Say My Name

Chapter Fifteen

There were three guys dressed in Serpent jackets who were standing on the left side of the shed. Betty only recognized Jughead and Sweet Pea. The other two must've belonged to the broad-shouldered man, who was standing next to Jughead, and Betty automatically matched him with the voice who was referred to as Rafael. The three bricks of what was presumably heroin stacked on the white table in front of them caught her attention next. Rafael leaned on the plastic table containing other drug paraphernalia, as well, and gazed suspiciously at the lass wearing faded red-lipstick and wavy blonde hair.

"Who is this girl?" Rafael turned to Jughead, who had his eyes locked on the ground, refraining from looking into anyone else's. "Is she one of yours?"

Jughead shook his head, looking slightly frustrated. "No," he replied.

"What are you doing here, sweetheart?" Rafael questioned the girl. "Come to chat?"

Betty swallowed harshly, feeling her right bicep start to numb from the guy's firm fingers bruising it. "Uh, no... I was- I was just, um..." She struggled to talk as her jaw shook nervously. "I-I got a little lost. I was trying to find the bathroom."

Rafael turned to his men behind him, giving them an amused smile, which resulted in them letting out a few chortles. "Well, it's not out here," he said to her.

"Yeah, I realize that now," she said softly under her breath, feeling a bit foolish for giving him that answer.

"So, what are you, a nark, or something? How'd you even get in?" He asked while cocking his left brow, and Betty was so sure her insides were going to liquify from fear if he kept asking her more questions.

"I... I'm just here for the party. Not a nark, I swear."

He gave her a skeptical scan up and down her body as if he was searching for answers that were stitched on her black cotton dress. "Who let you in?"

"The guy out front di-d-" -she swallowed. "My friend and I came together, and she knows someone at the party, so the guy just let us in."

His eyes broadened, looking like steam was about to escape them. "Really? Well, I'll be having a nice little chat with him." He walked to the side of the table, resting his left hand against it. "I've never seen you before, and as the party host, I think it's my job to know all of my guests."

She felt her face flush with embarrassment. "Oh, I'm sorry. I- us- we... we didn't know."

"That's quite all right," he replied, lightening his face up and turned his attention to the drugs on the table. "It was a miscommunication," he added while picking a brick up and started tracing his finger across the side of it. "It was my fault; I should've hired someone to do their job right."

Betty exhaled with relief before glancing over at Jughead, who wasn't looking at her but had a sharpened gaze on Rafael's movements.

"I do apologize for what I have to do next, though," he said as he set the brick of heroin back down.

Jughead's hawkish eyes followed the man's hands as they reached inside his back pocket, then angrily flared his nostrils and flexed his jaw when he saw the black object being pulled out of his pants.

She followed his gaze and narrowed her fearful eyes at what appeared to be a gun in his hand and immediately felt her heart drop to her stomach. She heard the pounding of the organ in her chest, beating rapidly against her ribcage as he inserted the magazine into the gun.

"Wh-" She swallowed her breath. "-what do you mean?"

"Well, you were snooping around in places you shouldn't have been snooping," he said as he set the gun on the table and stuck his finger inside the trigger guard and spun the weapon around his finger.