Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 54059 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 270(@200wpm)___ 216(@250wpm)___ 180(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54059 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 270(@200wpm)___ 216(@250wpm)___ 180(@300wpm)
“Todd can get fucked.” Bobby drops mozzarella sticks into the fryer. My favorite.
“You know you’re my favorite here.”
“Girl,” he chuckles. “Who else is gonna beat me out? There isn’t much competition around here.”
“Hey, don’t forget about Lucifur. She’s in the running too.” That cat has been in the back alley since I started working here.
“I hate to tell you this, but Lucifur is a boy and just fat.”
“Oh.” That’s only mildly disappointing. Kittens are adorable, but Lucifur is feral and won’t let anyone near her—wait, him. I take scraps out there and can confirm that the diner food can make you on the thicker side.
“Here you go.” Bobby puts the plateful of mozzarella sticks in the window with a giant side of ranch instead of marinara.
“Thank you.” I take it and make myself a Coke, grabbing my economics book and flipping it open.
If we’re slow, I might as well try and get some schoolwork done. I flip through the pages, jotting down a few notes before checking on the two older men who are lingering and sipping coffee.
One of them has taken off their jacket, and I can see his tattoo. They remind me of the men from today, but their tattoos are different. I know there are different gangs and such, but I try to stay clear of all of that. Try being the key word. My mom is slowly dragging me toward it.
"What do you know about the Riders?" I ask Bobby.
"That you need to stay away from them." He gives me a stern look.
"I know that." I roll my eyes. "But what of them? Are they terrible?" They can't be, right? The giant man from earlier crosses my mind. I can’t understand why he let me go, telling me not to worry about the balance I still owed. I hadn’t caught his name. If I never see him again, that would be a good thing. Right? It doesn’t sound or feel right, which I’m grappling with in my mind.
"There’s nothing in this world that doesn't have some kind of terrible in it." I suppose that's true. My terrible at this moment is that I'm stealing mozzarella sticks and I have become an enabler. "But they have their rules. As long as you don't fuck with them and stay clear, you're fine. They don't go out searching for trouble."
I nod in understanding. It was a stupid question. They sell drugs; that says it all. Doesn't it? I don't know. I remember watching a documentary once where a woman down in Mexico owned a farm where she grew coca plants. When the documentary filmmakers asked her why she did that, knowing she played a role in other people's deaths and kids becoming addicts when she had kids herself, I'll never forget what she told them.
That she could plant coca and feed her family, or she could plant soybeans, and they would likely starve. That there wasn’t really a choice. She was going to pick feeding her family every single time. I get that. We have to do what we need to in order to survive or help the people that depend on us.
The bell to the front door rings, alerting me to someone's arrival. I grab my notepad to go and take the order. “Andy—”
“Yeah?” I click my pen, scribbling on the notepad to make sure it’s still working.
“Why did you ask me about the Riders?”
“No reason.” I shrug it off, not wanting to get into it. Bobby would be pissed if he found out I’d bought drugs for my mom. It’s not as though they’re difficult to find in our apartment building.
“Don’t lie to me.”
“How do you know I’m lying?” His eyes flick toward the door. I turn to see who entered the diner. My stomach drops and flutters. I didn’t know it could do both at once.
He’s here. The dark and dangerous guy from this afternoon.
I guess I am seeing him again after all.
Chapter Five
NIKI
Heather P was a font of information, which makes sense because that’s her role. She’s not meant to keep secrets but ferret them out and then spill them to anyone willing to pay. In my case, since I’m a Rider, she’s obligated to tell me anything I ask without payment.
The intel she had about Andy Nunn was pretty extensive. Seventeen years old, and her mom works at a topless club along the river. Andy, full name Andrea Suzanne Nunn, works at a diner. Between her mom’s tips and Andy’s tips, the two barely have enough to afford an apartment in Sunshine Highrise, an ugly set of seven-story concrete low income housing. The place is a shithole and home to every vice in the world from prostitution to drug deals. As far as Heather P knew, Andy was clean. She gets good grades and is hoping to get a scholarship to attend the local college next year. Andy’s mom, on the other hand, is rumored to have started hooking up with some dude named Bear, who is a pretty heavy drug user. Bear runs a bait and tackle shop along the river, and that’s how the two probably met up.