by Eben Le Roux
Chapter 12
His body felt tense and tired as he got out from the bed. Thinking of what was laying ahead for his future had given him one of the longest nights in his life. If only he had a chance to speak with Peter last night, his day might have started different. Since seeing him on that stage, he had guilty feelings, knowing he was disappointing him. He was fighting the idea of breaking into that house with every essence of his brain. Then again, something told him that if he did not make use of the opportunity now, it would be too late once the auction had started. Seven failed interviews in five weeks had all his hopes in finding a job soon, destroyed. Though he tried to keep his thoughts away from Peter, his conscious could not leave him alone. The thought of being evicted from his apartment, was behind all the desperation. With this setback, he started to see himself as just another failure from the Parker family.
With a glass filled with milk, he dumped himself into a chair and almost immediately, his mind wandered back into his past.
He thought about the year after his mother had died. His father never changed at all. His uncle had to come from the neighbouring town to stay with them and save him from losing the house. It hurt Ross to know that although he had always honoured his father, he had always carried greater respect for Peter. Today, he still remembers that dreadful day when Peter disappeared out of their lives. Even the weeks before his disappearance, Peter was already in a state of depression. His wife had started to socialise more. A woman who should never touch alcohol was slowly becoming a regular social drinker. Even his house became a place where her friends would enjoy a drink well into the late hours of the night. He remembered Peter’s face that last days before he disappeared. He had lost control over everybody in the house and for him it was worse than not being able to teach again. Teaching was the best profession in the world, and nobody dared to argue with him about that. Being rejected in such ways had emotionally destructed him. Ross had tried to spend most evenings around him to see how he could be of any help around the house. By then, Ray was married and stayed on the other side of town with his wife and their little boy. Collin was involved with the wrong friends, and Sandra was pregnant again. The relationship between their parents was at its lowest with the blame shifting becoming loud and aggressive quarrelling. Ross could never forget that Friday afternoon when Peter had asked him to drive him into town. Once there, Peter showed him where to park and asked him to wait for twenty minutes. A whole hour went past and he never showed up. Ross became nervous and worried, decided to look for him, but he had walked two blocks in vain. The saddest part was to go back and tell the family, as he had no idea of explaining what had happened. His concern grew even bigger when he saw that Ray was also at home. Ray would always phone to tell him whenever he was visiting his parents but had not done so that day. As he walked into the house, Ray had handed him a note before he could even speak to him.
In the note, Peter had written a very short message. ‘I am one hundred percent sure that this family does not need me any longer. I tried hard to be involved as a father and husband, but I failed. I have nothing more to offer you. I love you, but please do not look for me, as there seems to be no more reason to be around. Allow Ross always to enter this house freely as he is the only person caring for it. Ray, you should take the car and take good care of it. I have deposited money in all your accounts. Please spend it wisely.’
On that day, the Johnson family’s lives had changed, changed to what it was today.
As he stood in front of the group in his living room, he still had doubts about going ahead with his plan. For him to include Collin and Max was still bothering him but time had run out and he knew it. Still, he tried one final time to have the two excused from the operation.
‘Give me this chance, Ross, please. I do not want to go back to Twist. You know that man. He hooks you up forever,’ Collin was pleading.
‘After this, what are you going to do? Spend the money on friends and stupid stuff and then bang . . . back into shit again!’
‘Ross, I have only you. There is no one else that can help me with a fresh start. Please, I promise I will do better from here.’
‘What about him?’ Ross pointed to Max.
‘Give him a chance, Ross. Just like me, he wants out of this life. Come on, Ross. Dad is back. I owe it to him to start over.’
This was the wisest statement Ross had heard from Collin, ever. Even under the wrong circumstances, his words sounded wonderful. Yet, he thought it best to think it over. ‘I need some time to make up my mind.’
He had great concern as he walked over to the rest of the men and they could see the tired look on his face. As he looked at them one by one, he knew that what he would tell them was going to change their worlds forever. He started slowly but very authoritative.
‘I told you guys last time about making some good money. What we are going to discuss today will stay in this room.’
They all looked at him without a sound, expecting something big.
‘It is not going to be easy. In fact, we might even get arrested.’
‘Shit, Ross, are we planning to rob a bank or something? We are not capable of that kind of shit . . .’
‘Can you shut up and let me finish, Max? Maybe you should leave the room before you decide to faint.’
‘Are you saying I am bloody scared?’
Casey, who was tired of Max’s continued interruptions, walked over to him in annoyance. ‘You should shut that mouth of yours and let Ross finish? We all need some money, and maybe, this could be the chance we have been waiting for. Ross, you go on, one more word from him, and he is out.’
Ross looked at Max with anger, but he calmed himself not to let it overpower him. ‘Okay, pay attention, guys . . .’ He leant against the oak cupboard. ‘You guys still remember Pedro?’ He looked at them as if they should.
At first, they were unsure but in a hesitant whisper, Casey asked; ‘Pedro Carrello!’
Ross nodded. ‘That’s right, that Pedro.’
‘You worked for him, didn’t you?’ Casey asked, surprised.
‘That’s right.’
‘The man is dead. Don’t tell me you are going to ask us to dig him up,’ Max shouted in between their conversation, thinking of it as a joke.
‘You know, Max, if I had to give attention to your stupid dialogue every time, I would waste five years of my life.’ Ross was not hiding his anger. ‘You sit and shut the hell up until I am finished with what I want to say, otherwise leave now.’
There was more anger than embarrassment in Max, but he still moved back to his chair and plunged himself into it with a body posture that said, Yeah, what now?
Although very annoyed, Ross decided to ignore him. ‘All right, gents . . .’ He started on a more serious note. ‘Two days before Pedro died; he borrowed to a man one hundred thousand rand. That man gave him an eight hundred thousand rand Rolex watch as a guarantee . . . we need to find that watch.’
He was looking at them with the greatest of interest. He needed to see if there was any fear in anyone, but all three were full of excitement. Even though their excitement was abundantly, it was not pure. For Casey, the value of the watch brought fear, as he had never worked with values in hundreds of thousands.
‘Who says the man did not pay him and get his watch back before Pedro died?’
Ross looked long at Casey before he answered him. He liked Casey more than he liked the others, as he had been a loyal friend since Ross moved into that apartment.
‘You see, guys, the man that died in that accident with Pedro was the owner of that watch. Remember Manfred Ramos, the owner of the gym on Fourteenth Street. I saw Pedro going inside the house and coming back with only the chequebook, but not the watch. Two days later, they were both dead. So anyone of you, tell me if you still think that watch could be anywhere else?’
They started looking at one another and all nodded in confirmation towards Ross.
‘How big is that house, and
what if there is a safe?’ The knowledge about the watch and the value had gotten the full attention of Max as he asked the question with much more seriousness.
‘Pedro was a smart man. He never kept a safe in his house. He never took cash for payment, only cheques and bank transfers. So do not expect to find any money there.’ Ross paused. ‘The inside of the house, I know very well. If that watch is in there, it should be in one of only two rooms. We will need about two hours to find it. Our biggest problem is the security company patrolling that area 24/7. I expect a little problem getting into the property unseen. That suburb is for the wealthy and is very quiet at night. You hardly find people walking the streets, and any strange face will be a suspect. I am still thinking of a way to get in there. Remember, we cannot have a car parked outside that house. Security will definitely investigate, and we have only a few days to do this. That house is going on auction next week Saturday. So we have to decide on a day to do this and guys . . .’ this time, there was a more serious look on Ross’s face. ‘Do not, and I repeat, do not think that we are forming some criminal gang from here. I know what I am doing is wrong, so should you. Once we have the watch, we move out. Nobody takes anything from the house. We will leave with nothing but the watch. Is that clear?’
He waited until he could see that everyone had noticed how serious he was regarding this. ‘All right, this is all for now. We will meet here again tomorrow to finalise the plan.’
Ross was disenchanted as he felt he had failed himself. As he walked outside with guilt filled conscious, his cell phone started to ring. ‘Ross Parker’ he answered as the number was unknown to him.
‘Is that you, Ross?’ the caller asked.
‘Who wants to know?’
‘This is Ray . . . Is it Ross I am speaking to?’
‘Hey, brother, what can I do for you?’ Hearing Ray’s voice suddenly brought up more remorse in him. He wondered what he would think should he found out about him planning a burglary. A shiver went down his spine at the thought of the plan backfiring on them and Collin being arrested with him.
‘Ross are you there?’ Ray shouted as he noted silence from his side.
‘Yes, sorry just something that needed my attention’ he lied.
‘Ross, are you still in the market for a job?’ Ray asked, sounding enthusiastic hoping that Ross would welcome the news.
‘Are you joking, Ray? I know nothing about your type of work. I would not even know how to load a film in a camera.’
‘Hey, big brother, I would never trust you with my cameras, but that is not the point. We need you to build a stage for Dad’s upcoming event. In fact, he wants all of us to be involved while it lasts.’
‘Dad...! Is he with you?’ Ross immediately regretted the plans he just made.
‘No. He is not with me now, but you will definitely get to see him. Listen, we have only two days to set up this whole thing. Will you be available immediately?’
‘Hey, Ray, setting up a stage can take two days or more. Why, what happened? Weren’t they supposed to have organisers to take care of these things?’
‘It’s a long story, Ross. First, we need to get going, so please bring all the help you can get. We really have an emergency here. Do not expect a jackpot, but the money will be good, in fact, very good. If they are happy with your work, you will also get the contract to do the second one. How does that sound?’
The news was too good to be true, and the shame over what he planned minutes ago, doubled on that instant.
‘That is fantastic, Ray. I can start tomorrow, but I will come around this afternoon just to see what needs to be done.’
‘We need you faster than that, Ross. Can’t you come to the site now?’
‘Oh, I didn’t know it is that urgent. Listen; there is a place on Market Street that is renting out puzzle-style stage panels. I will drive past there on my way to see what they have. What size of stage are we talking about?’
‘Go for a two-and-a-half-ton capacity. It should be twelve metres long and eight metres wide. It must hold a six-member band and their equipment. Can you handle that?’
‘Hell yes, Pedro and I had done bigger than that. It is the time frame that worries me more.’
‘Can it be done?’ Ray asked.
‘With the right crew, it should not be a problem.’
‘Well, better start getting that crew together.’
‘I’m on it, little big man. See you in an hour.’
Ross could kick himself for what he had just planned. The happiness of the news from Ray felt drowned in the sadness of what he just did.
He did not know what to think. He felt red-faced over his own doings when he heard a voice behind him.
‘What was that all about, Ross?’
He knew Casey must have listened into his conversation. ‘How much did you hear?’
‘Enough to make me understood that you are considering taking a job somewhere.’
Casey’s facial expression was demanding an answer.
‘Casey,’ Ross said earnestly. ‘Do you want to earn some honest money instead of robbing a dead man?’
‘Honestly, Ross, I was not going to show up here tomorrow. I caused too much trouble for my family already. I have no criminal record, and I am not planning to go that way. I was going to tell you later.’
A little smile formed on Ross’ face as he was happy with the easiness that Casey responded to such an awkward situation. He only hoped that the others would feel the same.
‘So you can work for me?’
‘What? Work for you, did you suddenly inherited a business?’
This made Ross laugh loudly. ‘Not yet, but we have two days’ work, starting this afternoon. We might have to work late into the night.’
‘Two days only . . . doing what?’
‘We will be building a stage at the stadium.’
‘Show business hey! Are you telling me I will be in show business from now on? Yeah, you can count on me Ross, most definitely.” Ross saw how Casey’s face took on some very serious features. “You know I have a little daughter, and I cannot even remember when I last bought her a present. This opportunity is for her Ross, you should just tell the others the robbery is off.’
His words were enough for Ross to know why this man stayed his friend for that long.
They moved towards the house just as the others were on their way out.
‘Hey, guys, get ready. We have been employed. Ross just got us a contract to build a stage at the stadium.’
Casey said it with so much excitement that Ross had to stop him.
‘Gentlemen, the plan is off. It is no longer going to happen. Anyone of you thinking of doing it on your own can write it off. I will inform Pedro’s son about that watch in the house. So forget about even discussing it with me...it is over. We can now earn some honest money, though. Nothing big, but it is true. All of you who are willing to start today get in my van. It will be short, but I hear the money is good.’
For one man, this was bad news.
‘I think we’re letting a good chance slip away, Ross. I still think the watch is a better deal.’ Max was disappointed and he showed it openly. ‘This is one chance in a lifetime man.’ He said as he moved closer to Ross. ‘That watch can bring us ten times the money then what we will be earning from this little contract.’
Ross could not believe what he was hearing and he was truly annoyed. ‘You know, Max . . . I want you to go and look in the mirror. If you ever wondered what the meaning of a pain in the arse meant, you will be looking at it . . . and please do not respond to that.’ Ross was visibly angry while biting his lip. ‘One more stinking attitude from you, and I will deal with you physically. You are pushing me . . . you are really pushing me. You had better leave before I lose my temper, but remember, the offer still stands if you want to join us tomorrow.’
Ross’s eyes stayed fixed on him for a while. Then he turned to the others. ‘The rest of you, are you in?’ They all nodded. ‘The
n we have some work to do. Get into the van.’
‘Hey, Ross, we can’t work in these clothes. We need some overalls.’
Ross just smiled at Casey, got into the car, and drove off.
As he was looking at the van moving away, Max’s mind was only on the value of the Rolex. Nothing was going to change his mind as he had already planned what he was going to do with money coming from the watch.