Story - Novel The Fever CHAPTER 3

CHAPTER 3
I walked to the jeweler the next day, just before noontime.
I sat across the street andstared down the man in the black
sweatshirt. Eventually the creepy, crooked smile appeared behind the
cigarette on his face and I crossed the heavy traffic of the Chicago
street. As I came closer he aimed his nose at the ground, never
revealing his eyes to me.
"You wanna talk to Uncle Jack?"
"Yes."
"No-body talks to Jack 'cept me."
"Well then I need a favor."
His smiled widened."Whatdaya need?"
"Money. I have to get a new job and house and take care of my family
and...I have no job, I just need money fast."
He laughed. "You and half the city."
"Please," I pleaded. "I'm desperate." His laughing stopped.
"How desperate?"
"I'll do anything."
"Anything?"
"Anything."
The hooded man took a long suck on his cigarette. His scratchy and
demanding voice controlled the conversation. I couldn't imagine how
bellowing and deep his voice wouldordinarily sound without the
scratchy aspect from the constant cigarette entertaining his lips. "Do
you have any idea what you are dealing with?"
"Yes." How couldn't I? Everyone knew "Uncle Jack," except, nobody
really knew him. He was one of the biggest drug traffickers and money
launderers in Southern Chicago - not to mention one of the richest men
in the Midwest. He was a very dangerous man. He could snap his fingers
and you would be dead ifhe wanted it that way- and he always got what
he wanted. He never stopped until he got what he wanted.
"I don't think you understand what you aregetting yourself into."
I lied. "I do. I understand completely, and I'll do anything."
"You will be killed if you don't meet his demands."
"I figured." I tried to sound confident, but the gulp after the
sentence gave away my anxiety.
He tilted his head back and for the first time, I saw his eyes. They
were black as night, with red, bloodshot lines surrounding the
darkness. He grabbed his lighter and lit another cigarette. The light
from the flicker of the plastic canister instantly displayed his
facial features for a short moment. He was rather handsome, his face
perfect except for the unshaven scruff across his chin line. "Stay
put," he said after long deliberation and also as he caught me staring
at his face. He briskly walked down the sidewalk about a block and
disappeared from my sight. While he was gone, I did simple things to
pass the time. I tied myshoe laces a few times, counted taxis speeding
down the street, and watched a nearby clock, among other things. I
couldn't imagine standing here for hour after hour, day after day,
like the man in the hooded sweatshirt constantly did.
Finally, he reappeared in a crowd, walking at a hurried pace. "Follow
me,and keep up!" he harshly spat at me as he tossed his half-used
cigarette onthe sidewalk. He blew right past me and I almost had to
jog to keepup with his long, quick stride. He was constantly looking
over his shoulder, not at me but past me, almost as if he was
expecting conflict.
After a few blocks of roaming, he pulled me back deep into an alley.
Paranoia and adrenaline were all over his face.
"I'm going to speak quickly, so listen up."
"Okay."
He reached under his sweatshirt and pulled outfour stacks of
paper-wrapped bills.
"Here is one-hundred grand. In two years to this day, we will meet
again in this exact same spot we are standing now. I'll be here all
day. You need to show up with a quarter million. Yes, that is right,
two-hundred and fifty thousand dollars. You willalso be asked for
favors along the way. You must comply. If you don't, you are dead. If
you don't show up here in two years, you are dead; and your wife and
two little girls will die a long, slow,and painful death.
I was suddenly alert and surprised. "How did you know about-?"
"Let's not go there, shall we?" he smirked as his grin returned and
lit another cigarette. With the first inhale he was suddenly calm
again. "Be here in two years." He tossed the money at me."When we
leave this alley, I'm going to the right and you are going to the
left. Understood? Don't stop or turn arounduntil you are home. Got
it?"
"Yes. I got it." I suddenly felt extremely nervous.
"Good. See ya in two years."
"Thank you," I managed to choke out in a whisper. But before he could
hear me, he was already moving and had taken off. He turned rightwhen
he hit the sidewalkand was gone. I went leftonce I had managed to
figure out how to work my legs again. I was excited but extremely
nervous at the same time.I couldn't stop the feelingof ecstasy pumping
through my veins.
I took an extended route home, going around the block my house was on
atleast twice before entering. I ran into the house and slammed the
door. Jennifer nearly hit the ceiling in surprise then scolded me for
the amount of noise I was making.
"Ssshhhh, the kids are asleep!" she hissed at me.
"We're getting out of here!"
"What?" she raised her voice in alarm.
I pulled the money out from under my sweater and her eyes were
suddenly wide in amazement and caution.
"Where did you get that?"
"That's not important."
"Paul-"
"Jen, can't you see? This is an opportunity to start over! We can go
where we want, get what we want, and be who we want! We can completely
start over. No more getting robbed day in and day out. No more
worrying about if we aregoing to have enough food to get through the
day! AND NO MORE SOUP! SOUP, SOUP, SOUP! I WANT SOME MEAT! TONIGHT WE
ARE GOING OUT FOR STEAKS!"
"Hush now, the girls are still sleeping."
I smiled at her and she continued to stare at me, but after a few
moments,a smile broke and crept across her face.
"Is this really happening?"
"Every bit of it. C'mon, let's get out of here."
She stared at me again for a few moments. "I'll start packing-"
"No, Jen. Just leave it here. We're going to startcompletely over. We
havenothing here left of value. We can get a hotel for the night and
shop tomorrow."
She smiled at me in a way I had not seen in years. I smiled back. This
is what we had been waiting for. This was our chance.
Jen half-ran down the hallway to wake the kids up. She used her
supermom strength to pick up and carry one kidin each arm as I grabbed
a small, combination suitcase to hold the money in.
Within minutes we had left the house, the front door wide open. We
walked directly to the nearest hotel, ordered a family suite, and paid
in cash. We headed to our room and unlocked the door. I held the door
open for Jen and the kidsand everyone was instantly taken aback by the
wonder and sheer amazement presented from the hotel room in front of
them. The two children were the most amazed as they had never been in
a hotel before.
Jen set the twins down intheir bed and they instantly fell asleep
after ridding themselves of excess energy from running around the room
for about 10 minutes, searching every hidden corner. We decided to let
them sleep and decided to get steaksthe next night.
Soon enough, for the first time since our honeymoon, Jen was fast
asleep and looked relaxed and comfortable. The drowsiness created by
my surrounding familyeventually wore off on me and I was also fighting
sleep. I took my rightful place beside her and kissed her forehead.
She smiled, which left mewondering if she was really asleep or not.
Either way, sleep came quickly from exhaustion, much fast than it used
to,never feeling safe with the door locked every night.
I fell asleep, dreaming about what I could do with the money.

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