The Drug Dealers Handbook

Chapter Twenty-One

It was by luck that I ran into Weston and Ben on my way out of the hospital and that they told me James was on his way if I wanted to stick around for him. 

It was a curse that he never showed up, and never answered any of our calls. 

I was mad because I was losing the nerve I had gained from talking to Mariah, Mariah was mad because she wanted to show off Grace, and Ben and Weston were mad because James was their source to get high. 

"I'm going to his house," I declared after more than an hour and a half of waiting. 

Ben and Weston paid no mind to me, but Mariah said, "Good for you," 

The day had fallen to night as I drove to the Callihan house, and I pondered what I would say when I got there. What if I ran into Spencer? Mariah said to deal with him later, but I'm not totally sure how to do that if I run into him. And how does one declare their undying love? Are their rules to follow? Can one do it wrong? These were the questions- silly as they may be- that were flying through my mind. 

That is, until I got to his house to see cop cars looming in the driveway. 

The front door was open, and I could see the silhouette of figures inside. James was sitting on the front porch steps and didn't even look up as I pulled directly in front of the house. 

Nearly jumping out of my car, I sprinted over to where he was sitting with head in his hands. 

"What the hell is going on?" I demanded. 

James looked up at me with a confused expression, as if he didn't even know I had arrived. "Well," he choked out, cleared his throat, and continued with: "Natalia's dad found a stash of weed in her room, and she told him she got it from me. He called the cops and I'm pretty sure you can guess the rest." 

"Nat did what?" I asked in disbelief.

He looked at his fumbling fingers. "I'm fucked, Morgan," 

I took a seat next to him, trying to process what was going on. Why would she do that? That was the furthest thing from the truth, and everyone knew it.  

"But you never sold anything to her!" I whisper-yelled, conscious of the cops that were not so far away. 

His laugh was humorless, forced even. "Do you really think that matters when they searched my room and found all of my shit? Morgan, I could got to prison for this."  

I put a hand on his cheek and forced him to look at me. "I'm not going to let that happen," I told him. 

He placed a hand over my own and gave me a meek smile. "How?" he asked. 

It was a valid question, considering I had no power in this situation. I was still in shock that Nat was the one that caused this. If she was looking for someone to blame, I would have expected her to blame me. With us being in a fight, and her knowing that I sold drugs (though I never actually admitted that to her), I was an easy target. 

"Why didn't she tell them it was me?" I said instead of answering his question. 

"Morgan, I'm glad it was me if the only other option was naming you. You can't get in trouble for this," that was the first firm thing he had said tonight. 

"No, you can't get in trouble for this. They have no proof that you actually sold drugs to anyone," I pointed out. "And usually for people that are caught only once with possession of drugs are let off and just have to complete the twelve step program or something. I mean, depending on how much they found in your room, you could be okay, and-"