Mona Liza Lies

12 | More Than That

Four days before Liza died

The door widened a bit, and before Liza stood a man she assumed to be Fin. She pretended not to see the wave of shock washing over him.

"Not your usual type of customer?" Liza asked, keeping a smile on her face.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Fin almost closed the door but Liza stuck her left foot forwards. She winced as the door came in contact with the side of her shoe. The movies made that move seem far too easy.

"If you're going to close the door on me just because I'm not a teenager, I will go to cops and give them proof about what you're doing." She said angrily.

Fin wanted it to be a bluff but he was scared of the intimidating look in her eyes. He ushered her in and closed the door behind him.

Liza sucked in a deep breath and looked around the apartment. Leather couch, light beige carpet under her feet, and a tidy table — the place looked normal enough. She practiced the words in her head one more time and sat down.

"How old are you?"

Fin frowned. "What's that got to do with anything?'

"I've got to get back home soon, so please answer me, Fin Everard, how old are you? 21? 22?"

"23." He sighed, sitting opposite her.

Liza looked disgusted. "And you sell drugs to teenagers? How does it feel to be a sick fuck?"

Fin's face fell. He straightened up and cleared his throat.

"Don't talk about things you don't know. And I know a lecture—"

"That's not why I came here."

"—oh, let me finish. I know that." He laughed. "If you truly cared about the kids, you would have been to the cops by now. You want the drugs too, possibly for free, which is why you're trying to blackmail me."

"I need a lot from you Fin, not just drugs." Liza was unsure of what way she should approach the question. She ripped off the band-aid by just saying it. "Who's making you sell these new pills?"

Fin struggled to reply. "I'm sorry, w-what?"

"You know there's quite a lot of people who think hallucinogens should be legal?" Liza felt the teacher in her coming out, but she didn't care. "Some are good for medicinal purposes, I say they should be legal. And some patients can't access painkillers, I say that should be taken care of too. But a drug without reason is dangerous."

"You're stating the obvious." Fin stayed alert. He didn't take the lady to be a cop, but he still monitored what he said.

"You know what's scarier than drugs?"

"My mother."

"Unsupervised drugs, Fin. Unlabelled drugs. Drugs that aren't even properly studied." Her voice became louder. "On the war of drugs, I don't know which side I'm on, but all I know is that you shouldn't be selling new, experimental drugs to teenagers who'll take them and die."

Fin felt himself shrinking. "What do you want?"

"Information, for a start." She replied, annoyed. "I'm a part-time teacher and I've heard lots of talk about a new type of drug. One of my sources says you're selling them."

"Sources, huh." Fin's laugh was strained. "Again, you don't know what you're talking about."

"I know a lot more than you think I do, Mr. Everard," Liza said calmly. "I know you're being pressured to sell them."