BLACKHOUSE [H.S.]

Sixteen

"You're kind of hard to read," the new girl says as I turn left on the road to get to Prime. Her response makes me let out a laugh.

"Good, that's the way I like it," I nod. She giggles softly as I pull up in front of the pizzeria and put the car in park.

"Why?" She asks, her tone sounding slightly nervous.

I rest my hand on the steering wheel and keep my eyes forward, watching the cars pass by us, and think about her question.

I've never been asked that before. People usually just assume I'm a dick for fun and leave it at that. They're not totally wrong about that part, but it's not like I woke up one day and made the conscious decision to build my walls up.

Sometimes you just have to do what's necessary to protect yourself.

As I open my mouth to give her some sort of bullshit response, my phone rings. I look at the screen to see Jay's name, making my stomach drop. I quickly snatch my phone out of its holder and turn to the girl next to me.

"Get the pizza, I'll wait here," I order. She sits there silently, wide-eyed and looking stupid, and I feel my patience run out. "Now!"

I watch as she flinches and rushes to get out of the car, slamming the door behind her.

Jesus Christ, what a mess.

I shake my head and push the curls resting on my forehead back and take a deep breath to collect myself before I press 'accept' on the phone.

"Hello?" I clear my throat.

"Hey H, how's it going?" Jay's raspy voice replies.

"It's good, mate," I lie. The truth is, I've been sick with nerves ever since I agreed to distribute for Jay. I thought I was having a hard time sleeping before, but I've been awake for the last forty-eight hours with no end in sight. "What's up?"

"Just calling to check in, see how sales are going so far."

I feel my anxiety bubbling in my stomach. I've only managed to make one sale so far, and that was only because I had to threaten him to make him cooperate.

"They're good, yeah," I hesitate, hoping he doesn't hear the dishonesty in my voice.

"That's great to hear man," he says, seemingly believing my lies. "Listen, I'm going to need the money in three weeks instead of four."

My jaw drops as his demand replays in my head.

Three weeks?

My heart rate begins to quicken and I almost feel dizzy. How the hell am I supposed to sell a thousand dollars worth of drugs in three weeks?

"W-what?" I stutter, the words barely loud enough for me to hear. "Jay, I-"

"You got this, H," he attempts to reassure me. "There's a client I need you to drop off to in an hour. I'll send you the details."