PURE HEROIN

VI.

O6 | Pure Heroin

The awkwardness, it left our mouths desolate like ghost towns is old westerns. Words evacuated like our minds were under attack. Our lips hijacked like flight 93 on September eleventh. We just stood there. Uncomfortably.

Immediately she puts on this facial expression, nine months pregnant ready to give birth to a million assumptions about me.

"Who is this?"

"Lolita, Exodus. Exodus, Lolita". Fredo replied casually not looking up from the plate in the front of him.

Lolita's body language immediately changed, her face no longer hostile but still guarded. Her green eyes assessed Exodus from head to toe before she turned up her nose and went back into the kitchen.

Exodus exhaled running fingers through her hair. Fredo motioned for her to sit down and she complied sitting stiffly on the bar stool hands crossed in her lap.

"So what are you going to tell JuJu? How are you even going to explain this to her?"

Lolita said dropping a plate in the front of Exodus before standing back and leaning against the counter.

Fredo glanced up giving her a bland look, "That I'm helping out a friend."

Lolita opened her mouth to argue but Fredo's phone began ringing and he got up answering it.

The two women both watched as Fredo walked out of the kitchen his voice drifting down the hall.

Lolita cleared her throat loudly, gaining her attention.

"I just wanted to say...Thank you."

Exodus raised an eyebrow in confusion, "For what?"

"For agreeing to help us...The most important thing to Fredo is family. This Aj situation is eating him alive on the inside, even though he may not show it."

Exodus didn't mention the fact that Fredo indirectly said that he would kill her family if she didn't comply or even the fact that he had held a gun to her head and assaulted her with it. Instead she said "Its okay... No need to thank me honestly.."

Lolita smiled slightly "Sorry about earlier.. I thought that you were..-I should have known that you weren't though.. Fredo knows better than to bring his uhh...'females' back here."

Exodus only nodded her head deciding not to add anymore to the awkwardness that already surrounded them.

Silence enveloped them again as Exodus went back to eating and Lolita went back to silently cleaning down the stove.

The Saturday morning passed away quickly, in a blur of overly priced clothing and an obscene amount of money spent. Afterwards Lolita had dropped her off at the club as Fredo commanded.

Exodus rubbed her nose nervously as she walked up to the double glass doors of the club. She marveled at how different it looked in the daylight, when one wasn't being dragged by guys twice your size against your will and being shoved through the back door.

Stepping inside she looked around curiously. Captivated by the fish swimming around in the walls she ran her hands against the glass watching as the fish darted away from it.

"Having fun?"

Exodus jumped slightly turning around, her cheeks flushed. Coming face to face with Fredo standing with his hands in his pockets.

He took in her appearance, noticing that her curls now laid straight hanging down her back. The glow from the water in the walls gave an ethereal look to her silhouette.

Fredo stood up straighter his expression becoming serious. " Follow me."

He led her through a cleverly concealed door and down a flight of stairs before he stopped abruptly at what seemed as a dead end.

"Do you like the club?"

Exodus raised her eyebrow at him. Did he really just stop to ask her this? "Its cool.."

"Its a front."

"A front?...For what?" She was beyond confused at this point.

He stared at her, watching her facial expression carefully. "For what I really do."

Exodus's heart beat sped up but she remained quiet waiting for him to explain further.

"Being in this line of work...as you gain more power, more recognition, you gain just as many enemies. Money is just paper..but it effects people like poetry and they will do anything to bring you down for it. I do business with a lot of people. It is possible that one of them could have had something to do with Aaron's shooting. "

Although Exodus had a pretty good idea of what he did she asked anyway."Wh-what do you do?"

Fredo turned towards the wall and Exodus watched in disbelief as his left hand sank into the wall. She let out a involuntary squeak before covering her mouth.

Fredo glanced back at her, "This part of the wall is an illusion. To hide the door that is really here."

She watched as his hand turned inside the wall before it slowly cracked open."You want to know what I do...take a look."

Exodus hesitantly took a step forward praying that drugs were not behind this door. The thought alone of tightly syrin wrapped cocaine bricks was enough to make her feel like she was overdosing.

"If there are drugs in there I would rather not g-"

Fredo chuckled cutting her off."Don't insult me Exodus. Drug dealing is child's play."

Watching her step carefully Exodus descended into the room with Fredo following right behind her.

"Holy... shit." She reflexively took a step back bumping into Fredo. Her gaze swept the room as she hugged her arms around her body.

Aligning the walls and spread across the room under large glass casings were heavy artillery weapons. Semi automatic shotguns, rifles, launchers, grenades. Weapons of destruction by the masses.

Exodus ran a hand down her face. She would have preferred the drugs.

The car ride back to the pent house was silent. Exodus kept her face forward, looking out the windshield but not really seeing anything. Instead her mind was still trying to digest the little piece of Fredo's of world that wouldn't slide down her throat no matter how hard she tried to swallow.

As soon as he opened the pent house door the sound of the television in the living room greeted him as usual. A loud fit of girlish giggles came from the kitchen followed by the bass of a male. Closing the front door behind them, Fredo moved towards the kitchen with Exodus trailing.

"Juels!" Fredo shouted.

There was some minor bumping noise before they heard a reply. "Yah! We're in the kitchen. "

Entering the kitchen Exodus's eyes immediately landed on Eli. Slouching against the counter with half a sandwich in his hand. Next to him stood a petite girl with a head of curls that could rival her own.

She moved towards the fridge a pitcher of lemonade in her hands. " I went to visit Aj today. The doctor says he's doing bet-"

Fredo moved over to the counter picking up the other half of the sandwich." Is he awake?"

The girl frowned. "No but..-"

"Then he isn't doing better." He cut her off dismissing the conversation as he bit into the sandwich.

"Hey Exodus." Eli said staring at her as she stood by the arch way.

"Eli.." She responded not meeting his eyes, still embarrassed about last night.

Juels's head whipped around in her direction. Exodus saw as her eyes enlarged at the site of her. Her mouth hanging open in disbelief. Everything seemed to slow down as Exodus watched her fingers loosen from the handle of the pitcher.

Frozen like a statue in time Juels remained in that same position, fingers curled around air as the pitcher dropped to the floor.

Two sliced lemon circles on a water train to nowhere glided passed Exodus's heels.