The next day, after an awkward 30-minute subway ride, Hyde and Chrissy reach a quiet neighborhood in Bushwick. Besides the occasional car driving by, the streets are shockingly deserted for it being the middle of the day. They walk briskly down a few streets in search for Ralph's building. As the building numbers increase, Hyde starts questioning Chrissy about the job they are going to do for this guy.

"He'll explain everything when we meet with him" is all she says.

After a few short minutes, they find the building, which is much nicer than theirs. Chrissy walks over to the intercom and pushes the button for apartment 2B. It takes about a minute for a voice to come from the speaker asking who it is.

"Chrissy" she replies instantly and after a buzzing noise, she pulls the door open. The halls are long and narrow but impeccably clean. The walls seem to be newly painted and the only sound that can be heard is the barking of a dog.

At the end of the hall they find a wide staircase and begin their quick ascend up one flight. Standing in front of apartment 2B, Chrissy takes a deep breath and brings her hand up to ring the doorbell. Hyde watches curiously as her body tenses up and she sticks her hands in the back pockets of her jeans, which she does when she's tense or nervous. He can hear the footsteps from inside getting louder as the person approaches the door.

The door opens slightly, the chain lock still in place. "Zeke's friends?" the deep voice asks from behind the door.

"Chrissy and Hyde" she replies. The door is closed once again and they can hear the sliding of the chain lock and in just a few seconds, a tall muscular man appears before them.

"Come in" he tells them as he opens the door wider to give them more space to step inside.

Once inside the apartment, Hyde can smell the faint aroma of weed. Ralph leads the two of them straight into the small living room. Almost immediately, he and Chrissy share pleasantries and start-up a conversation which Hyde doesn't join right away. Instead, he looks around the apartment, trying to take it all in. The crisp white walls stand out against the dark wooden floor and even darker furniture. A record player is on over by a window, emanating the sound of Bob Dylan's banjo and raw vocals. A television sits on the opposite side of the room, along a wall with the biggest windows Hyde has ever seen. With the exception of some papers on a coffee table, the place is spotless.

"Come on" Chrissy says to Hyde and he follows her and Ralph towards the couch.

Ralph walks over to a single chair and Chrissy claims a spot of the couch leaving Hyde the seat next to her. The three are silent for a moment and Hyde gets the sense they are being sized up. Consciously, he straightens his back and sits as tall as possible. His aviator glasses cover half his face and he tenses up his jaw to give off a more intimidating look. Beside him, Chrissy appears calm as she waits expectantly for Ralph to start speaking.

"I need to know that I can trust you two. Not everyone is cut out for this kind of job so need to know I'm surrounded by the right people, 'cause one wrong move and we're all fucked" Ralph starts up.

Chrissy nods her head and says "you can trust us."

"I hope so. I've heard good things from Zeke and he's like family so if he says you're cool then I believe it. I just need to make sure for myself."

"Of course" she says.

Hyde looks between the two of them, annoyed at the vagueness of the conversation. He still has no idea what job this guy is offering them.

"Hold on, what exactly is it that you do?" Hyde asks and for the first time since entering the room, all eyes are on him.

"I'm an expert at getting what I want" Ralph says to Hyde and this makes Chrissy smile.

"What exactly does that mean?" Hyde asks, still not sure he understands what it is the guy does or how he fits into any of it.

"It means you don't get a place like this with a bullshit salary or playing by the rules. Sometimes you have to throw the rule book out the window and do some crazy shit" Ralph replies. He sits back on the couch and rests his right foot on his left knee. Chrissy also leans back and pulls out a cigarette from her jacket pocket.

"I'm not sure I follow" Hyde answers. He notices Ralph's smile widen and Chrissy nodding her head as the tip of her cigarette lights up.

"Listen kid, you're in New York now which means that to succeed, you need to put morals aside. You don't get to where I am by listening to the man. You have to go out there and do for yourself, even if that means doing things that aren't necessarily legal" Ralph continues. He extends his arm over towards Chrissy and she leans over to hand him the cigarette. As quickly as the stick leaves her fingers, she's reaching into her jacket to get a new one.

"Such as?" Hyde presses on, ignoring the exchange between them.

"I think you're smart enough to put two and two together" Ralph tells him and takes a pull from the cigarette.

"You mean like killing someone" Hyde says which for some reason causes Chrissy to roll her eyes.

"No," Ralph quickly adds, "hell no. I ain't no murderer. I'm talking about taking what you want."

Hyde can sense the tension building within the older man and knows he better stop asking so many questions before a conflict arises. "Got it" he responds, though he's still not sure what this guy is about. He looks over to Chrissy and can tell she isn't happy with him.

"Ignore him" she chimes in, "he's not from around here."

Ralph instantly relaxes and nods his head. "I figured, but enough with the chit-chat. Let's talk numbers. Since I'm devising the plan, I think it's fair that I get sixty percent of the profit. You two can split the remaining forty."

"Fifty-five" Chrissy says firmly. "We're risking as much as you are."

Ralph stares at her for a moment and eventually nods his head. "Fine, fifty-five but only if you do exactly as I say. One wrong move and I'm taking the full sixty."

"Do you really think we can afford to make one wrong move?" Chrissy asks matter-of-factly. She takes one last drag of the cigarette and extinguishes the bud on the glass ashtray sitting on the table.

Finally reaching a point of frustration at being left out of the conversation, Hyde sits forward on his seat. "Can someone explain what the fuck is going on?" he says forcefully.

"Keep up alright?" Ralph responds. Chrissy looks over at Hyde, a menacing look on her face.

"Keep up with what? You haven't said shit and I'm not here to make shit deals with someone I don't fucking know.

"Watch your mouth kid. You're right, you don't know me so be very careful."

"Or what?" Hyde asks, not appreciating the threatening tone he's being addressed in.

"God damn it Hyde will you shut the fuck up?" Chrissy hisses. She pushes herself off the couch and stands a few inches between Hyde, creating a barrier between the two men.

"Not until you tell me what the hell we're doing here" he replies.

"Damn it we're going to rob somebody okay? Now shut the fuck and listen" Chrissy says.

Startled, Hyde sits back a bit on the couch, mouth hanging slightly open. Did he hear that correctly? After a quiet moment in which the other two inhabitants in the room grow more annoyed with Hyde, he gets off the couch and closes the small gap between him and Chrissy. "Are you fucking serious? That's not cool man" he says as he takes his sunglasses off to make eye contact with her. As soon as the words leave his mouth, he realizes he doesn't recognize himself.

Since when the hell is he so against stealing? Hell, that's what he's known for in Point Place, the druggie who partakes in the occasional petty theft. Right now, he's sounding a lot more like Eric than Steve Hyde. Back home, he probably would have jumped at the chance to be a part of this, but now something doesn't sit well with him.

"Jesus, where the fuck did you find this guy?" Ralph says, exasperation more than clear in his voice. "Listen kid, if you're not big enough to do this, then just get the hell on and stop wasting our time because we have shit to figure out. Otherwise, sit there, look pretty and pay attention."

Hyde can feel Chrissy's death glare but he can't get over the fact that this stranger has disrespect him so blatantly. No one in Wisconsin would have dared speak to him like that. Now, this punk is calling him a kid? A scared one at that? Well fuck that because if there is one thing Hyde isn't, it's a scared little kid.

"Just talk man" Hyde replies and walks back over to the couch to have a seat. Chrissy sighs and motions to Ralph to carry on with the conversation. As the older man goes on with his ideas, the thought of painting a pot leave on the water tower is suddenly much more appealing to Hyde.