Johnny was digging through the dumpster when he found a bag stashed with $5 million. He fled with the money and bought a mansion and a car. But things took an ugly turn when gangsters arrived on his doorstep, demanding their money back.
“Ugh! Same old junk!” Johnny sneered as he caught a half-eaten burger in the dumpster. He kept digging when his hands landed on a strange black trash bag.
Johnny pulled it out, hoping to find food inside, but his eyes bulged in horror when he opened the bag. Bundles of crisp, untouched $100 banknotes were stashed inside the bag…
“Is…Is this thing real?” Johnny looked around anxiously, ensuring nobody had seen him, and bolted to a secluded underpass nearby, where he hid in a quiet corner and counted the bills.
“Jesus Christ! You’ve got to be kidding me!” Johnny was shocked. There were too many bills to count, but going by his calculations, the money had to be around a whopping $5 million.
Johnny stuffed the bag of money in his rag and hurried to meet his old friend, Billy, who was once homeless but was now a janitor at a café.
“What? You got a $5 million inheritance?” Billy gasped as Johnny showed him the money in a quiet corner.
“Yeah, pal. I didn’t know I had this grandpa who’d leave me so much money. But Bill, I’m no longer homeless! I’m rich! Hey, man, I need a favor from you.”
Billy rubbed his chin and nodded. “What kind of favor?”
“I want you to help me buy a house and a car by tomorrow!”
Billy let out a chuckle. “You gotta relax, man. Not possible. And what’s the hurry?”
“Look, man. You know, I’ve been homeless for, like, forever. I don’t have an ID and all those papers they’ll need… Just get this house registered in your name. And you don’t have to do it for free, man. You buy me the car and house, and $100,000 in cash is all yours. Think about how it can help Ellie!”
Billy’s 15-year-old daughter Ellie lived with her foster parents because Billy had been deprived of his parental rights years ago as a result of his poor living conditions and homelessness.
Billy wanted to send her to a good college and make up for his absence in her life. And this money could help him.
“Fine,” Billy agreed. “I know a realtor who’ll get it done for some extra bucks.”
“Perfect, man! Thanks!” Johnny grinned at his mate.
The next day, Billy and Johnny met with the realtor, and now Johnny was the owner of a mansion. The realtor finished the paperwork swiftly as Johnny paid him a generous tip. Then the two friends set out to an auto showroom in town to buy Johnny’s car.
“Now that’s what I call a beast on wheels!” Johnny’s loud laugh echoed through the open window as he sat behind the wheels of his new car and sped down the street.
“Hey, man…How about we celebrate tonight?” Johnny asked Billy as they pulled over outside Johnny’s mansion.
“Well, I got a graveyard shift tomorrow. Some other day, yeah? And no convincing me again ’cause I really gotta leave,” Billy got out of the car. “And thanks for the $100,000.”
“You earned it, buddy!” Johnny cupped his around his mouth and shouted as Billy walked away.
Johnny chugged a beer and dozed off in his bed that night, only to wake up to the sound of someone banging on his door. “Who could it be?” He pulled his robe closer as he hurried to the door.
On the doorstep stood a group of six men clad in black, and Johnny gulped as he looked at them from head to toe—tattoos crawled up their necks, their faces bore piercings—Johnny knew they were thugs.
“You dumb son of a—You really thought we wouldn’t find the prick who swiped out five million from the dumpster and wandered the damn streets?” barked the gang leader, sending chills down Johnny’s spine.
“Ff…five million? I…I don’t know what you’re talking about!” he shuttered, taking a step back.
“You’ll know it now,” the man pulled out a Bowie knife and barged into the mansion with his gang. “You sell your mansion and car and get us every penny from the sale, do you understand? And yeah, you gotta get us a little bonus—another 10 percent—for screwing our plans. Oh, and the stash of cash you got hidden in here…Get that money!”
“Yes…yes, I’ll get it.” Terrified, Johnny rushed upstairs to get the money, but as he stashed all the leftover cash in his bag, he made a split-second decision.
Johnny jumped out of the window and bolted out the gate as fast as he could. He stopped by a thrift store and got himself new clothes. He then ran to an old motel on the highway to wait out the night.
“Need a room. Uh, I have no ID on me, but I can give you a good tip, alright?” he approached the motel clerk, panting.
“Look, sir, this goes against our policy—”
Johnny pulled out a wad of cash and showed him, quickly changing the man’s intentions.
“OK, alright, sir. Room 206. Second on your left upstairs.”
Johnny spent the night at the motel, but the encounter with the thugs kept playing in his mind. Johnny knew he had to escape the town, but he wouldn’t be able to do so without an ID.
“There’s a car junkyard not far from here…” he suddenly thought. “Yes, that would do!”
The next day, Johnny hit the salon first thing. He shaved his head and beard so that nobody would recognize him. Then he headed to the car scrapyard.
“Got anything in decent shape, pal?” he asked a garage worker. “Need it urgently.”
“Well, uh, I might have something for you. Follow me,” said the man as he led Johnny to a cheap, worn-out Mustang. “$500, and this old beauty’s yours.”
“Great, yes. But the thing is, I need to get outta this state quickly, and paperwork and all is not really my thing. If you know what I mean, right?”
“Look, sir, it’s technically illegal to make a deal like that, but $5000 solid cash would maybe work things out here.”
“Perfect!” Johnny gave the man the cash and left the scrapyard in his newly purchased car. However, as he was about to pass through the US-Mexico border, his phone rang, prompting him to pull over.
“Hey, Billy. Jesus so much has happened. Look, I have some news…” he said as he answered, only to be interrupted by a menacing voice on the other end of the line.
“Looks like Billy couldn’t make it to the phone, Johnny,” laughed the thug. “Did you really think you could run away with the money? Just for your information, your friend’s no longer with us. Poor fella. Just stopped breathing when we pointed the gun at his temple. But well, he saved us a bullet…and our time.”
Johnny’s heart dropped. “You…you killed Billy?! But he didn’t even do anything!”
“Well, well, looks like someone got their property registered in their friend’s name. Listen, Johnny Boy, we’re gonna find you even in hell. And you’re gonna meet the same fate as your friend the day we meet.”
As the thug hung up, Johnny hit his head against the steering wheel and swore. He knew he could not escape the thugs, and at that point, he made a life-changing decision.
Johnny turned the car around and drove toward the town. Stopping by a joke shop, he approached the vendor and asked, “Do you have a dozen packs of fake $100?”
“Well, well,” grinned the vendor. “You’ve got a dozen packs of Benjamin Franklins right here! But yes, young man, fake cash is only for novelty purposes, okay?”
“Perfect! Yes! I’ll have a dozen packs.”
Johnny bought the fake bills, left the shop, and drove to Ellie’s foster home to meet her. He didn’t have the courage to tell her about Billy’s death, but he also didn’t have a choice.
“Johnny?” Ellie asked as she answered the door. “What are you doing here? And where’s Dad?”
“I need to talk to you about something, Ellie,” he said as they both went inside. “I’m sorry. Billy passed away. He…” Johnny mustered the courage to lie. “He had a heart attack. He loved you, Ellie. And he wanted to give you the best.”
“Oh my god!” gasped Ellie as she burst into tears. “He was all I had, Johnny. Oh god, tell me you’re lying! He can’t be…he can’t just leave me like that!”
“I know this is hard, dear, but please stay strong,” Johnny consoled her. “Look, he wanted me to give you something.” Johnny gave her a note and a key. “This note has the code to a locker in the storeroom…in the shopping plaza nearby, okay? And that’s the key to it. Billy was working very hard to bring you back home. And he had saved up money for you. Please take care.”
Johnny then left Ellie’s foster parents’ home and drove to Billy’s house, where the gangsters were waiting for him.
Johnny parked his car at an intersection quite far from Billy’s house and approached the building. Taking a deep breath, he held the bag of fake money he had dunked in gasoline.
The flickering flame from his lighter cast an eerie glow on his face as Johnny tossed the lighter into the bag.
Within seconds, the air was filled with the sound of crackling flames and the pungent smell of burning paper. Adrenaline rushed into his veins when the door swung open about 20 seconds later.
The mafia boss’s face twisted with shock and anger as he witnessed the burning bag of money on the doorstep.
“CATCH HIM!” He roared at his gangsters. Johnny grinned wickedly as the thugs surrounded him, knowing they would never get their money back.
