listen (rio g.g) 1

18

"I'd rather be spitting blood."
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"Remember the car we used for Canada?" Beth started as she entered Alivia's apartment, joining them in the living room. "And how we had to get rid of it because someone decided to hook their phone up to it?"

"Why are you attacking me?" Annie leaned back against the sofa pretending to be hurt as Beth narrowed her eyes at her.

Beth rolled her eyes, "the FBI found it."

Ruby let out a soft gasp, "when?"

The strawberry-blonde shook her head slightly, "I don't know, but Dean covered for us."

"Deansie covered for us?" Annie uttered in distaste.

"Well, then we're good." Alivia spat out sarcastically.

Beth sighed as she sat down on the armchair, "he thinks I'm some naive idiot that got taken advantage of."

"Of course he does," Annie began, rolling her eyes. "What are you gonna do about it?"

Beth shrugged, "let him think it."

A knock echoed throughout the apartment, the sudden noise causing them to jump slightly in their seats. Alivia let out a shaky breath as she stood from the sofa and made her way over to the front door, straightening herself up in an attempt to seem more confident than she felt.

She hadn't seen him since that night and the nerves were threatening to devour her whole.

She let out a deep breath before forcing herself to open the door, shooting the two men on the other side a convincing smile. "Finally learned how to knock."

His associate made his way past her and into the kitchen where the bags of money had been placed earlier.

He shrugged and smiled as he moved past her, leaning in slightly, "You asked me to."

She bit the inside of her cheek as a shiver ran down her spine, returning to her seat on the sofa, avoiding Annie's narrowed eyes glaring at her suspiciously.

Rio sat down on one of the bar stools, leaning his back against the island. "How'd it go, ladies?"

"It's all there," Beth piped up, watching the man behind him going through the bags thoroughly. "all half a million dollars of it."

Alivia's leg kept bouncing rapidly as the other women started asking questions, not being able to fully focus on the conversation.

"How do you not get caught, then?" Beth wondered.

"I flip my game," he stated simply with a shrug.

"What exactly does that mean?" Ruby questioned.

"It means I flip my game," he repeated more forcefully.

"Uh," Annie began cautiously. "We know all those words individually, but not, like, together."

He sighed before straightening up with his chin held high, "Say we talking herb. Now, you can move nickel bags all day long, nickels move fast because everybody knows the nickel bag man, right?"

Alivia watched as the women nodded softly, seemingly following the words leaving his mouth. "That's why his dumb ass is always getting popped. Now, the smart ones turn nickels into dimes, dimes get you to pills, and now you're moving up the chain. Before anybody knows what's going on you're onto TVs and whatnot."

He sighed again, a small smirk appearing. "And while they all got their back turned, I'm over here with a bunch of suburban bitches selling Monopoly money. We'll see where that takes me."

They jumped as his associate suddenly appeared next to him, placing a few stacks on the counter. Rio nodded towards the money, "Your cut."

"Count it," Annie whispered hastily to Alivia, nudging her side with her elbow.

Alivia rolled her eyes, "I'm sure it's all there."

"Trust me, it is." His mouth twitched into a smile for a second, "We'll up your drop next time? Say 750?"

"How come?"

"'Cause you delivered." And with that they swiftly exited her apartment, the door letting out a loud thud behind them.

Annie broke the lingering silence by whistling, "Just call us the mailman."

"Why?" Ruby furrowed her brows, watching her friend holding up the cash with a giant grin on her face.

"Because we delivered," she said matter-of-factly.