The Deal

“So, what’s the catch?” asked Teddy.

“No catch,” said the guy I assumed was the dealer. I mean, he was the one handling the bags; and he was the one waving the gun around. “I give you the money, and you walk away and keep quiet. Capeesh?"

The dealer pulled a wad of cash out of his bag and waved it around in front of our faces. “Huh? What do you say?”

I stared at the wad with no idea what I should do next. I looked at Teddy, and Teddy looked at me. He shrugged, looked back at the wad of cash, and leaned close to me.

“I think the answer is obvious,” he said. “I say we take the cash and get out of here.”

I shook my head and grimaced. “I don’t know.”

“Are you serious? The guy’s offering some serious dough, and all we have to do is not get shot in the face. What other options are you looking at here?”

I hesitated. I wasn’t sure what was making me think about the situation. The choice should be easy like Teddy said, and, frankly, it would have been easy to grab the money and leave. But something gave me pause. Something made me stop. I wanted to understand what it was.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I don’t see any other options, but I don’t feel right about this.”

Teddy groaned. “You’ve got to be kidding! You can talk about your feelings to your therapist or sit in a hippie circle after we take the cash, ok? Right now, I’m just trying to live to see tomorrow.”

“I know. But if I take that money, it’s gonna haunt me the rest of my life.”

“Maybe. But at least the rest of your life will be longer than five minutes.”

The dealer strode towards us. I couldn’t see the buyers anymore. They must have run off.

“Well?” asked the dealer. “What’s it gonna be?”

Teddy stepped forward, holding his hand out. “We’ll take it. I promise we won’t say—”

I put my hand in front of Teddy, stopping him in his tracks. “Now, hold on a second. I never agreed to that.”

The dealer’s brow furrowed. “Are you insane? I’m saving your life here. This is a chance to walk outa here without a hole blown through your chest. Or have you not figured out what I'm gonna do to you if you don't take the cash?”

“Yeah, I know,” I said.

“So?” said the dealer. “What’s with the hesitation, bro?”

I shook my head. “I don’t know.”

I turned to Teddy and spoke in a low voice. “Look, this isn’t right. We need to tell the police what’s going on.”

“It isn’t right?” asked Teddy. “What isn’t right about this? We’re not doing anything wrong. We’re just not saying anything.”

“Exactly. By our inaction, this guy won’t get justice.”

“You’ve got issues. He’s doing something illegal. So what? Let him do what he does. I don’t care. It doesn’t bother me. I want to live, and I want to see my kid, ok? Is that too much to ask?”

“But we can’t let him get away with this!”

“Then what do you suppose we do, huh? I don’t see another way out. Unless you have a gun on you, and you’re really good with it.”

“No,” I said. “I don’t have a gun.”

“Well, there you go.”

I tensed my teeth. My mind was racing. “Can’t we take a moment to think of something?”

“We don’t have a moment,” said Teddy. “He’s going to shoot us! I have a kid. What’s he going to become without a dad, huh?”

I put my hands in the air in mock surrender. “Fine. You do what you think you should do. But I’m not taking that money.”

Teddy glared at me. “Eric, I can’t let you do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re going to die! That’s why!”

“We both have a choice to make, alright? You chose one path, and I chose the other. That’s the way it is.”

Teddy's eyebrows shot up as he looked at me. I couldn’t tell if he was upset, furious, scared, or all three. I felt terrible, but I couldn’t sit back knowing I could have done something to bring that man to justice.

I stepped towards the dealer. Teddy tried to grab my shoulder, but I shrugged him off.

I looked the dealer in the eye, trying to look more confident than I felt. “My friend will take the money. I won’t.”

The dealer looked at me with a disgusted expression. “You’re an idiot.”

He lifted his gun. “Get on your knees, moron.”

I did what he said. He came around behind me, and I felt the cold metal of the gun barrel pressed against my head. I thought of Faith and decided that I should have asked her to marry me when I had the chance. I thought back through the years. I had a good life. Besides, I was going to a better place anyway.

“You made me do this,” said the dealer.

I sighed. “I know.”

I shut my eyes tightly. Sweat dripped from my brow. I said a silent prayer and waited. It was only for a few seconds, but it felt like forever.

I heard the dealer grunt. The pressure of the gun against my head disappeared, and I slowly turned to find the dealer on the ground and Teddy standing over him with a rock in his hand.

He shook his head. “I couldn’t go through with it. I couldn’t.”

I smiled at him. “I know. Thanks.”

He didn’t say anything. All he did was stand there and drop the rock as his eyes stared at the pavement.

I called the cops, who arrived about five minutes later. The dealer woke up before that, but I had taken his gun away. There wasn’t anything he could have done. He offered more money, but this time both of us turned it down.

The police came and arrested the dealer on three charges: the possession of illegal drugs, attempted murder, and the possession of counterfeit cash.