Chapter 007: Urgent Time

Success requires taking risks, and thinking about stealing money from two gangster thugs made Cyrus Greene somewhat anxious.

"You seem too nervous, want a smoke?"

"I don't smoke."

"This isn't a cigarette, it's marijuana. It'll help you get excited."

"Marijuana? No thanks, I think I'm excited enough already."

When Cyrus Greene was planning with Lena, it was already midnight. Both of them were ready to act immediately and headed to the Cat's Claw Bar.

As an Eastern European immigrant, Lena owned a run-down Ford sedan she bought for two thousand dollars. She sat with Cyrus Greene in the car, staking out the Cat's Claw Bar. She wore heavy smokey eye makeup, just a tube top and leather skirt, with high heels - the very picture of a working girl.

By 2030, self-driving electric vehicles had become common on American roads, though many old internal combustion engine cars were still around. Living in America without a car was unthinkable - the public transit system wasn't that developed, and taking taxis daily would be too expensive even for the middle class.

While Cyrus Greene stared longingly at the modern, luxurious vehicles in the bar's parking lot, Lena blew smoke rings and made casual conversation.

"Those two Russian bastards are scum. They take twenty-five percent of every transaction we make. They take our money, frequently beat and curse at us, and even demand free sex."

"Ivan forces us to use their high-interest loans, even when we don't need them. When we can't pay back, they beat us and force us to sleep with perverts. Some girls have even died from sexual abuse."

"Yakov sells drugs in the bar and makes us help him sell them. If we don't meet the daily sales quota, he beats us too. Many of us are controlled by his drugs. You can't imagine how miserable this life is - there seems to be no hope of escape."

"Today, I had a transaction without giving Ivan his cut, so the brothers chased me down, saying they'd teach me a lesson. Do you know what they plan to do? They wanted to have their way with me and then slash my throat as a warning to other prostitutes working at the bar."

As Lena angrily recounted her story, she showed Cyrus Greene her injuries, particularly the smokey eye makeup that was covering bruises.

"Wasn't life better in your homeland?" Cyrus Greene felt chilled by Lena's stories. The moment he asked, he knew he'd made a mistake.

"My homeland..." Lena froze instantly, falling silent. She kept smoking marijuana, staring blankly at the street outside. After a long while, she said irritably, "I don't want to answer that question. Just help me get the twenty thousand dollars and get me out of this hell."

The car fell into complete silence, neither of them in the mood to talk, just quietly watching the bar's entrance.

The Potaski brothers were the bar's bouncers, responsible for taking important customers home when they were too drunk. Cyrus Greene and Lena were waiting for the Potaski brothers to leave the bar before they could go in to steal the money.

Getting both brothers to leave simultaneously required some luck, and tonight Cyrus Greene was fortunate. When Lena saw Ivan helping a drunk man out, she immediately tapped Cyrus Greene's shoulder and said with a tone of desperate resolve, "I don't understand how you know where the Potaski brothers hide their money, but I've decided to trust you. We'll have fifteen minutes at most, we must move fast."

After Cyrus Greene got out of the car, Lena immediately took his arm, and they walked closely together to the Cat's Claw Bar's entrance. The doorman glanced at Cyrus Greene, took his fifty-dollar entrance fee, and let him in without a word.

"Don't let my money go to waste," Lena whispered in Cyrus Greene's ear. Since Cyrus Greene didn't have a penny to his name, Lena had paid the entrance fee.

"Don't worry, I'm one hundred percent certain," Cyrus Greene said, trying to boost his confidence. Although he had already changed the plot, this was his first time stealing anything, let alone from two extremely violent thugs.

The Cat's Claw Bar was located in the basement of a dilapidated building, spanning over a thousand square meters across two underground levels. The first basement level was the bar itself, filled with a nauseating mix of smoke, alcohol, and sweat. Heavy metal music blasted at deafening volumes, and in the dim light, you could only see heads bobbing in the darkness.

The second basement level consisted of private rooms where prostitutes took their clients after soliciting, plus a small casino. The bar's bouncers also lived there.

American nightlife was quite monotonous - there was no such thing as going out for a stroll. People either stayed home watching TV, playing games, or masturbating, or they went to bars to hang out.

As Cyrus Greene entered the bar, Lena led him by hand toward the second basement level. However, halfway there, he suddenly noticed several young girls laughing and making noise by the bar counter. Among them was an extremely beautiful girl - Angelina Lawrence.

"Angie, why are you here?" Cyrus Greene exclaimed in surprise, walking over. "Shouldn't you be in bed by now? And you're drinking?"

Cyrus Greene was shocked - this scene wasn't in the movie he'd watched! Underage drinking was prohibited in America, but illegal bars like this didn't care about regulations - anyone could drink if they had money.

Angie had snuck out with her friends. She was in the middle of taking a drink when Cyrus Greene startled her, and she stammered in shock and confusion, "Vic... Victor, why are you here?"

"I think you should go home right now," Cyrus Greene said sternly.

"I... I... I..." Angie was completely intimidated by Cyrus Greene, but when she noticed Lena standing arm-in-arm with him, she suddenly shrieked, "Who is she?"

"Angie, never mind who she is. I want you to go home right now. This isn't a place for you. Your parents will be worried." Cyrus Greene thought to himself: More importantly if something happens to you, the whole plot will be thrown into chaos. How am I supposed to stay ahead of events then?

But as soon as he said this, there was a chorus of jeers from around them. The other girls who had come with Angie started mocking Cyrus Greene. Angie herself glared darkly and snapped, "Don't treat me like an idiot. I'm just having a drink, but the woman next to you is a prostitute. You make me sick."

Facing Angie's scorn, Lena had to step forward and tug at Cyrus Greene, saying, "We have more important things to do, and we don't have time to waste."

Ooh... When Lena mentioned 'more important things,' the crowd erupted in teasing laughter, everyone thinking of that one thing. A white youth stepped in front of Angie and said, "Hey baby! Why would you date a yellow monkey like him? Dump him and let me buy you a drink."

Angie turned coldly back to the bar counter, saying angrily, "He's not my boyfriend. I don't even know him!"

"That's more like it! Let's have some fun." The white youth pushed aside one of Angie's friends to sit down next to her and extended his hand, saying, "Let me introduce myself. I'm Cooper, nice to meet you."

Seeing Angie ignoring him, Cyrus Greene felt helpless. Meanwhile, Lena was anxiously urging beside him, "Victor, we don't have much time, really not much time! The Potaski brothers could return at any moment. If they see you here, you'll be in big trouble - you'll die!"