Got Your Six

Chapter 24

Christina - Two Nights Ago

I can feel the vibrations rumbling through the house as I step inside. The music is loud enough to be heard from three blocks away. Luckily, these parties are always held in the middle of nowhere so there's never anyone to complain about the noise. I don't know how Gavin finds a new location for the parties every time, but I guess someone with as much power over the city as him has got to have connections. It's never safe to have the party at the same location twice. There's always so many drugs here that every single person would get locked up if the cops caught wind of the location.
Strobe lights bounce off the walls, illuminating the living room that's packed with people. I walk into the kitchen, the only fully lit room in this whole place, and grab a beer out of the fridge. The counter is crowded with people rolling their own joints and a few people making lines with their credit cards.
"Christina!" I can barely hear the voice over the music. My body spins around to find Olivia standing before me. "So glad you could make it, girl!"
Olivia is my main supplier. It used to be Manny until I met his girlfriend when I bought from him a few months ago. She and I just clicked somehow and I decided to buy from her from then on. Now, every time I get an invite to one of these parties, I always end up hanging around her the whole night. This is the sixth party I've attended that has been hosted by Gavin. Even though the place is packed, Gavin only invites his most frequent buyers. Although, when you have so many people working for you, those numbers begin to add up. Gavin has asked me to sell for him before, but I always tell him no, always making up excuses that I have too much on my plate already. The truth is, I've got a lesser chance of getting locked up for buying than I do if I started selling. His dealers always tend to build up a lengthy wrap sheet for themselves. That might explain why he's always looking for more people.
"So sorry about your brother," Olivia says, sticking out her lower lip to make a pouty face.
I was shocked when I learned about Cameron's death. He's one of the few people in the family that didn't completely disown me a few years back. Not everyone approves of the lifestyle I chose. I was somewhat mad when I found out that Gavin was responsible for killing him, until I convinced myself that it couldn't have been anything personal. It's just business for Gavin. He's gotta do whatever he needs to in order to keep his business running. Everyone chooses a side at some point in their life. I guess Cameron just ended up on the wrong side.
"It's whatever," I say, trying to talk louder than the music. "No one even told me about the funeral. I didn't find out until it was over."
"No way! That's so shitty!" Olivia shouts, then takes a drag from the joint she's been holding.
"I know! We were pretty close when he was younger. We haven't had much contact recently though," I tell her, trying not to let myself get too upset about the whole situation. We're at a party, we're supposed to be having fun.
"Oh, girl, I'm so sorry," Olivia says, pulling me in for a quick hug. "You wanna dance?"
I answer her question by following her into the living room, where the lights have switched to ones of color, shinning in every direction. We dance our asses off for the rest of the song, bumping into every person that surrounds us. No one minds it anyway, everyone's either drunk or high at this point. I finish my beer and throw the can towards the corner of the room. Olivia passes me the remainder of her joint, letting me finish it off while she goes to get another.
While she's gone, I drift to the wall, separating myself from the crowd in order to catch my breath. I spot Manny in the hallway and almost wave to him until I realize he seems busy. He's talking with Gavin. I can't hear a word they're saying to each other, but it looks like they don't want anyone to hear them. Gavin's a pretty secretive person, he pretty much has to be in his line of work. You only get let in on Gavin's secrets if he wants you to. Although, I can't help but wonder what they might be talking about.
"There you are!" Olivia shouts beside me.
I advert my attention from Gavin and Manny to see her holding a joint in each hand. She passes one to me and drags me back to the middle of the crowd. We dance for a few more songs before Manny joins us on the dance floor. He pulls his girlfriend close and rocks with her to the beat of the song.
I give Olivia a face that says, "I'll give you two some space," and then head back into the kitchen.
The overhead light is quite the adjustment when you're coming from a dark room with disco lights shinning everywhere. I squint my way across the room to the counter and make myself a line, inhaling it all in one swift motion, tilting my head up to the light as I do so. That should give me the boost of energy I need to get through the night. Just as I'm about to head back into the living room, someone lightly grabs my arm, turning me in another direction.
"Nice you could make it," Gavin says into my ear and then leans back to give me a friendly smile.
"You can count on me being here every time," I assure him. I haven't skipped a single party of his since I started receiving the invites. Gavin's parties never disappoint.
Gavin smiles again and grabs my hand, leading me down the same hallway I saw him talking to Manny in earlier. I still wonder what they were talking about. We end up in what I assume is the master bedroom. He closes the door behind us and guides me to the edge of the bed, sitting down beside me.
"I wanted to talk to you about your brother," Gavin says in a low voice. The bass from the music still rumbles through the walls but it's still much quieter in here than it is out there. "I mostly just wanted to say I'm sorry for how it all went down."
"Oh, thank you," I say hesitantly. "You should know, I'm not mad at you or anything. I mean, I was a little at first but I'm not anymore. I know you've got a business to run, and you can't let anything get in the way of that, right?"
"Right," he says with a little smile. "I know his funeral was today. Were you able to go?"
"No," I say, bringing back those emotions of anger towards my family. "No one even bothered to tell me about it."
"Wow, that's fucked up," Gavin says with wide eyes. "Well, I didn't mean to bring you down. I just wanted to check on you," he says with a smile, rubbing his hand on my shoulder. "How is everything else? Is Olivia still getting you everything you need?"
"Of course, she's always good with that kind of thing. Although, I'm sure you know that," I point out. Gavin might not show his face very often but I know he likes to keep tabs on everyone.
"It's true, I do keep a close eye on all of my employees," Gavin admits. "That reminds me, I just had a position open up today if you're interested."
"I don't know, Gavin. You know how I feel about selling," I tell him, adverting my eyes to avoid the awkwardness of having to deny his offer once again.
"I know, but this position doesn't involve selling. Not unless you want to later on, but I wouldn't pressure you," he assures me. Then he scoots closer to me and grabs my hand.
"Well, what kind of position is it then?" I ask him, shifting my eyes back to his. I didn't know he hired people for any other reason. I mean, I know he has Manny basically drive him everywhere, but he's also one of Gavin's main dealers.
"I need a new informant, someone to do some sneaking around for me. My last guy just didn't work out," Gavin says nonchalantly.
"I don't know how good I would be at that," I say with a little laugh.
"Well, I was talking about it with Manny earlier and he's the one that actually mentioned you. He thought you'd be a great fit for the position," Gavin says which kind of shocks me. Why would Manny recommend me for the position?
"I don't know, Gavin," I say hesitantly. Sure, I wouldn't be selling, but I still don't know if I want to work for him. Besides, he wants to do some sneaking around, whatever that means. I'm not a spy, I wouldn't be any good at sneaking around.
"This position comes with some perks," he says quickly, as if he's ready to say anything to get me to accept his offer.
"What's that? You gonna offer me free goodies?" I say jokingly.
"I can offer more than that," Gavin says in a low voice. Then he leans in and kisses me.