Chapter 33 Poe
POE
I watched the Stop ’N Sip from inside the Hummer and waited for Bram to tell me what was on his mind. He was obviously brooding, but I wasn’t going to pull it out of him for fuck’s sake.
We were parked at the edge of the lot and I watched as a laughing couple emerged from the gas station carrying big plastic cups.
“I can’t believe this fucker,” Bram muttered.
“We don’t know for sure.”
We were casing the place because we’d heard Matty Sullivan, a small-time drug dealer at the edge of town, was buying drugs from an unapproved wholesaler.
“How long has it been since he’s bought from Tank?” Bram asked.
“Six months.”
“Exactly.”
Matty hadn’t bought from our suppliers in six months, but rumor had it he’d been seen selling at the Stop-n-Sip the week before.
We could do the math.
Keeping the approved dealers tight was a matter of both money and safety.
Money because we owned Blackwell, and anything black market sold through us.
Safety because we weren’t about being up in people’s business if they wanted to do a little blow, but we didn’t want that blow cut with fentanyl or something even more dangerous, which was always a possibility when it was brought in through an unapproved supplier.
“Have you heard from Neo?” I asked, changing the subject. There was no point getting our panties in a twist about Sullivan until we had proof he was still selling.
“He said we can come by later this week.”
“Good.” If anyone would know how Ethan Borkowski/Todd/whatever-the-fuck-his-name-was had ended up at Aventine, it would be the Kings. They were out of school now, but once upon a time, they’d ruled the roost, and they still kept an eye on things there.
Silence settled between us in the car. I tapped the wheel and watched the edges of the parking lot for Matty’s shitty green Honda.
“I think I really fucked up,” Bram finally said.
He didn’t have to tell me he was talking about Maeve.
“No shit.”
He frowned. “Way to rub it in.”
I shrugged. He’d cost us time with Maeve, had done something bad enough to make her leave without saying goodbye.
He’d made his bed and we’d all had to lie in it. I wasn’t above rubbing it in.
“I’ve tried apologizing,” he said.
“You apologized?” I didn’t buy it.
“Okay, I didn’t apologize,” he said. “But I tried to let her know I was sorry.”
“How?” This should be good.
I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen Bram squirm before, but he squirmed now. “I tried to kiss her.”
I couldn’t help it: I burst out laughing.
He glared, but I couldn’t stop. I didn’t know how it went down, but knowing Maeve, I could imagine, and the possibilities kept me laughing for a good two minutes.
“Are you done?” Bram asked.
I tried to catch my breath. “Let me get this straight. You did something bad enough to Maeve to make her leave, and then, instead of saying you were sorry, you just…” I started laughing again. “… you just tried to kiss her?”
“You weren’t there. It seemed like a good idea at the time.”
“Let me guess,” I said, “she slapped you.”
“Kneed me in the balls.”
I started laughing again. “You’re lucky she didn’t shoot them off.”
He folded his arms over his chest. “Let me know when you’re done.”
I was practically wheezing, which wasn’t very dignified, but this shit was funny as hell. “Okay… okay.” I took a deep breath. “I’m done. How can I help?”
He stared me down and I stifled another round of laughter.
“I don’t know what to do,” he said.
“Well, you’re going to have to do a whole hell of a lot between here and kissing her again, I can tell you that much.”
“Like what?”
“You could try being nice to her for one,” I said.
“I offered to drive her to the store the other day and she refused.”
Was this Bram pouting? I’d never seen Bram pout before but I was pretty sure that was what this was.
“So keep trying,” I said.
“To drive her to the store?”
I sighed. “Try something else. Take her to dinner, buy her something.”
“Take her to dinner.” He nodded. “What if she won’t go?”
“Do you want it to be easy or do you want Maeve?”
He stared at me. I should have known better than to think he’d say it.
Bram would never admit to wanting anything.
I shrugged. “So stop whining and make her an offer she can’t refuse.”