Crooked Charlie

I saw him standing on the corner of 5th Avenue that day, the scum of the Earth. The smirk he wore was a smirk I had seen many times before. Not haunting my dreams but merely existing as my own personal figment of my imagination deep within my subconscious, my personal body bag to fling every last damaging punch I could muster, fling every sharpened object at and spit on at the end with my boot against his neck.

“Charlie! It’s good to see you man,” a chubby faced male grabbed Charlie’s hand in a firm handshake, his suit squeezing tight against his mid-section. “Let’s go to my office and have a quick chat.” They both got into the taxi that the overweight man in the suit waved down. I had briefly caught the name of the man Charlie referred to as Kline. I took note of the number on the side of the taxi. 6314.

I had been on my way to the grocery store, a weak one-hundred dollars in my pocket. Now, that may seem like a pretty solid number but when you’re close to the heart of New York City and trying to feed your family for the week, that one-hundred dollars seems more like ten.

I had let myself go in the past few months, hair long and untamed, facial hair crowded my chin like an unkempt garden overflowing with pesky weeds.

I put my arm up in the air, pulling in the nearest taxi. I opened the door, “I don’t care how much money it takes, follow that taxi. Number 6314.” I slung myself into the seat while the driver grunted at my demand but quickly sped off, tailing Charlie as best as he could. The worn leather seats creaked and the inside of the car smelled like deli meats and body odor. “Looks like they are getting out at that building, sir.”

Looking out the window I watched both men, in their fine, tailored suits, chumping it up, laughing and snickering like high school boys as they walked up the stairs to the large skyline building.

Jefferson & Kline displayed in bold, golden letters across the front window. Not surprising that Charlie would know and interact with the big name splattered across the building. Charlie’s insatiable need for greed truly knew no bounds.

“You can drop me off here.”

“That will be 23.54.”

I handed him a twenty and four ones. I shouldn’t say this but…“Keep the change.”

I stepped out of the cab, taking in the bustling energy of NYC. Everyone in their own world. A woman with wireless headphones shoved in her ears, her blonde ponytail swishing back and forth as her body swayed with each movement, her pumps clacking against the concrete. Surely listening to an audiobook about self-help or how to apply reverse psychology in your daily life. An elderly gentleman walking his Schnauzer puppy, a stark contrast of age as the man struggled to keep up with the youthful energy of the shaggy-haired dog. The dense, invisible fog of coffee littered the air, assaulting the senses among other ungodly scents.

I stood for a moment in the sea of New Yorkers. How would I get in? I look like the average straggler on every corner. Security will surely push me out the door as soon as I step foot inside.

A commotion to the right of the building made me perk my ears.

“Get out and stay out!”

The security guard shoved the young man backwards.

“Get your damn hands off me!”

The boy shoved the guard back and before I knew it they were getting into it heavy. I couldn’t believe my luck. Wasting no time I ran into the building, doing my best to blend in with the straight-backed employees holding briefcases and designer bags.

The inside of the building was polished, not a chair in sight, the occasional faux plant in the corner, the creme colored tiles glittering in the blinding LED lights. In the middle was the desk for the receptionist and the security guard, the guard missing for obvious reasons, though the receptionist was in a tizzy flipping her hair back and forth as she scrambled to find a pen and organize papers on her desk, the company phone glued to her ear.

“Yes, Mr. Jefferson I will get on that right away, I uhm…" her voice faded as I cleared the desk just in time to hear the ding of the elevator.

I slipped in with the group of people, smashing my body against the wall, looking over shoulders to see exactly how many floors there were. Twenty-six floors and you could bet your sweet ass that the big names running the company were at the top on the executive floor.

A couple of the people gave me sideways glances but I made sure to look as confident as possible going over what I was going to say when I see Charlie’s mug.

How about, how does it feel to take everything from me you piece of shit?

That sounds good.

Or, you were considered to be a part of our family and then you fucked us over, did you ever think about us when you just jumped town with all of our money?

I could strangle him. I never considered myself to be a violent person until someone thoroughly screwed me over and now I feel like a monster.

Ding.

I walked out into the pale hallway, on the right Kline was listed with an arrow pointing that direction and the other vice versa so I took a right. I spotted a mahogany door at the end of the hallway and moved close to it quietly, pressing my ear against the cool wood.

“Numbers have been up this quarter Charlie, you know what that means. We can scrape off the top and no one will even bat an eye. A money transfer here, a money transfer there, eh?” I could just imagine Kline’s fat fingers curled around a top shelf glass of whiskey.

“You know I’m not opposed to it, I have someone I would like to take to travel the European continent so it really would be perfect timing,” I could hear Charlie set down his glass. “I’m just happy you kept this discreet. If my brother knew I was in town, he’d probably kill me.” His chuckle reverberated through the door. Too late.

I burst into the office, I’m sure looking every bit as wild as I felt. My chest heaving and face reddening with rage with every word I heard.

“Too late, you asshole. I’m right here.”

Charlie jumped up from his seat, knocking into his glass on the desk, the overpriced liquid seeping into the carpet.

“You know I’ve thought of so many different things I’d like to say to you, how about how does it feel to know you left your brother and his baby and his wife to starve with absolutely nothing in their pockets? Or was that your plan all along when you came over to my house sat in front of my family, played with my daughter and ate my food? Hmm, I’m going to fuck over my brother in a few months, ban him from the premises of our inherited company and dip with all the funds so he can drown in debt and poverty.” I put my hand on my chin, inching closer to him while Charlie looked at me warily, his height putting him one inch above me, of course he looked down on me, he had his whole life.

In the corner of my eye I noticed Kline sneaking his way towards what I’m sure is an emergency button underneath his desk.

I turned to him quickly, “don’t even think about it. This won’t take up too much longer of your precious time to scheme and ruin lives, you fat asshole.”

“Charlie…” Kline’s voice shook.

Charlie put his hand out in a stop motion, “It’s alright Johnathan, just relax.”

I stared into the cloudy hazel eyes I had grown up with, the only difference? The soul was missing.

“What are you going to do Samuel? Beat me up? Rough me around like we used to when we were kids? We’re too grown for that shit, just chill out.”

“The audacity on you. What do you have to say for what you did to me and my family? I struggle every week. I have to make a hundred dollars last this week to feed my family while you’re traveling the world with some girl you probably just met, fine dining and receiving spa treatment.”

Charlie chuckled.

“I didn’t do anything to you and your family Sam. You did it all to yourself. You could’ve been doing what I’m doing right now but you wouldn’t grow any balls and do what I told you to do.”

I clenched my hands, curling them into a fist.

“So because I refused to load money into off-shore accounts so that we could live a crooked life on money that wasn’t ours, that could possibly one day be traced back to me and could absolutely wreck my home life, this is all my fault?”

He shrugged his shoulders, that usual facade of nonchalance ghosting his features.

“Fuck you, Charlie.” I pointed my finger into his chest. “I don’t know who you’ve become but you better hope to God I never see your face around here again. You are the lowest person I’ve ever met and I hope you sleep well at night knowing that my daughter barely has food to eat while her uncle lives a life of luxury he never even worked for. That money is dirty and I would never take it, even if it would provide everything I could ever need and want. You’re dead to me Charlie.”

“Oh, don’t be so damn dramat-”

Thwack!

Charlie fell to the ground, my fist burning as he grunted on the floor. I kneeled down, grabbing him by the front of his suit, “I said dead to me and I mean it.” I laid my fist into his face multiple times, stood up and spit at his blood-covered chin, his right eye quickly turning into a shiner. This time I looked down at him while he looked up at me.

“Don’t ever let me see you again. Do us all a favor and use that bullshit money of yours to fly far far away and never come back.”

I walked away, my fists aching.

I took the stairs down to get on the elevator a few floors below in case that security guard from downstairs had caught wind that I was up here. I dug my hand into my pocket, pulling out the remaining seventy-six dollars. It was time to go get my little girl some food. Three dollar noodles may be for dinner, but a lifetime of remembering that moment between Charlie and I was priceless.