The Raven

Yearning

"There's only so much weed I can grow at a time Ray. You've sold it all. I'm all out." The relaxed man said to Ray Mond as he put a olive green bucket hat on his blond head. It had been nearly two weeks since she had met up with Chad Brodie, otherwise known as Chodie, who had kindly given her some of his stash to sell. The weed dealer was kind enough to offer her a 40% cut of whatever she sold, with the rest being divided between himself and CG. The two stood right outside the CG cubby as they discreetly discussed something for her to do.

"Can you give me Taco's product? I'll sell it for him and give him all his money." The woman really wanted to prove herself useful to the gang. The month was almost over and she still hadn't received any feedback on her efforts but she would persevere. The man denied her suggestion. Apparently Taco had special clients she was not allowed to interact with. The man sensed her disappointment so he quickly offered her something else.

"I can't show you where I grow them yet but after you get your chain you're definitely invited to help maintain my beautiful garden." He said it as if she was guaranteed to receive it. Most of the people who were in Cg kept speaking to her like it was a given that she would join their family but the person who's opinion really mattered had yet to say a word. In fact she hadn't seen Mr. K at all for the past week or so.

Before she could continue their conversation Ray noticed a familiar redhead exit the apartment that was opposite Vinny's. Her hair was in a messy bun and she wore nothing but high heeled lace up boots and a buttoned up Dior shirt. Due to her height and the laced boots the length of the shirt looked almost inappropriate. The shirt she knew for a fact belonged to Randy Bullet.

The young woman hadn't had a chance to really hang out with her mentor because he was busy and she was grinding, pushing CG's product. Ray felt a little bit sad about his absence. She pushed down the small feeling of jealousy when she saw her friend locking the British man's door and putting keys away in his red mailbox.

"Oh hey Ray. Hey Chodie, it's your girl April." The woman said when she reached them. April would never do that to you. She'd never do that to Ramee. Despite being with Marty, Ramee's feelings remained. Surely April wouldn't sleep with Randy knowing how the warlord felt for her and how she felt for Randy. She tried consoling herself and stifling her uneasy feeling. Besides, just based on Taco and Randy's complaints April tended to take people's clothing and keep it for herself.

"April! Just the person I was looking for. Looks like none of the boys are around so I was wondering if you wanted to come along as I introduce Ray Mond to Street Team."

"Oh? Where's everyone else?" The Siren asked as she untied her bun and let her wavy hair fall down her back. Chodie then went on to tell her that nobody had been around, which Ray knew was a lie. Mari was in her apartment. Ray knew this because the two of them had just returned from their paintball practice sessions and Chodie was sitting on the bench just outside the cubby when they arrived. The Morph co-owner was really pushing her to limits she didn't even know she could reach. Just in a matter of two weeks her skills had improved greatly. Still, that didn't explain why the man standing in front of her lied about Mari not being around.

"Hmm." April hummed to herself and had a look of contemplation. "That sounds fun but I'll pass. I have some shopping I need to do but you and Ray should totally go meet Street Team. I'm pretty sure only Jaylen and Capped are around now, the others will probably be back from their trip in a few hours."

Chodie laughed at April's words as if she just said something funny and nodded. They continued their conversation and the more they spoke the more Ray felt like she was missing a part of the puzzle. Lately, it started to feel like she had only one piece of a puzzle and she'd never be able to get the full picture. Maybe she was looking too deeply into it but it felt to her like Chodie and April were having a secret conversation underneath the words they were saying. Then again, April couldn't keep anything a secret for too long so it probably wasn't that serious. The tall woman gave Ray a hug and disappeared for a few minutes to get her pink Prius from Ramee's garage.