I got tired of being poor one day in high school. When I decided to actually do something about it things got a little rough very quickly. I didn’t have the patience for a real job, I’m in charge in this world I created for myself but no one would ever know. It started with selling soda out of my locker, who knew I would someday be doing all of this.
My six new recruits start waking up while they are still groggy I start turning on machines. They are starting to realize that they are handcuffed to chairs. They start to murmur realizing they are on conveyor belts.
I yell for their attention. And all I get is mixed responses of anger, confusion, and fear as their voices clamor over each other. I fire my gun in the air. "Do I have your attention now?" They say nothing. "Good to hear. Good to hear. Let’s get down to business. You can call me ’Gamma’ that is my rank and as far as you know that is my name. My real name is of no concern consider this a civilian burn notice. You have been recruited because you are losers, druggies, very angry or wannabe gangbangers."
Someone struggles to swing their chair side to side, "You won’t get away with this! My family will be looking for me!"
I walk up to him on the end and jump on the conveyor belt with him inches from his face. My feet on either rail on either side. I take off one of my black gloves off. And put my hands in his beard feeling facial hair for the first time. "Awww how adorable. That is truly adorable. You think you still have a choice but that’s okay." I fire a round into his shoulder. I yell at him and everyone else, "Insolence will not be tolerated!" I walk to the machine controls and I start up one side and the wrong guy beings to move in a jerk he helps in a panic I turn that side off. And turn on the correct one.
He tries to get off the chair but he’s strapped down. Kicking and screaming as he goes down the line very slowly after the initial jerk. I take my time going back to the remaining men. I stand in front of them again, just loud enough, "wait for it." A huge splash from the guy. He kicks and screams best he can, connected to the chair still, the struggle is deafening against the echo of the metal walls. The screaming stops shortly after and bubbles just come from the acid. "Alright anyone else still wishes to defy me?" I pause for a response, "Any questions?"
One guy looks like he has questions. I give him my full attention looking directing at him through my mask and point to him. He says "I guess this means it’s my turn to talk. When you are lettin’ us go, what the fuck is gonna to stop us from catching you up and putting you in that pool of whatever the fuck dat is that melted that guy?"
"Thank you for the introduction into how this is going to work, William?"
"How da fuck do you know my name? Man, people don’t know my name! You gonna fuck me up man."
"I know all of your old identities. That shit was so easy. Now we have you all. You have been here for a week. And no alibis for the murders of your Homies, friends, and family. You are all wanted by police for up to 5 murders and with no alibi. You would be fucked. You also can’t go back to your gang ties, we put bounties on all of you. 25k dead and 500k alive. I know what you’re thinking ’but Gamma where are we supposed to go?’ Well, we invented new identifications for you, DL, passports, birth certificates, car keys and keys to your new apartments and keys to the cars for each of you. The additional control comes from you getting paid, your families getting paid anonymously but even comprehensive words or writing of any information down of what is going on a small chip that was just pushed past your skull by force will release electric shock into your brain giving you a fatal seizure believe me it’s not that bad of an idea it’s quick and painless. I’m going to let you go in reverse on this machine you will hit the floor. You are naked right now. The handcuff keys will be for the guy to your right. Call it a team building exercise. Then grab your stuff and get to the address on the sticky note in your car in the glove box use a pen to scratch the sticky note to get the address. Go home and be home tomorrow, someone will be there to train you tomorrow for your new jobs with our organization. Phones can only do outgoing calls when they are unlocked remotely by your boss, myself or Alpha. Texts to people in our little network only, texts and calls are erased automatically at my discretion. Oh, and you have 30 minutes because I’m putting an APB to the police at this location about a shooting. All they will discover is what looks like a construction site and no one dead or alive on site unless you are still here. But no one wants or needs to go to jail tonight. Any questions before I leave?"
Sam says, "is this forever is this our life?"
"I have been here since September 2004, so for a little over a year. I don’t know I was once in your seat."
I go back to the controls and put them all in reverse. And sprint out of the building to my car. I’m driving away from Chicago. I look at the time, 3:34 am. I’m late.
I get home at 04:15 parking the car about three blocks away. I run into the house and grab my bags for my day job and get on my bicycle on the way to school. I have to keep up appearances.
As it rains pours down flooding the roadway and sidewalk on my way to school I start to contemplate what I just did. The voice in my head, Gamma is screaming at me. My world spins and it shakes me to the core as I fall off my bicycle and vomit all over the grass and the ground tangled in my bike. But I am not afraid of the storm that is coming my way I just put my headphones trying to wash away the nightmare of my night. Though it takes more than meets the eye out of me I’m rocking a new level of danger doing the worst of crimes without remorse.
There’s a rumble in the floor as thunder strikes outside the grocery store and I get my 6 bags filled with supplies for my locker shop.
I get to school a later than I want, almost 6:50 am. Teachers are starting to show up as I’m skulking around to my teachers’ desks and offices who order low-key from me. The school district put an embargo on sugar and caffeine in schools. I took heavy advantage of the new black market as a monopoly that wasn’t greedy even though I had the opportunity.
I give my bribes under the radar to the teachers and faculty that I need to, as I continue. I got to my lockers that I fill with drinks, food, and supplies.
Finally, I check my "payment locker", teachers who pay up to a month in advanced, loan sharking, financing drug dealers and drug users and financing the street racers. I go through my books to find out who owes what still and what their next payment, some people paid off their debts.
Students start arriving at 7:20, first class starts at 7:50 and I catered to customers the whole time until class started. When class started I mostly slept unless my school phone buzzed, which I checked immediately and it was an order the text included the person, room number and their order. I would just get up and walked away I was paying teachers for my grades so no one cared as long as I was quiet. I’d walk up to the room and just walk by a few times sometimes with a light rapping on the window and the student would come out.
Around Fifth period I’m walking in the halls with just what I made in the last two periods before I was going to deposit. Into my payment locker. Another student who is a senior stops me, "Hey CrazyDan. Why do people call you that?"
"I’m trying to go up the stairs I’m a little busy do you mind?"
"Yes I mind, you are puny, how are you strong-arming your way to get all that money."
"I would like to go upstairs now please."
"No."
I run down stairs to try a different stairwell. He catches me just after I get to the landing and I leave the stairwell to get to the math wing. He pushes me into the lockers. "You don’t deserve that money. I’ll be taking that, Dan."
"No, you won’t!"
He punches me in the face. And then repeatedly in the stomach, "punk. ass. bitch." I’m keeled over in pain on the floor from being struck in the stomach. "I will be taking this CrazyDan."
I watch him go down the hall, 20 or 30 feet counting my money. Something feels different as I get angry at his disrespect. I can feel my body getting hot. The hair on my body including on my head is standing on end. I get up effortlessly no longer in pain, "I didn’t say you can have that Alex Sandoval." I start walking to him, I feel my blood pulsing through my body.
"Oh, I’m so scared of CrazyDan. Hahaha, pathetic, I can go ahead go another round with you. That was easy. This time I’m taking your shoes too." He meets me half way and punches me in the face. I do not budge.
"It is not that pathetic body that you should be scared of, it is I, Gamma that you need to fear." I punch him in the throat. He stumbles back; the bell for the next class goes off and students enter and realize what is going on teachers and students flood the halls avoiding the two of us as I square up. "Will anyone challenge me like he did?" He is still holding his throat trying to get air in his lungs. I walk up to him, let’s see how many punches you can take before you give me my wallet and money back." I punch him in the left kidney, "one." I punch him in the right lung, "two." I see him take out a knife and I punch him in the crook of his elbow that he has the knife he almost stabs himself. "Three". I punch him in the lungs again, "Four."
I get tackled from behind me from the school police officer. "Dan you gotta stop! Let go! Let go!"
I get up and dust myself off while I’m walking, "Officer Robinson, you don’t tell me what to do you are on my payroll. I understand I got in a fight. I understand the consequences of your first fight. So if you will allow me or not I’m just going to go to my locker and get my coat and then I will leave calmly and I’ll be back in 2 weeks. Oh, and he stole from me, that’s what started the fight and he pulled a knife on me so I was defending myself. I expect there to be no charges brought to me. Have a good day." I bend down and take his shoes off and I bring them with me as I go to my locker.
"Come on Dan, you know I can’t let you do that I just watched you take off his Jordans."
"I’ll give you $50 to look the other way."
"At least it’s not raining anymore for your walk home. I will bring your money to you and your backpack to you after school is over. I can’t just leave my post."
"I’ll see you my house at four fifteen."
I walk to my bike and unlock it, the whole bike ride home is uneventful just I see another storm brewing for tomorrow or tonight the clouds are a sickly green so I know it will be high winds and heavy raindrops.
When I get home I immediately turn off my school phone and turn on the phone for Gamma and I wait for the 4 pm check in of everyone. There’s one message already waiting for me from Zeta, "Idk where you found this guy he will be an excellent replacement for my old mechanic TY for doing your job Gamma. -ZZ"
I write back to him, "Zeta. I gave you 2 guys. I hope you have at least briefed both of them. I want to have these guys trained and producing in under a month I can cover the books for Alpha" My message is too long so I have to write another text, "until they can but I hope that it doesn’t take that long. But then they would owe me personally because I’d be covering their portion. Do you understand me? -YY"
Back in the real world of still living with my parents because I’m only 16, I hear the door downstairs slam. My dad is home its only 2 pm and I’m supposed to be at school. I hide in my own closet incase he decides to look for me, I have a little escape tunnel in the closet that I built myself that my mom and dad have not yet found, it drops down into the garage below my room.
I stay very still with my phone under my dirty clothes. My bedroom door slams open. "Fucking bitch ass. Doesn’t deserve what I’ve been able to provide for him! Laptop. That’s gone. New bed sheets, too bad I don’t have to go to the bathroom I would piss on them. I’ll be taking them for now. Pictures of him with friends." I can hear glass shattering. "This gives me an idea. He stomps back down the stairs I hear glass clattering as he stomps back up the stairs swiftly. He throws glasses against a bunch of the walls in my room. "This should teach you to clean your room. Can’t even respect himself enough to clean his room. He is going to be in prison someday, he deserves to be raped every day every night, he is truly pathetic." He stomps back down the stairs. I put on slippers and go to the window facing the back yard and the garage back there he only has my laptop he tosses it onto the grass upside down. And comes back out of the garage with an ax. He puts it overhead and in three swings of the ax chops it mostly in two but its rendered inoperable after the second swing. I know I will be telling my mom about this later. My dad then gets into his car and drives away.
I start cleaning up glass out of the carpet and before I know it, 4 pm hits the clock on the wall and I hear the door bell. "Officer Robbins."
"Yes Dan I told you I would be here, here is your backpack and $168 cash."
"Thank you, this will get me by for a little while. But I’ll be honest with you, I’m going to be back tomorrow morning. To get more money out of my lockers, I only keep a small percentage with me at a time."
"Don’t let us catch you, you will be trespassing. Is this your house?"
"It’s my parents’ house. I have an apartment, I’m just not emancipated so I can’t constantly be there right now."
"You’re still doing really well for yourself."
"Does that mean I can date your daughter?"
"You keep my daughter out of this Dan! You crossed a line! No! Fuck you!"
"Well, she is very pretty. Alright, Mr. Robinson. You have a good week, I got some stuff to do."
"Jerking it to porn after you make romen for dinner is nothing important. But yeah, you too have a good time."
I go back upstairs and turn on both my Alpha phone and my Gamma phone and the texts just keep coming.