I hated lying to her.
We had finally managed to build some sort of trust with one another, and the last thing I wanted to do was break it by lying, but Beast had been insistent that no one knew we were meeting up.
I walked into the tattoo studio owned by Chuck, one of the Specters, and looked around.
The shop was empty, besides Chuck himself, who was sitting at his station, surrounded by pencils and paper. The music was blasting, something by Pantera, one of the few bands Clyde had shown me that I actually enjoyed
Chuck was the one who put Bonnie on as an apprentice, after seeing her drawing on my arm in black marker one day. At first, Clyde and I thought he had an alternative motive, but it turned out he was harmless. He treated Bonnie well, like a little sister, and genuinely recognized her talent, regularly letting her do her work there.
He turned when I walked in, nodding at me in greeting.
"You looking for Beast?" He asked, running his fingers over the redback spider that was tattooed on his shaven scalp.
"Yeah," I responded.
"Out back," he told me, tilting his head in that direction. "He's waiting for you."
I nodded and followed him through to the back of the shop, where it opened out into a tiny courtyard, half covered by the second story of the building. Beast was lounging on one of the couches they had out there, under the covered half, speaking with Jack and Boomer.
I started feeling anxious, not sure why they were both there as well, being higher ranks in the Specters. My apprehension eased slightly when Boomer offered a friendly smile, the first to notice me, and Jack dragged over a chair from against the wall.
Beast kept a blank expression, all business, but the vibe was light, non threatening, and I relaxed slightly. I watched the smoke from his cigarette coiling up into the sky as Chuck went back into the shop.
"Thanks for coming, kid," Beast started, then chuckled to himself, leaning back. "I shouldn't call you that, should I? You're not really a kid, anymore."
"Marcus still does, sometimes," I said, shrugging as he took another drag.
"Yeah, he did raise you, I suppose." Beast leaned forward again, eyeing me. "How's your old man coping, now he's out?"
I shrugged again.
"Seems okay," I told him. "Marcus had a party for him last night."
Beast nodded, but, otherwise said nothing.
"You could go see him," I offered. "I'm sure he'd apreciate it."
Beast sighed and shook his head.
"I think we're past that, now," he admitted. "Me and your dad were like brothers, back when we were about your age. After that shit went down with Kim... he never really forgave me for it, and who could blame him? I let his family get hurt."
He seemed genuinely regretful, but I still didn't understand why. Sure, Kim got hurt, and dad paid for it for fifteen years, but where did Beast come into it? Why was he taking the blame for what happened?
"Anyway, we should be talking business." He stubbed out his cigarette and gestured to Jack, who reached into his jacket and came back out with a small, wrapped package, and put it on the table between us.
I raised an eyebrow at Beast, but his eyes gave nothing away.
"We need to know we can trust you," he said, his face dead serious, set in an expression he'd never worn while speaking to me. "Does anyone know you came here?"
I shook my head.
"You told me to say nothing to anyone."
"Good." Beast nodded, then glanced at Boomer, who handed me a scrap of paper with an address. "Now, about that favour you talked to me about."
I knew what was coming. I was friends with Beast and everyone at the club, that's why I went to them to try and get help for Jenna, but not without thinking that I had to do something for them, first. Like Beast said; it was business.
"I need you to deliver that," he nodded at the package that still sat between us, "to that address. You ask to see the Gypsy, and you hand it to them, and no one else."
"What is it?" I wondered.
"A kilo of coke," he answered nonchalantly.
I wasn't surprised that they would have me running drugs, but that didn't mean I liked the idea. I wasn't a fan of harder stuff, like this. It was dangerous, it could ruin people's lives. I'd always grown up knowing that.
I'd been there for Katy as she'd suffered through her mum's addiction, and then, later on when I met Clyde, I found out that his mum had spent most of his life fucked up on them as well.
The idea of being caught, not by the cops, but by my dad, or Clyde, or Marcus, had me hesitating. They'd all kill me, if they found out I'd even entertained the idea.
"You do this for us, we'll deal with the bastards going after your girl."
At the mention of Jenna, they had me. I couldn't forget the saddness embedded in her eyes, her timid nature, and the empty, blank stare when she came to my room that first night, like she was so used to seperating herself from her own body just to deal with what she was forced to do.
This was bigger than me.
"Alright," I agreed finally, trying to ignore the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.
Jack clapped me on the shoulder, offering me words of encouragement. I smiled, trying to hide how uneasy I was feeling.
"I'm trusting you not to let us down, kid," Beast said sternly. "If you fuck this up, it won't matter how much history there is between your family and me, I won't be able to save you."
***
Beast's words were repeating over and over in my mind as I rode home, the package weighing heavily in my jacket.
I unlocked the front door and let myself in, carefully gazing around for Jenna. I couldn't see her, and I snuck up to my room as quietly as I could to check if she was there, still.
I heard the shower down the hall, and knew she wouldn't be, even before I saw the neatly made bed. I slipped around the corner, figuring I had a few minutes, glancing around for somewhere to hide Beast's package.
Under the mattress or in the drawers was way too obvious, and it was too thick to roll up in the blind, like Jenna had done with Bonnie's money. I needed somewhere safe. It's not that I didn't trust Jenna anymore, but I was feeling paranoid. If Lucas and his guys, or anyone for that matter knew where we were and broke in, I couldn't let them find it.
I was starting to panic about the whole situation, when I became aware of a presence behind me.
I swung around, my heart skiping a beat when I saw Jenna standing in the doorway, a towel wrapped around her while her hair still dripped down her bare shoulders.
She took a step back when I saw her, and I realized that I probably must have scared her just as badly.
"Hey," I smiled at her, trying to slow my racing heart. "You scared me. How are you feeling?"
She smiled hesitantly and shrugged, clutching the towel, and my phone, to her chest.
"A little better," she replied timidly. "I didn't know you'd be back already."
"Yeah," I replied, feeling guilty again about lying. "It's all sorted."
Jenna bit her lower lip, glancing at the package in my hand.
"Do you need to hide that?" She asked me, gesturing to it with the hand that held the phone.
"Ah, yeah," I hesitated. "I probably should."
Jenna didn't call me out on my lie, she just brushed past me to crouch in front of the drawers and pulled out the second one from the bottom.
"Do you have any of that silver tape?" She asked.
"Gaffa tape?" I offered, and nodded. "I'll go find some."
I raced to the kitchen and found a roll of it under the sink, and then went back to Jenna, handing it to her curiously.
She took it, and the package I still held, taped it firmly to the underside of the drawer, and then slid it shut again.
"That shouldn't fall off when you open it," she assured me.
"I would have never thought of that," I adnitted, laughing. "Thanks, Jenna."
She said nothing, staring at the floor for a moment.
"Can I go and get dressed now?" She asked after a moment.
"Yeah," I answered, confused. "Of course you can, you don't need my permission."
"Thank you," was all she said.