The Debt

Uncertain Future

Several weeks had passed when Margie got a call from Stephen when she was working in the yard. Todd was drinking himself into another stupor. "Hi Margie, I assume you know who I am?" Stephen asked. "Of course, what do I need to do?" Margie asked. "It's time to meet, Margie." Stephen said. "Okay, you name the time and place" Margie responded. "Here and now" Stephen replied. With that, Margie saw Stephen standing at the side of the house. He was wearing a t-shirt and jeans. Again, his sculpted torso on display through the t-shirt. Margie noticed for the first time how handsome he was.

Margie approached Stephen without the slightest hesitation. He was stricken by how beautiful she truly was. Here she was in a yellowed, dingy, and sweaty t-shirt with the knees of her Capri pants soiled from kneeling in the flower bed. Yet, she carried herself regally and with resolve. He couldn't help but sigh, as his mind wondered to Todd. Stephen knew how Todd had spiraled ever downwards. For all of the fierceness that terrible day created within Margie, it further broke Todd. He became less and less engaged, and he drank more and more. He had exhausted all of his sick leave and he was teetering on the verge of being fired. Yet, Margie carried on. What a lioness she had become! Stephen thought to himself.

"Where can we talk in private?" Stephen asked. "Follow me." Margie said as she led him the detached garage. Todd was inside the house, probably passed out drunk. "We can talk in here" she said quietly and closed the door behind them. "So, Todd isn't faring too well, huh?" Stephen asked. "No, it's like the lights are on, but nobody's home." Margie said. "I understand." said Stephen. "Listen Margie, I have seen all sides of trauma. It makes some people stronger and it breaks others" he said. "Sadly, some people never recover." Margie laughed, shook her head, and her eyes looked back at the house. "I guess not." she said softly.

"So, what do we need to discuss in private? What does the organization want from me?" Stephen again heard the determination in her voice and saw the resolve in her eyes. "They don't want anything that you aren't willing to offer" he replied. "What? What does that mean? We owe you $150,000, now you're saying that I have a choice?" She asked skeptically. Stephen smiled, he truly did admire this woman. "You have a choice," he said. "But, it's not an easy choice." As he said this, Margie saw the sadness in his eyes. Her hope of an easy out quickly evaporated.

"Margie, I am not going to lie to you. Several people at the organization saw the surveillance footage of that night. Joe didn't know, but months before we hacked into his security cameras and had been storing his footage. We had suspected him of skimming money and cancelling debts. Our forensic accountant had already flagged Joe for observation. When Joe logged Todd's debt at $150,000, we had it flagged, so we watched carefully to see if he collected it.

I am sorry, I, we, didn't know he would..." and his voice trailed off. Margie's eyes flashed a white hot anger, you mean that you all had an idea of what he was going to do to us? Her body noticeably tensing. "No, no, no, nothing like that Margie." Stephen said softly. "I, We would have stopped that. We didn't know what he was going to do. We found out what he had done only after the debt was purged. Only then, did we start to really investigate and found the footage." The tortured look on his face extinguished the fire within Margie's eyes. "I promise you, I didn't know what Joe was going to do. In our eyes, the organization doesn't profit from those types of arrangements. The only people who knew what Joe was going to do are gone with him." Stephen was either an incredible liar or he really meant what he said.

"Okay, what is it you want me to do?" Margie asked. "As I was saying, several members of the organization watched the footage. They were impressed that you didn't break. You took everything that they threw at you and you never backed down. That means something to the organization." Stephen said. "Did you watch the footage Stephen, did you see what I let them do to me? Margie asked as she looked him directly in the eyes. Softly he said, "No, and I didn't need to." Margie laughed sarcastically and continued "All I did, was agree to be used by strangers who threatened my children. Hell, I don't even know if one of those bastards had a disease that will show up later." Margie fumed.

"Margie, I assure you, none of those three had any diseases." Stephen calmly said. "How, how can you know that Stephen? What, does the organization make its employees take random blood tests or something?" Margie quipped. "Actually, we do Margie. Let's call it progressive thinking on our part. If we hire anyone with a medical condition, or say an addiction, they may be more inclined to skim profits. It's in our best interest to hire healthy people" he explained. "Healthy, you call those sick bastards healthy?" Margie said dryly. "Fair point Margie, I concede that to you. Let me qualify, we don't always screen for mental health. I think we can both agree what they had you agree to was deranged." She nodded and sighed loudly.

"Now, may I please continue? Stephen asked softly. "Sure, fire away, I can't wait to hear this." she bristled. "As I was saying, the organization likes your spirit Margie, they think that you can make them a lot of money. In fact, they think that you can pay off your debt and earn them a profit in less than six months." Stephen said. "What? How will I make them over $150,000 in a few months? That's crazy!" she chortled.

"No, it's really not Margie. We have certain clients who owe us millions of dollars, but we cannot get close enough to collect." Stephen said. "So that's it huh? You want me to what, prostitute myself to them? I have a family for god's sake. How exactly would that work" She raged.

"Calm down Margie, calm down, and just listen for a moment. We aren't proposing that you prostitute yourself at all, we just need for you to get close to these clients and earn their trust. Find out their habits, their tendencies, their foibles, and their faults. Not offer yourself to them" Stephen clarified. "Why, what good does that do for the organization? Margie asked. Stephen smiled and simply said "Leverage, it buys us leverage. Just think of the leverage we had over Joe." Her jaw immediately clenched as she balled her hands into fist "What you had on Joe, what I had to do you consider leverage?" Her voice grew louder. Stephen reached out and took her fists, and gently opened her hands. He held her hands for a moment and said "No Margie, what you had to do wasn't leverage, but that was his death sentence." and he gently squeezed her hands.

"Whatever you do, or don't do, to get close to our mark is your choice, not the organizations. Work with us, or against us, the choice is yours to make Margie. Unlike Joe, we won't hurt you or your children, ever. We will however, harbor no guarantee for Todd. I told you, this is not an easy choice. Your children will be fine; however, Todd will suffer, and he will suffer badly for his stupidity. It's all your choice." Stephen's expression truly was one of sorrow. Margie could tell that Stephen had personally faced a similar choice. "So Stephen, what choice did you have to make? Why are you working with the organization?" Margie pressed. Stephen sighed, she truly was remarkable. "Margie, when I left the service, I craved action. I craved adrenaline, I too found myself much like Todd. I found my fix in gambling. So like Todd, I owed more than I could ever hope to repay to an organized crime boss. Unlike Joe, he did harm my family. I came home to find my wife and child murdered. Like Joe, the organization had staked this guy out for skimming millions of dollars. The organization uncovered the murder and actively sought me out. He was untouchable, he had money and he had power, and I would never be able to see justice prevail. So my choice, was to either work for the organization or he walked. I made the only choice that I could, and that choice cost me everything. I walked away from any shot at any normal life after that. I knew that I would never be afforded the opportunity to start my life over, or to share any kind of love with someone. I was under no illusion Margie, I knew that whatever they asked me to do, I would do it." Margie saw the profound sadness in his face.