Fabulous and Kenisha both know a guy who could really help out. His name was Gregory Taylor. Age 25. Scruffy brown hair and beard. Dark eyes. Tan skin. Wore glasses and mostly likes to wear a black Lacoste and dark-blue jeans to work. How did the sisters get to know him? Well…
Gregory was an ethical hacker for a multi-million-dollar company by profession. But he…he got kicked out because his "services were no longer needed". The company hired one of the government's trained imaginations who could do the job perfectly well for them. It was an A.I droid called Beep. Beep is the reason why the police and law enforcement agencies could track down anybody in the world. With its very high intellect, it can track down anyone...pretty much in outer space...within seconds. Gregory tried to talk to the manager about him doing something else for the company apart from his current job, but the company gets new recruits almost every single day and they do their jobs exceptionally well too. They also have families to feed. Gregory didn't stop there. He quickly reached out to other executive directors or managers from different companies with who he would like to work. The good news is, he was fit for the job, the bad news was that ever since that Beep droid came along, nobody needed ethical hackers for their services because it was doing everything the company ever wanted...and much more. So, no one could hire him.
From that moment on, Gregory was just a wreck. The good thing for him was his sister had rented a house at Hedgesville already so he has a place to stay. Another good thing was his sister works in a different multi-million-dollar company, so she had the money to take care of him. But they both argue most of the time about the issue because…well…I mean…let's be honest here, how would you feel if your 25-year old sibling is just sitting at home doing nothing whiles you pay the bills... and the meals...and anything that has money involved. Yeah, that's really annoying, so sometimes they don't even talk about it.
Later on, he found someone who was willing to hire him. Not as a hacker, but as a vendor assistant at a large supermarket. He then said goodbye to his crazy hacking days and hello to meeting cringy people every day. The money he got wasn't a lot, but it would be manageable in the meantime…
Okay, okay, so how did he get to meet the sisters?
The person who hired him was…the sisters' mom. Her name's Julia. She owns the supermarket but that's her side job. She's officially a medical lab technician. Back when the sisters were at high school, most of the time, their mom wouldn't be available to pick them up, and their dad was all sorts of busy, so Julia would give Gregory a phone call to do that for her. So, for the first time they met, they were just talking and getting to know each other. But as they went on and on, anytime they got back from school, they used to do a lot of fun stuff together. He would take them to the mall to look at new outfits, take them to a restaurant and pay for their meals, help them throw a sleep-over party with their friends, see amusement parks and sometimes watch the superheroes fight the bad guys if they encounter any. Gregory also got to help them with their homework. When Julia realized that the kids get back home really organized, she felt really relaxed and really happy as to what Gregory does. She then promoted Gregory as a member of the family, if he needs any help on what journey he wants to take.
Later on, Gregory got to tell the sisters his story, of how he actually got hired. The two felt really bad about it and thought maybe they could help out. When they were at a restaurant, the two realized Gregory had a keen eye on a lady who was a waiter. Her name tag read Mabel. She was really beautiful. Fabulous slid a note in the lady's pocket when she entered the washroom. She read it and knew who wrote it. When the girls told Gregory that they would wait in the car when the waiter brings their fee, the lady instantly went to him...and she introduced herself to him. Gregory was surprised that she even notices him. Then they talked and talked…and the girls just high-fived each other knowing that their plan worked. He walked out really happy and told the girls what happened. Everything worked out pretty well.
But when the corrupted imaginations came along, things changed and since then, the sisters never really got to hear from him for a long time.
Until now.
Kenisha found his new phone number from her mom's contact list, and she gave him a call.
"Hello". He spoke first.
"Hey, Greg!"
"Uh…Kenisha?"
"Ayee Gregy! What's good?"
"Fabulous…Oh my goodness... it's been so long..."
"Totally! How are you doing?"
"Oh you know me…just hanging around…doing stuff"
"Yeah Kenisha…he's doing his stttuuuffff"
He laughed. "No, I'm not playing video games if that's what you're thinking"
"Oooouu then whatchu doing then?"
"Uh…I'm cooking"
The girls screamed and laughed. "My God, You, are cooking?!" "Dear lord!"
He laughed too. "But I mean…I used to be cooking back in the days so...It's not so new to me."
"Greg we both know you have been watching YouTube videos."
"What? No!... I've…I know about cooking…and…stuff"
"So whatchu cookin' right now.?"
"Uhm…" He pauses the video on his iPad to check the title of the video. "Uhm its…12 easy food recipes to…oh no wait I mean… uhm…Pizza omelet."
"Uh-huh, and what did you start by doing?"
"Uhm…" He plays the beginning of the video to tell them what he did.
"Well first you crack the eggs… then you chop up some vegetables…then you boil the rice and…then…" The video stopped playing because of the bad network. "Uhm…then you know the rest right?"
"Gregory. You were just describing how to make egg-fried rice, not a pizza omelet."
"Wait really." The title was 12 easy food recipes to do at home, but the food he was telling them was nowhere near a pizza omelet.
"Uhm…no see I was doing that rather…yeah I was cooking egg fried rice but I just mixed up the names"
The girls laughed, he laughed too.
"Greg. You can't cook" "Don't worry Kani when he invites us over we gonna go taste 'em".
Kani is a nickname Fabulous uses to call Kenisha. And Fab is what she likes to call herself.
"Stop teasing me guys. I can cook"
"I wonder how his girl is gonna be like when he hears that he's cooking". The girls laughed even more.
"Hmm. Yeah I wonder". But the girls realized Gregory's voice went low.
"Greg is everything alright between you and…"
"Yeah…yeah, it's fine…uhm…I just don't…want to talk about it right now."
They all remained silent for quite some time.
"Listen Greg. We kind of need a huge favor from you."
"Yeah sure, what is it?"
"We know you have been a hacker for some time and…we thought maybe…you could help us out with something…"
"What? Someone has hacked into your account?"
"No, not that it…" Then Fabulous said it "We want your help in making money with your hacking skills and stuff."
Gregory didn't understand what they meant for some time and then…it hit him and he knew exactly what they were talking about.
"Guys no! I'm sorry that's way above you two and you know that."
"No Greg listen it's not for us. It's for our friend, Majeed. He can't afford the fees for the school. We can't just leave him to hustle. He needs our help. Its $45,000. The deadline is in a few weeks and we don't know where we are gonna get that money really fast…"
"No, there is got to be another way of doing this. You haven't asked anyone else to help out?"
"Of course we did…and they didn't have that amount of money."
"Okay how about this…you guys can get to the bank…maybe with mom…and get a loan… later on when I get the money I will pay it for you."
"The bank's not gonna give us a loan higher than $20,000 because my mom is already owing them. It's their policy."
"Damn. Okay wait but… the school can offer help with that right…something to support him or something?"
"That's why there is scholarship Greg, but his grades weren't that good enough, so he has to pay."
He was silent for a while.
"Trust us Greg…we have tried everything. What we have gotten so far is $1,030.50. It's still not enough."
He was pulling out his scruffy hair. He does that when he's feeling stressed or agitated.
"Please, Greg. You told us you have gotten like forty thousa…"
"Shhh. Quiet. Don't say it out loud on the phone."
"Oh right sorry."
They were all silent. "Come on Greg. Please. You're not doing it because you are a bad person. This is for a greater good."
He thought about it for quite a while. And then he finally said something.
"You guys know anything about phishing?"
"Uhm…we don't have a fishing rod."
"No…not that kind of fishing…"
"Oh I get it…we're gonna hack the internet so that people would start going fishing"
"What in the…No… I mean the one that starts with a P"
"Wait there is a fishing starts with a P…since when?...how com…"
Fabulous googled the word and showed it to Kenisha.
"Oooooooh that kind of phishing. Okay, I have not heard of that word before."
"You're in the 21st century and you haven't heard the word "phishing" before?"
"And you can't tell me how to cook a pizza omelet?"
"How…fair enough."
"So…what should we do?"
"For starters…start learning about it…...we're gonna need a bigger audience."
Then they were both silent for a bit.
"Wait…did you just…say…"
"Ugh I don't…know what you're talking about…"
"Jaws? Really?"
"No I didn't…just…call me when you get the information."
"Sir yes Sir."
"I'll hear from you guys soon."