Gus Alabaster

"*The guy must be crazy. The worse his life goes, the bigger the smile on his face. It's not happiness, of course; it's defiance. He's showing the world that no matter what happens, it doesn't bother him in the slightest.*"
—Amber Laska, *Payback*

**Gus Alabaster** was a notorious gangster who ran the west and northwest of Chicago for over two decades before being arrested in 2001 on tax evasion charges. He had been charged with no less than 147 different crimes before his arrest, including armed robbery, racketeering and conspiracy to commit murder.

Due to cancer, Alabaster was released after fourteen years in prison (eleven years before the official end of his prison sentence), to spend his last days at his mansion on Ramsey Road. He was also Malik Bruder's DNA donor as a result of Project Osiris.

Alabaster also had a crew of gangsters that he hired. Lenny, the oldest and most loyal one, kept his organization running throughout the entire time he was imprisoned- filling appeals and bribing guards whenever necessary. Danny, Torque, Tommy, and Cyrus are four other known gangsters that worked for Alabaster, and were extremely intimidated by their boss. He also hired a professional chef to cook all his meals.

## Biography

### Criminal life and imprisonment

Gus Alabaster was born in 1948 in Chicago, Illinois. In 1963, at fifteen years old, Alabaster was kicked out of the house by his father. It was then that he was arrested for the first time, and a photo was taken of him, showing a teenage Alabaster with a black eye and a crooked smirk, which was found by Eli Frieden to identify that he was Malik Bruder's DNA donor. However, at age eighteen, he had made "more money than [his father would] ever see in his whole life".

Before his arrest, Alabaster had been charged with 147 different crimes, but was cleared each time, adding to his legend. Shortly before 2001, he adopted Counselor, a German Shepherd, as a puppy. He also had bought six houses, fourteen cars, two yachts and a private jet.

In 2001, Alabaster was finally arrested on tax evasion charges. He was given a trial and a photo of him was taken at that time. Many of his belongings were taken by the government, leaving only his mansion in Chicago. While imprisoned, Lenny took care of his organization and did all he could to make Alabaster's life more comfortable.

At some point before Project Osiris was supposedly abandoned, Alabaster was visited in prison by Tamara Dunleavy, one of its founders. She told Alabaster that she had started VistaNet and took a DNA sample from him. At first, Alabaster was disbelieving of her plan, but he agreed when Tamara offered to get him transferred from a prison in North Carolina (where he was currently) to Joliet, Illinois, which was very close to home.

### *Payback*

After falling gravely ill with cancer, Alabaster was moved to a hospital medical unit in his prison in Joliet. Later, he was released from prison on compassionate grounds, despite having only served fourteen out of the twenty-five years he had been charged with, and permitted to live out the rest of his days at his home in Ramsey Road. This made the news, which was how Malik Bruder and Amber Laska learned of it.

Soon afterward, Malik and Amber arrived at his mansion, and he was introduced to them by Lenny. Alabaster asked about Malik's mother, as he had claimed to be Alabaster's long-lost son, but didn't believe him until Counselor showed affection for Malik (since he disliked everybody besides Alabaster himself). Alabaster was entertained by Malik's responses to his questions, saying that they were identical in personality, and insisted for him and Amber to stay. Alabaster enjoyed talking to his "son", telling him to call him by his first name. Together, they spoke about his future, but sometimes, Alabaster called him in merely to look at him.

Not long later, Alabaster's health took a turn for the worse. Amber and Malik were brought back to the mansion by Torque, with Lenny standing at the place of honor next to his bed. Lenny cleared the room for them to have a moment alone, and it was then that Malik finally told Alabaster the truth about Project Osiris and who he was. Alabaster took a minute to process this information, then breaking into a grin once realizing that they were the same person. After a moment, he sat up, ordering Malik to listen to him, and whispered his final words into his clone's ear: "You're a gift." Malik originally didn't understand his words, hearing "giff" instead, but Amber later correctly realized the meaning.

## Personality and traits

Alabaster owned many houses all over the world, dated many movie stars, and was openly defiant of the government and the world. He prized loyalty above all other traits.

Alabaster also seemed to think himself superior to others by having the biggest house on the block (which is actually more like a gigantic stone mansion) and he spoke with authority. However, despite the amount of money he possesses, Alabaster was known for being tight-fisted with his cash.

Alabaster likely had a soft and caring side as well, since he and Malik share many personality traits.

## Physical description

"*The man looks a hundred years old, feeble, and so skinny that his head is just a skin-wrapped skull.*"
—Malik Bruder's description of Gus Alabaster in *Payback*

Gus Alabaster looked very pale and weak with bloodshot eyes when Malik and Amber Laska visited him in his mansion, but when he was young, he and Malik appeared identical due to their matching DNA.

## Possessions

* **Six houses**: Alabaster owned six different houses all around the world. However, each of these residences, except for one mansion in Chicago, were taken away by the government after Alabaster was arrested. The remaining mansion was situated on Ramsey Road and was where Alabaster lived out the last of his days after being released from prison.
* **Fourteen cars**: Alabaster's signature car was said to be a white Rolls-Royce, so it's expected that at least one of his fourteen cars was a Rolls-Royce. These were also taken away by the government.
* **Two yachts**: Taken away by the government after Alabaster's arrest.
* **Private jet**: Taken away by the government after Alabaster's arrest.
* **Counselor**: Alabaster's loyal canine companion, who he adopted as a puppy. Counselor lived for at least fourteen years, out-living Alabaster himself, and was said to hate everyone besides his owner and Malik Bruder.

## Relationships

### Lenny

Lenny was the most loyal of Alabaster's gang, as well as his oldest friend. It's likely that they worked together as young men, as Lenny was able to instantly recognize that fourteen-year-old Malik Bruder was the spitting image of a younger Alabaster. Lenny took care of Alabaster's entire organization for the fourteen years that he was imprisoned, even feeding his dog Counselor and making sure he had a more comfortable life in prison by bribing guards and filling appeals.

Unlike the other men that worked for Alabaster, Lenny wasn't afraid to speak up in his presence and wasn't intimidated by the mob boss. He also cared a lot about him, having asked Alabaster to get some rest and take care of himself, and was situated at the place of honor next to his bed just before Alabaster passed.

### Malik Bruder

"*You're even more like me than me! A regular chip off the old block!*"
—Gus Alabaster comparing Malik Bruder to him, *Payback*

Malik Bruder and Alabaster share the exact same DNA, and as a result, they also looked identical and had similar personalities.

Malik first met Alabaster in his Chicago mansion in *Payback*, determined to prove that Project Osiris had happened. He and Amber stayed with Alabaster until his death. For most of the time, Alabaster believed that Malik was his son and called him Bryan Jackson (the name Malik presented himself as), and in return, Malik called him by his first name, Gus. Alabaster was amazed at how similar they were, and was very happy to believe that he had a son, often talking about the future and calling Malik into the room just to look at him.

Minutes away from death, Malik finally told Alabaster the truth about Project Osiris, and was devastated when Alabaster passed away. His last words to Malik were "You're a gift."

## Trivia

* Alabaster's signature car was a white Rolls-Royce.
* Alabaster believed Malik's name was Bryan Jackson the entire time he came to visit.
* Gordon Korman once stated on a reply to his forum that "Gus was loosely based on Big Al or maybe Frank Nitti or New York's John Gotti."
	+ Similar to Al Capone, Alabaster had committed several crimes before being charged with tax evasion and finally arrested.