Clocking You To Death

Clocking You To Death

   The night just started, and this guy was already being obnoxious. It was only a quarter to eleven and he was stinking drunk. The guys he was with were trying to buy me off with 1000 “clocks” and a can of Enfamil. That wasn’t even going to cover gas to get home. These guys must think I’m some kind of joke.

“C’mon guys, seriously, beat it. I can’t let your friend in. The rest’ a you guys can come in, but your friend has to go home, I’m sorry. Besides, 1000 “clocks”? Uh uh---------and Enfamil? I already have a ton at home, and I can find ‘em in my sleep. Similac is the real deal guys, you know that.” I laughed, these fellas were irksome, but they were funny.

“You know what? Screw you! You probably couldn’t even afford Similac moron! And we pay your damn salary too dickwad. Please, 1000 clocks is more than you’ve seen all week!”

Before another one of them could open their mouth, I was already physically spinning them around and pushing them away from the black velvet rope that was keeping the crowd of restless partygoers from entering the big oak French doors with the gold brass handles. Two of the guys fell, dirtied their clothes a bit, and were pissed, but they kept walking. I wasn’t shocked by that. The people standing in line cheered and applauded but I remained stoic. I had just gotten there and already I wanted to go home. It was my typical shift working at “The Hot Zone”, a night club downtown. I moonlighted there 3 to 4 nights a week and during the day I operated the forklift at a warehouse. I was just trying to make ends meet in order to support myself and because I had a daughter who lived another state that I had to pay child support for. I missed her dearly.

When hyperinflation, cryptocurrency and stock market crashes, plus greed from big corporations, made the dollar around the world lose its value almost completely, citizens in the United States were able to put together a new form of currency, at least for now, while the trust of the people is still there. We use a currency that we call “clocks”. You can think of these as like points. Every 100 points, or “clocks” would equal the same buying power of what used to be the dollar. Clocks are issued solely through an app, which is named “Clocking U”. I think it’s just another way for whoever is calling the shots to use big ben and technology against us-----yet again, but that would be a story for another time. The baby formula was because of the shortage we just had. So now it’s like gold. You can only find it on the black market though. And its commonly acknowledged that Similac will get you more than Enfamil.

I got home at 5 am. Kicked my boots off first, took my jacket and sweatshirt off, then unbuckled my jeans and they were gone soon after. I put my mail and my housekeys on the kitchen table. “Kai Fiser.”

That was the name on one of the bills that were in the short pile of correspondence on my table. “They left the “h” out of my name again, guess “Fishers’” too hard for some.” I thought to myself.

My phone started to vibrate. “I don’t recognize this number, I’ll send ‘em to voicemail.”

When I checked the voicemail, I heard a voice I hadn’t heard in a long time, a voice I thought I would never hear again.

“Kai…. Frankie. Listen he wants to see ya, give one of us a call a ‘right? You still know the numbers don’t ya? Yeah, you do.” The voice on the other end let out a chuckle, then ended the call.

It was Frankie Fingers. He was a top lieutenant under Rocko Waterton in the Red Outlaws. I was a collector and a hitman for the outlaws before I got out. Getting out wasn’t easy. The typical way of leaving a gang is death, but since I was able to broker a peace deal between Rocko and Jacky the Tool, the leader of the Tank Boys, Rocko would let me walk, Scott free. A lot of blood was being shed in the city’s gang wars. None more though than the one between the Red Outlaws and the Tank Boys. There were too many people getting killed, which meant ramped up police surveillance, which meant less money being made, which negated the reasons for all the violence in the first place.

Since Rocko knew I had a good rapport with Jacky from my days as a contractor for gangs all over the city, he asked if I could set up a meeting. I could’ve joined up with any gang in the city, or just stayed a contractor, but I liked Rocko, and I respected him, and he told me he would make me a very rich man. So, needless to say, I didn’t take too long to mull it over. I knew then I had leverage, so I said sure, but I gave him my terms as well. My kid was getting older, and I needed to be around her more. I wanted out. Frankie was busting my balls about it before but now I had him.

“Ey, Frankie, its Kai. Got your message. Listen I’m really just returning your call as a courtesy, cause I can’t imagine I’d be interested in anything you or he has to say” I said to Frankie on the phone as I walked outside to the corner store. I was out of Newport’s.

“I wouldn’t be so sure kid, the big guy’s got an offer for you, a proposal I guess you could say. I got a feelin’ you’re gonna wanna listen”

I could hear Frankie’s pompous, devious, smile through the receiver. “Look Frankie, I don’t have time for these games a ‘right. If Rocko wants to talk to me, he knows where to find me, doesn’t he?” Frankie just laughed a bit. “Exactly, thought so.”

“Ok kid, jeez, I forgot how seriously you took things. Ok, the big guy wants to see you tonight, so whaddaya say I come by your place around 8, we grab some dinner, couple beers, on me of course. Then we go to the old spot. You still live in that shitty neighborhood over on the north side don’t cha?”

“Yeah”. This guy’s a piece of work, isn’t he?

Frankie arrived and picked me up at 8:07. After dinner and those beers he promised, we made our way to see Rocko. Frankie was actually cool this night. He was still a pain in the ass, and he reminded me of how much I used to hate watching him eat. He had a habit of speaking with food in his mouth and it would always get on whatever designer shirt he was wearing. Fucking slob. He did pick up the check however and he even put 10,000 “clocks” in my account just for taking this summit on short notice.  When we got to Rocko’s, he was hitting a heavy bag that was hanging in his office. His office was on Main Street now, an upgrade from the makeshift one he had in the back of an abandoned auto shop last time I saw him. Rocko stopped his workout when he saw us come in. He took his gloves and hand wraps off, took a sip of water from his hydro flask, then walked over to us.

“Wow, well if isn’t Kai, “the guy” Fisher. You know, I never thought I’d see you in my new office. You like the new digs?” Rocko poured some Johnny Walker Blue into a glass. “Can I fix you a drink?”

“Cut the shit Rock, out with it. Why am I here?”

“Same old Kai, all business. I like it. Okay, here’s the deal.” Rocko lit a cigar. “I need you to do a job for me.”

“I ain’t collectin’ no more, ain’t cha heard?” I was intrigued by what he had to say but my poker face was still on.

“It ain’t collectin’” Rocko said, shaking his head for emphasis. “it’s cleanin’ this time”

I had originally thought that Rocko just maybe wanted me to collect or maybe just put the fear of God into some poor shmuck, but he wanted me to kill for him. He wanted someone dead.

“You’re not serious, you can’t be serious.” Rocko just looked in my eyes, not saying a word. “You’re outta your mind Rock, I got out. You let me out. I did my time with you, I did that last thing for you, and you kept your word, and I’ve always respected you for that. Why’re you trying to pull me back into the life now?”

“Come, have a seat with me over here.” Rocko led me over to a black leather couch right outside of the room we were in. “Look kid, I know you’re not doing great. You can try and act like you are but you and I both know that’s a lie. Right? Right. So, here’s what I’m gonna do, I’m prepared to offer you a substantial amount of money for an insubstantial amount of work.” I shrugged my shoulders and put my hands in front of me, palms facing up. “Ha! I knew it! Frankie! Get me a piece ‘a paper and somethin’ ta write with!” Frankie went into the office and grabbed a pen and sheet of printer paper and handed it to Rocko. “How’s. This. Look. To you?” Rocko asked as he wrote something down on the paper. He folded it and handed it to me. When I opened it, it said 500,000,000 “clocks”.

“Shit Rocko, somebody has really got you by the balls huh?” I arrogantly teased. I was playing it cool, but Rocko knew I needed the money, and he was going to take full advantage of that factuality. “I told you; I wasn’t comin’ back.”

“The job’s simple.” Rocko totally disregarded my last statement. “I need you to take somebody out.”

“Oh, is that all?” I asked sarcastically.

“That’s all. Just do what you do best. My kid’s in a thing.” Rocko’s kid was always “in a thing”. “He got picked up a while back for armed robbery and now he’s on trial. With all of Jeff’s priors, the judge isn’t gonna go easy on him. So, he’s gotta walk. One of the members of the jury is being a hard ass. She’s not changing her mind, believe me, we’ve tried. She’s gotta go Kai. You remember Shawn, right? He’s gonna be helpin’ with this. He put a tracker on your phone, so we know when the job is done.” Shawn is a hacker that Rocko has on payroll. 500,000,000 clocks is a lot of “people doing whatever you want them to at the snap of a finger” kind of money, but I hated the idea of Rocko thinking he knew me so well. His pontifical stance one of the motivating factors in my decision to turn him down.

“Heh, sorry Rock, you know I would love an opportunity to have you owe me one, and that is a lotta dough, but I’m gonna pass. I may not have shit goin’ for me right now, but I’m not willing to risk something happening to me and leaving my baby girl without a father. I spent too many years not doin’ right by her, she deserves better.”

“Yeah. Sure, no problem. Hey, how’s she doin’ in school?” Rocko never asked questions like these.

“Uh, good, I guess.” I answered, brow raised.

“Good, good, good.” Rocko nodded as he said the words, as if in agreement with himself. “You know, I should really give Ms. Lopez a call and let her know how happy we are as a family with her teaching methods. Monique is really coming into her own. As a matter of fact, dad, you should really think about getting Mo a car for all her hard work. After all, that 30-minute walk to school is gonna get brutal come January.” Rocko’s message was clear.

“You son of a bitch!” I lunged at him, but Frankie grabbed me and held me back.

“Kai, Kai, chill man, relax. You are doing this. This time though, it ain’t gonna be half up front like how we used to do business. Nah, 250,000,000 clocks is still enough for you to try and skip town with. So, Shawn’s gonna transfer them into whatever account you want ‘em in. He’ll be tracking and watching you the whole time. When the job’s done, you’ll see your clocks right in the app the next second, hand to God. But Kai, you try to use that brain of yours, and I’ll have the wolves blow your little piggie’s house the fuck down. -------- Yup, they’re staking it out as we speak!.”

The first thing I needed to do was surveil this juror a bit. I didn’t want to know her name, so I only knew her as juror number 2. After a few days I figured out that she went to the gym after court consistently. That’s where I would make my move. I’m thinking I can get into the women’s locker room, do the deed and have it cleaned up. All in under 10 minutes. I was a bad dude in my heyday. The day that I was anxiously waiting for had arrived. I stayed at a hotel across the street from the courthouse the night before. I wanted to watch her intently one last time. I planned on following her to the gym. She has no idea how close she is to having her soul relinquish it’s grip on her own life. Here she comes. I pursued juror number 2 to a Nordstroms and then to a convenient store. After finally arriving to the gym, I let her get out and walk a few feet before I went after her. My heart was beating violently, and fast. My palms were so sweaty, I worried if I would even be able to hold the Baby Browning .25 caliber with the silencer that I had in my hand. I knew there was no turning back now, Shawn was watching my every move and whether Rocko really had guys outside my baby Monique’s house, was not a risk I was going to take. I got out of my 2010 black Honda civic and started for that women’s locker room. Here goes, my breathing getting heavier with each step I take. I swear to God I don’t want to do this. After I secure the area and get the other gym patrons out of harm’s way, I slither into the locker room quiet and undetected.

“Okay. Turn around.” Juror number 2 turned around, startled by the sound of a man’s voice in the women’s locker room. She took a deep breath in, and her eyes got wide at the sight of my pistol aimed straight at her chest.

“Wh-wh-wha- why? Wh-what’s going on?” Poor thing was scared out of her mind.

“Sit down lady.” She stayed frozen. “I said sit lady!” She sat.

“Somebody wants you dead you know that? I mean, Jesus lady, couldn’t you just go along with everybody else? You know who this kid is don’t you? You know who he’s associated with right? The little shit.” I asked her, gun never lowered. “Shawn. Shawn!” I said into a small walkie talkie I pulled out of my back pocket. “How’s it looking, man? Over.”

“I’m working as fast as I can man”

“Well could ya maybe work faster? I got my gun pointed at this lady who’s scared to death, and Rocko’s watching us, waiting for me to pull this trigger. He might even be listening to us too.” I surmised.

“Go ahead and check. Your. Account. Now.” There it was. The whole 500,000,000 right there in all its glory. He had done it. Shawn hacked into Rocko’s Clocking U account and transferred the clocks into mine. Rocko thought he had anticipated everything. Playing on my recent hardships, staking out my daughter’s house. What Rocko didn’t anticipate however was my cousin Shawn’s willingness to help. I introduced Rocko to Shawn a while back. When I decided to leave the gang, Shawn asked if he could stay on. He liked the work and Rocko treated him fairly. I told him he was his own man and could make his own decisions but that let’s continue to keep our kinship a secret. I had a feeling that I could use that piece of information to my advantage one day.

“Lady, it’s your lucky day.” I lowered the gun, finally. “Go on, get outta here.” I left the gym, got back in my car and started off.

“Kai, come in. Over.”

“Yeah, go ahead Shawn.” I said into the walkie talkie in my right hand while I gripped the steering wheel with my left.

“I’m gonna get outta dodge, lay low, you know? What are you gonna do? Rocko’s gonna be sending guys after us real soon.”

“Yeah, I know. I’ll deal with him when I get back.”

“Back?”

“Yeah. I gotta go get my kid. And Shawn….”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks.”