Garvey's Revenge

Chapter 2

Joe had gotten a call from his supplier, D.J. He had gotten in a shipment and wanted Joe to come as soon as possible to pick up his portion at a warehouse outside of Phoenix. Joe usually picked up his dope at a restaurant in Phoenix that D.J. used as a front. Joe had asked about the change in location and the hurry. D.J. believed the cops were onto him. He was afraid to move the shipment from the warehouse. D.J. wanted his customers to pick up their product as soon as possible so he could disappear for a while.

Joe couldn't decide if this was going be his last run or not. He'd been selling weed for two years. The 2008 crash had affected his business at the diner. The only way to keep the place going was to get a side hustle. The drug business was the only thing that was flourishing at that time. Joe had inherited the town diner from his parents. He couldn't lose it. Business had been so slow that Joe couldn't pay his business or personal bills.

One night at the diner, a trucker had passed through town. Joe had ended up telling the trucker about his financial problems. For whatever reason, the truck driver had told Joe what he hauled for a living and suggested that he get in on the action as a distributor. Joe had refused at first, but the trucker had convinced him that D.J. was on the level and all he wanted was to make money.

"It's real simple, man. You buy some product off of D.J. and you sell it at a higher price to your customers. You don't have to do it forever. D.J. isn't a greedy gang banger. He's a businessman, like you," the driver had said.

Joe had been desperate. He had agreed to ride with the trucker to Phoenix and the rest was history.

Joe made sure no cars were behind him before pulling off on a dirt road. This was the second time he had been to the actual drop location. He dimmed his car lights and drove slowly. There wasn't another house for miles around, but he didn't want to take any chances. The more discreet he was the better; especially if the Phoenix PD was onto D.J.

During the drive on the dirt road, again, Joe wondered if this should be his last run. The economy was slowly getting better and Garvey's brought in more than its share of business into town. Even the people who gossiped and complained about the bar benefited from the orgies Jodi and Jackie hosted.

The truth was he didn't really want to stop. It was a profitable side business and he enjoyed smoking weed himself. However, the risk of discovery got higher every time he did a pickup.

Joe came up on the old steel walled warehouse. He saw a hauling truck on the dock that he'd never seen before. It was painted purple with the Hertz Juice logo on the side.

Shit, they really are taking precautions, Joe thought and parked his car. He quickly got out of his old gray Pontiac and walked to the building. He wanted to do this as quickly as possible and get out of there. With any luck, he'd be back in town by ten. Joe tucked his brown hair behind his ears as he walked. I need to get a cut soon.

The warehouse door opened before Joe got to it. "Hey man, what's up? Glad you could come so quickly," Dex greeted. Dex was D.J.'s cousin. Dex was an enforcer. He made sure the distributors didn't try any funny business with D.J. Standing at six foot four and 180 pounds, Dex was the right man for the job. He kept his afro short.

"Hey," Joe said and went through the threshold.

Dex closed the door.

"So, if the cops are onto you guys, what's the plan?" Joe asked.

"We're trying to find a new location for our driver to drop our shit off, but in the meantime, we need to unload what we got today and make sure this place is clean," Dex said.

Joe shook his head.

"Don't worry, once we're settled with a new plan we'll give you a heads up," Dex said. "Come on, D.J. got your stuff in the back."

They walked to the back of the warehouse. It smelled old and dusty. Empty shelves had to have two years' worth of dust on them.

D.J. came into view. He carried a brown paper bag. Joe knew that was his weed. Joe hadn't been this nervous since his first time meeting D.J. He wanted to do the exchange and get out of there. The situation felt shady.

"There's my favorite white boy," D.J. bragged. He was tall like his cousin, but a lot slimmer, some would consider him boney. Over time, Joe learned that D.J. was a good basketball player, but wasn't good enough to go pro. That's when he had decided to go into business for himself.

"Hey, D," Joe greeted. "Let's do this, so we can split. If the cops are onto you, there's no reason why we should be out here longer than we have to be."

D.J. gave him a wry smile. "Damn, you more nervous than us, but I do understand. I got your usual amount here, but are you sure you don't want to buy more this round; since I don't know when I can resupply you?"

Joe knew this was a different situation than usual, but D.J. had never tried to push more than the amount Joe usually wanted to buy. If Joe wanted more than usual, he would tell D.J. beforehand so he could have it ready.

"Nah man, I just brought the two-thousand," Joe said nervously. Something wasn't right. Joe thought about running out of there. Before he could make a decision, it was made for him.

He felt a hard blow on the back of his neck. Joe couldn't stop himself from falling on the cement floor. As he was passing out, he saw two pairs of black tennis shoes hovering around him.