1 Trap^2

Two men were standing on a rooftop in New York City. One was a large gentleman; at a glance he was easily over 6-feet tall. The other? He was a short, fat and bald man.

One of them would die tonight.

"Hey Chris, why haven't ya' been down to the homeless shelter lately, they really could use the extra help around Christmas." The large man was flicking his cigarette on the side of the table while the other looked out into the city's skyline near the edge of the roof.

The short and fat man had let out a long sigh in response and went to sit back on the ice-cold metal chair.

"Ah, ya' know. School has kept me really busy. Medical school isn't easy ya' know?" He let out a small chuckle at the end and both men thought about their lives for a brief moment.

The large man snuffed out his cig and went for another, it was his "best" habit.

After relighting and taking a long draw, he tried to restart the conversation between old friends.

"No really, what have you been up to man? We don't even get to see you much in passing anymore, did you stop "earning" all together?" The man was leaning forward, clearly becoming more tense.

The short man let out a chuckle with a confused look on his face.

"What? Yeah, I left the crew a long time ago…didn't they tell you? I am clean."

The large man seemed to panic slightly for a brief moment, but he nearly instantly regained his calm demeanor.

The large man let out a hearty laugh, "Hahaha! You? Christian Boyd? Clean and out of the life, man who would have thought?"

The man was laughing a little too hard for Chris' comfort but hey…his friend was probably high, again.

"Hey man, you should get out while the time is good. With all of the busts, the crew was needing fresh blood. If you get out, you could stay with me until you get your civilian life together. It is a good life…"

Chris wanted his childhood friend to get some help with his "problems" so he could finally get out. If he didn't? It would certainly get him killed someday.

The large gentleman was still laughing, he nearly keeled over from the strain.

The words went in one ear and directly out of the other, just like old times.

"Well, Chrisie, that is enough for me. I am going to go head on home, it has been a long day." He said as he stood up and began to place his cigarette pack in his jacket pocket. To Chris it seemed like they were about to have one of their infamous fights, but for some reason, he didn't seem to care about getting clean anymore.

It was like his will had gone.

Chris stood up and followed him to the door. "Hey, do you need somewhere to stay? How is Mina?"

"Nah, we are good, just wanted to catchup a little. The old hag is doing really well…sadly." He said with a chuckle.

"Well, that is a good thing. Do you need any money?" Asked Chris.

"Nope, I am good brother!" He went to open the rooftop door and he heard a lot of footsteps stomping their way upwards.

"What the hell?" The man had realized what was happening, a bust.

"COPS!" He shouted and immediately he and Chris took off running at their top speed. Chris pointed out the fire escape and he looked down it, "SWAT" were making their way up it as well.

"SHIT!" Chad was freaking the hell out; he hadn't said the code word…

The Cops opened the rooftop door and flooded out and onto the roof. They were clearing the lower levels, but they had put eyes on their target.

They captured both of the men and brought them to the 81st precinct in separate cop cars.

Chris was freaking out. He had made a new identity and expunged his old aliases to cover his past. It was good enough for him to get into college and pass the State and Federal Background checks. So how did they find him and Chad?

[Just play it slow, lawyer up and get it all sorted out. We don't know what they have on us, but they came in force so it might be bad…]

Chad was in the rear car, also panicking about their predicament.

[Shit! Fuck! Why did these dumbass pigs try to come now of all times? I didn't fucking say the word!]

The two were brought into separate interrogation rooms to deliberately reduce to the amount of interaction.

Chris was waiting in a dimly lit room with a standard metal table and metal chair that both appeared to be quite used. Small dents and nicks could be seen where previous people were made to "cooperate" with the Cops.

As Chris was thinking about his situation and going over every single piece of information he left behind, he saw the door open.

The expert interrogator walked in with a confident swagger, he had files in his hand and a smirk on his face. He was thinking about the dirt they had gathered on this scumbag.

"Well, are you comfortable there, uh, "Michael?" Said the man as he sat down and fixed his folder one last time.

He was about to go into his monologue when he was answered with, "Yes, I am quite comfortable, thank you for asking!"

The seasoned detective shrugged it off and went with his standard opener.

"That is good to hear. We know what you did ALL those years ago. So, as long as you are comfortable, we are prepared to get you acquainted with your new environment as soon as possible!" The man said with a genuine smile on his face, trying to throw Chris into a panic.

Chris wasn't unbreakable but he had watched a few dramas and he knew that he could be a vital piece of information as he knew the dirty little secrets that held the organization together.

[Hahaha, cute little Cop'er, who would panic at that?] Thought Chris as he slightly tensed his body and made a worried expression.

Chris opened his eyes wide and looked shocked before speaking, "WAIT, I didn't do anything, it wasn't me! Ya' gotta' believe me!"

As Chris lunged and pulled against his handcuffs, he tried his best to make it as real as possible.

"Oh, it wasn't you?" Said the detective with a cheeky grin.

"Then who would it have been?" Asked the pig.

Chris faked his calming down and put a serious looking face on, "It was Joe, he did it!"

"Joe?" Asked the detective genuinely confused at the answer.

"Yeah! It was Joe! He did all that stuff!" Shouted Chris, looking relieved.

The detective looked at his notes and at the testimony that Chad had provided, but he found no "Joe". Well, other than the one killed by the gang in 2009.

"Who is this Joe? Hmm?" The detective was serious about this new lead and wanted to see where it would go.

Chris leaned in real close with the Cop and whispered about the elusive "Joe", "Well…I have never met him…outside of last night. He keeps to himself and doesn't come out of the house much, not since the…accident. You see, Joe is hideous and horribly disfigured."

The Cop was confused about what was happening but needed to get back control.

"Alright! Who is this Joe? What is his last name!" Said the Cop with a slightly raised voice.

"Ah…ah…his name is Joe-" Chris squinted his eyes to look at the detective's surname on his badge."-Galvez!"

The Cop was confused at the last name of the individual. Then it hit him as Chris started to laugh.

"JOE-MAMA! DUMBASS PIG!!" Said Chris as he was rolling in his chair nearly dying of laughter.

The Cop was about to snap, he had to get the information out of this man if he was going to stop the shipment of kids from South America.

Galvez stood up and slammed Chris against the table from behind.

"What the hell?! You can't do this shit; you can't hurt your suspects!" Shouted Chris as his face was becoming very intimate with the table.

The Cop whispered into his ear, "You scumbag motherfucker. How could you traffic little kids, you son of a bitch."

[What? Kids?]

Chris was confused at the accusation as he had never, NEVER ever hurt children.

"Uh, mister, if you could please get off of me, I think there has been a misunderstanding of the highest order." Chris was talking to nobody at this point as the officer was getting unraveled.

"YOU LISTEN HERE, YOU PIECE OF DOGSHIT!" The officer pulled his Glock-22 and held it against Chris' head. "YOU ARE GOING TO TELL ME WHAT THE SHIPPING NUMBER FOR THE KIDS IS OR WE ARE GOING TO HAVE A PROBLEM!"

[What the fuck? This dude lost his fucking mind!]

"CALM DOWN, PLEASE PUT YOUR WEAPON AWAY, PLEASE MAN! I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT A SHIPPING NUMBER, I AM IN MEDICAL SCHOOL. I WAS JUST FUCKING WITH YOU BECAUSE I THOUGHT IT WAS FUNNY!" Chris was genuinely about to cry as he felt the hard barrel press against his temple.

Suddenly the other Police officers busted into the room and began to talk to the detective.

"Yo, Juan, man, put that gun away. It was just a harmless joke. Please. We will find them." Said Random Officer#98.

Juan started to realize that this kid might not have the information and he was about to holster his weapon when Chris looked him in the eye and showed true terror.

"Alright! Alright…" Said Juan as he let Chris back up off of the table.

[Damn, that was a close one, I think I pissed myself a little…]

Chris was reeling from that sudden outburst, he knew that something was clearly going on from the way the cop acted, but he wasn't sure what could have ACTUALLY happened to the crew in his absence.

Chris then spoke up, "Hey…what did you say happened? Something about kids?"

Juan who was walking out of the room to cool off was piqued and spun around.

"Yeah, the South Brooklyn Boys have updated their "merchandise", wouldn't know anything about that now would ya'?" Asked Juan. He was for the first time looking at Chris as an actual individual.

Chris looked at his hands and realized that his old family had grown a little too much and had finally crossed the line.

[I told them, no fucking kids…SHIT] Thought Chris as he slammed the table in anger.

[Why couldn't they behave?]

Chris looked at the detective and nodded his head.

"I can help you with some backdoor program that I made for…this situation."

The Cop smiled and turned around to hit the lights.

Chris was confused at Juan's change in body language.

Then he heard laughter followed by a punch.

An old voice said, "IT'S NOT FUCKING FUNNY WHEN A OLD'IE IS ABOUT TO RAT."

…

[Oh no…]

Chris realized that it was his old boss.

[What the hell? How?]

Chris was really starting to fidget as Juan looked at his partner and then said, "Can we get out of here before we are accomplices to even more Felonies?"

The boss looked at each of them and handed them their pay for their work.

[Real cops…] Chris looked around the room and could swear it was real.

"H-h-h-o-ow?" Chris was stuttering as he was about to ask how they pulled this off.

The boss walked in the room, he was wearing his Golfing attire. A salmon top with cream pant leggings, and don't forget his white gloves and hat.

"Tsk, Tsk, Tsk. Oh, Chrisie. Why did ya' have to rat?" Tony was looking to the ceiling and studying the walls of the old precinct.

"Tony, I wasn't ratting, they said you had kids…I had to! You know my rules! NO KIDS!" Chris was getting more and more upset. He had seen only a few other officers after being brought into the back and sat down. The place looked lively for a nightshift!

Tony was looking around the room, disappointed.

"That is exactly why we did this little, "Rat Play". We are expanding into new territory overseas and it has been paying off nicely, can't you tell?" Tony said as he showed off his new multi-thousand-dollar outfit.

[Oh fuck…I am so FUCKED.]

"Please Tony, I-" Chris was speaking as Tony cut him off with a gnarly glare.

"Hey, Chad, do you hear squeaking?" Tony said as he looked to the door.

A pair of gangsters brought Chad into the room; he wasn't restrained but looked very shaken.

Chad said, "Tony, please, don't hurt my brother, please."

Tony sat for a moment before he pulled out a cigar and began to prep it. "Ya know, it is really funny that your "brother" was the one to double-cross you.

Chris looked at his childhood friend.

Chad made eye contact for only a moment and then broke it; he couldn't handle the staring that Chris was putting out.

"Why man? Why would you do this? Why would you be the one to destroy me?" Asked Chris.

"I didn't say the word-"Chad looked at Tony and began to shout, "-THEY WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO GO IN, YOU FAT MOTHERFUC-OOF." One of the henchmen stopped Chad from cursing out their boss by issuing a swift punch to the stomach.

Chad was still trying to stay standing from the punch but the two goons at his side were not going to let him hit the ground, so he looked up and said, "I am sorry bro! I told them you were out and then I was about to leave so I tipped off some cops. I thought it was an actual raid, I didn't know it was all a sham…" Chad hung his head in shame. He had robbed younger people and older people, but he had never betrayed his "brother".

"Its alright man…it will be fine." Chris was looking down at his hands and was thinking about the fastest way to get something done that could cripple the gang forever.

Chris felt his pocket with his elbow, his phone was still in there.

[Okay, maybe I can work this out.]

Chris was being looked at by the other people in the room, then one more man came in and started to get the handcuffs off of the table. It was an old associate, "Snake."

"Ah, well, fancy meeting you here!" Said Chris as he was being eye by the "Snake."

[Why does he have to have this weird roleplay? Fuckin' creep.]

Snake could see the small look of disgust on Chris' face and lean in with a large smile. He began to make "Squeak, Squeak, Squeak" noises.

Tony watched his favorite "Rat-killer" go through his ritual and then he checked his watch.

"Ah! Well, I will be off. I have a round to play with the president!" Said Tony as he walked out with a large smile.