Quick run down of warnings: Drugs, illegal activities, prostitution, gang violence.
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He slipped in the back door of the restaurant, standing at the edge of the kitchen. One of the chefs glanced at him curiously but went about his work. He navigated around the less busy section of the kitchen and into the back hall of the restaurant.
"Lucas, good to see you," an older man greeted him. "I guess it's Tuesday already, huh?"
Lucas nodded quietly, trying to ignore the rumbling in his stomach so close to the kitchen. The older man cleared his throat. "I'll have someone fix you something to eat and you can tell me what you know," he said. "Go have a seat outside my office and I'll talk to them."
Lucas shuffled down the hall into a chair placed outside of Tom's closed office door. Lucas stared at the door curiously, as he had yet to ever be allowed inside. He wasn't stupid enough to ask about it.
Tom came back a few minutes later with a Styrofoam container of soup and a plate of grilled cheese. Obviously it wasn't the Italian restaurant's featured dish, but it was what Tom would give him for no charge. Lucas went in on the sandwich first while taking sips of the soup.
Once Lucas was mostly through his food, he set the plate down on his lap and balanced on his thighs. He cradled the soup in his hands and let the warmth seep in. "There's a new distributor working down off Lemay and 14th," he said. "Selling crack I think."
Tom nodded and smiled tightly. "Yes, I know that."
Lucas flicked his eyes down worriedly at his meal. He was supposed to tell them something new for this to work. "It's fine, don't worry about it," Tom spoke up quickly. "Finish eating first, then I've got something for you."
Lucas didn't need to be told twice to finish his food. He drank down the rest of the soup and the finished the crust of his grilled cheese before giving Tom an expectant look. Tom shifted stiffly on his feet and rubbed the back of his neck. "We need you to do something... different."
Lucas tensed in his seat and waited for the other shoe to fall. They had been working like this on and off for a few months—He would get some bit of news related to drug trade off the streets, and Tom would give him something to eat and maybe a little money.
He never asked what kind of business Tom was really into but it wasn't hard to figure, and now it was coming where Tom would be expecting something more in return.
"I have someone who's going to meet with you and explain it to you," Tom admitted. "But it's up to you." He motioned his head towards the closed door of his office.
Lucas ground his teeth. He didn't really like to beat around the bush and so he asked. "Is it sex work?" He was familiar with that little string coming attached.
"No, no," Tom assured him quickly. "We just need you to run a little errand. There would be an arrangement of food or money for you, more than usual."
Lucas held in a sigh and bit his lip. "Alright," he agreed quietly.
Tom tried to give him an encouraging smile. He was always a nice guy, despite whatever business he was otherwise involved in. Lucas wondered if maybe Tom had kids at home that he was taking care of, and why he tried to help Lucas out.
Tom opened the door to his office and let Lucas step in first. It was neatly kept, which Lucas had figured wasn't something Tom was good at. There was a man a few years younger than Tom standing behind a desk, though he looked less friendly.
He gave Lucas a demeaning once over as he chewed on a toothpick. "He's not a user?" the man asked.
"No," Tom answered quickly, giving Lucas a quick pat on the back.
Lucas rolled up his sweatshirt sleeves enough to show that he didn't shoot anything up. The man sauntered over and grabbed Lucas' chin in his hand, turning his face from side to side. "Teeth?" the man asked.
Lucas bared his teeth. He wasn't the best at keeping them brushed, but they didn't look like he smoked anything.
The man let his touch fall and let out a heavy sigh, stroking his hair back. "I don't like this idea, Tom."
"We can trust Lucas," Tom insisted carefully. "He's a good kid."
The man grumbled something under his breath and leaned back against the office desk. "The man on Lemay and 14th," he began. "I want you to buy from him."
"Drugs?" Lucas squeaked, as if they meant anything different.
The man gave him a dry look then. "Yes. We'll give you the money, and you bring the drugs back to us. But what I want you to find out is where he's getting it all from, understand? Without getting yourself in trouble for asking too many questions. Think you can do that?"
Lucas nodded. He'd seen enough people tweaking out to know how to act, and most people opened up to him easily just because he was young and unassuming. The man sighed again and started thumbing through a wad of cash. "If this doesn't work out, and we never see you again... it's not just you who will be in trouble. It'll be our friend Tom here, too."
Lucas glanced up at Tom, who gave him a nervous smile. The man handed out the money. "This should be enough for you to get a decent amount. I think it's obvious for you not to use any. We want it to see what they're selling, got it?"
"Yes," Lucas muttered, quickly pushing the cash down into his pockets.
"When you come back, you'll get your own cut of the money and a real meal from the restaurant, how about that?" the man gave him a condescending grin that Lucas refused to look at.
***
Lucas rubbed his fingers into his eyes a couple times and gnawed at his cracked lips. He shook up his hair a bit and scratched at his neck enough to leave some temporary marks. He peeked around the corner at the man as he casually waited by a bus stop.
Lucas bounced over then, shifting frequently on his feet and glancing around. "Hey."
The man eyed him suspiciously. "What's up?"
"Nothing, just—" Lucas stopped himself, taking a step back. "Actually never mind."
"Hold on, hold on," the man grinned and grabbed Lucas by the elbow. "Looks like you could use a little something, yeah? Something I might have?"
"I don't know, man." Lucas gave his neck a twitch for good measure. "I don't know you, so fuck it."
"Don't be like that," he insisted. "I got what you need, and that's all that really matters, isn't it?"
"Yeah but," Lucas let out a frustrated huff. "I don't know where it's coming from. How can I know it's any good and you aren't just ripping me off?"
"I promise its good shit." He dragged Lucas away from the bus stop and to the mouth of an alley before pulling a dime bag out. "You heard of Santino, right? This is his. I'm the only middle man you got, so no one fucked with it. Pure as you're going to get." He dangled the bag in front of Lucas' face.
Lucas bit his lip and eyed the bag. "How much?"
"How much you got?" the man challenged him.
Lucas knew he had plenty, but he knew that the man in Tom's office didn't trust him either. "I've only got a little bit of cash," Lucas muttered weakly. "Maybe I can trade something... else, too?" he made sure to bat his eyes a few times.
The man swore under his breath. "Boys aren't my thing kid. I want full cash, or nothing."
"So close your eyes," Lucas said. "I'll just use my mouth."
"Shit," he hissed, glancing back to the bus stop. "Fine. Come on, further down."
Lucas carefully followed up down to the darker end of the alley and behind a dumpster. Lucas gave him a little bit of the money before going down on his knees and undoing his belt. The dealer quickly closed his eyes and turned his face upwards.
Lucas had to stroke him until he was hard before taking his shaft into his mouth. First he put his hands on the man's waist, feeling his coat pockets. Lucas sucked him in deeper then and let his hand slip in and around a cell phone. He drew his mouth back and flicked his tongue around the ridge of the head. A few repetitions later and he came while Lucas slipped the phone into his own sweatshirt pocket.
The dealer swore again but sounded pleased. "Okay, that wasn't too bad," he mumbled. "I could take something like that again." He gave Lucas a smile.
Lucas shrugged and spit out to the side. He put his hand up for the drugs and the dealer dropped a few of the small bags into his hand. "See you soon," he jeered.
Lucas stood up and quickly fled the alley, checking over his shoulder. He probably didn't have much time before the guy noticed, so he ran and ducked around a few other corners until he was sure he was far enough away. He pulled out the cheap flip phone then and quickly searched through the contacts, right to a Santino. There had to be plenty of other names that would be useful to them, too.
He trekked back to the restaurant and in through the kitchen. He reached Tom's office and hesitated outside. He knocked gently, but it still didn't take long for Tom's face to peek through. "Oh, Lucas," he sounded relieved. "Here, uh—" He checked back over his shoulder, obviously not alone in the office. "Come on in."
Lucas was cautious on entering. Tom was inside with two other men this time—the same one that had given Lucas the job, and someone new. "He returns," the first one teased. "And you have it all?"
Lucas felt himself puff up defensively. He tossed the drugs out onto the desk, followed by the wad of cash and the dealer's cell phone. "That belongs to the dealer. He gets it from a Santino, whose number is in there," Lucas replied steadily. "And your cash back."
"How'd you manage this?" the man seemed more pleasantly surprised than anything as he went for the cell phone.
Lucas only shrugged and didn't answer. The second man had yet to actually say anything and wasn't even really looking at Lucas. Lucas would be fine with that. He didn't want too much of their attention anyways.
Tom smiled encouragingly from the side, though it seemed as if he was being pushed out of his office as he huddled up against the wall out of the way.
"You came through pretty well," the first one said, folding back a few bills from the stack of cash he'd given Lucas. "You can keep this for yourself. Tom, why don't you let him pick something off the menu? Desert too, if he wants it."
Tom pulled a menu off of the desk and handed it to Lucas. Lucas pointed out one of the pasta dishes and a molten chocolate cake at the end, before realizing too late that Tom had to leave the office to pass it on to the kitchen.
"Joshua, why don't you go deal with this," the second man finally spoke up, pushing the drugs to the side of the table with the tips of his fingers. "And take the cell phone with you. Anthony can take a look at it."
Lucas watched nervously as Joshua took the hint and left the office. If Joshua was above Tom, and the man at the desk was above Joshua... Lucas wasn't sure he wanted to learn anymore names. At what point would he become a liability to them?
Lucas tried not to look at him, but it didn't go the same way. He was staring Lucas down with a look that knew—he knew that Lucas had something extra to get the cell phone; done something he shouldn't have. "You did more than we asked," he stated simply.
Lucas only nodded in response. The man sat forward with his elbows up on the table and laced his fingers together under his chin. "I can appreciate that. How old are you? Seventeen? Eighteen?"
"Sixteen," Lucas answered gruffly.
"And... homeless, right?"
"Yes," Lucas admitted.
"I can give you more opportunities like this," the man suggested. "You run errands for us, do odd jobs... see how that goes for a few weeks."
Lucas tightened his lips. Something like that had to have more expectations than what he normally did, and he was waiting to hear it.
The man seemed to know it again then, too. He smiled slightly. "This would mean you're working for us, Lucas. I don't know if you're trading information between other people as well, or what. If you are, it would stop. Tom likes you but he has a soft spot for kids. However, I have a preference for people who are good at what they do. If you can keep that up, we could look into some steady income for you, and maybe a place to stay." He stood up then and flattened out the front of his suit. "If that's okay with you, come see Tom again this Friday. He'll have something for you, and Joshua will explain the details for you again."