The Seven Day Gangster

Chapter 5

"Okay, you're going to be in this room." Sam gestured towards a rather spacey room with white walls, a small rug and a comfy looking bed.

Other than the tiny maroon rug next to the bed, the room was pretty empty. I didn’t mind it. My own room was pretty empty as well, different only with a bookshelf, like two posters and a desk.

“Yeah, it’s really plain; I didn’t know what you liked. If you care enough, I’m sure you could transfer your room decoration here.” Sam looked almost apologetic; it made me smile.

It looked like Sam was on crap detail. He was the one who had to drive and pick me up, he had to show me around when everyone was gone someplace else and I just found out that he was the one who had to prepare my room.

Anyways, he was an unusually nice guy, especially for a gangster, so I was glad that it was him who was showing me around and not someone like Randy.

“Come on, there’s more to see and I want to be done by the time they come back.”

I looked up to see Sam gesturing quickly from the hallway outside.

As we passed by several more rooms, I was astonished by the large size of the place.

“Who bought this house? It’s really nice,” I managed to say, upon passing by another room filled with antique looking couches. It was weird seeing such expensive furniture in a house full of gangsters.

Apparently nice gangsters, I reminded myself. Yeah, that would definitely take some getting used to.

Sam laughed; but then again, he laughed at pretty much everything. “We got the hangout a while back. I think Nathan’s family owned it for a while. That’s why there’s so much old-time furniture in here. Nathan wouldn’t buy that kind of stuff.” I smiled; yeah, I hadn’t really thought they were the type to sit down and leaf through a catalog of antique household items.

“Anyways, because it’s so obscurely located, Downtown government doesn’t even ask us for any sort of mortgage. Basically, we’re not on the chart. From the outside, we’re just another rundown building hit hard by the recession and left to crumble up on its own. And in Downtown, no one really gives a crap about all these shady buildings because there are so many. So basically, aside from buying food and those kinds of necessities, we’re pretty much mooching off a free supply of electricity and water. It’s pretty damn awesome.”

I had to agree.

Their hangout totally beat the cheap deal my dad had gotten for our house. I mean, they didn’t even have to pay for the utilities they were using.

My dad. The thought of him brought a rush of anxiety to my gut. I hadn’t seen him for a couple of hours only, and I already missed him.

I wondered what he was doing on the plane right now.

Probably reading that one economics book I tried to persuade him not to buy. Yeah, I could totally imagine him sitting in the window seat (his favorite), completely engrossed in a novel detailing in great description the history of monetary fiscal policy or something like that.

Thinking of him brought a sad smile to my face.

I hoped, wherever he was, that he would hurry up and get that bill or whatever passed so we wouldn’t be in this kind of danger anymore. I hoped that he could finish up quickly so I could head back home. Most of all, I hoped that he was safe.

I didn’t know for sure that Nathan had been lying or telling the truth about anything he said earlier. But at the moment, he knew the most information out of anyone else around me so I had to put some level of trust in him.