CHAPTER TWO: THE GOLDEN TICKET

I brought my hood down over my face. My mahogany skin melded into the pitch black of my streetwear. I raced onto the main street sidewalks, hunched over, hoping to avoid the facial monitors that decorated the UNF city of Nirvana’s every corner. Most in the Destros districts didn’t work, but who was to say my luck wouldn’t run out that night of all nights? It had before, and this wasn’t the time to get caught by the Hounds that patrolled in force. The city’s curfew for underage Destros would soon go into effect. If they found me while in possession of a Noblesse’s life-band, that would mean certain death. No trial, no jury. Street signs lit the sidewalks in neon colors from every angle as I took in my surroundings. Crenshaw Ave? No, too heavily patrolled. The Boulevard? Wouldn’t make it there in time. Wait, 34th Street leads straight to Ricky’s. I took off without hesitation. Keeping my hands well within my pockets while I gripped the golden band, praying that it wouldn’t fall out as I pushed through the crowd. I needed answers, not attention.

My heart was pumping in overdrive, frantically trying to settle down after everything I witnessed. I made a bee-line for Little Havana. Nirvana’s hub for displaced Southern Republic refugees. Fast-paced conversations and loud melodious music reverberated all around me. The foreign language was a mixture of over-emphasized vowels alongside harsh tones. Smoke rose into the air from grilled meat on open gas stoves as old men with deep brown skin gathered around. My stomach rumbled, reminding me I hadn’t eaten yet, but there was no time to stop for a bite. I kept on running. I glanced from side to side, looking for a landmark. My feet came to a halt in front of a high-rise apartment building with familiar graffiti markings. Sprinting inside, I rode the electric-powered lift. Barreling out the moment the lift doors opened, revealing a dim hallway with lights that flickered on and off. I busted a right, arriving at a lone door towards the end of the hall. Come on Ricky, come on. You have to be home. No one followed me, right? I banged on the door, praying that he’d answered. He came and went frequently. My heart pounded against the wall of my chest, my breathing ragged. I twisted my head time and time again, shooting looks over my shoulder, making sure no one tailed behind. Jumping when a clatter of what sounded like fallen pots and pans startled me.

“Who the hell banging on my door like they live here? You better be buying or you going to leave lighter than you came.” A voice comes from behind the door.

“Aye Ricky, it’s me. D! Open up! It’s urgent, man, no bullshit.” I said, stepping back. 

“Shit D, I thought you were an ichor-fiend. Scared the shit out of me.” The door slid open, revealing a scrawny tan skinned youth in a white tank top and sweats, with his hand behind his back and curls that sat up like a head of broccoli. “Hurry and get inside, bro. You gone let the whole fucking block know you here.” 

I rushed inside the cluttered apartment. Cigarette butts, ashtrays, and flattened boxes were littered everywhere. My eyes followed Ricky as he walked over to his futon that sat in the far corner of the apartment. Plopping himself down picking up a freshly lit blunt, taking a hard pull, blowing out smoke. I don’t sit down. Pacing back and forth while I panted, fidgeting, no idea what to say.

“So what the fuck, man? You said it was urgent?” Ricky asked, taking another puff. “You ain’t been this fired up since we tried to hack the orphanage grading system.”

The day’s events replayed in my mind. I still didn’t know where to begin. If I tell him what happened, he won’t believe me. It sounds crazy. Shit, I wouldn’t even believe me if I heard it. I have to show him. That’s the only way he’ll take me serious. My fingers grabbed hold of the golden band as I pulled it out of my hoodie. Exposing it in the light. I don’t take my eyes off of Ricardo. His expressions ranging from confusion, shock, and wide-eyed disbelief. Not necessarily in that order. 

“Holy shit, D. Is that what I think it is? Where’d you even get that? Wait, don’t tell me you robbed a Noblesse…Are you crazy? Don’t you know them Hounds will tie you up by the ankles if they catch you with that shit?” Ricardo jumped up from his seat, making sure the blinds behind him were shut tight. 

I placed the band on the table, taking a seat next to Ricky. Cupping my hands in my lap, meanwhile, my leg twitched incessantly.

“No man! You know I’m not that fucking stupid. That’s why I’m here. You’re the only one I can trust right now. The only person I can talk to about this shit. I didn’t rob a Noblesse. A Hound killed a Noblesse, but before they died, they told me to take it.” I said, my leg bounced up and down even faster. 

We sat there staring at the band on the table. My eyes locked on to the bloodied accessory. Ricky turned to face me. Looking me dead in the face.

“So let me get this straight. You’re telling me one of them good ole boy Noblesse dickheads gave you a Destros, of all people, their life-band? Something that stores crypto credits and proves identity?....D, I don’t know what you’ve been smoking, but you for damn sure ain’t get it from me.” Ricardo said, leaning back.

I jumped up from my seat, already irritate and anxious, picking back up the band.

“I’m not bullshitting, man! Look, I went to the seed exams--.”

“How’d that go?” Ricky asked, cutting me off while he blew out more smoke.

“Terrible. I was designated as a Pariah. But that’s not the point. Look, I went to the seed exams, and on the way back to my crib, I took a little detour. I’m about to tell you something that doesn’t leave this spot, ever, you hear me? Like you can’t tell a soul about this shit, Ricky!” I said, pointing.

“Yeah man, yeah. I won’t say shit. Just tell me what got you running up in my spot with damn near uranium in your pocket.” Ricky said.

“Ok, ok.” I said, closing and opening my eyes repeatedly, taking a deep breath trying to calm down before I continued on, pacing around the table. “So no bullshit. There I was in the alleyway off 69th and Belleview, going to town on a dumpster after I screwed the pooch. Right, I am pissed off. I didn’t even notice someone running in from the opposite end. I’m minding my business and shit when suddenly, the guy started screaming about being a Noblesse, straight begging for mercy, saying not to kill him. Me being me, if it don’t going anything to do with me I’m going to just turn the other cheek---.”

“Turn the other cheek? Is that really what happened, or did you hide like a little bitch when he started talking about shooting?” Ricky laughed, almost choking on the smoke that came from his mouth.

I stopped to flick him off.

 “Man whatever, anyway. I’m tucked off in the corner right. No idea who buddy is talking to. Trying to stay out of it all together. Then the Noblesse gets to screaming again, saying he doesn’t know why a Hound is chasing him. In my mind, I’m like, why is a Noblesse scared of a Hound? That doesn’t make sense. I’ve never heard a Hound doing anything, not even looking at a Noblesse the wrong way. Next thing I know, the Hound gets to blasting, puts two hot ones in the Noblesse’s chest. So now I’m scared shitless, damn near pissed myself---.”

“Damn near? Looks more like you did, bro. I was wondering what that smell was.” Ricky pointed to my still wet pants.

“Look, man, are you going to let me tell the story or not?” I asked.

“My bad, my bad. Go ahead. Just wanted to make sure I got all the details right.”

“Again, fuck you. Back to the story, so the Hound starts searching the man’s body, but finds nothing. He calls up to whoever the fuck it is Hounds answer to and gets told not to waste his time and to head back. The Hound leaves right. I’m still tucked away like some stained drawers. I wait to make sure he’s gone, gone. As soon as I hear footsteps leaving, I check to see if the coast is clear. And right when I’m about to leave, the motherfucker gets to coughing up blood. I try saving him, thinking, hey maybe if I help him, he helps me. You know? I scratch his back, he scratches mine. Well, he says some vague shit about his band and to take it right before he kicks the bucket, but that would basically be suicide, right?” I stopped again, pointing to Ricky as he sat there, nodding along with me. “At first, I’m like no, but then I get to thinking. Whatever got a Hound chasing a Noblesse might be worth something to somebody, so I fuck around with his life band. Checking for marks, out-of-place nano-chips and shit.”

“Did you find anything?” Ricky asked.

“I didn’t find shit.”

“Then what the fuc---.”

“I found nothing. Something found me.”

“The fuck does that mean, D?” Ricky asked, visibly confused.

“You won’t believe me when I tell you this, but you remember how I said they designated me as a Pariah?” I asked.

“Yeah, that shit’s terrible, man. I’m sorry, whatever I can do for you, man, just say the word.” Ricky said, putting out his blunt in an ashtray, closing his eyes and shaking his head.

“That’s the thing Ricky, I was a Pariah. Look, I’m going to show you something and I need you to stay cool, ok?”

“Ok?” Ricky said, tilting his head.

I threw myself back on the couch, taking another deep breath. Here goes nothing. I folded back the cuff of my hood, displaying my band. I waved my hand over the glass bead as the holographic interface pops out.

“Look at my Bio sheet and tell me what pops out to you.” I said.

“Sure. Let’s see, still short as shit. Still my favorite Yoru homeboy. Still a Par----.” Ricky said, stopping at the obvious change in my Bio sheet, looking back between and the sheet, his mouth wide open. “Davu….what the fuck are you showing me right now?”

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you this whole time. I was looking over his life band, but couldn’t find nothing. Soon as I touch my finger on the scanner module, a beam of light shoots right out into my band. I’m shaken, thinking I got shot with a ray gun or something. I see I’m still alive and in one piece. I check my sheet. And this is what I see. I’m still waiting on my new tech for my computer, so I don’t have the security to figure out what’s going on without being traced. I have no aspirations of getting popped off like ole boy in the alley.” I said.

“And that’s where I come in with my shit on lock like a max security prison, which we can use to figure out what happened to your coding.” Ricky said, wagging his finger at me.

“Exactly.” I nodded.

Ricky threw one last look at the golden band, standing up as he dusted off ashes that fell. His hands at his waist, he took one deep breath before walking over to his set up in the other corner. Turning back, Ricky attempts to give me as reassuring a smile as possible, all things considered.

“Well, let’s get to it then. Can’t have you walking around here with a ticking time bomb on your wrist, bro.”

My chest rose and fell. My heart slowing down to a normal pace for the first time that day.

“Thank you, man. You’re the best.” I said.

“Yeah, yeah, tell me that, after we figured out exactly what happened. I’m not going to sugarcoat it D, something’s going on here. You’re not going to be able to move the same like you did in the past, bro. We’re going to get you right, though. Whatever this is, we’re going to figure it out together.”

“Thank you, man, thank you. I’m just so scared, man. I’m scared. I have no idea what’s going on. Everything’s just happening and I don’t know what to do.” Tears rolled down my face as reality set in.

“Look, if no one else got you, I got you. Now take off your band so we can do a scan to figure out what changed in the coding. Cause what you’ve told and shown me should be fucking impossible, bro, I’m not going to lie.”

“Yeah….I know.” I take a seat beside Ricky at his makeshift desk. “But impossible seems to be the least of my worries right now.” I leaned over his shoulder, watching the screens.

“You might just be looking at it the wrong way, D.” Ricky said.

The corners of eyes crease as they narrowed, throwing him a look.

“I’d love to know how I’m looking at this entire situation the wrong way. Please enlighten me.” I said.

“Well, you said you got Pariah at first, right?” Ricky scans the bead of my life-band, going to work as he tried to access the source code of my Bio sheet.

“Yeah.”

“And now you’re a suppose Noblesse right”

“Yes.”

“So now you have the opportunity to do something most Destros can’t even dream of. D, you can become literally anything you want. You have options now. If you go about this the right way, your entire life can change. You got the golden ticket, bro. We just got to go about this the right way. The employment roulette’s at the end of the month. You don’t even have to go outside. You can wait here and get your job.”

He actually might be right…..I can wait it out here and once I get my job, I can just start working. Only thing I have to figure out is making a fake identity. A whole new life. I could be anything! A lawyer, a doctor, shit, a fucking accountant. I walked away from the desk. My heart started racing again. I took rapid, deep breaths. The world started spinning around me. I can be anything… I’m not a slave!