Coming home from a long day of work, I was still in a bit of a daze at how this new story was practically in my lap, begging for me to take it on in some way.
But a bigger part of me internally kept saying no every time. I was at a loss.
If I did have a slight chance, I'd have to actually be reacquainted with Victoria—which in my world, was like going to an electric chair. Actually, no. That would be less painful to go through than to see her face again.
Although if I let the opportunity pass and think nothing of it anymore, I'd probably be saying goodbye to a lifetime of all my hard journalizing efforts down the john—making it seem to my boss I didn't know how to do anything more.
Yet as I kept looking at my watch at the time, remembering I had a date with a vibrant hazel headed beauty in just a few hours, any other pondering would just have to wait.
Heading into my apartment, I was greeted instantly by a familiar young black man with his familiar smug grin—checking himself out in the mirror wearing a dashing two piece navy silk suit.
With my eyes in shock, I already knew what was clearly happening here. "No!"
Quickly acknowledging my presence back, he simply smirked. "Oh come on! I ain't even uttered a word yet Danny!" My long time best friend and roommate, Nathan Carter, spoke out in a bit of a whiny tone.
Yep. That was him alright. But I wouldn't have it any other way.
In all my years of knowing Nate since we were ankle biters in kindergarten, we'd been through a lot of experiences together living in low income colored households. He was my confidant and the only man that knew all about me and vice versa with him.
So once I became of age, me and him both got into some things that would make us financially stable practically for a very long time.
That is until I decided to do the right thing and he followed suit—which was exactly what I was planning on doing now too.
"Oh don't worry, you don't have to. The attire is a dead giveaway for someone who makes ninety three cents an hour at a laundromat." I pointed out, raising my eyebrows up while putting my briefcase and fedora down on the dining room table.
Seeing him in something like that wasn't as exciting and special as he was making it.
Behind that suit, there was a herd of dangerous wolves supplying it. More dangerous probably now, that I didn't think I could handle correctly anymore at this point in my life.
I'd seen it all before. I had it all before.
"Okay look old boy, before ya get all mad and everything just hear me out and then we can get rid of it. He even gave ya one too for free!" He pleaded.
I didn't care. There was nothing to discuss about the matter.
"Are you screwy?! I don't think so. How did he even find us?!" I inquired, becoming a bit worried while checking out the ritzy designer label on the tag.
"Whoa, just relax. Santos still doesn't know where we live! I even snuck out to the back to ensure they weren't following." He held his hand up defensively. I sighed distressed —deciding to hear him out. He snickered and nodded. "And for ya information, his partner, Moon found me at the grocery joint when I was replenishing some food for our fridge—since you and your ladies friends like to eat it, but not replace it. And I know ya keep telling me we're done with that part of our lives with him but...he made me talk for a bit." He shyly shrugged.
"About what?! Better yet, why didn't you just throw the things back at Moon?" I asked, now analyzing the little 'gift' he gave me too on the coffee table.
It was the same suit, just in a maroon color to compliment my dark skin tone— appearing like it was worth thousands. It was rather fancy, nice, and sorta my style.
"How could I, Danny? That man and Santos can kill me with one look. I didn't have a choice." He clarified.
Everyone had a choice. I couldn't even tell how many times I heard that to my face from the viperous woman I used to know.
"Oh, I don't buy that. Besides, I've already told him several times before that we're not gonna be part of any organization anymore. We agreed on it, Nate! You promised me!" I reminded him.
"And ya promised that ya would be a world known journalist years ago when we left it in the first place, and guess what Danny?! It still hasn't happened yet. Aren't ya tired of living the life of an impoverished man?" He casually questioned.
Actually I wasn't. We had everything we needed. It paid off in the end, if I didn't have to fall back into the lines of bootlegging anymore.
It was so humiliating to even admit I was among the many who engaged in supplying illegal liquor to any big shot gangsters like Bugsy Siegal, and other highly dangerous local thugs like Santos and Moon, who were willing to pay us the big bucks. Sometimes I even made it myself at home in the gin tub.
But still, it was a rough and tough biz to be in.
And while it did grant us some heavy sugar and the finest things in life, when dealing with lavish gifts and endless skirts I could have knocking on my door that I was obviously accustomed to—it could also be a very treacherous trap to break away from.
Especially after certain men wanted me to do certain things to others I refused to even attempt or consider. It was why we had to be for the most part under the radar and not be throwing our names everywhere where they could possibly seek us out.
We barely escaped when it was nearly impossible to and now we were thriving.
Well, trying.
"Come on, I think we can do it one time buddy! What do ya say?!" He happily professed.
I say I was starting to get a headache now with this subject—on top of the whole Victoria story problem. But of course he would suggest something as absurd as that. He always loved the life of being a rich man—which we clearly weren't, but we were getting by just fine.
"We have enough." I uttered calmly, jumping onto our old fashioned couch. But hey, it was still a couch nevertheless. And the women I brought over surely weren't thinking that far ahead when I placed them on it. They had much more to be occupied with, let me just say. "But hey, if you'd like to know how my job is doing—I'll be happy to tell you all about it."
Smirking, he nodded and fell back onto the couch too. "What? They decided to give ya a big scoop after all?"
I wish. "Well no, but it is a big scoop! Victoria Singh."
"Ya ex?" He asked, gasping over to me. I chuckled and nodded.
"Yep! According to the new 'Discover Awards,' she's up for a nomination for best acting performance in a silent film. Though her peers are still trying to understand why." I explained, taking out another ciggy from my back pocket and lighting up.
Even mentioning her for a second made me feel so stressed, that I had to. But I knew it was a new yet bad habit I surely needed...and wanted to break. It wasn't ever that easy however.
"Well did ya try to ask for the story?" He asked, getting excited like I actually could.
"Yeah right. The day Atwater trusts me enough to do something as big as that, is the day the prohibition will end—if it evers." I smirked.
He grunted and sighed. "Why not?! Buddy, ya gotta think big to be big! Nobody knows her better than Danny Collins himself! Right?! Old boy, I want more. We need more than just what we're settling for. In this life, it's about taking what ya want and doing something with it! I mean, do ya wanna keep being controlled by Atwater and asking folks on the street who should be responsible for changing babies' pee?" He uttered, snickering toward the last part of his sentence.
With that, he stared at me knowingly before heading into his bedroom.
Contemplating on every word he just spoke, I hated to say he kinda made a valid point. But he was wrong about one thing.
"Poop. It's babies' poop." I shamefully corrected. God, that sounded even worse.
But at the end of the day and the more I thought about it, he was completely right when it came to thinking big in order to be the best.
So...screw it. I wasn't gonna go down without a fight.
If Victoria Singh was the only way to get me far in my career, then fine.
I'll do whatever it takes to get this job.
🎥 🎥 🎥 🎥 🎥 🎥 🎥 🎥
"Absolutely not!" Gregory kept chanting like I didn't understand him the first twelve times.
I had been following him pretty much all day as we were now roaming through the employee break room, with the same old coffee and variations of stale bread and donuts spread out.
He just had to see things from my point of view though.
The man didn't even let me say hardly anything, once I told him hey. Literally. "You don't even know what I want yet, sir!" I finally could make out.
"Sure I do! It's what every fella in this joint is badgering me about now too. You want the Victoria Singh story. You'll promise you can make it the best anyone has ever seen! You believe that she will open up to you. But I'm here to tell you now, she won't. Wanna know why? Because she's refusing comments and questioning from anyone until she apparently finds a new assistant. Which judging by her track record, will take for weeks—maybe even months! Heck, the award will be over by then—so now my butt is on the line from my boss on how I'm supposed to work with that, or my job is canned. Now, no one will be able to get to speak to this woman." He explained, making himself a cup causally—not even looking in my direction.
Oh, she was crafty like that sometimes. But I had confidence I could still get it.
After all, I had an idea where we could get what we needed and her true evil colors would be seen anyway by the entire world. Just like she deserved.
"Not a problem! Look, I don't ever ask for a thing! I do my work exactly how you want me to, I ask the same dumb questions you force me to, and now I wanna have a chance to prove myself as a real writer! Please! I'm begging you, sir! You won't regret it!"
"Ha! Of course I will! You're not a real journalist Collins! I'm getting my best men on it as we speak, so don't worry about it." He informed, heading back upstairs to his office.
Come on Collins, think. Do something. I couldn't just let him walk away.
"Well, what if I told you I have a different approach to make sure we can get it? Something that no one has or can even obtain!" I pleaded.
"Oh yeah, like what?!" He snapped back.
Smiling smugly, the answer just fell out. "Dirt."
Staring to me slightly intrigued, he then made a baffled expression. "Dirt?"
"Yes! You know, something so scandalous it would stir up endless drama across Hollywood. Why else do you think any other journalists want their hands on this, sir? It's believed to be one of the biggest breakthroughs in history!" I clarified snickering.
"I'm listening...but uh, you really think you can get this supposed dirt?"
Nodding confidently, there was no way I couldn't. "I mean, I can only try. You see, I personally know her." I hinted as he froze. Looks like I had his attention now. "In fact, Victoria Singh was my ex-girlfriend. I say in order to get what you want from a woman like that, you need to be ruthless as she is. Get inside her head to make sure she cracks when you want her to the most. I say I should go undercover, and give her exactly what she wants." I firmly let out.
Slowly turning back to face me, he suddenly snickered. "You're just yanking my chain."
"Well, I wish I was but...it's the truth." I stared cautiously.
"I see...and uh, what makes you believe she's just going to hire you over everyone else?"
Sighing and beginning to fidget, I finally revealed one more crucial thing I would only need. "Let's just say, she owes me."
With the same look, the wheels in his mind were starting to turn as he pondered over all that had been just made known before I heard his next careful words.
"Alright, I'll bite." I yelped happily...until he cut me off. "But under one condition! If you can get me a good exclusive scoop on Miss Singh, I'll promote you as head journalist. Even the newsboys will be passing your stories around with a sheer smile on their faces." I grinned compliant and about to leave, until he grabbed my suit even closer. "But if you don't and you've lied to me, consider yourself canned too. Do I make myself clear Collins?"
With nothing but determination and motivation in my eyes, he didn't even have to worry about a thing. I surely had this in the bag.
"Crystal."
Better yet, she won't even know what hit her.
🎥 🎥 🎥 🎥 🎥 🎥 🎥 🎥
Ohhh, seems like he's got a plan up his sleeve!
Next chapter, you don't wanna miss an unconventional reunion! ;)
See ya next time!