Chapter 7 #3
I ignore him, refusing to tell him that we purposely came here, and why?
I knew it could lead to seeing him, so did a part of me want to see him?
Did I want answers? My stomach tightens as I stare at the phone until I hit the end of the pictures.
By then, the shaking in my hands has diminished enough that I can hand it to Antonio, who then stares at it.
“Umm… I… don’t actually know my mother’s phone number,” he says with a grimace.
“Do you know anyone’s phone number?”
“Uhh… my home phone that my mom got rid of once cell phones became a thing. I’m not sure it’ll help us much. Ha… haha.”
“Give me that back, then,” I say, taking the phone and going back to pictures of the dog.
Grayson leans forward. “Once we get to the location, you two stay in the car, do you understand?”
“Let me guess, the order was that you stay in the car and send the two of us in?” I ask.
Antonio looks over at us. “I mean, we all understand that we’re not going there and handing off a box of marijuana, right?
I’m not sure whether Ned’s operation is legal or not, but it doesn’t look like it’s a huge drug operation.
So are they using the marijuana as a cover-up to get involved with something?
And then the most important question… what’s in the fucking box? ”
He eyes the back of the SUV where the box we’re supposed to deliver sits, but neither of us can see it from the front seat.
“I bet it’s a head. We could put Grayson’s head in there and then it would be two heads. And then the dog would be mine forever,” I decide.
“If you forgive me, we can coparent him,” Grayson says.
“Putting your head in the box sounds significantly easier,” I admit, even though everyone in this vehicle is well aware that the threat is absolutely ridiculous. Would I seriously reach back and pluck his head off? Obviously, my threats need some work.
“So, asshole motherfucker tiny dick,” I say. “How’d you become a drug dealer?”
“The less you know, the better,” Grayson answers, which irritates me even more.
“You’re right. I will never speak to you again.”
“Cal, please. That’s not what I meant. Why are you so stubborn? Were you always this stubborn?”
“Sure was. I only pretended I wasn’t because you were hot and I wanted to have sex with you. And now I just give no shits. I don’t care what people think of me. I have no one to impress.”
“You impress me,” Antonio says.
“Says the drug-running, car-chasing ex-con,” I retort.
Antonio waves it off like it was nothing. “They’re exaggerating.”
“So you didn’t steal a policeman’s car?”
“I… did.”
“And you didn’t plow through another car while driving a semi?”
“Okay, okay. Maybe I… did a lot of questionable stuff growing up, but in my eyes, it was normal!”
“Was it?” I ask, feeling rather skeptical about that.
“I grew up with people who thought it was, and I was dumb enough to be like, ‘Look at me, Mom. I’m so awesome, I can steal this car and drive it full of drugs then get the car stripped and drugs sent off.’ And everyone thought I was so cool…
and then I realized I was literally the bad guy!
Like in all the movies, I was the person who got shot and murdered in the end!
I don’t want to be shot and murdered. I want to dance and hang out with my friends and love Frank! Is that too much to ask for?”
“I mean… if you’re planning on being friends with Felix and Lane then probably! You know they can’t look away from danger.”
“A mistake. I’ve made a grave mistake,” he whispers.
“I think we all have,” I say.
“I’ll get all of you out of this,” Grayson promises.
“ I will get you out of this, Antonio. Not Grayson. I’ll get you out of this.”
“Why can’t I?” Grayson asks.
“Because I already said I would.”
“I actually said it first.”
“Yes, well I thought it first and thoughts count the most. They’re my friends. Your friend tried to kill me .”
“I didn’t know what Devon was doing or I can guarantee you that I wouldn’t have gone along with it, okay?”
“What if we all just don’t talk about it and move on?” Antonio asks. “Instead, we could talk about the reason why we were captured in the first place?”
“Ned thought some people were snooping around and mistook you guys for them. He wanted to question them, see what information he could get. That’s… all.”
“Doesn’t sound like all,” I mutter.
“I don’t want to get you involved any more than you already are, okay?” Grayson says.
“Let’s just drop off this box and move on with life, yeah? And then maybe you guys could, I don’t know… talk a little here and there. Like a ‘Hi’ and call it a day, and then next time maybe a ‘Hello’?”
“Drop the O and I’ll go with it,” I say.
Grayson leans into the front seat. “You want me to go to hell?”
I just grunt instead of answering him.
We end up outside of an abandoned apartment as I realize we really probably should have talked over what was going on at least a little. I don’t regret being pissed at Grayson, but I shouldn’t put Antonio’s life in danger over it.
“Explain what’s going on,” I demand.
“We’re just slipping in, exchanging the box for money and leaving.”
“What’s in the box?”
“I don’t know.”
“What do you mean you don’t know?” I ask.
“I’ve been with the group for a very short time. They smacked me in this position because of my skills with a gun, not because I’m the brains behind it!”
“You are irritatingly one of the smartest people I know!”
He seems to take that as a compliment, which he really shouldn’t have. “You think they just let some random person in and go, ‘Here, enjoy all of the secrets of our trade’?”
“Yeah, of course.” I’m well aware I’m just being stubborn at this point.
“I honestly believe it’s just marijuana. I think they’re just testing the waters by selling it to this group.”
“Why send us?” I ask. “It’s clearly a risky situation.”
“Because he’s confident they’re trying to fuck us over.”
“How so?”
Grayson is quiet and I consider reaching back and choking the information out of him, but before I can, I see a guy step out of the building, hands in his pockets. He stares at us, making me wonder if they’re suspicious of us because we aren’t exiting the vehicle.
I straighten. “Antonio, stay here. Keep the car running and ready. Do you have a gun?”
“I do not.”
“Grayson, give him your gun.”
Antonio holds up both hands. “No, I truly don’t know how to use a gun. My mom showed me how, of course. But let’s just say she was highly disappointed by my inability to hit a target.”
“Just point and fire.”
He shakes his head as he stares at me in disbelief. “It’s not that easy!”
“Is so. Go on, Grayson.”
“I only have one gun.”
“Now you have none,” I say, prying it out of his hands and putting it into Antonio’s. “Point and shoot. You do know how to take the safety off, right?”
“I do! She told me it was the only thing I was good at when it came to shooting.”
I leave him to it as I get out, and I notice that Antonio has parked in a way that will allow him to quickly leave the area without requiring him to turn the vehicle around or back up.
“I will actually do this all myself. Grayson, you keep Antonio safe,” I decide.
Grayson doesn’t seem pleased by that. “Why don’t you stay with Antonio?”
Without listening to a word he says, I head toward the back to grab the box of heads—which I’ve now decided it is—but he opens his car door so fast it blocks my path. I try pushing the car door into him and he pushes it back.
And now we’re like two children pushing a door at each other for absolutely no reason at all.
“Guys, I really think that you two are doing a phenomenal job getting in and out quickly,” Antonio calls. “Like fastest drug deal ever. Strangely enough, most drug deals are done in a timely manner because they don’t like dragging it out. Gives the police more time to figure out what’s going on.”
“Right,” I say as I let go of the car door.
Grayson hurries to the back where he grabs the box before heading off to greet the man.
Following behind him, I eye the man who is casually waiting for us. He has a gun at his side, but it’s hidden by his shirt. His entire demeanor seems relaxed, but that doesn’t always mean anything. He nods inside. “Come on.”
Grayson follows him into a dark hallway. The only light leaking in is coming from a broken window on the other side of the building.
“You guys were late,” he says.
“Not sure how,” Grayson replies as the guy pushes a door open and goes in with us behind him. Inside the room are two other unimposing guys, one of whom is playing on his phone.
“Can we check it?” the guy who wasn’t playing on his phone asks.
“If we can check the money,” Grayson says.
“Of course,” he agrees. “Not really a table or any other shit in this dump. Not sure why the boss loves this place. I guess it’s out of certain jurisdictions he’s wanting to avoid.”
They swap and when the guy opens the box, I peer at it and find that it really is just some marijuana. But what’s so important about it? Is there something underneath it? Is there something else going on with this?
I wander over to Grayson, who is counting the money, before leaning in so I can whisper in his ear. “Was this planned before we arrived?”
He shrugs. “I’m not sure.”
“That’s a lot of fucking money for some weed.”
The three guys glance over at us, and the first one asks, “Good?”
Grayson, who obviously can’t count this many bills in the two minutes they’ve allowed him, looks up. “Yeah.”
“Perfect,” he says before the three guys start toward the door.
“I don’t like this. I want to get back to the car,” I mutter to Grayson, feeling uneasy about the whole thing.
Turning to the guys, I say, “Great doing business with you,” as I try to slip through the door first.
The third guy gives me a peculiar look before he tries to ram me back, allowing his two buddies through first.
“What the fuck?” I ask as I grab his wrist and drive him down, causing him to fall into the room with us. And in that brief moment, the door slams shut.