by Kay Marie
“They look good. We’ll be in touch for more soon.” He takes a thick envelope out of his jacket and hands it to me. We shake hands. “Always a pleasure doing business with the Menaces. Take care, Buster.”
I walk back to the box truck and signal to the guys to load up. We get in our vehicles and head back to the hotel.
“I take it he was satisfied with the shipment,” Rascal asks.
“Yup,” I respond before I shoot off a text to Bull.
To Bull: Shipment dropped. Buyer will be in touch.
We lounge around the hotel room for a couple of hours and grab a late lunch. Now we’re headed to Blaze’s dispensary, Higher Zen. We park around back so loading the car will be less conspicuous and walk around the front to go inside. It’s a good size dispensary. Blaze does well for himself.
“Welcome to Higher Zen!” a girl calls out from behind the counter. She’s a small girl and has long dreadlocks. “How can I help you today?”
“We’re here to see Blaze. Is he around,” I ask. Rascal hasn’t taken his eyes off the girl since we walked in.
“Yeah, let me go grab him real quick.” She disappears behind a colorful tapestry.
“They have fucking everything here,” Shade announces. I glance around the shop. They have all kinds of edibles and drinks, topicals, tinctures, on top of having flower and cartridges. A couple of minutes later, Blaze walks out from behind the tapestry.
“Brothas! How are you doing today?” he greets us.
“Doin’ well. Looks like you are too.” I gesture around the shop. Blaze chuckles.
“I make due,” he replies.
“Who’s the girl who was out here,” Shade asks.
“That’s Marley. She’s like my little sister. She moved out here from Cali right after you guys were here last month,” Blaze explains. “You ready to check out your order?”
“Let’s do this,” I respond. We follow him into the back. He has some mason jars sitting out on one of his tables. He walks around to one side of the table and the four of us line up against the other.
“So, I picked out five new strains for you. Two sativas, two indicas, and a hybrid,” he explains to us. “This first one is Burmese Classic OG. It’s the hybrid.”
He passes it to me and I hold it to my nose.
“It smells kind of citrusy.” I pass it to my left to Shade who takes a whiff and passes it down the line.
“It’s a little more sativa than indica. It gives you a nice, clear-headed high yet relaxing,” Blaze tells us.
“Sounds like my kind of flower,” Rascal says. Blaze goes over the other four jars with us. The sativas, Sour Haze and Candy Kush, give energizing and active highs while the indicas, Classic Dream and Blue Kough, are what he calls relaxation in a jar and give mellow highs.
“Everything looks and smells fucking amazing, Blaze,” I compliment. “I’m curious to see how well these sell.”
“Definitely keep me updated. I like to give the Menaces the best of the best,” he responds. On top of the five pounds of flower, we also get a box of five hundred carts in assorted flavors. The four of us all get a little something for ourselves. I grab some edibles and a couple of carts for myself. One Classic Dream and one Burmese Classic OG.
Before we load everything into our cars, Blaze puts each strain of weed into a vacuum-sealed packaging. He puts two of them into one large Stashlogix case and the other three in another. We each take a medium case to put our personal purchases in. I take the case of carts and the case of two pounds of flower and put them in a hidden compartment in my trunk. Shade takes the other case of flower and puts it in his car. The medium-sized cases are small enough to fit under our seats and we’re good to go.
We say our goodbyes and head back to our hotel. The plan is to head out somewhat early tomorrow to head back home.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Cali
When I wake up the next morning, I’m still exhausted. I slept like absolute crap last night. I got too comfortable sleeping next to Ryan. Now I’m struggling to sleep on my own. I check my phone and have a couple of texts. One from Ryan and one from Minx.
From Minx: Come to the house when you get up!
From Ryan: Good morning, Sólnyshka. Finishing breakfast and about to start our day. I’ll call you tonight.
I check the time. His last text was from an hour ago. I decide to text him back even though he won’t see it right away.
To Ryan: Good morning! Just woke up. Can’t wait to talk to you later.
I lay in bed for another ten minutes before I get up and go about getting ready. When I walk out to the main room, there’s a few cut bunnies and Mouse, who is sitting on the couch scrolling through his phone. Lexus walks toward me and Mouse jumps up off the couch.
“Hey, Cali. You ready to go to the house?” He walks over to me.
“Yeah, let’s go.” I don’t even glance in Lexus’s direction, which probably pisses her off. Mouse and I don’t talk until we get outside.
“I saw her walking your way and didn’t want her starting shit,” Mouse explains.
“I appreciate it. Thank you.” I smile at him.
“Are you doing alright? Is there anything I can do or get for you?”
“I’m alright, and no, not right now,” I tell him. He nods.
“Let me know if there’s anything you need.”
“We are having a girls’ night tonight, so I may need you to go grab some stuff at the grocery store later,” I say.
“That, I can definitely do,” he replies. We get to Minx’s house and he sits in one of the chairs on the porch while I go inside.
“They’re in the kitchen,” Sketch says from the couch as soon as I walk in.
“Thanks, Sketch,” I laugh. I walk into the kitchen and the girls are all sitting around the table drinking coffee.
“She lives!” Emma laughs.
“Barely,” I chuckle.
“Are you doin’ alright,” Minx asks. I move to the counter to make myself a cup of coffee.
“Yeah, I haven’t been sleeping well,” I confess.
“I don’t sleep well when Raze is gone. Even if he’s only gone for one night,” she tells me. “I’d like to say it gets easier, but it doesn’t.”
“You have us to keep you company though,” Wren says shrugging. I giggle.
“I am thankful for you ladies. I would probably be a huge mess if I didn’t have y’all,” I admit.
“We’re here for you whenever you need us,” Rivet tells me with a smile on her face.
“You don’t understand how much I truly appreciate that.” I sit at the table with them. “So what’s on the agenda for today?”
“We need to make a grocery list to give to a couple of the prospects,” Rivet announces.
“All the junk food!” Wren says. Minx hops up, walks to the counter, and rustles around in one of the drawers. When she comes back to the table, she has a pen and some paper.
“What kind of junk food do we want?” She prepares herself to write things down.
“Pizza rolls,” Emma tells her. “No wait, let’s order pizza!”
“Ice cream,” Wren shouts. We all tell her a different flavor. Chocolate fudge brownie for me. My favorite.
“Chips! Maybe some Pringles or something,” I suggest.
“Oh, definitely! Those sound amazing,” Minx says.
“Don’t forget some peanut M&Ms and buttery popcorn,” Rivet tells her.
“I’m going to need to hit up a gym or something tomorrow.” I laugh.
“There’s a gym in the clubhouse. We can all go together!” Minx tells us.
“That’s a hard pass for me,” Emma deadpans.
“Soul sister. It’s a pass for me too,” Rivet replies. Minx and I glance at our best friends then at each other and she shrugs.
“I’ll be up for a work out too,” Wren tells us. “We’ll let the two of you sleep.”
“Perfect!” Emma and Rivet say at the same time and we all laugh. Mi
nx finishes writing our grocery list and hands it to me.
“Will you recruit a couple of prospects to go to the store for us,” Minx asks.
“Sure.” I shrug. “I need to get a few things from Buster’s room anyway.”
“Thanks, Cali,” Minx says as I’m walking out of the kitchen.
“You’re welcome,” I call out behind me.
“Done already?” Mouse says as I walk outside.
“No, but I need a favor,” I tell him.
“What’s up?”
“Can you and Chains go grocery shopping for us,” I ask.
“Sure, that shouldn’t be a problem,” he replies.
“I also need to go back to the clubhouse to get some of my things. I’m staying the night here with the girls tonight,” I explain to him. He nods and we head back to the clubhouse. Walking into the clubhouse, Hollywood is standing at the bar talking with Tink.
“Hey Cali,” Tink calls out.
“Hey!” I smile at her. Mouse nudges me.
“Do you have a grocery list? I’ll grab Chains and we’ll head out,” he tells me. I hand him Minx’s list. “Hollywood, mind keeping an eye on Cali while I run to the store?”
“Not at all,” Hollywood replies.
“I’m going to go shower and get some things together for tonight,” I tell them and head to Buster’s room. I check my phone. No new messages. I’m missing Ryan a lot today. It makes me thankful we’re having a girls’ night tonight. I take my time in the shower and move even slower while packing a backpack for tonight. I grab the necessities, including one of Ryan’s shirts to sleep in, one of his hoodies, and a change of clothes for tomorrow.
I walk back out to the main room with my backpack thrown over my shoulders. Hollywood isn’t anywhere in sight right now and Lexus is walking straight toward me. I roll my eyes.
“Oh, did Buster finally come to his senses and kick you to the curb?” Lexus snickers.
“Keep dreamin’, sweetheart. You’ll get booted before I do,” I tell her and she scoffs.
“Yeah-fuckin’-right. You won’t last in this lifestyle. You’re a plaything for him to pass the time with. An uppity little bitch . . . “ I throw a punch, connecting with her nose and it cracks.
“Holy shit!” Tink laughs from behind the bar. Lexus screams as blood gushes down her face. Porscha comes running to her side.
“You bitch! You broke my fucking nose,” Lexus yells at me. I grin at her. Hollywood and Bull storm into the main room at that exact moment.
“What the fuck is going on out here?” Bull shouts.
“Lexus got put in her rightful place,” Tink deadpans. Hollywood stifles a laugh.
“Porscha, get her the fuck out of here and get her cleaned up. I’ll deal with you two later,” he tells them. Once they’re out of the room, his eyes move from Tink to me. “Want to tell me what happened?”
“She pretty much told me I didn’t belong here. I had to prove her wrong.” I shrug. He chuckles, shaking his head.
“I’m pretty sure you got your point across. I’ll make sure she doesn’t bother you again,” he tells me and leaves the room.
“You got a mean right hook,” Hollywood laughs.
“Thanks,” I reply, smiling. Thirty minutes later, Hollywood gets a text.
“Looks like the prospects are back. You ready to go back to the house?” he says.
I nod, wave to Tink, and follow him to the house. Mouse and Chains are walking out of the house when we walk up.
“Thank you both for going to the store for us!” I tell them.
“Anytime,” Chains responds.
“What happened to your hand?” Mouse points at my right hand. I give a nervous laugh.
“She fucked Lexus up,” Hollywood laughs.
“No shit?” Chains says.
“She was talking shit. I was over it,” I explain, walking inside.
“Perfect timing!” Emma walks toward me. “I was beginning to think I was gonna have to come after you.”
We walk into the living room. I set my bag down and fall into the couch. The other girls walk in and sit.
“I ran into a speed bump,” I tell Emma.
“Explain,” Rivet demands.
“Lexus was talking shit. Talking about I don’t belong here or with Buster. I had to shut her down,” I explain.
“Holy shit!” Minx is staring at her phone. “Did you break her nose?”
“It sounded like I did,” I laugh. Tink must have sent her a picture of Lexus. Minx passes her phone around so everyone can see.
“Damn! I never knew you had it in you to do something like that,” Emma admits.
“Yeah, well, she pushed all the right buttons,” I say.
“Buster,” Minx guesses. Giving me a knowing smile. “I get like that over Raze.”
“Speaking of Raze. Where’s he at,” Rivet asks Minx.
“He was working most of the day. He said he was going to hang out and have a beer or two with Saint and Sketch after work,” Minx tells her.
“You mean Sketch is actually going to let Wren out of his sight?” Rivet feigns shock toward Wren.
“Ha-ha, hilarious. He’s been keeping an eye on me since my brother is away,” Wren says.
“Right,” Rivet draws out smirking at her.
“So, Raze and I had a little talk about the possibility of us getting married someday,” Minx tells us. “It got me searching through wedding rings.”
“How exciting! Did you find one you like?” Emma says.
“I’m in love with the solitaire princess cut,” Minx says.
“My favorite is the cushion style rings,” Wren states.
“I want something big. If I ever find a guy that is.” Rivet rolls her eyes and we all laugh.
“What about you Cali,” Minx asks.
“My dream ring is a rose gold ring with a round morganite with a halo and a pave band,” I explain.
“That sounds gorgeous!” Minx says. She has her nose in her phone, probably texting Raze.
“What’s a morganite,” Rivet questions.
“It’s a pinkish stone. I’ve read it’s the universal stone of unconditional love.
“That’s awesome!” Wren says.
“Rivet, go tell the prospects to order some pizzas for us so we can start our girls’ night!” Minx tells her. My phone buzzes, Ryan’s name flashes across the screen.
“I’ll be right back,” I tell the girls and walk into the kitchen. “Hello?”
“Hey, Sólnyshka. How are you,” Ryan asks.
“Better now.” I sigh.
“I heard about your little run-in with Lexus,” he says.
“Ugh, who told you?”
Ryan laughs. “Hollywood texted me,” he admits.
“Of course he did,” I mumble.
“I only wish I had been there to see it,” he tells me. “Just imagining you punching her is pretty hot.”
“Don’t you dare talk like that right now,” I say. “I’m with the girls and you won’t be home for another two days.”
“You better be ready for me when I get home. I’m gonna show you how much I’ve missed you,” he promises.
“I’ll definitely be ready.” I giggle.
“Alright babe, I’ll let you get back to your girls night. I just wanted to hear your beautiful voice,” he says. “I’ll text you in the morning before we get on the road.”
“Okay, sounds good,” I reply
“Have fun with the girls.”
“I will,” I say and we hang up. I walk back into the living room and the girls are trying to decide on which movie to watch first.
“Cali! You’re the tiebreaker. Do you want to watch an action movie or a rom-com,” Emma asks as I sit.
“Hmm, action,” I respond.
“Damn it,” Rivet says.
“Yessss,” Minx shouts. Junk food, movies, and girl talk. This is exactly what I needed tonight.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Buster
&nb
sp; The four of us are all chillin’ in one of our rooms, watching TV and eating Chinese take out when I get a text from Hollywood.
From Hollywood: Bro, your ol’ lady has a hell of a right hook!
To Hollywood: What the fuck happened?
From Hollywood: Typical Lexus, talking shit. Cali apparently had enough and punched her right in the face, broke her nose!
I laugh out loud and the guys all stare at me.
“Cali broke Lexus’s nose,” I explain.
“Atta girl!” Rascal says.
“That bitch deserved it. She’s had it out for Cali from day one,” Shade says.
To Hollywood: That’s my girl.
After a while, Minx texts me. She’s hanging out with Cali tonight and is supposed to be trying to get an idea of what kind of engagement ring Cali would like.
From Minx: I found out what kind of ring Cali likes.
From Minx: Picture attached.
The picture is a screenshot of a rose gold ring with a round stone with smaller ones around it. It’s at a jewelry store outside of Austin. I could easily stop there on our way back home. I’ll call the store in the morning and make sure they actually have it in stock.
To Minx: Good work. Thanks, Minx.
I finish eating and head back to my room. I call Cali as soon as I get in my room to talk to her for a few minutes. It’s killing me being away from her. I’m ready to get back home to her. Thinking about her breaking someone’s nose has me turned on and now is definitely not the time for that. Once I get off the phone with her, I lay down for bed but my mind is racing.
We wake up around eight to eat breakfast at the hotel before heading out. As soon as we’re on the highway, I call the jewelry store. I’m in luck because they have one left and it happens to be the right size. I have enough money saved I can buy it outright and not have to worry about payments. I give the lady my card information and tell her I’ll be in on Friday to pick it up. I leave her my information and Rascal’s information on the off chance I can’t stop tomorrow. I’ll send Ras to get it while I’m spending time with Cali.
The drive back to Amarillo seems to take longer than our drive on Tuesday. It’s probably because I’m ready to finally get this shit over with and get back to Cali. I’m getting pretty anxious about proposing to her. She originally wanted to take this shit slow, but we kinda screwed that up. She’s the one, though, and even if we have a long engagement, I need to know she’ll marry me. I need her to be mine in every way.