What're we talkin'?
Wrenchin'?
Droppin'?
— Rule Two
It was time to make some changes. The Plan was about to get more complex, which meant the rules needed to be simpler.
I updated the list as follows:
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 meet with the man himself.
Foke didn't seem surprised to see me.
"You lookin' to get out?" he asked.
"No, no. 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 always talked with Foke as if I was the middleman for this scheme, selling somebody else's Bitcoin for a piece of the action. But I'd just unintentionally told him I ran the show.
Somehow, he already knew.
He said, "Yeah, Hose, Boog figured out yo' game. Gotta be mo' careful."
"That's why I'm here," I said. "There's something I'd like to discuss, sir."
"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."
"Aight. Then what?"
"I'm here to update our deal."
"Update, yo?"
"Currently, when I sell you Bitcoin, you're getting ten percent off the top. Let's up it to a third in exchange for some guys. They can be low-level guys. That's fine. But for each job, I need two to keep watch. One inside, one outside."
"Hold up. You need eyes inside?"
"I do. 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, digging deeper into Chicagoland."
"Need muscle? I do it for a third. 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 do my way. I can get your guys in their homes so it never has to happen in public. Your guys wrench 'em. Drop 'em. Whatever. You keep fifty percent on that too, kick me back the rest. Does that work?"
"Aaaight."
"And I'm building up to bigger things. 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 proof of the plan, y'know? To work out the kinks. Gotta keep it tight, to do it right."
"I feel ya."
"Can you get me muscle in other cities?"
"I got connects. But I'mma need fifty percent, and tha's if it's clean, in an' out."
"I can do that."
"Yo, where?"
"New York."
"Too hot."
"Miami?"
"When."
"April."
"Aaaaaaight."