The Art of the Hustle (Complete)

Chapter Ten

"Fine, just take it out of my half of the money then." 

"Okay, when am I going to see my half?" I said, as I threw the stack of papers on the floor. 

"Dude, just relax." 

I looked down at the mess of papers and saw one other letter that piqued my interest. It had a large red stamp on the front that read: 'EVICTION NOTICE'. I bent down and picked it up. I quickly read the first few lines. 

"What's this?" I said confused. I continued to read. "It says here we need to be out by the 14th. That's in two days, Darrell. When were you going to tell me about this!" I yelled, completely losing my temper.  

"I don't know, I guess I forgot." 

I took a deep breath and restrained myself from ripping his head off.  

I continued to read:  

'Dear Mr. Morrison and Mr. Channing,

This notice is to advise you that you are to vacate the property as of June 14th due to ongoing noise complaints from tenants. We have made several attempts to warn you about playing excessively loud music and each warning appears to have been ignored.'  

I looked up at the date in the top corner. It was dated from over a month ago. Did he really just forget or was he trying to screw me over?  

My mind was racing. I needed to think clearly for a moment. All I could think about was how this loser dragged me into his world. What made matters worse, I didn't even own a stereo. Darrell was the one always blasting his music, not me. I told him this would happen.  

I went to my 'room' and sat on the edge of my bed. I needed a plan. Everything was happening so quickly. The business was falling apart and I could not imagine things ever working out between us. Now I was being evicted and I needed to find a new place in less than two days. Darrell would probably just move back in with his dad and leave me out to dry. The worst-case scenario for me, I could move my stuff into a 24-hour storage facility and sleep in a youth hostel until I found a more permanent residence. If I could help it, I never wanted to see Darrell again. 

*** 

It was Friday the thirteenth, the night before we needed to move out and I still did not have a place to go. I didn't really know too many people in the city, but I made a few phone calls to the people I did know with hopes they could help me out. I was genuinely screwed, but I was trying to remain optimistic. It's not my destiny to be homeless; something has to happen, I kept telling myself.  

At around 8:00 p.m., Mr. Channing came over to help Darrell move his stuff back into his house. I imagined Judy wouldn't be too pleased with this arrangement, but that was the furthest thing from my mind.  

I didn't want to be in there watching them move so I decided to take a walk and figure things out. I left the apartment and waited for the elevator. When it arrived, Mr. Channing stepped out and gave me a stiff shoulder, knocking me off balance. There was no apology. I didn't say a word either, I just entered the elevator. Mr. Channing walked about halfway down the hallway then stopped and turned around to face the elevator. Just as the elevator doors were closing, he said, "Have a nice life." The doors shut and I descended slowly down to the ground floor. Have a nice life? What's that supposed to mean?  

When I went outside, I saw Darrell loading his stuff into our truck. To avoid conversation, I took out my cell phone and made a call. 

Mr. Channing came out of the building a few minutes later with another load. This time he had had a little more time to think and apparently had reached his boiling point. He gave me an angry-faced glare and belted out, "You little prick!"  

It was the first time I had seen him lose his temper like that. I was completely caught off guard.  

"Me?" I asked startled. "What did I do?" 

"You know what you did! Playing your goddamn rap music loudly!" 

"Jack, I don't even own a stereo," I responded back in disbelief. 

"Yeah, just like you were skimming off the top of the company account for your own personal use," he said, as he began to approach me.  

"What are you talking about? I don't even have access to the funds," I said walking backwards.  

He began to pursue me, still screaming. "And then you're out here talking on your goddamn cell phone and you can't even help your friend...after everything we've done for you!"  

He was building up to the point of being in a complete rage and he had decided everything that was wrong with the situation between Darrell and I was somehow my fault. Aside from the black belt certification that was framed in his office, he was more than twice my size and I would rather not mess with him.  

With his eyes locked onto mine, he completely snapped thrusting his big leg towards my head. I jumped back as his foot missed my head by less than an inch. We never broke eye contact.  

"Mr. Channing, I don't know what is going on here, but you know me, okay?" I said, trying to mollify the tension, but I was failing miserably. 

I decided the best course of action was to remove myself from the situation. I crossed the street and disappeared into the night. I could still hear him yelling at me. "You know what, Trevor. You're out of the company!" 

He didn't really have the authority to make that decision, but I was not going to argue. I wanted out.