Jenalyn: Disconnected (#5) [Complete]

Chapter 64: Evelyn

Sat. 2/14/09 • 6:26 P.M. PST

I've been trying to leave my phone in my room since Dane confirmed my suspicions of it being tapped a few weeks ago, but also need to make sure he doesn't think I'm trying to hide anything from him. If I only leave it up here for a little while at a time I can write it off as an accident in case he has any complaints about it.

Thankfully, he didn't today, I think to myself as I lock the screen on it and head down Jena's long hallway. I have way too much on my mind, and the desire to have way too little.

"How do you know?... Look, I have to get down to dinner! If I take too long-" I hear coming down the hall in a hushed male voice.

It has to be Russell; Jena's family refuses to staff any males in her house to 'avoid conflict.'

"Can I just do it later after-" I hear him continue after a moment, only for him to freeze in his tracks the moment he notices me coming down the hall. He let's out a quick sigh before continuing into the phone. "I have to go, I'll talk to you later."

He hangs his phone up without another word, and turns to face me expectantly. Am I supposed to say hello? The only thing I can think about is the baggie that fell from his pocket earlier, and the potential outcome of having seen it if I play my cards right.

I don't think Jena knows this guy is messing with drugs, especially while coming over here to meet her daughter for the first time.

"Why are you carrying drugs around?" I ask before my mind has a chance to second guess it. "Jena would probably drop you like a hot potato if she knew you had that shit around her daughter, you know. If she knew you had it at all; She's been a real square lately."

I expect him to react in a way that shows shock in some form, but Russ remains rather nonchalant given the deliverance of my question. He must have seen me eyeballing the baggie earlier. I'm sure he knew I'd bring it up, if that's the case.

"It's a side hustle," he says matter of factly with a shrug of his shoulders. Only after he responds does a a faint look of concern cross over his face. "Well, it was. I didn't know I had anything on me, but... you're right. I've been trying to get out of it!"

I feel my body quickly grow excited at his words. He's a dealer? Could this be any more perfect?!

"What do you have?" I suddenly ask, my one track mind jumping right to the point. The feeling you get knowing you'll be able to dose soon after a drought is better than an orgasm. I feel myself physically perk up anticipating his response. I want any and everything, so there's no wrong answer! "On you, and in stock? What do you have?"

Russell let's out a sigh, adverting his gaze from me as shame finally finds his face. He looks as if he questions whether or not he should respond, and I quickly grow impatient.

"I can just have Jena ask you if you're more comfortable talking to her?" I say after a few moments, my tone probably reflecting my annoyance.

"Look, let me explain before you go ruining shit for me, alright?" he says, his thick eyebrows furrowed at me. "I've been trying to figure out a way to tell her, okay? I just don't want to ruin everything! I didn't know we'd get so serious, or it'd have been done already! I just have a few more things I have to get rid of, and I'm-"

I inturrupt him, having heard enough. "No no... How about we make a deal?" I mutter, connecting enough lines in my head to come up with a plan. "Keep your side hustle! That's money, right? I can help you keep your little secret from Jena; I won't say a damned thing about it! Just... keep me stocked."

Russ' face scrunches up in a mix of confusion and surprise. "What?" he spits, his tone matching the look on his face. He shakes his head as if he heard me wrong before letting out a quick chuckle. "I can't do that shit, are you serious? Out of your mind? I actually really like Hayden; There is no way you think I'm doing that!"

He shakes his head again, this time laughing as if the whole thing were a joke. It easily irks something inside of me, but I am quick to brush it off knowing I have the upper hand here.

"Fine," I shrug my shoulders with a smirk. Russell's smile fades, assumingly knowing where I will be taking this next. I made my way the rest if the way down the hallway to brush past him before I continue. "Well, I hope you like Hayden enough to stick around for the shit storm she'll put you through after I tell her what you've been up to behind her back," I sneer with confidence. "I'm sure it was fun while it lasted."

Russell's jaw drops as I pass him, but I don't get too far before he reaches out to grasp my wrist. I knew he was going to fold; Something tells me he's had no intention on telling Jena what he's been up to.

"Fine," he sighs frustratedly as he swings me back around to face him. He rips the baggy from his pocket and shoves it discreetly into my hands. "I'll drop off when I can, but you better not say a fucking word to Hayden... I'll turn you in too, and you can stop mooching off the only successful thing you've ever had."

He let's go of my wrist to start heading down the stairs, but turns back around to me the moment he hears me call back to him. "You don't know my brother," I sneer with a chuckle. "He'd run laps around and over you, Mr. Bad Boy. I'm just here as a favor to-"

A shrill voice inturrupts me, immediately causing my stomach to plummet. Russell and I both turn around to see Jena standing at the bottom of the stairs with her arms crossed over her chest, and her eyes aflame with both anger and confusion.

"What the hell are you saying, Ev?" she yells up to where I stand on the interior balcony above her long stairs. Her eyes burn into me, but seem to ignore Russell completely.

She must not have heard or seen our little transaction of a few moments ago. That's good; That's really good! But I still don't quite know how to explain what she did hear, being me talking to Russell about my brother and saying I'm only here as a favor...

Great.

"I- I... You know what? I just don't like him, okay?" I suddenly say, my mind spitting anything out on a whim. I have to play this off so it isn't as suspicious as it should be to her. I need this deal to work out! I rack my mind before continuing, channeling the pain in the ass I have been these past few weeks to cover for my exploding on Russell. "I'm tired of being on the back burner, Jena! You brought me out to California and you keep me locked up in a house day after day so you can go around galavanting with this dude! Like, what? If you weren't fucking with him, you'd have probably told your new mom about me by now, but no! It's all about Russell! At this point... I'm just here as a favor to you! I'm dying of boredom!"

Both of them look surprised. I'm sure Russell is still in shock about almost having been caught handing me drugs, but Jena is shocked in a way that radiates disgust. That's how I know I'm safe; It's all too familiar to the look I have been getting all week when I throw my "hissy fits," as she calls them.

"When did I sign up to be your freaking mother, dude?" she scoffs, taken back and embarrassed by the looks of it. She crosses her arms tighter over her chest and shifts her weight to the opposite leg. "Don't ever disrespect me or my company in my house like that again, Evelyn. Act your fucking age, and be appreciative you're here and not withering away in Pennsylvania."

I don't even bother responding to her. I know I obviously provoked that, but I don't really care for anything she has to say. I still hold a small baggy clenched in my hand, and the only thing I care about it rushing off to my room to tear into it.

I did what I had to do.

"C'mon Russell, don't mind the child there," Jena says after a few moments of tense silence between us all. She motions for Russell to meet her at the bottom of the steps, shooting me one last glare before finally turning up to face him. "Dinner is done. If Evelyn wants to act like a child, she can get treated like one and go to her room."

Jackpot.