The dim light swayed slowly across the steel table. A glass of water and an ashtray were placed in front of Vincent. There were bare gray walls surrounding him on all sides except one. In front of him were a steel door and a mirror that looked back at him. There was a small security camera to his right looking down at him from the ceiling. He sat there, trying not to move as if he would trigger some sort of bomb. He had no idea what he was getting into; in fact he had trouble concentrating. So much had happened in the past couple of hours it was hard to fathom it all as reality.
After he left his apartment with Moe, it seemed he was in a surreal dream. He walked down in the puddles of water and saw the gray sky. But he couldn't even think what was going on. He just followed Moe wherever he went. Moe walked slowly through the crowds of people milling around doing their jobs. He never looked back. Vincent could have run away any time he wanted, blended into the crowd and returned to his old life. But he figured they could find him and it was as if that old life did not exist anymore. And the thought of that actually was pleasing to Vincent. So he continued to follow in tow.
They went through many alleys and streets. Moe instinctively went down back ways and down streets, never once stopping. Vincent kept up with him and found himself in the slums of an old neighborhood. Old rusted through fences guarded condemned buildings covered with graffiti. The sky seemed grayer in this part of town as the crowds thinned out and the varieties of people were left to the old and destitute. More and more homeless men seemed to litter every corner and dry crevice of this carcass of a town.
They finally came to a large tenement house. But something was different from this building then the other dilapidated foundations that surrounded it. There were men sitting outside the porch, but even though they were dressed in rags, they looked healthy and firm. The building itself seemed to be sound as well, despite being covered with graffiti and wood boards covering the windows like band aids over a wound.
Moe nodded to the men on the porch as they rose and nodded back from a distance. He went down the side way toward the back yard of the tenement. In the back was a bare yard with clumps of dirt and dying grass. There were men sitting down in the back porch as well, and they stood as Moe came by as well. Moe came to a door in the back that led down into the basement. A man opened it for him and said," Good afternoon sir."
At the time none of this seemed odd to Vincent. At that time he was watching someone else go through all this. He couldn't grasp what was going on. He went down into the basement and the garments went from rags to suits. There was a wall with a small window. A man with a green visor sat in a small office with a desk, a lamp, and huge stacks of money. On the wall was a shotgun. He was counting money as he looked up and said, "How you doin boss?"
"Fine, I gotta use room one, is da king here?" Moe said
"Yes. He's waiting in the room."
"Thanks."
Vincent then heard a buzzer and a click as a huge steel door at the end of the hall opened. They walked down as light began to flood the dark hallway. They entered the room, and the interior couldn't have been more different than the exterior world. Where it was dark and gray out side, it was beautiful in this basement room. Polished mahogany floors reflected everything above. The ceilings were covered with lights of all colors that basked the room in a pleasing array of red and blue. To the side was a full bar, equipped with the finest liquors and crystal glasses hanging gracefully on holders above to match. There were leather couches hugging the red walls, and small tables with red roses and dimly lit lanterns at the center.
The giant room was empty except for a small card game going on at the corner of the lounge. An attendant made frequent trips back and forth from the bars filling orders. As Moe entered, everyone stood, nodded, and muttered their salutations. Vincent heard mixtures of boss, sir, and captain as Moe walked by. He walked straight for a quaint door in a corner that was barely noticeable unless you knew it was there.
He opened it and went down a hallway that lead to a kitchen and other facilities. Down at the end were double steel doors that were opened before they got to them. Moe didn't break stride and the doors were opened as if he was expected. It went into a large room that was filled with boxes and crates. A man with a green visor similar to the one up front sat at a desk with massive log books on both sides of him. He looked up and went back to logging information into his books.
Moe went down a corridor filled with crates and boxes. Vincent looked around like a kid at the zoo. All this seemed so unreal. Then they came to the last door that led into the bare room. Moe told Vincent to have a seat and he went into the steel door. It was too dark for Vincent to see what was in the room, and he just sat there when it closed. It was eerily quiet as the only sound was his heartbeat.
It wouldn't be till later that Vincent would ask questions about his tour. Questions such as why did everyone stand for Moe, call him boss, what was going on in the rooms, what were in the crates, why did this place exist, and how Moe could walk down a dangerous slum in a suit and not get hurt? All this would come later because Vincent's thoughts just seemed to not exist at that moment. He couldn't think, he was just living the moment as if he was reading about it.
Then the door in front of him opened, and a man with a gun in his hand walked in.