Cup of Crime

Chapter 1 : First Encounter

The light autumn shower outside had just ended. Howard who had been put to sleep by the hypnotic sound of rain hitting the roof of the bus began to wake up. Refreshed from his short nap, the young adult pressed his exposed forehead against the droplet stained bus window to glance at the passing buildings and skyscrapers. A few minutes passed before the city bus came to a hualt at a dilapidated bus stop.

For a moment, nobody on the bus made a move to get up including Howard who was confused after his nap. The 24-year-old man embarrassingly enough, couldn't tell if it was his stop. It was only when the neon sign in front of the bus changed its display and the bus driver yelled the location's name did people on the bus react. Hearing the name of the stop, the once quiet passengers began to clamor the bus driver to drive while Howard who was much more clear-headed rushed off the bus with his bag slung over his shoulder and luggage tightly gripped. His stop, the most dangerous district of New York City also known as the 'Crime Zone'.

Getting off the city bus, Howard didn't even have time to thank the old bus driver before the automatic doors slammed shut and the bus sped off. Now, Howard found himself standing under the heavily vandalised bus stop. Howard inspected the scene, attempting to find a vaguely clean spot to settle down his belongings. To his luck, there were none as every corner of the bus stop seat was stained with dried up blood and covered by colourful graffiti. As for the ground, it wasn't much better with thrash and food waste littered around. Howard suppressed his urge to vomit at the smell before pressing his nose and leaving.

"Now where is it?" Howard pulled out his notepad. "Please be open."

Howard turned his attention to the row of closed shops, some were abandoned and boarded up while others were closed with metal shuttles doors to prevent theft. Walking along the lonely littered street, Howard began to wonder if he had ended up on a ghost street but given the district's reputation, the young adult wasn't really surprised. He continued to walk in search of the address written in his notepad.

Finally, after travelling a distance into the most dangerous district, he came across the only open office building which coincidentally was the place he needed to reach. Knocking on the glass door, Howard cautiously entered the air conditioned office where he met an older blonde woman sitting behind the counter area that was full of stacked boxes and towers made of paper.

"Hello, I'm looking for Mr. Rose," Howard politely requested.

The woman headed towards the back room before coming out with a lazy and older looking man in an oversized hoodie with a laptop in hand. Ruffling and combing his bedhead, the man took a scan of the room before jolting awake at the sight of a neatly dressed Howard. Hurriedly the once messy man fixed himself up and sat across Howard in a professional manner.

"My apologies, Mr. Blake. Are you here to pick up your keys?" the older man took out a ring of silver keys.

"Yes, thank you very much," Howard nodded as he reached out to grab the keys in the man's hands.

"Right, rent is paid at the start of every month. If there is any problem please feel free to contact me. I wish you a smooth business."

"Thank you," Howard nodded and smiled.

Leaving the office building, Howard continued to make his way down the street towards the building he had rented. Along the way, the once dead street began gradually found a couple residents walking along. The 24-year-old even passed by a couple of opened shops. They weren't many, and the residents looked far from friendly but Howard didn't mind, he wasn't afraid.

Passing by one of the alleyways, Howard chose to ignored the group of tattooed individuals with guns shoved into their pockets. The cigarettes they smoked made Howard's sensitive nose twitch. Next, he took a couple steps away from the officer who was handcuffing some dazed eyed man on the hood of his patrol car. When the sirens sounded, Howard took a look back at the fleeing patrol car. Afterwards, Howard walked towards a well put together young ginger haired man in a button up shirt and carrying an expensive looking leather briefcase. Passing him by, Howard's sharp eyes caught the dried up blood stains on the sleeves of the finely dressed man. The young man who noticed his staring gave Howard a stare of his own before shoving his hand into his pockets with a guilty conscious. Lastly, the 24-year-old walked past a pair of lovey-dovey couple saying sweet nothings to each other before reaching his destination.