Vincent places the cigar up to his lips, sucks in a large amount of smoke, and blows the smoke into the man’s face. He turns and walks away from the man, saying, “You know, I wish I could stay and chat but I’m gonna go look at some boobies. You are more then welcome to join me if…”
Vincent stops what he saying because as he turns back to look, the man has disappeared. Vincent shakes his head and continues walking.
***
Vincent stands in front of A-Bombs. It's a large 10 x 6 rusty-steel door with a sign that reads "Welcome to A-bombs, the filthiest titty bar in the world." As Vincent stands there, he can hear the beat of the music playing loudly from within the bar.
To the left of the door is a scanner. Vincent places his right hand up to it and hears a beep. Above the scanner is an LED TV screen. A message pops up on the screen: "ACCESS DENIED."
"What the fuck!" Vincent says with his hands out, standing there in disbelief. Vincent then hears Adam’s voice over a loudspeaker. "Ha ha! Hey fucker! I'm just messing with you. Hold on, I'll buzz you in." A loud unlatching noise is heard and the steel door slides open to the right.
Vincent enters the very dark lobby. He observes two large curtains hanging in front of him. He sticks his hands through the split in the middle, spreads them open, and steps into the bar. Vincent is bombarded by the sound of loud hip-hop music playing through the DJ’s speakers.
He stands there for a few seconds, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the dim lighting. He blinks his eyes several times. The bar is slightly lit by red lights. Strobe lights are flickering, making it difficult for him to see clearly.
Vincent looks to his left and observes a large bar with about 30 bar stools. Every one of the bar stools is occupied by men drinking alcohol. Vincent looks straight ahead and sees 15 women dancing on a large stage. Two of the women are completely naked; each one swings on a pole on either side of the stage. Some women are topless, wearing only G-string underwear while others wear bikinis. To his right are 15 booths that are filled with male customers and strippers sitting next to them, socializing. Then Vincent looks up and notices the bar is three stories high. He says to himself, “Man, I forgot how big this place was.”
He takes his first step and stumbles. Vincent is now buzzing hard from the whiskey he drank. He walks along the side of the stage and makes his way to the back of the bar where Adam’s office is located. As Vincent looks down at one of the booths to his right, he notices four men in suits along with four strippers all with their faces down on the table, snorting cocaine that is spread all over the table. He continues walking and several booths down, he observes a man in a suit making out with a stripper who is also giving him a hand job while the man sitting next to him is getting a blowjob from another stripper. The man getting the blowjob nods his head at Vincent. Vincent laughs and continues walking.
He finally gets to the rear of the bar and walks up on two large black bouncers wearing all black and standing in front of the double doors. Vincent tries to walk between them, but they converge together and block his way. One of he bouncer asks, “Where the fuck is you goin’, mutha fucka?”
“I have an appointment with Adam.”
“Hand.” The bouncer says in a stern voice.
Vincent raises his right hand. The bouncer scans it and says, “Ok…you all set.” He steps aside to let Vincent pass.
Vincent walks through the double doors and squints his eyes due to the bright lights in the back room. He walks further down the hallway and comes upon a closed door on the left. He knocks three times and hears Adam’s voice.
“Come in.”
Vincent opens the door and steps inside. To his left is a large desk covered with an enormous amount of cash. Sitting behind the desk is Adam, a white man with a short black Mohawk shaved on the sides. He has long sideburns and a soul patch under his bottom lip. Adam has a large stack of money in his left hand and is passing it over to a very large black man standing to his left. With a huge grin on his face, Adam says to Vincent, “Yeah! What’s up, motherfucker! What the fuck is up?” Adam then looks down and says, “Watch out bitch, let me go say what up to my boy!”
A naked woman with large breast implants gets up from underneath Adam’s desk.
Adam stands up and pulls his pants up. Adam walks around the desk and grabs Vincent in a tight bear hug. “My boy! Where the fuck have you been?”
“Yeah, my man. It’s been awhile.”
Adam tells Vincent to take a seat.
Before Vincent sits down, he looks at the large black man. The man is huge. He stands about 6’8” with 380 pounds of mostly muscle. Thick veins pop out of his very large forearms. He has a medium complexion and is wearing a black baseball- style cap with an Old English D on the front, a black t-shirt, and a thick platinum necklace with a green diamond Incredible Hulk charm hanging from the end. Vincent puts out his left fist to him and says, “What up, Hulk.”
Hulk bumps Vincent’s left fist with his right and replies, “‘Sup, man.” Adam asks, “Vince, you know Hulk?”
“Yeah, he’s the only man I’ve ever seen take on 15 cops at once and walk away from it.” All three men laugh.
“Vince, what you wanna drink, man?” Adam asks.
“I’ll change it up. Let me get some Goose.”
Adam looks at the woman and tells her, “Go bring my boy a bottle of Goose from da back.”
“I just sucked your dick now I gotta be your boy’s servant.” The woman replies with attitude.
Adam walks up to the woman and backhands her with his right hand across the left side of her face. Adam yells, “Bitch, I told you to get the bottle! Now go! Next time it will be my fist!” The woman holds her face and runs out of the office crying.
Hulk laughs and says, “Alright y’all…on that note, I gotta bounce.”
Vincent and Adam both say their good byes. Vincent looks at all the money on the table. “Man, I haven’t seen paper money in a long time. You take paper money?”
“Yeah, man, it’s more fun for all these government officials to have fun. They like to make it rain on these hoes. Soooo…the government allows me to accept paper money. I think I’m the only place around that can accept it.”
“I see.” Vincent says.
The woman returns with the bottle of Grey Goose, pours some into a glass that is full to the top with ice, and hands it to Vincent, who then thanks her.
As the woman turns to leave, Adam tells her, “Hey, tell Candy to come in here.” Adam looks at Vincent. “Man, you look like shit, brotha. What’s up?” Before Vincent can respond, Adam’s phone rings. He tells Vincent to hang on a moment and answers.
Vincent begins to sip on his drink as Adam begins to yell and scream at whomever is on the other end of the phone. A stripper then walks into the office. She has long, wavy, dark-red hair, large fake breasts, and is heavily tattooed. She is wearing black lingerie, thigh-high black stockings, and black platform high heels. She looks at Vincent and smiles. Vincent smiles back.
Adam places his hand over the phone and says to Candy, “Take Vince to the back and take care of him.” He looks at Vincent, smiles, and winks at him.
The woman takes Vincent by his left hand and guides him into a small room that’s attached to Adam’s office. The room is small, dark, and barely lit by a small red light hanging from the ceiling.
The stripper pushes Vincent down onto a black leather loveseat and straddles him. She begins to dance on him, moving her body to the music. Vincent closes his eyes from the pleasure he is feeling, but he quickly opens them because he is so intoxicated, it seems like the room is spinning when he closes his eyes. The stripper leans back and takes off her top then presses Vincent’s face between her breasts. She grabs Vincent’s hands and says, “Take off these gloves and touch my body.”
“I prefer not to.”
The woman smiles, and begins to dry h
ump Vincent. “Does this feel good? I can make you feel good for eternity.”
“Oh really? And how’s that?”
“Just accept him.”
With a baffled look on his face, Vincent asks, “Accept who?”
“The savior of the world. Listen to his word and accept him.”
“Who the fuck are you talking about?”
“William Lester. He is the savior of the world.”
“Are you really gonna talk politics right now while your grinding on my cock?”
Vincent is overcome by the feeling of extreme pleasure that is traveling throughout his entire body. He wants to stand up, but his body tells him no. He is paralyzed for the moment.
The stripper slides her body down to the floor, placing her face in Vincent's crotch. Vincent’s heart is racing and he begins to sweat profusely. His head falls backwards and he closes his eyes. The room begins to spin. He hears the strippers voice echoing throughout the room, “Accept him, accept him, accept him."
Vincent begins to hyperventilate, shaking his head several times. He is very confused as to what is happening. He then looks down at the woman.
She quickly pops her head up and stares into Vincent’s eyes. Her eyeballs are completely black and glossy. She smiles with a large grin. Without moving her lips, her voice is echoing loudly throughout the room. "You will accept him, he is your savior."
Vincent is able to snap out of the trance. In one explosive movement, he pushes himself off the couch and onto his feet, causing the stripper to fall backwards onto her butt. She laughs hysterically as Vincent runs out of the room and stumbles into Adam's office. He can hear the stripper’s voice.
"Wait! Where are you going? I'm not finished with you!"
Vincent looks around Adam’s office and notices that he is not there, and all the money has been cleared off the table. Vincent exits Adam’s office and makes his way to the double doors. He pushes his way through the doors and stumbles through the bar. He looks around and realizes that there is no one in the bar even though the music is still playing and the lights are flashing.
Vincent becomes sick and feels like he is about to throw up. He covers his mouth with his right hand and runs out the front door. He turns the corner and runs into the alleyway. Vincent hunches down, placing both hands on his knees and begins to throw up.
After Vincent finishes, he wipes his mouth with his left sleeve and stands there for a few moments to catch his breath. He quickly notices something very strange. It is now light outside.
He pulls out his cell phone from his right jacket pocket and looks at the time. “What the fuck.” His phone reads 8:03 a.m. Vincent realizes that he has been inside the bar for several hours. He is very confused and thinks to himself, how could this be? I was only in there for a half -hour. Vincent stumbles around and then runs home.
Who's the snitch?
Vincent enters the locker room at work and walks past several rows of lockers. He is walking fast and with purpose, heading straight for Estrada's locker.
Vincent spots Estrada at his locker getting dressed for work and quickly walks toward him. Estrada notices Vincent and says, "Hey, vato, what's up?"
At that moment Vincent grabs Estrada, spins him around, and slams his back up against locker while shoving his left forearm into his neck.
In a low, angry voice, Vincent asks "Who the fuck have you been talking to?"
Estrada, in a choking voice, says, "What are you talking about?"
"We talk about the Bible in the car together, and now all of a sudden I find out that I'm on the list for being a suspected preacher! Are you trying to snitch me out to someone?"
"No, vato, I haven't said shit to anyone—I swear!"
Vincent releases Estrada and removes his forearm from his neck.
Estrada gasps for air and holds his neck. With a concerned look on his face, he says, "Vato, you're like my brother. I would never, ever do anything like that to you."
Vincent realizes that he made a mistake by accusing Estrada. "I'm sorry, man. It’s just…it’s just a lot of crazy shit has been happening to me lately, then on top of it all, Lena called me the other day to meet her up and she gives me this piece of paper and it says I'm on the list. I’m sorry, I’m just flipping out, man. I…I just don't understand why I'm on the list. The only thing I thought of was our conversation that we had in the car the other day."
Estrada places his hand on Vincent's shoulder. "It's okay, bro…I understand. Just blame the Mexican for everything that happens."
Both men break out into laughter.
"Damn, homes…you look like shit. Did you sleep at all last night? You gonna be able to make it through the shift?" Estrada asks.
"Man, last night...well, that’s a whole other story that I do not even want to get started on." Vincent says while shaking his head.
Estrada puts his arm around Vincent and begins to walk with him. "It’s ok, vato. Let’s go get you a five-hour energy shot, and you can talk about it later if you want."
***
Estrada and Vincent are now in the garage of police headquarters. They approach the police cruiser that is assigned to them. Estrada makes his way to the driver’s side door, places his right hand on the door handle, and unlocks the door. Estrada gets into the driver's seat. Vincent does the same to unlock the passenger door and sits in the passenger seat. Estrada places his right hand on the steering column, which starts the engine.
Vincent looks over at Estrada. "What makes you think I wanted to jump today?"
"There’s absolutely no way you are driving, bro. If I die, it's not gonna be because you fell asleep behind the wheel because your dumb ass was up all night."
Vincent smiles and says, "Yeah, I guess for once I'll have to agree with you." Both men laugh.
Estrada puts the vehicle in drive and pulls out of the garage. As they cruise through the city streets, the weather is as cloudy, cold, and wet as it seems to have been for the past few months.
Vincent says to Estrada, "Man, are we ever going to see the fucking sun again in our lifetimes?"
"I know…this weather is so fucking depressing. It makes me want to eat my gun."
"Yeah, man, for real. Ok, head to the store so I can get my energy fix."
"Yup, already on the way, vato."
At that moment a female dispatcher's voice comes through the police cruiser's radio.
"All units, all units prepare to copy, prepare copy.... As of today's date, 1800 hours, it is now a federal law that mandates all citizens of the United States must have the personal identification chip implanted into the right hand. Any citizen that you come in contact with that does not have the personal identification chip shall be arrested on the spot and turned over to military personnel at the closest military checkpoint."
Estrada's eyes open wide. "H-o-l-y shit! They always said that they were eventually going to make it mandatory, but I was under the impression that it wouldn’t be for a few years. This is crazy!"
Vincent cannot believe what he has just heard. He is outraged, but he keeps calm and does not show any emotion to Estrada. "Wow man, something is up. Why is it mandatory so soon?"
"Well, I guess the good thing is the government says 90% of the people in the U.S. are already implanted."
"Shit, at least these people had a choice up until now...it's been mandatory for government employees for three-and-a-half years now."
Estrada pulls over and parks the police cruiser in front a convenience store. "You coming in, vato?"
"No, man…I'm too tired to even move. Just grab me two of those energy shots."
"No problemo, señor. I'll be right back." Estrada exits the cruiser and enters the store.
Vincent leans his head back against the headrest and closes his eyes. He is exhausted. As he sits with his eyes closed, he has the feeling that someone is watching him.
He opens his eyes an
d looks over to his left. He notices a black car parked on the other side of the street. Two white males wearing black sunglasses are sitting inside. Both men are looking at Vincent, and the passenger appears to be talking on a radio. Vincent says out loud, “What are these yahoos up to?”
Vincent opens the door and steps out of the cruiser. As he turns and faces the two men watching him, the driver of the car puts it in drive and speeds off. Vincent stares at the car as it speeds down the road.
Estrada exits the store and notices Vincent standing outside of the car. "Hey man, what are you doing?"
“Oh, um…nothing. I thought I saw something. I mean…I just wanted to stretch my legs."
"Ok…well get back in the car, we got a call."
"We did?"
"Yeah. Didn't you hear us get dispatched?"
"No, sorry man. I must have dozed off or something."
"Yeah, I kinda figured that’s what happened. That's why I responded to dispatch and told them we were en route."
Estrada and Vincent get back into the police cruiser. Estrada reaches into a paper bag and pulls out an energy shot, handing it to Vincent.
"Here man, drink up."
"Thanks, man." Vincent unscrews the top of the bottle and chugs down the shot. Vincent asks Estrada, "So what were we dispatched to again?"
"We have to stand by with the military police as they conduct some type of raid."
"Oh, great. What's this raid going to be about? Some citizens that are upset with the way the government has been treating them, so the government considers them terrorists?"
"Hey, man…unfortunately, laws are laws. People have to follow the rules or be arrested. The government is doing everything to make our lives easier."
Vincent rolls his eyes. "So when did you become a globalist?"
Estrada responds, sounding upset. "Come on, man. You know I don't like talking about this stuff with you because A) we always argue about it, and B) it’s not really a good idea to be talking about stuff like this."
"And why is it not a good idea to talk about this stuff?"
"Because man, I enjoy my freedom. I don't feel like being arrested and losing my job."
"Oh, you mean like how we no longer have freedom of speech?"