Vernon's hand tightly gripped the handle of the black duffle bag by his side. A day late but he's gotten it all and then some. Every last dollar was tucked neatly inside the now heavy bag.

He'd been standing on his mother's doorstep for at least twenty minutes. His free hand continuously clenched and unclenched as bouts of nervousness rose from deep within his gut. And finally he'd gotten he courage to pound his fist against the door. The hard loud knock rattled the old windows on either side of the door. He sincerely hoped that the little extra money he had obtained would keep him in his mother's good graces.

"Coming!" Her Korean was less than spectacular and her American accent clearly shined through. "What do you want?" She seethed now switching to English. Her eyes narrowed and she nearly slammed the door on him but paused as he lifted the bag beside him.

"I know it's late. And you gave me a deadline and you have every right to throw me out but I have everything! And I even got an extra two thousand dollars."

"Is that right?"

She stepped aside and and let him enter. He made his way to the kitchen where he set the bag on the table.

There were brownish blackish stains on the once white ceiling. The gold and red wallpaper was peeling at every end and the dish's were overflowing.

Vernon's mother sat at the table and slowly counted the money. A small smile spread on her face.

"I figured you had the money. I almost assumed you didn't pay me because you were on drugs again."

He hated the mention of his past. But truthfully that was the only reason for this situation. He'd stollen from his mother to feed his insatiable addictions and now he had payed for it.

"I only needed the extra time because the money was locked in an account and it would take a while to get to it," he lied with a straight face but deep down it killed him to do so. Not because he didn't like lying to her but because he couldn't believe what he's done to get the money.

"Sure that's the reason." She laughed. "You did nothing bad to get his? No deals? No scams?"

"No." He lied again.

She knew how skilled he was at evading the truth so rightfully she didn't believe a word out of his mouth. This was clear to him by her facial expressions. Before she could poke and prod and discover the truth his phone rang saving him.

"Time to begin your payment." Was all the deep voice on the other end said before hanging up.

"Really? Well I thought we had more of it....... Okay I'll go get some now.... Alright bye." He closed the phone and shoved it into his pocket.

"Who was that?"

"The school. They need more soil and some seed's for one of the Indoor gardens. I have to go get it now."

He hurried off without another word to her. He wanted a minute to scream and throw things but he had to get to his destination quickly.

Vernon nearly ran to the noodle shop he'd been instructed to go to. He walked in and spoke a few key words to the hostess. She clicked her pen then turned her back. He simply followed along. The walked all through the restaurant, through the kitchen, and out the back door. Various fruit trees scattered around the back of the property.

"Wait." She said with no particular tone.

She knocked on one of the walls. He only knew this because he could hear it.

"Follow the stairs." And she left him to it.

A large man waited for him at the bottom of the stairs. Vernon closely trailed behind. The hallways were cramped and made of stone seeing how this place was underground. It was brightly lit with LED lights. In Between the lights was a small dark area. Walking past it wasn't long yet still his heart pounded harder in his chest. He was justified to do so. Anything could happen here. The reasons he was here weren't all that great either.

"Ah glad to see you've made it." The man he'd dreaded seeing turned around in his leather office chair to speak to him.

All the rooms here should have been stone, cold and dirty. The room had book shelves to the ceiling filled with all sorts of books, and in all sorts of languages Vernon was sure the man couldn't speak. Warm lighting and dark wooden fixtures that included his ridiculously large desk. His hair was clearly teased and gelled based on the way it stood up and his pearly white teeth made a striking contrast to his rather dark skin.

"You can go now," he dismissed the man who brought the boy there.

"Yes sir!" The man took a low bow before hurrying out of the room.

Vernon bowed to him the moment the door closed. Still seated the man beckoned the intimidated boy over to him.

"Do you know why I call myself TOP?" He asked making he's deep voice sound rougher.

"Because it isn't a good idea to use your real name?"

"Well that's a given!" He laughed. "When I was about your age I Joined this organization," vernon wanted to scoff at his over glorification of a gang, but he didn't "I wanted to be the best. I wanted to be the top dog. And now look at me." He smiled caching a glimpse of himself in the computer screen.

Vernon found this information irrelevant but he thought it better not to tell an infamous mafia boss this. So he kept quiet and let the man continue.

"You can do great things if you put your mind to it. But you're probably eager to find out how you'll repay your debt." He waited for Vernon to nod then continued on. "Everyone is always inventing and inevitably making more money. And like I said I didn't name myself TOP for nothing. We have some chemists who might have stumbled onto a gold mine and we just need someone to test it out. If you accept you've more than half way repaid me."

Drugs.

Vernon swore off of them. He said he'd never touch one again and for three years he'd remained clean. It was against every part of him but who knows what other things they may have him do.

"We have history. We know how much you can take. Well also help you clean up afterwards. So what do you say?"

Everything told him no. But then again....

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Thoughts and opinions? Sorry I'm so needy
And what next? More police business or some Mina stuff. Or the killer? Hmmm

Rina💜