country, I was planning to go back to my original country, but on the same token I was worried for whoever was after me, could have been looking for my relatives, too.

A few months later, all the headlines regarding the new deadly virus had unleashed all over the media and social platforms.

Those words that I could not make sense of from that little black book, now they were hammering in my head and I could not stop questioning myself what if I didn't keep the book that night?! Probably, Tony, Francesco and Santos will be alive. Not sure about Francesco, though. I hope he and his family are safe.

For me, I'm still abroad in a foreign country, learning the language and traditions in this new welcoming place. Anyways, we are still on lockdown and I don't know if I'll be able to go back to the U.S.A. anytime soon.