Trust No Bitch: Part 1

Alice Jenkins

Alice Jenkins often panicked. It had almost become part of her personality, being perpetually on edge. But tonight was different. She was panicking, panicking. She had amphetamines in her bag and needed someone to sell them to. In all truthfulness, it was her motive for attending the party in the first place: she had known that Cleo's boyfriend, Luca Stone , would be there, as would Rudy Williams, both of whom did a bit of dealing on the side of their business degree. Alice had always supposed that although their revenue might be acquired through less than honourable means, at least they were putting their knowledge to use. Not good use, but use, all the same. She had left her friends Sasha and Tim and was now searching the party for Luca or Rudy, whoever she could find first. For the first time in a long time, Alice was completely drug-free, as her persisting headache and shakes from withdrawal continued to remind her. She was holidaying in the family villa in Crete the following week, flying out from Heathrow to meet her family and couldn't risk raising suspicion in her mother's presence. She had threatened to cart Alice off to rehab once before if she ever found that she was taking drugs, as she had done with Alice's older sister, Vanessa, during her brief phase as a "junkie socialite" (as her mother, Caroline Jenkins liked to refer to it), and Alice knew Caroline wouldn't hesitate to follow through on her warning. The problem was that Alice hadn't known she was definitely going until a couple of weeks before, had used up her allowance buying extra speed for their finals from Luca, and now needed to sell it so that she could buy herself a plane ticket. Her desperation increasing, her eyes raked over the cove, trying to pick out Luca's blonde hair or Rudy's lurid bucket hat. It looked ridiculous; despite his best efforts, Rudy was a privileged white boy not LL Cool J circa 1989. These days, you sell a blunt or two, and you've suddenly been raised in Compton. Rudy Williams was a prime example. To top it all off, he had a criminal record for indecent exposure. In his own words, he had "just been down the park, full of ratty little shits when-" realising he needed to relieve himself, he had decided that instead of finding the nearest public toilet, it would be more convenient for him to whip his "member" out, and empty his bladder against the kiddie slide. Some unfortunate little boy had stumbled upon Luca after attempting to go down the thing, told his mum, and so the "bloody wench called the police of course, silly bitch." This was a memory Rudy recalled fondly, seemingly eager to reveal all his perverted exploits. To put it bluntly, he was everything Alice hated in the world (rap music, misogyny and bad taste in clothing) personified. She rolled her eyes upon glimpsing him on the outskirts, mid-business deal, and studied him from the side, ducking under an arched rock on her way over. The dark hair, greasy with gel, the stiff jaw, the thin mouth, and the pointed nose, all inched closer together as he sniggered. Probably at his own joke, Alice thought to herself, watching Rudy make one last fatuous comment before exchanging a hasty handshake with the guy he was talking to and departing.

"Rudy," Alice called as he passed her, gesturing for him to join her in the shadows. He was counting the cash in his hand and started as she summoned him. He took his time looking Alice up and down, finishing with a brazen nod of approval. "Are you done?" She asked curtly, staring him in the face.

"Looking good, Jenkins." He murmured in response, leering at her. Alice pulled the drugs out of her bag and held them up.

"That's not what I asked. I said are you done? Because I need to speak to you about this." 

"What is it?" He asked, reaching out for them, his eyes widening in curiosity.

"Speed." She said, dropping the powder back into her bag. "Will you buy it from me? I've got more."

"Listen, Jenkins," He said lazily. "You'd be selling me short if I bought that off you. Wrong place for it, mate. Wrong time as well. Go to one of the libraries or something. There'll be people there that might still want it but your peak time for selling that shit has been and gone. Exam season's over, everyone's going home tomorrow."