The Times They Are A-Changin

The movie was good….or not, I don't know, I wasn't paying much attention to it. There were far more important things on my mind right now.

What were they doing there? Why were they staking out my house?

I knew that Gus would ensure that I wouldn't snitch but I thought that maybe getting a job at Gamestop would ease his worries of me turning informant. Wasn't he still convinced? Was he still worried that I would flip. That was a scary thought.

If Gustavo Fring wanted me dead then it most surely was game over.

Either he kills me or I turn into a government witness for real, in either case I could kiss my peaceful life goodbye.

The thoughts came and then some more. I couldn't get a wink of sleep that night and had to take a sick day. Thankfully I had a good boss and she understood that I couldn't make it.

Jane had to go to some artists fair or something, which meant I was alone at the house.

I kept the blinders open and routinely checked to see if that car was there.

My sleep deprivation didn't make things easier. Everytime I shut my eyes close I could see their faces staring back at me and that would quickly dispel any notion of sleep.

"You sure, you can't come with me?"

I forced a cough and she smiled at my bad acting.

"Well alright then. I'll see you when I get back." A kiss later, she left for her art exhibition.

I switched the TV on and jumped to the nearby couch.

Jane's place was incredibly homely and welcoming. At least compared to the empty wasteland that was my apartment.

I was watching some of the old looney tunes reruns, trying to get the bad thoughts out of my mind. For a few seconds my thoughts drifted to the rabbit with his quick wit and later the coyote that could give the best engineers a run for their money.

However this didn't last for long as the pig came on the screen and stuttered the words, 'That's All Folks!'

Then those scary thoughts started coming back to me.

What if he thinks I'm a loose end?

What if he thinks I'll relapse again?

What will he do when he finds out Jane used to be an addict?

What if he thinks she knows about him?

Does he think I'm stupid enough to tell her about him?

Will they kill her?

Ding

The bell rang. My head turned towards the clock just as the bell's echo ended.

It's ten AM...There's no way that it's Jane.

My heart started pounding like crazy. There's no way it could be him!

Gustavo Fring wasn't the type of person to visit me in the morning, right where everyone can see him. He wouldn't take that risk. Definitely not to kill a small fry like me!

Then what if it was one of his hit men?

I gulped at the thought.

Yeah, that could be very plausible! He has tons of lackey's to do that sort of thing.

DING

"Jesus!" I jumped up from the couch this time. The bell scared the crap out of me.

My skin started perspiring and thoughts began running wild. I started breathing heavily, so heavily that the person outside might have heard it through the thin door.

DING

It rang again, each time ringing out like a dark foreboding.

DING

I almost wanted to hide under the bed and pretend that no one was home.

And that's what I almost did.

Almost.

Then that bald fuck's smug grin came to my mind.

'Why can't you just accept that, you need me Jesse.'

The visage of my old chemistry teacher induced bravery into me, the vengeful, resentful type of bravery. The kind that gets smart people killed.

People said that the difference between bravery and stupidity was razor thin.

If that were the case then I might have been at the edge of that line, the problem was I didn't know which side I was leaning.

So, I bravely or stupidly walked towards the door and answered it.

Unfortunately our door didn't have a peephole, the chain lock will have to do.

Hoping that it was just one of my friends or Jane returning from the exhibition. The door creaked as I opened it about 30 degrees.

Funny how I never noticed that it did that until now!

There was no one in my field of vision.

"H-He-Hello?" I stuttered.

Hoping that whoever it was had long left.

There was a tense moment where no one replied. I took that as confirmation that no one was there anymore. I didn't dare open the door fully and test my luck.

After a few more seconds I let myself get fooled into thinking I was in the clear. As the door swung back, it creaked even more but I didn't mind anymore. Guess my mind's just playing tricks on m-

"Kid, I know you're there. Open up." The raspy voice of an older man spoke quietly. It was quiet but firm.

I gently hit my forehead on my door knowing fully well who it was.

I opened the door completely and all my fears had come true.

"Are you done hugging the door or do you want to cower for a few more minutes." It was Michael Ehrmantraut.

"What do you want?" I replied anxiously, I hoped he didn't recognise the fear in my voice.

"Kid..we didn't mean to spook you yesterday. The big man told us to keep tabs on you for some time, that's all."

"Why? Because I used to be a junkie? Because you thought I couldn't resist blowing through a million dollars in a day? You thought I would attract the police's attention?"

He had a surprised look on his face but then hid it as quickly as it came. He did a reluctant nod with the right corner of his face rising up to form an annoyed grimace.

"The guy is one of the careful types, in case you haven't been paying attention but I guess you have." He shrugged in an attempt to justify .

"I'm done with that life. Just leave me alone."

He clicked his tongue in frustration. I almost flinched, it sounded like one of those silenced gunshots.

I was on edge.

"That's not the way this works. Look kid, I'm just trying to do my job here-"

"I'm not a rat, just please leave me alone." I interrupted him.

This prompted another surprised look from him, this time it remained on his face for a few more seconds than last time. I guess he didn't expect honour from a junkie. I wasn't particularly honourable but I knew if I were to snitch then I wouldn't last a week in this universe.

"Kid…believe me when I say this, there's nothing more that I'd like to do than leave you alone. Sitting in a car for hours on end is not my idea for a jolly good time."

".....but?"

He continued where I left off. "But my boss sent me here for a reason."

"Gus Fring?"

"That's right. You met him in the desert didn't you?"

"You were there with him….in the desert, I mean."

"That's right and my name is Michael. You can call me Mike."

He extended his hand and I had no choice but to shake it. He was good, really good. The way he handled me was really impressive. He must have seen my twitchy disposition and made sure that calming me down was the first course of action. Even if I knew this, I couldn't help but get eased into his friendly old neighbourly aura.

Like I said, he was really good.

"Now that the introductions are out of the way. I want to assure you that nothing is going to happen to you or your girlfriend. As long as you keep your mouth shut and stay outta trouble."

It was nice of him to subtly mention my girlfriend. That was a reminder that he knew everything about me and if I should do something stupid then they weren't above harming innocent civilians.

I hid the stiffness as best as I could and replied, "I have a job now. I don't plan on returning to that life. I'll launder the money safely and quietly. All I'm asking from you and Mr. Fring is to leave me and Jane alone."

He let out a defeated sigh and turned his head sideways, scoping out the neighbourhood.

"Yeah, I get that but you're gonna have to get used to it for another month. He isn't the type to leave loose ends. You get what I'm saying?"

There was something remarkable about this man. Even when he was threatening you couldn't help but admire his honesty.

"So what….you're gonna keep on stalking me? You're gonna keep watching my every move? Why? Just in case I start using again and become a liability to you?"

He said with a small smirk, "Yeah basically."

My shoulders slumped and I said, "Alright."

There was nothing I could do to change his or Gus's mind. Guess this was the true price of doing business with a person like Gus Fring.

"Like I said, keep doing what you're doing and you'll never see my face ever again."

I didn't say anything this time.

"Well looks like your girlfriend is gonna be back any time soon. I'll take my leave then." He turned his back without a second's hesitation and walked away. I quietly observed him and as soon as he was out of my view, I shut the door gently.

I took a huge breath and then just as the air escaped my lungs, my legs gave out and I fell to the ground.

_________________________________________________________________________

Breaking Good: ACT 2

_________________________________________________________________________

Four whole months had passed since that day. The first month was the hardest but then as the realisation that they hadn't made their move became readily apparent.

Still for the first weeks at least I looked behind my shoulder. Sleep was hard to get initially but then eventually I slept like a baby. Life went on like that.

You forget about the things that you worried so much about and replace them with other problems.

After four months of working in Gamestop I decided I had enough money to start my restaurant business. I took a personal loan from Jane and her dad to kickstart my first venture. Jane's dad, Donald was reluctant initially but when I said his daughter was going to be part owner, he reluctantly agreed. Not before making it abundantly clear that if I should mess this up then they wouldn't find my remains.

It was humiliating to be lectured like that to say the least, especially when you have a million dollars in cash.

Humiliating sure, but it was the smart thing to do. If a two bit drug dealing / chronic junkie just opened a restaurant then it would seriously raise eyebrows. Especially since the DEA was very much interested in Heisenberg and his blue meth. If the worst ever came to be true and Walter White got caught and he flipped on me out of some resentment then I would be the DEA's next target. If that happened all they need to do is tie my ventures with the drug money directly and everything I built would turn to ash.

That's where this personal loan comes. With this I can prove that the business was established with completely legal incomes. That would put a real dent in the DEA's attempts to seize my wealth. Hopefully Mr. White doesn't get caught before I can launder all of the money. If he did get caught then I wouldn't be able to touch the rest of the money for a really, really, really long time but chances are it won't come to that. I'll re-invest the cash flow to buy new properties in various places around the country. This will help me launder all of it quickly.

I was tempted to ask for Saul's advice for this kind of thing but then I remembered that by now he must be closely acquainted with Walter. I had to completely sever all my ties from the past and make sure that no prosecutor can link me with either of them.

I rented out a cheap place in Albuquerque, hired a couple of cooks with the aid of Combo's mother, Ms. Ortega was my unofficial head chef and kicked the sumbitch off to a great start.

The place was called Pinkman's.

The first week was difficult, I won't lie. There were tons of joints in 'New Mexico' with authentic Mexican food so it was a really competitive market but we somehow persevered. The money I had helped us greatly for the first few weeks.

After some time we really started to do good. Really good for our size. I guess the gamble paid off because every Sunday I would launder two thousand dollars. I could theoretically do Five thousand but I wanted to be cautious since it was just the first month. Walking before running and all that.

It was hard running the brand new kitchen brigade along with dealing with the problems that were natural with a new business like inventory and payroll.

Jane helped me tremendously throughout the entire process, god I love that woman. She helped the waitress on the side and made sure that the dishes went to the right table. Another person who helped me was my good friend, Combo. He appreciated my hiring of his mother, so he let the word out on the street that my restaurant was the new hot thing.

We saw a good increase in customers after that. I hired Skinny Pete and Badger for entry level dishwashing jobs. I probably shouldn't have hired them, especially considering the fact that they used to be my employees in my previous vocation but since they seemed like good people I decided to give them a shot.

Of course neither of them touched the money. No one touched the money. That was my job, I handled everything related to money. I had a system for injecting the illegal dollars into the healthy cash flow.

Some days we would have a single mysterious customer ordering takeout through the phone. He ordered some of the most expensive items in our menu while handing me cash.

Of course there was no such person. I would ring up the order and pretend to deliver it to the ghost customer.

After work was done, I would just give that food away to the homeless.

Everything worked out perfectly, this way I could retain a significant portion of my money while also laundering it without attracting the IRS's attention. Everything went according to the plan.

What I did not expect is for our restaurant to do this well.

After the successful first month, I had to hire three more cooks to the brigade and two more servers just to keep up with the rush. The way things were going I really didn't need to launder any more money into the business, it was thriving as is.

The first thing that I did with my first paycheck was to pay Jane and her Father the first instalment of the loan, with the rest I invested in Bitcoin. A thousand dollars in Bitcoin wasn't much now but that would soon change in about a decade. I didn't tell Jane about the investment because she would freak out for obvious reasons, instead I used the 'other money' for basic necessities and shopping.

__________________________________________________

Life was a bitch.

Two more months passed and I could care less about stranger cars parked near the driveway, my main worry now was the stress with my newfound venture.

It was truly a bitch.

On paper, things were going well, we were growing steadily but the issues were of the non-financial kind.

Skinny Pete and Badger stopped coming to work but at least they didn't have the decency to not steal money. The same couldn't be said for some of my other employees. I had to fire half of my staff because I couldn't trust them for a second. It was a very very hard decision because a lot of them were related to Combo or were his homies.

This apparently took a small but dedicated chunk of my customers away. Whatever, I was still doing good and business was for the most part, great.

________________________________________________________

Another month passed and Ms. Ortega was really struggling with the stress. I guess I was too. The profits had doubled and so did our headaches. The saying was true I suppose, 'Mo Money Mo Problems'.

The more successful we became the more eyes were on us and that wasn't good when your business was laundering drug money. I was getting interview offers from many local newspapers. I was unnerved to read the newspaper and see my restaurant being reviewed.

Of course this meant more customers, more money and more headaches. Some would categorise my problems as the good kind and that I was simply being ungrateful. Those people would be accurate.

In reality all of my problems were nothing compared to the problems I would have in the canon.

The money was flowing in and I was investing like crazy, Apple, Google and Tesla were my primary targets, other social media apps like Instagram and Snapchat were my secondary focus.

Most of my legal money was diverted to either the stock market or Crypto-currency.

By the end of this month I would have successfully laundered hundred thousand dollars and I would have to drive back to the desert to dig out another barrel filled with money.

__________________________________________

Three more months later.

We're so successful now that it occurs to me that I didn't have to cook meth in the first place at all. I would have made a decent amount of money had I just taken the risk of starting this business instead of jumping into crime again.

If we kept on going like this it would be more dangerous to use the restaurant as a laundering front.

The place had more than twenty employees now and we were on our way to make a quarter million in pure revenue.

By the seventh month, I had already paid off all the initial loans with interest. Jane's dad and I get along just fine now. I was making him money hand over fist, he was thinking about retiring and spending more time with Jane. Speaking about Jane-

"Babe, pass me the popcorn." She said completely engrossed in the movie.

We were watching an old 40's french noir. Her taste was all over the place, one day it was cheesy rom coms, on other days I had to sit through four hour documentaries on the history of renaissance painting. She liked her art documentaries like a crazy person and if it wasn't for the fact that I loved her, I would have fled to the deepest parts of Mexico to avoid seeing one more obnoxious art movie. She always giggles when I say that but I don't think she knows how serious I am.

I passed the popcorn to her and said, "Where's my kiss?"

Her lips curved upwards and she pecked me on the check while her eyes were still glued to the TV. Sometimes I wondered if she loved her obscure art documentaries more than me.

___________________________________________________________

The next day

So in conclusion things were good all in all. It took me seven months to clear a hundred thousand. The funny thing was that in the eight months alone I had laundered another sixty thousand by introducing a new catering service option.

In another six months, I could potentially launder the rest.

We had to do some renovations to the restaurant, so today was off. Jane went back to return the movie back to Blockbuster, speaking of which I had just invested in a small and upcoming movie renting company, they're called Netflix, maybe you've heard of them.

It was just me alone at home. Jane and I were planning to move out and rent out the building, we were making so much that we could easily afford a great apartment but I was conflicted on the subject. While yes, we could afford a bigger house, this place had a kind of unique charm to it.

I was mindlessly changing the channels on the TV when,

DING DONG

Oh who is it now? It better not be one of those annoying kids doing pranks again.

I'm sick of that shit! They always do that shit right in the morning.

I unlocked the lock and swung the door in full force, ready to see the kids running off to the distance. Instead, my face went from slight anger to shock then momentary fear and then it finally settled on acceptance.

"Hello, Mr. Pinkman. It's been some time hasn't it?" Gustavo Fring said with the widest and most superficial smile.