In a dimly lit back alley, late at night, a certain individual stood nervously, a trembling cigarette clutched in their hand.
They seemed to be waiting for someone, standing alone behind a garbage bin.
The man, whose face was obscured by the darkness, was feeling the weight of his past actions.
He was now facing the consequences of his decisions, alone.
He had previously taken on a job for a rival gang leader without his boss’s knowledge, a serious crime in the underworld of this city.
The man, who had been waiting for a long time, glanced to his side as a car’s headlights appeared at the end of the alleyway.
He tossed the cigarette away, revealing his face to be James.
He looked around one more time before walking towards the approaching car.
He didn’t hesitate to open the car door and get in.
Quickly, he slipped into the back seat, closing the door behind him.
He looked at the man sitting beside him, who began to speak.
“What’s the problem you’re talking about that you couldn’t tell me on the phone?” The man was Elijah, summoned by James, who had refused to cave in to the federal agents who had been pressuring him.
James had quickly turned to Elijah, knowing this problem would open a can of worms that none of them needed at all.
“The feds know about Emily,” James said to Elijah, who was quiet for a moment.
He scratched his beard before replying, “Emily, now that’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time,” Elijah said with a smile.
“But tell me, how’s this my problem?” Elijah asked, tilting his head and looking at James with a confused expression.
“They know about me and what I did to her, so they must know about you too, don’t you get that?
We’re both in trouble,” James said to Elijah, who started laughing.
“They don’t know shit,” Elijah said to James, who became more confused.
The old man began to explain, “If they knew anything solid about what you did, then you and I would be sitting in an interrogation room with our lawyers present, not here talking to each other.” That explanation made James relax a little as he let out a sigh of relief.
Elijah continued, “That job was five years ago.
It’s going to be hard for anyone to get any solid evidence that implicates us.” James nodded in agreement.
“You were panicking for no reason at all,” Elijah said to him.
“Can you blame me?” James said to Elijah before lighting another cigarette to calm his nerves.
“Killing one of the Don’s daughters is nothing to play with,” James said to Elijah, who smiled widely and patted James on the back.
“And I’ll forever be thankful to you for that,” Elijah said, as he was the one who had instructed James to carry out that job.
It was for revenge after Elijah’s wife was shot and killed in a drive-by years ago, outside a restaurant, by the men of Don Cerino Valtieri, who controlled all of Harlem after a petty beef between the two regarding underground fighting and the control of the bets.
As revenge, Elijah hired James, who was affiliated with Mr.
Spark crew at the time, though not as deeply involved as he was today.
James was one of the few people who could get close to the Don’s daughter without raising suspicion.
“No need to thank me.
I think I’ll go and think of a reason to tell Mr.
Spark about my absence today,” James said, about to leave.
But Elijah stopped him by grabbing his arm.
He had something to ask.
“Since you mentioned him, is there something I need to know about Spark and the Moyah Family?” Elijah asked directly, staring at James with a serious expression.
James smiled before slowly removing Elijah’s hand from his arm.
“You know I can’t tell you anything, or it would be my head rolling next,” James said to Elijah.
Even though they had worked together before, James knew better than to spill the secrets of his family to another gang.
He knew it would end badly for him.
“I mean do they know about your side hustle?” Elijah said to James threatening to expose him to the Moyah family, but James did seem concerned as he responded “I know i’m making you enough money for you to risk losing it” James said confidently Elijah didn’t press any further.
He let James get out of the car and close the door behind him as James walked away from the SUV.
================== After Arslan and his crew waited in the darkness for hours, Mr.
Spark finally showed up with only one of his men.
He had spent most of his time trying to evade the eyes that were watching him.
As soon as he arrived, he got out of the vehicle and walked towards Arslan, who was waiting in front of the van.
Ryder and the masked Sofia stood beside him.
“No need to hide your face, girl.
I already know who you are,” Spark said to Sofia, who clicked her tongue in annoyance.
She had hoped to keep a low profile about this job she had just done with her friends.
“Is she there?” Spark asked Arslan, who nodded before tossing the keys to Spark.
Spark caught them from the air.
The young man spoke, “You know the price we agreed on wasn’t fair for the job, right?” Arslan said to Spark, who handed the van keys to his man and smiled at Arslan.
“Yes, and?” Spark said to Arslan.
“I think we should negotiate our terms once again,” Arslan said, as Ryder stepped forward and stopped the man who was trying to get into the van.
“Let’s say I give 100k for the debt, and you forget about the rest of it as payment for this job,” Arslan continued, staring at Spark with a serious expression.
Spark, starting to get annoyed, sighed before responding, “Listen, kid, we agreed on the 15% already.
I didn’t force you to take the job.
You’re the one who agreed on your own,” Spark said to Arslan, who shook his head.
“Nah, chief, I said yes thinking it was some random Joe.
I didn’t know it was the old lady of one of Don Lucas’s Capos,” Arslan said before stepping forward and extending his hand for a handshake with Spark.
“100k, and we forget about this debt ever existing,” Arslan said to Spark, who stared at him and found that deal to be favorable to both sides.
He would get more doors open to him with Mr.
Gordiano in his possession and get an extra 100k on top of the money he had already received from Arslan.
Dropping the debt was something so trivial for him that he was making 10x the amount of Arslan’s weekly payment in a day.
“Get the fuck out of my face, kid,” Spark growled with a fiery edge to his voice.
“A deal’s a deal.
We don’t whine when we realize the rules aren’t fair.” Arslan was taken aback by Spark’s intense reaction.
He had been certain Spark would be on board with his proposal.
“You’ve made your choice, now deal with it,” Spark stated firmly as he walked past Arslan, swiping the keys from his associate hand and effortlessly unlocking the van.
With a strong grip, he guided the blindfolded Mrs.
Giordano towards his awaiting vehicle.
“Nice work, kid.
I’ll be looking for that payment next week, don’t be late,” Spark said provokingly to Arslan who stared silently as he knew he couldn’t do anything to him.
Spark tossed Mrs.
Giordano into the backseat before shutting the door firmly behind her.
He and his man then hopped into the front seats and drove off into the night.
In a moment of desperation, Arslan, fixated on the car disappearing into the distance, pulled out his phone.
He was on the brink of dialing three numbers that could spell trouble for both himself and Spark.
However, Ryder swiftly knocked the phone from his hand and delivered a forceful punch to Arslan’s face.
“Are you out of your fucking mind?” Ryder shouted.
“You want to send all of us to our death?” he roared at Arslan, who understood the dire repercussions of his potential actions.
He knew that if he dialed the cops and spilled the beans on Spark and his current company, the three of them would be signing their own death warrants, courtesy of either the long arm of the law or the unforgiving mob.
As they were among the select few who knew the secrets at play.
“And I thought you were the smart one between us,” Ryder murmured softly as he turned and walked away from there.
“And I’m expecting to get paid for this too,” he added as he continued walking away.
Sofia remained by Arslan’s side, extending a helping hand to assist him to his feet.
As he rose with her aid, not that he needed it, before he retrieved his fallen phone from the ground.
Arslan grabbed his phone from the ground before they followed Ryder who kept murmuring some words under his breath, leaving the van behind with the keys on the hood.