It has been three(ish) years and there is no way I can even think about not using a throwaway or even getting the details correct enough that someone could read this and know who it is. This guy was a friend of a friend who was a warehouse worker at the Baltimore docks. He was a drug dealer and looked like the kind of big tattooed guy who SHOULD be a drug dealer in a movie. Like.. he's either a bouncer or a drug dealer, that's it. He carries a gun EVERWHERE. He isn't a street dealer and no longer works in the warehouses but knows everyone there. He's kind of like the head of his own gang and this other gang is kind of in a turf war with them.. Kind of low level though.. Not like in the movies where everyone gets shot - more like several people chasing one member with tyre irons to bash them.. not full on instant death stuff but still it seemed on the cards when guns are involved. So Its not like theyre hardcore russians or anything but bad enough to be above street which is 100x badder than anyone else i know. Anyway because I'm a friend of a friend and I see him a lot he becomes totally comfortable with me over the years. Like I'm not a friend but it wouldn't be weird if I called him.. I didnt but it wouldnt have been.. super weird or anything. So I've heard a few of his stories over the years from just being in the same room as my mutual friend.. the usual things.. the bashings.. some second hand stories about other drug dealers etc. One day he starts talking about this big shipment that's coming through while I'm in the room and this is all so fucking foreign to me that I feel like im in some budget indie movie and I'm engrossed.. it's exciting to listen to this big deal that's going to happen. I don't feel bad about anything because it's got nothing to do with me or my friend.. they're just old school mates so it all feels safe. Over the coming weeks more details come out. At some point though as time goes by this guy starts to realise that this is a really big deal and why in hell is he talking about it with me in the room. I sensed and knew I was literally no threat to him and that's why he talked while I was in the room.. I might as well have been a miniature poodle in his world. . I didn't even register as potential source of trouble being such a rube and so far down any alpha dog's pack list.. But this deal is fucking huge and even 1% chances can't be tolerated.. One time he's talking about it and stupidly as I had got used to hearing about his world, I asked a kinda specific question instead of just nodding.. and something kinda dawns on him and he changes. Maybe I don't know.. I'd asked a question like some dumb undercover cop does on a movie.. like it wasn't "hey so what time will you be at the wharf" but it must have had the same tone or something.. Anyway he walks over to me and pulls his gun out. Now he doesn't point it at my head but he REALLY calmly comes over and puts his leg up on the side of my chair so his knee is bent and rests his gun hand on his knee so the gun is "accidentally" just kind of happening to be pointing at me.. no where specific but if it went off maybe it would hit my liver or something. Just massive alpha domination. And he matter of factly says, with no menace or care just like one plus one equals two "You two are the only people not in the deal that know about this and if we get caught the people in the deal know who you are and you're dead". My life instantly flipped. What had moments before been this vicarious thrill had suddenly become really FUCKING real. Anyways the deal goes down and they get busted. I absolutely and totally fucking freak.. like panic attack break down. The bust makes the news and I'm just useless. I'm waiting for some assassin to take me out so I can't testify or something but my buddy while also freaking just tells me.. "I think he just realised he shouldn't have said anything to us, but there is no way he told the rest of the gang he was that careless that he told two peasant civilians - he'd look stupid to them and he was just trying to scare us". Anyways it turns out Baltimore PD was onto them almost from the start and the guy was well aware that nothing came from us and no one needed to testify because they had reams of hard evidence. Ive never told anyone this and would never say anything to anyone about it im such a piece of shit coward I'd cut my own wrists before ratting on these people as I couldn't live the rest of my life like that. I don't even like thinking about that time.. scary as fuck and dumb to put myself in that situation.