“Are you sure about this, man?” I asked one more time to my crew. We were hanging outside the entrance to Kingsford Park. Apparently, there was a big deal going on. An idiot among us thought it would be a good idea to hijack the meeting to steal the money and the drugs. It was insane and stupid, but yet, here I am.

“Nathaniel, you worry too much. Chill,” Jay assured. He is clearly the most excited out of all of us. “This is going to be awesome. How did you get the guns, T?” T, the leader of our little squad was standing behind us, smoking. Our lives were going to be thrown on the line, and he was going to stand by and do nothing. I know it.

“You don’t need to know. Just focus on the deal.” T murmured, probably off his head already. Such a responsible leader. I looked down at the gun that was given to me, a standard handgun.

“Hey, people are arriving!” Jay announced, unable to hide his excitement. A group entered the park, holding bags of what looked like money. They looked like regular local guys, trying to make it in the industry. Wannabes. There were five of them, and they stood around talking to each other, “Come on! Where’s the other group?” Jay hissed; his eyes darted around the scene frantically. I ignored his childish behaviour. However, I was slightly concerned about how trigger-happy Jay can be in these situations.

Ten minutes passed, and three black BMWs pulled into the car park. Seven men stepped out of the cars, five of them in black suits. Two men, in particular, were wearing expensive dark brown trench coats. I felt the anxiety starting to grow within me, observing the suited men equipped with heavy assault rifles in their arms. These people are dangerous, and we were no match for them. Yet, here we are, trying to take them on.

“Shit, it’s them!” One of the other squad members harshly whispered, “The Luxe Family.”

The Luxe Family? Who are they? They definitely don’t come from Granton.

“What?” T grunted, pushing past us to take a look for himself. He cursed under his breath, “Hold on boys, I don’t think this is a good idea. If we mess with the Luxe Family, we’re dead.” The other members remained silent. I couldn’t agree more. What a relief.

“Guys, guys! We’re here now, and we got guns. If we take the other side out, they’ll panic and just run off. Simple. Let’s just be stealthy, and they won’t catch us.” Jay put forward a very heated argument, but it was stupid and completely illogical.

“Jay, going in there is a death wish. Look at their guns, look at ours!” I snapped. Who would want to mess with a gang that could kill us off in seconds? Besides, there is no way all of us can be stealthy. The rest of the squad continued to stay silent. T finally spoke up, after smoking a bit more. It wasn’t going to be a logical solution. I know it.

“Look, we’re here now. We got what we need to take them on. We should try Jay’s plan. If we’re in deep trouble, run. Got it?” Everyone eventually nodded.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I hissed, glaring at everyone. Have they lost their mind? Jay smirked and patted me on the shoulder.

“Chill out, Nathaniel. It’ll be fine, trust me. Let’s take them on from over there.” I shook his hand away and stormed off ahead, walking to Jay’s directed position. Trust me. I’ll be the first to leave when things go wrong. I pulled out my gun and with a shaky grip I tried to aim for one of the gang members if that was even possible. The handguns were useless from this distance. Before I did, I observed the deal.

Three of the five local gang members had guns, whereas all of the Luxe Family members carried them. One of the men in the trench coats was an older man, probably in his sixties. The other was a lot younger, perhaps in his early twenties. The younger man was doing most of the talking, and the older man would occasionally throw in a comment that would make their clients laugh. They both appeared to be very charismatic. I wonder what were they talking about?

Before I could observe for a bit longer, Jay had already fired the first shot landing on one of the local gang members. The two parties scattered into position and started to ready their guns in our directions. Have they found us already? Some of our guys stood up and started firing blindly at them, hitting a few members on both sides. My body wouldn’t move. The second they figured out where we were, I frantically crawled into bushes and hid there.

I didn’t want to get involved. I couldn’t get involved. I didn’t want to risk my life for cash that we could get from a bank, a luxury department shop, or a rich man’s house. The older man in the trench coat had already disappeared, probably ran away. The younger man remained in position and continued to fire in our direction. When I turned to look at my crew, most of them were on the floor. I could feel my heartbeat furiously out of my chest, and my body remained paralysed. I couldn’t bring myself to move. I wasn’t sure if any of them were dead, but I couldn’t check. If they found me, I would lose my life as well.

The firing eventually stopped. Our crew was wiped out, dead or injured, I had no clue. I remained hidden in the bushes; no one has found me yet. Perhaps I should take this opportunity to run? To get away from this nightmare. I noticed that the local gang were all shot as well, and it was just the Luxe Family remaining, as I expected.

“We searched the area. There are no other pests trying to kill us.” One of the Luxe family members reported to the younger man in the trench coat. He didn’t reply. Instead, he walked over to one of my crew members, who was trying to crawl away. It was Jay. I held my breath as the man grabbed Jay by his hair and threw him on his back. Jay’s cry in pain sent chills of fear down my spine. I wanted to help him, but I was helpless.

“What are you trying to do, huh?” The younger man questioned as I faced his back. Jay didn’t answer; he glared at him, “Do you know what happens if you get in our way?” Jay remained silent, which made the man chuckle and pointed his gun at him, “Who sent you?” Although I couldn’t see his face, his voice was soft but cold and unfazed. Jay struggled to get to his feet only to be kicked back down to the ground, “I’m giving you a chance to live, so be a good boy and answer my question.”

“I can’t tell you,” Jay spat. Why was he showing loyalty at a time like this? The man chuckled and kicked him in the face, which made Jay grunt.

“Wow, how pathetic. I was trying to be nice, but…” I don’t know what possessed me, but I managed to gather the strength to scramble out of the bushes.

“No one sent us! We just decided to hijack. We didn’t know you guys would be involved.” I shouted, trying to catch their attention. What am I doing? What if they try and kill me too? Before I could say anything else, I felt someone hit me in the back of the head, and everything went black.