Reece's Haven

30

"Let me be your only lover..."
– Nautica

❀❀❀

~ D O R O T H Y ~

January 1998

Jenny and I spot Reece and follow him for about forty minutes. We make sure to keep a good distance from him. Fortunately, he only walks. If he had caught a bus or gone by car, we would have lost him. It does not escape my notice that Reece's scarf covers half of his face. Whether it is to keep him warm or mask his identity, I am not too sure. But the latter appears more likely.

When Reece turns left, entering a dark and damp alleyway, just like he said he would in the conversation from a few days ago, we stop and hide behind a wall, silently watching him trying to open the door. But the door does not budge. Reece then bangs his fist against the corroding metal.

"Open the door, man!" he yells.

About two minutes of constant banging and yelling later, the door swings open, and a large, dark-skinned man appears.

"Reece! My man!" the man greets, his arms wide open.

"I told you to leave the door to the alleyway open," Reece growls, evading the man's attempt at giving him a hug.

"My bad," the man says, though he does not look as if he is feeling guilty about it. "I'll leave it unlocked so that you can leave whenever you want. Did you bring the goods?"

"Yeah. Your weekly dose is all in this bag," Reece grumbles, shoving the black bag to the man's chest.

The man grabs onto the bag hastily, before Reece enters the building. I guess the man is used to Reece's abrupt and impolite behaviour as he seems to show no hints of disapproval. The door then slams shut. Jenny and I slowly look at each other with wide eyes and jaws dropped, utterly baffled and shocked.

"Well, what do you know. Reece is actually a drug dealer," Jenny says after a full minute of silence.

"...I refuse to believe it," I whisper.

"Is there such thing as a jail wedding? I'd like to give Luna a heads-up."

I rub my temples in frustration.

"This is terrible," I say. "I have to go in and stop him."

When I step into the alleyway, Jenny grabs onto my arm.

"Hold on. Have you lost your mind, woman?! That place is dodgy!"

"Reece is ruining his life like this!"

"So what? He isn't some kid. He chose this path. He has to deal with the consequences."

"I can't just stand here and do nothing!" I say, making her frown.

"...Why are you like this? Do you care about Reece or something, Dorothy?"

I still.

Care? I care about Reece Walker?

Nonsense.

"I don't care about him," I state.

Yet...

Why do I find it difficult to go back home without doing anything about it? Why does it bother me that Reece is doing something wrong?

"Then drop it. We can get in trouble if we go in. Besides, you have a date in less than two hours!"

At the mention of the date, I groan internally. I had forgotten about it during the entire time of following Reece here.

"Let's go," Jenny says, tugging at my arm.