Second Chance

Chapter 3

Riley, Todd, Andrew, and Nate. That was my gang. Everyone knew us, everyone respected us, everyone feared us. No one would ever dare cross us. It had been like that since the start of high school, but Riley and I go way back. I loved my other boys to death, but Riley was special. We had been best friends since grade one, basically inseparable from the very beginning. We were in most of the same classes as each other, and we always had the other person's back, no matter what. He was like a brother to me, and it would kill me if I ever lost him.

I looked over at the dirty blonde haired guy as we rode down the streets of our neighbourhood. He grinned at me, as his hair flapped in his face, due to the wind that was pushing against us. I was in the lead, obviously, but Riley was nearly beside me, being my second in command and all. Nate, who had shoulder length brown hair and was insanely tall, was close behind Riley. Andrew, who was short and dark haired with tanned skin was next to Nate. Todd was in the back, and he was a little awkward and not that good looking, blonde with a lot of acne and strange face proportions, in other words, he was still very much a virgin.

We rode our bikes through town for a while, then finally stopped at a small drug store basically in the middle of nowhere. It was close to some train tracks though, so maybe not the middle of nowhere, but it was still very sketchy. We got off our bikes and leaned them against the fading blue wall, then walked into the store. It smelled very strongly of cigarette smoke, and looked equally run down. The lights above us occasionally flickered, and the tiles on the floor were dirty and cracked, which was weird because no one really came in here. The shelves around us were disorganized and very messy, but who was I do judge? This place was equivalent to my own house.

"Back again, are you boys?" The guy at the counter said in an old creaky voice.

I turned towards Daril, smiling slightly. We've been in here so many times that we've all gotten onto first name basis with each other. "Yeah, we're running out of some stuff." I answered. I was pretty sure we were his only customers, so he was quite happy whenever we came in, which was about once every week.

The five of us migrated to the back of the store and started looking around. We usually bought cheap stuff like pain killers and steroids, which Daril obviously knew about. What he didn't realize was that this entire time we were shoplifting hard core drugs like crack and nicotine. I was pretty sure those were supposed to be illegal, but Daril had them in his store.

I found some loose packets of white powder laying on a shelf near me, and I casually picked it up and dropped it my sleeve, briefly glancing over at Daril to make sure he wasn't seeing what I was doing, which he wasn't. Riley, being the good soul he was, was shopping for stuff he was actually going to buy. He was a parkour athlete, so he was used to getting scapes and bruises. Painkillers were still helpful though if he did happen to sprain a wrist or something.

Once I gathered enough things in my sleeves and pockets, Riley went to go pay for his legally bought drugs, then we left. I almost felt bad for constantly stealing drugs from the old man, but it was his own fault for being an unobservant moron.

Getting back on our bikes, we rode away, but didn't go back the way we came. We traveled towards the train tracks, and aimed for an old abandoned train in the distance. The thing about people who steal drugs don't often keep it for themselves, they usually sell it. I had no use for them, but I needed money to get the hell out of this town. So, as a matter of fact, I did have a job. One my dad would not be proud of. I was a drug dealer.

—-

We waited inside the train cart for our clients. Really, we only had one, but he preferred to come in a pack of his own. I assumed he was a paranoid bastard who thought we were going to murder him the moment we got him alone. That was completely not true though, after all he was my only source of income.

Finally, I heard footsteps outside, and a moment later three twenty something years old guys jumped into the cart with us. Our client, Jax, was the first one in. He was tall with short black hair. He always wore a leather jacket with a bunch of rings and a face full of piercings. Next was Zeke, who was shorter and a little chubby, but still had a tough guy vibe going on. Lastly was Chester, who looked homeless and very sketchy and creepy.

These three were trouble, but we outnumbered them, which was the only reason why I always brought Nate, Andrew and Todd along. Riley and I could pull off stealing drugs no problem, it was just the dealing part we needed numbers in.

"Nice to see you again, Justin." Jax said smoothly, grinning a yellow tinted smile at me.

"You too, Jax. Ready to make a deal?" I replied, walking towards him.

Jax opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, sirens sounded from outside, and flashing red and blue lights illuminated the wooden walls around us. Cops. Shit.