The Tales of Flesh and Blood

My Unexpected Dinner: Part 1

When I stepped outside and realized that the police hadn't stopped by my school, it took all my effort not to start running in the direction of the apartments I lived in. Fuck, if the police went there . . .

Surely they wanted to talk to me about the rest-station robbery from this morning. Maybe they finally caught on that I'm a really bad witness. That would be one good thing to happen today.

The streets were busy with traffic and pedestrians, the smell of bus exhaustion heavy in the air. Kids were running and yelling, happy for the weekend. With the school being on the corner between Dustin and Thomas Way, I was left to walk roughly two and a half miles to get to Hadi's apartment building. I could ride the bus, but, well, too many people I grew up with rode it, and I already had enough drama on my shoulders without adding them to my list. Besides, I needed to keep my legs in shape somehow when I wasn't running from suspicious cars.

The apartment we lived in belonged to a building tall and . . . well, let's just be content that the building was still standing. It was a faded, worn yellow color, the windows barred where rusted metal stairs looped around the walls. It blended perfectly with every other building around here; not even nature was permitted to strive. Dead grass and packed dirt filled in the areas where pavement did not touch, despite how often it snowed or rained throughout the year. Like the residents who lived in this area, if not the town itself, everything just seemed so . . . dead.

I sighed, walking across the street to approach the building. I wondered if Hadi would be sleeping on the couch or out working yet another shift, as she usually did day in and out.

"Yo, Tria!"

What a greeting, I thought.

I paused, looking around until I could see a woman running towards me from behind the corner. I recognized her almost immediately; dull, oily blond hair, her skin an unhealthy pale with dark, heavy circles underneath a pair of sunken brown eyes. I didn't trust her. She was one of the idiots who performed bedding services for money - to which she spent some on drugs, and I didn't know where she spent the rest. Certainly not groceries.

But while few people batted an eye in her direction, I've seen her once or twice talking to people who worked for a man known as Ridge Locman to few, and others as the King of Gallin. Not a very good fellow - he was notorious for running a human trafficking business on the other side of town. I felt my legs tense, unsure if I should brace myself for a fight or flee, even as she held out a sealed envelope.

"Ginger?"

"Here, take this," she panted, out of breath. I glanced at the envelope, but did not take it.

"What is it?"

She held it out further, gesturing for me to take it.

"Someone wanted you to have this. Something about appreciation."

The two robbers from this morning, maybe? I thought, but didn't bother voicing it.

"And why are you giving it to me?"

"Because they paid me twenty to give it to you." She was getting impatient now. "Just take it, would you?"

Slowly, I reached out to take it, staring her in the face, though she refused to meet my eye.

"Okay. Cool. Thanks," she said, turned, then ran back to where she had come from.

"Yeah, no problem," I replied awkwardly, peering down at yet another envelope. Shit. This better not be drugs. Hadi will have a fit, otherwise. Because while there was no chance that I was going to use it, I wasn't just going to toss it to the side, either. People paid a lot of money for stuff like that.