CRYPTO: Infidelity (Book 1)

CHAPTER 79: CLUB

On Monday, I took a ride with Rockie, Jordan, Cam, and Duke. They wouldn't tell me where we were going, but Rockie claimed that it was work-related, otherwise, I would have stayed back to spend more time with Birdie.

We parked in front of a comedy club.

"You said this was work-related," I complained to Rockie.

"It is," he told me. "Come on." He got out of the car and we followed him into the comedy club.

We were "greeted" at the door by two guards.

"Names?" one of the guards asked.

"Rockie, Crypto, Jordan, Cam, and Duke," Rockie told him.

The other guard held out a plastic container. "Put your phones and weapons in here."

They put their phones, guns, and knives into the container. I just put my phone in since I hadn't brought a weapon. Then the guard thoroughly looked each of us over to make sure we weren't hiding anything on our bodies. He even checked inside our ears, mouths, inner thighs, and under our tails. It was very invasive, but I had done the same thing many times to criminals when arresting them.

After searching, the guard gave us each a sticker with a number on it. "Stick it on your forehead and keep it there," he told us. "If your sticker isn't visible, you will be kicked out. If you lose it, you will not get your things back."

We stuck the stickers onto our foreheads, though I felt very silly doing so.

"You may go in," the guard told us.

We walked into the next room where there were already quite a few animals. I recognized a few of them, such as Angelo and Uncle Blade.

"What are we doing here?" I asked Rockie.

"We have these meetings every six months," he said.

"Oh, that clears it up," I said. I didn't understand why he couldn't just tell me. I looked around to see who was there. I didn't see Diesel anywhere, but I saw Spiney. He was hard to miss, being a giant pink and green dinosaur. He had a white owl, I assumed to be Gavin, perched on his humped back while Spiney talked to a few of the mobsters.

"Can we talk to the Boss?" I asked Rockie.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because... he's the Boss?"

"You're not a high enough rank to talk to the Boss," Rockie told me.

"I've talked to him before," I said.

"Never assume just because you talked to him before, it's okay to talk to him whenever you want. You need permission."

"Okay. Can I have permission?"

"It's not up to me."

"Then who do I get permission from?"

"The Boss, of course."

"But you said I'm not allowed to talk to him."

"You're not."

"Then how-"

"He will talk to you. You don't talk to him."

"Why are you so eager to talk to him anyhow?" Duke asked me.

"Just 'cause," I said.

"Because you're a suck-up?" he asked. "Because you want a higher rank? Because you're tired of us?"

"No," I said.

"So you're not tired of us?" Duke asked. "Then how come you never hang out with us when you're invited?"

"He has a point, Crypto," Rockie said. "We haven't hung out as friends in almost a month."

"Well, maybe if you guys actually did something useful with your time, I would," I said.

"I don't understand, "Rockie said. "You seemed to like to hang out before."

"Maybe he felt convicted by that street preacher," Cam suggested. "He hasn't hung out with us since that night."

"He's right," Jordan said.

"Look, Crypto," Rockie said. "I'm sorry if we pressured you into drinking. We didn't realize you'd be so affected by it."

"It's not because of that," I told him.

"Then what is it?"

"I've just been busy."

"You always use that excuse," Duke said.

"Maybe that's because, unlike you, I actually have a real job," I said.

"Excuse me? I bet I make more money than you do!"

"I make just as much as you, and more. I have the same job as you, on top of being a cop. At least I don't spend all my money on useless things."

"It's not useless if you're having fun," Rockie interjected.

"That's just not how I roll," I said.

"What do you plan on using your money for then?" Duke asked.

"I'm gonna save it in case I need it in the future."

"That's like a squirrel burying its nut in the dirt."

"You know they do that to store it for the winter, right?" I asked him. "So they don't, you know, starve to death."

"I think that's a wise thing to do," Jordan said. "I like to save some of my money for my family."

"Crypto doesn't have a family," Duke said.

"I might in the future," I said.

"No. You're too busy. If you don't have time for your friends, you don't have time for a family," Duke told me.

"Who says you're my friend?" I asked him.

Duke looked at Rockie. "Do you hear this guy?"

"He's right," Rockie said. "We're not friends. We're Family. Right, Crypto?"

"Right," I reluctantly said.

"And Family doesn't fight," he told us. "Right, Duke?"

"Yeah, yeah," Duke said.

"Especially not around the Boss," Cam added.