the criminal // S.M.

2 // business

It was around 4 am when I finally made it back to the underground.

The underground was a bar on the bad side of town. My boss' office was in the basement, so I came here a lot.

"Want anything to drink, Boomer?" The bartender asked me. Boomer was my nickname here. We all had nicknames, it was harder for outsiders to find us that way.

"No, do you know where the viper is?" I asked her, fiddling with my thumbs. Viper was the boss of the underground.

"He should be downstairs."

"Thank you," I said, headed for his office. To get the basement you had to pull open a trap door and climb down a ladder. It was sometimes difficult to find it, but that is so when the police raid the bar they don't know its down there.

I swung the hatch open and climbed down, careful on the creaky steps.

"Boomer," Viper greeted me.

Vipers office was not like a normal office. It looked more like a man cave, or game room.

There was a flat screen TV hooked up to video games, couches on every wall, a mini fridge, and a gun closet. The only thing that made it look like an office was his desk, but he rarely sat at it.

I sat down on a couch across from him. "I took care of your business."

"You always do," he smiled and sipped a beer. "What did you do with the body?"

"Took care of it. Nobody will find any trace of her death."

"Good, very good," Viper nodded, looking pleased with himself. 

"How much for this go around? Was she important at all?"

"This wasn't the first time she has tired to snitch on us. We let her off with a warning last time, but this time she came in with equipment and got us talking about Felix lane on video. There was no way in hell we could let that get out."

Felix lane was a street we did many drug deals on. Mostly where kids in high school come to get weed and other substances to distribute throughout the school. If that place got busted, most of our main operation would be shut down.

"So...what does that mean for me?" I bit the inside of my lip, eager for him to tell me the verdict.

"It means," he got up and dug into the draw on his desk. He pulled out a wad of cash, and began counting it. As he did, I sat up and walked to the other side of his desk. "It means you get a raise."

Once the money was all counted out, he handed it to me. I stared at the thousand dollars in my hand, four hundred more than usual, unable to speak.

"Thank you," I said, shoving the money in my pocket.

"Yeah yeah. Just keep up the good work, would ya?"

"Of course," I turned on my heal and made my way upstairs.

The bar had a lot of people in it, as usual.

"Boomer!" They all greeted me. I guess you could say I was a favorite here.

I smiled at all the drunk people of various ages and made my way to the bar myself.

Bullseye, Vipers partner, was behind the counter. He never really contributed to the business himself, but Viper seemed to have a soft spot for him. They've been best friends since they were younger.

"Want anything?" Bullseye asked.

"A corona," I told him, leaning my arms on the counter and laying my head on my shoulder.

He got a bottle out of the fridge and handed it to me.

"Are you alright?" He asked full of concern. This is why bull was one of my favorites, he always cared how you were doing.

"Yeah. I'm just in one of those moods," I shrugged.

"You are always in a mood. What is really going on?" He tilted his head as if to try and examine me better.

"Just tried of doing the same old deeds," I shrugged, and he knew exactly what I meant.

Both of my parents had high social status here at the underground; they were basically treated as royalty. They brought me here all the time, ever since I could walk. This place was like a second home for me, and I hated them for it. After they were arrested, I was thrown into their old job. I am know as a "janitor." My duty is to kill anyone that knows to much, take care of dead bodies, basically do everyone's dirty work. My parents and I are the reason this bar hasn't been shut down in the past 50 years.

Practically everyone in the bar has helped raise me, and they are my family whether I like it or not. One could say that is all just a big business of criminal activity, and they would be right. We are a network of illegal activity. Everyone has a job and a mission, and we all must complete our job in order for it to all work seamlessly. From where I am sitting I could see drug dealers, rapists, murderers, and thief's, but I am by far the worst. They all rely on me, and I hate it. I have starred down countless numbers of innocent people, and shot them, all to protect something I didn't stand for.

The mastermind of the whole thing was the Viper. He had connections with everyone in the city, state, and country and was able to get all kinds of illegal activities accomplished. We were all his puppets.

I uncapped my beer and sat down on a stool of the bar. Cheers to another few weeks of being able to eat.

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A/N
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