A Dawn at Detroit I am a drug dealer, of course an illegal one. What more do you expect?

, I was bargaining with a member of the influential Gulf Cartel, on a girl. She was a parlour girl, lonely and single. She met her own fate by telling a stranger, which is me, all her personal details when she bought two licks of ketamine for 140 bucks last night. I got the money, had fun with her all night in the pub, and now selling her for 5 grands, for shes such a beauty. This is what our members would call a triple-treat. She was under a heavy dose of chloroform at that time, lying unconscious. My plan worked fine, as usual. Finally we struck a deal. They told me that they were going to take her to their Atlanta base R&D section. I was a bit surprised. Generally they take their slaves to secret dungeons. Nevertheless, I had no time wondering what would happen to her as an important deal was awaiting me, the last deal of my life. I took my car and drove towards downtown Detroit. Memories of the past engrossed me like a predator cornering its prey. Today is my last day, in business. I was nervous, a feeling never experienced for the past 16 years of my drug trafficking and human trafficking career. In professional circles, I am known as little bravo. I was a small-time thief before joining the Felix Cartel. I dont really know the drug-lord of the organization but this I know that it has a well-structured system in place with a lot of departments like Research, Telecommunication and even a paramilitary force to fight the government law enforcers. Some of my colleagues (I wont say friends, for there is no such relations in our business) say that the Cartels net worth would be more than the economies of 26 nations. Drugs, human and arms are the three most important things that we traffic illegally. Engineers, young girls, AK-47s, ketamine, cocaine..Ive seen lot of it in my life. For additional earnings, I had tried my hand in arms-dealing and kidnapping people, though drugs remained close to my heart be it the high of marijuana or the versatility of ketamine. I loved it all but I loved my wife Katy above everything, not to forget my little boy Andrew. They lived in Chicago and I would go there every weekend to spend time with them. She always believed that I am a banker in Detroit but I could not imagine her reaction when she becomes aware that all along I was a part of the network which makes Detroit as the most dangerous place to live in United States. In the turbulence of a risky life, I saw my wife and kid as a rare blossom in the midst of a desert. For their sake, I planned to move to San Francisco with them, to find a decent job and to live with them happily forever, leaving this crime-ridden place once and for all. Yesterday, I told my stance to Ramon, my immediate head and a long acquaintance of mine. As a routine, he would give me the trafficked drugs and I would sell them secretly to locals, after much scrutiny, so that no trace would be left. He tried to convince me but seeing my stubbornness, he assured that I could leave the city the next day after completing one last job. An agent will hand over fifty grands at Chene Park tomorrow. Get me the money from him. Ill wait for you in our usual meeting place in Michigan Avenue. Finish the job and you are free. Cheer up Bravo!. But my inquisitiveness made me ask about my boss. For a long time, you have denied me any information about our boss. Who is he? You can tell me now, for I will leave the city and no one shall get anything from me after that. I will erase everything that leads to me before going.I just wanted to know who the kingpin of Felix is, at least at the last moment. Even I dont know him. He is a true master, a master of disguise. He even controls many Government officials of both Mexico and US.

No one knows his real identity but in my senior ranks, he is known as El Pablo. Saying thus, he went off quickly. It was dawn already and it was business as usual to me. I went to Chene Park and waited. The Detroit River, on the bank of which the park was located, looked beautiful. Its flowing water sparkled in the orange sun, a new dawn for me indeed. I sank in the memories of my son Andrew. His innocent smile, the days of Chicago life, everything seemed heavenly. But the fact that I had ruined lives of many men and women intrigued me and made me uncomfortable. Why was I leading such a double-life so long? Like a tunnel rat, running away at the sign of DPD. Falcon, a sudden voice disturbed me. A man in a tuxedo stood by me. I replied, Amy greeted you. It is the codeword that we normally use. He handed over a suitcase of fifty grands. There was no need to check as large scale dealers of established Cartels were always honest. I was returning to my car when a sudden blow grounded me. Before I recovered, my pistol and the suitcase were seized. To my horror, the police had caught me. It was no less than a trauma. I could not offer any resistance. Perplexed by sudden turn of events, I was chained and pushed into their vehicle. The police officer who sat near me was old but still was an imposing personality. He smiled and asked, So Bravo, who do think would have framed you? Though I could not fathom his words completely, it was clear that everything was planned before hand. But I was in no mood to reply. I dug my own grave by telling Ramon about leaving the cartel. I should have run away, far away from their sights. Lot of thoughts rammed my mind. I was restless but there was still hope left in me. As there was no evidence to my crimes barring the current one I thought I could get out of the jail soon. But the problem of telling the truth to my wife loomed large before me. I decided not to mention about my family to the police. He continued, You have done a big mistake by deciding to leave the cartel. Felix has no exits, only entrance. If at all you badly have to cut your ties, there is only one door that I can show you, through which there is no return. Now I was clearly horrified. How does he know everything? Who are you? Are you a fake? My voice trembled. No, my dear. I am a real policeman. Ramon told me that you were curious to learn about me. People call me by the name El Pablo and I am the police chief of Detroit Police Department. You are going to be killed for trying to injure the policemen. Saying this, he shot at the front glass of the car, shattering it into pieces. Ouch..Careful boss!, the driver said and sheepishly smiled. I could understand why all these years, our crimes went unnoticed by the police. My life went into oblivion and I totally deserved it. Before the doom, I heard two gunshots; one bullet piercing my heart and another one went straight through my forehead. The commotion around, slowly faded.