The Perdition - II

Part 2 of 3

Continued from Part I

...He almost fell of his seat as he tried to get up.

I turned around to see what had warranted such a reaction from him, and saw four huge guys walking towards us fronted by what looked like a guy who was wearing a mask.

I sneered, "Are you kidding me, who are these freak shows?"

I was about to get up but he told me to shut up and sit tight and let him handle the situation.

Those dudes, although a little over the top, looked menacing and meant serious business. This was not the kind of evening I was planning to have. 

I tried to overhear the conversation:

The guy in the mask said, "Boy, you come back in town, and don't even inform your old hommies"?

"I was about to, I just came day before yesterday, and I was about to call Nina"

"Now that there boy, is what you big city folks feed us, black lies. Do you see STUPID written all over my mask?"

"I am really sorry, you have to trust me, I swear I was about to come to you."

The man in the mask chuckled and turned around to his cronies "The motherfucker wants me to trust him, like I did two years back. Hell no boy. You got some balls to come back in this town after all these years. Did you really think it would all be just forgotten, like it never happened? And you will be greeted with Hawaiian girls in coconut bras and grass skirts?"

"You have to believe me man."

"Is that so? Fine, then let’s get down to business. Where is my money?"

This was going from bad to ugly and I knew I had to intervene, so I moved to get up, the man in the mask noticed and hollered with a silver gun in his hand, "Put your bitch ass down, right where it belongs and do not try anything funny."

I felt fear like I have never before in life. This was the first time a gun, a real GUN was pointed in my direction. Blood seemed to have stopped flowing through my veins, I just couldn't move a single muscle in my body even if wanted to.

"Please leave him out, he has nothing to do with this." Caelen said.

The man in the mask smiled and pointed the gun to Caelen’s forehead, "I'll ask one last time, WHERE THE FUCK IS MY MONEY?"

"Let me make some calls, I'll have it here in no time."

"Go get the money, but till then your friend stays right here. And if you do not show up in 4 hours, you know what we gonna do to him."

He walked back to me "I am really sorry Scott, I didn’t want anyone to know about this. I'll be back soon, I promise."

"At least tell me what did you do? What is all this about? How much do you owe them?"

He whispered "Didn’t I tell you, anywhere but this place, and now is not the time, I'll tell you everything when I get back."

When I saw him walk out of the door, a voice at the back of my head wondered, what if he does not come back? Although we were like brothers, last couple of years had changed him. But still somehow I convinced myself that he will be back with the money.

An hour had gone by, the man in the mask had left leaving two of his bulky friends behind. Strange thoughts were spiraling in my head, and when torn between trust and doubt, doubt wins hands down. I tried to recollect anything that would explain the situation I was in, but my mind was as blank as it could possibly get.

I could not just sit here and wait for him to come back, so I mustered up the courage to walk up to one of the guys, “Look guys I really have no idea how much Caelan owes your boss, but I’m sure there is no need for any violence. I am sure he will be back soon.”

Either of them refused to acknowledge my presence. I wondered for a moment if they would notice if I just sneaked out.

I tried again, “Listen man, can you at least tell me how much does Caelan actually owe?”

One of them turned to me, “He owes the prince 3.5 Mil”

(TO BE CONTINUED..)

The Perdition - I

Part 1 of 3

I said to Caelan, “Let’s go out for a drink or a Shisha”

I could sense that he was reluctant to go out, but I somehow convinced him that from the time he has come down, he has not stepped a foot outside the house. It was like something was bothering him, and I was hoping when I take him out for a few drinks he will open up. So, we got off the apartment and flagged down a cab.

I gave off the directions to the cabbie, "Marina, North West Avenue, Cafe Mondegar" and I was telling Caelan about the awesome ambiance of the place and when I turned to see him, his face was ghostly pale, like it just got drained off of all the blood.

I asked him, "Dude! WTF is wrong?"

"Let’s go anywhere but there," he was alarmed.

"Don't be silly, it’s a pleasant place and you will completely fall in love with the beautiful oceanic view and the breeze."

I tried to cheer him up with some more small talk, while he just nodded, pretending to listen while looking away from me. So I let him be quiet for the rest of the way.

We entered Marina, the evening sky looked beautiful by the sea, like a thousand colors were strewn all over the horizon. Saw the faintest of a glint in his eye when he noticed the view, but he was still reluctant to get out of the cab. I felt disappointed, that I had to drag him like this, almost told the cabbie to turn around and take us back. He noticed my chagrin and got out of the cab for my sake.

A familiar face greeted us as we entered the cafe, I knew Nina far too well, but somehow she made eye contact with Caelan first and I saw a kind of strange fear in her eyes. I couldn’t comprehend what was happening around me. First him acting all strange about this place and now Nina, it was like the world as I knew it to be, had completely transformed.

Nina took us to our tables, which was completely on the other side of the cafe. It was like the VIP section of the cafe, which I did not even know it existed, although I was not complaining one bit, it had an amazing view of the harbor. We ordered for a pitcher and waited for our Shisha to arrive. The place was deserted and I could not understand why he was so uncomfortable and kept twitching and looking back over his shoulder.

He made me promise, one Pitcher and we are out of this place. I told him to relax.

Nina soon came along with our beer, she was generally a warm person but I could see that she still had that look which read I don't want anything to do with you guys. She was in a hurry and almost spilled the beer on him. It was so unlike her and I wanted to stop her and ask her what’s wrong but then decided against creating a scene.

Two pints down and the evening was nicely moving along, he looked more relaxed and started talking freely. Told me where he was for the last 2 years, lying low, learning his father’s business and how happy he was to come back home.

I prodded further “Why did you leave so suddenly?”

He just stared into the ocean for what looked like the longest time. He knew this was coming and there was no escaping from the tough questions. And just as he turned around to answer, his eyes were filled with horror. He almost fell of his seat as he tried to get up.

(TO BE CONTINUED.. I promise this time :) )