Middle Men Page #6

you understand? Sit down!

- Hey, sugar!

- Hey.

- Oh, sweetie.

- Dad!

- Hey, buddy.

- Dad!

You're back!

- Hey, you OK?

- I'm OK. I just missed you, that's all.

Here you go. Will you hold these?

- Oh, will you hold this?

- Yeah.

You can't eat those!

- You can't eat those, honey.

- Hi. Will you grab my bag, Michael?

- OK, let's go get something to eat.

- Yeah? Where you wanna go?

Wherever you want.

Yeah, look at the pretty

green one. Look.

You OK, baby doll?

- I'm fine.

- Yeah?

Yeah.

It's so nice to have you home.

Mom, what do fish eat?

Some eat plankton,

some eat other fish.

They pretty much eat

whatever's around.

Look, have one of these.

You're awake, aren't you?

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

I know you better than

you know yourself, mister.

What is it, baby doll?

It's just work stuff. It's OK.

- You sure?

- Yeah.

Yeah?

You know, I gotta go back out there

for a couple of days.

No.

I'm sorry, it's just,

it's a new business.

As soon as I get it up and running,

I'll be home all the time, OK?

I promise. OK?

So, what kind of business is it?

It's like I told you, honey,

it's an Internet business.

Yeah, I know. What kind?

Oh, like a billing service.

- Oh, yeah? What for?

- What do you mean?

What do you bill people for?

Just, you know, just entertainment.

Oh, yeah? What kind of entertainment?

Like movies

and just pictures of different stuff.

Hey, maybe you can get some free

movies, bring 'em home for Michael.

It's weird. I feel like

you're not telling me something.

OK, fine. Adult movies.

- Oh, yeah? OK.

- I'm not joking.

Come on, sweetie, you gotta go.

Be serious.

- I'm serious, Diana.

- What?

What do you mean, adult movies?

Relax, I'm not making

porn movies here.

It's an Internet billing service, OK?

That's all.

Internet billing service?

I... What...?

I don't even know what...

I mean, what does that mean?

You bill people on their computers?

Yes, Diana, computers.

OK, right. Yeah, good. That's the

stupidest thing I've ever heard.

I'm sorry you feel that way.

I think it's the gold rush

and it'll have us set up

for life in less than a year. OK?

And you're right, I do have to go.

I gotta go, babe.

You don't get to walk out

on this kind of conversation.

I gotta catch my flight.

Honey, OK, take it easy.

No. Hey, hey, hey! Listen!

This is completely crazy and disgusting.

I don't want you being part of it.

I don't want you being a pornographer.

OK, so Steve Wynn and Barron Hilton

are pornographers

because they have these films

in every one of their hotels?

I don't care about them, baby.

Listen. I care about you.

OK, well...

Little did she know

it was already too late.

I couldn't back out now.

I mean, I could just imagine the damage

that Buck and Wayne

would do on their own.

They were the kind of guys

who'd get pulled over for a DUI

and start confessing to some

motorcycle cop about the murder.

I had to keep an eye on them somehow

or I'd end up arrested, or worse yet,

dead by the hands of the Sokoloffs.

So I go back to LA with my wife's

words rolling around in my head.

What's happening?

I'm not in town two minutes and...

I don't like this.

- It's OK.

- I'm telling you, I don't like this.

I'm gonna go with them. I'll see you

guys back at the house. It's all right.

I knew that if I didn't play this

perfectly, I'd be joining Ivan.

We need to talk.

Look, don't take this the wrong way,

but I'm guessing you guys

didn't do this just to be nice.

Tell me about Ivan.

Ivan? What about him?

What happened exactly?

I'm sorry.

What happened with what?

Was he at your house?

Of course he was at my house. Why?

And? What happened?

Nothin' happened.

I paid him, we had a few drinks,

we had a few laughs, and he left.

Nikita, you wanna...

you wanna tell me what's going on?

Ivan never got home.

I don't know what to tell you

about that. Maybe he's off partying,

but I paid him 400 grand,

plus 50 for your troubles.

- What?

- Four-fifty. I gave him 450.

The figure was 200.

Well, that's not what he told me.

Hey, hey, hey,

what you f***ing saying?

I'm not saying anything, all right?

What's he saying by

disappearing with your money?

No offense here, but it's sounding to me

like you might have gotten ripped off.

- F*** you.

- What the f*** you doing?

- They're getting away!

- I got 'em!

- James!

- Sh*t!

Motherf***er!

You moron!

Jack, last time.

What happened between you and Ivan?

Look, Nikita, I can tell

you the story a million times

and it's not gonna change.

It's the truth.

He comes to the house

and I pay him. All right?

He ripped us off,

do you understand?

Nikita, wake up! What are you gonna do,

kill me? I'm your partner!

You're gonna kill me

for some sh*t I didn't do?

What are you gonna do

when Ivan shows up?

You're gonna realize

how much f***in' money you lost

- because you f***in' killed me!

- Let him go!

Down, down!

- Put the gun down! Put it down!

- Would you like to try?

- Come on, Nikita.

- Come on, it's OK.

Nikita. I want you to focus

on why we're here, all right?

This is about money.

Just give me a number.

Give me a number that

makes this work. All right?

Double my end, pay every month.

No matter what. No excuses.

But if I find out you lied to me...

...I'll kill you, your family, friends,

people you haven't even met yet.

- We understand each other?

- Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Good.

What I was most afraid

of wasn't dying.

It was the thought of leaving

my children without a father.

Now, I had no choice

but to work, and to work hard.

I was now fully committed

to a life I never could have imagined.

We rented a small space in a

warehouse and built a business.

We had about 20 customers

within a month.

But once word spread

about what we could do,

take a credit card payment online,

customers came pouring in.

But Buck and Wayne

never seemed to care.

Somehow they just didn't get it.

I'm just looking for a copy

of last month's invoice...

Jesus Christ.

F***ing idiots.

You got a check here for two million

dollars under a goddamn candy bar.

Oh, and what, that's a bad thing?

Yeah, like that's a bad thing?

Come on, guys,

this thing's been here for weeks.

Dude, chill out.

After a few months,

the warehouse owner asked us to move.

I guess our clientele was distracting

his workers. But it didn't matter.

In no time at all, we had enough money

to buy our own building.

Yeah!

Go slow with that one.

I think I want that up

in the back left bedroom.

Every time I came home,

it was this wonderful homecoming.

- Hey, babe.

- Hey, sugar.

How you doing?

But I knew it couldn't last.

- Hey, buddy, how you doing?

- Dad!

I got you this.

I was throwing houses, gifts and cars

at a problem that could only

be solved by being home more.

I just couldn't do that.

- Is that for me?

- It is.

Diana would complain

every once in a while

that the new house

felt cold and empty without me,

but home was an increasingly

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