Karma Multiplier
KARMA MULTIPLIER – November 5, 2025 – Chicago, Illinois, USA
Jonathan Bruker felt strong and powerful as he walked out of the downtown BMW dealership. He sold two cars that day, including one to a hard-nosed father shopping for his daughter’s sixteenth birthday present.
“I’m on fire,” he bragged to a coworker after the birthday present sale. “Right now, I could sell rainbows to a leprechaun.”
Jonathan lived in an apartment tower only a few blocks from the dealership and he liked walking back and forth from work. The sun was already down and the air felt chilly, but Jonathan wore a long coat and barely noticed the temperature. He put in his earbuds and listened to upbeat music as he strutted through the electric lights cast by storefront signs.
When he reached a park, Jonathan took his usual route and cut diagonally through. Overhead lights surrounded the park’s perimeter, but its interior remained dim, especially in the shadows of trees. Whenever Jonathan encountered pedestrians walking in the opposite direction, they seemed to materialize from nowhere. That was how it felt that November night when two figures stepped into his path. One stood right in front and the other on his left side.
He could tell the intruders meant to block his way. They were definitely young, but because of the shadows, Jonathan could not say whether they were teenagers or in their twenties. They looked fit and wore the equivalent of track suits. The one in front of Jonathan had a hoodie draped over his head. The one to the side wore a White Sox baseball cap at a crooked angle.
“Let’s see your phone,” the hoodie guy demanded.
“Nah, I don’t think so,” Jonathan replied, rocking back on his heels.
The hoodie guy pulled a knife from his pocket and menacingly said, “I think so.”
A flash of fear and adrenaline shot through Jonathan but he did his best not to show it. He glanced at the guy in the baseball hat who was also holding knife but with it pointed toward the ground.
“I don’t want any trouble. Are you seriously trying to rob me?”
“Looks that way,” the hoodie guy replied briskly. “So just give me the phone and any cards and cash you’ve got.”
Jonathan did not want to give up the phone in his coat pocket. Only last week, he had paid $1500 for it. Tucked inside the case was a $500 cash bonus he had earned in a sales contest. Even more valuable than the phone and the cash was the pristine $5000 Pokémon Trophy Card hidden in the case. He had won it in an auction and taken it to work to show a friend. Why did he have to be carrying it now? Handing over the phone meant losing $7000, not to mention all the hassle of replacing his data, credit cards, and driver’s license.
In the few moments before Jonathan replied or moved, he calculated his escape probability. He knew no martial arts and had no hope of disarming two guys at once. He was wearing a long coat and leather loafers. They were in running shoes. There was no way he could dash to the edge of the park before they caught and tackled him. And he did not want to get stabbed.
Jonathan raised both hands to chest level and put on a serious and worried face. He would try more of a sales approach. “Guys, you don’t want to do this. Trust me. I’m looking out for you. People call me the Karma Multiplier. When anyone does something bad to me, it comes back on them like a hundred times.”
The guy in the hoodie snarled a laugh. “Yeah, I’ll take my chances. Give me the phone.”
“I’m warning you. If you take my phone, it’ll end up ruining your life somehow. I don’t know why the universe likes to take revenge for me, but it does. Like two weeks ago, my neighbor was having this loud party. I went over and asked him to keep it down. He got right up in my face, swore at me, and told me he was gonna make it louder. As soon as I left, this helicopter falls out of the sky, crashes through a wall, and destroyed his whole place.”
The crooked cap guy next to Jonathan asked, “Was anybody hurt?”
“Yeah. Lots of people. But my apartment didn’t get a scratch.”
The hoodie guy sneered. “Yeah, whatever. Just give me the phone.”
Jonathan grew more distressed. “I’m seriously begging you for your own sakes. Don’t make me give you anything. Just this morning, my boss made me give him the last cup of coffee from the pot. Then his stomach started hurting. He went to the emergency room and they told him he’s got three giant kidney stones he needs to pass.”
The guy on Jonathan’s left winced in pain as Jonathan continued. “I’m not just telling you this because I like my phone. I don’t want you to suffer. I can’t imagine what would be 100 times worse than stealing someone’s phone. But if you walk away now, nothing bad will happen.”
The crooked-cap guy said in a worried voice, “How do we know you’re not lying about that stuff?”
The hoodie guy cried, “Of course he’s lying about it.” Then he pointed his knife at Jonathan and yelled, “I’m done messing around. Now shut up and give me the phone.”
Jonathan reluctantly reached into his coat pocket and produced his phone. Before holding it out he said sincerely, “Let me give you one last chance because I already feel sorry for you guys. Three days ago, somebody stole my shoes at the gym. On his way out the door, a hit-and-run driver clipped him. Knocked him out of his shoes. He’ll be in the hospital for a month.”
In a nervous voice, the crooked hat guy said, “Maybe we shouldn’t do this. Maybe we should find someone else.” Jonathan glanced over and noticed the knife was no longer in his hand.
“What’s wrong with you?” shouted the hoodie guy. “Don’t listen to him. Grab his phone!”
The crooked hat guy took a step back. “Nah, man. I don’t want that bad stuff happening to me. I’m out. I didn’t want to do this anyway.”
“Then I’m keeping all the money,” the hoodie guy yelled. He took an aggressive step toward Jonathan, waving his knife. “Give it to me!”
Jonathan’s hand shook as he held out his phone. The hoodie guy snatched it and immediately ran in the opposite direction. After a few steps, he screeched triumphantly before disappearing in the darkness.
“That’s all on him, not on me, okay?” the crooked cap guy said. “I told him we should go. I don’t want any of your curses on me.”
Jonathan caught his breath and replied coolly, “Yeah, it’s all on him.”
“Because I’ve never robbed anyone before. This isn’t my thing. I was home minding my own business when he came in and said he needed a partner. I don’t even have my own knife. He gave it to me. Now I know not to get mixed up with him.”
Jonathan stood there listening without reacting. Then he became distraught. “I can tell you’re a good guy. You’ll be fine. But I feel really bad for your friend, even though he robbed me. I’m afraid something life threatening’s going to happen to him. Like a heart attack or a brain aneurism. He could die and no one would know it.”
The crooked cap guy sounded equally worried when he said, “He’s probably headed home on the subway. I could go check on him.”
“But what are you gonna do? You’re not a doctor. You won’t know what’s wrong.”
“Yeah, I guess not.”
“Hey, I’ve got an idea,” Jonathan said earnestly. “I’ve got this friend who’s an EMT. I could ask him to go by in his ambulance.”
“You think he would?”
“Probably. And he’ll know exactly how to help. All I need is his address.” Jonathan shook his head and added, “I hate to think what your friend’s going though already.”
The crooked hat guy groaned like he was in pain. “I hope the ambulance can get there in time. He’s not really my friend but his name is Darrell. He lives one street away from me.” The crooked hat guy dictated the street address and apartment number.
“Okay, I’m gonna run home and contact the ambulance. Thanks for watching out for Darrell. You probably better go, just in case there’s some bad karma sticking around here.”
“You’re right,” the crooked cap guy said before turning around and hurrying away.
Jonathan hurried, too, as fast as his leather shoes could go. He did have a friend who drove an ambulance, but he did not run toward his friend’s place. He ran directly to a Chicago police station and quickly explained he was a victim of a robbery at knifepoint.
“But I know the guy’s name and address,” Jonathan explained to the sergeant taking his statement.
Within the hour, the two uniformed police officers accompanied Jonathan to Darrell’s apartment and knocked forcefully on the door. When Darrell answered, he was visibly shocked to see Jonathan.
“This the guy?” asked one of the police officers.
“Yeah. That’s him,” Jonathan replied.
The police officer turned to Darrell and asked, “Did you steal his phone?”
In a shaky voice, Darrell said, “No. I’ve been home all night.”
Jonathan interjected by saying, “I can see my phone on his kitchen table.”
When they confirmed Jonathan’s driver’s license was inside the phone case, the police officers arrested Darrell. Upon looking around the apartment, they found a suspicious stash of phones and other potentially stolen items.
“You’re lucky we caught him,” one of the officer’s said to Jonathan.
“I tried to warn him it wasn’t worth it,” Jonathan said. As he predicted, karma was about to deliver some very bad things to Darrell.
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