Where the Wrong Path May Lead

Chapter 2

The color slowly drained from Jackson's face. He hadn't realized how serious the situation actually was.  Usually when Jason came pounding on his door in the middle of the night it was because he needed money or he was running from the cops.  He was constantly bringing trouble around.  At least he came to his house instead of his moms.  Jackson recalled a time when he had to beat up some punks who threw a rock through his mom's front living room window.  Jason had owed these guys money so they followed him to the house and gave him their warning.  He pinched the bridge of his nose and asked,

"How much trouble are you in, Jason?"

"So much trouble, man! I fucked up! It's all my fault!" Jason got off the couch and started pacing again.  Jackson poured him another scotch.  He took a couple of sips and started muttering things that Jackson couldn't hear.

"Okay. I need you to start at the beginning and tell me exactly what happened. Don't leave anything out."  Jason took another sip and a deep breath and started his story.

"Me and Eddie met this dude, Chris, at this rave we went to like a couple of months back.  He kept buying us drinks and kept talking about how awesome his job was and how he made lots of money.  He told us he started doing these small jobs for this guy named Frank, that eventually the jobs got bigger and now he was doing this thing that earned him ten thousand bucks a pop.  He said he would put in a good word for us.  Chris called us a few weeks later asking us to be a driver slash lookout on a job he had to do for Frank.  For the next couple of weeks we did a few small jobs here and there.  After that we started working full time and started to get some decent pay-"

"What kind of small jobs were you doing?" Jackson interrupted.  

"It was usually picking people up for Frank or Chris, delivering drugs to people and a couple of times we had to follow these women and write down where they went and what they did all week. Super easy jobs." Jason paused and took a sip of his scotch.

"Why Jason? Why is it so fucking hard for you to stay out of trouble?" Jackson was fighting to keep his rage under control.  He downed the rest of his drink and slammed the glass down on his desk making Jason flinch.

"Why the hell did he have you following women around?"

"I don't know.  He never said.  With Frank you don't ask questions, you do what he tells you to do. We got a lot of money just to watch them so we never really cared what the reason was. It was harmless work."

"How much money?"

"About four hundred each." Jackson went around and sat at his desk.  He motioned for Jason to continue his story.

"A couple of weeks ago when Chris was paying us for the notes we collected on this chick he said that Frank has been impressed with our work and wanted us to come by his warehouse the next morning for a chance to get in on a bigger job.  He said that we were going to get paid three thousand a piece.  Jackson, I know you don't approve of the things I do. Hell, I don't even approve of the things I do, but I care about my family, even though I don't act like it.  The first thought that came to my mind when Chris told us we would be making that much money was, I can finally help mom out. I can finally buy Mason something he really wants.  I can get my own apartment and make things easier on everyone." Jason bowed his head down and began to cry.  Jackson got up from his desk,  made his way over to his brother and sat down beside him.  He put his arms around his shoulders.

"I need to know what happened so I can help you, Jason." Jackson urged.  Jason took a couple of deep breaths, nodded to his brother then proceeded.

"We met Frank at the warehouse.  He explained that we were to go to this warehouse on the outside of Little Rock and meet with his suppliers.  He said he was going to send us with an envelope of money and a code to get into the warehouse.  He said a couple of his best men were going to be waiting inside and that all we were suppose to do was give them the envelope and then they were going to give us the address to the pick up site.  Easy right?  Eddie picked me up and we headed to the warehouse.  He parked just outside the fence and grabbed the envelope and handed me the paper that had the code and the key for the gate.  Jackson, I was so fucking nervous that my hands wouldn't stop shaking.  We go to the door and I went to enter in the code while Eddie kept a lookout.  My hands were shaking so bad that my finger slipped and i accidentally put in the wrong code.  A message popped up that said 'initiating silent alarm'. I re-entered the code and the message disappeared and then the door clicked open so I thought everything was good.  We go into the main room and there were like seven guys, three of them being Frank's guys, standing around.  We walked over and the lead man said he was impressed with our punctuality and asked for the money.  One of his guys comes up and takes the envelope then starts counting the money.  He was almost finished when i heard the lead man's radio go off. A guy was yelling that four cop cars were speeding our way.  The lead guy starts yelling at me and Eddie saying we were narcs and shit like that. Then he pulled out a fucking gun, shot Eddie, then turned it on me but one of Frank's guys shot him in the arm and I ducked behind some crates.  I heard more shooting and running but it sounded like it was getting farther away.  I peeked out from behind the crates and no one was there.  I see Eddie lying on the ground so I go over to check on him and he was dead. Shot in the head, Jackson! I hear the sirens getting closer so I ran up to the roof.  From there I can see the cops pull up and first they did a sweep around the outside of the building. As soon as every single cop went inside I climbed down the fire escape and ran.  I called a cab and it picked me up about two miles from the warehouse.  I am so scared, man.  They are going to come looking for me and kill me!" At that being said Jackson jumped up and grabbed him by the collar of his hoodie.

"What the fuck, Jason! These people know where you live! Where mom lives! I knew it was a bad idea for her to let you live there.  You are so damn lucky mom is out of town visiting Aunt Mary until Tuesday! You need to go down there first thing tomorrow morning!" ,he said, throwing him back on the couch.

"I can't, Jackson.  They will fucking kill me!" Now it was Jackson's turn to pace.

"Who was outside with you and Eddie?" he asked.

"No one. Just us. Frank's men were already inside."

"Ok. Here is what you're going to do.  You're going to walk in to this Frank guys warehouse and act stupid-"

"What kind of fucking plan is that!" Jason yelled, throwing his hands in the air.

"Let me finish!" Jackson snapped, "He is going to ask you what happened. Tell him you don't know. That Eddie put in the code while you were looking out. You both went inside and all hell broke loose.  Under any circumstances do you mention that you were the one who put in the code or that you ran away because you were scared.  If he asks you why you ran, tell him it was because you didn't want to get caught and the reason you didn't go back to him tonight was because you wanted to make sure everything was cooled down and you wanted to make sure you didn't have a tail on you.  The fact is Eddie is dead so you have someone to blame it on."  Jackson realized his mistake as soon as he said it and turned to his brother.  Jason had silent tears falling down his cheeks.  Jackson went over and sat back down him.

"Listen Jason, I am really sorry.  I know that Eddie was your closest friend and I am really, really sorry he had to die this way, but right now you are alive and you have a chance to protect your family.   I have faith that you can do this, ok?" Jason wiped his face and nodded. Jackson patted him on his back.

"Try and get some sleep.  I will leave some money on the table so you can get yourself a cab to Little Rock tomorrow morning."  He walked to the hall cabinent and pulled out a blanket.  He walked back into his office and handed it to Jason, then went to leave.

"I am so sorry, Jackson.  I don't know why I can't evr do good.  I always make the wrong choices." Jackson took a step back into the room.

"You have a chance to change that.  You could have died tonight, Jason.  All you need to do is open your eyes and think before you do.  You obviously haven't done what you were meant to do in your life.  So figure out what that is and do it."  he stepped out of the room and closed the door.  He climbed the stairs and stopped by Mason's room.  He quietly opened the door and peeked inside. mason was sleeping peacefully.  He gently closed his door and went to his room and laid down..

"Lord, please let everything work out." he said aloud then went to sleep.

 

Picture of Jason Murphy