56

Jose Alberto Diaz was a Mexican who had come to America to search for a better life.
Like any other immigrant, he was chasing the American dream that promised endless fruits.
But when he landed in DC after so many trials and suffering from the boarder to Texas and across to New Mexico. He did this by hitching rides here and there and walking across deserted roads because the last thing he needed was get arrested with no papers and get sent back.
He had little money for food and to call his agent to ask for directions and such.
He settled in New Mexico for a while until someone told him that there was a job he could do as a chauffer in California.
He took a bus that took him hours across Arizona to California and by the time he was getting there, fake papers had already been prepared and he now had a ‘permit’ to work in the US.
This was the life Jose had been dreaming about and he was happy that his agent didn’t fail him.
He became the driver of one Gerald Stone and Gerald was a generous boss.
It started with Gerald sending Jose with small packages for delivery and Jose would be given tips every time he made a safe delivery.
He came to like these side jobs more than when working on the clock driving his boss from one office to the other and from this meeting to that.
He did so well that his bought changed his job description to his personal assistant’s personal assistant.
This meant that Jose was an important man. More than what he had hoped for when he started this journey from Puerto Rico.
Jose was good in driving because this was his career.
He dropped out of school early and a good thing was that he was bright.
If it wasn’t for the poverty in his home and his dad’s early and untimely death in a quarry, Jose would have become the engineer he always wanted to become.
He had to drop because he needed to help his mama in taking care of the family and he was the eldest.
But now, he thought with the income he was getting, he would be able to support his mom back home and his younger siblings and even enroll in night schooling.
That dream was always there.
He would make his papa proud.
This continued until his boss trusted him with transporting important cargo, that’s what he was always told, and documents a cross state borders and he was always successful.
He would always read maps and know where to go to avoid police even in areas he had never been.
He had been trained by his boss on simple martial arts for beginners and given a registered gun.
He was still continuing with his training and five years down the line, Jose could call himself proficient in the Asian arts of fighting.
About a week or so, he received a call from his boss while enjoying a cup of cappuccino one morning from his boss who told him that they had an errand to run in DC and of he did well, one hundred thousand dollars would be waiting for him as a bonus.
When Jose heard one hundred thousand dollars, and then thought of what that kind of money could do to help his family, he was sold even without a thought.
He thought of that new house he would build his mom and sisters in the plot of land they just bought.
He thus didn’t hesitate because he trusted his boss.
For the years they had worked together, Gerald always kept his word and that’s how Jose’s family enjoyed a better life back in Puerto Rico.
They thus flew to DC and he was shown around for around a week.
Good were coming, he wasn’t told from where and he didn’t ask, and his job, as usual would be transporting then to designated areas.
But this time, the deal was even better.
Two days after receiving the goods and taking them where he had been instructed, Jose was called by Gerald again.
He was told that it was time for him to prove that he was worthy of becoming the Assistant to Gerald’s own assistant.
“That means you are in the top management of Gracious Holdings you know that, right?” Gerald asked him and Jose smoked shyly.
Of course he knew.
And he always bragged to his mom about what kind of an important person he was.
Thus, he agreed without thinking the way he usually did to come to the auction that was prepared by White Lotus (obviously a pseudonym).
But in such businesses, they were used to it because he also didn’t go with Jose Alberto when transporting the goods.
He was Antonio Cruz.
He felt important as he walked to the auction and handed the bag to the girl as he was instructed.
He had been coached on how to behave and what to do.
All he had to do was hand in the bag, sit in a room while sipping expensive wine with expensive snacks and then wait for his name to be called.
He would be given a card which would be indicating the amount of money The White Lotus owed them and that was all.
Thus, all he had to carry back to his boss was a card.
Easy, right?
Thus, when the well dressed man say in front of him giving off an aura close to that of the devil, Jose was wary.
He wondered what had gone wrong since the man had placed the same bag Jose had come with on the table.
“Whats wrong? Anything wrong with the goods I brought in?” Jose asked.
As he watched on the screen as the MC announced the bids and all the money people were spending as was being announced by the MC, Jose had no idea what that was.
He watched the man who came and cut something that looked like a mushroom and eat a piece but he had never seen such a thing and didn’t know what it was.
“No. The goods are okay.
Better than we would have expected, in fact,” Richard said.
“Then you are the one who bought them? So, are you here to give me the card?” Jose asked innocently because he didn’t think that anything would go wrong.
“No. I am not here to give you a card.
I am here to make you a deal,” Richard said.
“A deal? What kind of a deal?” oose asked.
“It will depend on how you answer a few questions that I’m going to ask you.
And I will warn you, I am not a very patient man,” Richard said and Jose placed the glass he was holding on the table.
Something told him that this man meant business.
He wasn’t worried though because he was quite proficient in martial arts and he knew that he could fight his way out of the room.
But the problem was that he didn’t know who this man was or where he was.
He had been blindfolded when being led to this room after he left the elevator.
So, he would listen to this man and weigh his options.
“Okay,” Jose said.
“What is your name? Tour real name,” Richard asked.
“Antonio Cruz,” Jose used the pseudonym as instructed when he was being trained.
“You lied and I asked you for the truth Jose.
You are Jose Alberto Diaz, isn’t it?” Richard asked.
Jose started and stood up.
“Ho … How did you… How do you know that?” Jose asked.
“Sit down,” Richard ordered in a low cold voice and the other man obeyed without question.
“I know a lot of things about you Jose.
For example, I know that you are Puerto Rican.
You came to the US though the Mexican border.
You are here illegally because all your papers are fake. I know that you were sent here by one Gerald Stone.
Want me to continue?” Richard asked and Jose say down stamped.
“How did you know all that?
No. No. The question should be who are you and what do you want?” Jose asked.
He had worked long enough for Gerald to know that you didn’t ask stupid questions in such situations and the less you knew, the better for you.
That was how and why he had survived with Gerald for all those years.
“These here are my truffles.
They were stolen three days ago at the airport and we tracked them here.
We knew you weren’t the owner because you look like a worker not a boss, no insult intended,” Richard continued.
“No offence taken,” Jose said.
“I did my scan on you and that’s how we know who you are and why you came here.
Now, I will promise to build that house you want for your mother, take your brother to the university and give your mother a decent job in Puerto Rico and make sure that your sisters never lack.
But in exchange for all these, you have to work for me.
You cross me and I will destroy everything I will have given you with the snap of my fingers.
And I can do it seeing that it took me less than an hour to collect all the information I needed about you.
What do you say Jose?” Richard asked as he put his right leg on top of the left at the knee and for the first time, Jose felt like he was sitting in the presence of a king.