Unfortunate Encounter With A Mafia Boss

Loan Sharks

Laura gaped at Gary in shock, could their business know dealing with crimes? Why would Gary accept a business deal that could endanger their lives? Different thoughts flew over Laura's head, and she decided to say something.

Their job principles were simple: don't get caught and don't do crimes, so, could Gary be going against their principles this time? Laura wondered. “Gary, are you trying to get involved in crime now?” Laura inquired, not believing Gary was capable of that.

“If that's it, then I am off. I am barely hanging in this job despite my mother's warning, and now you are trying to get crime involved, then I am out,” Laura says all in one breath and Gary sighed loudly.

Laura's mother was against the job she was doing, especially when she met her one day as a chief mourner at a funeral, she knew her daughter was overdoing it. “Can you please stop panicking and let me say something,” Gary reprimanded, and Laura calmed down a bit.

“It's like every other job, just get information about the person, and you will get the pay,” Gary says with a calm voice, reaching for an envelope. “That's all?” Laura asked, not believing someone could go to that kind of extra length to get information about someone, and the money is still much of a turn-off for her. How sure is it that it won't be more than that?

“Is this person a president that you are charging this much to get information about,” Laura not believing, and when Gary heard that, he didn't say anything but swallowed in fear. He picked up a picture and hesitated to hand it over to her, but after much thought he did.

Laura collected the picture and when she viewed it, she was love struck. How could a man be that handsome? “He is beautiful," Laura mumbled before she could stop herself, and Gary gave her a look. Laura has never met anyone that handsome before, his every feature was definite. She was smitten, and now she was even more eager to take the job. She won't mind if she started stalking him when sunbathing. p*****t.

“Laura, Laura,” Gary called the daydreaming girl, and she jolted out of her reverie. “Are you taking the job?” Gary asked, and Laura nodded profusely. “Yeah I am, the pay is good, and the man is beautiful," Laura says jokingly since she is a dog-faced person but her expression turns serious immediately when something clicks. “Why will anyone pay so much if the job is this simple as the rest, who is he?”Laura asked and Gary took a deep breath.

“Logan Craig,” Gary says, and the name doesn't ring a bell in Laura's head until he adds the last part. “The boss of the Cassidy gang,” Gary says, dropping the bomb. “A mafia boss?”Laura asked. She wouldn't do that.

******************************************

Laura walked through the damp street of her neighborhood and she hissed in frustration about what was going, and her mood was even ruined when a moving car splashed water on her.

“Ahhhh you jerk,” Laura shrieked cursing at the moving car, and she cleaned her cloth hurriedly muttering numerous curses while doing that, but her sight caught a shining thing.

A coin! Laura looked around the vicinity to see if anyone was not looking, and she quickly rushed to pick up the coin, but a little boy beat her to it.

“Big sister, I picked it first,” the little boy declared after Laura held his hand, but what he didn't know was that Laura was very petty.

“What to do little boy, this money is mine,” she says shamelessly and the unbelievable look on the boy's face already exposes her plan and she went on under the charring sun trying to prove the coin was hers.

“Kids are a disaster,” Laura complained after her encounter with the stubborn kid who didn't later let go of the coin. “Are you pregnant?” A voice asked behind Laura startling her, but she recognized that voice it was her gossip-monger neighbor that lives next door.

“Good afternoon to you too, Miss Emily,” Laura greeted, not bothering to give her an explanation about anything.

She walked towards her old 2-bedroom apartment that should be under renovation but because they were barely even feeding themselves, they still live in it and that was about everyone around them.

Laura walked towards their entrance, but she noticed something weird. She noticed her things outside. ‘Did my mother throw my things out?’ Laura thought, knocking heavily on the door. “Mother opened this door!” Laura yelled, banging on the door loudly, attracting the attention of her nosy neighbors. If there was something Laura liked about this neighbor, it was the nosiness.

Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't.

“Go back to your crazy job, and stop coming back to this house,” she heard her mother's tiny, frail voice from inside. “What do you mean mother? I am barely surviving. Is it alright to push your only daughter to the hands of cold air,” Laura joked, and she heard her mother's laughter from inside and that was more like it?

“Creak” the door crept open revealing her mother who was the same replica of Laura but the older version. Laura let out a sad smile looking at her frail-looking mother that was pale looking because of the sickness she had been battling with. “Are you just coming from a funeral home?” her mother asked, and Laura gave her a subtle look. “No, is someone dead?”

“I don't know, who knows if you are filling in as someone chief mourner this time,” her mother says, giving her space to enter the house with some things in hand. “Mom, can you stop? That was like a one-time thing and also one of my paying jobs," Laura defended, and her mother sneered. “And could we stop doing this Mrs. Benson, my hands are already aching from so much work,” Laura complained, and her mother quickly ran towards her in concern.

“I am sorry my baby, did I tire you out,” She asked and Laura let out a sad smile in guilt. She knew why her mother was doing that; it was because she was bored. She was always at home and being the only one-way home and not having anything to do, she would want to play some pranks.

“It's fine mom,” Laura assured, and her mother breathed a sigh of relief. “My baby,” her mother called fondly, her cheeks split into two and fine wrinkles appeared on the side.

“Go freshen up first and come down for dinner,” her mother says and Laura smiles, leaving her things in the sitting room, knowing her mother will get them for her. After taking her bath in her tiny bathroom, she sat in front of her small vanity table and stared at herself in the mirror. “What a lonely girl,” Laura complimented herself, sadly looking at the lone girl with a blank expression staring back at her.

“Bang bang,” Laura heard the sound of the banging door. She immediately jerked up, and she knew the only irresponsible people that could bang a door so ill-mannerly like that are LOAN SHARKS. Laura skipped down the stairs, and she saw her mother talking to the gangsters who weren't giving her a listening ear, and she got annoyed.

“Mother!” Laura called, and the people glanced at her. “Wow, it looks like the princess is here!” they all exclaimed, but Laura didn't bother about them, instead she ushered her mother back into the house. “Mom, stay here, I will speak with them.” Laura assured. “I don't think they would hear, they want the money now,” Laura's mother says, coughing loudly and Laura went to get her mother some water. Her mother needed her medicine and she knew she should be able to take care of it with the pay she got that day.

“Answer us, young woman, we don't have all day!” One of the men yelled, and Laura glared at him. “You exercise some patience, young man,” she cautioned before she asked her mom to take some rest and that she will handle them.

Laura went out to meet the men, and she cringed at the ugly face scattered with different scars. She had come across different types of faces like that after her father ran away leaving huge debts behind. “Our money,” they requested and Laura sighed. “Give me time,” she begged, and the men burst into laughter looking at her.

“Why would we give you time? Don't forget you are late on the other payment,” they said and Laura rolled her eyes at them. She usually pays 200 dollars every month, and she was late on the last, and she would be late on this too, but she doesn't have any choice.

“We can actually give you time or even clear your debts, but the stanza hasn't changed much,” one of the men says, giving Laura a sultry look and she gets offended.

“Get your eyes off me before I gorge it out for you,” she threatened, and the men got angry because they couldn't do anything to her because the neighborhood wasn't to be strife with.

“You know we changed our mind, stop paying monthly, we want our money in full,” the man said and Laura's eyes went wide with surprise. How could they want their money in full? But how would she get that? She was worried until a thought slipped into her mind.

“Ok, give me four days and come back,” Laura says, and the men stare at her in shock. They knew she wasn't begging for mercy, and they took her word for it, knowing she wouldn't be able to get the money. Laura stared at the retreating of the men, and she looked around to see the gauging looks of her neighbors.

Everybody in the neighborhood was either owing loan sharks or the bank was on their neck for payments, so she had nothing to be ashamed of. She walked back into the house and assured her mother that everything was alright. She walked into her room and picked up her phone, dialing the number and the person picked up on the second ring.

“I will do the job, Gary, send me the details,” Laura breathed into her phone.