Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
“Who the fuck is that?”a big burly man smoking a Cuban cigar said as Vernon and Abraham came into the small room.
“This is the guy that I was talking about”Vernon said,”He wants to help.He’s interested”
“He knows the rules and stuff?He knows what goes down?”he asks him
“Yes”Vernon said.Abraham looked at him.He didn’t know a thing!
“Good”the man said and looked him up and down,”Morietti”he said to him,”Im your new boss”he said as he shook his hand.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
“I cant believe it”Abraham said as they both left the office, each of them had a small box with envelopes in them. Some big envelopes had thousands of dollars of counterfeit cash. The smaller ones had a smaller amount.
“I know, what a rush huh?Welcome to the team”Vernon said to him
“No, I cant believe how many illegal things I saw in that office! The cash for one, he was smoking a Cuban cigar, you arent supposed to have secret offices-“
“Hey,get used to it”Vernon said to him,”You can follow me. We have time, just so you can learn the ropes”
“Yeah and by the way, I don’t know the rules and stuff! I don’t know what goes down, whatever that means”he said
“Well the rules are to not give the wrong person the wrong delivery, big trouble there. They have to sign for it. Don’t tell anyone else about the business, never steal or lose any money and never get caught. Oh and you cant quit”
“What do you mean I cant quit?”
“You are a delivery boy for life”Vernon said,”That keeps us safe”
“What if I want to quit one day?”he asked him
“Don’t”Vernon said to him
“But-“
“Just don’t….the others have never lived to tell, so just don’t”Vernon said. Abraham instantly shut up. They caught the trolley to the first delivery. It was a small middle class office space near the outside of town.”Now again, don’t speak.Let me do all the talking”he said.Abraham nodded.
They walked into the office and he went to the secretary,”I have a delivery for Mr. Antonio”
“Ok, which company?”she asked him. She looked young, like 13.
“Morietti Law Firm”Vernon said
“Ok hold on”she said as she hopped off the seat and went down the hall. A few minutes later, she came back,”Follow me”she said to them. They followed her down the hall and walked into the office. She closed the door behind them as a man stood up and greeted them but then gave Abraham a weird look.
“Who are you?”he asked him. Abraham didn’t say anything. Vernon told him not to speak. “Are you deaf boy? Who are you?”he asked him again
Vernon nudged him,”Im Abraham-“
“Hes the new guy”Vernon said quickly
“What do you mean new guy? You have always delivered alone”
“Im showing him the ropes”Vernon said
“How do I know that hes not a spy?”he said
“Now why would I bring a spy in here? That would throw my ass in jail and so would you. Im not that stupid”Vernon said,”I mean if you think he’s a spy…”he said as he took out a huge envelope and small slip of paper that went with it,”…then you don’t have to take the $1000 in this delivery….”he said.Abraham looked at Vernon in disbelief. He was holding $1000 in his hand? He’s never seen that much money! He thought that money didn’t even exist!
“Give me that”he said as he took the huge envelope and signed the slip of paper.He then opened the envelope and counted a thousand dollars worth of five dollar bills, which was a lot of counting. “I’ll be in touch”he said when he was satisfied.
“You do that. Nice doing business with you”Vernon said. Abraham nodded at him and they both left. They both waved to the 13 year old secretary and left.
“$1000!”Abraham said
“Shhhhh! You wanna let everyone know what we’re doing!?”Vernon said to him
“That was some nice talking, I thought that he was gonna kill the both of us”Abraham said
“Hey they usually complain. I mean he had every right to, he didn’t know you. This is top secret stuff we are talking about here. But they usually give in when I remind them whats in their envelopes”he said
“I wonder how much I have”Abraham said
“We are gonna find out, you’re next”Vernon said as they waited for another trolley. Soon it arrived and they paid the fare and traveled across town to the other stop. “Now I think you can do this, this one is easy”he said to him
“You think Im ready?”he asked him as they walked to a small brown building with no sign.
“Yeah, just say that you are from Morietti Law Firm, don’t tell them your name, make sure that you are in a closed office with only the client, no one else, and do the exchange, have them sign and be on your way”he said as they knocked on the door,”Its easy”
“Its easy”Abraham repeated as a woman with a corset and long tight fitting skirt opened the door. He gulped, what kind of place was this? “Um….Morietti Law Firm”
“Yeah yeah yeah come on in”she said as she walked through the dark building. There were lots of other women dressed like her. She walked down a few corridors and knocked on a door at the end of the hallway.
“YEAH!”came a female voice.
“Morietti Law something”the woman said
“Morietti Law Firm”Abraham said
“Let em in”the female voice said.
The woman smiled and before she opened the door she said to them,”If you ever need any pleasure, you know where to come. Just ask for me, my name’s Sugar”she said
“Thanks”Vernon said with a smile as they walked in. It was a big office space with other females in scantily clad clothing doing various housekeeping chores and a woman was sitting at a desk as a girl gave her a manicure.She looked up and then stood up and clapped.All the women smiled at them and left. They must have delivered to them before.
“You’re new”she said to Abraham
“Yeah”he said nervously
“Aww, nervous? You probably didn’t know that there was a whorehouse here in LA did you?”
“A what?”Abraham asked. Vernon laughed.
“Well now you know, so if you are single…or if you’re married and are in the mood any of my girls can take care of you”she said,”Im expecting $500, that’s what Im getting right? I had a little problem last week”she said
Abraham picked up the envelope that said “Whorehouse” on it and saw the slip of paper attached,”Yes….”he said as he cleared his throat and handed it to her.
“Great”she said as she signed for it,”I will be giving you a call. I know this will run out”she said,”And my name is Baby Jane. Remember that”she said with a smirk
“Um ok….nice meeting you”he said as he took the slip of paper and turned around and walked quickly out of the room. Vernon followed slowly behind, liking what he was seeing.
They finally left and Vernon started laughing. “You act like you have never seen breasts before!”
“I didn’t know they had whorehouses! I thought that they only existed in those westerns”Abraham hissed
“Hey art imitates life”Vernon said,”And they certainly had works of art in there”
“Ok, where are we going next?I don’t want to be surprised”Abraham said
“Last name is Bush, some rich family. Don’t know why they would need it”Vernon said as they walked away from the building.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
They did all of their deliveries in record time. Vernon was happy about that because that meant that he was in less trouble. Abraham was happy because he would get back to Salomi at a reasonable time. They walked down to the makeshift cellar and Morietti smiled, barely.
“You’s done already?”he asked as he took the Cuban out of his mouth
“Yeah, we’re a good team see?”Vernon said with a smile as they both handed the signed slips of paper to him.
“Alright you know the routine, check back in a few days”he said
“Um…sir?I have a envelope left….”Abraham said shyly. Great he broke a rule, he forgot to make a delivery.
Morietti chuckled, barely. “Its red right?”Abe nodded,”That’s yours, have a nice day”he said
Abraham smiled like he was a kid in a candy store. The envelope felt heavy. They got on the trolley and headed back home. Abraham started to open the envelope but Vernon stopped him,”Don’t count that here, you crazy?Do it at home”So Abraham waited, it was the longest ride he had ever taken and then he and Vernon went their separate ways.”I suggest you wear pants with bigger pockets, so you would have a place for them envelopes”he said and winked. Now Abraham knew the real reason why Vernon always had a new pair of pants. Abraham was all smiles when he walked to get Salomi and she was all smiles when he appeared. She was wearing her blue birthday dress, she loved it so much that she wore it everyday. He thanked Millie quickly and walked a fast pace home.
“Why are you walking so fast?”Salomi said.Even though she was holding his hand,it was a struggle to keep up.
“Oh sorry, guess Im in a rush I guess for no reason”he said with a little laugh
“Why are you so happy?”she asked him
“Life is just great, its turning around for us”
“How can life turn around?”
“It means its getting better, great, good”he said. They approached the house and walked in. “I’ll be back”he said to her and went outside to the outhouse. He opened the envelope quickly, but carefully, he didn’t want to rip the money or drop any. He then started to count and every 5 he counted, his knees got weaker and weaker. He finished and he counted $100. He’s never held this much money in his life! And now it was his!? He ran out and went over to Salomi’s grave and kissed her tombstone,”Thanks baby”he said to her and walked in the house.
“Daddy Im hungry”Salomi said to him.
Abraham smiled. He remembered what Vernon said about going into town and being able to afford the things that the rich could buy. Being respected and accepted. He wanted to have that feeling and he wanted Salomi to have that feeling too. “Ok lets go”
“But Daddy Im hungry”Salomi said as she picked up her doll and followed him
“I know baby, we are gonna go to town and get something to eat”
“To town?Really!?”Salomi asked in surprise,”Wow Daddy oh my goodness, oh my goodness”she said as they walked out the door.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
“Ice cream! Oooh lets go there”Salomi pointed. She had a lot of fun on the trolley and downtown was like a dreamland to her. And she fit right in with her new blue dress.
“Ok”Abraham said as they walked toward the small shop. Then a couple walked out the door and they looked at Abraham and quickly looked away. What happened to that accepted feeling? Then he looked down at his clothes. They were kinda dirty from working in the factory and riding around all day making deliveries. “Wait…we have to do something first”
“What?”Salomi said as they turned around and walked down the street.”Im hungry Daddy”
“I know but I don’t look pretty like you”he said to her,”I gotta look pretty too”
“Boys don’t look pretty, they look handsome”Salomi said with a giggle as they walked inside a store called Gent’s. The men working there instantly looked down on him but he didn’t care, once he pulled out the money they wont be. He found some pants with big pockets, like Vernon’s but in black. He got a buttoned up shirt and new shoes.”You look handsome Daddy”Salomi said
“I want to buy this”Abraham said as he motioned to the outfit that he was wearing
“Are you sure?”the man asked him
“Yes”Abraham said
“That whole outfit is $10”he said to him, knowing that he couldn’t afford it.
“Oh is that all?”Abraham asked him and pulled out two five’s.”Anything else?”he asked him
The man looked at him with surprise as he took the money.”No, have a nice day”
“Thanks”Abraham said, making sure not to return the favor.”Ok babydoll lets go eat”he said to her, walking out of the store a new man.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
Now that Abraham got this new job, he was happier. Nothing could really bring him down anymore. Life was better than he could ever dream. Working at the factory wasn’t bad, it seemed more like a side job. He also started to do the deliveries on his own and made up a system on how to do them faster. However, some deliveries made him stay out later. This was suspicious to Millie since the factory always closed down at 5. He used Vernon’s lie and told them that managers always had to stay later. She believed that for now.
He spoiled Salomi even more. Whenever he had time, he would take her to town. He would buy her dolls and dresses. He started to fix up their place to actually start looking like a home and Abby came over to give it a woman’s touch. Abraham even considered about buying a car. Cars were the biggest thing since sliced bread and it would be great to have the first car out of all the families in the neighborhood. But first, he enrolled Salomi into school. James also enrolled Eveline as well. He wanted to see Salomi succeed at something real. This job was great no doubt but he never wanted Salomi to resort to crime when things got rough. The two of them did more traveling, they went to the beach for the first time and Salomi fell in love with it. They would go every weekend if they had time. When Christmas came around, he could actually buy her presents and on Salomi’s 8th birthday, she had an even bigger party. Vernon, Abby, Eveline, James and Millie and Salomi’s classmates were invited.
Even though Salomi and Abraham were having the time of their lives, some people were becoming suspicious and cautious of their new lifestyle.
“Whats wrong?”James asked as he and Millie ate Salomi’s birthday cake.
“I just didn’t know that managers at factories could make this much money”Millie said
James rolled his eyes,”Hey babe. Times are a changing. Pay has been going up, I mean I got my raise, he must have got one too.You sound like you’re not happy for them”
“I am….its just something fishy about it”Millie said
Vernon felt the same way,”Abe, can I talk to you outside for a minute?”he asked him.Abe nodded and followed him outside,”Snazzy shindig you got in there”
“I know, it feels so good to be able to afford to give my baby whatever she has ever wanted”Abraham said happily.
“Im happy for you. Really I am. I mean I want you two to succeed and be happy but…you gotta be careful next time. This is really flaunting your money and some people could get suspicious”Abe just nodded and patted him on the back and walked inside. He was so happy that he couldn’t really hear straight…or was the money getting to his head?
*_______________________*