3: Digging deeper
1790 Words
Max waited for a long while for Trae to wake up. To pass the time, he was just shooting hoops using Trae’s ball, silently hoping no one would arrive to see what had happened. Max had worked up a good sweat, before he decided to try waking up the sleeping boy himself. He walked to the nearby water fountain, just off to the side of the court, and let the water flow into his cupped hands. Quickly, he ran back to the unconscious boy and splashed his face with the water. Trae shot up as soon as the water touched his face. A look of panic was written all over his face, as he frantically looked around, trying to get a feel of his surroundings.
“You finally awake?” Max asked, as he knelt down and performed a crude consciousness test.
He snapped his fingers just by the now sitting boy’s ears, just to make sure his hearing was still functioning.
“What’s goin’ on white boy?” he asked, as he put his head into his hands, trying to shake off nausea.
“I knocked you out,” Max said, in a triumphant tone. Mildly surprised at his competitiveness, he dismissed it as the boy inside him. “I’m just trying to make sure you didn’t suffer any kind of brain damage.”
“Brain damage… That’s wild,” said Trae, now humbled with what he had experienced. “I’m used to being the biggest guy ‘round here. I really didn’t expect to get beat up by you of all people.”
“I hear you. I guess I got tired of the things you all put me through.”
Trae suddenly felt guilt set in, as Max helped him to his feet.
“I-I’m sorry about that man… you hit well though,” he said, clearly referring to the right hook that he suffered at the hands of Max.
Max chuckled and offered his shoulder to his former bully. The latter declined and decided to walk over to the water fountain to get a drink. With a brief moment of silence, Max finally had the time to organize his thoughts more clearly.
He knew that he was in New York, in 1994. He lived in the area of New York that was not exactly
high end. As for the exact location, he was completely oblivious. For a moment, Max surveyed his surroundings. There was a park to the left of the basketball court. To the right was a pizzeria, and a few hotdogs stands. There was an abundance of mid-rise buildings made of bricks, coated from head to toe with graffiti. Finally, his eyes landed on some green signage. It was old and covered in marker scrawlings and stickers, but the white letters still popped through. “Welcome to the Bronx”. That’s it, he thought. He was in the Bronx.
He didn’t notice that Trae had walked back to him from his quick trip to the fountain. When he turned back, he saw the black youth had his face soaked in water.
“Alright, man. Listen. If you don’t want no trouble any more then, aight. We can squash the beef right here. No problems anymore,” he said as he extended his hand for a shake.
Max nodded, and shook Trae’s hand, offering a faint smile.
“Good to know. I hope we can get along better, Trae,” Max said.
“Yeah, man. It’s Max, right? I get along with tough people like you. There’s a respect for that, you know?”
He didn’t, but he just nodded and smiled. Finally, he could go back to his original problem.
Who was it that killed Matty? What is “The Wolfpack”? How did he end up here? The questions raced through Max’s mind, as he desperately searched for answers that weren’t there. The young man sitting next to him took note of this and asked about it.
“You ok, man? It looks like somethins’ botherin’ you.”
“It’s alright, just got a lot to think about.”
“Well, if y’all want, you can come to hang by my house. My mom just bought us somethin’ called… uh, a personal computer?”
Instantly, Max perked up. His head shot back to his newfound companion.
“Computer?! You got one?!” he said, as he grasped Trae’s shoulders.
“Y-yeah man! Chill for a second,” he said, as he took Max’s hands from his shoulders and put them back to his sides. “It’s a new thing for any of us to have in the Bronx man. If you know how to use one, then we can go!”
“Yeah! Let’s go!”
As soon as Trae packed up his sports bag, the pair ran off to see this brand new technological marvel; the personal computer.
----------
Trae unlocked the door, and the two both entered an old decrepit looking house. Actually, calling it old was an understatement, as this dimly lit house seemed to be nearly falling off the hinges. Once they entered, a middle-aged woman walked out of the kitchen, seething. She marched right up to him and yelled at him so loudly, it caught the attention of some of the passersby.
“Trae! What’s this I heard about you pickin’ on some white kid?!”
“Ma’ I-I was only playin’!” the terrified boy argued, shrinking back at the booming voice of his mother.
“The hell you were! Who’d you fight? I’ll be damned knowin’ I raised a delinquent!”
“It’s ok ma! We friends now see?” he said, pointing back toward Max.
This situation was completely new to Max, so the best he could do was smile and wave back at the mother. For a moment, the surprise kept her quiet. Afterward, it was as if she had turned a complete one-hundred eighty degrees, as her voice softened almost completely.
“Ohhhh! Well, I didn’t know you’d be bringing a friend over. Come on to the dining room, we can get food for you!”
“Ma’ it’s ok, he just here to try the new computer thing!”
She shot a suspicious glare at her son but softened towards Max.
“Well, as long as y’all don’t break it, go ahead! I’m gonna prepare snacks for you both!”
Trae’s mother rushed back into the kitchen, leaving the two boys alone together again.
“I’m sorry about my mom, she is a little… extra,” he said, trying to contain his embarrassment.
The two walked upstairs into a room that was completely empty, except for the computer that sat built in the back corner. Trae plugged in the transformer and flipped the switch. A low humming sound vibrated from the small black device. With that, he pushed the power button in the main CPU. The screen lit up, and within minutes, the device was completely operational.
“Well, there ya’ go!” he said.
Max was completely ecstatic at the sight of the first computer he had seen since he was killed in his past life. He ran his hands lightly along with the old analog keyboard, remembering the feeling of keys under his fingers. He looked at the default wallpaper, which was a beautiful green field under a blue sky, and smiled in nostalgia. After what seemed like forever, finally, he would be able to get some work done. The boy cracked his knuckles, as he began booting up the default search engine of that era.
“Wolf Pack...” he said, mumbling to himself.
“What, you like animals or something?” Trae said, watching out of curiosity.
Suddenly, a bunch of articles had appeared on the screen, mostly about the animal. Max typed even more quickly, typing in more specific terms into the search box. Assassins. Cult. Organized crime. Finally, a hit had appeared before his eyes.
“The Wolfpack group, an ex-militia, was hired as protection by Emily Banner, CEO of nationwide bookstore franchise Banner&Bunny. The Wolfpack group also serves as protection for several other companies and their respective personnel. Eventually, the ex-militia formed a security agency, and was funded by Banner and her associates,” Max mumbled as he read deeper into the article.
At this point, Trae’s mouth was filled with the popcorn that his mother sneaked into the room.
“Sho, dese guysh awr lik bad guysh or shomthin?” he asked, almost completely incomprehensible as he talked with his mouth full.
“Yeah, we can say that,” he said, trying to be as vague as possible.
Trae swallowed his food and spoke up again.
“Why? They do somethin’ bad to you?”
“Yeah, they… Uhm.”
The newfound companion shook his head and put his hand up.
“Say no more man. You got secrets. I get that.” He reached for more popcorn and dug his hand deep into the bowl. “But let’s say these guys are bad guys. How are you, a kid from the Bronx, gonna get back at them for whatever they did?”
For the first time, Trae had said something that made complete sense. Even if Max did know what “The Wolfpack” was, and how they operated, he still had too little to use in order to combat them. They were funded by multimillionaires and large companies. No doubt, the police could probably be bought by them as well if the price was right. He was in a slump. Max raised his hand to his mouth and bit the nail of his thumb. It was an anxious habit he had. After a moment, he sighed, lowered his head, and put his hands on his knees.
“I think I have a plan,” Max said.
“What’s the catch though?” asked Trae, as he put down the bowl.
“Well… I don’t think it’s legal.”
Trae’s eyes widened in disbelief, as he looked at his newfound friend.
“Then how do I know we won’t get caught?!” Trae asked, impatiently.
“That’s the thing, you gotta trust me,” Max replied.
“Look I don’t know man, what about-”
Trae was cut off, as his eyes widened at the thing that Max had just said.
“Wait, wait… say that again?” Trae asked.
“We could potentially make really big money, if we pull this off.”
Trae looked into Max’s eyes, peering into them to see any signs of lying.
“How big?”
Max leaned in, and whispered into Trae’s ears. Trae recoiled back, with hand over his mout and eyes wide.
“That big?”
“Yeah. But I really need your help.”
Trae stood up and turned away. He put his hands on his face and let out a big sigh.
“Fine, but you gotta fill me in! Every detail!”
Max’s face raised again; his eyes bright. A wide grin stretched across his face.
“Trae my friend, you and I are going to be rich!”
Suddenly, Trae got invested in this as well. The two finally had something they could have in common.
“How can I help?” Trae asked with a devilish smile.
“I need a list of the most popular video games in the past three years.”
- Writer
