A Test of Loyalty

Part 14: Sam, Ash and Faraj

Samantha

I looked at my watch again. What was taking so long? Were they growing the pot from seed? I started to feel certain that they had snuck out the back way, leaving me here.

I didn't even know where we were. We'd followed the bike path for awhile, and then gone through a couple of alleys. I hated to admit it, I had zero idea how to get home. I didn't even know if there was a working pay phone in this neighbourhood. Looking around, I had to admit it. I had thought nothing could be worse than the dump I lived in, but I was wrong. This place was worse. Way worse.

Aside from the pee smell that the cracked linoleum gave off, and the broken stair rail and the squishy carpet on the stairs, all the lights were broken. Pretty amazing considering that someone had installed little wire cages around all the light bulbs. I wondered how they got broken. Did someone poke every one with a stick? Wouldn't he have gotten glass in his eyes?

And why would anyone go to that much trouble to make the dark hallway even darker? My imagination came up with a few reasons. All of a sudden I didn't want to know anymore.

A door banged open behind me, making me jump and squeal with fright. But it was only Ash. Suddenly I felt very stupid. Of course she hadn't left me here to get raped and murdered, or eaten by rats. I was such a wuss.

Ashleigh

To apologize for being so paranoid, Carrie gave me a couple of hits off her pipe. She'd mixed something in with the hash; I was already fuzzy around the edges. My head felt like it was trailing behind my body by several feet, making it hard to walk.

White girl looked even whiter than usual, her pale face glowing in the darkened hallway. Her dark blue jeans seemed to fade in and out of existence, blending into the strange blue of the walls, lit only by the streaks of dirty sunlight fighting their way through the cracked windows.

Wow, I should be writing this down; I'd ace the poetry contest at school. It would be published in the yearbook for everyone to see. Maybe I could send it to my dad. I fumbled in my pockets for a pen, but found the bag of pot instead.

"Kwe, hi, kemosabe, how you doing?" I was feeling better, good even. I couldn't wait to find a place to toke up, mellow out, start flying....

I missed what white girl had said. Shit, now I'd have to figure out how to talk again.

"Whazzup?" That was close enough.

"What's up? What do you mean what's up? Did you get it? What took so long? Did you smoke it already?" She leaned over and stared closely at my eyes, going out of focus and making me dizzy. I held up my hands to slow down the flood of questions.

My hands were glowing, casting multiple shadows as they moved. It was so beautiful. White girl grabbed my hand and I realized she'd been talking again. White people sure do talk a lot.

Faraj

"We're alone, I checked."

"Did you check under the stalls?"

There was a shuffling noise. I imagined them staring at my stall as if they could sense me here. My throat got dry, I had to cough. My nose itched. My head was feeling light, and I realized that I'd stopped breathing again.

I thought about those men in London, barely older than me. Would they have been squatting here in fear, trapped in a toilet? No, they'd have been brave. They would've stayed hidden to protect Fadi's package, but they'd have courage in their hearts, not terror. Slowly, my racing heart slowed, its pounding in my ears subsided and I could hear the men more clearly.

Why, they weren't cops. They weren't looking for me; they were doing some sort of drug deal. I almost laughed out loud in relief.

"Do you have the shit?" That was the sniffing one; though he sounded more like he had a cold now.

"Course I do, you got the money?"

"Give it to me."

"Gimme my money first. A thousand bucks, all of it."

"A thousand! I don't owe you shit. Just the forty for this."

"You fucking do! You never paid for that party, man. Remember, what's her name's birthday. You said you'd sell the stuff at the party and pay me after."

"I paid you for that already."

"You paid me twenty bucks, man. That was a thousand worth of shit."

I leaned back as quietly as I could. It looked like they were going to be here awhile.

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