Success and the Black Book

“Are you kidding me?” Jason yelled as he slammed his tray of dishes onto the counter.

It was one of those days where everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. He had fallen asleep and forgot to put his phone on the charger, thus he missed his alarm. Then the first bus drove right past him splashing muddy rainwater onto his work uniform. Now, he has dropped another glass cup that shattered upon impact and sent glass shards scattering across the floor of the kitchen he works in.

“Jason What the Hell? That is the third glass today!” Screamed Paul, the kitchen manager.

“I-I my bad it has really been one of those days. It won’t happen again.” Responded Jason.

“Yeah, I know it won’t. That’s because you are fired.” Exclaimed Paul.

“Wha- What?” Jason was shocked.

It was as if he had somehow made the universe mad at him. He was already behind on rent and has a high chance of his lights being cut off by the time he arrived home from work. His heart sank, and he immediately began to plead his case.

”Paul, I am sorry, please don’t fire me. I really need this job. I was just about to ask you for more hours.”

“More hours?” Paul asked in disgust.

“First you arrive to work late covered in filth, then you break three glasses on two separate occasions. Now you have the audacity to stand in front and ask me for more hours? You must be insane.”

Paul stepped closer to Jason and lowered his voice so that only the two of them could hear what he was going to say.

“I do not like people like you.” Paul said in a cold tone, then he smirked.

Paul took a step back then raised his voice so he could be heard around the kitchen.

“Get the hell out of my kitchen before I call security.” Yelled Paul.

To add insult to injury, he added “Oh, and the glasses are coming out of your final check.”

Felling satisfied, Paul turned around and left the kitchen wearing an evil smile. Jason was floored. His blood was boiling as he clenched his fist and ground his teeth. In that moment, rage roared inside of Jason. However, he kept his composure and left the kitchen after grabbing his jacket belongings.

The night was a stormy night that you can only experience in Florida. Winds were howling and the rain was falling sideways. No umbrella would be able to survive in these conditions, let alone keep a person dry. With nothing more than his jacket to shield him from the elements, Jason peeked at his phone and noticed the battery on 9%. He secured the phone and began the trek to the closes bus stop.

Drenched by rain and two miles later, Jason arrived at the bus stop. He took a few moments to let as much excess water drip off as he stood under the bus shelter. After a while, he reached in his bag to retrieve his phone. Jason figured it was going to rain, so he packed an empty zip lock bag to make sure his phone remained dry when traveling to and from the bus stop.

He pulled out his phone and after pressing the side button to turn on the screen, he looked at the battery percentage. His phone only had 3% of battery life left. That was just the amount he needed in order to check the bus app and see when the next bus would arrive.

He opened the bus app on his phone and his heart dropped as he gazed at his phone screen. In red letters that app read ‘Warning: due to weather, all bus routes are currently suspended.’ As he stared at the phone, it began to power off due to lost battery power. He was in a dismal situation. He had a 7-mile walk home, in the pouring rain, in the middle of a tornado warning.

Jason knew that the longer he waited then the longer it will be until he was in dry clothes. There was no time to sulk or feel sorry for himself. He placed his phone back inside of the zip-lock and placed the bag into his jacket and went on his way.

For the most part the walk was long, wet, cold, and uneventful. Aside from the howling winds that made the wind sting when it hit his face and the splashing of other vehicles, the walk was uneventful. There was however this one car that was behaving strange. The car’s actions had Jason on alarm for well over a good majority of his walk.

The car had dark tents and drove suspiciously. The car was a black Cadillac that had a missing a side mirror on the driver side and only the driver windshield wiper worked. These key details was how Jason was able to notice the car following him. The car drove past him moving abnormally slow several times. Even stopped next to him on three separate occasions.

This had Jason’s heart racing. He could literally hear his heartbeat in his ears. His eyes widened and his mouth became dry. Jason was a few miles from his home.

Jason thought to himself, ‘if only I can make it closer to the house. I’ll be able to run through neighbor yards to get home safely. ‘

When Jason made it about a mile from his house, the car disappeared completely. Not much of an optimistic, Jason continued looking over his shoulder every few seconds. Thankfully, the rain and wind had lightened up to barely a sprinkle. He could clearly see cars that were coming in both directions. Due to the rain, the sound of the tires on the wet road can be heard in the distance. This added an extra level of security in this situation.

Jason had finally round the last corner to his apartment. From under the streetlight he was able to see his apartment. What he seen had him frozen in place. He seen the same Cadillac parked in front of his apartment. The car was running, driver door was open, and there was a large shadow on his porch. It looked like the person was taking something from their coat.

Jason finally came to his senses and jumped into the bushes. From behind the branches, Jason watched the shadow walk back to its’ car. The Cadillac made a U-turn in the parking lot and began to come towards the stop sign Jason. Jason’s heart was as loud as a bass drum. He was hiding in the bushes right next to the stop sign. He feared that whoever was in the car would see him. He could only imagine what would happen if that was the case.

Jason lay still as the car’s braked screeched to a slow stop right next to him. He swore that person in the car could hear his heartbeat even though the car’s windows were rolled up. It felt like a century before the driver finally turned the steering wheel and slowly accelerated leaving the apartment complex. Jason laid there for an additional 20 minutes just to be sure the driver was not going to return.

Jason got up and did his best to remove any mud that was on his clothes due to him laying in the bushes. All he managed to do was smear mud on his hands. He clapped his hands hoping to remove any mud he could. The he began to trot to his apartment.

With his keys in hand, he ran to his door. He glanced at the package next to his door. He ignored it as he rushed to put his key in the locks and get into the safety of his apartment. Once he managed to get inside, he slammed the door shut. He was panting as he slid down the door trying to gather his bearings.

Looking around his apartment he noticed that it was darker than normal. Walking into the living room, Jason flipped a switch up and down to see if the light would cut on.

Sarcastically laughing Jason said: “isn’t this just perfect? After everything that has happened today, the cherry on the top is to come home and the power is off.”

While punching a wall Jason yelled. “You have to be kidding me!”

Jason was through with the day. He decided to remove his wet clothes and climb into his bed. In his mind, sleeping was the only way to escape from this nightmare of a day. There was no way this day was, real. Today had to be a dream. So if he was dream that he had to go back to sleep and wake up to escape this nightmare of a day.

“Ahhh!” Jason awoke from his sleep yelling.

Disoriented and drenched in sweat, Jason looked around the room to find out where he was. It only took a few second for him to realize he was home. Looking down at the sweat soaked sheets Jason decided to open the window to let a cool breeze through the apartment. As he began to unlatch the window, a flashback of the Cadillac popped into his mind.

His heart rate skyrocketed and he once again heard his heart beating in his ears. He went from window to window making sure they were locked, and looking out of them to see if he seen the car. When he went to the door to ensure it was still locked, he remember the package the driver left on the porch. He checked the peephole to see if the coast was clear.

Seeing nothing to worry about on the other side of the door, Jason quickly unlocked the door. He looked both ways and seen no car then looked down and seen the package sitting where he last seen it. After grabbing the package and locking the door, Jason took the package near window to use the light from the street.

The package was wrapped in brown paper bag as wrapping paper. He carefully ripped open the package and found another wrapped package, a black notebook, and a card. Jason put the second wrapped package on the table and took a closer look at the notebook. The notebook was sleek and smooth to the touch. A tasteful reflective coat and an elastic band to keep the notebook closed when not in use. What stood out most was the card that was under the elastic band of the notebook.

The card read ‘You have been watched for a while. Do not be afraid, as you are in no type of danger. Take this gift as a sign of good faith. You can take this gift and use it as you like, no harm no foul. Or you can act according to this notebook.’

Jason was puzzled. He though the card was speaking in some type of riddle so he decided to open the second package. He began to tear away at the wrapping paper. With the paper removed, his mouth fell to the floor and his eyes popped out his skull. He was so shocked that he was unable to swallow. He never seen so much money in his life. In his hands he held $20,000. The answer to all of his problems had finally come.

Jason immediately threw the money into the air letting the money fall like rain around him. He remembered the book and grabbed it. The first page said, ’give $2500 to your boos.”

Jason looked at the page with an ugly expression oh his face. His had boss just fired him. Jason wondered how could he possibly give money to the nasty boss who hated him. Jason dropped on his bed, heavy in thought. He fell asleep out of nowhere. When he woke up, Jason had one thought, ‘do I give Paul $2500 or do I keep it all?’