Smoke Me.

Chapter 34: Double-Edged

"Why do you look more or less...happy?"

I couldn't miss the judgment from Donavan's tone, which is why I paused lock picking Mole's front door with a sigh. The flashlight of his phone illuminated the ground for a moment before he moved it back up.

"Why wouldn't I be happy? My lover and I are finally in a good place," I pondered on that statement and then added a low: "Kind of." And continued louder, "Fred's alive. And I've even helped someone...detox. Nailed the exams. Helped the world be a better place by helping a sinner repent. All in less than a week."

"Sinner...what? You did what?"

"Charity." He was more baffled now, so I blurted a linear:" Doesn't matter."

And went back to work on the door.

"...but you're about to hurt someone and you're this...calm. How old are you again?"

I sighed louder.

"Donavan, if you want to wait in the car, I will not hold it against you. I can do this on my own."

"No! I'm not scared... I'm only a bit surprised. And worried."

"Are you... now." It wasn't a question, but he was too freaked out to take it as anything else.

"Yes! What if he fights back? What if there's more than one inside? There are only two of us. I don't like that."

"Mole is a smart guy, Donavan, I'll give you that. But he's not a fighter, nor is he willing to put someone else in danger besides himself after...putting everyone he's ever loved in nothing but danger."

"Like who?"

"No one tells you anything?"

He shrugged.

"It's better that way. Anyways, don't worry. I doubt there's someone here to back him up after choosing the wrong side anyway."

"You mean the other dealer?"

"Yes. I mean the other dealer."

"What did they call him again?" He scratched his face with his phone.

"Cockroach." I let him know, a bit irritated by the sudden lack of light.

"Right. Remind me how did he get that name so I can make a sneaky joke to the doctor who'll fix my leg."

"And it's open." I quietly exclaimed a second before the door made a clicking sound, and went on, "He's chosen it. He didn't earn it."

"But...why?"
"Because cockroaches survive after a nuclear bomb or something. But I guess he's missed the fact that they have to stay in hiding in order to survive. Meanwhile, he was running around the surface like an idiot. Eh, that's what happens if you don't earn your second name, I suppose."

"Still! That's a drug lord's name."

"He was not a lord. Although I guess a cockroach lord fits. Alright, phone down, gun up. We're going in,"

"Okay. Get behind me."

'I really don't want to, but fine.' I thought.

A part of me assumed that Mole's already darted using a window while I got the door to open without damaging it. But the plastic that covered our shoes was giving our exact positions away with every step.

I took one glance at the narrow, dark corridor and the window at the end of it and could've sworn that when I came here first, it was through another door.

But I kept telling myself it was irrelevant. That he was aware that he'd get caught no matter where he ran off to. He knew that even if it was me or someone else, Fred will make sure he was done for. He could buy himself some time or he could...