So Jaret and I leave the room, bolting down the stairs as quickly as possible.
Chapter 20
Breaking all the Rules
“Our client’s outside, in the alley behind the school. He wants cocaine,” Jaret says.
“Shit, I didn’t bring any,” I say, rummaging in my pocket. I only have a bit of weed and some cash.
“No worries, I just got my stash from Wes.” Jaret takes out a bag of cocaine and quickly hands it over to me. Whatever. I’m just glad I don’t have to go back upstairs again. Leafy will undoubtedly start asking questions.
We walk around the building and make sure the coast is clear. When we spot the guy, he swallows and stiffens. “You’re the ones?”
I nod, and Jaret shakes his hand.
“Got the stuff?” the guy asks.
“Yeah.” I take the tiny plastic bag of cocaine from my pocket and show it to him.
“How much?” he asks.
Jaret probably knows how much he has to pay. I didn’t bring the price list, so I honestly have no clue.
“How can you do this?”
Her voice is all I need to hear to know it’s her. I turn around, horrified to find Leafy standing right in front of us. Oh God, she followed us? She was never meant to see this. Fuck. This shit just got way, way worse.
“What are you doing here?” I shout.
She storms toward me, and my client makes a run for it. I’m too late to grab his collar, and the moment he rushes out of the alley, I know I’ve wasted a good opportunity. Wes won’t let this pass easily.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” she screams, scowling at me.
Goddammit! She’s fucking infuriating. Now I’ll probably be forced to undergo another punishment because I scared away a client. She doesn’t even know what she just did.
“I told you it was none of your business. Why can’t you just leave it alone?” I growl.
“Of course I won’t leave this alone! You’re selling drugs! How can you do this? ” she says, her voice sounding like she’s disgusted. Disappointed. Fuck …
“And you, you got him into this!” She directs her attention toward Jaret, who shakes his head rigorously. She doesn’t have a clue.
“No, I’m in this as deep as he is. I’ve got no part in him getting into this,” Jaret says, holding up his hands as a sign of peace.
“I can’t believe this! Goddammit, all this time you’ve been doing this, haven’t you? What would Jessie say?” Leafy says.
That’s it. I don’t need her to lecture me about my brother. I know damn well what I’m doing. I’m doing it for him.
I place my hands on her shoulders and push her against the wall, peering into her deep blue eyes. “Leave my brother out of this. I will do whatever the hell I need to do to survive.”
Survive meaning that I can’t live without the money, because I can’t pay for the bail nor pay for my own food if I don’t do this.
“It’s wrong, and you know it,” she hisses.
“I don’t care,” I snap.
I do care, but I can’t. I have to block out all my emotions when I’m doing this. But now that she’s here, everything’s ruined.
It’s hurtful just to see her look at me like that, with such disdain in her eyes that it makes me want to punch somebody again. I know how this must look to her, and she’s right. I am a motherfucking failure. Now she knows.
She smashes her lips together, frowning like there’s no tomorrow. “Fine. Suit yourself.”
She slaps my hand away and storms off, leaving me with a heavy heart.
I’m pacing around in the alley while Jaret looks around the premises, checking to see if the client might come back.
“Fuck!” I scream, slamming my hands against the wall. “Why did she have to do that?”
“I don’t know, man,” Jaret chimes in. “But our client’s not coming back.”
“I don’t care about that! She knows what I do now. She’s seen the drugs.”
“She’s just a girl. What are you getting so worked up for?”
“She’s not just a girl!” I yell.
“All right, all right,” Jaret says, waving his hand like he wants me to shut up. “Oh, fuck.”
“What?” I snap.
“It’s Wes.”
My eyes widen, and I get my ass over to the entrance quickly. When I see him, my heart drops to my feet.
“Oh, fuck no,” I say.
“Shit, this can’t be good.”
Stuffing his phone back into his pocket, Wes squints when he sees me. He raises his finger at me while he walks toward me. “You’re in deep shit.”
Of course I am.
“I just got a call from my client saying you got a visitor during a trade. It scared him off. No deal.”
“Yeah, about that …” Jaret says.
Wes places his finger on Jaret’s chest, pushing him back. “I don’t fucking need you to explain.”
Then he turns around toward me and grabs my shirt. “You cost me a client. That’s money I won’t be getting.” He takes a deep breath through his nose. “You’ll have to make up for that. I think I know the perfect way.”
Something tells me shit just hit the fan.
♥♥♥
Wes drives Jaret’s car and brings us to the club, probably to keep a close eye on us. As we walk inside the other distributors glare at us with annoyance. They follow us down the stairs and into the building. More and more flock to us, and I think they all know what happened. I know why they’re here. They’re here to keep us from escaping.
Wes pushes us toward the arena, and the moment the cage comes into vision it feels like my heart will explode. They’re going to make us fight.
“Get in,” Wes says, opening the cage doors and pushing us both in. He locks the door behind us. “You think you can defy our rules?”
“No,” Jaret says.
“Shut up,” Wes says, his eyes narrowing. “You failed. Both of you. So now you’re gonna be free entertainment for the guests.”
“What?” I say.
“Fight.” Wes sits down on a nearby bleacher. “You can either fight until one of you is knocked out, or you can stay in here until you rot for all I care.” He encourages the other guests to sit down and watch as well.
Jaret turns around toward me, panic showing on his face. We both know Wes isn’t going to let us out, but I don’t want to fight him, and I don’t think Jaret wants to either. I can’t beat up a friend.
A crowd starts to form around the cage, and people yell at us. They’re getting rowdy, and I know they want something to happen soon. Otherwise Wes will make it happen.
Jaret walks toward me in slow, careful steps, his body slumped and his mind unwilling, just like mine. I lower my head and close my eyes. I won’t do this. I won’t hurt a friend.
“Do it,” I say.
“You can’t be serious,” Jaret says.
“They won’t let us out unless one of us is beaten to a pulp. You have to.”
“Why not you?”
“Because it wasn’t your fault this happened,” I say, looking him straight in the eye.
He swallows. “I don’t want to hit you, Hunter. I promised your brother I’d look out for you.”
The music is so loud I can barely hear him.
“I don’t care. Just promise me you’ll help me take these motherfuckers down,” I say.
Jaret swallows and nods. He raises his fists, shuffling back and forth on his feet.
“Just do it!” I yell.
Jaret punches me in the gut, and I wince, but stay put. Jaret’s eyes get watery, but he remains strong as he punches me against the shoulder. “C’mon. Fight back.”
I refuse. He hits me in the face, and it feels like I just got a brick in my eye. I groan and close my eyes, hearing the crowd boo loudly. I don’t fucking care if they like it or not. I’m not going to entertain them. I’m not going to give them what they want.
He hits me again and again. M
y hands are firmly clenched around the bars of the cage as I look down at the floor, taking one fist after another. I spit out blood and watch the red drops fall on the ground. The same ground my brother once stood on, getting beaten just like me. I wonder if he was ever forced to fight someone he didn’t want to hurt.
“Hunter …” Jaret groans, hitting me in the cheek. “I can’t keep doing this.”
“You have to …” I whisper, my face feeling brittle and broken.
I raise my head and look outside, trying to find Wes, trying to look into his eyes and make him see the monster inside him. But then I notice the crowd that formed around the cage has already dispersed. Nobody seems interested anymore. Not now they realize I won’t fight a friend. It’s probably not really all that fun looking at someone who refuses to fight.
“Stop!” I zoom in on Wes’ voice and see him getting up from the bleachers. He looks pissed as he opens the cage door again.
“Get your fucking ass out of here,” he says, pointing at Jaret.
Briefly placing his hand on my shoulder, Jaret whispers, “Hang in there, bud. I’ll help you, I promise … Thanks.” And then he walks out of the cage, grabbing the bottle of water handed to him by one of the hookers from the club.
Wes stalks toward me, aggressively grabbing my chin. “I’ll make you fight, one way or another. You’re in Alpha Psi now, and you’re going to make me money, whether you like it or not. You think you’re safe? Think again. Our leader won’t hesitate to put you out of your misery. I’m the only one keeping him from doing it.”
He hits me against the head, and my skull is pounded back into the cage bars. With my teeth clenched together, I breathe out through my nose, holding back my fury. I could kill him. I swear, one day I’ll fuck him up for life. Once this is all over, and the cat’s out of the bag, I’ll tear him to pieces. But not now. If I hit him now, it’ll be over too soon. I can’t let this fucking asshole stop me from getting my brother out.
“You’re lucky I’m letting you live,” he says, spitting on the floor. “Now clean yourself up and get the fuck back to work.” He lets go of me and flicks his finger, alerting one of the girls to come inside. “Get him out of here,” he says, and then he walks away.
I let go of the bars and wipe the blood from my face. My head is spinning, but I manage to walk out of the cage on my own. The girl tries to offer me her assistance, but I don’t need anyone’s help. I don’t want to spend another minute in this abominable place.
♥♥♥
Jaret brings us to the dorm. We’re both silent the entire drive. My head hurts and I’m holding a few pieces of wet toilet paper against my black eye. One glance in the mirror tells me I look fucked up again.
“Hey … sorry, man,” Jaret says. “If I’d known they’d make us bust each other up, I wouldn’t have gone with them.”
“You think we had a choice? Nah.”
He sighs.
“Let’s just not talk about it, okay?” I say, looking his way.
He frowns. “I think you need to go to a hospital. You look like shit.”
“Forget it. I’m not going there.”
“But you really look like shit, I’m not kidding.”
“Yeah, well that’s your fault.”
He parks the car near the dorm. “Sorry, dude.”
“I don’t want that,” I say as we get out. “You just help me with finding out who the leader is, all right?”
He looks troubled, but after a while he nods. “Fine. You sure about that hospital thing?”
“Yes!”
“Okay, okay. Listen, I have to do another trade, so I’ll see you later, all right?” Jaret turns around in the opposite direction.
“See ya,” I say, walking toward the dorm.
My muscles are sore, but I manage to get up to my room and sit down on my bed to grab a drink from the fridge. Damn, I’m thirsty, but the water tastes like blood. I run my fingers through my hair and look around my room, feeling disconnected from this world. Leaning backwards, I suddenly feel something rectangular with my fingers and pick it up. It’s a book, but it’s not mine. Leafy must have left it.
Looking at it, I realize she might be needing this, even if that should be the last thing on my mind right now. I’m also thinking she might be able to help me out here. I might look fucked up as shit, but I’m still not going to the hospital. Maybe she can fix me up. She’s done it before. Then again, I really messed it up with her. I wonder if she’ll still let me in. I hope so; I could use her help.
Whatever the case, I’m going to her, and I won’t leave until she agrees. She shouldn’t be so quick to judge. I’m not the bad guy here, even though she might think I am.
I knock on her door, but don’t even wait for her to say something before stomping inside. She’s sitting at her desk, pretending I’m not here, but with each step I take she shivers in her seat. Nice little lie.
I throw the book down in front of her, and she almost jumps up from her seat. “You left this on my bed.” I lean sideways, placing my hand on her desk, trying to get a glimpse of her face. I want to know if she’s mad, afraid, or crying, just so I know what I’m in for, but she’s not giving me even a hint of emotion. Tough luck.
I hate it when I don’t know what she’s thinking, and I hate it when I don’t know how she feels about me.
“Thanks,” she says with an icy-cold face as I scrunch up her papers in frustration.
She briefly glances sideways, and her eyes widen when she sees my hands. They’re covered in cuts, probably from the punches I gave the wall after she left. She turns her head and gazes at me, her jaw inching open more and more. Well, shit. I look that bad, huh?
“You’re hurt!” she exclaims, and she immediately snatches my hand and checks the wounds.
I groan as she plucks the painful parts, inspecting whether it’s a five or a ten on the awful scale. Her eyes quickly dart to mine and she throws me a look that could kill. “You got in a fight again,” she says, grabbing a few tissues.
She firmly holds my hand, cleaning the cuts with gentleness and a care that I haven’t felt in ages. Something I only feel when I’m around her. Even so, her lips are slammed together, and it looks to me as though she’s keeping back all her screams. I guess she’s really pissed about finding out. Well, she doesn’t even know half of it yet.
“Was this the other thing they asked you to do?” she asks, putting pressure on my wounds each time a word slips past her lips. I don’t answer, since it won’t make anything better, and I’m not going to lie to her.
She takes in a deep breath, gets up from her seat, and walks to the fridge. I watch her perky ass sway from one side to the other, and as she bends, my eyebrows rise. No matter how roughed up I am, I still like to enjoy her fine ass.
She takes out a pack of ice and fetches a stool, which she puts down in front of me. “Sit.”
Oh … feisty. She thinks she can tell me what to do. I got news for her … I don’t listen to girls; she’ll find that out once I take her to my bed. But for now I’ll tolerate it, since I want her help.
Sitting down on that little stool makes me feel emasculated, but it’ll have to do. She puts the pack of ice against my eye and blocks one part of my vision. I place my hand on top the moment she’s about to let go.
“So, you want me to fix you up, but you don’t want to tell me why you’re busted up?” she says.
“It’s not going to change anything,” I say, staring straight ahead.
“Yeah, well getting into fights isn’t going to change anything, either. I don’t understand why you always have to do what they say.”
She opens her drawer and takes out some bandages, and then I spot something lying on the bottom. My eyes widen as I notice the bag of drugs. What the fuck is she doing with this crap in her room? She isn’t on drugs, is she? Oh, God.
She tries to shut it, but I hold it open, snatching the bag containing the pill. “Who gave you this?” I’m going to kill the motherfucke
r.
“Does it matter?”
I slam my hand on the table, and she jolts up from her seat. “It matters if I say it does!”
I need to fucking know who did this so I can snap his neck. Dealing drugs myself is one thing, but she will stay out of this. I won’t let this crap hurt her.
“And you think that by yelling I will just go ahead and tell you? Just like you told me why you’re dealing drugs and fighting people?” she snaps, raising one eyebrow.
I breathe out loudly through my nose, because I’m trying to keep my cool whilst I’m infuriated. “Whatever. As long as you do not use it.”
She snorts and starts wrapping bandages around my hand. “Why do you care? You’re the one who’s handing out drugs to people. It shouldn’t matter to you.”
What? Is that what she thinks of me?
I grab her hand and look straight into her big blue eyes. “You matter to me.”
She stiffens and her skin turns strawberry red. She averts her eyes. “W-well, I don’t think you’re the one to tell me what to do and what not to do,” she stutters. “You take them yourself. That day you showed up in the cafeteria you looked like you were beaten up quite badly, and you had red eyes. Don’t deny it. You’ve done it yourself.”
I close my eyes and sigh. It’s true, I did that, but I feel horrible about it. I don’t want to use that stuff. I hate it. I hate it with all my guts. My family got ripped apart because of those drugs. There isn’t anyone who knows better than me what that crap can do. “And you think I wanted to do that?”
“You tell me,” she says under her breath.
“I hate it. I hate the fucking stuff so much, you can’t even begin to imagine. But I had to. There was no other way to …”
“To what? You had to use drugs to do what?”
To save my brother, but I can’t tell her, goddammit! If she knew, she’d butt in, and she’d definitely ruin my chances of succeeding. She’d only make it more difficult than it already is.
“To what? You had to use drugs to do what?” she says.
I can clearly remember how I felt that day I used the pot. It was very freeing, like all the bad parts in my life had evaporated. I could laugh about pretty much anything. It was nice to forget my problems for once. They forced me to use it, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t consciously do it.
Fury (New Adult Romance) - #1.5 Fierce Series Page 17