Episode 1

Chapter one

16th Broadway street. A very busy street located in the suburbs of Koplin city. Just a normal street with some bunch of crazy lowlives, crappy-looking people trying to earn a living.

Nothing special about the street, except the fact it was where Brian Fineman bolted to every morning of his miserable life.

In fact, he was one of those lowlives who was trying to earn a living in a God forsaken street.

And he was fed up, way too fed up, but who was he to quit the job?

After leaving the crappy-looking-single-room apartment he called home, he saw himself at the train station. 6am never saw him on bed but at the train station, trying to catch the next train to Lousy Lou Restaurant, the next place he called home.

But Lousy Lou wasn't his home in the real sense; but since a guy like him spent fifteen of the twenty-four hours in a day taking orders and serving food in one of the most famous restaurants at Broadway Street, you could call it his home.

And just like every other day, Brian had woke up at 5:30am and in the next one hour, he was already standing by the entrance door of Lousy Lou.

Nothing on his mind except one thing:

Mrs Johnson, his mother.

No.

She wasn't his real mother, but since she did adopt him at age five and had been the closet thing he had close to a family, you could call her his mother.

The atmosphere changed when he pushed the door open. Here he was, doing all he could to make ends meet while his good-for-nothing girlfriend was still fast asleep, at least that's the condition she was in when he left home earlier.

He put on the lights, arranged the dishes and cleaned for almost an hour until the rising sun beamed its rays across the horizon. And at that moment, the entrance swung open for another time.

Was it a customer?

No.

But a pale-skinned man whose skin was so pale like somebody who had been sick for the past century, walked in.

Brian froze on his feet.

He wasn't seeing the the almost grey-haired man for the first time. In fact, it was a familiar face because Mr Tomlinson was his boss. But with what Brian had in mind when he arrived his place of work, he could not but shiver when the boss walked in.

"Good morning sir!" he greeted, his voice halfway between stuttering and normal.

Silence. Only interrupted by the sound of footsteps. Looked like the gray-haired man got up at the wrong side of the bed, at least that's what Brian thought by the no-word response he got.

It could be said that the boss never saw Brian because the man just walked and closed the office door behind him.

He could not be bothered with the lowlife whose aim was to annoy him.

But Brian was undaunted. He had a mission and not even some cold attitude would stop. He kissed the ring on his forefinger, making sure his lips touched the snake sign on its surface. He hoped to be lucky this time.

"Come in!" a voice croaked from the inside after knocking twice.

The office was a small space. Not big, but spacious enough for the needed administrative work. At the center of the table seated a bottle of bear.

Was the boss drinking at that early hour of the day?

Well, that wasn't Brian's business. He was there for something else.

"Sir, my mother is sick and I need a loan of one million dollars for her surgery," Brian stuttered.

No word from the boss. The liquor was more important than the man who just spoke.

Brian wasn't surprise at the silence. Not from the man who had warned him three months ago to never make such a request.

And Brian could not learn his lesson.

But wait. Did he just ask for a loan of one million dollars?

Oh yes. Far above the five hundred thousand he requested three months ago to augment the hospital bills. The boss had denied him that.

Brian was definitely crazy. He was at his wits end but it wasn't entirely his fault because Mrs Johnson, the woman who adopted him, had been diagnosed with lung cancer. Brian had managed to keep up the medical bills with his college tuition and right now, the heartless doctors are threatening to stop the treatment without a down payment of one million dollars.

Crazy people do the craziest things.

Brian's words sounded like trash to the boss who never raised his eyes above the brown liquid he sipped at intervals. Silence.

For Brian to have come with such a request meant the boss's previous warnings had fallen on deaf ears.

But Brian had had enough of the silence. He closed the door to make sure Jessica would not overhear the conversation, and took a few steps towards the table.

"Mr Tomlinson, please I would appreciate—"

"Is this some goddamned charity organisation?" The boss barked.

Anger would not describe the way the already-wrinkled face became more wrinkled when the eyebrows furrowed.

Damn.

But the boss just got started.

"You come here to make demands… you think this is some goddamned fucking charity organisation!" the boss found his feet as he continued to bark.

Brian could take the smell of liquor oozing out of the mouth. But the way his boss reacted, that was the least he expected.

"Now fuck out of my office. And if you can't work, then I would be happy to sign your resignation letter," he barked, jabbing a forefinger towards the door. Another round of odor gushed from his mouth and Brian almost coughed, but held it back.

Did he just say resignation letter?

The last thing Brian needed. His paycheck wasn't much—too low—but it was way better than the peanuts he got from the delivery job, peanuts he always spent on his girlfriend.

Brian had swung open the office door when he heard, "A lowlife loser like you come here with demands. Not that you can afford to pay it back. You think I run a charity? Huh. For all I care, your worthless mom could die. I would be happy to come for a funeral."

And That set the mood for the rest of the day. Brian could barely talk to Jessica, the blond-haired lady who always teased about the blue eyes hanging on his eye sockets.

And quitting, his only thought, wasn't an option.

Truth is, Brian was nothing but a handsome man. His dark hair that dropped just to his shoulder complimented his light skin. Despite the black trouser hanging from his waist and the white top, his well-built physique was still visible.

But Brian have not had much luck with this beauty.

No. Not luck, but misery is all the beauty got him.

Yes. As long as he could remember, his life had been miserable. Had killed his mother the very day he came to a miserable world; and had been tossed from one foster home to another until Mrs Johnson, the woman who was dying in the hospital, took him in.

"Bye Brian!"

Brian's thoughts drifted at the voice.

Jessica waved as she hopped into the taxi. Of course she couldn't stand the attitude she got.

Brian slumped back into his thoughts after the taxi disappeared into the busy street. 7:00pm was the time by his watch, and he was done with his shift for the bad day. His feet glued outside the restaurant as he continued to cast his mind back in time.

Pain.

The only thing he got. He wondered what his life would have been had his dad not took off, or if his real mother were to be alive. The only good thing that seemed to have happened to him was of course, Rebeca, his girlfriend. Even her, Brian sometimes thought he would have been better off without her. Her demands were a thorn on his flesh but most importantly, he no longer trust his girlfriend of five years.

After using her cellphone the other day, he could not but suspect another guy to be in the picture.

Birthday.

That was the last conversation they had, and Brian made it clear he couldn't afford such things at the moment.

The ride back home was swift, and soon, Brian found himself once again in his crappy-little apartment whose rent was to expire a week from now. He pushed the door open without minding the landlords notice. For all he cared, the man can go to hell.

He could use some drink.

Brian strolled to pour himself some drink without minding the old-dusty TV that reminded him of how broke he was. He never watched the damn thing. But just as he approached the kitchen area, his ears picked up some faint sound. Faint, but still audible.

Rebeca?

No.

The least person on his mind because she had called saying she would be at the grocery store. Or maybe she was back.

Not likely either.

If Rebeca wasn't inside, then who the hell was in his home; and why?

He tiptoed and grabbed the baseball bat beside the refrigerator. One of the first orientation he got when he first moved in was how the neighborhood had unwanted visitors who sometimes broke into People's apartment.

And Brian confirmed it a week later when the money in his drawer disappeared

He traced the sound to the bedroom.

Someone was definitely in there.

With his fingers tightened around the bat, he kicked the door open and dashed in.

His suspicions were true, and he just confirmed it.