Risk And Reward

Stepping onto the platform, Yusuf plugged in his headphones. The dull, static world of the subway station slowly melted away, replaced with the refreshing sound of music. A tinny piano played in the background, while a loud, deep woman's voice sang soulfully into the microphone.

"I don't suppose you could offer me that seat, sonny," A voice called behind him. He unplugged his headphones, looked, and saw a scraggly old man with an amusingly small briefcase looking curiously at him. He seemed so frail that even the gust of wind from the passing subway cars could knock him over. Not wanting to be rude, Yusuf stood up to offer the old man a seat. The man hobbled to the bench and sat down. Yusuf looked around awkwardly; his train wasn't showing up for another five minutes. He decided to just stand next to the bench.

"I trust you're doing well?" He asked whimsically. Yusuf glanced around nervously. He had been mute for all his life. He nodded, hoping the man would get bored of questioning him. Unfortunately, the man seemed to be in a curious mood.

"The name's Isaac." He tapped the brim of his hat, "And you are?" He looked at Yusuf, expecting an answer. He shook his head, indicating to his lips. I can't speak, he mouthed. Isaac raised his eyebrows with surprise.

"Ah. I see. Forgive my tactlessness, y'see, I'm an oblivious old man who don't know left from right. I suppose that used to be different, but..." he shrugged. Yusuf nodded, not sure what to do next. Luckily, Isaac seemed capable of starting a one-sided conversation.

"So you're heading to work? That's good, you seem to be the hardworking type. What in? Let me guess, carpentry?" he pointed to his jacket. "Ah, Ludwig's. That's them storage company, eh? Right. So, you keep track of the stuff? Or do you keep track of the people who keep track of the stuff? Ha!" He chuckled at his own joke.

"Right," he huffed. "I don't suppose you could do me a favor, could you?" Yusuf frowned. It was strange to ask favors from strangers, even if they were friendly. He shrugged.

"It don't take much on your part. I just need you to hold on to this till Friday. That's all." Isaac pulled a small leather notebook out of his pocket and handed it to him. He flipped it over and looked at the back, the sides. It had a smooth black exterior, matte and unobtrusive. He started to turn the cover, but Isaac grabbed his hand.

"Hold on now. That's the catch, y'see. You can't open it. Believe me, I would know if you did." Yusuf scrunched his nose. "I need you to hold it for me, and I'll meet you back here that afternoon, at this bench. And in return," he holds out his tiny briefcase, "You can have what's in here . Go on, take it." Yusuf took a hold on the leather strap, and carefully flipped the metal snaps. The action felt almost criminal, as if he was an undercover spy going on a mission. He looked back at Isaac. Something about the way he tapped his cane and glanced around made Yusuf think he was hiding something. He looked back down at the suitcase. His eyes widened as he snapped it shut abruptly. Without giving him a second look, Yusuf walked briskly in the direction of his apartment. Forget work, he thought, I'm taking a sick day.

Two hours later, Yusuf was still in a sort of shock. How could this have happened? He thought today was going to be normal. But now he had twenty thousand dollars in briefcase and he didn't know what to do.

He flopped onto his bed defeatedly and stared at the black notebook in front of him. What on earth could possibly be in this thing? Years of action movies and thriller chase scenes made him suspect there were things like names on a hitman's list, or the location of even more briefcases with money. But reason intervened, and he decided to just put the book in his drawer for now. Lucky for him, he wasn't very curious at heart.

A knock at the door snapped him out of his daze. He whipped his head up abruptly, and walked to the door. His mind was chanting, hitman, hitman, hitman, but he ignored it. His best friend Wade stared back at him, and Yusuf suddenly noticed that he was wearing a cast on his leg.

"Hey, Yu. What's up?" Wade grinned and signed towards him.

"Forget me. What happened to you?" He asked intently.

"You don't even want to know, dude." Wade waved nonchalantly, and started hobbling on some crutches past him into the middle of his, admittedly, not very big apartment.

"Why aren't you at work?"

"Not important." Yusuf lied. "When did this happen?" he pointed to his leg.

"Literally, less than an hour ago, maybe an hour and a half, some crank tried starting an unmanned forklift in the shop when we were unloading. Ran right on my foot."

"That's awful!" Yusuf looked horrified. Wade rolled his eyes.

"I'm fine, I swear. The doc gave me some meds, so I'm good. Thank goodness for worker's compensation." He patted the cast.

"What's with the briefcase?" Wade said, glancing onto his desk.

Yusuf faced an extreme moral dilemma. He knew his best friend would want him to tell him about the man with the money, but he also didn't want to drag him into what was probably a Ponzi scheme. He stayed silent, staring at the floor.

"Yusuf?" Wade asked, confused.

In a split decision, Yusuf told him everything.

Monday

"Nice jacket, Yusuf!" Emilio called from across the warehouse. Yusuf lifted his hand and nodded in thanks. Wade insisted they buy the jacket he had always admired from a store window, but could never afford. They made the split decision to buy it the previous evening, and now he was enjoying his dream come true.

"Here, Yusuf." Candice handed him a coffee cup. "Vanilla mocha, right?" Yusuf nodded and took the cup from her hand. He felt more at home than ever, his coworkers noticing and giving him compliments now that he held his head a little higher. Sitting down, he took a casual drink from his mocha. He froze.

"What the hell, Yusuf?" Candice shrieked as Yusuf spat his mouthful of drink onto the cement floor. He felt his heart start to beat faster as his throat rejected the liquid. He continued spitting onto the ground as Wade rushed toward him.

"What is it? Yusuf, are you choking or something?" he tried to shake his head, but just started coughing. Shaking, he barely managed to move his hands.

"Almonds."

"Goddamn," Wade said aloud, rubbing his forehead. "Candice, was there something with almonds in that? Cause, Yusuf is like, pretty allergic."

"Oh my God, really?" She gasped, "There wasn't supposed to be, I swear." She looked at Yusuf pleadingly. He felt a sick feeling in his stomach not related to allergies. How could Candice not have known he was allergic? After all, he had been working and ordering coffee there for over two years.

Tuesday

Walking down the street, Yusuf glanced at the papers in his hand. He didn't like doing paperwork, but no one else seemed to be good at it. Or wanted to, anyway.

"Look out!" A person yelled suddenly into the crowd. Several people jumped out of the way as an unmarked vehicle swerved onto the sidewalk. The car revved and sprang forward. Yusuf watched as the hood narrowly whipped past him and crashed into a stop sign, stopping it from going any further. He stared as it backed off the sidewalk and drove away, smoke trickling from the engine. Several people pulled out their phones and started calling the police. Yusuf kept walking, clearly shaken.

He met up with Wade in the warehouse and told him about the attempted drive-by attack.

"That's wild, man. And the car got away?"

"Yeah. It got really close to me. It was scary."

"Dude," Wade grabbed his shoulder for a moment, "Do you think this has to do with the money?"

Yusuf shook his head. It wasn't possible. Nobody could have seen. They couldn't have.

Wednesday

Yusuf offered to take Wade's place in the box loading deck. He wasn't much of a lifter, he usually took inventory, but they were understaffed anyway, and needed his help. He watched the truck back into the open hangar door, and started hauling boxes onto the forklifts. It was grueling work, and he could hardly move his arms after he was done.

After his shift, Yusuf started to clean up. It was his day to sweep, so he got a dustpan and broom from the custodian's closet as everyone started to file out for the night. You couldn't see it from inside, but he knew the sun was setting over the city.

He pushed the broom across the floor. It was quiet. It was nice. But then he heard something. A gentle creak above his head. He looked up, and saw a box pummeling towards him from high in the rafters. Yusuf scrambled closer to the wall as the box ripped open and glass shattered in a menacing arc around it. His chest heaved in and out, pressed tightly against the wall.

Thursday

Yusuf stayed home.

Friday

He had to leave his apartment today. He had to meet Isaac and see what this was all about. Somebody wanted the stupid notebook, and was trying to bump him off. Wade offered to go with him, and Yusuf figured he needed all the help he could get, so he agreed. They walked together to the subway station, paranoid and confused.

They found the bench from before, and sat down, waiting for something to happen. Yusuf figured that more bad things would happen to him if he didn't give the book back, than if he did.

Barely a minute went by, before he heard someone say, "You came? Excellent. Come with me."

"So you're Isaac." Wade looked at him suspiciously. Isaac grinned and tapped his hat.

"I am, I am."

They found their way to a weird corner of the station. Two threatening looking men were waiting for them. Wade whispered to Yusuf,

"This is weird, man, it looks like they're-" but he was cut off. Yusuf's eyes widened as he saw his friend crumple to the ground. Another third man held his hand poised in the air, with a bat. Wade was unconscious. Yusuf was screwed. And he couldn't call for help.

"I'm terribly sorry about this," Isaac held out his hand, "But, we have to make a few precautions with this sort of thing. He was a liability. Do you have the book?"

Yusuf trembled as he chucked the book out of his pocket onto the ground. One of the men bent to pick it up, and handed it to Isaac. He flipped it open and sighed with relief.

"Wonderful. Now, I suppose you want an explanation."

Yusuf felt numb. He nodded.

"Long story short, I was making a big business deal. Some moles got involved, and I needed to get some information to my partners. But I needed to send my enemies on a wild goose chase. That's you. I was paying you as a red herring, and for that I'm mighty grateful. You were put in a bit of a position, I'll admit, and I apologize completely for any harm to any of your associates."

Yusuf was stunned. A thought rang in his head. Red herring?

"Oh, and I suppose you want to know what was in the notebook." He laughed. " Well, it was blank."

A man handed Yusuf another, bigger briefcase, and he held it. Who knew what was in here. As quickly as they appeared, the men and Isaac left the scene, leaving him with Wade, alone at the subway station.