by Hamel, B. B.
He was about my height, around six three, and muscular. His neck was thick and covered in tattoos. I knew instantly what kind of man he was, and wondered why the fuck Thom would need to bring him to a simple exchange.
“Hey, Climber,” Thom called.
“Thom. Who’s your friend?”
Thom’s face fell for a second as he glanced at the man. “Climber, this is Jacques.”
The man nodded. “Call me Jay,” he said, his French Canadian accent thick.
“Okay, Jay. I’m Reid. Some people call me Climber.”
He didn’t respond.
“Jay is taking over some distribution down in this area,” Thom said, looking uncomfortable.
“Am I going to be dealing with him now?”
“No, still me. He just wanted to come along and see how this worked.”
I looked at him. His dark brown eyes gazed back at me almost lazily. His heavy leather jacket could have easily concealed a gun, and he made me incredibly uneasy. I guessed he probably had that effect on most people, and cultivated it.
“This is pretty much it,” I said, holding the package out.
Thom took it and tore the paper open. “Climber is our best mule.”
“Don’t call me a fucking mule.”
Jay looked at me curiously. “Is that not what you are?”
“I may be running shit for you guys across the border, but I’m not a mule.” Thom opened the box and began to sort through the bottles, making sure everything was there. “Plus,” I continued, “I’m out as soon as we’re square.”
“As soon as we’re square,” Jay repeated.
“He lost a package. Now he’s paying that off,” Thom cut in.
“Lost a package. I thought he was the best?”
“Accidents happen.” Thom gave me a look.
I stared at Jay. “Almost died that day. I’m making it right.”
He looked back at me, his eyes flat. He didn’t respond and I felt a chill run down my spine.
Thom finished going through the pills. “It’s all here. Vicodin, Percocet, OxyContin, even some Demerol. Only the finest prescription pain meds Canada has to offer.”
Jay motioned for the package and Thom handed it over.
“Am I done here?” I asked.
“Almost,” Jay said. He began to go through the pills while Thom watched, looking uncomfortable.
In all the time I had worked with Thom, I had never seen him look so anxious. We had people come on drops with us before, but Jay was clearly someone different, someone important.
Someone dangerous.
“All good,” he grunted, handing the package back to Thom.
“Great. Well, pleasure as always. See you later,” Thom said to me.
“Wait,” Jay grunted. Thom looked up, surprised. “We have new deal.” Jay gave me a long look, and then said, “You’re going to make runs once a week until debt is paid.”
I blinked at him. “Are you fucking crazy? Twice a month is dangerous enough.”
“Once a week. We meet here again next Monday for the drop.”
“How is that even going to work? Is there enough supply up north?”
“There’s supply. They know you’re coming.”
I clenched my jaw. Making the hike up across the Canadian border wasn’t an easy trip, although I had mastered it over the past few years. It still took at least a day to get up there and another day to get back, with one night camping out in the woods.
How was I going to explain to my parents why I was disappearing for two days every single week? Every other week was bad enough, but I made it work by varying my schedule. I didn’t have enough excuses to make any more variations in my normal routine.
“You’re putting me in a bad spot,” I said.
“We know. But Jay here, he knows what he’s doing,” Thom said, trying to play the peacekeeper.
“You’re the best, no?” Jay said, staring at me. “You want to get out of this debt?”
“Yes,” I said through my teeth.
“Then do these runs. Don’t complain again.”
I wanted to break his jaw then and there. As the anger flowed through me, I realized that I wasn’t afraid of him at all. Yeah, he creeped me out, but that didn’t mean I would hesitate to smash his arrogant face.
But I needed to pay back my debts. It had been too long since I last devoted myself to climbing, and the urge to get back on the walls was getting too powerful to ignore. Now that my mom was better and the bills were down to a manageable level, I didn’t need the cash as badly anymore.
It was a big risk, but I’d be out.
“Fine,” I said. “But don’t call me a mule.”
He smiled, a sick, twisted, and creepy smile. “Very good. You’re very good, Climber.”
“Great. It’s settled. See you next Monday, Climber,” Thom said.
I watched as Jay climbed back into the car, smiling to himself. Thom gave me an apologetic look. You piece of shit, you better have a good explanation for this
, I thought as he started the engine and drove off.
As soon as they were gone, I turned back and headed toward home. The sun was low in the sky, and I knew I had to hurry if I wanted to make it in time for dinner.
But I was nervous. Things were changing, and I didn’t know why. As far as I knew, everything had been going smoothly, aside for that one missed drop. But Jay showing up out of nowhere meant things were in motion that I knew nothing about.
And one run a week was going to be hard, really hard. I was going to have to push myself further than I ever had before. I almost died once trying to get the drugs across the border. I wasn’t trying to do that again.
Sometimes, late at night, I still dreamed about that fall.
It was getting dark, but I had to keep pushing. The cold was sapping into every corner of my body, tightening my muscles, making my breath come looser. I was already behind schedule and I needed to hurry if I was going to make it home on time.
The package was snug in my pack. I picked my way carefully through the trees, walking fast but not quite jogging. I was still an hour or two from home, but I didn’t want to stop and make camp.
Suddenly, I heard a twig snap nearby. I looked over in that direction, distracted.
It happened so fast. One second I was moving through the low snow, looking for whatever animal had made the sound, and the next I was tumbling head over heels.
I wasn’t sure how I missed the ravine, but I had. Luckily, the hill I fell down wasn’t too steep. Still, my pack went flying. It broke open, snapping the pill bottles and sending the white specks into the clean snow. I wasn’t worried about that yet, though, as I slammed into a tree at the base of the hill.
The wind whipped out of me and pain lanced through my ribs and my wrist. I lay there, breathing deeply and blinking.
I was fucking lucky to be alive.
After a few minutes of making sure nothing was broken or bleeding, I hurried off to find my pack.
The horror when I saw that the pill cases were broken and the pills had scattered filled every inch of me. I tried to find as many as I could, but they were gone, lost in the white snow, scattered across the hill.
I limped back home, broken, bruised, and worried.
Thom and his handlers had been pissed when I showed up empty-handed. That was supposed to have been my last run. Mom had gone into remission and the bills were mostly paid off. Between Jack and whatever I could scrape up, we’d be fine.
Instead, I was on the hook for more runs.
I sighed, catching sight of the smoke rolling lazily from the house’s chimney. My parents believed all the money was coming from climbing competitions, or at least that’s what I had said. Part of them had to know that I was doing something else.
But they didn’t ask questions. They didn’t want to know.
It was better that way. It was better they didn’t know the truth, that I was risking my life and my freedom. That I was smuggling prescr
iption pain drugs for asshole thugs just to pay off my mom’s crushing medical bills.
As I moved over the fence and walked back toward the house, I hoped they never found out. I didn’t want to see the disappointed look on my mom’s face.
I had to get out. Five more runs.
Five more weeks.
Chapter Five: Rebecca
The back of my jeans was wet from the kicked-up water as I rode my bike down Main Street. It felt good riding my bike again, the crisp air filling my lungs.
Luckily, the rain had let up. It was comfortable outside, warm but not hot, and the clouds looked like they were going to hold off on more rain.
I pedaled past the old church we used to go to back in the day, heading into the center of town. I spotted my destination up ahead: the Blue Light Diner, or just the Blue.
As I wove my way through traffic, I realized that I was a little out of breath. Not too bad, but enough to notice. I really needed to start hiking and running more. But I’d been way too busy at school to bother with that, so I’d let it slide.
I pulled into the parking lot and locked my bike against a street sign. I could have probably left it unlocked, considering there was basically no crime in Ridgewood, but better safe than sorry.
I pushed open Blue’s front door and immediately was hit with a wave of nostalgia. It had been forever since I was last in the Blue, but I used to go there all the time back in high school.
I remembered many late nights spent ordering greasy food and laughing with friends. My friend Lindsey and I used to talk about which guys we wanted to lose our virginity to, as if either of us was actually going to do anything about it. We were both way too chicken at the time.
Not anymore, I mused. I had heard some rumors about Lindsey. True or not, we had drifted out of touch over the years, but I wanted to do something about that. Regardless of what people said about her.
I looked around and couldn’t spot anyone I recognized. That wasn’t unusual. The hostess nodded as I took a seat at the counter, not bothering to try and get a table. It wasn’t crowded, since it was an odd hour between the morning and afternoon rushes.
“Hey, hun, what can I get you?” the waitress asked me.
“Coffee and a plate of fries, please,” I said.
She smiled and nodded and then walked away.
I sighed and looked around the place, still flooded with memories. I came to Blue with my dad after soccer games when I was a little kid. I even had a vague memory of my mom, before she died of cancer, drinking a soda and smiling.
I frowned. I hadn’t thought about my mom in a long time. She passed before I was old enough to really form strong memories of her, although the image of her in Blue seemed pretty real.
“Here you go,” the waitress said, placing a mug of coffee in front of me. “Fries will be out in a minute.”
“Thanks.” I picked up my mug and sipped it.
Warm and bitter. Just how I liked it.
As I put the mug down, I looked up and suddenly she was there. It took me a second to recognize her. Leaning against the hostess station was Lindsey, wearing the uniform and holding an order pad. I stared at her for a second, surprised. It looked like she had aged way more than I would have guessed. She had black bags under her eyes and she was thin, super thin. She was never heavy to begin with, but still.
As soon as she looked in my direction, I waved. She looked confused for a second but then recognition bloomed across her face.
“Rebecca?” she asked, walking over.
“Hey, Lindsey.”
“Oh my god! I didn’t know you were home!”
I stood up and we hugged. She laughed and seemed genuinely excited to see me. I hadn’t spoken to her in over a year, and hadn’t seen her in longer. But suddenly it felt like high school all over again.
“I just got back. Thought I’d come visit you.”
“How’d you know I work here?”
“Reid told me.”
She smiled knowingly. “Climber comes in here a lot.”
“How are you?”
“I’m great. Listen, I gotta get back to work. I have a break in a half hour if you’ll be around?”
“Yeah, definitely.”
“Okay, great.” She walked off, back to her tables.
I sat back down in my seat as the other waitress placed the fries in front of me. I nodded my thanks as I picked one up and chewed on it: crispy, salty, and delicious.
Lindsey looked so drawn. Even when she smiled, it looked like it never reached her eyes. The girl I had grown up with was bubbly if a little slow. She didn’t get into college, and so she stayed home to find work in Ridgewood. It was hard to stay friends, and eventually we just drifted apart. That happened with most of my friends from those days.
I frowned. I hated how that had happened. I hated that I was the kind of person that let friendships die. But the truth was, that just naturally happened sometimes.
People changed. They grew into something else. You couldn’t stop that, even if it was sad.
As I munched on fries and sipped coffee, I sensed someone sit down on the stool next to me.
“Fancy meeting you here.”
My gaze snapped up. Reid sat on the stool next to me, grinning.
“What are you doing here?” I asked him.
“Getting lunch. That a crime?”
“No, I mean, I just didn’t expect you.”
“I didn’t expect you, either, but here we are.”
The waitress walked over. “What can I get you, Climber?” she asked him.
“Hi, Marci. Coffee and a tuna salad sandwich, please.”
“Okay, coming right up.” She walked way.
“Marci?” I asked him.
“I’m a known entity in these parts.”
He grinned at me and I felt my head go a little dizzy. His tight T-shirt showed off his muscles and his hair was messed up from whatever he had been doing. I wanted to reach out and fix it, but he looked so damn cute the way it was.
Plus, it would have been totally weird and inappropriate. Stepsisters didn’t touch their stepbrothers like that, right?
“Looks like the breakfast of champions,” he said, nodding at my fries.
“Comfort food. I haven’t had these in a long time.”
“They as good as you remember?”
“Not really.”
He laughed as Marci returned with his coffee and then walked away. He picked it up and sipped it.
“Your ass is dirty,” he said.
“Excuse me?”
“Your ass.” He leaned back and looked at it. “There are mud specks on your ass.”
I blushed. “Oh, right. I rode my bike here.”
“What did you think I meant?”
“Nothing.”
He leaned close to me. “Listen, sis, if I wanted to tell you that your ass looked great, I’d just say it.”
“Cut it out.”
He leaned back and looked at it again. “Does look good though.”
“Reid, don’t be gross.”
“Just paying you a compliment. I’d love to see you bent over my bed sometime.”
I gaped at him. “Okay, that’s enough.”
He laughed at me and sipped his coffee again. I hated how much he loved to tease me. He never failed to go too far and make me blush.
“So how does it feel, being back?”
“Weird. Also like I never left.”
“Ridgewood is funny that way. No matter how much the people change, the town stays the same.”
I nodded. “It’s like we’re in a little time warp out in the woods.”
“Living our lives backward.”
I laughed. “Soon it’ll be the stone age.”
“Perfect. That way I can just grab you and haul you off to my cave. Have my way with you.”
“Oh please. I’d fight you off.”
“Fight me off? I’m twice your size. I could throw you around.”
“Fortunate
ly it’s not the stone age then.”
“Please. You’d kill to get just an hour in a cave with me.”
“Yeah, right. I think I’d rather get eaten by a T-Rex.”
He laughed and I smiled. “Hey, where’d you go this morning, by the way?” I asked, changing the subject.
“Nowhere special.”
“Typical Reid, avoiding the subject.”
“Typical Becca, pretending like she doesn’t want me to ravish her in the bathroom.”
“How about you ravish yourself?”
Before he could respond, Marci the waitress returned and put his sandwich down in front of him. “Need anything else, Climber?”
“Nah, I’m good. Thanks, Marci.”
She smiled at me. “Anything for you?”
“No, thanks.”
I watched as she walked away and wondered how often Reid came into the Blue if the waitresses knew to call him Climber.
“Do I know her?” I asked him.
“I don’t think so.”
“I guess you’re a regular here, then.”
“Like I said, I’m a known entity.”
He picked up his sandwich and took a huge bite out of it. I made a face.
“Gross. You even eat like a caveman.”
He chewed and swallowed. “I don’t believe in wasting time on manners.”
“Clearly.”
“Don’t be so uptight, college girl,” Reid said.
“I’m not uptight.”
“Right. You practically walk around with a back brace on.”
“Aren’t you supposed to say that I have a stick up my ass?”
“I’d like to put something up your ass.”
I ignored that. “Just because I’m not an animal like you doesn’t mean I’m uptight or whatever.”
“Sure it does. You need to loosen up. I know exactly what would do it.”
“Okay, enlighten me.”
He leaned toward me. “A big fat orgasm. Preferably from my hard dick.”
I blushed and looked away. “You’re just proving my point.”
“I’d rather be an animal and getting laid than an uptight science dork.”