On a Friday morning, Damian, a 28-year-old Black man with blue eyes and black hair styled in an afro, sat in his office. He wore a black suit and was going through his laptop on his office desk. Just then, he heard the sound of someone knocking on his office door.
"Who is there? Come on in," Damian replied, and his assistant, Jeff Brody, came in.
Jeff was a 26-year-old Black man, too, like Damian. He wore black clothing and boots, as he was hired as Damian's trusted right-hand man.
"What's it?" Damian asked, and Jeff reported, "Mr. Max Dawson is here to see you."
Damian nodded and replied, "Let him in."
Mr. Max Dawson was a businessman involved in online drug deals. He did money laundering and other mafia business.
Damian remained seated in his office chair. He made no attempt to stand up and shake hands with Mr. Max.
"Good morning, Damian," Mr. Max greeted, dressed in a black suit.
"What do you want?" Damian asked, still seated in his chair and continuing to click on his laptop.
Mr. Max swallowed the hard lump that had formed in his throat, knowing that doing business with Damian was more difficult than he did with Damian's father, Mr. Mark Tucker. The name alone instilled infinite fears in the other groups.
"It's business, Damian. It's a deal worth 10 million dollars." Mr. Max was pleased when he saw Damian look away from his laptop and shift his gaze to look at him.
"Sit," Damian gestured to the middle-aged man. "Go on," he ordered, and Mr. Max went into details about the business.
Damian listened with keen interest. "So what do you need my assistance for?"
"As the mafia lord, I don't want the other groups to interfere in this business, and I will need your assistance to loan me money to proceed with it," Mr. Max explained.
Damian was interested in this business; however, he had other ulterior motives. Dealings like this, he would personally handle instead of handing it over to his group to take care of it.
"I will lend you the money, but you must promise to pay back with interest. I don't care if the business works out or not. All I care about is my money," Damian said, and Mr. Max nodded.
"You have nothing to worry about, Damian. I will pay you back, but I will need your assistance with it," Mr. Max said, sitting across from Damian, who was looking at him.
"Don't worry, I will have Jeff assist you. First, sign the deal," Damian offered the document to Mr. Max to sign and to loan him the money. His mind worked in mysterious ways as he focused his attention on the man who reached for a pen and signed the deal.
"Done," Mr. Max said with a broad smile on his face as he rose to leave Damian's office.
"I will be looking forward to the repayment date," Danika said, and Mr. Max left the office.
After the deal ended, Damian kept on thinking about the deal worth millions of dollars.
"I cannot allow Mr. Max to have that kind of money. It will invoke the higher authorities' knowledge on us, so I have to take care of it." A smirk played its way up Damian's lips, and he called Jeff back into his office.
"Take care of Mr. Max's business and ensure that the money gets transferred to my offshore accounts."
"Okay, Boss," Jeff's eyes widened in surprise, but he dared not question Damian's orders. He looked up to him as his older brother and was only two years younger.
He went to do as told.
*****
Four months later, Mr. Max was heartbroken to see that the business didn't go as planned. After loaning money from the ruthless mafia lord, he had only a year's interval to pay off 10 million dollars that he loaned.
"Honey, what's the problem?" Mrs. Jennifer came into the room. She was a middle-aged woman, 45 years old, and she looked at her husband, who paced about worriedly.
"I am finished!" Mr. Max said, placing his hands on his head.
"You cannot be finished, honey. Talk to me," Lady Jennifer tried to beg her husband, but he said, "I shouldn't have trusted that son of a devil. Doing business with his father hadn't been bad. Our dealings hadn't been hijacked by the government, and now, I have lost everything I worked hard for."
Mr. Max was on the brink of tears. He shouldn't have trusted Damian to handle the business for him. The man was still young and new as a mafia group leader.
"Calm down, honey. Talk to me," Lady Jennifer tried to talk her husband out of his misery, but he smacked her hand away and shouted at her, "Don't touch me! Where do I get 10 million dollars to pay the T-Group?"
"The T-Group? Who are those? Calm down, honey. We can raise the money. Where did you borrow such money from? Why would you even borrow such a huge amount of money, too? For gambling?" Mrs. Jennifer asked, shocked to hear the huge amount of money her husband owed. But he told her, "Get out of my room. I don't have time to explain anything to you. Just leave me alone. If I don't raise that money in a year's interval, they will come for us. All of them. And you need to leave with our children. They shouldn't return back here. I am finished."
Mrs. Jennifer stubbornly shook her head and told her husband, "I cannot leave you to die alone, honey. You cannot turn me into a widow at this young age. You shouldn't have borrowed the money in the first place. Calm down; we can see how to raise the money."
Mr. Max went to his office, leaving his wife alone in their bedroom, and she paced around, wondering what was wrong with her husband.
That night. Mrs. Jennifer went out of her room, and met her youngest daughter, Alicia, in the living room.
"What's going on, Mom? I heard you and Dad arguing," Alicia, a 19-year-old girl, asked. She was a nursing student and hadn't graduated yet. Her skin was as fair as the sun, as she has long blonde hair, resembling her mother.
"It's your father. He borrowed 10 million dollars, and now, he has lost everything." Mrs. Jennifer cried, and Alicia collasped on the couch.
"What?! 10 million dollars. Where do we start paying off such a huge amount of money from? Oh no! We are doomed, Mom. If Dad cannot pay that off," Alicia joined her mother in crying in the living room. They were rich, so why would her father go to loan such a huge amount of money? Meaning, they would sell off most of their properties. But would it be enough to pay off such a huge debt? Alicia cried.
