southside trash [shameless]

• Chapter 9 • Overcharge •

"You're kidding?" I stare at him, "great, you're a fucking dealer too?"

"Runner," He corrects, "Well, when they need me to move them, otherwise, yeah, I deal."

"Of course," I scoff, "the one decent person I manage to meet had to turns out to be a fucking criminal like me." I mutter.

"Hey, I'm not like Raoul," he defends himself, "I'm like you and you know it, I do this to support my family."

"No, I can't," I shake my head, standing up and moving away from him, "I can't."

"Emma!" He calls out to me, exasperated, as he stands up.

Ignore him and start asking people if I can borrow their phone, but they all just look at me with wide eyes as if to say 'you think I'd give my phone to you' like I'd steal it. Do they not realise we are stuck on a train? It's not like I could go far with it.

"What? You're not gonna talk to me now?" Jonas pesters behind me. "Really? You're gonna blame me for doing the same thing as you do? That's not fair and you know it."

I turn round abruptly to face him, "no it's not fair, but talking to you, hanging out with you, being friends with you! Would be like telling myself it's okay that I'm dealing. That it's okay to go behind my family's back. And that it's okay what Raoul did!" I seethe at him, slightly too loudly.

"What's being friends with me got to do with him?" He scoffs.

"Everything!" I exclaim.

"Emma, I'm nothing like him!" He reiterates.

"No but having a friend at work would make dealing more fun, and it's not, I don't know, it can't be because then I'll start to think it's okay!" I try and explain to him. I don't know how to get him to understand, I'm not even sure I understand, "my family thinks I've stopped!"

"Look whether you like it or not I'm gonna be around, and I'm not going to let him hurt you again." He says sternly with no room for disagreement.

"Fine," I say, defeated.

He goes to say something but then the train suddenly sparks to life, and eventually starts moving.

"Yes, yes!" I start pacing back and forth, wishing it would hurry up, we stop at the next stop and then continue on to my stop. When we finally get there I run off the train and down the street to the back-up base, Jonas most likely hot on my heels.

I grip the door handle and burst into the house, "I'm so sorry I'm late Raoul, just please say you haven't hurt any of my family." I beg, to him as he faces the other way, sitting on the couch, smoking a spliff.

"Why were you late?" He asks, voice void of emotion which only made him more intimidating.

"The train... the L it broke down." I stammer nervously.