1029 For the Money

About a couple of blocks away from the five-star hotel, a nondescript van was parked in a dark alley where huge, industrial-size garbage collection bins were located. The place was a big contrast to the bright night city view just a few steps ahead. With the huge garbage bins shielding the van from the street, nobody would be able to see the hidden vehicle without personally going into the alley and checking the place out.

Inside the van, Luke ended the disturbing phone call with Rose Young, his Singaporean maternal cousin. There were other two cousins around his age in the van with him. He called them cousins, but the degree of their blood relations was very distant. Nevertheless, he was still very close to them because they all grew up together in a humble village far away from the big cities. Most residents in the village were distant relatives one way or another.

Earning money was a struggle for everyone in the village. Therefore, many youths like Luke would choose to move to big cities to study or to work or do both at the same time. This was exactly what he was doing right now. He was working part-time while studying.

While growing up back in the village, he had vague memories of listening to his mother and some neighbourhood aunties gossiping about his mother’s cousin marrying a rich Singaporean businessman. Since then, that auntie became a famous rags-to-riches legend not only in the family but also in the entire village. That legendary auntie was Rose Young’s mother.

He already knew that his Cousin Rose was rich, but only when he met her did he realize just how rich she was. Every single item she carried on her person had eye-popping price tags. Not only her. Jenny Tseng, her twice-divorced, flirty but fun best friend, was even more extravagant in her spending than Rose Young. He couldn’t relate to the two rich, Singaporean ladies and felt like they lived in another world.

“Bro, are we really going to do this?” his best friend who was sitting beside him asked, interrupting his thoughts.

“Y-yeah, I guess so.”

“Dude, I’m telling you that this is crazy,” his cousin said from the driver’s seat.

“If the police catches us, we’ll be in deep shit.”

Luke sighed, feeling helpless. “I know. But our parents told us to assist Big Sister Rose in any way that we can.”

“Will her Young family really help all of our families leave the village and prosper in a nice city?”

His cousin at the driver’s seat snorted. “If they really wanted to help us, they should’ve done it a long time ago. Why wait three decades to do so? I’m only here because that woman already paid us big money in advance. She promised to give us double the amount if her fucked up plan succeeds tonight. I’m only here for the money and not because she’s a blood-related cousin. I don’t give a damn about Rose Young and her family. They’re Singaporeans, so to me, they’re foreigners—in short, strangers.”

His best friend nodded. “Same here. I’m only here for the money and for our buddy here.”

Luke wiped the nervous perspiration on his forehead with his long sleeves. “Sorry for calling you all the way here to do this. But you’re the ones I trust the most including our three other bros inside the hotel.”

Before the other two men could reply, his phone vibrated. It was the signal from their other bro whose role was to be the look-out in the hotel. Both Luke and his best friend checked the hotel maintenance uniforms that they were wearing. Jenny Tseng used her connections to procure the outfits for them.

“Alright, let’s do this!” His best friend opened the van door and hopped outside the dark alley.

Luke was sweating a lot and trembling a little underneath the uniform. He hesitated and seriously thought about quitting. However, he remembered the money sitting in his bank account that was more than enough to pay his entire university education. If the plan succeeded tonight, Rose Young promised to not only give him more money but also help him find a good job and give his parents a nice property in any city. This didn’t include the additional help that the Young family would give.

“Dude, just do it according to the plan,” his cousin said after noticing his hesitation. “But if you think that things are not going right, escape immediately and return here. I’ll drive all of us to safety, I promise. If there’s something I’m confident about myself, it’s my driving skills and my knowledge of the lesser-known roads.”

“Thanks.” Luke smiled at him and finally left the dark alley with his best friend.

The two didn’t enter through the hotel’s main entrance but a side door instead, scanning their employee access cards that Jenny Tseng also managed to procure for all of them.

“Bro, I’m heading to my assigned position now and meet up with our other bro.”

Luke nodded. “Me, too. Stay safe.”

They parted ways. Luke headed to the cleaning supplies room to get his “props”. After doing that, he didn’t immediately go to his assigned position. His expression looked torn. He fiddled with his phone for a couple of minutes before making his mind.

He called someone. It rang a few times but nobody answered. He tried calling for three more times before an irritated, male voice finally answered.

“U-uncle Romeo, this is Luke….”

Romeo Young was polite but distant, even a little cold, while speaking to him. Luke, however, didn’t have the time to care about the man’s tone right now. He immediately spilled all the beans about the plan tonight.

They talked for about five minutes with Romeo asking him a lot of questions. Luke could feel the older man’s restrained fury even through the phone call, but he felt better after confessing.

“Uncle, should we…uhm, c-cancel Big Sister Rose’s risky plan?”

“No, my daughter already made up her mind. She can’t be stopped when she’s like this. Do what she told you to do and I’ll handle the rest. Don’t panic if new people start helping you later. It might take a while but I’ll definitely send some reinforcements to provide you all with a safe escape route later.”

Relief flooded Luke. “Yes, Uncle! Thank you very much!”