Sleepwalking // Sam Fender

22

"What was all that about, Sam? Is it true what he said?" I had a terrible headache and the room kept spinning as my eyes remained closed.

It sort of seemed like Sam was still a stranger. No matter how hard I tried to get to know him, every single time that I decided to trust him again, another fatal mystery came to ruin our relation again.

I heard Sam sigh from besides me. We were sat together in our bed. The way home was filled with silence and it was just at that time that I decided to speak up. Our shoulders were brushing together but that was all the physical contact that we were receiving from the other.

"My mam... We... We needed the money and the Low Lights didn't pay me enough money to pay the rent and have a decent meal so I knew some mates that... They got me an easier job with a higher income"

"Dealing?" I asked.

"Yeah. My mother was in need and I was just eighteen and I knew that Liam had done a few things for those mates and it turned out okay"

"Does Shirley know about this?" Sam waited a few seconds before answering.

"No"

"Where does she think you got the money from?"

"The Low Lights. She thinks that I got paid a fortune for serving a couple of beers to the same men every single day" I finally opened my eyes and looked at him. His head was hanging low and his eyes were focused on his hands.

"And what's all the deal with the money? Why do you and your brother owe him that much money?"

"I don't owe him shite" Sam lifted his head and stared at the TV, which was right in front of us but it was off. "I paid my debt a while back but that bastard keeps on saying that I didn't because I didn't do it on time or something like that. It's all about Liam. That lad is fucking stupid. Everyone knows that he has money to solve this but he refuses to give Parker what he owes him"

"I don't get why you owe him so much money. He said fifty grand, Sam"

"Liam thought that it would be a good idea to do business our own way, alright? So we starting taking the drugs from Parker and keeping all the money we gained from that instead of paying him half of what we gained as we agreed" It became clear to me that Liam and Sam were not the brightest pair. "I later found out that Liam actually abused half of the drugs that he was supposed to deal so he didn't have any money in the end so he was not able to pay anything when Parker came around with his lads asking for the money. I paid everything right at that time"

"We're in this mess because your brother doesn't want to pay that money still?" I asked him.

"Mainly, yeah" Sam turned his head to me.

"Mainly?" Sam sighed.

"There are... other things involved. Liam had more than argument with Parker's brother and well, during one of those on and off with Maisie I might had had something with Parker's missus"

"You had 'something' with Parker's girlfriend. Were you trying to get yourself killed?"

"It's not like that" Sam bit his lip while trying to think of a good explanation. "She came to me, alright? And I knew that Maisie was with someone else and I already had a few problems with Parker so when his missus came to me, it was an easy decision. Then, when my thing with that girl ended, she went to Liam" Sam whispered that last part.

"Isn't your brother ten years older than you"? I asked him.

"Well, she didn't seem to care at the time, did she?" I sighed.

"You need to end all this, Sam. We need to solve this"

"I'm not going to pay a single pound to him, Liz. It's my brother's business" Sam raised his voice.