My brother, the gangster Part 2

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“Well, well. Look here. 10 years later he comes back. The man we used to call, ‘The Weasel’. A man who was so cunning that even if he was caught red handed, he would talk his way to freedom. I had a feeling you would come back, and I have a feeling I know why you’re here.”

He stood there smiling. I couldn’t believe that we used to be best friends. Now, we each have different opinions and proceeded on different paths. He was calling me ‘The Weasel’ yet he was and is ‘The Jackal’. A ruthless conniving man who did not care or fear to get his hands dirty to get whatever he wanted. It was not going to be easy, but I knew what I had gone there to do.

“Halo Francis.”

“I’m sorry, no official names. You know my pseudo name.”

“Yes, Mr. Jackal.”

“Long time no see, Mr. Weasel. Have you come back to join us?”

“No, not really.”

“Pity. If you had stayed, you would have been at the helm of this empire. I still have respect for what you did for us, did for me, and you are welcome to come back any time you wish.”

“Thank you for the offer, but that is not the reason I came here today.”

“Of course it’s not, but I have to say if you stayed you would not be working at that dead-end job as a mechanic. You would be wealthy like I am, have cars, have a huge house, have different girls daily, and so much money you would not be able to know what to do with it. Alright, what can I do for you? Do you need money or a job?”

“No, thanks again, but really what brought me here …”

“Say no more. You want me to release your brother from his loan.”

“Yes … Not really release him from the loan, but I wanted …”

“To come and ask for him not to join our ‘Prestigious Organization’. Is that it?”

I froze. He knew me to well. I was asking myself why he was tormenting me if he knew what I had come. I just shook my head in acceptance. He sat down on his leather chair and ushered me to sit down.

“I can’t really. I’m in a hurry.”

“What? We can’t catch up? Do you have to rush back to that shack that you call your office?”

“Yes.”

“What we are about to talk about is more serious than that thing you call a job. Sit, let’s reminisce on the good old days. Sit!”

I pulled the chair closest to his mahogany desk and sat like I was ready to leave.

“Please do not sit like you are going to soil yourself. We are all friends here, so you don’t have to fear me.”

Not fear him. I knew what he could do. He killed a lot of people, including the former boss to get to where he was. The list included some of my friends, locals in the estate, police officers, judges, lawyers, politicians, the list is endless, including any witness damn enough to stand against him in court. This man was not someone anybody would like to play with. However, I had to save my brother, even if it meant going to the ‘dragon’s nest’ itself.

“I really like your brother. He is a real hard worker. It would also seem he has enjoyed himself the past two weeks. The reason he is even joining us is because he saw how miserable you were in your job that he said that that would never be him. He is the one who applied to join our organization. Now, your brother owes us a lot of money, and he has to pay for it somehow, so what was your idea of releasing him from that contract?”

I just looked at him. I was still on the fact that he just said my brother had requested to join them. I felt sick to my stomach. Here I was trying to fight for his freedom, but he wanted it in the first place. I soon realized where I was and came back to. He was looking at me smiling.

“That is what I like about you, always a thinker. You always knew what to do and when that is why I need you back. All I have are children running around like headless chickens. I will ask again, how will your brother pay us after we have released him from his contract?”

“I am not sure.”

“Well that was a fail. I thought you would come up with a better answer. I retract my offer, we don’t need someone who fixes cars to come and help us. Why don’t you go back to your job, and stop wasting my time.”

I looked at him with disgust, but he had bent his head down and was looking at some paper. He looked up and saw my face.

“Didn’t you hear me, get out!”

I stood up abruptly. I was angry. I wanted to bash his head on his desk, but I knew that would be signing a death wish against the hordes of goons standing outside the door. I started walking to the door when he called out to me.

“Wait weasel. I have a proposition for you. I want you to do a job for us. Once you have done it, your brother’s debt will be written off and you can go back to your dead end job.”