Ace unconsciously flexed his hands, looking at the man before him closely. 

Amir Tahan was a sort of wild card. The only one of Ace’s former coworkers who went out of his way to pick on Ace. Others usually stood clear of him and talked behind his back, or to his face when his work or lack of work directly affected them. With Amir it was different. Certainly not something Ace wanted to go back to. But he didn’t have much of a choice.

Amir threw his back against the booth,  throwing an arm behind the top of the seat. He titled his head to the side and raised his nose, making a face at Ace like Ace was beneath him.

“I would’ve thought you were coming back here to get your job back. It’s not like you’re good at much else. Yet here you are crawling back to me of all people”.

Ace looked away, mumbling under his breath. 

“Why are you still here?”.

Amir smiled devilishly, showing off his pearly white teeth. 

“Careful behiima* Allah has blessed me to be born into the family I was. I do not need this job. I am only here because of my ghabiun* uncle and what he whispers to my father - I don’t need this”. 

He throws out a hand, gesturing to the resturant.

Then Amir leaned in, putting his arms on the table and clasping his hands together.

He lowered his voice.

“What about you behiima?”.

Ace eyed him for a moment. Amir’s smile got wider the longer it lasted. 

“I just came to ask for a favor Amir”.

Amir nodded.

“Yes, yes, but what makes you think I-”, he stopped short at seeing what Ace pulled out and laid on the table.

Ace had it covered with a bag but Amir knew what it was.

He looked around sharply before cursing at Ace.

“Are you fucking - Yixrib beitak*”, he shoved the bag back to Ace, “put that geurf away”.

Ace looked admonished, rightfully so. 

Amir leaned down to be quiet but he could barely contain his anger.

“You brought drugs to this place? And brought it out into the open? Are you fucking dumb!?”.

Luckily the restaurant was mostly empty on a Thursday morning, except for a few recurring faces. So they were used to outbursts from Amir, the few that were in hearing distance and looked over quickly looked away when Amir glared at them. 

Amir turned back to Ace, scoffing at him.

“I’m sorry”, Ace lowered his head.

“Don’t start fucking crying. You are a man, yes?”.

Ace looked up, feeling insulted he frowned.

“Yes”. 

“Do not give me that look when you look like a woman with a temperament to match and the mind as well. Why do you have that here?”.

“I wanted to ask if you could tell me the person it came from”.

Amir stared at Ace for a few seconds. 

“... You have it …you don’t know where it came from?”.

Ace blinks before looking down, flustered.

“I mean the original person who sold it, would you be able to tell by looking at it?”.

“You mean a dealer?”.

Ace looks up but says nothing, frowning. 

Amir sighs, throwing his head back.

“Why do you even have it if you don’t know anything about it?”, he groans.

Lowering his head he goes on.

“We will go outside so I can look at it more closely”.

They do just that, ignoring the shout of protest from the coworker managing the cashier.

“I’ll be right back”, Amir waves his hand dismissively in the air as the door shuts behind them.

He drags Ace over to a spot covered in shrubbery, nearly getting him cut on some of the plants with thorns.

He holds out his hand expectantly as Ace regains his footing. 

Turning it over in his hands, Amir makes sure to point out, “I don’t put these poisons in my body anymore. Allah has blessed me with health and I will not spit on his holy work”.

Ace nods, feeling like he should give some sort of answer. 

“It’s Vati’s work. I can take you to him since you want him and not this I’m assuming but I want something in return for this favor”.

“... right”. 

Ace goes to pull out his wallet. 

“I want this”.

He holds up the bag.

Ace nearly drops his wallet.

“But - you just said-”.

“I don’t put it in my body. You don’t know what you’re doing with this, obviously. This sells at a high price, I will make a lot of profit with it-”.

“No!”.

Ace snatches it back, throwing it in his bag.

Amir looks down at his still outstretched hand, then glares at Ace.

“That stuff is bad“.

“Bad?”. 

“Yes! The things it makes people do- why would anyone want to -”.

“I don’t care about whatever moral dilemma you have. If you want my help you will get over it”.

“Get over it? … Thank you. You’ve been helpful enough Amir”.

Ace opens his wallet and hands Amir $200. 

“Nothing good comes out of things like this”.

He walked away. 

Amir clenched his teeth. 

“This fucking boy thinks he will make it without me? Me?”.

He rips up the money into tiny pieces. 

“I will show you, behiima. For Allahu Akbar* and you are nothing but dirt beneath his feet. You don’t stand a chance against me”.

Back at home, Ace puts the bag with the drugs into a safe. He shudders in disgust at the sight of it. He sighs once the safe clicks shut.

“I didn’t even get to ask him about the bracelet. … I guess I can ask Vati”. 

He shrugs out of his clothes, making sure any surface that might have touched the bag doesn’t touch his skin and then he goes to shower, his paranoid thoughts getting the better of him once again.

After quickly getting dressed again, he packs another bag. This one with a folder full of maps and notations all over the paper. 

He grabs a pair of gloves and opens the safe, grabbing the bag and the jewelry, he gently puts them in a plastic bag and puts that bag in his going out bag.

Quickly washing his hands he grabs up the bag and turns to the door. A few steps shy a thought comes to him. He looks at the stack of boxes in the living room. Putting the bag down, he walks over to stack and lifts boxes until he finds one labeled with his name. Inside is an old Luger pistol, with a box of bullets. A gift from his father that came from an authentic antique arms dealer.  

He looked back to his bag, remembering what was inside. 

He looked back at the gun, picking it up and clearing it. He left the box of bullets and grabbed another bag just for the Luger. Heading for the door again, he paused with his hand on the doorknob.

“I’m going to find him, Mr Wilson”, he whispered into the air. 

And he headed out.

Hours later, under the dark of night the doorknob on Ace’s door turned ever so slightly. Clicking sounds echoed ever so lightly. The lock turned after a few minutes.

“Fucking finally”.

Amir stood up, putting away his lockpick and turned the doorknob. He pushed open the door a bit, listening out. Hearing nothing, he stepped in, making sure to take off his shoes. He crept along inch by inch, listening out for any noise. Down the hall, he could hear drawers opening and closing and he stood close to the corner, making sure to keep himself hidden. 

Unfortunately for him, a beeping noise soon began to go off. He looked around wildly until his eyes landed on a security display that was giving off a red light. He cursed out loud.

“Jeune Monsieur*, you are home?”.

“Jeune Monsieur?”. 

“Monsieur Jager has been trying to call you. It is not proper for a young man to ignore his father, Monsieur”.

There was not much to hide behind so Amir stood still waiting, thinking of something.

He was not expecting the beautiful woman before him to come out however.

She stood still, the small smile on her face instantly disappearing.

“I’m a friend of Ace’s”, he smiled, looking her up and down.

She smiled at him, though it was forced. Not that he could see from where his eyes had settled. 

“I have never had the pleasure of meeting Monsieur William’s friends before. It is nice to meet you”.

Amir quickly hid a frown.

William? 

“I thought he would be here so I let myself in but you didn’t see him so, he left. And without telling me”.

He chuckled.

She nodded.

“I can make you a drink while you wait or maybe you are hungry?”.

Amir looked her over again before shaking his head.

“No. No I’m fine, Ms?”.

“Margaux. Margaux Levett, Mr?”.

“Amir Tahan”.

She smiled.

“I will let Monsieur know you were here”.

“It’s okay”, he pulled out his phone, “i’m calling him now to ask why he hid such a beautiful woman from me”.

She smiled, looking down.

“You are too kind, Monsieur Tahan”.

“And you are too beautiful. Until we meet again Ms. Levett”.

He turns around, heading for the door. He doesn’t make it out all the way, looking back after hearing rushed footsteps. Something large and heavy collides with his head, sending him into the door. He is caught before he falls and dragged deeper into the apartment.

Margaux lets him fall to the floor in a heap. He lifts a hand to his head, swaying violently. 

“Jeune Monsieur never had friends. Monsieur Jager won’t allow it without his say so. And Jeune monsieur has never strayed from his father’s word”.

She watched him fall back, banging his head on the floor. 

She walks over to the kitchen, where grocery bags are organized and reaches for her purse. 

Getting out her phone, she speed dials a number. It doesn’t take long for the person to pick up.

“I need a cleanup, Monsieur”.

*behiima - livestock (stupid)

* ghabiun - foolish (arabic)

*Yixrib beitak - may god destroy your house 

* Guerf - shit 

*Allahu Akbar - god is greater than/god is the greatest