Sam 2013/11/09(Sat)17:38 No. 547272 ID: 903dfe
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My friend Barry stands across from me in a dirty ally next to my apartment building. I don’t want to be here; I’m ready to go home. “What’s this about?” I ask.

“Somethin’s goin’ down, Sam. My boss wants that punk Lowball gang out of the district. He wants me and our boys to stir up trouble, terrorize some people so that we can lure out Lowball and hit ‘em at a weak spot.”

I wouldn’t keep a gangster around as a friend, but we were already friends before Barry’s foray into crime. Not as good of friends anymore. “How does this involve me, Barry?”

“You and your wife want left alone, right?”

“You want me to do something.”

“Listen, my boss done paid off the police. They won’t do a thing, so we’ve got free reign, and our boys won’t go easy in a situation like this. Until Lowball shows up to find out what’s goin’ on, people in your area are gonna get beat up, shot, probably raped, I don’t know. Don’t want somethin’ happenin’ to Elise, do you?”

“What do you want me to do?”

Barry cracks a smile. Of course I figured him out. “Heh… A job.”

I consider whether I should tell him off or hear him out.

....your 'friend' just threatened to have your wife shot and raped in order to gain your cooperation? Doesn't seem like much of a friend to me. And if Barry's gang goes around terrorizing people for their own profit, and the Lowballs are the kind of people who might show up to do something about it, well, I think I know who I think more highly of.

Tell Barry off, and head home. If your friendship ever meant anything, he and his better leave Elise alone.

(We should probably grab her and the leave the area, or sit behind our locked front door with a shotgun all night).

Yes, you've just been threatened here. What do you know about the 'Lowball gang' here, are they actually a gang?
Also, trying to convince your friend to avoid raising hell against your family isn't gonna fly. He's been 'asked' to sort people in the area into 'for' and 'against' and he gets the shit kicked out of him (or put six feet under) if he doesn't give them names of people that will help and names of people to attack. Figure out which list you'd rather be on.

>>547272
What's the job? You may not like it but it's probably best to just play along, at least for now, for Elise's sake. Any information that you may have about these organizations might also influence your plan of action. So, hear him out for now. You can always tell him off afterwards, as well.

>>547271
You're not doing any jobs for gangs that go around raping people. Go home and take your wife out to a hotel somewhere outside that neighborhood.

Also take any valuables and mementos you can out of your house. Anything left in the house should be something you can easily replace.

Sam 2013/11/10(Sun)00:38 No. 547326 ID: 903dfe
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Lowball is a gang of youths. They mostly hang around the Luther district where all the major trash in this city is, but they’ve recently bled over to the Kreal district where I live. They’re reckless kids over in Luther, but most of the ones here aren’t that bad. I do have… somewhat of a connection with them actually. Let’s just say that I have their respect, a respect that Barry isn’t aware of. As for him, his boss is a real asshole. Paying the police so that his thugs can run around and ruin our day. Sounds pretty typical.

I approach Barry slowly, wearing a stern expression. He should know everything that’s wrong with what he’s asking. “And what if I say no, Barry? Something bad will happen to Elise and me? It sounds like you’re threatening us.”

He lifts a hand and looks a little surprised. Maybe he thought I’d just walk right into whatever this “job” is. “No, no, that’s not it at all! Sam, I’m just sayin’ that… If you help me out with somethin’, then you won’t have a thing to worry about when we start makin’ trouble. The boss’ll warn our boys not to touch the guy and his wife in the apartment on Victor Street, room 202, get it? I’m tryin’ to watch out for you!”

“You can’t just ask that bastard boss of yours to leave us alone because I’m your friend?”

“Balros doesn't owe me any favors. He needs to see action if he’s gonna think about watchin’ out for anybody.”

“Of course. You know, I could just leave during the whole ordeal.”

“Uh… I guess I hadn’t thought about that.”

“Unfortunately, I don’t think I’m going to be able to, though.” I sigh. “What’s this job?”

“Oh, it’s real simple. See, we want to know where Lowball’s main hideout is around here. That way when they poke their heads out, we can go in, take it, and then start taking them out until they run back to Luther. I got a tip about a few outcast members of the gang that have their own little hangout spot. A real detriment, they are. We’re gonna make them tell us where the hideout is. If you go with us, Sam, it’ll be reason enough for the boss to pay attention to you. And all you have to do is stand there with a gun and look mean. We’ll do all the work.”

Hmm… I don’t know how to handle this. But I do know that leaving while Barry’s friends are tearing up town is out of the question. Also, why am I talking to myself so much all of a sudden?

>>547326
I dunno maybe you have some foreign thoughts or something.

Take the job, you don't have much choice if you want to protect your wife. Well, I guess the other choice is to not leave your apartment until the chaos is over, and barricade yourself in or something.

Why do you have the gang's respect?

Possible plan of action: If you tell the Lowball gang about this plan, and that you're being arm-twisted into it by threats, they could do something pretty decisive to counter it.
A warning about what's coming is pretty damned good help, if this guy's boss is stupid enough to make this plan and have Barry tell you all about it. Unfortunately, it's likely that if it's *known* you have a connection to this gang that Barry's mob are trying to set you up to do exactly that. Criminals generally are known for not being the smartest people, but that's a pretty simple plan to make *if* they'd heard that you have a connection to this gang. The way that would work is they'd have someone following you, tracing your phone or tracking your movements to see where you go so they could find the Lowballs (most likely). If you have a cellphone and they have people at the phone company, or cop contacts, they could track you just by that without even putting a bug on you.
Also, you can't expect Barry's mob to go easy on your family if you do communicate to the Lowball gang about this. Even if it's their plan that you do so they'd call you talking to the Lowballs about 'their plan' intended betrayal and they would 'punish you' for that.

The only sane plans when it comes to gangs like this are escaping, calling the feds, and putting the word out through the news and all your personal contacts (tell everybody). Preferably one should do all three at the same time.

>>547326
Well that doesn't seem so bad, assuming you don't harbor any feelings for the well-being of the Lowballs. If you're not the type to just let things blow over and get back to your life, however, you could tip the Lowballs off about the raid. It's fairly obvious that no one in Balros' gang knows you have any affiliation with Lowball, otherwise Barry wouldn't be coming to you for the job.

There is also the possibility that someone DOES know of your connection and predicts that you will help the Lowballs, in which case they can just take you both out at the same time.

It looks like the least risky option is still to just play along and get it over with.

1/2 Sam 2013/11/12(Tue)13:03 No. 547783 ID: 54c6ed
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>tracing/tracking
I can't afford a phone, and I don't even know what a cell phone is. What's with me...

>Why do you have the gangs respect?
I work at a factory that manufactures guns. Some of those guns... Well, I take them. Don't tell me about the morality of it, but that's what I do. Elise and I are healthy and comfortable, which you can't get in this city without cheating somehow. I've sold some of the guns to Lowball for a real good price, so they definitely know me. That way I have somebody around here other than my wife who knows who I am in case I end up in trouble.
I wonder if this counts as trouble. I could tell Lowball and stay on their side through this. But Balros has money, something Lowball doesn't have. Who knows what that shit head is capable of.

Barry takes a step back. "It doesn't matter to me what you do, Sam. Just thought I'd give you this chance to protect yourself. I promise that nobody except me knows about our conversation here, and nobody will. But I really got to go. All this shit happens tomorrow. If you want in, meet me here tomorrow morning before you go to work."

"Tomorrow? That's some short fucking notice, isn't it, Barry? Figured I would get a couple days."

"Sorry, Sam." He turns to talk off, leaving the alley and heading down the street

"Psh, watching out for me," I murmur to myself. Whatever. I can make up my mind once I get inside and take these shoes off.

2/2 Sam 2013/11/12(Tue)13:03 No. 547784 ID: 54c6ed
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When I get inside my apartment, I'm greeted by Elise who was just exiting the bedroom. "Hey there, Sam. Anything exciting happen today?"

"Uh..."

>>547784
"Eh. Not particularly. I may need to leave early tomorrow morning, though. The boss wants to have a little meeting with us. Don't worry, sugartits, it's nothing bad."

Be honest. She's your partner, not a child. And maybe she'll have better ideas than you- so far all we've got is siding with one gang or another, both of which gets you in deeper and comes with significant risks. (As does trying to do nothing).

Tell her the TRUUUUUUUUTH!

If she can't handle the truth this relationship's breakdown will trace to right here anyway, so you should at least give her the chance. Seriously, you weren't planning on making a decision that affects her for the rest of her life without her even knowing that it was happening, were you?

Sam 2013/11/26(Tue)18:34 No. 549978 ID: 903dfe
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Elise loves to ask questions. I'm more willing to lie when what I'm lying about isn't such a big deal, but this is something I should share with her.
After I make some coffee, I sit her down at the kitchen table and explain the whole situation, with Balros having his boys wreck our neighborhood and Barry's "job" that'll supposedly help us. She starts to look worried. "Well, what do we do then, Sam?"

"I don't know. We can take Balros's side or Lowball's, but either one of those could end badly."

"Can't we just leave, Sam? Go find somewhere to stay tomorrow?"

"And risk losing our guns? If people are going to be tearing around this place tomorrow, our apartment could get broken into and ransacked and then-"

"Who cares about the guns? We'll still be alive, won't we?"

"Then what are we going to do about our taxes, Elise? We're still short."

"Yeah, and you told me you'd find a buyer by now. I said that we could cut back on food or I could pick up another job, but you assured me that it would be fine."

"I know... and I'm sorry, but we have two days, Elise. Either we sell guns or-"

>BANG BANG BANG

What? Somebody's banging on our door. Loudly.

Well this just keeps getting better and better, unless that's the pizza you ordered earlier arriving on time.
Is it the mob, the gang, a cop, a crazy neighbour, or what?

Check the peephole, and bring a gun.

Sam 2013/11/28(Thu)00:44 No. 550134 ID: 903dfe
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I have no idea who this could be. That being said, I know grabbing a gun would be a good idea. However... There's no way I could get away with using it. Guns are illegal here. My life will be done with if anybody finds out that I have them, and if a shot was fired, somebody in this building would surely be pointing the police in my direction.
Maybe it would be a good idea in case I just need to scare them off. I look over at Elise and whisper to her. "Go grab one of the 1911s from the bedroom while I see who it is." She nods and goes into the bedroom.

Unfortunately, whoever built this place must have thought that they were too good for peep holes. I'll have to ask who it is first. "Who's there?"

No response.

"Hello? Don't you hear me? Who's there?"

Nothing.

"Hey, if you're out there then say something!"

Still nothing.

I unlock the door and crack it to see who's on the other side and immediately slam the door closed again.
"Fuck."
Elise walks in with the pistol and I mouth the words, "put it away," while waving her back toward the bedroom.

"Who is it?" She asks.

"The Taxman," I say out loud this time.

"What, we still have two days!"
I keep waving her toward the bedroom.

I don't understand. We still have two days before the cut off to pay our taxes before he's allowed to show up and collect, but he's fucking here anyway. This guy's worse than any gang, so we'll have to worry about that later. What am I supposed to do about this mother fucker when we still don't have the money? He'll be trying to break this door down any second now to take something.

>>550134
Uh, did you see his eyes? I'm not so sure that's the taxman anymore. Maybe the gun is the right thing to have and use right now.

can they track you? if not then you can just kill the taxman and then destroy your own apartment to make it look like it was already ransacked.

>We still have two days before the cut off to pay our taxes before he's allowed to show up and collect
Then maybe he's here to try and threaten or motivate you not to miss that deadline.

And yeah, you sort of need to try and talk to him, or let him do what he wants, unless you're willing to try and fight him. And shooting him and having the feds and the cops after you seems like a terrible situation.

Well this chap doesn't look friendly. May as well talk to him though, but keep on your toes and be ready to act quick. If something does go down, guys that large are usually slow about what they do, so you should be okay as long as you're ready.

drgruff 2013/11/28(Thu)18:52 No. 550203 ID: 0f0a65
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>>550134
What's yer offer?

"Why are you here then, just a reminder of how much poorer I'm about to be or is there something else?"

Sam 2013/12/07(Sat)23:30 No. 551120 ID: 903dfe
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>>550155
You think I’d really be willing to do something like that? What do I look like?

>>550136
No, he’s just wearing a mask. He always wears it. Nobody’s seen his face before.
Okay. I’ll let him in and talk to him. I grab the knob and open the door. The Taxman walks in and shuts the door behind him. He just stands there in front of the door. “We have two days still,” I say. “What are you doing here?”

He replies with a raspy voice, one that’s not as low as I would expect. “Pay me. I won’t need to come back.” He sounds on edge.
“We don’t… have enough.”
“Then I have an offer”
“What’s your offer?”
“Give me something. Collateral. Come up with the money and get it back. You’ll have more time this way. Five more days.”
“You want me to give you something as collateral?”
“Yes.”
“We can do that?”
“Yes.”

I turn towards Elise. “What if…“ I turn back to him. “What if we don’t want to?”
“I come back in two days. I won’t knock.”
“Uh...”
“Nice people live here. No need for me kicking doors down.”

Elise walks over and puts her arm around my shoulder. “We should do it, Sam. We’ll get more time.”
“But is five days enough?”
“We can hope.”
“What do we give him?”
“Well, the only things we have worth anything are your wedding ring and my necklace…”

Hmm… What do I do? What do I give him?

>>551120
Ask Elise if she would mind terribly if you gave him your ring. I know it's means more to you two than its material value, but it could be just enough time to get some money in. Make sure you get the Taxman's word that the ring will be returned once he's paid.

the necklace, even if you fail you wont lose something super important.

>>551120
The value of the wedding ring is obvious, but what's the necklace worth to you?
Because with all the shit that's going down right now, an extra three days in the Taxman's good books sounds like a damn good deal.
Also, how trustworthy is this "Taxman"? Does he just do his (ugly) job, or is he into bribes, protection and shit like that?

As for the gang shit - no matter how bad it looks from the outside, I promise it will be worse if you get involved. Get out of town if you can, go siege-mode if you can't.

>>551120
Never give away a wedding ring. Give him the necklace instead.

Also, how were you going to pay in two days if you need the extension? How come you even have a tax man that kicks down doors? What sort of shitty government are you living under?

Lastly, how do you know this is the right tax man? It could be someone with a copycat mask. Ask for proof before you give him anything.

Sam 2013/12/15(Sun)23:00 No. 552265 ID: 2722fc
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>Get out of town
If that's a joke, it's not funny.

>What sort of shitty government are you living under?
I know... Questioning it is a waste of time, though. Getting by, that's all we need to do, and Elise and I are doing pretty well. Nowhere else would be any better anyway.
But I don't need to think about things like this right now; I'm busy.

The necklace is something I gave Elise on our tenth anniversary. It used to be my mother's, but it was given to me to give to Elise. It means as much to me as the ring, if not more. Though, if anything, I probably should not give him the ring.

Elise takes off the necklace. "I think I'd rather him take this."
"Are you sure?"
"The ring is more important to me, Sam." She hands the necklace to me.
"Then it's more important to me too." I turn to the Taxman and being to speak sternly. "Now, if we pay within five days, then we get this back."
He nods. "Yes. I sell it if you don't pay. Should cover what you owe."
"And how will we get it back."
"At the office. It will be there. Ask for it if you go to pay.

>Trust
I don't think he's crooked, but I don’t know. I think I would have heard something about that by now if he was, and I have heard a lot of things about this guy. I’m just going to have to hope this works out.

“Alright, here.” I hand it to him.
“Thank you. Remember, five days.” He turns around, opens the door, and leaves the apartment.

Me and Elise make dinner and play a game of chess before we go to bed a bit early. We don’t talk much the rest of the night. She can tell that I’m thinking about tomorrow and apparently has nothing to add. She also seems a little disappointed to not have her necklace. I’ll get it back, though.

For now, I need to consider my options for tomorrow. Right now, I can think of three:

1. I go along with Barry and do his “job,” where I’ll be helping his boss Balros’s group find out where the Lowball gang’s hideout is so they can attack it. That way, Balros should keep me left alone.

2. I tell the Lowballs that they’re about to get attacked. That way, they can prepare themselves and try to keep Balros’s guys from stirring up all the trouble they were going to.

3. Elise and I leave the area tomorrow. I absolutely cannot afford to lose my guns, especially not now, so I can’t risk leaving them here and the apartment being ransacked. We would have to take them with us wherever we went, which would also be very risky.

Unless there’s anything else I should think about beforehand, I need to make the decision right now.

Answer me a question: Would the Lowballs have the money to buy the guns off of you now? Because selling them the guns, giving them the tip and driving off seems like a good plan if you can do that all in one day.