Crime: A Family Business (Part 2)
A short story.
Walking aimlessly down the high street, baseball cap pulled down low and the hood of his black hoodie pulled up to further hide his identity, Carl’s mind raced as he assessed the current situation.
“Well that could have been worse” he thought with a relieved look on his face.
“Thank god uncle Derek has a mischievous side, who would have thought it” Carl giggled to himself, attracting some bizarre looks from passersby.
“Suppose I will have to tell the rest of the crew about our new ‘recruit’, I wonder how they will take it?
Having another member in the crew means the score is split between more people, the boys aren’t going to be happy at a pay cut, we had best make our next job a big one to cover the cost of an extra man.
Well, there is no time like the present, time to face the music. I shall go home and set up a meet, introduce the crew to uncle Derek.”
Sitting at a cheap pine table in the kitchen of his one-bedroom apartment, Carl made the dreaded calls to the crew, using one of the prepay ‘burner’ phones he had picked up two days ago.
The meet was set, 21.00 at the Red Hand bar. The landlord of the pub let them use a backroom for their meets, in return he always got first pick of the merchandise after every score.
Only one more call to make.
“Hello?” answered a wary voice.
Derek was not used to receiving calls from private numbers, let alone calls after dark.
“Uncle Derek? It’s Carl, can you talk?”
Peeping cautiously around the door frame he saw that his wife was nodding off to sleep on the couch, a bottle of wine each at dinner has that effect on a person.
“Yes, I can talk. What do you want? Why are you phoning me so late at night? Why…”
“Shut up and listen, you ask too many damn questions! There is a meet, nine o’clock tonight at the Red Hand bar, be there!” Carl whispered aggressively.
“At this time of night!? It’s gone seven already and I have had a drink so I’m not fit to drive”
“Gone seven!? What are you, a child, afraid of the dark? Also, I don’t give a shit if you are fit to drive or not. Ride a bike, get an Uber or you can jog for all I care, just cut out the excuses and be there!”
The line goes dead.
Carl arrives at the Red Hand bar five minutes early, knowing that Derek will most likely be late. Pulling open the old frosted glass door, he steps inside the dimly lit pub. A few of the regulars’ glance towards the door, shooting Carl a frosty look, though this is how everyone is greeted at the Red Hand bar and is not to be taken personally.
The landlord nods towards the backroom. As he passes the bar Carl whispers in his ear, “Send Derek through when he arrives, you will know him when you see him”
Entering the back-room Carl is greeted with glares from five cagey looking characters, although not one of their faces produced a smile it was a much more welcoming reception than that of the regulars in the bar.
These were Carl’s ‘business associates’, the other members of the crew.
“Before you ask, let me explain” said Carl taking a seat at the table.
“Do you remember the store I hit, when I walked out the front door with the T.V, straight past the fat security guard?”
“Yea?” replied Darren, the biggest and scariest looking member of the crew
“Well I tried my luck there again this afternoon… and got nabbed”
“Ok, but you got away obviously or you wouldn’t be sitting here, right?” questioned Mick, his tattooed hands clasped whilst he eyeballed Carl.
“Yes and no. I got caught but it turns out that the store owner happens to be my uncle Derek. He agreed not to call the police and to keep things hush hush, if, we cut him in on each of our scores. Oh, and I agreed”
Tony, an ex-professional boxer, jumped up from his seat, sending it crashing to the ground.
“You done what Carl! We just about get by on the takings from each job and you have brought another person in on the deal!? I’m going to knock you out!”
Tony reached for Carl from across the table but was held back by Stevie and Jake, the two brothers who had a knack for picking pockets.
Just as an argument and no doubt a punch up was about to erupt the door burst open and in stumbled Derek, it was obvious that he had stopped for a drink at the bar before entering the backroom, topping up on the Dutch courage perhaps.
“Who the fuck are you!” snarled Tony
“Everybody meet Derek, the newest member of the crew” chuckled Carl, laughing was his way of dealing with the madness that surrounded him.
“You better have a plan to make me some money!” Tony barked through gritted teeth.
“Oh, but I do my frightening friend” Derek replied, the Dutch courage clearly working its magic.
“Now, let’s all sit down, relax and I’ll tell you all how we are going to get rich.”
I hope you enjoyed this short story, thanks for taking the time to read it, much appreciated. I aim to improve my writing with each article so I welcome any tips or advice.
Thank you.
Check out part one below.
https://medium.com/@ryan_51207/crime-a-family-business-7c0ec75ce90c
