A Guy Walks Into A Bar...

Welcome To The Fold

I was relieved that I had talked my father out of killing me. Obviously. But I had no clue what kind of situation I was putting myself into to do it. I had inadvertently pledged my loyalty to a criminal. See what I mean by fear is one hell of a driving force? My fear of dying now has me under my father's thumb. I'm not sure if that's somewhere I want to be, but alas, here I am.

My father's right hand man, a man who I now know is named Johnny Frost, shows me around my father's home. Apparently the top three floors of this skyrise make up my father's penthouse. It was enough rooms and space that you could definitely say it was equivalent to a mansion.

"If you'll come with me, I'll show you to the apartment where you'll be staying," Johnny Frost motions me toward the elevator.

"Oh, I thought I would be staying here," I hesitantly say.

"Sorry kid, you ain't earned that right yet. Only Mr. J's personal security live in his penthouse with him. You'll be staying on one of the lower floors. The apartments are still quite nice. There may be times in which you have a roommate. Mr. J owns the whole building. He likes to keep his clowns close," he says and pushed the number four.

"Oh," is all I can say as the elevator door closed. My stomach drops as we make our long descent down to the fourth floor. "So are you like the head clown?" I ask him.

He rolls his eyes and gives me a sideways look, "Let's leave the word "clown" to a minimum kid. It's safer that way."

"Sorry," I say and look down at my hands, "so how long have you worked for him?" I ask.

His hand goes for the stop button and presses it. The elevator comes to a sudden stop. In one motion he grabs me by my shirt and shoves my back into the wall. "Since. Day. One. Which means, that if you try to fuck him in any way whatsoever, my face is the last face you'll ever see. Are we understood?"

"Y-y-yeah," I say and note the way he stares directly into my eyes. It was as if he knew the exactly what he was looking for.

He slowly releases me and starts the elevator up again. "Don't take it personal kid, I'm just doing my job," he says as he straightens his suit.

"No, right...I understand," I nod.

The elevator dings and the door opens. Mr. Frost steps out and I follow behind him. He stops at a door and types in a three digit code on a panel and the door unlocks. "The code for the apartment is 936," he tells me and opens the door.

I wasn't at all prepared for what was inside. A spacious living room with a fireplace, a balcony, two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a hot tub. There was crown molding, etched glass, fancy trim work, and top of the line appliances. I was expecting just a regular apartment, but this was more like a condo. Definitely the nicest place I've ever lived.

"Wow, and how much rent do I have to pay?" I ask as I look around. A place like this definitely wasn't going to be cheap.

"Apartment comes with the job," Mr. Frost clarifies.

"Seriously?" I gleam. No wonder people were so willing to work for my father. And he said the job came with no benefits. "And is this entire building... employee housing, with Mr. Joker at the top?"

"Yes, among other things. It's more like the base and backbone of Mr. J's empire," he tells me.

"So it's kinda like his own Wayne Tower?" I ask. Cuz who hasn't heard of Bruce Wayne?

He slightly smirks, "I guess you could say that. But I wouldn't recommend saying it to Mr. J. He doesn't like being compared with anyone. He prides himself on his uniqueness." And I could see how easy that must have been for my father.