SMS from Sav, 4 pm.

“10 metres out at 5. Job.”

Not much has been happening for weeks. I knew something would come up. Lucky, I’m low on cash and don’t have the energy for another late night haul.

I’ve done a lot of jobs for Sav over the years. He’s good. He’s quick, he’s discreet and he pays, and pays well. 20k per drop. I get about 10 a year from him. I know what you’re thinking, 20k per drop, 10 per year, 200k? ‘Drop’ must mean job, right? Right.

What kind of work am I in? Disposals. Of? Used goods. That’s all for now. The rest happens 10 metres out. That’s where the real deals in this world get done.

10 metres out. You think of meetings and you think of pictures you’ve seen on the Internet. Suits, ties, thick-rimmed black-framed glasses. People smiling, charts, clipboards, it’s not so. You think this because it’s what you’ve been told to think. It’s all you know. Truth be told, it’s all you want to know. More truth be told, if it weren’t for you doing what you do, then there would be no need for me to do what I do. The cycle of life. It goes around and around. Few, however, realize this. For we only ever realize we’ve been on a merry go round when it stops.

But this one doesn’t stop.

4:30 pm.

Time to go.

20-minute drive.

5-minute walk to the water.

5 minutes to get 10 metres out.

4:50 pm.

He’s a big guy. Talk, dark, handsome as I’ve heard him described. Considered, mysterious, he tells you only what you need to know and never anything more. Not even his eyes give anything away, not even his demeanor changes when things start to go south. I’m sure plenty have gone south without warning, not so much as an utter of a word from Sav, but that’s what makes him who he is. Some say he moves between the shadows. Truth be told he’s just like anyone who walks among us. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t petrified of him when I first met him, but the guy before me was sure I’d get along with him just fine. I guess 10 drops a year at 20k a pop proves this, 5 years going strong now. I just spend too much. But I know better than to get other work. I’m the one who does the drops. I need not become the one who is dropped. I’ve got bills to pay, and a kid somewhere to feed. See, I’m a family man at heart. And as they say, a mans gotta do what a mans gotta do to feed both himself and his family, to keep the wheels turning so to speak, the cycle of life.

5 pm.

‘Tomorrow night, big block charger motor, it’ll be on the boat, the goods will be dropped off at 11 pm, you just do your thing. The money will be on the dock when you get back. You’ll have 3 hours tops or it’s gone, you know the drill,” Sav says.

That’s all he says, that’s all he needs to say, then leaves as if he was never here, back into the crowd that he blends into so effortlessly.

It’s a nice sunset tonight, I might stay here a while.

“Why do you think they always meet up out there?” asks Rogers.

“All the best deals happen 10 metres out,” replies Clarke.