Weak

Chapter Fourteen

We drove for about an hour until we reached the “office”. If you ask me, it was more of a warehouse than an office. It reminds me of the old gangster movies that come on TV. The warehouse looks old and torn down. It's in the middle of an abandoned parking lot. Jay drives the car into a clear area inside of the large building and we got out of the car.

Looking around I see old furniture, cobwebs, and curtains dividing the space. “Come this way.” Jay says, motioning me to follow him to the back of the building. He pulls back the curtain. There are a few very large guys standing behind the curtain. Jay doesn't say anything. I look at each of the guys. They stand on the wall with folded arms. Their faces show no emotion. I can't tell what they are thinking. Jay mimics the stance of the other guys.

“Wha- wha-wha-what are we waiting for?”

“The boss.” One of the large men says. His voice is deep and he has one of the traditional Jersey accents. I nod. I get the feeling of a mob now. I bet the boss is like Al Capone or something. Maybe the guy from Scarface will come will come walking through the curtain.

We stand there for about ten minutes before the “boss” arrives. Two men pull back the tall black curtains, revealing the one who would be addressed as Boss. His appearance is nothing like I expected. Boss was a very tall and skinny man. He had dark circles around his eyes, and his skin drooped over his bony face. He walks to the a large black chair and sits down. Since he's wearing all black the rest of his body seems to disappear in the chair. He props up his arms and folds his hand in front of his face. “Are you ready for your task, Chase?” He says, peering over his hands. I don't really know how to answer. I just stand there—speechless. Jay looks at me and then back a boss.

“He's ready sir.”

“Are you sure, Jay? It seems to me the boy is very unsure about the situation.”

“He's my protege, Boss. Look at me. I'm the best under your belt.” Jay says confidently in front of the other guys. Man he's brave. “I've overachieved in this and you will be pleased with his work for sure.”

Boss looks at Jay and gives him a nod. He turns back at me—his black eyes are like daggers and they pierce my soul. “I will give you this assignment on a trial basis.” He turns around to one of the men who escorted him in. “The documents, please.”

The man pulls a manila folder from the inside of his jacket and hands it to Boss. Boss throws the documents to the edge of the desk in front of me. I look at Jay, wondering what to do. He motions me to take the folder. I lean forward to take the folder off the desk. My hand shakes a bit.

“The contents of that folder contains everything you need to know about your target. There is a list of his commonly used aliases and committed crimes but all you should be concerned about is his photo. If you know what he looks like, outside of his spoken traits, he'll be easier to spot. Study his facial features. I need this job done by tonight.” he gets up and heads behind the curtain. Before he leaves, he turns around with a grin, “Make it messy, would ya?”

I swallow my invisible spit hard. Jay grabs my arm and pulls me behind the curtain were the car is. “What was that in there? You acted like a total wuss in there.”

“I'm sorry. I was nervous, OK.”

“Well you can't get nervous while on the job. You'll get yourself killed!”

When Jay mentioned the word 'killed', it all finally reached my head. What I was doing was very dangerous. It never registered in my mind that I could be killed doing this. For some reason I thought all of this would just be very simple. My first murder went by very easy; then again I was angry. I'm not angry right now. I have no reason to kill these people. They never hurt me.

“I don't think I can do this, Jay.”

“You already said that you would. You agreed to the conditions, Chase.” Jay says, poking his finger hard into my chest through the folder I was holding.

“He said this was a trial.”

“Trial my ass! Chase, if you don't go through this you'll be dead one way or another. If the guy you're after doesn't kill you, Boss will!”

“Wh-why would he do that?”

“You know his secrets! He can't have you out on the streets ratting him out. He said that only to set you up. He manipulated you! He wants you to fail. He obviously doesn't see any potential in you. Prove him wrong!”

“Do you honestly think I can?”

“Not if you don't straighten yourself up. I'm putting myself out on a limb here to help you. I know you need this; that's why I set this up for you. You're a wimp as far as I'm concerned but I can change that.”

“How so?”

“Well definitely not by standing here, chatting. You need training. We only have so many outs until you have to do this; we need to begin now.” Jay walks over to the passenger side of his Lamborghini. “Get in. Training starts now.” he throws me the keys.

“You want me to drive your Lambo?”

“All a part of your training. Now get in!” I run over the the driver's side and get into the cars. I fumble with the key a little, but I finally get it the into the ignition. I start the car up and put it into reverse. As I slowly lift my foot off the brake, the car flies backwards. I slam the brakes. Jay jerks forwards and gives me a look. He leans back in his seat and takes a deep breath.

“Lord help me.” he whispers. I put the car in drive and release the brakes a bit slower than last time.

“See, much better.” I look at Jay. He gives me a non-reassuring nod. I drive the end of the parking lot. I hit the brakes hard. “Sorry, I'll get better. Where to?”

“Take a left. We'll go to place that I use to do my training.”

After driving for about twenty minutes, we enter a less populated area of California. There's not much around—just a bunch of trees. We drive for a little bit longer until we come to a large gate—dead end.

“What now?” I ask.

“One minute.” Jay unbuckles his seat belt and gets out the car. He walks up the fence and kicks it open. He motions to me to drive through. I pull the car through and he reassembles the gate. “Get out of the car.”

I turn off the engine and get out of the car. I look around—it's a big empty field. Jay takes the keys from my hand and pushes the button to pop the trunk. While he rummages through the trunk, I sit on the hood.

“So, this is where you train?” I call out to Jay.

“Yeah.”

“Why so far away from civilization?” Jay doesn't say anything. I look back and Jay's not there. I get up off the hood and look around. “Jay?”

In that instant I hear a loud bang and feel a gust of wind swipe my face. I duck to the ground. I look back to see a smoking gun aimed my way; Jay's holding it.