“I need someone to help me, and I think that person is you.” Despite the compliment, Jack found himself squirming. Julias was not complimenting him aimlessly. He wanted something; all the signs of a business proposition were apparent. Jack saw them, and Julias knew he saw them. The problem was that despite this, Julias was still effortlessly in control of the conversation, and Jack felt smaller by the minute.
“My help? Julias you… you make enough money to buy ten of me. What could I possibly-”
“Trust. You are my friend. And you are far better at the dance than you think.”
“Dance?”
“Politics… of a sort.” Julias gave his small friend a playful grin, like a fucking tiger might before the kill. “But to my point, I need a friend, and I have a proposition for you. The dilemma is you have to leave it all behind.”
“What is all?”
“All.”
“You can’t… I don’t… Julias you got to help me out here.” Jack knew his words would frustrate Julias, but the sheer vagueness of it all was driving him insane.
“All.” Neither frustrated or impatient, Julias kept his voice smooth but stern. “You will move on from your current friends and family. They’ll think you’re dead. You’ll be working with me, here in South Side. You will have a new place to stay, and you will be powerful… very powerful.” The fact Jack’s mouth had dropped open did not stop Julias. “The money is great, the power greater, but it’s not about that. Well, not just about that. It’s about… a whole different world, Jack. A world with risks, and rewards.” If his friend was trying to make it sound romantic, he was failing hard. So far, Julias’s speech was only making Jack shake in his shoes.
Julias had gotten up at this point, and was walking around with his glass in his hand. He gestured with his words, but his cold gaze never left Jack. The smaller man couldn’t help but take quick glances to his friend’s drink, if only to avoid Julias’s gaze. Had his red wine always been so thick?
“You’ll be joining me in a long career, my good friend. You will have everything you’ve ever wanted, and more.”
“I, I just, I… I don’t know! I mean, just… abandon everything?”
“Everything. The only thing you’ll keep from your old life is my friendship.”
“But my fucking family, Julias! My mother, my sister, my fucking dog. My friends….”
“You don’t have any close friends besides me, and you know you’re not close with your family.” Julias took another sip.
“Hey, I got… yeah I got nothing.” Jack slumped into a stool at the counter. “Holy fuck Julias. This is a pretty big god damn thing you just dumped on me.”
“A secret thing, by the way.”
“Well yeah, considering the lead-up to your question, I get the impression I tell anyone about this and I’ll have snipers at my back.” Jack let his buzzed head fall to the counter, and lightly rolled it side to side.
“That is… possible.”
“Oh fuck. Oh god fuck fuck, I didn’t believe it until you just said it.”
“Jack. Take a breath. I’m not forcing you into anything. This is not an offer you can’t refuse.” Jack stirred lightly when he felt a hand on his shoulder, but otherwise kept his forehead on the counter “Think on it. Take a few days.”
“A few days? Yeah… yeah I think I’ll do that.” He pushed himself from the counter and stood there for a moment. Julias was standing across from him, the counter between them, and was kinda smiling, and kinda frowning. His expression alien and unreadable, Jack only grew more nervous, and eventually turned around.
“And here I thought we were going to talk about random shit.” Jack walked to the door, put his hand on the handle, and took a glance back.
“Sorry,” Julias said, and the man gave an apologetic shrug.
“So, this change, this job… anything illegal?”
“Illegal? Not… really. Different world, my friend. Different rules.”
“… mafia. This sounds sounds like mafia stuff. That’s why you have all these suits.” Jack’s words apparently caught the big guy off guard, cause Julias laughed and set his drink down.
“Cherry on top. Agree to join me, and I’ll hook you up with a bunch of suits.”
“Damn man. That…” Jack almost removed his hand from the door handle. “I’ll definitely have to think about that. Cya.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was a cold night. Jack couldn’t help but shiver a little when his feet hit the sidewalk. The sun had set hours ago, and the moon was clear in the sky. At least as can be clear in a dense city. Even at this hour, people were walking the streets. Business suits and classy dresses were common. Sharks and call girls no doubt, but at least it wasn’t as obvious or dirty as his neighborhood in the Alley.
“Even the prostitutes make me look like a low-class pleb,” he said. He couldn’t help but laugh at himself and adjust his tie. Presentation, presentation.
The bus station was a good twenty-minute walk, but the streets were crowded and the police didn’t exactly sleep. Jack didn’t worry, at least not about the people. The cold was starting to set in, and he could feel his toes starting to go numb. Business shoes were not good with cold.
“Excuse me.”
Jack almost jumped. The voice beside him was smooth, alluring, feminine and inviting, but extremely unanticipated.
“Shit! Sorry, uh… yes?” He turned to face the mysterious woman, and struggled to keep his jaw from dropping. She was gorgeous. Long red hair, pale skin, sharp blue eyes, and dark lips. It was unfair how gorgeous she was. The coat she wore, black and long, hugged her figure nicely and highlighted her thin physique. She was standing in an alley between two of the buildings, and her eyes almost glowed in the darkness.
“Do you know Julias?” She spoke so smoothly, so softly, that Jack found himself taking a step toward her. What was so inviting about that voice? At eye level with him, her gaze was unrelenting, but intoxicating. It pulled him, and almost as if a hand was tugging at his neck, she took another step forward.
Her eyes were just like Julias’s.
“Uh… yes….”
She grinned at him and licked at her lips in a not-so-subtle way, just like Julias would when flirting with a girl. With a raised hand, she beckoned the boy into the darkness. The cold was suddenly not a problem, and Jack stepped toward her yet again. The background shuffling of others grew quiet as he went deeper into the darkness toward the woman, and quieter yet again when his mind grew hazy.
“Did he ask for your help?” One of her fingers pressed to his chest, but it only magnetized him. Attached to her finger, Jack was deep into the darkness now. Any light that would normally line the walls in the alley were blown, yet the stranger’s eyes were still clear in the black, like how a cat’s eyes caught light.
“He… did….” The words just came out. No resisting, nothing.
“Then you’re the one I’ve been looking for.”
He didn’t even see the knife.