Jeremy

__**Prologue:**__ My name is Roy Alvarez. Growing up, I never thought that I would get involved with any illegal activities. I guess I was just naive. I remember the first crime I ever committed intentionally. I was in 8th grade and I stole a 25 dollar football from a sporting goods store. I was never really interested in using drugs, even though I did do some experimenting. The thing I was really interested in, was money. I wanted to have lots and lots of money. It turns out though that its harder than it seems. Especially if what you are doing to get money isn't legal. The city of New Orleans, Louisiana is my hometown, and it is where I live now. But I'm going to have to leave sooner or later. Earl Davidson is the man who helped keep me on track when I got distracted. I met him when I was 16, in 2005. He was in my chemistry class. Back then he already had made a couple thousand dollars from "business", as he described it. When I met him I was only getting started with my quest to make money, lots of it. Earl and I had just found an apartment to rent out. The following is my story.

__**Chapter 1: Roy Alvarez**__

“Have you ever looked closely at a $100 bill?” Said Earl. “Yes, why?” I asked. Earl tossed a fresh, never folded $100 note in my direction. “Look at this one,” he said. “Tell me what catches your eye.” I waited for the bill to float down on to the coffee table in front of me. I picked it up and turned it over to the backside. Immediately I could tell something was different about this one. Above the image of Independence Hall there were little yellow “100”s on each side of “In God We Trust". I had seen the same feature on the newer 2006 series $5, $10, $20 bills and the 2004 series $50. This, however, was the first time I had seen this new bill. I turned it over to the front to check the series year, 2009. “It’s a new series.” I said. “That’s a start, keep looking.” He said with a mouthful of fried chicken sandwich. I turned the bill to its backside again. There was one big and very noticeable golden “100” with blue borders that ran vertically across the bill. “This bill is pretty fancy.” I said. I flipped the bill to its front side. The portrait of Benjamin Franklin was a bit off center to the left. A blue band ran vertically from top to bottom with two breaks in it. In the background there is a subtle, golden brown colored quill in front of faint excerpts of the Declaration of Independence. “This bill is very different from the old ones. Why have I never seen one of these?” I asked. “Because they aren’t in circulation yet.” Said Earl. I was confused, “Then how did you get-“ “You’ll find out soon enough.” I doubted that it was real, but it would have had to be the most convincing counterfeit I had ever laid my eyes on. “You can keep it Roy, just don’t spend it anywhere unless you want to get in trouble.” Earl had been that guy who always knew about money. You could blindfold him and put one real bill in one hand and a counterfeit in the other and he would pick out the counterfeit bill nine out of ten times. I always had respect for Earl. He taught me more than any of my teachers ever had.

Just as I was putting the bill in my wallet, Earl looked at his phone and then said, "Ok, lets move." We left his house at about 5:30 pm. I walked to Earl's car and opened the passenger door. I love his car, he got it two weeks ago. A tangerine orange 1969 Plymouth Roadster. If he ever lets me, I'm hitting top speed in it. I sat down on something hard which wasn't part of the seat. I jumped back up to see a gun lying on the passenger seat. "What the shit?" I said. "Hey calm down man, we might need it." He picked up the gun and put it in the glove compartment. I grabbed the roof and swung down onto the seat. As we pulled out of the parking spot, I asked, "Where exactly are we headed?" He didn't answer for a good 10 seconds, then he said, "Remember my friend CJ?" "The counterfeit printer in Baton Rouge?" "Yeah, he's going to give you something to do so you're not sitting on your ass watching TV all the time." "If I'm not supposed to be watching TV so much then why did we get the 50 somethin' inch plasma?" After I said that, Earl didn't speak a word for a few seconds. Finally he said, "Yeah, I guess you're right." I smiled with self satisfaction. Earl was usually the one schooling me, but not this time. I reclined my seat and started to doze off. I found it unusually easy to keep my eyes closed. After a while of relaxation, I noticed lights and sirens of a police cruiser. I opened my eyes and sat up. "They tryin' to pull us over?" I said. "Yeah, hold on to your seat, I'm puttin' the pedal to the floor." "What? Bad idea Earl." Before I could talk him out of it we were doing 90 down the highway with the police right behind us. My heart was beating and almost jumping out of my chest. "You're not going to like this, but I need you to shoot out his tires." Said Earl. "You've got to be shitting me." "I shit you not, Roy. Just aim at one tire and empty the clip." "If I do that and we still get arrested, we're going to get life in jail." "I know." I opened the glovebox and took out the gun. I closed my eyes for a couple seconds to gather myself. When I opened my eyes, the gun was not it my hand, and the cops were not behind us. I was dreaming. "Tired?" Said Earl, he was driving with one hand and eating a sandwich with another. "Little bit." I said while yawning. "20 minutes to CJ's place, sit tight."


 * __Chapter 2:__**

"Number 63, that's it right there." Said Earl. He parked a block away, so we walked slowly to the door. We walked into the apartment building and up four flights of stairs. When we got to apartment number fourteen Earl looked at the door and said, "Lets hope he's home." He approached the door and knocked three times. Nobody came to the door. We looked at each other and then I walked up and knocked five more times. Still no answer. "Shit." Said Earl. "Hold on." I said. I grabbed the door knob, twisted it, and pushed. The door swung open. We walked in and looked around. The apartment was dead silent. I walked slowly towards the small area with three couches and a big flat-screen TV. As I approached the couch, I saw someone who looked like they fell asleep while playing video games on the couch. As I walked around to the front of the couch I could see that the guy on the couch was not sleeping, his eyes were wide open. I took a half step in, and that was close enough to see the huge bullet hole where his right eye used to be. Chills ran through my spine, and I ran back to the door while yelling, "He's DEAD!" Earl, who had been getting a beer out of the fridge, jumped up and yelled back, "Holy SHIT, you serious?" "Go look, he's on the couch." Earl walked over to the couch slowly. "DAMN!" He said. I walked over to take another look. Blood covered the floor in front of the couch, he must have been shot from behind. He still had the Playstation controller in his cold, dead hands. I started to feel sick. "What do we do man?" I said. "Call the cops!" "Ok." I took out my phone and dialed 9-1- "DONT CALL THE POLICE!" "Why not?" Earl pointed at a gun and a small mountain of cocaine on a coffee table. "Oh." I put my phone away. There was again dead silence in the apartment. After a minute of silence, Earl whispered, "Oh shit, where's Calvin?" I didn't say anything, I felt like I was about to throw up. Earl looked at me and said, "You ok?" I bent over and thew up on the floor. "Jesus Roy." Said Earl "Sorry." "You ok now?" "I think so, we should probably--" I threw up again. "--get out of here." "Ok, let's go now." Said Earl. I walked to the door while holding my stomach. My throat was on fire, I hate vomiting. When we opened the apartment door there were two guys waiting for us. Before I could even think about who they might be, one of them pulled out a gun and shot in my direction. The sound left my ears ringing, I looked down, I wasn't hit. Then I looked behind me. Earl was bleeding from his leg. I looked back at the shooter, he had his arm raised as if he was about to hit me.

__**Chapter 3:**__

I opened my eyes to darkness. I couldn't see anything. What happened? How did I end up here? It was extremely hot and I was sweating a lot. It only took me a few seconds to realize that I was in the trunk of a moving car. My hands were taped up behind my back, and my ankles were also taped together. My mouth was taped over too, I was not in a good situation. I knew I was trapped in the trunk, I also knew that the newer cars had handles on the inside of the trunk so that people who are trapped inside could escape. I put the pieces together quickly. I tried to feel around for the handle with my chin, but with no success. Then I stopped moving around and tried to think. After what seemed like 10 minutes of thinking, I could only think of how I was probably going to die soon. I started to feel an emptiness in my chest. My heart sank and I stopped breathing on my own. Just as I was about to give up all hope, I shot towards the front of the car and hit the back of the trunk. My back felt like it had been broken, but I didn't make a sound.

With my left shoulder I felt something. It was a gun. These guys were stupid enough to leave me in the trunk with a gun. I got a burst of energy and I tried to move my hands to grab the gun. I had forgotten that they were tied together. I could feel the sweat dissolving the glue on the tape. I immediately started trying to get a hand free. I was making progress until the car started moving again, and I was moved to the other side of the trunk. I started trying to slip my hand out. I needed my hand to be just a little bit smaller. I kept trying to slip it through, and finally I got one hand out. With the free hand, I took the tape off my other hand and eventually my ankles. I got a hold of the gun and ejected the clip. I ran my finger down the side of the clip to see how many rounds were left, seven. I put the clip back in and chambered the first round. Now I had to wait for them to open the trunk. I started to worry about Earl, as far as I know, he could be dead.

__**Chapter 4:**__

Finally I heard the car doors open and close. I got the gun ready and waited for them to come around to open the trunk. I heard the two guys talking, they were sitting on the back of the car. "This whip is pimpin' homie." "Yeah, this candy orange paint is fire, man." From that moment I knew I was in the trunk of Earl's car. "I think its time to wake up sleepin' beauty, right?" Here goes nothing. The trunk popped open and I opened fire. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, click, click, click. Once the clip was out, I jumped out of the trunk and saw two thugs laying on their back. One was already dead because I got him in the cheek, the other one was bleeding, but I only hit him in the leg twice. He was yelling, "AAGH, SHIT!" "Shut up, man!" I said. "You shot me asshole!" "You shot my friend, tied me up, and put me in the trunk of my friend's car, asshole." "At least YOUR friend is still breathing, punk." "Oh yeah? Where's he at?" He spit on my shoe. I kicked him in the stomach. "You gonna tell me where he is, or do I have to beat it out of your ass?" "Go check the back seat." I quickly walked over to the door. "Asshole." "Shut up." I said again. I opened the door and looked around to the back seat, there was nothing there. By the time I looked back, the thug was trying to make an escape. I chased him down, it wasn't so difficult considering the fact that I shot him in the leg. I pushed him to the ground and asked him again, "Where is my friend?" "I don't even know man! We dropped him off at a McDonalds near the highway." "Why did you drop him off?" I said angrily. "Because he kept moving around in the back seat." "Dumbass! Where are we right now? "Houston." Without even thinking about it I kicked him in the stomach again.  "Agh! Stop kicking me." "Is he dead?"  "No, he's just pissed 'cause we stole his ride."  "Ok, I'd go to the hospital if I was you."  "Fuck you!"  I hopped in the car, my cell phone and wallet were in the back seat. I picked them up and started the engine. This was not how I imagined driving Earl's car for the first time would go down. I drove off and tried to find my way to the nearest highway to get to... where am I going? I cant go back home. I should let Earl try to call me from a pay phone. I needed to start over anyway. I'll take the car, and go to... Mexico. But I'm going to need money. I should rob a bank and then run away to Mexico. Crazy ideas are filling my head.


 * __Chapter 5: Nikita Molotov- SIX WEEKS LATER__**

I woke up on the couch. My shirt had been soaked by vodka, and it dried overnight, leaving the smell behind. I sat up and took the shirt off. I walked slowly over to the kitchen and opened the fridge. I took out some orange juice and drank it out of the container. I walked slowly back past the couch and into the bathroom. I looked in the mirror. Not only did I feel intensely hungover, but I looked it as well. I took off my clothes and got in the shower. I turned the water on and waited for it to warm up. I felt like I was getting kicked in the head repeatedly.

After I got out of the shower, I put on some camo shorts and a gray wife beater. My head hurt so much that I almost forgot to take my knife with me, I bring it along everywhere. I went outside and looked at my phone, the time was 11:10am. I was expecting a call from a customer of mine, Dougie at 11:30. 20 minutes was just long enough to go to my good friend Ben's house. He was a four to five minute walk from my place. I walked slowly down the street, the light of the sun was too bright for my eyes so I put on some sunglasses. As I walked, I looked around my neighborhood to see what was happening this morning. My mind quickly wandered to what I have been thinking about all the time lately. I hadn't been paying the rent on my house, so I won't be living there for long. Where should I go then? What direction should I take my life in? I do like the idea of going to Europe, but I knew that was not likely to happen. I need money most of all. I'll deal with that tomorrow. I have the same thought every day. I stopped at a corner store and went inside. I cruised through the beverages isle and took a Gatorade. I went and paid for it and walked out onto the street. I drank half the Gatorade in one big gulp. I kept walking and the turned onto Ben's street. I walked a couple houses down, finished the Gatorade, and shot it basketball style into the trash can. Then I walked up the stairs to his house and rang the doorbell. It took a while but eventually he came to the door. "Nick, whats up man." "Not much, got 15 minutes to waste so I came over here." "Nice, I was just playing Fight Night come on in." "Oh, fight night? Lemme play you right now man I'm pretty good." "Alright, lets go. Use the white controller." "I'm taking Manny Pacquiao." "Damn, that's almost like cheating." "Alright then I'm Evander Holyfield" "Ok, I got Joe Frazier." We started the fight. I came in with my new favorite moves. I started bobbing and weaving, and Ben came out throwing punches, few of them hurt me. Then after dodging a combo I swayed back and landed two quick left jabs, a right hook and a left uppercut. I stepped away from him and then I came in again with a couple hooks and straights. I was landing good punches, but soon I got over confident and got knocked down with an uppercut. I stood up quickly and then started to throw punches at his body, the body punches landed and then I ended the combo with a strong hook. The round ended before much else happened.When the second round started, I danced circles around Frazier and threw jabs every couple seconds. He leaned out of the way of one of my jabs, leaving Holyfield open to a strong straight and uppercut combo, the combo knocked me down again. I moved the thumb stick around to try to balance the screen and gain consciousness. I got up at the count of seven. When I went in one more time for body shots, Frazier hit me with a clean hook to the chin, knocking me out and ending the fight.

I threw the controller at Ben and then stood up and walked to the kitchen. "Oh by the way feel free to eat everything in my fridge." Said Ben. "Didn't think I needed permission." I replied. Ben laughed and said, "What was that plan you had to get money?" "I don't have time to explain it now, I will later."


 * __Chapter 6:__**

"I'll be back in a bit, I have to meet someone now." I said as I was leaving the house. I walked out again into the blazing sun and took out my phone to call my acquaintance, Dougie. I walked up S Van Ness avenue while the phone rang. "Yo." "Dougie, what's good." "Not much, where should I meet you?" "Uhh, how about the Dominos on West Pico." "Ok I'm down the street from there, I'll see you soon." I hung up the phone and kept walking up the street until I could see Dominos. I saw Dougie walking to Dominos and I motioned for him to cross the street. He jogged across the boulevard and walked up to me. I walked to him and told him to follow me to the basketball courts across the street. reached into my pocked and took out a little baggie and held it in my hand. As I reached out to shake his hand, I kept the baggie in my hand and transferred it to his in a hand shaking motion. He put the bag in his pocket and handed me what I expected to be 35 dollars. "This shit looks good, where did you get it from?" "It came from a dispensary up near Wilshire Blvd." "Nice." As he started walking away, I put the money up in front of the sun and I could clearly see that there were holograms. But with a closer look at the 20 dollar bill, I saw that the watermark said "five" instead of "twenty". "Hey! Where you think you're going?" I shouted at Dougie. He started to walk faster, pretending he didn't hear me. I started running after him. Just as I was about to catch up to him, he looked back and kicked me in the stomach. It felt like i had just been hit with a baseball bat because I had built up so much momentum by running. Once I got my breath back, I stepped in and got in my boxing stance. It helped a little bit having just played fight night. I waited for Dougie to throw a punch, and soon enough he did. He threw two left jabs and then a strong right, all of which I avoided by leaning backwards. Then I quickly lunged forward, quickly faked a kick and then threw all of my body weight into my right hand, the move I knew as the "superman punch". My fist hit him square in the nose, he closed his eyes and started to lose his balance. I took advantage of this and took him down by grabbing his legs and pulling them from under him. "You stupid bitch! Try that on someone else." I said. "Aww shit man you broke my god damn nose!" "I couldn't give less of a shit, Dougie. Give it back now." "Hell no." With that, I took out my knife and with a touch of a button, the blade shot out like a box cutter. I could see the fear in his eyes the second I switched the blade out. "Now give it back." "I can't." After he said that I got angry and put the blade up to his cheek. "I'm gonna count to 3." "Suck it." "1..." He kept staring at the knife as I pushed it slowly against his cheek. "...2..." "Okay, I get it, I'll give it back." "Good." "It's in my pocket, I need you to get up." "Ok, but if you try anything, you'll be laying right where you stand." "Got it." I got up and he got the baggie out of his pocket and gave it back to me. "Thank you." "Can I go now?" "No, you're gonna come with me now." "Aw hell no!" "Or I could just cut you." "Where are we going." I didn't say anything after that. I took my phone out of my pocket and dialed Ben's number. "Hey, what's taking so long?" He said. "I got a problem here, can you drive over to the basketball courts at the school?" "The ones we play at a lot?" "Yeah, bring something I can use as a blindfold." "Haha, ok, what kind of shit are you getting into this time?" "See you soon." I hung up and waited for his car.


 * __Chapter 7:__**

It only took about 5 minutes for Ben to show up in his car. He got out and threw me the blindfold which i wrapped around Dougie's head. I walked over to Ben and said, "Just drive around the block a few times so he doesn't know where we're going." I dragged Dougie to the car and pushed him into the back seat. "Shotgun." I said. Ben laughed. We drove slowly around the block twice until we got back to Ben's house. I dragged Dougie out of the car, and directed him into the house. We walked into the TV room and sat him down on the couch. I took the blindfold off and said, "Where did you get the money?" "If i tell you will you let me go?" I looked at Ben and then back at Dougie. "Yes." "Ok, a kid named Roy has been giving people counterfeit money to buy drugs then he re-sells them and makes a lot of money." "Roy who?" "I don't know, he looks Mexican." "Where is he from?" "I have no idea, he's not from 'round here though." "Where can i find this kid?" "All i know is that he got Lakers season tickets, you might find him at a game, he always sits in a suite on level A." "Ok..." "Can I go now?" "Yeah, but if i find out you lied to me about any of this..." "Yeah i got it, you'll kill me." "Right."

While i watched TV, Ben blindfolded Dougie, drove him around the block and dropped him back at the basketball courts. Meanwhile i watched "That 70s Show". I never really found the show funny, but i couldn't find the remote. First i stood up and looked on the couch and under the pillows. Then i went down in a plank position and looked under the couch. Then i looked on the table to the side of the couch. There was no remote on the table but there was a half smoked joint in the ashtray. I looked around and then i picked up my phone and re-dialed Ben's number. "Yo is this your doob that i'm lookin' at?" "The one near the couch?" "Yeah that one." "Yeah its mine, why?" "Cause i'm about to finish it." I said while putting the roach to my lips. "Go ahead, make yourself at home." "Thanks bro. Almost back yet?" "Yeah i'm pulling into the driveway." He hung up. I picked up the lighter next to the ashtray and sparked up the doobie. As i took a drag, Ben's cat Scoobs jumped up on the couch and started talking to me. "Meeeaaaooowww." "Oh you want some?" I said. "Meeeaow." He replied while standing up and putting his paws up on my side. "I don't know Scoobs, what would Ben say?" The door opened and Ben walked in. "Don't give him any." He said. I turned around and said, "Come on, it cant be that bad for him." "No, you're not getting my cat high. " Said Ben. "Ok." I said, i took another drag and blew out the smoke in Scoobs' face. "Haha, i think he likes it." I said. "Why would you do that?" Said Ben. I stood up and walked over to the kitchen. As i was walking i laughed. "You've probably done it before by accident." Ben let out a short, quiet laugh. I opened a cabinet and took a glass out. "You wanna go to the Lakers game tonight?" I said while taking another drag and opening the fridge. "Maybe, why?" "'Cause I wanna meet the guy who made these." I said, then i took out the money from my pocket. He took the bills from my hand and looked at them carefully. Meanwhile i looked around the fridge for lemonade. "They seem fine." "No, look at the twenty." After i said that, he took a closer look and said, "Oh, its fake?." "Yeah and this guy is the one who made them. And do we have anything better to do now?" I kept looking around in the fridge. "Alright, i get it. We gonna scalp tickets or something?" "Yes, then we're going to find this guy's private suite and have a chat with him." Ben nodded sarcastically and said, "What time is the game?" I took out my phone and started to look it up on the internet. I went to NBA.com and looked down at the tip-off times. "Umm, its at 6." "And what time is it now?" "2:30." "We should leave in two hours." "Sounds good." I inhaled deep as the fire burned through the rest of the joint. "So what do you want to do in the mean time?" I said, then i found the lemonade and put it on the table. I walked over to the couch and put the little bit of paper and ash into the ashtray. I walked back to the table, unscrewed the cap from the lemonade and then poured it until the very top of the glass "Oh!" I said, "I just poured this shit perfectly!" The cup looked like it had a round dome made of lemonade. There was just enough lemonade to overflow the glass but not spill any water. The top of the highest point of the round surface of the lemonade was a little bit higher than the top of the glass. I felt a huge sense of reward for what i had just done. Ben, who was turning on the Xbox 360 looked at me and said, "Want a medal for that?" I laughed for a second. I was surprised by Ben's ability to read my mind, because right before he said that i was thinking that i should get a medal for pouring the lemonade perfectly.


 * __Chapter 8:__**

"KFC?" I asked Ben. "KFC." He replied. This kind of thing happens a lot between me and Ben, since we know each other so well we will often make decisions based on what one of us thinks the other will like. I got up from the couch, where i had been planted for several minutes. As i was getting up, Ben said, "Not yet, we have enough time so i want to show you something." "Oh yeah? What is it?" "My new three footer." "No way." Ben got up and walked into his room. Then he came out of his room holding a magnificent, bright green glass, work of art, also known as a bong. "Wow. How much did it cost?" I said. "A lot. Its name is Green Lantern."

After a 20 minute session of medication, Ben and I were on our way to KFC. I walked out to his car and got in. The warmth of the blazing sun had roasted the seat, and the seat had roasted my ass. As i waited for Ben to find his keys, i plugged my iPod into the car and turned it on. I went through my albums until i got to Illmatic, the masterpiece, the best hip-hop album ever made, and it was made by none other than the rapping poet, Nas. I looked through the songs on the album, when every song on an album is the shit it's hard to pick one to play. There's N.Y State of Mind, Life's a Bitch, The World is Yours, Halftime, It Ain't Hard to Tell, what a great album. I was more in the mood for Halftime, a more happy, upbeat song. I clicked the center button and the song started playing. The Christmas jingle bells that played 8th notes gave the song a cooler vibe. I felt as though i was in New York City in the winter time. As Nas began to rap he said, "Check me out y'all. Nasty Nas in your area, 'bout to cause mass hysteria." I love that line. Ben got in the car and said, "Oh yeah, this song is nice." He started up the car and pulled out of the driveway. We were rolling down the street and bobbing our heads to Nasty Nas, typical day. "Nas, why did you do it? You know you got the mad fat fluid when you rhyme, it's halftime." Said Nas. "Ahh he's too nice!" Said Ben. I put my fingers on the volume knob and twisted it to the right. The car was thumping with ill beats. Before we knew it the song had played all the way through, time for the next track. Nas came right out of the speakers again, this time with a different message than before. "It ain't hard to tell, I excel, then prevail The mic is contacted, I attract clientele My mic check is life or death, breathin a sniper's breath I exhale the yellow smoke of buddha through righteous steps Deep like The Shinin', sparkle like a diamond Sneak a uzi on the island in my army jacket linin Hit the Earth like a comet, invasion Nas is like the Afrocentric Asian, half-man, half-amazin." For someone on the west coast i like east coast rappers more. "There it is!" Said an excited Ben. We parked around the street and walked around the corner. I quickly decided what I was going to get before stepping in the door. We walked straight up to the counter. "Yeah, lemme get some extra crispy strips and a large soda." I said, the cashier gave me the cup for soda and I paid for my food. I walked over to the soda machine and filled my cup up with Dr. Pepper. It only took about 3 minutes for them to make my chicken. We sat down and ate near the window. As i dipped the chicken in honey mustard sauce, i looked up at the clock. The time was 5:17. "We might have to rush this a bit." I said. We ate quickly and got back to the car. It was 5:23 when we got back to the car. "Step on it bro!" I said. We began driving up Crenshaw Boulevard. As we rolled past the shops near the KFC i looked left and right to see if there were any Ferarris or Lamborghinis on the road. But then i realized nobody would drive their Lamborghini down Crenshaw Blvd. I picked up my iPod and changed the song to Fireman by Lil Wayne. Sometimes just listening to him gives you the feeling of being in New Orleans.

"Uh huh, I'm back, what cha, uh whatcha gon do now? I'm the Fireman Fire, Fa-Fireman I got that fire I'm hollering I got that fire come and try me and You can spark it up and I'ma put you out You can spark it up and I'ma put you out." The music seemed to fade out as i fell asleep.

__**Chapter 9: Roy Alvarez**__

"Ain't nobody fuckin' with me man, Heatman Ski Mask, spending next weeks cash, he fast, And I don't even need a G pass I'm past that, I'm passing em out now, and you can't have that."

I got to the Lakers game early, so i sat in my suite and listened to my favorite rapper. Living in New Orleans you would year Lil Wayne every day. I was thinking a lot about what had happened in the past two weeks. I came to Los Angeles after what happened in Baton Rouge. Now I use counterfeit money to make real cash and drive my friend Roy's car while still waiting for him to find me. When I was driving over here i found CJ's instructions on how to make his counterfeits, so i used it to make my own. In a month and a half i made a lot of money, rented an apartment, and season tickets to the Lakers. The weeks felt painfully long however. Having to leave my hometown really did a number on my emotional state. Having to make money illegally didn't make it any better. I didn't want to get in trouble with the police or with anyone else either. I raised my arm and put it horizontally in front of me so i could read the time. "Roy, que hora es?" Said my cousin Jeff. "Son las seis menos cuarto, el partido va a empezar en quince." "Okay." Jeff is my cousin who always lived in Los Angeles. He is my moms brother Carlos' son. I didn't get to see him that often before i moved here, but we were always close. When i moved over to LA i went to his house and told him what had happened back in Louisiana. Ever since then he has been helping me make money.

"Ridin' by myself well really not really So heavy in the trunk make the car pop-a-wheelie Who? Weezy Baby or call me Young Baby My money 360, you only 180 Half of the game too lazy Still sleepin' on me but I'm bout to wake em Yep! I'm bout to take em to New Orleans and bake em Yeah it's hot down here take a walk with Satan yeah."

Knocking on the door interrupted the song. "Que carajo? Who is that?" Said Jeff. "I donno, lemme get it." I opened the door, there were two white guys standing on the other side. The one in front said, "Are you Roy?" "What the fuck is this? Who are you?" I said defensively. "I'm Nick and this is Ben, if you don't mind i'd like to talk to you." "Hold on a sec." I shut the door and looked at Jeff. "What you think they want?" He said. "I have no idea." Jeff lowered his voice and whispered, "You think they tryin' to kill us?" "Maybe, wait, no that's stupid. Let's see what they want." I turned around and opened the door, "So whats good, can we talk?" Said Nick. "Yeah alright, come in." I said. They walked into the suite and sat down. I looked at my watch again and said, "So make it quick, the game is about to start." Nick leaned forward in the chair and said, "Ok, earlier today I sold some chronic to Dougie Wilkins and he gave me counterfeit money. Now i'm not your average dealer, i know a good counterfeit when i see one, and that was the best i have ever seen." "Okay... And..." I said, i fealt good about myself having been complimented by a complete stranger. Nick kept talking, "Clearly you know what you're doing. I want to work with you, we could make a lot of money." All of this came so fast I didnt even know what to say. "I dont even know you man, what are you talking about?" "Im not a cop." He said. "Oh yeah? Prove it." "All i can do to prove it is sell you some green without arresting you. Is that enough?" "If you have a gram right now i'll buy it." Without saying anything he took out a bag and gave it to me. "This is some heavy shit." I said. "Haha yeah thats 15 bills man." I gave him a 10 dollar bill and a 5. He took it and looked at it under the light. "Its legit dude." "It is. So what do you say? You want to make a shit ton of money with me?" I paused for a second and looked back at Jeff, who looked back at me with an expression like "do it". "Alright man, I guess i'm in." I said. Nick began to smile, then the smile turned into a laugh. I could not keep a straight face either. This situation was so crazy, i had just met someone who knocked on the door to my private suite at a Lakers game, and i just agreed to be his partner in crime. He put his hand out and i shook his hand. I felt good about it. The game was about to begin, and I was ready for what ever came next.