• My submission for the 2025 Writers jam
• Prompt: Façade
• Word Count: 2,228

Business was running as usual at the compact casino. The building is rambunctious all over as the gambling tables are crowded by both players and spectators. Table tops littered with towers of poker chips as cigarette ashes polluted the surrounding air. Patrons were shouting and cheering as they risked augmenting their investments into profound start ups of success or witness them absorb within a forever growing corrupted ecosystem.

Danny’s gang weren’t the gambling types. Despite this contradiction, he and his crew managed to become associated with the owner. After a few years of earning pennies on the streets, the trio finally got involved in a gig that appeared more glamorous. Quite an impressive feat for a batch of miscreants such as themselves.

On this particular day, Danny resides in the owner's personal lounge mostly alone. The owner, who is commonly referred to by his street name “Mr. G”, sent Danny’s pals off to do separate things. Danny sat on one of the luxury couches. He looks around to observe the other occupants. The majority wore formal clothing while others showed off their expensive bling, yet Danny sticks out like a sore thumb wearing his hoodie and baggy pants. He knew nobody in this establishment but understood without a doubt they were all affiliated with Mr. G in some way. 

      Eventually a familiar face shows up at the lounge. It was Thomas. Having met not too long ago, Danny quickly formed a mutual respect for him while under Mr. G’s wing. Even if Thomas was a bit of a nutcase due to his paranoia. 

“Wassup cuz.” Thomas said to Danny with enthusiasm. Offering him a bro hug.

“I take it the big man called you up here, too?” Danny asked.

“You know it. Where your pals?” Thomas replied.

“Busy.” Danny answered.

Mr. G strolls up to the pair in his wheelchair. Gesturing them to follow.

“Hey, y’all come with me.”

They all head into his office. Mr G telling them to close the door on the way in. He rolls up behind his desk. 

“I need something dealt with. There’s this prick who still owes me some dough.” Mr G announced. 

“Need you two to drive up on their crib and pass the word that time’s up.”

“Just point the way and we gotchu.” Thomas happily obliges while he points his thumb at Danny. 

Danny only responds with a nod. Confirming he’s in on the job.

Mr G gives them the address to the debtor’s apartment. The target in question was a frequent visitor of the casino with a gambling problem. Go figure. He constantly asks for cash whenever a game’s a bust or to accommodate his cohorts.

“Hey, maybe we should bring Asher in on this?” Thomas asked.

“Asher? No one’s seen his ass for a few days. Doesn’t even answer his phone.” Mr G replied. 

“I’m sure he’ll answer if it’s me.” Thomas said. 

“If you can reach him, fine. But if I had to guess, his chick is giving him trouble again. I wouldn’t bother but you’re welcome to try.” Mr G said.

Thomas and Danny pass through the main lobby. Hearing the chimes and bells of slot machines working overtime. They exit the building and head to Thomas’ car. While on the road, Thomas hands over his phone to Danny. Asking him to call Asher. The phone goes to voicemail three times in a row until it finally picks up on the fourth attempt. Danny turns on the speaker and moves the phone closer to Thomas.

“Hello?”

“Hey! Hey Ash, it's Thomas.”

“What’s up?”

“I need to take care of something. Wanna come with?”

“What for?”

“Some asshole who hasn't paid back yet. Could use some extra hands, you dig?”

“I dunno know, man. Shit’s been getting heavy, not sure if I should.”

“Come on. I haven’t seen you in a few. It’ll be a quick job.”

“Fine. Pick me up at uhh… the park close to downtown.”

Thomas found it odd that Asher was all the way up near downtown. He almost never goes in that area as he considers it too noisy and crowded. Thomas brushed it aside, he’s just glad he managed to get in touch with Asher. He changes course and drives to the park. Upon arrival, Thomas calls Asher again to let him know they are at the curb. Asher walks to the car and enters. Whilst driving away, a question pops into Thomas’ mind.

“Were you with your girl?”

“Layla? Nah.”

“Why be by yourself then?”

“Just thought I’d take a walk. Told ya stuff’s been heavy.”

“You alright? Anything going on?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Asher brushed Thomas’ concerns aside. Letting the topic go, Thomas introduces Asher to Danny.

“Hey Ash, this is Danny. I don’t think you two met.” Thomas said.

Asher turns over to look at Danny. 

“I think I saw his face around a couple times.” Asher answered.

“Around the casino?” Danny asked.

“Yeah.” Asher said.

Danny notices something about Asher. He saw he was wearing a slightly thick jacket.

“Hey what’s with the coat?”

“This? Found this shit at one of them Goodwills. Thought it looked tight.”

Danny points out that it was a hot day today. Why wear a bulky jacket? Thomas makes a remark that Danny never takes his jacket off even if the weather calls for it. Despite his hypocrisy, Thomas realizes Danny has a point. Asher normally hates the heat since it was easy for him to sweat profusely. Thomas weighs in on Danny’s question but Asher quickly dismisses them. Proclaiming that he wanted to make his money’s worth by wearing the jacket he’d just bought. The two decided to leave it. During the drive, Asher brought up a few questions. Mostly related to Mr. G and his business. The questions came out of nowhere but were boiled down to general curiosity or as a way to kill the silence. 

They arrive at the debtor’s apartment complex. They exit the car and approach a map of the complex. The map reveals they need to head to the second floor. Thomas offers to stay down by the stairs as a lookout just in case. Danny and Asher walk up to the door and knock. The door appears to be extremely worn down. Being flaked and cracked. They can hear loud music being played from inside. The door opens to reveal that there was a small gathering. Snacks were on the coffee table and a lot of beer bottles on the floor. The guy who opened the door happened to be just the man they were looking for. He looked excited at first but the feeling quickly diminishes when realizing the folks at his doorstep were strangers. Danny discloses to him that they were here to collect his debt. The guy’s dimenor changes. Immediately becoming uneased. He answers with excuses, claiming that he’s still working on it. Danny makes it clear his time has expired and that they weren’t taking no as an answer. The door is quickly shut but Danny retaliates by kicking it down. The door fell to pieces at the slightest intake of force. The guests scream in panic as they have no clue what’s happening. The guy runs to the back as Danny rushes in to pursue. Danny catches up to him and knocks him to the ground. The guy puts up a fight but quickly succumbs. Danny grabs him by the collar and starts to throw punches at his face. The guy cries out for him to stop. Once there is a pause in Danny’s attacks, the guy hands him his wallet. Danny counted the bills inside and found it wasn’t enough. He threatens to further the beating. The guy couldn’t take it anymore so he quickly spilled out where he kept some recently bought jewelry. Danny stands up to head to the room, leaving the guy on the floor. It was obvious he was winded so he wouldn’t be running away again anytime soon. Danny steals the jewels and walks out. He saw Asher still standing near the door. 

“Where the fuck were you? Could’ve used some help here.” Danny exclaimed.

The pair rush down the stairs. Thomas rushes ahead to start the car. They all make it in and drive off. Due to the recent tension, they make a stop at some fast food restaurant. They order food and wait for their meals. Asher gets up to go to the bathroom. While he’s gone, Danny expresses to Thomas how Asher didn’t bother to step in during the altercation. This reminds him of Asher's other unusual behavior. Clearly something wasn’t right. Thomas agrees to an extent but assumes Asher is having personal issues. Maybe something with his girlfriend like Mr. G suggests. Asher comes back so they drop the topic. Once they were finished eating, they headed back to the car.

On the road, Danny presses Asher about what occurred at the apartment. This caused him to yell out “I couldn’t get involved!”. Danny attempts to further press him on what that even means but is shut down by Thomas. Silence drowns the car as they drive down the freeway. Anxiety builds up within Thomas. He becomes tense and his thoughts are racing. His mind unwillingly connects the dots. Thomas stops the car on the shoulder of the road. Telling the others to get out. Now it was Thomas demanding answers. Asher continues to deny anything was amiss in spite of evidence pointing to the contrary. An itch forms in Thomas’ head, the jacket. Thomas didn’t quite understand it but something internally pointed at Asher’s jacket. Thomas tells Asher to take it off. He refused. Danny steps in to repeat the order but Asher stood his ground. Thomas charges forward to unzip the jacket and lift up his shirt. Revealed underneath was a black box with wires strapped to Asher’s chest. Thomas couldn’t believe his eyes. Danny pins Asher up against the car, punching him in the stomach. He falls to the ground due to being winded. Thomas quickly smashes the device with his foot. Whilst on the ground, Danny begins kicking Asher’s body. Few of Asher’s teeth fly out as Danny starts to kick his face. Blood drained out of his mouth and nose. Thomas stood away breathing heavily, struggling to process the situation. After telling Danny to stop the beating, Thomas speaks to Asher.

“Why? WHY?! What the fuck, Ash?!” Thomas shouted. 

Asher struggles to speak as he is spitting out blood.

“You fucking rat! Since when, huh? Since when?!” Danny added.

“They-! They caught me!” Asher managed to yell out. 

“They caught me selling the crank. I was- I was gonna get twenty-five, man!” Asher continued. 

“So you screw up and decide to sell us out?” Danny countered. 

“I- I- I didn’t mean for this. I just wanted- I could have a future!” Asher added. 

“ So we get locked away while you move out to a nice house in New York city? I don’t fucking think so.” Danny says.

Not knowing how to handle the situation, Thomas picks up his phone and calls Mr. G. Once picked up, Thomas explains the discovery and what they should do now the truth is out. Since they stopped at an isolated part of the freeway, Mr. G discreetly orders them to finish off Asher and dispose of him. Before the deed can be done, Danny and Thomas drag Asher away from the road and into the darker lush area. Thomas knew this was inevitable but it didn’t make it any easier. 

“I don’t know if I can, man. Asher and I have been tight since Elementary.” Thomas said to Danny. 

“Fine. I’ll do it.” Danny decided. 

He reaches for his gun but Thomas stops him. 

“Wait” he said. Thomas hands Danny his pocket revolver.

“Don’t want to drop the casings.”

Asher begs for his life but is immediately silenced as Danny fires shots into his head. He goes limp while his eyes roll to the back of his head. They both carry his body at each end and dump it into a nearby ditch. They didn't bother covering it as the area was remote but quickly leave as to not overstay their welcome. 

A week has passed. Danny was once again at the casino lounge but this time accompanied by Brenden and Jesse. Thomas wasn’t around this time. He overhears a conversation at Mr. G’s poker table. His inner circle were conversing about Asher's body recently being found. Mr. G informed them that Asher was a snitch and expressed he had it coming. They all began to disgrace his name. Amongst the slander, it was said that Asher’s girlfriend was pregnant. Unveiled only a few days after Asher was officially declared missing. Upon hearing this news, Danny began feeling strange. He felt an ache in his stomach and tightness in his chest. Senses of uneasiness. He couldn't quite fathom these feelings. Was it remorse? Asher was a rat. Danny was taught since his assimilation into the criminal underworld that anyone who confides with the police should be punished with prejudice. However, it doesn’t explain the sudden influx of emotions. Regardless of Danny’s attempts to suppress these newfound feelings, Brenden gets the impression Danny was contemplating. 

“Hey, something on your mind?” Brenden asked.

“It’s nothing.” Danny answered.