by Ezekiel King
“If you two tell anybody about this, I will kill you both,” I warned the two children.
“We won’t tell anybody, Cyrus, we promise,” they replied as they looked at each other. Putting my hand in my pocket, I took out £60 and gave them a £20 and a £10 note each.
“Okay, go home now, you two, you both have done a good job, but I mean it! Not a fucking word to anybody!” As I said it, I glared at the two children, seriousness was an understatement.
The two young children looked back at me with their eyes full of fear. I had quite obviously scared them, which was my objective. They nodded as they whispered, too scared to speak normally, “We won’t, Cyrus,” as they turned and left £30 richer each.
The second the two children were out of the door, I locked it swiftly behind them. There was no way I would be losing my haul easily. I sat back down to look around the room at the size of the boxes of cigarettes.
“Where did all this come from?” Trish asked again in amazement. She could see my brain was working overtime.
“I stole them from a garage,” I told her as I turned to face her smiling. I took my phone out, feeling the need to tell someone and called my brother, Daniel. His phone rang, almost to his voicemail before he answered it. “Danny, I just robbed about £50,000 worth of cigarettes,” I told him boastfully. I knew the value of my haul was much more. I was taking into consideration stolen goods being worth half the actual value.
“Are you being serious?” Daniel asked as though what I had said to him just made him sit up out of bed.
“I’m being serious. I have,” I confirmed.
“Where from? And why did you not call me?” Daniel had asked the question sounding annoyed to my surprise.
I then explained exactly what I had done to the letter. “Is there any left?” Daniel asked after hearing chapter and verse.
“Yes, there are about five boxes left in the garage,” I replied. I had totally forgot about the boxes I had left. The two children and I had made so many trips, seeing the light come back to the sky had left me with no choice but not to risk losing what I already had by chancing my luck any further.
“I’m on my way,” Daniel said as I could hear him now out of bed and active.
“Cyrus, nobody is going to come here looking for these cigarettes, are they?” Trish asked as the half of conversation she had just heard made her worry.
“No, nobody is going to come here,” I reassured as my brain continued to race. Not being able to risk anyone bringing any more stolen cigarettes to Trish’s house, I thought about my brother. There was no way he was not going to take the last five boxes. What if he gets my cigarettes caught by bringing his cigarettes here, I thought as I stood standing amongst the giant towers of boxes of cigarettes. I decided to call my brother back. “Yes, Daniel,” I said as I heard my brother answer the phone. I could hear him running in the background. As he ran while on the phone to me, Daniel’s main concern was confirming the exact location of the garage. When I had told him everything he wanted to know, I explained my reasoning behind calling him back.
“Daniel, rob whatever you want from that garage, but do not bring it to Trish’s, okay?” I said firmly.
“Oh! Why can’t I bring it there?” Daniel asked sounding annoyed.
“Because I don’t want to lose the 30 boxes I’ve stolen because you want to steal five more now when the sun is up!” I explained sounding more annoyed that he had made me have to explain myself.
“Okay, call, I’ll take them somewhere else and then come and see you with no cigarettes,” Daniel said accepting what I had told him.
I put the phone down, leaving my brother who was now a man on a mission. “What are you going to do now, Cyrus?” Trish asked as she looked at me bewildered.
“I’m going to sell these cigarettes tomorrow, and I’m going to give you some money,” I said as I stood staring at the cigarettes and walking around the towers and stacks of loose sleeves. I had answered her question for mine and her benefit. I hadn’t planned that far; so from here on out, I was acting purely on impulse, making decisions on instinct after using whatever time I had to reach an educated decision.
My brother joined Trish and I in her living room. He had knocked the big square panel of glass, and I had seen his outline through the glass; plus who else is going to knock a 50-year-old’s door at 5:00 in the morning. Daniel had entered the house, panting like he had just ran a half-marathon.
“What happened?” I asked not even waiting for him to catch his breath.
“I got them and stashed them in a safe place until the morning. No fucking way!” Daniel said as his eyes lit up and nearly popped out of his head as he scanned the room, realising the scale of what I had stolen.
“I have made a killing tonight, haven’t I?” I asked with a big grin, putting my fist out to fist pump him, wanting praise.
“Yes, I just robbed loads myself, but no way near what’s here,” my brother explained. He was doing exactly what I had done, walking in between the towers of boxes and looking exactly what was there.
“How much money is worth do you think?” I asked, coming to terms with the fact I had hit it big.
“There’s got to be at least 40 or £50,000 here, Cyrus,” Daniel said, eyes still wide and continuing to scan the room.
“You all have to tell your mum, Cyrus. She will be able to sell these for you,” Trish said, still sitting on the sofa where she was an almost permanent fixture. The thought hadn’t even crossed my mind to tell my mum, but when I thought about it, it wasn’t a bad idea.
The idea had loads of advantages: it would explain me having money, it would stop my dad getting on at me; and most of all, it would gain me respect in my house. If my mum sells some or all of the cigarettes for me, I would be one of the main breadwinners in our house; or if not a breadwinner, I would definitely have the most money.
I was only 16, but I knew if you had the most money in the house you live in, you automatically have the most or at least some respect from the occupants of that house.
“Yes, I’ll send her over in the morning,” I replied calmly and confidently. I had said it like that had been my plans all along. “All right, I’m going to go across to bed now then,” I said to Trish as I looked at Daniel to signal it was time to leave. “Lock this door, my mum will be over in the morning,” I said as Daniel and I left to go to our house. The morning was bright but motionless. It looked like midday, but it was pitch silent. Everybody was still sleeping, apart from the birds who were tweeting and whistling. The two of us crept into our house and up the stairs to bed. “A job well done,” I said to myself as I took my clothes off and slid silently into bed.
The walls in our house were paper-thin, so my brother Daniel and I had perfected the art of being quiet. We’d had to, especially if we wanted to avoid World War III if we pissed our dad off. I was asleep in record time, considering I had felt so awake in Trish’s living room, looking at my stolen stash. My body must have been worn out, my head hit the pillow, and I was out like a light.
I awoke the same morning to the sun shining through my floor to ceiling blinds. Instantly I remembered my shenanigans from the night before. I shot out of bed, like a bullet, threw shorts and a T-shirt on and went to Daniel’s room to wake him. No Daniel. His bed was empty. I returned to my room to see my little digital clock reading 1:10 in the afternoon. Feeling as though the world had started without me, I got ready quickly and left my empty house to go to Trish’s. Where was everyone? No Mum, no Dad, no Daniel? Where are they? I wondered as I opened the back door. Two steps out of my back door, I saw my brother was standing with his friend, Lee.
“Are you alive now, Bro?” Daniel joked with a big smile.
“Yes. Is everything good? And where is Mum?” I asked feeling puzzled. The night before, I had been running the show, but my morning started with me feeling like I had slept through the show.
“I’m good, look at this,” Daniel said as he pulled out a pile of notes
that was too thick to even attempt to fold. The pile of notes Daniel held in his hand was thicker than the garage door I had broken into the night before ironically. Daniel’s friend Lee also brandished a thick folded pile of cash. Daniel had to have had at least £7,000 and Lee at least £3,000, I estimated. “Mum is at Trish’s house,” Daniel said looking pleased with himself.
“Where the fuck did you get that money?” I asked, now definitely feeling like I had missed the boat.
“I sold all my cigarettes. Lee sold them for me for just under £10,000,” Daniel replied.
“I want a little cut, it’s only fair as it was my job,” I said, now frowning at the fact even Lee was now better off than me from my own job.
The two of them gave me £1,500 between them which made me feel a lot better as I marched around the corner towards Trish’s house.
My mum answered Trish’s door with a lot less of a surprised look on her face then could be expected. She had always known I was going to be a bad boy. Everyone knew I was going to be a bad boy, it was more a question of how and when it was never a question of ‘if’.
“Cyrus, this is a lot of cigarettes, are you sure there is going to be no repercussions over this?” my mum asked which I had anticipated. It was the most important question that anybody with a brain would need answering.
“No, Mum, there is going to be no trouble, the people I stole this off were asleep and didn’t wake up,” I explained; she looked at me and fought hard not to smile. My mum didn’t smile; instead she got down to business.
“Trish and I will sell as many as we can, but we can’t sell them for full price. People will want to make money, how much do you want for a sleeve containing 200 cigarettes?” my mum asked.
“How much are they to buy usually?” I asked with no idea what the reply was going to be.
The most cigarettes I had ever brought was a packet of 20. “I think it’s about £70 for a good brand, and most of these are good ones,” my mum told me while confirming with Trish. I had at least five of the major cigarette brands, and a few small quantities of some less common brands; in all fairness, I had a good inventory. My mother picked up a sleeve of cigarettes and gave them to Trish. “These are from Cyrus, Trish,” my mum said as she gave them to her friend.
“I will be happy with £40 per sleeve if they are usually sold for £70,” I replied setting a price for sale. My mum looked at Trish for her opinion on price. She nodded to say yes, signalling it was a fair price.
“Okay, we will start selling them, Cyrus. Trish has a friend called Pete who sells cigarettes at a few social clubs. We will get him to buy some, and we’ve got a few other people that will want some,” my mother explained as she let out a big sigh about to start the daunting task of selling this colossal amount of cigarettes. “Will these cigarettes be safe here though?” I asked making sure this wouldn’t all just slip through my fingers.
“Yes, Cyrus, don’t worry,” my mum said.
“Okay then, I love you both, and I will pay you both for your help. I’m going shopping now,” I said as I smiled at them both mischievously and headed for the door.
My brother and Lee were still leaning on the wall at the side of our house as I walked back towards my house. “Is everything good,” Daniel asked; happy his business with me was concluded fully.
“Yes, everything is good, just keep an eye out for me, please, Bro,” I asked.
“See you guys, later,” I said to his friend as I walked back into our house to finish getting ready properly.
Pulling my best tracksuit from the chest of drawers and placing it on my bed with fresh boxer shorts and socks, I took out the £1,500 my brother and his mate had given me and threw it and my phone on the bed next to my tracksuit. No need for hiding money now, I thought, as the sight did everything for me visually. Cheap drug-dealing phone sitting next to a pile of cash and a fresh set of clothes. A great sight! I jumped in the shower and took a long relaxing soak, as though I was trying to rid my skin of the dirt I had been doing all night. I took time to meticulously wash my body. The hot water beating against my tired muscles in the shower left me feeling rejuvenated.
Chapter 8
“So, how long are you going to be then, Chris? I’m ready to go shopping now,” I nagged.
“I’m going to leave my house now. Plus, I’ve got £8,750 here for you. I will bring it with me,” Chris said. It was the money to pay Jason’s Uncle Jabber, and £1,250 of it was my profit.
“Okay, bring it to my house, mate,” I told Chris. My pocket was already bulging. There was no way I could carry that sort of money around with me. Chris put the phone down as I stood up off my bed to go and stand outside my house to wait for him.
“What are you up to today, Cyrus?” my brother asked as he seemed to be content to just stand outside the house with probably all of his pockets full of money.
“I’m just going into town to get some jeans with Chris,” I replied as I stood facing the corner of the street that Chris would be driving around any second.
“Okay, if you need anything doing, call me,” Daniel offered.
I walked slowly to Chris’ car as he pulled up. “Yes, Cyrus! The money is on the floor by your feet,” Chris said as he pointed to the brick-sized bag of tightly wrapped money on the passenger-side footwell.
I trusted my brother and his mate, Lee, but I still didn’t want anybody to know I was picking up this much money. “Give me ten minutes to run inside to count this money. In fact, come inside my house and roll a joint while I sort this money out,” I told Chris. We got out the car after I stuffed the big bag of money under the front of my tracksuit bottoms and pulled my tracksuit top over it to conceal it. We walked into my house. “Roll that joint on the kitchen table, I’m going upstairs for five minutes, Chris.”
Back in my room, I ripped the bag open to reveal the bundles of banknotes arranged into individual thousands. I counted out £7,500 as quick as my little chubby fingers could enable me—that was Jason and Jabber’s money. I slid my bottom drawer out completely from the big chest of drawers. There was just over £4,000 under them. I put the £7,500 in the opposite corner under the drawers to my personal stash of money and placed the £1,250 I had remaining from the bag from Chris next to the money I had saved under the set of drawers. I will count that later, I thought to myself as I slid the draw back in place silently.
Chris was sat with a giant spliff, smiling at me sitting at my kitchen table when I re-joined him downstairs. It was the joints width that made it giant; the thing looked like a miniature baseball bat. “Come on, let’s go,” Chris said as he got up, looking like it took more effort than it should have because of his weight. Chris wore a grey tracksuit almost identical to mine; both grey, both made by the same manufacturer, both had a hood and a zipper. Chris had short, soft, light brown hair and looked chubby and friendly in the face. The wooden chair he had sat on had been totally concealed by his abnormally large body, especially for his age at 18. He was a big lad, not obese, just significantly overweight.
“Lock the door if you’re leaving the street, Daniel,” I said as I looked him square in the eye to let him know it was an order, not a request.
“Where do you want to go first then?” Chris asked.
“To that designer clothes shop in town,” I said confidently, like I had been there hundreds of times before.
“Hello, Mum,” I said after reading her name on the screen and answering my phone.
“Cyrus, do you want to sell 127 sleeves for five?” My mum asked, hearing half of what she had said.
“Five what?” I asked.
“Five thousand pounds… for 127 sleeves?” my mum asked, this time being heard clearly.
“What does that work out to per sleeve?” I asked, happy at the prospect of earning £5,000.
“It’s £40 per sleeve, but you’re giving him two extra sleeves for free,” my mum explained.
“Can you do that for me now then, please; and keep the money safe for me, pleas
e, mum,” I replied more than happily.
“Bye, Cyrus,” my mum said as if I had patronised her by thinking I needed to tell her to keep the money safe.
We parked the car in the main shopping centre’s multi-storey car park. The tinny car door slammed as I swung the door to shut it. As the two of us walked through the fairly busy shopping centre, I felt like more of a man then I had ever felt. My well-built best friend Chris by my side, who was also my partner in my drug business, a pocket full of money, wearing my best clothes had me walking with my head held high, not to mention I had made £5,000 profit during the 15-minute drive to town.
I am sure it was the fact I was no longer broke that had me walking with a little ‘swagger’.
My Auntie Delma had £5,000 put away at her house for me, I had £5,200 under my drawers in my room that was mine, and I had £1,500 in my pocket that was causing a big bulge in my tracksuit bottoms; also, my mum now had £5,000 for me, and soon to be a lot more.
Sixteen thousand seven hundred pounds, I had worked out was my own money. I had tallied it up as we walked towards the designer clothes shop. Mannequin in the shop windows wore expensive Italian leather jackets and designer jeans and trainers. I walked into the shop and felt the difference in atmosphere instantly. Outside the shop in the shopping centre had been noisy, with people talking and rustling bags and goods as they walked, noisy children and scruffy-looking people as well as well-dressed upper-class people, but everyone was moving wherever you looked. Inside this shop was a different atmosphere completely; it was quiet and tranquil. Music played low in the background; the floor was a shiny dark-coloured wood that looked luxurious and expensive.