Chapter 8: Chapter 8: Night City Dreams

It’s late at night, John and Jamar stumble out of the club, still carrying his backpack. John lifts up the drunk Jamar as they walk along.

“Now wasn’t that something?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Jamar looks over at John as he waves at him.

“Man, you need to loosen up more. You see the way some of those girls were looking at you?”

“You’re imagining things.”

“Nah.”

“They’re way too young for guys like us.” John continues.

“Age is just a number.” Jamar tries to say.

“Ever think of your sister when you see those girls?” John asks.

Jamar stops talking.

“Come on, let’s head home. Give me the keys.”

Jamar reaches into his pockets and hands John his keys.

“Why you gotta ruin all the fun, John.”

John ignores him as he continues to carry Jamar along towards a parking lot.

“Girls like that won’t talk to guys like us anywhere else. Just have some fun.”

“You ever wonder why it’s like that?”

“Cuz we’re poor. Nobody likes people like us.”

Jamar kicks the ground.

“I miss how they used to treat us back in the day. Don’t you?”

“Can’t say I do.”

Inside the parking lot, John sees the car in the distance.

Making his way over, two latinos begin to slowly walk up towards John and Jamar, just as John puts Jamar into the passenger seat, they get in front of him.

“Hey, nice ride homes.” One of them shouts.

John looks over at them, they’re barely teenagers.

One of them points to their belt where a gun can be seen loosely attached to it.

John sighs.

“Listen, I don’t want any trouble.”

“Yeah? Well, I like your ride. Mind if I take it for a spin?”

John thinks to himself as he reaches for his keys as they wringles.

“Just let me get my friend out.”

“Oh, sure, sure.”

Looking inside, John opens the glove and takes out a pistol. Quickly getting out, he points it at one of the teen’s head.

“Woah.”

“Get the fuck out of here before I blow your brains out.” John says calmly.

The teens raise their arms in the air as they stare at the gun.

One of them looks at the other as they seem to hesitate.

Noticing this, John shoots a round at the ground.

They run for it.

John sighs as he looks over at Jamar who has somehow fallen asleep. Putting the gun back, he closes the glove then the door.

“Barely thirteen and already doing this shit.” John sighs.

Heading towards the driver's seat, John gets inside and starts the car.

 

---

 

Entering the garage, John looks around as the door opens, waiting inside Anya and Santiago look worried with their arms crossed as Franklin and Louis are playing cards to kill the time. John looks over at Jamar as he lightly hits him as he wakes up.

“Get up, we’re back.” John says.

Jamar groans as he stretches.

Anya is already walking towards the car as John begins to slowly enter the garage. Santiago looks on with eyes full of pity.

“Where the fuck have you been?” Anya shouts.

“I thought you were dead, for real this time. The least you can do is pick up your fucking phone!”

Jamar pulls out his phone and checks it, the battery is dead.

“Shit, must have forgot to charge it.” Jamar replies.

“Sorry, I forgot.”

Still groggy, Jamar continues to groan.

“How’d it go? You know, with the kid?” Jamar asks.

“It was fine, Anya, calm down. He’s fine.” Louis says.

Anya crosses her arms as she looks over at him and Franklin. Turning off the car, John looks around at the situation, he turns to Jamar who’s tired and seems to only be paying half attention. Santiago begins to head back inside.

Anya looks back.

“Where are you going?” Anya asks.

“To bed. It’s late.” Santiago replies heading inside.

“Are you guys fucking serious? This was supposed to be an intervention.” Anya sighs.

“Fine, just go.”

The others start to get up and leave.

Jamar’s head bobs back and forth as he seems to space out.

“Yeah, this isn’t going to work.” Anya says as she begins to leave.

Getting out of the car, John looks over at Jamar and then at Anya who heads back inside with the others, exhausted and without a care.

Seeing this, John looks down at the ground.

“You know, Jamar. You got a nice thing going here. Maybe I should leave. You’ve already-”

Jamar looks at John with a serious look.

“No. Stay.”

“You’re family. They all are to me.” Jamar says.

John looks over at him and sighs.

“Let me help you out.”

“No, I got it.” Jamar says, opening up the door as he stumbles out of the vehicle.

Heading towards the doorway, John watches as Jamar walks inside.

“You coming in or what?” Jamar asks.

 

---

 

“Jesus Christ, how much money is that?” Santiago says.

“It’s gotta be at least forty, no, fifty grand.” Franklin replies.

“We could help a lot of people with that much.” An unfamiliar female voice says.

Jamar laughs.

“Let’s settle down everyone, this isn’t our money. I remember John mentioning something about the payment being only a couple grand, maybe the bags got mixed up or something.”

Opening his eyes, John looks up around him. At a table next to him, he sees the group standing around, a few of them look at him as the others stare at a pile of cash on the table.

“What the fuck?” John says.

They all turn to look at him.

“Good, you’re finally up.” Jamar says with a grin.

“What the hell’s going on? Why’s my money on the table?” John says as he grabs his head.

Anya looks over at Jamar and shrugs.

“So, John. How’d you end up with all the money?” Anya asks.

“From a gig. Why? What’s it to you?” John replies.

“I thought you said it was only a couple grand.” Jamar responds to him, crossing his arms.

“Ah, the guy just gave me a bag and said it was a bonus for getting it done so fast.”

Jamar looks over at Anya.

“See, nothing to worry about. So, how many treatments you think this’ll get you?”

“Maybe a cycle if I’m lucky.”

“A cycle is that good or bad?”

“Usually, you do it in intervals of courses which consist of 4-8 cycles to see if the cancer goes away, with my condition, I’ll probably need a couple courses until it goes away.”

Jamar groans.

“So not even enough for your first treatment, huh?”

“Yeah.

“Fuck that’s expensive, That’s like a quarter million to almost a mill just for a chance.” Franklin says.

Anya looks over at a latina woman.

“Is it true?”

“I’ve heard rumors but usually if you aren’t insured, it can get that high.”

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“Dios mios.” Santiago says.

“So, not even enough to break even.” Jamar sighs.

“Anyways, having all this money laying around can’t be good. We should probably put it away somewhere like a bank.” Jamar continues.

“I don’t know about that. Can’t it be traced?”

“So, what? Not like you got it from dealing drugs, since they cracked down on Bitcoin, it’s all we can do, just gotta write it off on your taxes or the IRS will come after you.”

“Huh, you sure know a lot about this.”

“Yeah, there’s a lot of external revenue sources in security contracting.”

The others nod.

“No shit? Then why are you guys still here?”

“Ever heard of a moral compass, asshole?” Jamar replies.

“Ah, right. I forgot, I’m the only one here dying of cancer.” John says sarcastically.

“But, don’t you ever want to-”

Jamar stop him, lifting his hand up.

“Yeah, let’s just drop this conversation.” He says as the others look around uncomfortably.

Jamar moves to pick up the backpack as he starts putting the bills back inside.

“Anyways, let’s go to a bank first, then I’ll help you find a place of your own. I know a couple that will accept walk-ins for the right price and deposit.” 

John nods as he walks towards the table.

“As for you guys, just stick to the patrol and help anyone who needs it.” Jamar says.

Santiago seems annoyed as Mia looks over at him.

“I just don’t get it, if he can’t use it, why can’t we take it to help the others?”

“It’s not your money, Santiago.”

“I thought we were all a family, a unit.”

“We are.” Jamar emphasizes.

Putting the last of the stack back into the backpack, he hands it to John, who holds onto it.

“There’s always other ways to make money, ones that don’t involve gangs, money might not be as good as what our boy here is making but, it’s enough to go by. I’d like our operation to stay that way, clean. Isn’t that right, Anya?”

She nods as the others seem to agree.

Upset, Santiago seems ready to burst as Jamar and John get ready to go.

“Why? When so many people are struggling to get by. Why can’t we help out a little more?”

“When’s that thin line between us and those thugs end? Next we’ll be asking for protection money. Then it will be little girls. Trust me, you don’t want to go down this road.”

“Then why’s it okay for him to?”

Jamar doesn’t say anything as he pushes John along.

“Come on, let’s go to the bank.” He says.

 

---

 

“Santiago, he can be a little ‘hot-headed’ but he means well.” Jamar says.

“He just wants what’s best for the community.”

 Driving along the freeway, Jamar and John ride along.

John doesn’t reply as he looks out of the window. Asphalt streets with concrete walls and barriers, they span almost endlessly on a mega highway, no grass or trees.

Jamar glances over at John who seems unfazed.

“I hope you aren’t too mad at him.”

John looks over.

“It’s fine, I get it, I know people like him, to him I’m probably just another outsider.”

“Oh, don’t say that. We’re family.”

“Yeah, we’re family. John emphasizes.

Jamar clicks his tongue.

“You never were good at socializing with other people.” Jamar shakes his head.

“People, I do just fine.”

“I meant, getting to know them, you know, understanding them more than just public appearances.” John replies.

“I’m great at that too.”

“Oh, really? Name any close friends of yours. Name a single one.”

“There’s you, isn't there?”
“Hah, you haven’t even contacted me in the nine years since you left the military.”

“I don’t even know if you were still alive.”

“Been too busy with work.”

“So you have no one else besides me that you know or talk to.”

John looks away.

It’s quiet.

“I’m sorry.” Jamar says.

“I shouldn’t have said that.” Jamar looks over repeatedly trying to focus on the road.

“For 9 years of my life. I spent 80 hours a week, studying preparing, working as hard as I fucking could. Every test, exam, once I got there it was the same. Never a moment rest, reports due by the end of the week, the long hours. And after all that, they just threw me to the fucking streets like I was nothing.”

John breaks down as he begins to cry.

Jamar looks down for a bit then continues to focus on the road.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” John says as he weeps.

He puts his hand on his shoulder.

 

---

 

Parking in a parking lot, Jamar looks over at John who’s calmed down a bit. He wipes his tears as Jamar looks over at him.

“Fuck, I’m sorry. I never knew.” Jamar says.

“It’s okay.”

“You ready to deposit it and get this shit over with?” Jamar asks.

“Yeah, let’s do this.”

“Alright” Jamar says as he gets out. John does the same.

Walking out of the parking lot, they head towards a bank in the distance. On it, Bank Corp.

“You ever find it weird that everything is in english?”

“Nah, there aren’t enough speakers and the language is too difficult. What did they call it again? The language of the Colonizers. English, that’s a trade language, lingua franca”

“It’s a bit ironic when a billion people in India speak it, don't you think?”

“Yeah, but we don’t live in India.”

Reaching the bank, they head inside. They pass by some gang members who seem to be twitching out on something. John looks over as Jamar ignores it.

“I’m telling you it was right here!” One of them shouts.

“Fucking crackheads.” Jamar mutters.

It’s not that busy as a few people can be seen waiting in line. Just near the entrance, two security guards stand guard.

John and Jamar walk into the shortest line.

After a while they reach the front of the line as a male teller looks at them.

“Hey, how can I help you?”

“I’d like to make a deposit.” John smiles.

“Sure, can I get your card or facial retina?” The teller asks.

“Yeah, no problem.”

John leans onto the table as his eye is scanned by a machine.

“Great, John Fray? How much would you like to deposit?”

“That’s me, all of this.”

Taking off his backpack, John opens it up.

“Huh, well I’ll have to take you two out back, there a bit too much to count by hand, is that alright with you?” The Teller asks, taking a glance inside.

“Sure.” John says.

The teller makes his way towards the side as he opens it up for them to come in, John and Jamar look over at it, noticing a few security guards glancing over and ignoring it.

They walk deeper into the bank, passing by a vault as they come to a stop in front of a small room with the words Collections listed on it. The teller takes out his keys as he opens it up. Inside a giant money counting machine is just sitting there.

The teller gestures for John and Jamar to head inside as he closes the door behind them. It automatically locks behind them.

“We have people like you come in all the time. Just toss' em in when you’re ready.” The teller says as he starts up the machine.

Walking over, John begins to dump the contents in the machine.

It begins to tumble as the bundles of cash begins to vibrate as the joints holding them together seemingly begin to break apart before forming semi-uniform lines. Quickly after it begins to print out a receipt.

“Let’s see here, ¥51,325.” The teller says.

“Well, that’s it. I’ll process this for you when we head back and you should be good to go.”

“Well that was easy.” John says.

The teller heads towards the door as the sound of people running by can be heard. Confused, the teller hesitates for a moment with his handle on the door.

As several gunshots can be heard coming from outside, not directly outside by still clearly inside of the building.

“Nobody fucking move! This is a robbery!” A voice says.

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