Music, Love, and Crime

Octavia looked at the number in her left hand. It was nothing more than a scrap of paper but to her it felt heavy. She needed this job but did she want it? The idea of working in a nightclub was less than preferable to her but she had already looked in the papers. There was not really any other option. Sighing and almost sure she would regret it later she typed in the numbers.

Vinyl's phone buzzed in her pocket. She contemplated letting the machine get it but there was a good ten minutes until her guest was supposed to arrive. She pulled it out. Unknown number. She hit answer cautiously taking calls that weren't in her contacts always made her nervous. Then she remembered that Octavia was possibly going to call and she loosened up a bit.

"Yo this is DJ Pon-3?"

"Um...Miss Vinyl?"

"Oh it's you Octy cool." She relaxed a bit.

"If you would please call me Octavia I would be more inclined to speak with you."

"Ok don't like nick names I'll try to remember that."

"Thank you."

"So are you calling about the job then?"

"Yes...I am."

"Cool I was right! I had a feeling you would be interested. I can get you work as early as tonight if you want?"

"That would be good seeing as how rent will be due soon."

"Wait you don't have money to pay your rent?"

"...No I don't."

"When is it due?"

"Two weeks."

"Pay day's not till the end of the month how were you planning to pay?"

Octavia paused she had hoped that she would get her first check before rent was due and be able to at least pay part of it. She had enough food to last her a while but this meant the only other option was to ask her parents for help. They would be more than willing to oblige but she was trying to be independent of them for once in her life.

"I was hoping to get my first check before then." She reluctantly admitted.

"Look I can't get you paid early but I've got some spare quid. I'll cover your first rent for you if you like?"

"Excuse me did I hear you right?"

"Hey sorry I didn't mean to piss you off or anything."

"No I'm not mad but..."

"What?"

"Why would you do that for someone you just met?"

"Cause you sound down on your luck and I like helping people I guess."

Octavia sat back in her couch. She felt upset with herself for jumping to conclusions about Vinyl based on exterior appearance. The way she dressed she had assumed she was some kind self absorbed drug addict like most of the people she had met in clubs. Now she had offered to pay her rent because she liked helping people even if she barley knew them. Mother always said don't judge a book by it's cover now she felt like a fool.

"Uh Octavia did the call drop?"

"Oh uh...no I was just...focused on tuning my Cello. I'm multi tasking if you will."

"Ok well I take it you want the job then?"

"Yes I do actually and If you help me cover my first rent I promise to pay you back as quickly as I can."

"Ok if you want to but don't like rush it and make yourself go hungry for a few days or something. This job pays ok but it's hardly going to let you retire at a remotely young age."

"Well thank you Miss Vinyl."

"Hey do me a favor and just call me Vinyl or V ok? If you want Scratch works too but I don't like the whole formality thing especially with people I work with."

"If you really want me to I can I suppose."

"Cool."

"By the way who's my boss?"

"Eh...Technically me but I don't really lord the position over people but if you have a problem like a fan is showing unwanted attention or something tell me and I'll ban him or something."

"Oh..."

"Is that a problem cause seriously don't worry I didn't even really want to be the 'manager' in the first place so I'm not going to make your life miserable or anything."

"No that's not it I was just a little surprised at the coincidence."

"Hey I've gotta go I have a meeting to attend to now but your first shift starts today at 9PM ok?"

"I'll be there early if you like."

"Ya cool if you could get here like twenty minutes before opening that would be great. I'll teach you how to hook up the speakers and stuff. Show you the ropes as they say."

"Ok and thank-"

The call had ended before she finished. She almost got mad that Vinyl had hung up on her but she had said that she had to go to a meeting so she was probably in a rush she couldn't help.

"Well I actually should tune my Cello come to think of it." She said to herself.

That said she got up and made her way to her bedroom where her instrument was kept. On the bed was a note from Lyra and Bon Bon. She already knew that they had left but they had been gone before she woke up. Picking up the scrap of paper she read it to her self.

"Me and Bon left before you woke up don't worry we didn't want to make a mess of your bed so there's no you know. We just wanted to say take the job we both think it will do you some good to live differently for a bit. Also that DJ huh? You could do worse." Octavia could practically hear them giggling.

Vinyl took a seat at the table as Shamrock entered with two body guards. He wore a green jacket and a bowler hat with a monocle. He had a cigar in his mouth and a smile that would set most people at ease. His red hair was nearly as messy as Vinyl's and his beard had been given free reign to grow.

None of Vinyl's gang acted as if there was anything different than usual going on. The fact was that Shamrock was more or less a friend. They had an agreement not to go onto each others turf without permission and had been of use to each other many a time. The thing about Shamrock that people didn't like was that anything he did had to benefit him. If you were looking for charity you would not find it in his neighborhood. The Irishman had a keen eye for spotting business opportunities and was as good a salesmen as he was a criminal.

If you had to say something good about him you could say that he was a man of his word. Once a deal was made he stuck to it. Not once had he double crossed a client. He respected any debt he owed hence his reason for a meeting with Vynil and her gang. He took a seat in one of the spare chairs as his guards stood behind him. Blowing a smoke ring he turned to Vynil and spoke.

"Good ta see ya shade!" His accent as obvious as ever.

"Ya it's cool seeing you too."

"I got yer message from that worker of yer's and I'm sorry to say I can't oblige yer request at the moment."

"Fuck what's the problem now?"

"Money is that's what. Our accountant Little Darbey decided it was a good idea to fill two duffle bags with a hundred thousand pounds each. He paid the safe guards off but we dealt with them when we discovered the guilty parties. With our other expenses we can't hire temporary muscle to fill in for what we loan you."

"Are you trying to tell me that you want me to recover your money for you?"

"Well where such a thing to happen I might be able to help you out."

Vinyl rolled her eyes under her shades. When dealing with Shamrock there were always strings attached.

"Fine let's talk price then."

"Yer getting men from me that's the price."

"Don't try that with me you already owe me a favor for that incident on the Thaimes. This is not connected to that so you are going to give me compensation for my work."

Shamrock sighed taking a puff of his cigar.

"I'll give you 8% of the recovered cash."

"I want twenty."

He scoffed.

"No way in Tartarus Shade! But I'm feeling generous today how about 10%?"

"I'm not going lower than fifteen. Pay me less and you can take your business elsewhere."

"Ok how about thirteen?"

"Fifteen or no deal. Also I want the name of a reliable gun merchant as an I'm sorry for belittling me by offering such a shit deal!"

"Shite! Fine fine! I should have known better than to push me luck with you."

He gestured to one of his body guards who pulled a piece of paper from his coat pocket with a quill and a bottle of ink. Shamrock quickly drew up a contract and signed it passing the paper to Vinyl with the quill. She looked it over carefully then signed it passing it back to him. He rolled it up and put it in his jacket pocket.

"I need the money back before I send you any men. As for the gun merchant I'll give you his contact info when I have me cash in me hands."

"Give me a few days at most I'll get it back."

He nodded and started for the door his guards behind him. Vinyl looked at the clock in the room. She had three hours before the club opened. Hold 'em looked over at her.

"So 30,000 pounds and a weapon dealing contact?"

"Yep." Vinyl popped the P.

"Well what's the plan then?"

"Coin Flip and Ashes will stay here with me at the club. As for you two." She pointed at Hold 'em and Nightingale. "We need to get that money as soon as possible. I doubt the Crowns will take very long to come after us."

"Do you have any plans for tonight V?" Asked Hold 'em.

Vinyl pulled a cigarette from the pack in her pocket and lit it with her zippo. She took a deep draw and blew the smoke out the corner of her mouth. She nodded her head.

"Mind letting us in on them?"

"Best I don't for now till the plans a sure thing. Don't want to get your hopes too high."

Hold 'em reluctantly nodded before standing with his girlfriend to head out. Once they departed Vynil stood and made for the door leading into the club. She motioned for the others to follow her.

Octavia pulled her brush through her hair for the last time. She checked her breath feeling satisfied with it before grabbing her bowtie and tying it about her neck. There was a honk outside her flat from the cab she had called. She looked at her watch. Ten till 8:40 just enough time to arrive when promised if all went well. Grabbing her Cello she made for the door running a check list in her head. Satisfied she climbed in the vehicle.

"Where to ma'am?"

"The Foal House please."

The cabbie started up the engine and drove down the left side of the road. They made good time and Octavia tipped the driver a little extra though she probably couldn't afford it at the moment. He thanked her as she grabbed her Cello from the trunk and approached the door. Unfortunately she found it locked and was forced to knock on the doors.

A few minutes later the blue haired DJ opened them up for her. She kicked down the door stops as Octavia stepped in nodding her thanks. With the doors now propped open Vinyl turned to her.

"You need help carrying that?"

"Thank you but I can manage."

"Cool. Anyways just put it on the stage and come grab a drink at the bar if you want. If your not in the mood I could probably dig up some kind of snack."

"The latter would be appreciated thank you."

"No bigs."

Vinyl turned to go in the back room that had a sign on it that said 'Select staff only!' Octavia couldn't help but think about the way the DJ sounded as she put he instrument down on the stage. It was clear she was not from England or anywhere nearby for that matter. In fact she sounded more like a citizen from the Americas. The only reason she had a clue was from movies she had seen. Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt someone tap her shoulder. She turned to see Vynil holding a Blueberry muffin in her hand.

"Sorry all we have in back is breakfast food for some reason. You didn't really strike me as the type for Fruity Chocolate Flakes so I grabbed this."

Octavia gave a small smile and took the muffin having a small bite. It was good but then again in many cases a muffin is a muffin. When she looked back up the DJ was digging through her record box. Again she felt guilty for jumping to conclusions about her earlier. Despite her appearance she had been nothing but friendly from the day they met. Sure she looked like a punk but she didn't act like one. She was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard Vinyl speak.

"Shit they didn't get the records for tonight's show!"

"Couldn't you just use the ones you have?"

"No the sound would clash with you're Cello music. Trust me it would sound awful."

"So what do we do?"

"Well I got some at home that would work. I could go get them quick but I...Need help carrying them." She said the last part reluctantly.

"Why would you need help carrying things in a car?"

"I don't drive a car I ride a Breakout."

"A what?"

"What do you call them here uh...oh ya a motorbike! I don't have anywhere to store them on it and I need both hands to steer."

"Well I suppose you should get one of your friends to help you then."

"That's kinda the problem. Without Coin Flip there's no guard on duty and Ashes has to watch the bar."

"What about the others that work here?"

"They're home sick and we weren't expecting to be busy enough to need replacements."

"So how do we get the records?"

"Well you'll have to carry them while I drive I guess."

"I beg your pardon?"

"I'm sorry ok but there aren't any other options right now. We have to go or there's going to be a bunch of pissed off clubbers here in like ten minutes!"

Octavia gulped at the thought of riding a motorbike but Vinyl had made the position they were in perfectly clear. She nodded and Vynil and her made for the front door. Heading around the back of the club into an ally the DJ threw her leg over the Breakout. She revved the engine to life and motioned for Octavia to hop on. Gulping again she did so and the bike sped off doing a U turn in the ally and into the road.

Octavia let out a small eep and clung tightly to the driver. Vinyl turned on the music and loud rock 'n roll started playing as she weaved in between cars definitely breaking traffic laws and speed limit alike. Octavia looked up in time to see her make an Illegal right turn the rear wheel of her bike sliding a little till she faced straight down the road.

"You are a terrible driver!"

"I'm in a hurry we don't have a choice if we don't want the boss super pissed! This is your first day on the job you need to make a good impression!"

After a two more minutes Vinyl slammed the breaks skidding to a stop outside a rather shabby apartment complex. She practically jumped off the bike but to her surprise she helped Octavia down. Imeadeatly after she ran up the steps of her building to the front door taking them two at a time. Octavia followed her into a hallway with papers littered across the floor.

Vinyl hurriedly dug out her keys and opened the door to her flat. Octavia followed her in and was surprised to see that the room had nothing more than a bed and a chair in the way of furniture. This apartment was maybe a third the size of hers at best and the cupboards didn't even have doors. They were filled with nothing but Ramen noodles and other cheep packaged foods. You could tell the house had not been cleaned in a long while as paper and the occasional whiskey bottle lay on the floor.

Vinyl was rummaging through the mess digging out records as fast as she could. It seemed the only form of entertainment in the whole room was and old record player. Other than that she had nothing no Telly no computer or anything. Octavia couldn't hide the concern on her face as Vinyl turned towards her with a stack of albums.

"Heh...Sorry about the mess I don't really get visitors sooo..."

"Why would you live like this? You make enough to pay for a better place than this."

Octavia imeadeatly regretted her words as she saw Vinyl wince from them.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean it like-"

"Dude it's fine I know this place is a shit hole. I just have other things to spend my scratch on. Now come on we got to go!"

She ran out the door with her records as Octavia followed hesitantly behind. Once outside the DJ handed the records to Octavia and jumped back onto her bike. The Cellist climbed on keeping the records between her and Vinyl while holding on for dear life as they sped back to the club.