Thirteen
1069 Words
I approached a young man leaning against a dumpster and smoking a cigarette. He glanced at my and flicked ash onto the ground.
“You Jessie?” I asked.
“Depends. Who’s asking?” He fit the description of a drug-dealer in my mind. Scrawny, shifty, and irritating.
“I’m looking to buy. I heard that you had the good stuff.”
I’d never bought drugs before. Was I doing it right? It was easy pretending to be a hooker. The men only cared about one thing.
“Cash?”
“Yup,” I lied and tried to sound casual.
“Whatchu want?”
“Void. I heard that s**t is amazing.”
“Ah, void. You sure you’re up to that? Stuff’s not for beginners and you don’t look all that experienced.”
I flashed him a smile and tried to hide my fangs. “I’m plenty experienced, thank you very much.”
“Aight. Your funeral. How much you need?” He slung his backpack off one shoulder and started digging through it.
I peeked inside his bag. It was full with little plastic baggies. Some had pills, some contained powder. This was no small time dealer. The human was likely responsible for more human deaths than I was. My victims were people who preyed on others. Like Jessie here.
I longed to rip his throat out and end his pitiful existence.
I rushed forward and shoved him against the dumpster with my hand around his throat. The backpack tipped and the contents scattered on the pavement. He struggled against my grip and I smiled. This time, I let him see the tips of my fangs.
“Where’d you get the void, love?” I asked with faux sweetness.
He shook his head and tried to pry my hand off his throat with one hand. With the other hand, he dug around in the pockets of his baggy jeans. I lifted him off the ground and he moved his other hand to my wrist, trying in vain to free himself. His phone clattered to the ground when he pulled his hand out of his pocket.
His face grew red and his eyes bugged wildly in panic. I set him on the ground and released my grip.
“Now. Jessie. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. You’re going to want to tell me where I can find your source and you’ll walk away from here.”
He opened his mouth to speak. I pressed my finger against his lips. “Uh-uh. Make sure you tell me the truth. If I sense a lie, we do this my way and you don’t get to go home tonight. Your choice.”
Wetness spread across the front of his jeans. The little s**t pissed his pants.
“Scared? Good. Now spill it.”
“I-I get everything from, from Mack.”
Mack. That was the name Gemba had given me.
“Look, Jessie. My fight isn’t with you. I need you to tell me how to get to Mack and we’re done here, alright?”
He looked left and right and bolted to the left, toward the busier sidewalk. He made it maybe five feet before I leapt onto his back and spun him to face me.
“Wrong choice. Now we do this the fun way.”
I blasted him with my seductive wave and smiled.
“You with me, Jessie?”
“Hmm-hmm,” he mumbled.
“I need to find Mack. Where can I find him?”
He shook his head.
“Somehow I find it hard to believe that Mack is scarier than I am right now. Why won’t you tell me?”
“He’ll kill me.”
“He’s not going to get the chance to kill you, kid.”
The shadow of a person passed by the alleyway then stopped. “Hey! What’s going on in there?” a man yelled.
Shit. I let Jessie up and he ran unsteadily toward the man. I needed to get away before anyone spotted my face. I sprinted in the opposite direction and scooped up Jessie’s phone on the way. If he wouldn’t tell me, maybe his phone would have the information I needed.
I ran until I could be sure that nobody was following me. I rejoined the busier sidewalk in front of the bar area and sat in a bus stop shelter. The phone screen was miraculously undamaged.
The phone required a pass code to unlock. I pressed the zero button a few times and the phone unlocked for me. i***t.
I found a “Mack” in his text messages. It looked like they’d meet regularly in various places around the city, based on the text history. I wondered if Mack knew that Jessie was reselling his goods.
If I couldn’t find Mack, I’d make him come to me.
I began typing out a text, mimicking Jessie’s spelling and slang use the best I could.
Hey man. Need 2 meet ASAP.
I waited for a response. It wasn’t long before the phone buzzed in my hand.
Why?
I’m out. Need to buy more.
Mack agreed to meet and gave me a location just a few blocks from here. I smiled. A little detective work and ingenuity went a long way. I’d get this loser off the street and make the city just a little safer.
I stowed Jessie’s phone in my bag at my side and left the shelter of bus station. I walked past the bars and wove my way through the thinning crowds on the street.
My destination was a park just north of downtown. It’d be quiet this time of night. The risks of discovery would be slim, I hoped. Mack had been getting away with his drug peddling long enough. He must have known where the lower risk spots were.
As I walked, I strategized in my head. Gemba’s words echoed in my mind. Not faster or stronger. No, I’d be smarter.
I grew restless as I approached the park. The hunt had been thrilling thus far, but I hadn’t faced anyone other than a few humans. What if I wasn’t enough. Like with Tucker.
I clutched my bag against my middle. I probably looked like a scared little woman walking through the wrong neighborhood.
The park was dark. Only the light from the path lights broke the darkness. Mack had wanted to meet at the bench on the hill overlooking downtown.
The area was empty. I leaned against a big oak tree and waited.
After a while, a man on a motorcycle parallel parked on the street nearest to the location. He hopped off and tucked his helmet under his arm.
He stopped about twenty-five feet from me and sniffed the air.
“I can smell you, blood sucker. Come on out.”
“Hello, Mack,” I purred and readied myself.
Not faster. Not stronger.
Smarter.
- Writer
