Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Who's On My Side? The Story of Kalen Brown

As Kalen and Jesse sat in the back seat of the Beamer, Kam sat in the passenger seat, playing with the radio as Psycho continued to drive.

“Now this is my jam,” Kam shouted as a song from Kanye came on the air. “What you boys know about this?”

Kalen and Jesse nodded their heads, indicating that they liked the song, but kept silent. Fear was building in the both of them as they were about to face the unknown. It was as if they could hear their hearts beating over the music.

Jesse looked Kalen in the eyes, trying his best to calm his own nerves. He hoped that Kalen wasn’t feeling the same way, but could tell that the decision to get in the back of the Beamer, to do this job, wasn’t the smartest decision that they had ever made.

As the song ended, Kam turned the radio off and faced Kalen and Jesse. “Okay fellas, here is how it’s going to go down tonight. We are going to meet with some very high powered men tonight. They are from Hartford, Connecticut and want to expand Big Boss’s operation down there. We will be negotiating prices and they will be observing the product. All of the merchandise is in the trunk. I need you boys to be smart and keep an eye out for any nonsense.”

“So, you want us to be spotters?” Kalen asked.

A smirk fell upon Kam’s face. “Spotters? You’ve been watching too much TV,” he said with a chuckle, “But, yeah. I need you boys to keep a look out for anything funny out there. We can’t afford to be exposed to any nonsense.”

“So, this can potentially get dangerous?” Jesse questioned.

“Oh, no doubt,” Kam answered as he looked over to Psycho, then back to them. “But my boy, Psycho, is no joke. I doubt if they really want to test him. He’s too legit with his piece. This should be a smooth meeting.”

“Should be, huh?” Jesse said in a curious tone. He looked over to Kalen. “Just great.”

Kalen took a deep breath and looked out of the window. He noticed that they were still in Springfield, Massachusetts, but somewhere downtown, near the waterfront, close to the Basketball Hall of Fame. He could see a couple of cars in the distance, sitting in a park, just past the bridge to the highway that connected Springfield to Hartford. Kalen could feel that the moment had come for them to be on point. He didn’t want to mess up and he knew that this wasn’t a test like Big Boss gave them on their first night out.

As the car pulled into the dimly lit park, Pyscho pulled the car in front of the two Mercedes Benz’s. “Okay, fellas,” Kam said as Psycho turned the car off. “This is it. Are you ready?”

Kalen and Jesse both did their best to control their breathing. “Yeah, we’re ready,” Kalen responded with confidence.”

Kam nodded. “Remember, keep your eyes open. We cannot fall asleep on the job.”

“We got it,” Kalen responded.

Kam turned around and did a quick head count of every man who was standing outside of their cars, in front of the lights. Four men in cream colored suits stood, ready for their meeting. “Let’s go,” Kam said as he opened the door.

Psycho opened his door as well and quickly exited the car.

Jesse shook his head, letting Kalen know that this was way too much for him to handle.

“I know,” Kalen said, sensing what Jesse was thinking. “Let’s go and get this over with.”

They both exited the car and stood behind Kam and Psycho.

As the four men walked over to them, Kam whispered to Kalen and Jesse. “I need you boys to keep an eye out on the bushes and the bridge in the distance. If you see anything move, you got to speak. Pyscho and I will make the decision on what to do. Understand?”

Kalen and Jesse worked up enough strength to whisper back clearly. “Uh huh.”

“Hello, gentlemen,” one of the men said with a Russian accent. “Kam, it nice to see you again, and pleasure finalizing business with you tonight.”

“What’s up, Sergey,” Kam responded, “It’s always a pleasure working with a decent, honest man like you.”

Kalen could hear the sarcasm in Kam’s voice. He could tell that they both were positioning themselves to finalize the deal.

As the two continued to discuss their past week of events, Kalen and Jesse did what they were told and scoped the area out. They looked at every bush and every inch of the bridge that was in the distance. Their eyes combed the Connecticut River for any boats that might be riding by. As of that moment, everything was cool, but they were still very uneasy.

“So, let’s cut the bull crap, Sergey, and get to business.”

“Da (Yes), Kam,” Sergey responded. “Let’s get to business. Let us see the product.”

“Now, Sergey, are you crazy?” Kam answered. “I need to see the money first, baby. Show me the monay!”

Sergey stroked his chin. “What a smart man you are, Kam. Even though we’ve been working on this deal for over two years, you are still on your toes. That’s why I like you,” he said then turned to his men. “Kam does not slip up. No mistakes, you see. I love it.”

Kam’s smile quickly left his face as he could tell that Sergey was stalling. He cracked his neck. As he did, Psycho put his left hand on his hip. Kalen and Jesse both noticed this and started to breathe a little faster as they expected things to really heat up.

The fear was building as Sergey turned to face Kam again. He noticed Psycho in position and was easily ready to take out his three henchmen. “I love it. You boys are great and even brought back-up. Puny back-up, but just enough to keep me at bay,” Sergey said as he looked at Kalen and Jesse. Sergey quickly snapped his fingers and the door to one of the Mercedes opened up.

A beautiful Asian woman stepped out of the car and walked over with two black briefcases. Jesse noticed the lady and gasped at her beauty.

Kalen hissed at him, quickly grabbing his attention. As Jesse looked at him, he pointed to his eyes, indicating that it was more important for them to be on the lookout, than to be looking out for that lady. Jesse nodded and refocused on the scenery around them.

“Nice,” Kam said as the lady walked forward.

“You like the briefcases, Kam?” Sergey asked.

“Not just the briefcases, but what’s bringing them to me,” Kam said quickly.

Sergey turned as his lady walked passed him, and over to the hood of Kam’s car. “She is beautiful, Kam. You have great taste, but that is mine; you can keep the packages.”

The lady put the briefcases on the hood of the car without a word. She walked back over to the Mercedes and got back in. “I sure will keep these packages, but it would have been a great gesture to leave her as well.”

Sergey chuckled as he spoke. “Maybe when I’m done, you might get a crack at it.”

“Maybe,” Kam responded.

“So, where is my product? I’d like to get this party started.” Sergey said as the exchange was continuing on.

As Kam walked to the back of the car with Sergey, Kalen noticed something moving behind a bush near the water. At first, he thought that it was the light from the moon, shining off of the water and hitting the bush, but a green light started to flash. He snapped his fingers, once to grab Jesse’s attention.

Jesse’s head quickly turned around. Kalen pointed to the bush. As he did, the green light flickered again.

“I see it,” Jesse whispered.

“What should we do?” Kalen asked.

“We need to let Psycho know. Kam said that if we saw anything, we have to let them know,” Jesse responded.

“Okay, no doubt,” Kalen quickly walked over to Psycho and whispered in his ear. “I see something.”

Without hesitation and for the first time, Psycho spoke. “Yo’ Kam, it’s getting cold.”

Before Kam was about to open the trunk, he stopped and looked Sergey in the eyes. “Are you serious, Sergey?”

Sergey’s eyes quickly widened. “What are you talking about, Kam?”

“You’re trying to set us up,” Kam responded.

“Me? I have no idea what you’re talking about, honestly,” Sergey responded as if he didn’t know what was going on.

“Who saw something, Psycho?” Kam asked.

“Our boys, they spotted something in the bushes,” Psycho responded.

Kam nodded as he looked at Kalen and Jesse. “Got it!” he shouted then quickly pulled out his gun. Kam did not hesitate as he placed the barrel of the gun on Sergey’s temple.

At that same moment, Psycho pulled out two guns and pointed them at the henchmen that stood on the left and right of Sergey.

Psycho spoke to the one in the middle. “If you think about moving, you all will be laying in the river. Don’t even think about breathing.”

Kalen and Jesse backed up towards the back door of the Beamer. “What the hell, man!” Jesse shouted.

“Chill, youngin’, we got this,” Kam said in a calm tone. “Now, what did you see?”

“A…a…green light flickering in the bushes by the water,” Kalen said with a stutter. “It was probably nothing. I…”

Kam looked at Sergey as he pressed the gun harder onto his temple, not letting Kalen finish what he was about to say. “Call them out, right now!”

“Okay, okay, but this was not my idea. I had nothing to do with this, Kam,” Sergey said with his hands over his head. “It was my boss’ idea.”

“I don’t care whose idea it was,” Kam said quickly. “You have two options right now. You can find your final resting place in that river, or call them out.”

“You got it, Kam,” Sergey said loudly. “C’mon out! It’s over! You have been spotted.”

As Sergey shouted, two more men crawled out from the bushes with sniper rifles. The green light that was spotted, was the light of the moon hitting the lens of the scope. “So, you were going to take us all out?”

“Kam…it…it was…just business, my man,” Sergey said as he feared for his life.

“Drop the guns, and walk behind your boys so that I can have you in my line of sight,” Psycho shouted. The men dropped their guns and followed his direction. “Good. Now boys, go get the guns and put them in the car. Get in and sit there while we handle this mess out here.”

Kalen and Jesse quickly picked up the two rifles and got back into the car and sat down. “Oh, man! They’re going to kill them, Kalen!” Jesse said in complete fear. “What the hell are we doing?”

“Bro’, I’m sorry. Seriously, I’m really, really sorry for getting us in this mess,” Kalen said as he shook in the back seat.

“Oh, man, this is just nuts,” Jesse said back to him.

They both sat in the car and listened to Kam continue to threaten Sergey, forcing more and more information out of him as he got closer to pulling the trigger. Kalen closed his eyes and prayed that Kam and Psycho wouldn’t take it that far. He wanted this mess to end and didn’t want to be a part of any murder.

Kalen slowly opened his eyes and noticed Jesse, hunched over, covering his ears in case he was to hear gun shots. Kalen continued to listen to Kam shout at Sergey and hoped for the best.

After a few minutes, Kalen and Jesse heard Kam shout out. “Now, get the hell out of here. Tell your Boss that all deals are off and that he better watch his back. Something good will be coming down the pipeline for him real soon.”

“As you wish, Kam. Thank you for sparing me and my boys. I’m done with this business. Do svidaniya (Goodbye),” Sergey said then slowly walked back to the Mercedes Benz with his henchmen. They got in and quickly pulled off.

After a few minutes, Kam and Psycho got back into the car, with the two briefcases, laughing about how everything went down. “Whoa! Now that was a rush!” Kam said as he let out a deep breath.

Psycho turned around to face Kalen and Jesse. He finally removed his sunglasses. “Great job, ma’ boys! Ja pulled a great job for us. Now weh no you are fo’ real.”

Kalen nodded. “You let them go?”

“Of course,” Kam responded. “Sergey is not the threat. Plus, he’s soft. He’s a ‘yes’ man.”

“So, what’s going to happen from here on out,” Jesse asked.

“Well, Sergey will tell his Boss what happened and how he lost the money. What happens to him from that point is his business, but they just lost a lot of money tonight,” Kam said with a chuckle.

“I’m happy that you got a kick out of that,” Jesse said as he was still shaking.

“Of course I did,” Kam responded. “So, you boys want to go out for a drink with us, to celebrate?”

“Ya’ mon, c’mon out with us, ya’ hear. It will be fun to chill with you. You’ve earned me respect,” Psycho said with a half smile.

“I…I think we’re good,” Kalen said as his hands were still shaking.

“Can you just drop us off at my house?” Jesse added.

Kam nodded as he could tell that the night’s event was a bit much for the boys. “Okay, boys, I’ll bring you home. Thanks for the eyes though. You saved me and Psycho, and that goes a long way in my book.”

“Thanks,” Jesse responded still in shock on how things went down.

Psycho turned the car on and drove off, heading to Jesse’s house to drop the boys off for the night.