Rees opened the door to his office and threw the keys down on top of his desk. He flicked on the light switch and walked around wondering what to do. It wasn’t a feeling of panic that gripped him. It was more of an uneasy feeling. A less immediate feeling. A feeling of anxiety. A sensation that comes with the possibility that he might get into trouble for his actions. Rees thought about the repercussions of the day. Things had not turned out exactly like he had expected. He had to instruct an emergency intervention with his client. Rees felt responsible. He had tried to help his client further down the path to recovery. In which he thought would open new doors for her, help improve her lifestyle and her functionality in society. She was the perfect candidate. Someone who he thought could manage the new medication that he had prescribed. With medication things can always go either left or right but he was sure that this would have a positive impact on her. However things had gone the other way. Rees had not been thorough enough with his checks. He had allowed his client to take the new medication while neglecting to confirm her current mental state. She had continued to see him as normal while pretending that things were getting better. All the while she was becoming more addicted to the medication and more reliant on its effects. Rees had missed the beginning signs of the addiction, of her presenting like things were going ok. His eagerness had gotten the best of him. Now his client had regressed to a state where she was at risk. Her entire lifestyle had been compromised and what made matters worse was she had a dependent. Two lives would be affected from his poor planning.
These things happen when it comes to new medication. Rees told himself.
This didn’t make him feel better. It was an excuse. An Excuse that Rees wanted to tell himself. One that he wanted to believe but deep down inside he couldn’t. His client’s condition had gotten to such a state that it had drawn concern from members of her family. Rees had received a phone call from a case officer from London Met. who had received a call of concern from his client’s close personal friend. Rees being there thought it best to schedule an intervention immediately. That was the safest thing to do. He didn’t have time to tidy up his mess properly. That was yesterday. This morning Rees met up with the assigned case officers and they staged their intervention. Rees wanted to tell himself that it was the best course of action but in reality Rees wanted to protect himself more than anything else. He had dropped the ball.
No, I’ve done more than drop the ball. Rees thought.
Rees paced around his office. His anxiety turning around multiple scenarios in his mind about what might happen. He looked outside his office window.
My motives were good. Medical advances come at risk. Sometimes we have to cut corners to get stuff done.
Rees knew these were more excuses that he was telling himself. It left a strange feeling in his stomach. The more Rees lied to himself the worse he felt. His mind started to jump around. He started to worry about his professional position. What might happen if he was caught. If he was to be blamed and accused of malpractice. He started to think about the trail of evidence that might be used against him. Things like phone records, toxicology reports. Rees thought he had been careful. He had deleted any unusual phone calls between himself and his client from his phone memory but he couldn’t delete a toxicology report.That was outside of his scope. Rees shook his head.
Why am I panicking? I’ve done nothing wrong.
Rees knew that there was nothing worse than the lies he might tell to others over the lies he told to himself. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Rees hadn’t closed it behind him when he entered. A tall gentleman wearing a light grey pinstripe suit stood by the open door. He did not enter but waited to be invited in. Rees knew who it was. His anxiety started to rise.
“Good afternoon Dr. Martin.” said the pinstripe gentleman in a relaxed tone. Sorry to disturb you, can I come in?”
Rees nodded. He watched the pinstripe gentleman enter the office, close the door behind him, then sat himself down in the empty chair at the opposite end of Rees’ desk. The pinstripe gentleman crossed his legs and sat calmly looking at Rees. Rees looked at him suspiciously. He regarded the gentleman very carefully. Rees felt that although the tall slender, older, middle aged white man with a scruffy greying beard and slicked back dyed black hair looked like he was as harmless as a fruit fly. Rees felt that there was something about the man to be extremely weary of. A certain vibration which couldn’t be dismissed.
“Good afternoon Dr. Martin. Very nice to see you again. How’s things going with you?”
Rees checked his answer. He knew that the man sitting in his chair didn’t have any real interest in how his day was going.
“Good afternoon Mr. Gaphabi. I’m good thank you. What a nice surprise to see you here this afternoon. Your timing has really surprised me.”
Rees let out a nervous laugh and brushed his mouth with his hand.
The pinstripe gentleman also let out a laugh but there wasn’t anything nervous about it. It was one of slight ridicule. He clasped his hands together and rested them onto the joint of his bent knee.
“Now Dr. Martin we both know that this isn’t a nice surprise for you, that you’re seeing me and you really need to do something about that nervous tick of yours. It’s really quite unbecoming.”
Rees wanted to attack back but pressed his lips together to keep quiet. There are some situations where it pays to say less and remain still. Rees felt like he was in the presence of his father again in the bathroom from so long ago. Rees gave a forced smile. The pinstripe gentleman laughed again.
“That’s why I like you Dr. Martin. You know there’s a time to talk and a time to shut up. It means you think before you act and that’s what I like. I can work with that.”
Rees slowly nodded his head and gave another reluctant smile. A smile with his lips pressed together that shaped more like a frown than a smile. He wasn’t sure where this conversation was going to lead.
“Let me get straight to the point Dr. Martin. You and I both know I didn’t come here for chit chat.” Mr Gaphabi motioned to Rees’ chair with his eyes. Rees sat down.
“We have noticed the current little situation that’s occurred with your client and we also noticed that there was an intervention that took place.”
How could he have known that? That was literally this morning. They’re spying on me.
Rees looked at the door. He felt like he needed an escape route. Although Mr Gaphabi was an older man, Rees was not sure how a physical situation with him would turn out. Rees most certainly didn’t want things to turn physical. Mr. Gaphabi did not seem like the type of man who settled things with his fists nor did he seem like the type of man who would end things with just his fists. Rees’ anxiety started to rise up into his throat.
Mr Gaphabi raised one hand, open, palm down and slowly made a lowering gesture.
“Calm down Dr.Martin. I’m not here to muscle you over.” He clasped his hand back onto his knee. “I’m just here today to reassure you.”
“Reassure Me?”
“Yes. Reassure you. You probably feel like you’ve been caught or will be caught and you’re probably thinking or starting to worry about any future toxicology results that will come back from your clients blood tests and what’s going to happen with the find certain things in her system….. Blah blah blah. A whole world of things.”
Rees eye’s open wide. That was exactly what he was thinking.
“Don’t worry about any of that. You keep on operating in the way you feel best in order to get the results.”
“Why should I not be worried?”
“Dr. Martin we have many hands in many pockets and we look after our investments.”
“Can you alter the toxicology?”
“Dr. Martin, who do you think conducts the toxicology?”
Mr Gaphabi gave Rees a smug smirk and wink with one eye. It was a strange wink. The kind of wink from someone who didn’t really know how to perform a wink properly but who maybe always wanted to do it during the right situation.
“Rest assured Dr. Martin, we aren’t interested in positive results. We’re not looking for you to cure people. We need substantial results about side effects, addictiveness, how it affects different groups, blah blah blah blah.”
Rees nodded.
“Just data. Lots and lots of data and of course we will continue to look after you Dr. Martin.”
Rees continued to nod.
“Don’t be so stingy when dishing out the medication. You’re being careful which is good but you’ve only given it to one of your patients. Don’t be so tight fisted. Share it out a bit more. Well a lot more. Ok?”
Rees stopped nodding. He didn’t want to stay anything just yet. He needed time to digest the weight of this conversation
.
“I can see a lot of potential in you and trust me, I’ve been in this game for a long time. Don’t let me down Dr. Martin.”
Rees watched Mr. Gaphabi’s face. He was about to say something else but decided against it. Rees knew an intellectual man when he came across one. This was also a man who thought about what he was going to say before the words came out of his mouth. In the moment that Rees regarded Mr Gaphabi’s face he noted that Mr Gaphabi was probably the same age as his own father. Although his stature was much slighter and his face younger looking; Like someone who enjoyed the finer things of life, he had the same presence about him. The kind of aura that portrayed a kind dad in one instant and a destructive demon in another. Rees also didn’t like his eyes. His eyes reminded him of the eyes of his new friend. Eyes that looked like they concealed a danger or done deeds that were not in the best interest of those whom they were performed on. Dark eyes. Eyes that his father also wore.
“And like I said Dr. Martin we’ll look after you, in more ways than one.”
Mr. Gaphabi shifted in his chair. He readjusted his weight to the opposite side then recrossed his legs to follow his now more comfortable position, clasping his hands back onto his knee cap.
“Now we’ve also noticed you might be having a slight altercation with a particular gentleman.”
Rees’ eyes opened wide. He wasn’t expecting to hear this part. He could understand them spying on him at work but in his personal life too. This shocked Rees. He started to reply but his words just thumbled out. Nothing coherent could be understood. Mr Gaphabi unclasped his hands and bounced them around in the air. Trying to calm down Rees’ reaction.
“Dr. Martin I know this is quite a surprise for you but this is a considerable investment for us, like I said before and You too could become a considerable investment for us.” Mr. Gaphabi waved one hand in the air. “And we look after all of our investments.”
Mr Gaphabi pulled a card from his inside blazer pocket and put it onto the table. He slowly pushed it towards Rees while he spoke.
“Now Dr. Martin, we are happy when you are happy but if you are stressed then we are distressed and we want you to be happy. Now You’re a grown man Dr. Martin and you can deal with any of your issues in the way you seem fit. But just encase you can’t.” He tapped on the card. “This is a very good cleaning service.”
Mr Gaphabi paused, raised his eyebrows and slowly lowered his head while keeping eye contact. Rees got the message.
“The good thing is Dr. Martin, there are different levels of cleaning services available here and we cover all costs for you. Now don’t think about it now, put it away inside your wallet, in a nice dark corner that you never look into. That way when you really want it. You’ll go looking for it.”
Mr Gaphabi nodded with his head again. Rees couldn’t believe what he was hearing. His anxiety was now swimming in his mouth. This weekend was proving to be an emotional rollercoaster. Rees was starting to think if he had been selected for some kind of universal joke. Where the universe picks out a random person in existence and starts to use them as its own personal play toy for its own amusement. Mr Gaphabi nodded again and slowly got out of the chair. He reached into another inside pocket and pulled out a small envelope. He placed it down on the table and again pushed it towards Rees.
“There’s a little something in there for you. I think You might need it shortly. Don’t spend all of it at once. Take a little for yourself and invest the rest.” Again Mr Gaphabi tried the unmastered wink.
“I’ll leave you now to take in what you’ve just heard ok. I can tell that you’re starting to panic a little and I don’t want you to start doing silly things.”
Rees just nodded. He kept his mouth shut. Only fear and anxiety would have splashed out. Rees watched Mr Gaphabi walk towards the door and open it wide. As he was about to leave he noticed a family picture of Rees and regarded it for a moment. He half turned back. Looking at Rees from over his shoulder.
“You have a lovely family Dr. Martin.” He turned back to the picture. “You know your sons look just like you. You’re eldest son Alex he’s got an even mix between you and your wife, but your youngest son. What’s his name?” Mr Gaphabi clicked his fingers trying to remember.
“Oscar that’s it Oscar. Yep Oscar is the spitting image of you.”
Mr Gaphabi paused. He slowly half turned round again to look at Rees. He made an unpleasant face. A face that looked as if a small child had just tasted something they didn’t quite fancy, but still continued to chew without spitting it out.
“Oh…… Oscar…. That’s unfortunate. Isn’t that the name of your new Friend…….” Mr Gaphabi paused.
Rees remained silent.
Mr Gaphabi shook his head. He walked out the office and closed the door behind him. Rees could see that his hand was still on the handle through tinted glass when he heard another voice.
“Well hello there young man.”
“Hmmmmm hi, is this the right way to ……”
“Dr. Martin? Yes you’ve found the spot.”
Mr. Gaphabi reopened the door pushing it wide and stepped to one side while still holding onto the handle. A young teenager wearing a black hoodie and jeans walked in. Rees looked at the young man blankly. The young man nodded at him. Rees suddenly recognised him as the alpha teenager from yesterday. The one who he had propositioned to graffiti his new friend’s car and take a video of it. He’d obviously come to deliver his video footage and receive his extra reward.
Mr Gaphabi looked at the alpha teenager’s jumper, regarding the illustration on it.
“Is that Tupac on your jumper?”
The alpha teenager looked at Mr Gaphabi from head to toe.
“What you know bout Tupac.”
“Only a little but ‘all eyez on me’ is one of my favourite albums.”
“Wait youuuuuuuuuuuuu have listened to all eyez on me?”
“Of Course it’s a great album.”
“I don’t believe you.” The young man looked Mr. Gaphabi over again from head to toe. Mr Gaphabi returned the gesture by looking himself over. He used his free hand to brush away some loose hairs from his suit jacket as if that was the subject of attention the alpha teenager kept looking at. Rees shook his head. He was almost fearful for the youth. Children sometimes are naive when it comes to encountering dangerous situations. This youngster was the same member of the pack who Rees had designated as the alpha. The smartest and boldest one of the group but clearly the young alpha was not reading this situation properly. He was oblivious to the kind of beast that Mr Gaphabi was. The young alpha had made a presumption about the man standing in front of him based on his physical appearance.
“Whats you’re favourite track on the album den?”
“Hmmmm well to be honest with you most people rave on about ‘california love’ and ‘I aint mad at cha’ but my personal favourites are……” Mr Gaphabi paused. “Well I should say joint favourites here….. ‘only god can judge me’ and ‘whatz ya phone number.”
The young alpha narrowed his eyes in scrutiny as if Mr Gaphabi didn’t really know what he was talking about. Only giving lip service to the tracks by name in order to gain favour with the youth.
“Yeah ‘Whatz ya phone number has a certain pop to it.” Mr Gaphabi started to recite the lyrics to the song he mentioned and started to bounce his head up and down in rhythm to his sudden rap. The young alpha, surprised by the sudden display from the older man’s talent, shot a glance of disbelief at Rees, then turned back to face Mr Gaphabi. The young alpha started to bounce his head in time with Mr Gaphabi. He raised his arms and started to add his own dance to the beat Mr Gaphabi rapped to. Clearly they both knew the song well and could more so hear the beat in their heads rather than from Mr Gaphabi’s words. Mr Gaphabi stopped rapping and erupted with laughter. The young alpha nodded his head in approval and extended his closed fist to Mr Gaphabi. Mr Gaphabi not quite knowing the etiquette of the fist bump culture clasped an open hand over it and shook it. The young alpha shot Rees another glance, one of confusion. Rees shook his head in return and raised his eyebrows. He was also confused. He didn’t understand how the man standing by the doorway, in a light pinstripe suit, knew word for word a song from one of the most highest rated rap albums of all time but didn’t know how to bump fists.
“Anyway.” Mr Gaphabi calmly interrupted the current medley. “I must be off so I’ll let you young people do what you young people do. Oh and Dr.Martin remember don’t be so tight fisted hmmmm?” With that Mr Gaphabi closed the door and his silhouette disappeared from behind the stained glass.
Rees quickly tried to collect himself. He motioned an open hand, to the now open chair, for the young alpha to sit down. The young man quickly adhered to the gesture. He wasn’t here to spend time chatting, he was here for business. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his mobile phone. He looked down at the screen and with a few gestures with his fingertips arrived at the media that he wanted to show Rees. He laid the phone down in front of Rees on top of the envelope. Rees snatched up the phone along with the envelope in one quick swoop and pressed play on the screen. He watched the video. It was well shot. His memory of the event slowly started to relax his mind. Evaporating the anxiety from the current situation. Rees looked up from the screen at the young alpha who listened to the sound of the video with a wry smirk on his face. Glowing with pride about the work he and his companions recorded the previous day. Rees smiled back and continued watching the footage. He was more than satisfied with what he saw. When the video had ended Rees shared the video to himself. His phone beeped a notification that it had been received and Rees handed back the phone.
“Nice one young man. Nice one.” Rees Applaud.
The young alpha nodded his head in appreciation.
“How much did I say that I would give you?”
“£200 extra.”
“Hmmmm and did any of you get caught?”
“Nah. When my man came back out we all splurted. He tried to catch my boy skinny, but skinny is rapid. He breezed him out. The breda was pisssssssed.” The young alpha chuckled to himself. Rees added with a small laugh. He wanted to enjoy the situation more but with everything that had happened so far it was a bit much for him to completely savour his win. Rees opened the envelope and peeked inside. He held the envelope at an angle so that the young alpha couldn’t see its contents. Rees’ already had a suspicion about what it contained. He was just unsure of how much. It was cash. Bright pink £50 notes. Rees quickly scanned the edges with his finger and roughly counted £3000. An incentive and it wasn’t the first he had received from Mr. Gaphabi. Rees took out £300.
‘Take some for yourself and invest the rest.’ What kind of investment was Mr. Gaphabi talking about exactly? Rees Thought.
Rees couldn’t deny that although he felt extremely anxious about what he had gotten himself into with Mr Gaphabi he couldn’t help but feel a sense of anticipation also. A kind of hunger. One that had been gnawing at him for a long time. It was only when Mr. Gaphabi first approached him that he felt he could sink his teeth into something that would relieve the emptiness in his stomach and when Rees took a bite it had tasted good. Rees handed over the £300. The young alpha accepted it with a smile.
“£200 with a bit on top for your outstanding work.”
“Tanks.” The young alpha replied.
“What’s your name…Your real name? Don’t tell me any tags”
The alpha was quiet for a moment. Pondering if he should give Rees’ his real name. He looked down at the £300. Rees watched him thinking it over and contained another smile. He was really starting to like this young man.
“Lemar.” He answered.
“Nice to meet you Lemar.” Rees extended his open hand, Lemar reached forward and shook it.
“Was that your boss?”
“My boss? Oh the gentleman in the pinstripe suit?”
Lemar nodded.
“No not my boss.”
Rees didn’t say anything more. Lemar nodded slowly. He caught the hint not to ask too many questions concerning the gentleman who he had just encountered in the doorway.
Rees looked over the young alpha. He was debating with himself how to move forward with him.
Say goodbye and let him carry on with his young adolescent life or make an investment out of him which Mr. Gaphabi has prompted me to do? Rees Thought.
Lemar, not enjoying the long silence, folded his money, pushed it into his front jeans pocket and rose from his seat. He walked towards the door and opened it.
“Lemar.” Rees called out. Lemar stopped by the door. He looked directly at Rees without saying a word, just raised his eyebrows. “Do you smoke?”
“Do I smoke?” Lemar echoed in an undertone which implicitly remarked why are you asking. “Nah I don’t smoke. Well… I don’t smoke cigarettes anyway.”
“You pop pills?”
Lemars eyes narrowed. The expression on his face turned from confusion to curiosity.
“Sometimes.” he walked back towards Rees and rested his hands on the chair of which he previously sat. “Why you asking?”
Rees notioned with a slight nod to close the door. Lemar didn’t move but lazily stretched out his leg and kicked the door shut.
“You look like a money man to me Lemar. I might have a little something for you.”
Rees rose from his chair while grabbing the set of keys he threw down on the table when he first entered his office. He walked over to the locked medication cabinet, opened it and pulled out a white box. Rees closed the cabinet and brought the box over to his desk placing it on the table. The hungry feeling was again gnawing at him and he felt that this was something else he could sink his teeth into. He pushed the box and its unlabeled contents towards Lemar who picked it up. Rees looked at him and smiled. He opened the envelope again which he still held in his hand and withdrew another £300 and placed it on the table. Lemar didn’t pick up the money.
“What’s this for?”
“That’s an incentive for what you’re holding in your hand.”
“What is it?”
“That my friend is something that I think you’d enjoy sinking your teeth into.”
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