1 A Lost Soul

It was raining heavily in the city of Atlanta, Georgia. I'm a regular guy, tall, black and well built. I'm 25 years of age but people mistaken me to be a 19-year-old. I always look younger than my age. I was in a rusty old bar in the city. I had a big glass of liquor before me. I have been sipping and starring at it for about an hour. The owner of the shop, a tall white man probably in his late 50s walked up behind me and asked me to leave. "Don't you think it's time to leave? You've been sitting here for hours drinking that thing. It's running late, and I need to close my shop and get out of this place", he said and flung his short white towel over his shoulder and turned to leave. I gulped down the last remaining drink, stood and observed the bar once again before leaving. I stepped outside and was quite shocked at how heavy the downpour was. If I can be able to make it across the street, I'll be glad. There's this famous club about few blocks ahead. It's owned by a dangerous drug cartel in the city, Von Ruiz. He's feared even by other cartels. The rumor is that he kills for fun. I never for once prayed to cross his paths or to have anything to do with him. Little did I know that things don't work the way one plans it. I regularly visit the club due to its fame and the large amount of crowd the it attracts. I had nowhere else to go after leaving the bar, so I headed to the club walking quickly under the rain. I stopped at the door and two huge, tall guys in red suit were standing there staring at me. "Who are you looking for?" the first guy asked. "I was going inside the club", I replied starring at the bouncer that asked the question. "Is your name on the list?", he asked bringing out a small piece of paper from his pocket. "List of what exactly? Do you guys now decide who enters this club?" I asked sounding confused. The guy gave me a stern look before opening the piece of paper he has been holding. "What's your name young man?" he asked looking at me. "Henry!" I replied him almost immediately. "You're a regular member of this club, right? I recognize your face now" he said folding his arms. "I was wondering how long it'll take you to realize it", I replied. The bouncer stepped aside for me to go in. "De Von Ruiz" as the club is popularly called also hosts notorious business men and criminals in the city. I observed the club very well as I walked in. The beat coming from the speakers, the neon lights, the strippers dancing and the voices of men cheering them and throwing stacks of cash at them, all added to the beauty of the club. Von Ruiz loves to visit his club occasionally to check out things for himself. Once you're in and you start seeing bouncers with red suit, it's a sign he's around. At one corner of the club there was a guy, probably rich because he had a diamond chain round his neck and a gold Rolex round his wrist. He was surrounded by a couple of ladies with whom he drank and laughed with. I looked over to another corner and I saw a stripper having an arrangement with a guy. "How much to take you home tonight?" the guy asked impatiently. "Bring five thousand dollars and we'll be sure to be rolling over your bed tonight", the stripper replied while stretching forth her open palm to receive the money. "Damn! That's too much for a bitch just for a night. I can have three whores for a whole week with that money so screw you", the guy shouted and left. "Suite yourself then because I'm not one of your whores" the stripper replied and turned to walk away. I walked up to her and grabbed her arm. "Hey beautiful! What's your name?" I asked starring at her face. "Why are you asking? Are you also planning on taking me home tonight?" the girl asked sounding naughty. I chuckled by the way she acted"Why are you laughing?" she asked"I don't know. Maybe it's because you're acting funny", I replied"Really?""Tell me your name and I can decide if I'll take you home tonight or not"She hesitated for a while before finally opening. "My name's Helen and what's yours?""Call me Henry and nice meeting you Helen. Such a beautiful name for a beautiful lady", I said as I grabbed her wrist and kissed it. Me and Helen were still talking when a tall dark guy walked up to us and requested if I'm Henry. "Yes, that's me. Anything the problem?" I inquired. "Boss wants to see you. He asked me to bring you. He's upstairs in his VIP room", he said while arranging his suit. I told the stripper I'll see her later and began to walk upstairs to the VIP room. Von Ruiz had his own special VIP room different from other VIP rooms where he drinks, smokes and plays with strippers with his boys.