December 16th, 2011

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

China Moon Restaurant

"Iced Tea and Egg Roll. That's $3.25."

Roman looks around, seeing little items around the store. He grabs a black rag and pays for his food. He heads back to the car, checking his phone for the time. He sits back, munching on his egg roll and watching a house from across the street. The buyer was staying there, leaving Roman on a stakeout. A certain ringtone hits and he knows who it is.

"Hey daddy!" Says his daughter over the phone.

"Hey baby, how you doing?" Asks Roman in a happy tone.

"I'm good. I just wanted to say hi. And mommy wanted to talk to you."

"Okay, well I'm glad you called me. I'll be home soon."

"Okay. Mommy's gonna talk now. Love you."

"Love you too Amelia."

The other line goes quiet for a minute. His wife Tasha picks up the phone. Tasha was a Pakistani immigrant he met doing volunteer work. She was the love of his life, and everything he did was for her and Amelia.

"Hey Tash, what's up."

"You alright? You usually check in every day." She asks concerned.

"I'm fine. Just doing some work stuff right now. I'll be home next week."

"Alright. Be safe out there. Love you."

"Love you too."

He hangs up just in time to see three people coming out of the house he was watching. One of them being the buyer. Ahmed Johnson was the name on the dossier. Flanked by his two men, Ahmed hops in the passenger seat with a duffel bag. Roman starts the car and follows as his target pulls off.

"King me!" Paige tells Dean.

Dean stares at the checkerboard for a few seconds before flipping it over. He gets up and goes to the kitchen to pour another drink.

"Real mature." Says Paige a little annoyed.

"Checkers is dumb. Lets play something serious like poker or five finger fillet." Says Dean drinking a full glass of white wine.

Paige gives him a wtf face as a notification pops up on her phone. Dean pokes her fish tank.

"Leave my fish alone." She warns him, buried in her phone.

Dean looks over his shoulder, seeing Paige looking down. He pours a bit of wine in the tank, toasting the fish as he takes another sip.

"Hey Dean, how do you feel about dating?"

"I haven't "dated" in five years. Besides, prostitutes are cheaper and less time consuming."

"Two things. One, eww. Two, I got a text from Charlotte saying Becky's been talking about you."

"I don't like it when people talk about me." He utters.

"Stop being daft. She's into you. Apparently she liked your physicality. You challenged her like other men wouldn't."

Dean stumbles over and flops on the couch, not spilling a drop of wine.

"Two things. One, I don't know what daft means, but I don't like it. Two, you can let Becky know how "physical" I can get." He said with a cheeky smile.

The sun starts to set, leaving the sky a deep orange. A beautiful scene for a shooting. Ahmed Johnson and his crew sit inside the car, outside of a laundromat.

"When we making this move?" Asks the man in the backseat.

"Soon nigga, be patient." Said Ahmed.

"What you doing with this shit anyway?" Asks the driver.

"It's supposed to be mix of different chemicals to get you high. But its pure concentrate. A single dose could get the whole block jumpin. At least that's what I was told." Ahmed explains.

Roman walks up to the drivers side and leans over to the window.

"Hey, do you guys mind moving? You're in my parking spot."

"Fuck outta here brody." Said the driver.

"Listen guys, I'm asking nicely." Says Roman

"Ayo, move on before something happen to you." Said the driver, flashing a glock.

Roman shakes his head and walks off. The driver and Ahmed go back to talking. Roman throws a brick through the back window. The glass shatters, scraping the face of the guy in the backseat.

"Dis nigga want a problem!" Says Ahmed grabbing a revolver and getting out the car.

"I told you to get out of my spot." Shouts Roman before running off.

Ahmed and his boys and gives chase. Roman takes it slow, dodging civilians and making sure his targets are close by. Roman heads down an alley where his pursuitors follow. Upon entering the alley, Roman is gone.

"Find his ass." Ahmed tells his boys.

Ahmed heads back to the car. Nightfall is near, leaving everything a little quiet. Ahmed lights up a cigarette next to his car. Gunshots go off in the distance, causing Ahmed to question what happened. Roman sneaks up, placing a gun against his head.

"You want to live, tell me where you're meeting the buyer." Says Roman.

"I aint telling you shit."

Roman pistol whips Ahmed in the back of the head, knocking him against the car.

"You can die now or live long enough to finish that cigarette." Roman assures him.

"Aight. We was meeting behind the church on Snyder Ave., 8:00pm." Ahmed tells him.

Roman thanks Ahmed before shooting him in the head. Roman grabs the duffel bag and revolver from the passenger seat and heads back to his car. He pulls off, heading toward the deal. Joey Styles was a pretty unassuming guy. What he stole must of been valuable for Heyman to go through all of this trouble. Roman pulls up behind the church, into a small parking space. He looks around for Joey. A car in the distance flashes its headlights. Roman flashes back, and Joey gets out of the car with a lockbox. He wore slacks with a buttoned collar shirt.

"Ahmed?" Asks Joey.

"Yeah, we spoke over the phone about your product." Replies Roman, getting out the car.

"Yeah, nice to met you buddy." Joey extends his hand.

"Lets just get to business."

"Oh okay, sure. You got the money?"

Roman drops the bag and opens it up. Small stacks of 10 and 20 dollar bills reside in there.

"Is this the amount we agreed on?" Asks Joey.

Roman hesitates. He didn't know the amount of money in the bag, and Ahmed didn't tell him either. Roman's thoughts race trying to think of a reasonable number.

"Uhh, ten grand, like we said." Roman utters.

"Oh wow. That's a few more than you said. You must really want this stuff." Says Joey laughing.

Joey opens the box, showing a small vial full of a thick green liquid. Roman steps forward, looking at the vial.

"This is some potent stuff. Just a drop will have a dope head on cloud nine. You'll be sure to make your money back three times over." Joey tells him.

"Cool. We got a deal."

The money and drug are packed up and exchanged. Joey thanks Roman and heads back to his car. Roman pulls Ahmed's revolver and shoots Joey in the back, dropping him to the ground. Joey tries to crawl towards his car. Roman walks over and shoots Joey in the head, killing him. Roman lets out a small sigh and wipes his prints clean from the revolver. Roman throws the gun in the grass nearby, grabs the money and box, and heads back to the car.

"Daddy?"

A voice comes from nowhere, prompting Roman to stop.

"Daddy?"

Roman throws his stuff in the passengers seat and hangs back in the shadows. A small girl pokes her head out from the backseat looking around.

"Daddy where are you?" She says.

Roman's heart starts to beat fast. Breathing heavily, the words "no witnesses" from Heyman ring his head like a church bell. He can't kill a child. No way in hell that was happening. But he can't stay either, the cops would be here eventually after hearing those shots. Roman scurries into the car, starting it up. He hears the child's cries, squeezing his eyes shut, trying to block it out. A dozen thoughts fly to his head, figuring out what to do. The cries get louder, and Roman takes off. Roman drives to the drop off point, clenching the steering wheel with all his might. He pulls up to the mini-mart, where Heyman waits on the steps, talking to an old man.

"I got your damn drug!" Says Roman stomping up to Heyman, shoving the box in his chest.

Heyman stands there with a puzzled look.

"Was there a problem Mr. Reigns?"

"No problem, I got the stuff, here's the money that was used to buy it. I'm going home."

Roman hops back into his car. Heyman walks up to the passenger side window. He could see the angry/sad look in Roman's face.

"Is there something you need to talk about Mr. Reigns?"

"Look, I got rid of the buyer, and I got rid of Styles. But his kid was there. Why was she there? I don't know man. I couldn't kill her, so I just left her there."

"Did the child see you Mr. Reigns?"

"No. No witnesses. Like you said." Roman mutters.

"I understand your dilemma. You are a father as well. Maybe someone else would of did things differently, but you still completed the job. Here's your payment and I'll be sure to tell your employers about your good job."

Heyman gives Roman a stuffed envelope and gives the duffel bag to the old man. Heyman walks off into the night, leaving Roman alone in his car. Roman gets angry, screaming and beating his dashboard. Later that night, Roman gets a room to an Inn to rest before heading home tomorrow. He lays in bed, thinking about his job. Was he doing the right thing? Is he really that cold hearted? Did the money justify his actions, taking a father away from his child? Would it be karma if he died in front of Amelia? He just didn't know.