“ Get that money! Yeah, get that money!” Said a bystander with a big Afro and an Afro pick still stuck in his hair. 22 year old Jamaal Thomas lowered the bar onto his chest for one more repetition and pushed with all of his might. He was used to jealous onlookers watching him all the time and the 315 pounds on his chest almost felt too easy. Next week he would max out on the bench press at 350 pounds. It felt good to be part of the 300 club while most of his friends struggled in the 200's range. Jamaal checked the position of his hands once more to make sure they were clear from harms way so he could safely put the bar back on the rack without losing a finger. One of his friends nearly lost a finger from not paying attention.
Jamaal sat up on the bench and wiped his sweaty face with a hand towel. He had no idea he was being watched.
The Gadget Man crouched beside the bushes and peered through the window. He did not like what he saw. Jamaal was no longer that little twerpy seventh grader with long lanky arms. By golly Jamaal had grown into a beast!
It was 12:15 pm and a lot of the business men were leaving G&R's Fitness Factory to make it back to work before their lunch hour was up. Vinny tightened the strings on his dark blue hoody to conceal every strand of his wavy long hair. The dark thick sunglasses he had on covered up his eye patch completely. He watched a roly-poly middle aged man exit the back door of the fitness club carrying two bags of trash. The pudgy janitor propped a stick in the door to keep it from locking and then walked out towards the dumpsters.
Like a stray cat on the prowl Vinny slid through the exit door undetected. The Gadget Man crept down a long hallway heading towards the weight room when he caught a glimpse of Jamaal's dreadlocks in the corridor outside the weight room. Vinny quickly hid in the doorway leading into a racquetball room which seemed to be unoccupied. He could hear Jamaal talking to a woman who had the voice of a prima donna. He kept his body perfectly still to better listen into the conversation.
“ My friend Kalista is relaxing in the hot tub. She wants to know if you'll come join us?”
Jamaal wiped the remaining beads of sweat on his furrowed forehead with his Nike hand towel.” Aight, that's what's poppn. I just finished my workout. Give me ten minutes to change into my bathing suit and shower off real quick.” He said making his biceps bulge as he lifted his towel once more to wipe his face. The woman gave him a playful pat to the abdomen and turned around to walk away.” We'll see you out there Tiger.” She said with aplomb looking back at him once more as she walked away.
Vinny reached into his back pocket and put on his black leather gloves. It was about to get fun. He was about to seek revenge after 10 long miserable years. This was going to feel good, very good. Vinny surreptitiously followed Jamaal to the locker room while staying on the lookout for surveillance cameras. There didn't appear to be any. He paused at the locker room entrance for a minute and took a deep breath. This was going to be difficult. Jamaal looked like a Gladiator warrior and Vinny worried about whether or not he could overpower him.
By the time Vinny worked up the nerve to step into the locker room Jamaal had already changed into his checkered swim trunks and was stepping into the shower. The Gadget Man fondled the 3 inch in diameter brass ring that he had fashioned into the loose end of a cable tie. Cable ties were often used to bundle up electrical wires or hold trash bags together. Sometimes police even used them as temporary handcuffs. Vinny had already formed the loop in the cable tie and drilled a hole through the loose end in which he inserted a 3 inch brass ring which he would use for leverage.
Other than Jamaal, the locker room appeared to be empty. Vinny hid behind one of the lockers and listened to the shower water turn on. Most people wash their hair first when they first step into the shower. They often close their eyes to keep the soap from burning their eyes. Jamaal sure had a lot of hair and there was a really good chance that that's what he was doing right now.
Vinny knew he would only get one shot at this and had to act quickly. He pulled the nylon ligature out of the front pocket of his hoody and wrapped his index and middle finger tightly around the brass ring. He tip-toed over to the shower and saw a silhouette of Jamaal bent over thoroughly scrubbing his long hair. Then the inevitable happened. Jamaal started singing a rap song that Vinny recognized from when he was in jail.
“ Try to catch me riding dirty....” Sang Jamaal.
The voices began to taunt the Gadget Man. Go ahead and do it! You hate rap music. How much longer are you going to let him sing? Taunted the voice. Vinny took one last look around to make sure nobody was watching. He didn't have to look for cameras because it is illegal for surveillance cameras to be in a locker room.
The coast was clear. Vinny watched Jamaal's head bob down once again through the translucent shower curtain as if he were scratching out flees. He quickly pulled back the curtain and fastened the cable tie around Jamaal's neck then pulled on the brass ring with all of his might. The singing abruptly ended and Vinny felt a fist being thrust into his kidney right before he turned around and ran. Jamaal's eyes burned from the soap when he tried to open them to identify his assailant. He tottered out of the shower and looked around but everything was turning blue. Whoever it was was gone like dust in the wind but at least he had gotten one good jab into his attacker.
Jamaal couldn't breathe. In fact he couldn't even swallow. He started feeling dizzy and woozy and the floor tiles looked like they were spinning in a vortex. The cable tie was capable of withstanding 250lbs of pressure and clung relentlessly around his neck.
Nobody saw Vinny walk briskly down the long hallway heading towards the exit door he had entered earlier. When he got to the door he pulled a handkerchief from his back left pocket and wiped any possible prints he may have left on the door knob. Vinny felt a surge of exhilaration when he looked around and didn't see anybody watching him. He stuffed the handkerchief back in his pocket and walked away whistling.
Jamaal tried to break the nylon ligature around his neck with his bare hands. It was no use because it was bound too tightly to get a grip. A body builder wearing a black tank top and frayed jean shorts that were way too short and revealed his massive thighs, walked into the locker room.
“ Oh my gosh what happened?” He said rushing over to Jamaal. Jamaal was still pulling on the cable tie while dancing around in circles and grunting like a dog with a muzzle on it's mouth.” Come on, let's get you some help.” Said the body builder tugging on Jamaal's arm.
The body builder escorted him out of the locker room and into the hallway which led to the leisure room where the front entrance was. Jamaal's vision turned into one giant sketchy blur but he held onto the body builder's arm to help guide him along the way.
By the time they reached the leisure room Jamaal blacked out and fell to the floor.
“ Somebody help us! A man has a cable tie bound to his neck and he's choking!” Cried the body builder.
A pretty Asian woman working the front desk heard the cry for help and desperately rooted through the desk drawer until she found what she was looking for. The body builder noticed that a lot of Jamaal's hair was caught between the ligature. He yanked the strands of hair out of the way thus loosening the tension on the cable tie wrapped around his neck. It didn't seem to help much because there was still a lot of tension digging into his neck.
Mya, the pretty Asian, came running over with a pair of scissors. She accidentally punctured the skin when she cut loose the cable tie. Jamaal let out a cough and squirmed around on the floor. Then he sat up gasping to catch his breath. Some gym members that were shooting pool dropped their pool sticks onto the pool table and huddled around Jamaal. Another burly bystander was on his cellphone phoning the police. Tiny drips of blood trickled down Jamaal's neck from the puncture mark made by the scissors.
Jamaal rubbed his neck and smiled because he had survived the garrote.” I know who did this” he said,” I know who did this.”