Turning A New Leaf

Sixteen

As the night bore on, it took a dark turn. Fernando had busted out the coke first. Krist and Jeordie declined, but Brad and the other guys eagerly accepted. A few of the dancers even partook.

Krist hated to say it, but his brother could get down on some drugs. Fool was taking rails that even Krist would have been apprehensive about, not that he indulged in coke all that often.

He decided for his good that it was best to sit up at the bar and chat with the girls working. Rosie and Alexis.

Rosie had been at the club for years, well before Krist had started. She was a tough little Latina from the east coast who stood all of 5'0 but definitely was not the one to fuck with.

Alexis was a little older than Krist, early thirties or so, and had been tending bar there for maybe a year. She had been a dancer previously, but after tearing her shoulder during pole work, she opted to bartend. Tips weren't as good, but she made decent money, and she loved working in the environment.

"Aye, can I get a cup of coffee?" Krist asked when Rosie was free.

"You got it, hon. You done drinking for the night?" She asked, handing him a brown ceramic mug.

Krist opened a few creamers, pouring them in, "I'm probably done drinking for a good while after this," he laughed, "Getting too old and can't keep up with these fools."

"Old? Honey, talk to me when you're my age," she teased.

Krist stirred his coffee, smirking, "What are you, like, thirty?"

Rosie laughed, "I've been thirty the last two decades. I got kids your age." Krist knew that but liked to play around with her. It was good fun. "You want a burger or something? Jermaine is working grill so it won't come out raw or burnt like when Carol is there."

"Shit, the last burger I got from her, I thought my asshole was going to fall out."

Rosie crinkled up her face, "As cute as you are, you sure can be gross."

Krist leaned back in his seat, "Not even trying to be gross. That burger damn near killed me," he chuckled. "How much do I owe you, by the way?"

"Don't worry about it. It's on the house."

He handed her two tens, "Call it a tip and give Jermaine half."

****

"Hey, you think you can get me hooked up with some shit?" Brad leaned over and asked Fernando, trying to be as quiet as possible. The coke was fun and all, but it didn't quite scratch the itch he had. The meth high was something else. Sure, they were both stimulants, but coke high just felt weak compared to dope. Brad didn't know how to put it into words, but they were vastly different. He could do coke all night, eat a good breakfast, shower, and be on with his day like nothing. Meth, especially the clear burning shit...goddamn.

Fernando's eyes were glued to the girl on the stage, "Yeah, I got you. How much you need?"

"Half T," Brad replied.

"I ain't got it on me, but we can go grab it," Fernando told him.

Brad hesitated for a moment. He didn't know Fernando for shit and generally messed with a small circle of people he'd met through Holly. Against his better judgment, he agreed.

"We can take my car if that's cool?" Brad suggested.

Fernando followed Brad to the parking lot, letting out a low whistle when he saw the blacked-out Tesla Model S Plaid. "Goddamn, that's your ride?"

"It's sick, right?"

Fernando nodded, impressed. "Hell yeah. I'm more of a low-rider guy, but this shit is dope as fuck. Straight up spaceship car."

"I can get it up to 150, no problem. Did that going down I-5 a couple nights ago? Pretty sure it will go faster, too." Brad bragged. He loved to talk about that car.

"No shit, homie?"

Brad laughed and nodded, motioning for him to get in. "So where we headed?"

"Down 82nd to the Unicorn. You know where it is?"

Brad nodded a smirk on his face. "Oh yeah, I know it well."

He was familiar with the Unicorn Inn as he had met a few sex workers there. Skeezy Place made sense that it would be a spot to score some dope.

****

"Hey, we are going to be headed home soon. Do you want us to swing by and get you? Your mom said she can drive us home," Atira had practically shouted in the phone over the loud music in the limo.

"Yes, I'm ready to get out of here," Krist told her.

It had been a weird fucking night. Krist was more than ready to go home and hop in bed with his lady. Between the lap dance from Adriana, Fernando busting out the coke, and then Brad fucking leaving with Fernando, shit felt like some kind of alternate reality.

On the positive side, Krist had managed to avoid temptation in more than one form, and he was actually pretty proud of himself for that. Of course, he had zero intentions of telling Atira about it. No need to. He hadn't done anything wrong.

He thought about Brad again. His brother had been kind of fun until the coke came out, and obviously, he had left with Fernando to score some dope. It was wild to Krist to be in a position in life that most people would be envious of and fuck it all off for meth. Brad was on the path to making hella bank. He had a nice home and a wife. Just why?

****

Brooke had been trying to enjoy herself as much as possible that night. She'd had fun and gotten some good laughs over the drag show; the other ladies were fun to be around, but she couldn't stop thinking about her husband.

Since they'd parted ways that evening, he had immediately shut his phone off. Texts weren't being delivered, and calls went straight to voicemail. She knew he was at least where he claimed to be because she'd overheard Krist telling Atira that Brad was there during one of their many FaceTime chats.

Brooke had been tempted to ask Atira if she could find out from Krist what Brad was doing, but she didn't want to be a downer. Not to mention, Brad's mother was there, and she was embarrassed by what their marriage had become.

"You're awfully quiet," Atira commented as though it was something unusual. "Everything alright?"

Brooke forced a smile, "Yeah, just tired; it has been a long night, and I'm not used to going out like this anymore." She gave a dry laugh.

"I am right there with you," Linda laughed.

Brooke glanced down at her phone. The texts to Brad were now showing as delivered and read. She called him. The phone rang once and went to voicemail. He'd declined her call. Her stomach sank. She was pretty confident he was with another woman or, at the very minimum, spending way too much money and attention on one of those strippers.

****

Holly let Brad and Fernando into her apartment, surprised to see Brad so late. "I can't stay long," he told her, pulling her into an embrace. "This is Fernando, by the way. He's a friend of my brother's. He has fucking bomb ass shit."Holly could see in Brad's eyes that he was on a good one.

The trio sat down on her red velvet sectional sofa. Brad pulled out his piece and handed it to her, along with a lighter. The two men watched her hit the pipe, eagerly awaiting her reaction. She exhaled a fat cloud, "Oh my god," she exclaimed.

"Shit's fucking bomb, right?" Brad asked her, grinning.

"Oh my gosh, yes!" she giggled.

Fernando clicked the back of his teeth with his tongue, "I don't fuck with bunk ass dope, only the best."

"Yeah, this is super good," Holly gushed.

Brad stood, grabbing her by the hand, "I gotta make this quick," he laughed, leading her to the bedroom.