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Samer was hanging out in his usual spot talking to some security guards; he was the survivor kind of people that let nothing stand in the way of his doing business. I waited for him to finish talking to the guards while I enjoyed smoking a couple of cigarettes from my gift pack. I didn't like that I was broke, and I had to smoke off the charity of Pam, but I appreciated her little gesture. However, I knew I had to find a way to make some money in this miserable camp. I could not ask Pam to give me any money, not after the lecture she gave me today. I wasn't going to steal any money from her again, either. She must have stashed them in a secure location by now, maybe, with her new friends whom she seemed to trust more than me. I had to make my own money and be free in this place. After all that I had been through, I figured money was the only freedom that mattered. What if we had loads of money. I was sure we could buy fake passports and go to any country we liked without having to go through all this humiliation, but I was born with a gift that should come in handy here.
"Hey, man. What's up? How come you're not playing cards with the gang?" Samer asked.
"Well, I was hanging around, and I saw you talking to those guards. You've got skills, man. I'll give you that."
"Yeah, I guess I have some. So, are you here to buy anything? What can I get you?" Samer didn't seem to appreciate me talking about his business. The man would not welcome any faint sign of competition.
"Not really. I don't need anything, but hey, you were talking about making money in this shit-hole. I thought I could, I don't know if I were..."
"Do you want to work with me? Is that what you're trying to say? Listen, man, it doesn't work this way. My contacts trust me, and I'm sure I don't need anybody to help at the moment, but I'll see if things change, and..."
"No, no, no that's not what I meant. I hate buying and selling stuff man. I suck at it."
"So, what do you want? Have you been drinking or something? Do you want me to get you a bottle? Say what you need, man; I'll give you a discount."
I could see he was a little apprehensive, and I don't blame him. I mean Samer was about a hundred sixty-something tall and did not weigh much over sixty kilograms.
"I don't need a bottle, Ok. I was thinking about what you said about Hangar D."
"Hangar D? What did I say? I was talking about the raid and the... no man, you can't be serious."
"Yes, I can. That's exactly what I'm talking about."
"Listen, man. You look like a decent fellow trapped in this shit-hole. I mean, yeah, I look at your physique, and I know you can do it, but these guys over there are not nice like the other guys you see here and myself. These guys are murderers. They brag about how many people they killed before they came here. I don't care which side they're on. Both sides are murderers. I don't think you really want to do that."
"Why not? You said it yourself. I have what it takes."
"Yeah, but you weren't listening. These guys are thugs. They're scum, OK. You wouldn't want to have anything to do with them. Besides, some of them, I can guarantee you, are ISIS. You could get into a lot of trouble."
"Don't worry about me. I can handle it, but the question is, do you have what it takes."
"What? To fight? Look at me, man! Are you crazy?"
"Do you have what it takes to get me there, to make introductions, tonight?"
"What? Tonight? Hell, no man. I mean I can talk to someone, but I don't know." Samer took his time looking at my body and measuring my chances of winning, but he must have been weighing his next question more,
"Listen, man. I'll do it, but what's in it for me?"
"Now we're talking."
"So?"
"I'll give you ten percent of what I make?"
"And what if you make nothing?"
"Oh, I will. Don't you worry about it."
Samer told me to come the next day at eight and wait for him near gate 12.
I went back to the room. Pam was there reading. It surprised her to see me so early.
"What's up, honey? Bad luck?"
"Yeah. I don't know. I didn't feel like playing tonight."
Pam was still looking at me, and I wasn't sure she believed my excuse.
"And I miss you so much. I have to make up for all those nights I was out there playing." I was not sure she bought this, either, but she was the one missing me, so she did not drag on the discussion any further. We had some of the most depraved sex we had in a long time, but it was not by a far shot the most intimate.
The next morning, we were up early. We got out of the room, and people were swarming the halls and children were playing like they were playing in their own gardens, for God's sake. However, I had to endure the cruelty of waiting the whole day until eight to find out if Samer was true to his word. We spent most of the day with Mr. And Mrs. perfect talking about the same old shit I couldn't spare any ears for, but I kept smiling and talking now and then to make the man feel important, he and all his business crap. The whole of Tempelhof must have known by now that he had his Ph.D. in economics from Harvard, wow, but nobody could give two shits about that in a shithole like this.
I told Pam I was going to play cards with the guys. She asked me if I needed cigarettes. Well, that was what I needed, Pam playing my shrink. I told her I was ok, and then she promoted herself from my shrink to my mother when she said she was proud of me, or maybe she was hoping for another wild night.
I was at gate 12 early, and Samer was not there yet. I smoked most of the cigarettes left in the pack, and that schmuck still didn't show up. Well, punctuality was not crucial in his line of business, not in this place, but I used to be a punctual man, and I hated it when people were late for their appointments. Finally, after about an hour, he showed up with a guy I hadn't seen before.
"Hey, Joseph, what's up? This is Maher, Maher, this is Joseph."
Maher was an average height guy who was a little overweight. He was wearing a black shirt and black pants, I could smell his Mont Blanc Legend perfume from miles before I shook hands with him. I used the same perfume back home, and I could tell that was the real thing, not some fake bottled version. His beard was trimmed in a manner so impossible to be done on one's own, but the lines were so fresh as if he came straight from the barber's shop.
"So, I heard you wish to join our exclusive gentlemen's club, so I had to come and see and see you myself." Maher was studying me, and his small black eyes kept rolling covering all the area my body occupied in that space like a tailor or an undertaker, I couldn't tell.
"And now you have seen it?" I said while I was still holding that firm handshake with him.
"I think I would love to give you a shot. We have a special party tonight at ten. Why don't you come with your manager to the hangar, and we'll see what happens?"
"All right then. I'll see you at ten."
Maher broke the handshake with an eerie smile on his face, he turned around and made his way back in the shadows he came from.
"You don't want to mess with this guy. You understand me." Samer said, but I still fixed my eyes on the shadow of Maher disappearing in the dimly lit halls in front of gate 12. When he vanished in the dark, I turned to see Samer looking at me with his eyes filled with that big question. I patted his shoulder and told him not to worry.
"It's only business, my friend."
"It's never only business with these guys; it always gets personal, and when it does, there is no turning back, and that'll be my cue to bail, OK? Nothing personal, my man."
"Yeah, yeah, sure. You did what I asked you to do. You come with me tonight, and you don't have to go there after that." Samer lifted his eyebrows.
"Don't worry. You'll get your money. You have my word. I know it means nothing to you, but it does to me. Anyway, I will come to you to buy stuff, and you will know if I have money and you don't."
"Are you doing all this to drink? Are you crazy, man? You could get yourself killed in there."
"I'm not doing it for the fucking booze; I'm sick of sitting on my ass doing nothing. I have been making money since I was fifteen. I can't do nothing. Anyway, it's too late for your advice now, so why don't you shove it up your ass. We've already agreed with the man. Are you in or what? You're my manager, after all, are you not?"
"Suit yourself."
"Hey, could you lend me a pack of cigarettes and a Bear? I'll pay you back from my winnings. It has nothing to do with your share. Chill out."
Samer went to his stash and got me what I wanted, then he wasted no time while we were waiting. He handled a few customers, and when it was time to go, he hid his stash and walked towards me.
"Hey, man it's your final chance to..." Samer didn't finish as he could see the answer in my eyes.
"What are you afraid of? I'm the one fighting tonight. Let's go."