Les Femmes Fatales [2]

▪ Four

A woman glided in the shadows, hardly noticed in the cloudy night. Her long shadow danced as it moved from the pavement to the street to a wall as she turned to the side and got in the alley the exchange had been mentioned to take place. She took in the space around her, eyes bright and slightly narrowed as she tried to make out any shadow that shouldn't belong there. She raised her black scarf to cover her mouth and nose and walked forward with careful, quiet steps, soon, reaching the end of an alley she had walked in. She turned, her back against the wall, and turned invisible.

And waited. She had come to the meeting half an hour earlier so she could be sure she was already there when the exchange was made. She didn't want to miss a thing.

About ten minutes later, three men appeared. They were all rather big, much like how she envisioned a bodyguard to be like. She soon realised Michael wasn't with them. One of them was holding a crate but she had no clue about its cargo. As they waited for her classmate to arrive, one of them checked their surroundings - rather too late for that, she couldn't help but think with a slight smirk. They should have secured the area the moment they had entered the alley.

Her classmate arrived just then, earlier than he was supposed to. The man that was supposed to check their surroundings returned and they also stood opposite him now, beside the cargo, looking twice as big as her classmate who had folded his arms in front of his chest in an effort to appear intimidating.

"You've got my package?" his voice wavered in the end and her eyes snapped to the other three as one of them gestured to the cargo behind them.

"We have," he answered in a ridiculously high voice and she barely kept herself from laughing out loud. "Do you have the money?"

He took out a small bag and handed it over to them. One of them grabbed it and took out a pile of money, then another and another, and started counting. And counting. And counting. She was sure if she had all of this money she wouldn't have been forced to work, she would have managed to pay her rent and her college without any issue. If it weren't for her Uncle, she would have ended up being homeless by now or even worse, back in Russia with her mother. A possibility she didn't want to consider.

"Is that all?"

Her classmate was slightly nervous by now, bringing her to edge a bit closer as she pushed her previous thoughts to the back of her mind. The men exchanged a look, and then one of them took out a small bag with something like powder inside and handed it over to him. He looked at it for a while, and with a start, she realised it was some kind of a drug. She inched closer as her classmate nodded.

"May I have the bag?"

One of them handed it over, he checked inside and then nodded once before placing the rest of the product inside.

"We have a deal?" one of the big men spoke as her classmate nodded.

"We do. Where is Michael? I kind of thought he would deliver these."

"We're the delivery guys," the one with the high-pitched voice said as he folded his arms in front of his chest. "Anything you want to complain about you can complain to us."

"No, I've got nothing to complain about," he smiled as he took some steps back. "Thank you. We'll be in touch."

She watched as he left while the three big men remained for a while longer and then they left. She waited for a bit, and then, as quietly as she could, she left the alley, still not risking turning visible. She was a good distance away when she did, almost having reached her apartment.

Michael was selling drugs to their classmates. At this point, she wasn't even surprised.

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