Guns and Roses

Ten ~ Rya

I lace up my boots, sitting on the end of the bed, and I'm running late. Dinner took forever and the Petrovs are literally only interested in talking business.

I text Liam telling him I'll be there as quickly as I can and then throw my phone into my bag. Just before I leave, I top up my deep red, almost maroon, lipstick that matches my strapless bodysuit and black ripped jeans.

I wrap a black denim jacket around my bare shoulders and pick up my bag ready to leave.

Then the door opens.

Rafa stands there, a lit joint in his hand stinking up my room. I have a strict no drugs in the bedroom rule.

"What do you want?" I ask him, pushing him from my room and into the hall where he can't ruin my air supply in my bedroom.

He frowns at me "Where are you going?"

"Work" I tell him bluntly.

He nods as he remembers something "I'm coming with you" he says "You work in a bar right? I could do with a drink"

I laugh "Not a chance. At work and at school, it's my time. No guards, no deals, no mafia"

He walks ahead of me and stops at the top of the stairs, taking a long drag of his blunt. "Your car or mine?" He asks me.

****

I don't speak to him at all during the walk. Like hell am I leaving my car anywhere near this place. That car is my baby and I'm not letting some crackhead damage her.

Smoke fills my lungs as I take a drag from the joint that I stole from Rafa. If he's ruining my night he can at least share. It's good shit, our shit.

We hear the bar before we see it. A brawl has already broke out at the front door and it's only 7pm. Two girls roll around on the wet ground, tugging at each others hair and attempting to gouge eachother eyes out.

This place has really started to go downhill recently. I mean, it was always a shit hole with fights and drugs in every corner but now it's a complete riot at all times.

I step around the two girls and kick at one of them as they claw at my leg, mistaking it for the other girls. Rafa chuckles at the sight before following me in. I cross the floor quickly, stepping around Johnny as he reaches for my ass, and avoiding the young guy that looks like he's about to puke at any minute.

Liam growls at me as I finally get behind the bar. "I've had to deal with this myself for nearly an hour" he sighs "It's been torture, I don't know what I did before your mum let you work behind the bar"

His bright purple hair is sagging slightly and sticking up at strange angles already. I watch as he knocks back a shot of vodka and then resumes pouring another drink for a customer.

He's been friends with my mum since she was my age, now nearly 40, he looks better than ever.

A crash comes from above our heads and I stare at the ceiling for a second. "Who is that?" I ask.

Liam rolls his eyes "Some junkie that I found outside this morning. Honestly, I thought he was dead"

The night goes on as uneventfully as a Friday night in Angels can. Nobody dies, which is good because I did want to get some sleep tonight. There are four more fights, one of the girls thought I had slept with her boyfriend and threw her drink at me but then realised that it was her best friend that had and cried as she tried to clean me up.

I don't see Rafa until about three in the morning. I stay behind later than usual to help Liam clean up (there was a fight that spilt blood and we didn't want the floor to stain) and then I find him in the alley out back with one of our resident drug dealers.

"Rafa?" I call out as I see a figure crouched by the wall, a cloud of smoke above their head. "Come on, I'm going home"

He doesn't say anything. I don't move, what if he's dead? What do I do then?

"Rya!" He shouts finally and tries to get to his feet. The girl that had obviously sold him something ran off and left me with this mess. "Hey!"

"What have you taken?" I ask him as he tries to stand up "Seriously, what the fuck have you taken?"

He doesn't answer me so I grab his face and look into his eyes. His pupils are dilated and his face is incredibly warm. "Don't touch me" He smacks my hand away "I could take you"

He seems to ready himself for a fight but quickly decides against it. "Coke?" I ask him "How much?"

He starts to walk away from me and I storm after him "You don't know where you're going idiot. Follow me"

"Can we go somewhere else? I want to go out" he says excitedly.

I groan "No, I'm tired and I know you don't feel tired, but you need to get back to the house before you get yourself killed"

I turn and he's gone. "Rafa! Where the fuck are you!"

I trace my steps back a little bit and see him around a corner snorting some more of the white powder. "How much did you even pay for this shit? We have so much back home for fucks sake!"

He laughs "No we don't. Not until tomorrow"

The fucking cartel meeting. I have to pick up the new shipment and that means meeting with Santiago. I cannot stand that prick.

"Come here" I snarl at him. Once he's close enough I grab the front of his shirt and yank him down to my level "I never wanted you here. Stop being such a problem before I shoot you"

****

Don't do drugs kids :)

An early chapter to celebrate Mafia Connections getting 100k reads!