by Dawn, Tara
My hand stills and my mind races to make up something to tell her. I just want it to be over and push it behind me. Discussing it only keeps that night alive and I want it to die, hiding the memories far from everyone, including myself.
"Cady, I don't want to talk about it right now," I mumble and quickly continue counting our money. I want to get on with our night and deal with the entire situation later.
"He was rough with you, wasn't he?" she asks quietly. I can see her watching me out of the corner of my eye. I nod my head giving her that much as I finish counting. She sits silently as I turn to her and hand her the wad of cash.
"Take a guess."
She meets my gaze searching for answers, but I just give her a reassuring smile. I know I will have to tell her soon, but now is not the time.
"One million dollars." She puts her pinky up to her mouth doing her impersonation of Dr. Evil and belts out a maniacal laugh.
"I wish. Try sixty-three bucks," I spout with a cocky grin and raise a brow. "It would've been eighty-three had I not left twenty for Roger."
Come Monday Roger will be begging to hire Cady. We haven't seen tips like these in – ever – and this was only for a few hours. I can only imagine what they would've been had we been working a full shift. Sales have got to be a record high, and if we continue to have service like we did tonight, they will continue to grow.
"Damn, we rocked that place! I barely expected a fourth of this in the beginning. Anything else you gotta do before we leave? There's money burning a hole in my pocket!" She laughs and we split the money before gathering our things so we can take off for Swanson.
We peek out the door on the watch for Phil. Any more occurrences with him tonight will end with one of us in jail and one of us in the hospital. After the stunt he pulled at the tavern, I'm worried as to just how far he was willing to take it. Shaking the thought from my mind, we step out and I lock the deadbolt. We check around the car for any signs that Phil is hiding in the dark. Satisfied that he isn't around, we climb inside and head for Swanson.
***
"Hello, ladies," Erick greets us as we cross the street to meet him.
A glance around the rundown neighborhood leaves no worries that the cops will be called tonight, unless gunshots are fired. The thought of that happening has me double checking my surroundings. The buildings are compacted together like tuna in a can with mere feet between them. If the siding isn't falling from the houses, then whatever paint is left on them is peeling off. Some of the yards look like they haven't been mowed in weeks. There are some lights on in a few other homes, but for the most part it looks vacant. I'm not so sure I'd travel to this part of town if we weren't meeting someone we knew. Even now I'm unsure of being here.
"What's up, Erick?" I respond, taking in the house he came out of. The gray paint is cracked, reminding me of all those lotion commercials for alligator skin. It could definitely use some TLC. Someone pulls the makeshift curtain to the side and peers out the window at us for a second before letting it drop back into place.
"Not a whole lot. Getting out of Trinity for a bit. That place will suck you dry if you let it." He reaches out for Cady's hand pulling her up the overly tall step to the walkway before wrapping his arms around her and squeezing her.
"Oh, God! Not so tight," she squeaks out before giggling. Erick chuckles and releases her. "Did you guys stop for booze, or do we need to go to the liquor store?"
"Now you know I always come prepared." Cady reaches in her bag pulling out the bottle of rum she had packed.
"Nice. I'm not drinking tonight, so I can drive you two home later." His questioning look says it all. He wants to spend the night where ever Cady is. It doesn't bother me any, especially knowing I'll have someone to help me if Phil shows his face again.
"Sounds good to me." I shrug and stroll up the walk past them toward the house and take the steps up on the porch. Turning back, Cady is whispering something to Erick and he nods his head. Whatever they are discussing is serious. There isn't any teasing or flirting happening. My arms instinctively cross over my chest in defense as I watch them. What is she telling him?
Erick quickly glances my way and turns toward me smiling when he sees me staring.
"You two coming, or what?" It comes out a little more snippy than I intended.
"Yep," Cady chimes and climbs the steps with Erick at her heels.
Eric opens the door and steps into the house. My eyes dart around the place taking it all in as we follow behind him. It doesn't look nearly as bad inside as it does outside and I wonder if they keep the outside looking the way it does on purpose. A nice house in this neighborhood would be broke into over and over again. There's quite a few people here and so far I don't know a damn one of them. Eric introduces us briefly as we walk through the room and stray eyes go back to private conversations. It reminds me of an old lady's house, definitely not a house a bunch of young people party in. Family and school pictures line the walls of the hallway as we make our way through. The dining room isn't nearly as packed. It has minimal decor and a rather large wooden table that seats eight. All eight seats are filled and everyone is working on packaging what looks like white pills into tiny zipper lock bags. I freeze in the doorway as Cady continues to follow Eric into the room.
"Be careful with those, fuck face," the man from the head of the table booms causing me to jump. "You break them, you buy them. Then you can explain to my dude why we have to have double the order when we've already hit our max right now."
The man in question looks up with fear in his very dilated eyes. For all I know he could have bright blue eyes, but all I can see is blackness. He nods his head quickly and picks up a bubble envelope. As carefully as he can with shaky hands, he puts them in the envelope and writes a number in the corner before sealing it. The others vigilantly follow suit, sliding what looks like piles of precounted baggies into envelopes and gently setting them inside a plastic tote in the middle of the table. I've never been one to shy away from drugs, but I've never been inside the house of a drug dealer either. This makes me nervous.
I pull my eyes away from the table looking for Cady and Erick when a body stumbles into me. My hip bangs against the door frame shooting pain through my side. Two hands grab my hips from behind as a face appears over my shoulder. Alcohol is all I smell.
"Sorry, sweet thang," the man says as he rubs against me.
My heart pounds as I turn my head to get a look at the drunken mess that is clinging to me and see the same fool I kicked out of the bar.
"You've got to be kidding me," I growl under my breath and use my elbow to push him off.
"There ain't no need to be like that." He sounds hurt. I really couldn't care less.
I turn toward him and cross my arms over my chest. His hooded eyes follow my arms, but linger on my tits before traveling up to my face. He looks at me for a moment before recognition kicks in. I raise my brow at him as a smile spreads over his face.
"Hellcat." His words are meant to sound sexy, but they only sound like a drunken slur. He moves toward me unevenly and I sidestep his advances moving further into the dining room. The heads at the table turn toward me as I pass them and walk into the kitchen on my hunt for Cady and Erick.
I find them leaning against the kitchen counter drinking a beer and talking.
"Thanks for leaving me out there," I huff in frustration as I pull open the fridge and get a beer for myself.
"We could see you from here," Cady responds.
"I bumped into the jackass from the bar. Or should I say he slammed into me." I rub my hip knowing I'm going to have a bruise there tomorrow. Like I haven't had enough bruises lately.
"Now, hellcat. There's no need for name callin'."
I look over my shoulder at said jackass and roll my eyes as Cady and Erick laugh at my misfortune.
"Bobby, leave her alone, jackass," Erick says, still laughing.
"I'm just giving her a hard time." Bobby chuckles as he reaches into the f
ridge for a beer.
"You did a good job earlier. Don't you think you've had enough to drink?" I ask as he pops the tab and takes a drink from the can.
"Just having some fun." Bobby winks at me and gives me a lopsided grin. He raises his beer to me and slurs, "I'm just getting started."
I shake my head and chuckle. He's just your everyday, good-natured farm boy who likes to party. Bobby may get rowdy, but while watching him interact with Erick it's apparent he's a kind soul. He rubs a rough, calloused hand over his buzzed head and laughs at something Erick says before looking my way. His cornflower blue eyes are bloodshot horribly, but that doesn't take away from their effect. They crinkle at the sides as he gives me a lopsided grin and winks at me again. I have a feeling hellcat has become my new name and that Bobby will tease me forever.
The four of us stand in the kitchen and chat for a bit while we drink our beer. Bobby is actually a pretty funny guy. He leans against the counter next to me as we chat being flirtatious and attempting to get my number. I continuously shoot him down, but that doesn't keep him from trying. I watch as people come and go from the dining room carrying the envelopes out with them. I wonder what kind of drug it is that has so many waiting around to get their hands on it. With us living along the hub of interstate exits, we see a lot of drugs being pushed through our state heading north to distribute. This must be a new one.
The people disappear from the house as fast as the envelopes do. Within fifteen minutes the house is silent and the guy at the head of the table is the only one who remains besides us. I watch out of the corner of my eye as he counts stacks of money and bundles it. He gets up from the table and folds a stack over slipping it into his back pocket before walking off somewhere in the house. He comes back minutes later strolling toward the kitchen.
"Business taken care of?" Erick asks him.
"Yes. Now I can finally relax until dude shows up for his money. We can go do whatever after that or chill here. Doesn't matter to me," he says glancing my way and giving me the once over.
"Dustin, this is Hazel, Cady's friend," Erick says making introductions.
"Yeah, she's the hellcat that threw me out of the bar earlier tonight," Bobby tosses in, laughing.
"You deserved it, jackass," I spout.
Bobby grabs his heart as if I hurt him and I chuckle at his antics.
"Any friend of Cady's is a friend of mine. As long as they ain't a snitch." Dustin eyes me as if trying to read my mind. I stare him down giving him the same look. He isn't on the same drugs as the man at his table earlier. His green eyes are very visible and begin twinkling as he chuckles. "Good to know you can hold your own around here. You're gonna need that." He nods his head once at me before speaking to everyone in the group. "Let's go chill in the other room till dude gets here. We can dose up when he leaves."
Everyone sounds off with hell yeah's as we grab fresh beers and follow Dustin. I'm left wondering what he means by dosing up as I sit next to Bobby on the only open seat.
"We on the love seat, baby." Bobby wags his dark brows at me making me snort.
He joins in the conversation as I listen and watch them interact with each other. Bobby isn't a bad looking guy, but you can tell he doesn't have his priorities straight. He's all about having a good time and is goofy as hell. No matter what's being said, he always has some sharp, witty comeback to make us all laugh. Same as Erick. They are two peas in a pod.
"You're trouble, aren'tcha?" Dustin asks me as he rests against the couch, one arm up on the back the other on the armrest holding his beer.
I didn't notice how long his dark brown hair was before. It hangs over his brows almost in his eyes that are as dark as his hair. His features and skin tone hint to a Hispanic heritage somewhere in his bloodline.
"Why do you say that?" I take a drink of my beer as he watches me intently.
"You don't talk much and you watch everything that goes on around you," he states. I can see the wheels in his head turning. "I saw you watching us in the dining room."
"I'm always aware of my surroundings. I don't walk into anything blindly. Nothing wrong with that." We sit and watch each other for a moment before he turns his attention back to Erick as if we said nothing at all.
Dustin's phone begins ringing and he exits the room to take the call.
"So, Hazel…that hot hunk of man meat say anything to you at the bar?" The smile that comes over Cady's face has Erick frowning at her. He really does like her and it bothers him that she talks about other guys this way, even if it's about someone hitting on me.
I sigh and frown a little too. "No. I'll probably never see him again after tonight. So sad. He was quite the looker."
"Yes he was. He watched every move you made. Hell, a lot of guys watched every move you made in that dress. Told you it was a good idea." Her blue eyes twinkle with laughter and she winks at me.
"The dress looked good on ya," Bobby jumps into the conversation. "It was topic of discussion quite a few times."
"They all waited for the damn thing to ride up and give them a show." I snort at my own joke.
"Hell yeah we did. What's underneath has to be way better," Bobby exclaims.
I elbow him in the side and we all start laughing.
Dustin returns to the room and sits down. "Looks like dude isn't coming. He got into a fight tonight at Maggie's. Were you guys there when a fight erupted?" he asks as he reaches over to the side table and pulls out a wooden box.
Cady, Erick, and I exchange quick glances, but remain silent. The only fight we know of is the one between Phil and the stranger. Is Phil his dealer, or the stranger?
"No. We didn't see any fight go down while we were there. Just Bobby throwing beer bottles across the bar." Cady tosses her empty beer can at Bobby's head and laughs.
"C'mon now. It was an accident. Just got a little riled up," Bobby says setting the empty beer can on the coffee table.
"Accident my ass. You almost hit me in the head with it." I roll my eyes at him.
Dustin chuckles as he opens the box and pulls out some baggies handing them around. When he gets to me I shake my head and drink my beer. He leaves my baggie on the table, I guess in case I change my mind. That won't be happening. If this is the same shit that man was on tonight, I want no part of it.
"What is this shit?" I ask, looking at the white tablets in the baggy.
"It's called Snap," Dustin says as he pours his tablets onto the table. I look at him questioningly and he points to the pills. "If you take them in solid form, it will give you a nice, relaxing amp all day. No jitters, no shitty aftereffects when coming down. But, if you snap them…" He demonstrates by placing his thumbs on either side of the pill line and pushing down. The pill snaps in half and begins to crumble into a powder on the table. He uses his thumb nail to finish crumbling the small chunks left until there are none. "It gives you an immediate, euphoric high that lasts for a few hours. You feel like you can take over the world. If you take too much, especially with alcohol, it will feel like you're drunker than drunk and pass out fast coming to and from consciousness. Almost feels like you're in a lucid dream and all your senses heighten."
I sit there in shock listening to every word he says. Phil is his drug dealer, has to be. It all makes sense. And now I know for sure that Phil drugged me that night. That fucking bastard slipped this shit in my drink knowing I would go along with having sex with him. It had to have been a lot. I never would've gotten blackout drunk with him when I didn't even want to go to begin with. He's been in the drug game for at least the past month or two. I would guess if he were using at the time it was recreational because he was never high around me that I noticed. Now, I would say regularly, with the mostly black stares I catch when I see him.
I get a horrible feeling in my gut as I watch those around me snort powder up their noses. I've let my friend drag me inside a circle that could get me thrown in jail, or worse, killed. The things I've seen and heard tonight are more information than I've ever wan
ted to learn about the drug trade and it's only going to get worse from here. I can't forget what I've seen, I can't unhear what I've heard. Trying to talk any sense into Cady and Erick will be like talking to a brick wall. If Phil finds out I was here, he'll know that I know what he's been up to. This game of cat and mouse will be kicked up a notch. That worries me. I've officially jumped from the frying pan into the fire.
Cash
Her car hasn't moved in hours. She walked into this house with that girl from the bar and I haven't seen her face since. I counted seventeen males walking out earlier splitting up and going separate ways. I know this is where Dustin lives. He's Phil's right hand man. The two of them have been in cahoots for a while now, sneaking around behind our backs. They've been smart about it, too, never meeting at the same place twice. We know he's up to something, we're just not sure what it is or when it's going to happen.
I stretch the best I can inside the tiny rental car. Switching out vehicles while I'm here is imperative so no one gets suspicious. I wish I had driven this to the bar earlier instead of the truck because I'd have more room now. The seat is beginning to feel like a cement block beneath me causing me to fidget to find comfort. My cell phone vibrates in the cup holder taking my attention away from my discomfort. Picking it up, I look at the screen to see Dale calling.
"Yeah," I grumble into the phone.
"Any news?" he asks.
We're all nervous right now. Snap is in its trial run and it needs to be successful. This drug can make us all very rich. It takes very little to produce it, it isn't addictive like most drugs so it'll stay off the radar longer, and it burns up quickly in your system to not be detected easily. It is every drug dealers dream being able to expand their clientele to businessmen and soccer moms.
"No. This trip is just as confusing as the last. He approached the girl tonight, though. I'm beginning to think she has nothing to do with this. I had to pull him off her when he wrapped his hands around her throat. He was hopped up on something. I'd say he was using the product, but his side effects are different." I shake my head thinking about earlier. The guy had no fear. None. He was ready to take me out and walk away whistling. Number one rule in the business: Do not use the product. He crossed that line. At least I thought he had until I looked into his eyes.