Frustration hung over Hoffers while he glared down to the credit card as he was being conveyed in a taxi. He couldn’t believe he just sold a restaurant that took him fifteen years to build.
And how much did he sell it? Two hundred thousand dollars!
I had threatened to make his restaurant a garbage dumping ground for Rio Hondo and I was hell bent on doing it.
“So my restaurant will now become a dumping ground, huh,” he contemplated in his mind, “Mike Don! Mike don!” he mumbled within himself and shook his head in pity, “Look at me now. I wish I could turn back the hand of time, show you love and grant you a salary advance and even give my garage for you and your foster father to pass the night…” his voice broke out and he succeeded a deep breath.
He sniffed, lowered his gaze to the credit card once more and stroked my name which was on it. “I can’t believe this is happening. Can you imagine, huh? A boy, a delivery boy, a poor ragged boy who once served me is now the world richest man, even it is he that bought my restaurant. What a world! Such a small world we live in! Today the government of Rio Hondo has made him a stake holder …” his voice subsided to a sorrowful tone, and he sniffed heavily and caught those tears trickling down his cheeks.
He raised his gaze and felt his shoulders sink into grievance. There was no turning point for him now. He wondered what seven hundred thousand dollars could do to his life. Almost all his life he had been a mogul, a billionaire that owned the most sorted restaurant in Rio Hondo.
And now, a poor delivery boy he rubbished in the past was about bringing all he had ever worked for into perpetual. His eyes closed before he pouted.
The taxi halted before Rio Hondo Community Bank and he let a deep breath of relief even when he knew his world was melting right under his feet.
“Sir this is Rio Hondo Community Bank,” the taxi driver recounted when he wouldn’t get a reply from Hoffers.
Truth was that Hoffers was drowned in thought and so hesitated to give a reply. His eyes bulged and stared at the bank but he was absolutely absent-minded,
“Yeah! Yeah!” Hoffers finally responded after the driver patted on his shoulders, “Oh-uh, we are here now, huh?” he managed a small grin and rubbed his eyes as if to rub off the thought.
“Yes sir. Your fare is five hundred dollars,” the taxi driver intoned with a hopeful smile on his face not until Hoffers dug into his trousers and breasts pocket repeatedly.
He knew he had no cash. Days had been tough for him ever since the closure of his restaurant. He barely could afford a square meal. The only hope he had was the seven hundred thousand dollars on the credit card.
He swallowed hard and shot a pitiable look at the expectant taxi driver, “Um buddy. I have got no cash on me now.” Quickly he dug into his pocket and took out the credit card one more time. “But I have got so much money on this card. That is the reason I am here in the first place.”
The taxi driver almost swore in his mind and it was evident on his scowled face. “I beg your pardon. What would be my fate now?” he queried and caught sight of Hoffers’ troubled face in the mirror.
Hoffers cleared a clogged threat, “Um, please, I crave your patience. He hesitated and sounded yet further, “Could you please hold on a bit while I go into the bank to cash out seven hundred thousand dollars…”
“Seven hundred thousand dollars?” the driver retorted and finally shot his quarrelsome brow at him, “How can you have such amount of money on card and can’t afford five hundred dollars in cash, huh?”
“No…I…” he stuttered and blinked nervously as he was yet to believe that he couldn’t even afford five hundred dollars anymore, “Listen up. I got money. The fare is not going to be a problem, okay. You just hold on. I didn’t know all my cash has been exhausted until now,” he lied, “But I got huge amount on this card,” he forced a contagious smile and expected the driver to return the smile.
But he raised a furrowed brow, “But sir, it is too early for this.” He pressed his lips tightly, snorted and spoke again after taking a decision “Well I will give you five minutes to return here with my money.”
“Uh, thank so much. It is my pleasure meeting such a considerable fellow like you. I will just go right away and withdraw the money and pay up…”
When he noticed the driver had a long face and gave him the cold shoulders, he drew in a deep breath, took his silence for a yes and then opened the door to alight.
Soon he was in the bank hall, face to face with a cheerful desk officer, who was processing details of my account and observing necessary protocols.
Hoffers stood, with bated breath, in the cloud of uncertainty, a bit nervous; even when he felt all was well. Already heavy thought was parading on his mind while he waited for the desk officer.
In his mind, he was already making plans for the money; as soon as he withdrew the money he would disappear out of Rio Hondo, return to his home town, a suburb in Georgia, where he wasn’t well known. There, he would endure a low-life, nurture a small farm that could earn him a manageable staple food, which he would eat until death called. He was at the declining age now and there was no career to build from the start; there was no need leveling up after losing his restaurant…
“Sir!” the desk officer called and interrupted his thought
Hoffers kept a wink and listened.
“I am sorry you can’t withdraw money from this account now. It is on fixed deposit for fifty years,”
“Jupiter’s brain!” Hoffers exclaimed…
More vengeance loomed on…