Nobody Wins

Jack is a newspaper man, or an "ink stained wretch" as his uncle, also a newspaper man, used to refer to those in their profession. Before that, he was something else-something he didn't like being. He did bad things for bad people. Not as bad as most who did them, but worse than some. Certainly worse than you or I. It was a life he'd been trying to leave behind for a while now, but he chose the wrong career path for that. Now, he tiptoes the line between honest reporter and sold-out hack, but it's better than being dropped in the Alleghany with a lead weight tied to your ankles.

Tonight though? Tonight he might be able to tip the scales a little bit towards the black side of his ledger.

He pulls up to the back of Mac's Pub, named after and ran by his most trusted source and oldest friend, and walks in. Nobody in the back so much as looks at him-it's a sight as common as the beer shipment. When he sees Mac, he offers his hand and, as always, Mac pulls him in for a hug.

"Where's he at, Mac," Jack asks.

"Upstairs. In the office," Mac replies.

"You didn't give him my name did you," Jack asks.

Mac gives him a slightly condescending look before answering, "Of course not. Think this is my first time?"

"We both know the answer to that," Jack says. "Okay, let's go up."

Once Mac opens the heavy oak door to his dimly lit office, Jack takes in a shivering rail of a man, drenched to the bone. The man has black hair, matted in some places, shooting out in every direction in others. His face is pale, like something you'd see on a lime washed gravestone and his features so stretched and thin, he looks like he's wearing a skull mask.

The man stands up and starts to offer his name, before Jack waves him off.

"No. No names," he says. "It's safer for you and for me. Let's just hear your story, kid."

"O-okay," the young man says. "Well, earlier tonight I was at the hospital.."

"You work there," Jack asks. He already knows the answer, he just wants to see if this guy is going to lie to him.

"Uh, no," the kid replies and looks down at his shoes.

Jack nods, "go on."

"So, I was in the waiting room when this lady comes in. Covered in blood, face beat up real bad. I hear her tell the nurse she thinks her husband is dead and the nurse calms her and sends for someone to take her to the back. I didn't see her again. Most people wouldn't recognize her like that," he says.

"But you did," Jack states.

The kid nods vigorously, "Yes, I recognized her. She was the lady on the missing posters hung up all over downtown. The ones that say there's a big reward. Fifty thousand, I think."

"Listen, kid," Jack says. "Listen to every word I'm about to say and remember it. There is no reward. They put that up there to try and draw out someone like you. You would not have received a reward. You would have been tortured for everything you knew and then killed. You wouldn't have been able to go to the police either. Most of them are in on the game. Are you listening?"

The kid nods, wide-eyed.

"Okay," Jack continues. "I'm going to give you ten thousand dollars cash. Right now. You're going to take this money and get as far from here as you possibly can as soon as you can. You're not going to hang around, spend it on drugs, or speak of any of this to anyone in this town, or I will hunt you down myself and kill you. Do you understand?"

"Y-yes," the kid stammers. "Get out of town and keep my mouth shut."

"Good," Jack replies. "Yes. If you don't, you will die and not well, I promise you that, whether by my hand or someone else's. You won't mention Mac or the woman either. As far as you're concerned, everything that's happened to you is a dream you forgot upon waking, okay?"

"Okay," the kid replies.

"Alright, get out of here," Jack says.

After the kid is gone from their sight, Mac offers him a whiskey. He takes the bottle, thanks Mac, and heads out into the rain on a couple of errands, one to the hospital.

Two hours later, in a rain that's now a downpour, he arrives home to see a man sitting under the awning on his porch smoking a cigar with a bottle of his own in hand.

"Where have you been tonight, Jack," the man asks.

"Running down a lead for a story. Like I do most nights, Mikey," Jack replies. "What are you doing here?"

"Came to get you and then waited for you," he says. "We need your help."

"I don't give that kind of help anymore," Jack answers. "That's not my world anymore. Don't think because the family can threaten me on occasion to leave certain facts or entire stories buried, that I work for you or them. Dad got me out. Or did you forget?"

"I didn't forget what Dad did. Or what it cost him" Mikey almost shouts. "Or how much it hurt him that you turned your back on everything he'd built."

"They built. By killing and stealing everything that wasn't already theirs," Jack answered bitterly. "Dad just got caught up in it and did what he had to do to protect us."

"Protect you," Mikey yells. "You wanted out. You didn't want to follow orders. Dad is not here because of the choice you forced on him, so tonight, I need you."

"What do you need from me," Jack asks knowing he can't give it.

"Big Eddie is missing," Mikey says. "He was supposed to do a job tonight but never answered the call. I had to take it for him and now he's my next job. I need you to use your contacts to help find him. That's all."

Jack sighs. "I can't help you, Mikey," he says. "I'm not in that life anymore. If you can't honor dad's choice or mine, at least honor the damn Family's orders."

Mikey stands, fist clenched so hard the knuckles pop. "Damn you, Jack," he spits. "Damn you and damn father for leaving me alone in this. You think I don't want out. There are no more favors to play, Jack. I'm stuck and tonight, just tonight, I need your help."

"I'm going to help you, Mikey," Jack growls. "I'm going to tell you a story and you're going to listen to every word and maybe by the end you'll understand why I wanted out and why I want to stay out."

Mikey rolls his eyes. "Go on," he says.

"Alright. Here goes. A few years ago a man met a woman. She was a nurse-young, beautiful, smart, driven, funny, outgoing-you get the picture. The man was handsome, mysterious, well-built, looked like he was important. They fell in love, or something like it, almost immediately. There was a wedding and a honeymoon, nothing out of the ordinary. But, not long after, the man changed, or should I say, exposed what he always was. The woman, still in love, but desperate to find a way to reconcile that love with what her husband was a part of, tried to change him instead. He did not appreciate it."

"The first time he hit her, he said he was sorry. Said he'd never do it again. She believed him. After the second and third and fourth times, she still believed him. But, the cracks were starting to show. It was getting harder and harder for her to conceal the damage when she was at work and her work suffered. Eventually, it wasn't just the injuries that became hard to conceal, but the pain. She started stealing pain medicine from work. She couldn't go to a doctor, couldn't risk anyone else getting involved or he'd hurt them too. This was the only way, she thought."

"It cost her her job. They didn't press charges. They even offered to get her help, but she refused. Again, she didn't feel there was any other way. She didn't tell her husband, just tried to stay out of his way. But, she needed something to kill the pain. So, she started taking from her husband's stash, he who had never been afraid of nipping from his own supply. When he found out, it was the first time he nearly killed her. He had someone drive her to the hospital and say she'd been in a car accident. The doctors knew otherwise but didn't go anywhere with it."

"When she got back home, he made sure she couldn't get any drugs from him anymore and didn't allow her any access to his money to keep her from buying them on her own. She started doing things then, awful things, to get just enough to get her by. What she didn't know, was that she was using her husband's dealers, her husband's "made men", to get it. When he found out, it was the second time he almost killed her. This time, he brought in a company doctor and nurse and kept her locked at home. Why he didn't just finish the job then is anybody's guess. There was certainly pressure from up top."

"The Company doctor got her cleaned up and on a path to recovery. She'd come back from the brink-done unspeakable things, and she was alive to talk about it. But the husband had started an affair with the nurse while she was still convalescing and she found out. So, she started an affair with the doctor-even asked him to take her away. The doctor actually agreed even though he couldn't think of a more suicidal idea. He started hiding money from the company accountants to create a get-away fund for them both. To his surprise, the plan was coming together rather smoothly. In just a few months, he'd squirreled away enough for them to live comfortably for a long time on the beach somewhere where nobody could find them. She'd regained her health and beauty and unfortunately, it didn't go unnoticed by her husband. Or the nurse."

"The husband started using her again for the only thing he really ever wanted her for and she had to play along for a while. But, the nurse he'd been seeing after he'd almost killed her, was getting jealous. She told the husband that his wife and the doctor were having an affair. He killed the doctor and showed his wife the proof before locking her away again. Outside her door, he and the nurse would continue their affair on a daily basis. Forcing her to listen. She wanted the drugs again, but couldn't get to them and she missed the doctor."

"Soon, the man grew tired of having to keep a watch over her and let her out. He figured she had no money, no friends, and no place to go, anyway. Turned out he was wrong. She managed to make it to one of her old suppliers and he took her in. That's when the missing woman posters went up."

"It didn't take long for someone to rat her out to her husband. He was a "made man", afterall. When he found her sleeping on the couch, he'd assumed she'd returned to sleeping with scumbags for drugs and became enraged. Started beating her worse than he ever had before and she knew this time, he'd kill her. But, she wasn't back on drugs and for once, she didn't want him to kill her. She fought back viciously. Avenging upon this man, every abuse, every curse, every humiliation, he'd lain upon her. But, he was just too strong and she couldn't win. He got his large hands around her throat and squeezed. Her friend returned at that moment from the store-he'd gone for milk. He saw her face, swollen and purple, eyes bulging near to exploding, and pulled the man's gun from the small of his back and fired."

"The woman fell to the ground. The man stumbled a few feet before crashing into a glass coffee table. He was dead, or near as, and the woman's friend took her to the hospital. She would recover and she knew where the doctor hid their nest egg. The friend also came into some money and she vowed to use it all to get him cleaned up. The end."

"So, I can't help you Mikey," Jack said. "Do you understand why?"

"Yes," Mikey said. There was a sadness in his reply that Jack didn't understand. "And I'm sorry, Jacky. I didn't know any of that."

"It's ok, brother," Jack replied. "But let this one lie. Let the innocent people live on and escape this life. Let me escape this life."

"That's why I'm sorry, Jack," he said. "I've already told them you know where Eddie is. I won't tell them the rest but they'll torture you for it, Jack. You know they will. Just spill it all. You haven't done anything against the Family, not yet anyway. You don't owe those people anything."

A black car pulls up and two men dressed in long black trench coats get out and open the back door. They wave for Jack to join them. He gets up and walks out into the rain towards them. Halfway down the walk, he turns back to his brother.

"I don't owe you anything either, Mikey," he says. "I'll tell dad you said hi."

The End