Spawn Of Spadille

11

Aasim and I pull up our black masks so that we blend into the night as we walk towards the convenience store near the petrol station. Aasim grabs my shoulders to put me in front of him protectively, bruising my pride. Jiaying waits in the car whilst surveying the area. As we enter the convenience store, I immediately feel a sense of eeriness. The lights on but are dimmed, the area is abandoned but I noticed the minor bins haven't been emptied so there must still be staff-or people have been scared away suddenly. The outline of a man stands at the counter in the dim light so we can barely see his face properly. He leans forward as if intrigued by us through the bad lighting. I feel like I see a devious smirk curling up on his face. Aasim takes the lead.

"Hi brother, we'd like to buy some... cigs."

"Can I see some ID?" A deep voice with an accent asks.

"Vamos hombre, solo queremos un paquete." Aaism replies.

"Muésrame la maldita identificación entonces." I don't know what the counter man said, but the tone tells me he can snap at any moment.

"Dude por favor, it's late and I walked here. I didn't bring any with me."

"Well it ain't my problem hombrecito. You the one that got a problem." The hidden man starts to tap his fingers on the counter impatiently, getting more aggravated by the second. I brush my hand firmly enough that Aasim would feel it and hurry this up but swiftly enough that it goes unnoticed by the man.

"So how do we solve this problem?" Aasim enquires.

"Well," the man folds his arms leaning more forward towards us. "A little exchange perhaps. One pack for one night." He licks his lips and glances my direction. Despite the mask and black hoodie, my slighter physique and eyelashes with coated mascara still give me away as a girl. I cringe internally when I immediately understand his meaning and inwardly shudder, repulsed by the thought. I don't run, knowing that Aasim is beside me and would never agree to this deal.

Aasim lets out a fake laugh as if he can't even fathom the thought of someone wanting me.

"Her? Hermano, cuando la lleves, te darás cuenta de que no hay nada que ver. Trust me."

The man chuckles darkly in response and though I'm disappointed to think it, I start to have a little doubt in Aasim. But I stay because I know that ultimately, we are a team and he knows what he's doing.

"I'll be the judge of th-" the man turns to check me out again and Aaism takes the opportunity when the man is distracted to grab a hold of the man's head and slam it on the counter, multitasking as he uses it as a surface to jump across the counter to end up behind him. He holds the man's head and arms down skilfully as I run behind the counter from the side tand start tugging open the open drawers, scavenging for the cigarettes. Aaism and I have not become drug addicts nor do we smoke-far from it- we're just completing our job. Aaism, to get quick money for savings for University as well as raising Leyna. But also for dropping envelopes of cash at whatever new living arrangement his mum has that Zeth manages to track down through CCTV, photographs and incredibly thorough IT skills. Aasim doesn't think I know, but I do. He can't help but still love and take care of his mum, even if it's in secret. He's right for keeping it on the downlow since this would be seen as a weakness in the gang if anyone else was to find out- that is if nobody else already knows.

And me? Well... as long as we don't take a life, I'm fine with living mine like this. It feels almost natural somehow, like it's a part of my DNA. Unlike the others, I'm not just doing this for the money. I need this to learn about myself and why I feel like after eighteen years, I finally feel like I belong somewhere, even in this bizarre situation.

The cigarettes we're looking for aren't the usual type at all. They're filled with a newly manufactured addictive substance none of us know about except the one who assigned this job to us and our task is to retrieve it from those who bought it from our organisation in the first place. We're allowed to be as rough and violent as we want since they are profiting off the substance our organisation made rather than using them as they were supposed to, making our organisation lose the income that belonged to them.