Viper House

Paying Dues

There were just three guys sitting at the table. Bags of heroin were in front of them along with stacks of cash. Julian was sitting on a stool, carefully counting his money while the two goons—both of which I had never seen before—were weighing the little bags of white powder. God forbid that they went over a gram.

Julian looked up and saw me, his face twisting into a sinister grin. "Rafe! My man!" He clapped his hands together, shaking his head slowly. "You are one lucky little fucker."

"Why's that, Julian?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Because you managed to get the good life while the others are serving fifteen years," he replied, the smile slowly fading. "Wonder why that is?"

"No clue," I told him. "What do you want?"

"Did you snitch? You know I hate snitches and I'll find out who it was eventually," he said, his eyes not leaving mine.

I held his gaze and replied without blinking, "I would never do that to you."

He looked at me for a moment longer before he looked away. "Well, whatever. You owe me money."

"I only have five hundred," I said as I started to pull out the money Kaylan had paid me. That wasn't all of it. He'd given me an advance for tonight, but Julian would only want more if he knew that I had it.

"Do you know how much money I lost when you guys got busted?" he asked, his nose wrinkling up. "Way more than that. I didn't just lose product. I lost my men. I lost my customers. You really fucked me over, kid."

"What do you want?" I asked again.

He was silent and then snickered. "You're going to work for me again. Without pay and if I get wind of you fucking me over, you're going to wish you were in hell."

I crossed my arms over my chest and narrowed my eyes at him. "You realize that I live with a cop, right?"

He looked over at me. "And that's exactly why you're the perfect person for the job. These counties work together to bust people that do business like we do. You can let us know any information you find out and steer them away from us, while also doing whatever I need you to."

"Whatever you need me to do for you? What the fuck do you mean by that?"

"What you did before, only you don't get a say. You do what I tell you, when I tell you, and no questions asked. You're playing by my rules now. There is no partnership anymore," he said and then slid a bag toward me. "Consider this a gift. You'll pay me back later."

I looked down at the bag. My body was craving it. It'd been almost two years since I'd had any of it in my system. Julian added a syringe to the pile, a grin on his face as I took it and stuffed it into my pocket.

I hated him.

"Here's a burner phone," Julian said, pushing an old flip phone toward me. "I'll call you."

My fingers felt like they were burning once they touched the plastic covering. The feeling was worse as I slid it into the pocket that held the needle and drugs. I'd worked so hard to get to where I was, and I still had a long way to go. Being there and having those things felt as though I was taking not just one step back, but a leap backward.

It was only going to get worse.

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Kaylan didn't ask questions. I gave him what he paid for in the backseat of his car and then he dropped me off at the front door of my foster parent's house. Lauren came out onto the front porch and waved at Kaylan as he pulled away.