“You’re drug runners,” Drake said as we stepped out onto the street. “Bottom of the barrel, street rat, nobodies; do me a favor and keep it that way. I don’t need you two to stand out. Your job is done easier if people don’t notice that you’re there.”

Dev slipped his hand into mine and I squeezed it harshly as we followed. 

“You do what you’re told,” Drake continued, “When you’re told. You follow the rules, and you lay low. That is all that you do. And I better not hear that you two are stealing from me. That goes for money or drugs.”

“What about real high-quality socks,” I asked with a fake smirk plastered on my face. Dev squeezed my hand harder in warning but it was too late. 

I didn’t have time to brace for the hit, let alone see it coming before Drake’s fist slammed into my face. My hand dropped Dev’s and Drake wrapped his hand around my neck and shoved me into a wall beside us. 

I scowled at him as I scratched at his hand, drawing blood but not causing enough pain to make him let me go. His hand applied pressure to my throat and I barely had room to breathe.

“What’s your name,” he asked, his voice entirely too calm considering what was happening. 

“James,” I forced out, my glare still barring into his brown eyes. He smiled at how easily I gave the answer and I hated how I wasn’t fighting him. 

“Let me give you some advice, James, because no one else is going to be so kind as to help you.” Despite the smile on his face, his words were laced with nothing but malice. “It is a privilege to work for me. I own this city. Cops don’t even bother trying to go after me or my men. You are untouchable by anyone but me. Do you understand that?” I nod and he continues. “With that in mind, I advise you to not piss off the one person who has permission to kill you without hesitation. Got it?” I nod and he smiles before letting go of me. I take pride in the fact that I was still able to keep my head high despite the lack of air. “Good.”

“Stay smart and stay low,” he says as he straightens his suit jacket and continues walking. I grip Dev’s hand again as we follow. “You’re dead weight until you prove yourself. I encourage you to prove yourself early on. I have high expectations for you, do not want to disappoint me.”

“Are you okay,” Dev whispered in my ear when Drake finally shut the fuck up. 

“I’m fine. You choke harder than he does.” I loved the way his cheeks flushed as he punched my side harshly. 

“Shut the fuck up.”

The rest of the walk was done in silence. Dev shivered against me and whether it was from the cold or fear I didn’t know. 

When Drake finally stopped walking we stood in front of an old house. The windows were boarded up but light slipped through the slits. 

“This is our supply house,” Drake said when he stopped at the short driveway. “This is where you will start every night. The guys inside will tell you everything else you need to know.” He didn’t wait for us to say anything else before turning and walking down the road. 

“Helpful,” I scoffed the second he was out of earshot. “Fucking prick.

“Please keep your smart-ass comments to yourself this time,” he sighed as we walked hand in hand to the door.

“I make no promises. He said it himself, no one else is allowed to kill me without talking to Drake first. That gives me a solid three minutes to run. I like those odds.”

“James,” he seethed and turned to face me. Fear was clear in his eyes and I hated that there was nothing I could do to erase it. I sighed as I cupped his cheek, forcing a small smile on my face. 

“It’s going to be okay. It’s just a job. We probably won’t ever see Drake again. Why would the leader of the self-proclaimed, most untouchable gang want to deal with the bottom-of-the-barrel drug runners again if he doesn’t have to? We’ll be fine. Just keep your head low and stay by me, alright?” He nodded but the fear in his eyes didn’t lessen. 

I sighed as I looked back at the house before dropping my hand and taking the lead to the door. 

You could smell the weed leaking through the slats in the windows long before you stepped onto the porch and it made me wonder how the fuck this place was supposed to be considered as hidden.

The door nearly fell off its hinges when I knocked on it and I couldn’t help but be appalled by these people for the lack of care they seemed to display. When the door was opened only a second later the three of was watched in disappointment when the door fell off into the man’s hands. 

He only groaned as he glared at someone I couldn’t see. 

“I thought I told you to fix this door,” he yelled over his shoulder. 

“And I thought I told you I wasn’t your fucking bitch,” someone else called back him. The house erupted into laughter and the man in front of me looked like he was about to go off on them until he remembered we were here.

“Oh hell yeah,” he said with a wide smile. “I don’t know if you remember me but I’m Peter. Drake said I was getting the two of you but I didn’t think it would be this soon! Come on in and uh, mind the door I guess.” I watched as he attempted to guide the door back to its normal place only to give up and simply propped it against the frame. 

Soft music filled what used to be a living room. Drugs in bags were piled on every available surface in ‘neat’ piles and the smell of weed was almost unbearable, seeming to have seeped into the very walls of the house. 

A few guys sat on a run-down couch, looking like they had been stoned since about 9 am that morning. 

“Each and every one of you better sober up,” Peter said with a glare on his face, his words coming out harsher than anything I’ve heard from him so far. “Drake will kill all of us if he knows I let you light up before work, especially at work.”

“We paid for it,” one of them defended weakly but he still seemed to be sobering up at Peter’s words regardless. 

“I’m so glad you aren’t adding theft to the list of reasons for you to be fired,” he said with an eye roll before looking at me and Dev. “I’d say they aren’t usually like this but I’d be lying,” he sighed. “That’s Louis, Caleb, Keith, and Fallon,” he said while pointing at each of them. Fallon was the only one who looked like he knew where he was. “Yeah, they aren’t going to be much help tonight. Have you ever done this before?”

“Nope.”

“Fantastic,” he said but his smile was back. “Well, it’s pretty easy. I mean, these guys do it every day so how hard could it really be? You’ll come in every night, get your assignments, and load up on everything you’re going to need. Run your shit and when you get done you come back and see if I have anything else I need you to do. Got it?”

“Sounds simple enough,” I agreed and Peter smiled again. 

“Just a few rules first. Don’t even think about tucking some of that cash away. I personally count it every night and Drake will kill you if you steal from him. You’ll get paid your cut every night starting tomorrow for the previous night’s work. If you get caught by the cops, don’t say a damn word and do not resist. Just go with them and call me, here’s my number,” he said as he placed a card in my hand. “Drake has the cops in the palm in his hands but they still have to keep up appearances. The cops know I work for Drake so I’ll come and get you the second you call, just sit tight and say nothing until I get there alright?”

I nod and without another word, Peter is shoving bags of drugs into my hands while rattling off the places to be at what times and I could only pray that Dev was listening. I was way too focused on trying to focus on the drugs, what they were, and the prices of each of them that Fallon was spewing out at random. 

Before I really even had a chance to blink Peter was ushering us to the door before stopping for a second and looking at the clothes we were wearing, and frowning. 

“You didn’t think to bring coats,” he asked, looking out our thin, dirty short-sleeved shirts. 

“We don’t have coats,” Dev spoke for the first time since walking in here. 

“And we weren’t exactly given a heads up on what we were about to do either,” I spat. 

“Well, I’m not going to have you two completely freezing tonight,” he said as he took two jacket off the coat rack that seemed to be the only thing in this house that wasn’t falling apart. “Take these. The idiots aren’t using them anyway. Maybe if they have to walk home in the cold in a few hours they’ll think twice before trying to come here stoned again.” 

The jackets smelled like weed but they were warm and that’s all I cared about as I pulled it over my shoulders. 

“Now go out and stay safe alright,” Peter said as he grabbed the door by the handle. It fell against his body and sighed before throwing it at the couch. “All of you get off your asses now! I’m fucking done with your bullshit! Get up and fix this fucking door now!” Dev and I stayed just long enough to watch as all of their eyes went wide. Fallon was the first one up, picking up the door with one hand and rushing into another room while the other two followed him. “I hate being the hard ass,” Peter sighed as he ushered us away. 

The second we’re out the doorway I take Dev’s hand in mine again. 

“That was,” Dev said before trailing off for a second. “An experience…”

“These people are fucking insane,” I scoffed.

“What else would you expect from people who work for a gang?”

“Well, we work for a gang now,” I point out. “Does that make us insane?” 

“Absolutely it does, yes, glad we’re on the same page about that.”

Dev was already shivering against my side as we walked and I sighed. This was going to be a long night.