DILEMMA

Max couldn’t believe what he was reading, ‘Seriously disgruntled by his driving abilities… his demeanour is wanting’ on top of this, that son of a mother had given him a one-star review. “Perfect” Max lamented pounding the wheel. All this because he had refused to take an unlawful U-turn. 

He had picked up a client at the JFK airport en route to Mandarin Oriental Hotel NY. On the way, the gentleman had made a plea (or rather demand) to stop at the supermarket, but due to the heavy traffic and the sudden change of plans, Max had been unable to get off the intersection in time. His apology fell on deaf ears as the man demanded that Max take him to the supermarket or else he would not pay him.

Things hit the fan when the gentleman in question suggested that Max takes an illegal U-turn and head back. 

  “Sir there are several high-end malls and shops close to the hotel, I promise, you’ll get what you’re looking for, I will even get the stuff for you at no cost” 

  “Who the hell told you I need your help? Am quite able to do my shopping. The only reason I wanted to shop before I got to the hotel it to avoid lowlifes like you.”

It only got worse when they got to the hotel, as the man-made good on his threat of not paying, it took the intervention of the hotel’s security and a few curious on-lookers to sway the man into submission. The review had been a brutal slap in the face. Max could live with the one-star review but the comments that followed were too much. The private chauffeur company he worked for took such accusations very seriously. Any disrespect to the clients was an offense punishable by heavy salary reduction, suspension, or worse, complete termination. 

With no parents to offer any support, a baby sister looking up to him, plus college and day-to-day bills hot on his heels, any of the three actions could have been detrimental. Max slumped back into the driver seat of the black Cadillac, it was only 10a.m but he felt tired already. He was just about to get a coffee when he received a new pick-up request. To be honest, after the run-in with his first client, Max neither had the strength nor the mood to drive another client, but there was no option. He remembered his baby sister, today was her 11th birthday. He had managed to get her a scholarship that would take her through her elementary and part of her junior high.

Despite her young age, she was a bright kid, she understood everything that was going on around her and unlike kids of her age, she rarely threw a tantrum when she didn’t get what she wanted. She was more content with the little things. She developed the habit of cutting off pictures from magazines and newspapers he brought home and sticking them in one of her books. She called it, ‘things I’ll buy when I grow up’ from shoes to jewelry, from houses to clothes to even a car- for big bro- she had included beside the cut-out. It pained him that he could not give his sister the life she deserved.  

Regardless of what he was going through he had promised himself that her next birthday would be memorable. Cinderella glass shoes, a new dress in her favourite colour, and a cake, whether large or small he didn’t care. D-day was finally here, and not only did he have insufficient funds for her ‘memorable’ birthday but after the morning incident he barely even knew if he would have a job by the end of the day. “What were you thinking Max? STUPID!” he cursed out in frustration.  

  “Please confirm or deny pick-up” the robotic voice from the stereo snapped him back to reality. “SHIT!” It had been fifteen minutes since that request had been sent, Max could already hear his supervisor yelling “You’re fired Mr. Whittal” from the back of his head. He quickly hit the confirmed icon on the display and raced to the meet point.

He arrived at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel ten minutes late and despite the chilled weather, he could feel drops of sweat sliding down his armpits. Despite all this, his client, a lady, wasn’t angry at all she seemed relieved that he had arrived late. 

  “Ok, where to?” he asked absent-mindedly

  “Ummh…didn’t I state where I was going while requesting a chauffeur?” she asked calmly. Max looked at the display, there was a clear map stating where the lady was headed.

  “Aah yes…ummh…sorry about that…ok…ummh…let’s go” Max was sure he was getting axed

  “Up and Away,” the lady said mimicking a cartoon character.

With the thoughts about his job, and his sister’s birthday fighting for space in his already overcrowded brain, Max found it hard to focus on the road, and as such kept swerving about.

  “I know I look like a corpse, but am in rush to leave this earth mister.” The lady said catching Max’s nervous look in the rear-view mirror.

  “You could use a wash if am being honest.” Max tightened his grip on the wheel, he couldn’t believe what he had just told a client. ‘Consider yourself jobless with immediate effect you moron’ his subconscious screamed at him

  “Wow, sense of humour, for a moment there I thought I was being driven by a malfunctioning robot.” Max coughed out a response, he didn’t trust his voice box anymore.

  “So what’s wrong mister, and don’t tell me nothing because you look like a mortal Atlas”

  “My first client today was an ego-centric bastard that deserves to have his balls dipped in honey then staked to an ant farm plus today is my sister’s birthday and I have no money to buy her even a small cake and given the review I got from that jack-ass am probably going to be jobless in the next twenty-four hours.” Max finished taking in a big breath

  “Jesus and I thought I was having a bad day”

  “Just forget about it, we’ll be arriving in thirty minutes and you can forget you ever met me.”

  “Sister’s birthday eeh…how old is she turning?”

  “11…why?”

  “How far are we from the nearest mall?” Max checked his heads-up display

  “Ten minutes…why?”

  “Let’s make a small detour, shall we driver?”

  “Why?”

  “Z…drive.”

The pair drove into the basement of Gristedes mall and the lady excused herself, when she returned she was loaded with gifts plus a large cake.

  “Black Forest, I hope she likes it.” She said handing over the cake, then proceeding to put the rest of the gifts in the boot.

  “Wait, lady…I can’t take this…if my employers knew about this I could land in jail”

  “I won’t tell anybody, you can trust me.”

  “I still can’t accept this…thanks but, no thanks.”

  “Ok… what will you tell your sister?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Am guessing she has never had a proper birthday since she was born, what excuse will you give her this time?”

  “Look here lady I don’t know who you think you are but I don’t need your help”

  “Am not helping you, am helping your sister, plus, given the day you’ve had, consider this my review…and besides am not asking you to go bomb the White House…what do you have to lose?”

Max thought about all this, and as much as he wanted to up the role of chief provider, it was clear that he had no other options in front of him. He agreed to the lady’s offer and proceeded to drop her off.

  “One more thing, what’s your sister’s name?”

  “Kira…Kira Whittal.”

  “Well tell Miss Kira that, Aunty Sasha Mayfield wishes her a happy birthday” With that she walked away. As Max was pulling out of the driveway, the car suddenly stopped. ‘What tha…?’ he began murmuring; a blinking light on the display caught his attention, he had run out of gas. 

xxx

It had been a few weeks after Max had had that ‘fortunate’ meet with Sasha, but for some weird reason, he couldn’t get her out of his head. He still had his job, although he didn’t know whether that was a blessing or curse. The reviews of the ego-centric man had reached the higher-ups, however, they had been canceled out by Sasha’s. She had not only given him a five-star rating, but she also went on to leave a smashing review, one that bordered on being the best chauffeur she had ever had, excellent driving abilities, punctual, elegant, and a bunch of other appraisals.

That review plus her kindness were some of the things that Max couldn’t get out of his head.

  “Goddammit Whittal, are you ignoring me or what!” Geoffrey’s (Max’s supervisor) loud voice interrupted his wandering thoughts. He had been so caught up, that he hadn’t noticed him approaching.  

  “Ummh…Aah…sorry boss, what did you say?”

  “There is someone here to see you…says she is a friend of yours.”

  “Who?”

  “I don’t work for the police, the military nor the intelligence agency, how the hell am I supposed to know?”

  “Ummh…did she say what she wants or where she’s from?”

  “Do I look like your secretary…lemme tell you something Whittal, if I find out that you’ve been meandering with women using company facilities, I see to it that your ass gets thro…”

  “Where is she?” 

  “In the reception…am watching you Whittal”

‘Watch my ass’ Max mumbled as he walked away. He wished he could quit, but, he needed the money. Geoffrey knew about his predicament and thus knew Max couldn’t do anything even if he wanted to.

  “Do you ever have a good day?” Sasha’s voice halted Max on the spot. “Sorry, I would have called but I don’t have your number.”

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Did Kira enjoy the cake?”

  “Why are you here?”

  “What about the dress…oh and the shoes, I bet she couldn’t wait to put them on.” Max turned around and began walking away, he wasn’t in the mood for story-telling.

  “Wait, Max, wait…I just wanted to see how you’re doing.”

  “Am doing great Miss Mayfield…are you planning on using our services?”

  “Just hear me out, fifteen minutes of your time, and then if you want you’ll never see me again.”

  “What can I do for you?”

  “Walk with me.” Max had no interest in Sasha whatsoever but decided to listen to her.

  “I want to offer you a job.”

  “Not interested” Max turned around once more, this time ready to leave Sasha in the rear-view.

  “This is your one chance to give Kira a happier life.” The mention of his sister’s name left him perplexed. 

  “First of all lady, never mention my sister’s name ever again, and two, just because you bought her a cake and some shoes doesn’t mean we became besties, now if you’re not going to hire a chauffeur kindly leave.”

  “You’re not happy here Max… I can see it in your eyes.”

  “You have a death wish or something lady?”

  “No…I just know how it feels to grow up in a cold world with no one to lean on.”

  “You know nothing about my world, so fuck outta here.”

  “Mum died giving birth, never knew my old man…I doubt if he ever found out that he had a daughter. You think it’s rough for you Max, it hits ten times harder if you’re a girl.” Max had no reason to believe her, but her misty eyes and her cracking voice softened his heart.

  “Did you rob a bank?” 

  “Excuse me?”

  “That’s what she said…Kira… when I walked in with the gifts. Eleven years, eleven, and I had never seen her that happy.”

  “Do you have a picture?” Max showed her photos of her recent birthday “She’s beautiful”

  “She looks like her mum”

  “What happened…if you don’t mind me asking?”

  “Car accident, she was two years old.”

  “Am sorry”

  “What do you want Sasha?”

  “I have several clubs in Miami.”

  “I don’t drink, nor do I know how to make cocktails.”

  “The clubs are just smoke screens, I make my money in the powder business.”

  “Am not good at marketing plus, I don’t know anything about women’s skincare products.”

  “You don’t look like a moron Max, so stop behaving like one…you know exactly what I mean.”

  “No lady I don’t, because if I did I…” Max stopped finally realizing what Sasha meant by ‘powder’ “Hell no lady… HELL, NOOO, I have a sister to protect.”

  “How many rich people do you carry per day, huh, you think all of them got there by ‘hard work’ and ‘ethics’”

  “No I don’t, but, that doesn’t mean that I will sacrifice my principles and morals for a quick buck.”

  “Even at the expense of your sister?”

  “Am no saint, but, I’ve trying to bring her up in a moral way, training her to rely on herself, to sweat for her daily bread.”

  “How is that working out for you, huh, I mean you are sweating, but how much bread do you have?”

  “Careful woman, do push your luck.”

  “Am not trying to pick a fight, it’s a cold world, Max, am just trying to offer a blanket.”

  “What do you want from me?”

  “Am in the process of expanding, am looking for someone to handle business in New York”

  “You mean a fall guy when things eventually go left.”

  “No, I mean a partner.”

  “I don’t know anything about the underworld.”

  “No one usually knows anything when they come into this world, we all have to learn, and lucky for you…you’ll have the best teacher.”

  “This sounds like bull shit, you know what I think, you’re on the run, and you’re looking for a scapegoat, a young college student in need of money, fits the bill…well lady ain’t gonna happen, am way too smart to fall for the oldest trick in the book.”

Sasha opened her purse and produced a brown envelope.

  “What’s this?”

  “For your time” Max opened it. Fifty thousand dollars; that was five months’ worth of salary. There were also two plane tickets to Miami.

  “Is this a bribe, huh, you think am this desperate?”

  “That’s for your time, and as you said, you’re way too smart, I just hope she doesn’t suffer because of your intelligence.” Sasha handed back Max’s phone. Kira’s smiling face brought tears to his face.

  “If you do change your mind, I’ll be living in three days” With this she got into her McLaren 720s and sped off.

That night Max thought about Sasha’s proposal, honestly, he needed the money but her way was like trading his soul. He scanned his shackle of a home, finally stopping at where his sister slept. Her bed, if you could even call it that, was leaning on one side threatening to topple under her growing weight. He slept on the floor. He thought about the man who had given him a one-star review, he was everything Max disliked, yet he had everything he wanted.

His thoughts then wandered to Sasha, she was offering a better life but at a very heavy cost. From her lifestyle, Max knew she wasn’t faking it, but that didn’t mean she had told him the entire truth, and what was that people said about ‘the deal being too good to be true’. Max reflected on the past 22 years he had spent on this earth, what could he say that he had truly achieved, other than his sister he had no one else on this planet. His job was a constant balance between mistreatment and fear.

 “Perhaps I can just accept Sasha’s offer, 6 months, or a year max, and I will be set. No money worries ever again.” He whispered to himself. Who was he kidding, Max knew that once he got himself involved in the underworld business, he would be in it for life. He looked at his sister once more, the scholarship was sufficient…for now. What would happen once it ran out? Even after opting to drop out of college for a while, he was still struggling to put food on the table.

Max wanted to cry but even his tears seemed to have forsaken him. He was caught in a dilemma. On one side, he could ignore Sasha’s offer, go back to his job, and hope for a miracle. On the other side, accepting her offer meant living a ‘comfortable’ life.

  “…, I just hope she doesn’t suffer because of your intelligence” Sasha’s words kept ringing in his head. Max had to make a decision, which one, he had no clue.