What're we talkin'?
Wrenchin'?
Droppin'?
— Rule Two
The Plan was about to get more complex. The rules needed to be simpler.
This was the new list:
Rule One: Fuck you.
Rule Two: Protect me.
Rule Three: No guilt.
In order to abide by Rule Two, I needed folks.
More specifically, I needed Foke's folks.
That meant heading back to room 219 at The Boxtan Inn, to talk it out with the man himself.
Foke didn't seem surprised to see me.
"You lookin' ta get out?" he asked.
"Whoa, no. I want to go bigger. I need to know if you can handle more coin."
As the words came out of my mouth, I realized I'd made a mistake. I talked with Foke as if I was a middleman, selling somebody else's Bitcoin for a piece of the action. But I'd just unintentionally told him I ran the show.
"Yeah, Hose, Boog figured out yo' game," Foke said. "Gotta be mo' careful."
"That's why I'm here. I'm making changes."
"Say it."
"I can get you more Bitcoin if you can get me muscle. I need backup."
"What're we talkin'? Wrenchin'? Droppin'?"
"No, no. Not Nono. Nothing like that. OK, maybe a little of that. Maybe a lot, but not yet. I'm here to update our deal. You're getting ten percent off the top when I sell you coins. Let's up it to a third in exchange for some guys. They can be low level guys, but I need two at a time to watch over things. One inside and one outside."
"You need eyes inside?"
"Yeah. It's time for me to, shall we say, insulate myself. I'm gonna hire somebody to search marks' homes, so I don't have to. I'll need eyes outside, keeping watch, and eyes inside, watching my guy."
"Think I need a bigger piece."
"Respectfully, sir. Can't do it. I got a partner, and I got expenses. Plus, we're gonna be working in volume. I want to ramp up to three marks a week. Six a week by early next year."
"You need muscle? Tha's easy. I do it for a third. Fo' wrenchin' or droppin', I'mma need fifty percent. Messy gets expensive."
"That works."
"Aight."
"I can also give you access to marks with coins I can't get my way. I can get your guys in their homes so it never has to happen in public. Your guys wrench 'em. You keep two thirds. Kick me back a third."
"Aaaight. Tha's solid."
"I'm building up to bigger things, too. I'm working on a plan that'll let me hit other cities. Do it like a surgical strike. Twenty or thirty marks over a couple weeks. Get in, get 'em, get out."
"Where."
"Here first, as a proof of the plan, y'know? To work out the kinks. Gotta keep it tight, to do it right."
"I feel ya."
"You can get me muscle for that?"
"I got connects. But I'mma need fifty percent on dat."
"I can do that."
"Yo, where?"
"New York."
"Too hot."
"Miami?"
"When."
"April."
"Aaaaaaight."