The Kingpin

•02•

Amelia wakes up on the hardwood floor and groans before pulling her knees up to her chest. Her eyes open slowly and she can only make out blurry figures at first but her vision clears after a moment.

She begins to shiver and tries to stand up, bracing herself on the shitty coffee table. Her hand brushes a glass and knocks it to the floor. Another groan escapes her as the sound rattles her insides.

"Jesus Christ." Amelia mumbles.

Now standing, she surveys the barren apartment. That guy from last night wasn't wrong. She had no clue how she ended up on the floor but the coke she snorted before it went down definitely did its job.

There was a line still left on the table and she stared at it for a while. She decided she would save it as a gift for later.

She stumbles to the shower and leaves a trail of clothes behind as she closes the door behind her. It only takes a moment for the heat to begin filling the bathroom with steam and so she gets in and sits on the tile, letting the water fall over her body.

Amelia knew that she looked and smelled a mess but she couldn't force herself to get up and actually bathe. So, her hair stuck to her head and she managed to convince herself that the water by itself was enough.

She pulled on a hoodie and jeans, added some ratty Converse, and headed out to get coffee.

A few minutes later, she walked into the coffee shop closest to her apartment and ordered her usual. It was the cheapest on their menu and the barista flirted with her often so sometimes he paid.

Today was one of those days as he gave her the warm cup with a smile.

"Stay awhile. Nobody will make you leave." He says kindly and she nods.

Amelia makes her way over to a small table in the corner and drinks her coffee while shivering under a thin jacket. She was always cold.

The bell overhead the door rings and brings her out of her daze. A man walks in that she's never seen frequent this place before. He speaks so lowly to the barista that Amelia couldn't make out what he was saying.

The barista seemed to be made nervous by the man and quickly got him his order. Before she knew it, the man was making his way over to her table and sitting down in front of her.

He says absolutely nothing but takes something out of his pocket and slides it across the table to her, all while glaring at the barista. Amelia hadn't noticed until now, but everyone else in the shop had suddenly averted their gaze and was staring directly at their own tabletops.

She hesitantly takes the folded up piece of paper and opens it. In scrawled writing it reads, "Drug Alley. Eight tonight."

Amelia knows that this isn't the same man from the other times but assumes they have to be connected somehow.

She nods and the man gets up and leaves the shop shortly after. A sort of tension seems to leave with him and the shop slowly goes back to the bustle that it was at before his entrance.

The barista shoots a concerned glance over at Amelia and she shrugs. She wasn't in the habit of making her personal life known but the man that had just left seemed to not care about any of it.

••••

Ten minutes before either, Amelia found herself standing near the street lamp once more on Drug Alley. She wasn't sure what she had gotten herself involved in but she knew it probably wasn't the best of things. Too late now.

A man came walking down the street toward her and with a bit of a closer look, she recognized the man from the coffee shop.

He cleared his throat before speaking. "You ain't a cop or somethin', right?"

"Right." She answered simply.

"So who the hell are you? We can't have any snitches runnin' 'round here."

"I'm not a snitch. I just needed a new dealer."

"Funny. And you just happened to find us?"

"Yeah, actually. But 'us' seems a hell of a lot like two people."

Amelia knew how to talk to these people and maybe she was pushing it right now, but she needed to make herself clear.

"Watch it, babe. We just wanna make sure we ain't got any sketchy clients."

"I'm not sketchy."

"Aight, fine. But tame that pretty mouth of yours."

Amelia tenses up a bit now but rolls her eyes. "We done?" She asks and the man nods.

She walks away and back to her apartment before flopping down onto the couch and shivering underneath the blanket. Amelia begins to itch in her sleep but is soon jolted awake in cold sweats. This is an almost nightly thing that she thought she could get used to but has since accepted that she won't.

Before she knows it, she's shoving her Converse back on and walking out to Drug Alley again. This time, she's desperate.

For the past two days, she hasn't had any. She thought doing coke would hype her up a bit so she could focus on something else but she was wrong and tired of being cold.

Amelia waited for someone to walk by for two hours before he did. The man who gave her the coke made his way down the alley and his chuckle was so cynical it made her spine hurt a little.

"What's it this time?" He asks once he gets a bit closer.

"*Smack."

"How about **snowball?"

"Straight."

"Quarter?"

"That'll do."

The man nods and reaches in his pocket before pulling it out to hand to you.

"$80."

Amelia digs around for a bit before finding the cash and pressing it into his hand. She takes the other bag and begins to turn.

"The snowball would've really put you over the edge you're looking to jump."

"Maybe next time." She responds.

He laughs again before walking away, leaving Amelia out in the street and too impatient to wait.

She sits on the concrete with her wall against the brick and messily cuts the heroin into lines on her thigh. She had grabbed a straw from the dumpster and used it to snort the two lines she made, saving the rest for later.

Amelia sat in the dark for a while and closed her eyes long enough to think back. She remembers holding her and she's happy. After a while, she goes pull herself up but suddenly feels a warmth rush her body. Her eyelids feel heavy and her stomach twists into knots.

Her throat begins to burn as bile rises quickly, spilling from her lips as she coughs and sputters, trying to regain control. Her vision gets spotty and for a second, she sees her. Amelia sees the figure standing there, her small hand outstretched.

And then she passes out.

                        
                             ————————

*Smack- heroin
**Snowball- a combination of both heroin and cocaine