Johnny Timberland waited anxiously in his car as he awaited the text from Jasmine. He looked at his phone for a couple minutes and tried calling her. “Heyaa! Jasmine here…” “Hey Jasmine, Wha—the prerecorded message continued. I’m probably out right now! Call you back as soon as I can! BYeee.” Click. Well time to get this over with. He grabbed his Gucci bag with 30k in stacks of 20 dollar bills and got out of his SUV and looked around he saw an old white man checking out cars in the parking lot and noticed a couple of stray cats rummaging around the Trash area.

“Hey do you live here?” the old man said. Not too angrily, more like he was just trying to complete a duty but he seemed cross at the same time. Johnny was worried he might think he was robbing one of the cars

“Uh no. I don’t live here, sir. Just seeing a friend.”

“Oh.. I see. Who do you know here may I ask?”

“Uh.. Jake.. Jake Smith. He’s a buddy of mine.” Said Johnny not remembering the name of Jasmine’s friend. 

“Oh! Jake is a nice fellow” the old man said his demeanor changing. “I’m afraid you can’t park there though. Residents only. If you exit the lot here and take a left down Clifford Avenue, you’ll be able to find public parking on the lefthand side of the street. It’s only about a 2 minute walk from here.”

“Oh.. Well, I’m just dropping something off.” Johnny said patting his duffel bag with his left hand. “Shouldn’t be more than a minute.”

“Aaaaaaah okay. That should be okay. Just don’t make it longer than 15 minutes. It’s apartment policy. People around here have been abusing this lot for years. It’s become a huge problem.” The old man said shaking his head. “Kids these days just have no respect for the rules.”

“I hear you buddy. I’ll make this a quick as possible.” Said Johnny as he started to walk away anxious to end this conversation.

“Say…”

Johnny looked back at the old man. The old man stared at him curiously trying to form his next question. Man, just what he needed. Some old ass white man recognizing him. Then he’d have to talk for another 20 minutes…

“Say… I didn’t catch your name young man.”

Relieved he replied. “Oh I’m Johnny. Nice to meet you sir.”

“Nice to meet you as well, Johnny. I’m Mr. Kirchoff. You can just call me Larry though.”

“Ok Larry. Good luck with the parking stuff..”

“Yeah and boy do I need that luck. You seem like a wonderful upstanding young man. I’m sure you won’t be more than 15 minutes.”

 

Johnny trotted up the stairs to the apartment complex skipping three steps at a time. The guy lived on the fourth floor. The top floor. 435. Jasmine had texted him the information. He walked quickly to 435. Hopefully Jake or whatever his name was, was there and hopefully he wasn’t too pissed off about the dog attack. Bonnie lost her cool. Normally she was so well behaved, but sometimes she just snapped for no reason. He’d tell him all this, apologize profusely and hand over the bag. Then he’d be out of there as quickly as possible before the guy noticed how much money was in the bag. 30K was a lot to part with. But he’d be fine. He was a free agent this summer and was expecting a relatively nice contract. And if Jake wanted to press charges or take him to court, the 30k would simmer all that down. He had knocked 4 times but no answer. He called Jasmine again. “Heyaa Jasmine Here!” click. Dammit Jasmine. She told him he’d be there…. He looked around at the parking lot. Larry was leaving notes on some car’s windshield. Should he give the bag to the old man… Na. That guy was annoying. He’d asked way too many questions. He really didn’t want to do this, but he just wanted this to be over with. He walked to the next door 436 and knocked twice. 

Jonny had placed his coat over the money in order to provide a secretive cushion.

 

Victoria was inside preparing dinner for her and her 8 year old boy, Cameron. She was cooking his favorite meal, spaghetti and meatballs with Parmesan cheese. Lots of cheese. Cameron was a picky eater. He only liked spaghetti and meatballs, hamburgers, and peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches. If she made anything else, he would throw a fight. As she was cooking she was simultaneously studying for her veterinary school entry exams. It was hard as a single mother to support a child off her wages at the diner. Cameron was in the other room playing with his actions figures while watching TV. After dinner she had to work the night shift at the diner while a neighborhood girl, Hazel watched Cameron. She had met Hazel through Dr. Remington the lead vet at the local clinic where she had interned. Hazel was a bright responsible girl. And the only sitter Cameron actually liked. She always had the best adventures planned for them. She heard 2 booming knocks on the door which frightened her causing her to spill sauce everywhere. 

“Cameron!! Can you answer the door” She shouted

“No Mom!! I’m watching spongebob!”

“Cameron.. You’re mother’s extremely busy in the kitchen trying to fix up your favorite meal.”

“No!! I can’t miss this episode!”

Victoria sighed, turned the heat down. And ran to the door.

 

“Hey Miss how are you doing? So, I was supposed to drop these clothes off at my friend’s place. But I guess he’s late from work or something.” 

“Do you happen to know him?.” Johnny said doing his best impression of a nice boring white guy.

Johnny was relieved to find a nice trustworthy looking woman standing before him. Her child in the background watching TV. She’d definitely give the money to “Jake” without hesitation.

“Uhh. Yeah I know him.. I mean I don’t really know him but we’ve chatted a couple of times. Seems like a nice guy.” Victoria said hurriedly.

“Oh good! Yeah he’s super nice. Well do you think you can hold on to this bag and deliver it to him later. He should be back soon.”

“Sure. No problem. I’ll hand it over soon as he gets back.”

“Sweet. Thanks so much. You’re a life saver.”

Johnny handed Victoria the bag.

“Oooo heavy. What kind of clothes does your friend wear?”

“Oh.. well he’s a heavy packer. I’m sure you know the type.” He smiled nervously.

“Yeah I know. Only too well myself.”

“Say do I know you from somewhere..”

As Johnny drove back to Avalon Woods he took the scenic route driving past some of favorite places as a kid. The old Blockbuster. Which unfortunately had been closed down and still was intact the grass in front of it had overgrown. He drove past his old park and the courts he crafted his game on. Past the old high school. And past Zoya’s old house. His first girlfriend. He was still fond of this place even though he lived in Boston a much more interesting city. His coach had called him earlier in the day, telling him the team wasn’t the same without him. They agreed his break had been long enough and he was going to fly back in 2 nights. He even had enjoyed his therapy calls with Dr. Gainsbourg the team psychologist. She was a tall brunette in her mid 30’s. Just his type. But besides that she actually really helped him with his anger management and he was looking forward to their future appointments. Ding Ding. Shit! He had 2 miles left til his tank was empty. Even though he was on the main strip of the town he turned into the first gas station he passed. A Marathon and parked perfectly next to a pump. While he started filling up his tank. He heard a familiar voice. “Yo Johnny!! Johnny Rocket! Since when have you been in town hipsta!!?” It was Tremaine and Habib. Two of his former high school teammates. He just couldn’t catch a break…

 

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 “Hey Cameron, what’s this duffle bag doing here?” Hazel asked as she began tidying up the messy apartment.

“I don’t know. Some big black guy gave it mommy. He looked like a rapper.”

“Ok, sure. He’s probably just a regular guy.”

“Nu uh.. He was big and and strong and walked like this.” He imitated Johnny’s gait. “He looked like a ASAP Rocky.”

“Don’t say that Cameron. That’s racist.”

“you’re racist!” Said Cameron

Hazel ignored him and continued cleaning.

“Hey come watch with me Hazel?!”

Hazel continued cleaning

“Hazel!”

“Alright I’m sorry for the racist. I didn’t mean it.”

“You have to be careful about what you say.”

Okay. Hazel I’m sorry. I love black people. Joey is one of my best friends. He’s black!”

Hazel shook her head. “Hey Cameron want to go to the park?”

“Ok. Can we bring Remy?” Remy was his favorite stuffed moose.

“Hazel picked up the lumpy bag and placed it in Victoria’s bedroom. Curiously she opened the bag just to see. It was just clothes. She saw an Id out of the coat pocket slightly hanging out of the coat. It was a Celtics team ID issued to Johnny Timberland.