First Customer

Chapter 11

Trent stepped on to the street and involuntarily squinted his eyes shut in the forgotten glare of the sun. He yanked his phone from his pocket and checked what time it was. It wasn't healthy to be awake at ten o'clock on the morning, but he would confuse a lot of people by being up and about, and he was all about confusing people.

Of course, no one that saw him would think he was in his right mind even after a shower and a shave. The dark circles beneath his eyes and a two-day diet of alcohol and weed gave him a more gaunt and haunted cast than normal, and he normally looked pretty gaunt. He had things to do, though, so he didn't have a problem wandering the streets like a ghoul.

Bobby was on the list of things to do, and Bailey's was the best place to find him. He wondered where his friend had stayed the past two days. No one but Trent let him just crash on their couch, everyone wanted something to let him sleep there.

Trent walked in to Bailey's and stopped in surprise. Both Dave and Bobby were there, barely awake and arguing across the counter, but there. Dave still wore the clothes Trent had given him, and Bobby's hair stuck out wildly. They cut their argument short when Trent walked in.

“It's alive!” Dave yelled theatrically. Bobby jerked his head toward the bum as if the man had lost his mind, but Dave just stared at Trent.

“What?” Trent asked warily.

“'What', what?” Dave responded quickly. “We thought you were dead, and I've been tryin' to convince this dingleberry that we needed to check on ya.” He hiked a thumb in Bobby's direction. “This guy wanted to listen to that bossy girl, though.”

Bobby shook his head and looked at Trent. “Erin came in a few days ago and said not to bother you. She looked like she'd been cryin'. I figured y'all broke up again...” Trent's friend shook some of his unruly hair out of his eyes.

“Yeah, we're on the rocks. If not sunk and done. But it doesn't matter at the moment.” He paused for effect, “I ain't got a source of income. Obviously. So, I'm gonna need some way to make money, and I ain't about to play games with guys like Charlie. I'm gonna get in touch with Crazy Pete and ask him to take me on.”

“What's that mean?” Dave asked.

“It means, Erin's not gonna be back.” Bobby never took his eyes off his friend as he answered slowly.

Trent nodded, “It means Erin won't hassle me about what I'm doin'.” He studied Bobby's blank stare, unsure what to make of it. “You in?”

Dave nodded, but Trent wasn't looking for the big guy's support, even if it would most likely help. He was wondering whether or not Bobby was going to go along.

“You know I am.” Bobby didn't take long to decide.

All three sat in silence for a few minutes. Bobby couldn't decide if he should look forward to the prospect of some excitement or be worried. Dave wasn't quite sure what he had just gotten himself into. And Trent, who knew he could get out before trouble found him.

Finally, Trent looked up from the counter, “I'm throwin' a party tonight, so get some s**t to bring over. I drank everything we had.” He paused and remembered what he had been wondering about on the walk over. “Where the hell'd you two sleep, anyway?”

“The room back here.” Dave chuckled.

Bobby glared at the derelict scathingly. “Bailey ain't been by in a week, though, so I'm expectin' him. We were arguin' about where we were gonna go when you walked in.”

“Well, y'all have been welcome at my place for the past few days. You shouldn't have let Erin scare ya.” Trent laughed and grabbed a bag of chips from one of the racks and tore it open.

“Told ya so,” Dave stuck his tongue out at Bobby.

The much younger man behind the counter looked shocked at the juvenile attack. He was so tongue-tied he couldn't consider a comeback. Trent started to say something else, but cut himself off when a car pulled in the parking lot. He had no idea what kind of car it was, but he recognized it.

“Bailey's here.”

Bobby shoved a finger over the counter at Dave and growled, “Not a word about us sleepin' here.” Dave gave him such a grin that Bobby cursed.

Bailey struggled to get himself out of the tiny car and made his way into the store. He was one of the most hideous human beings Trent had ever had the chance to meet. The man's stomach stuck out like a blubbery battering ram. At less than five and a half feet tall he wasn't going to get anyone's attention without hitting them with it. He had only a sparse amount of black, greasy hair sticking out from behind his ears, while the top of his head looked like a dead fish's stomach.

He only had as many friends as he could find dancing across his TV screen, and Trent thought the TV might break just to avoid him. Years before, Bailey had seized on Trent and his friends as his only possible source of social interaction.

Trent had been upset with Bobby for two years over introducing them, but in return for allowing the fat man to stick around, he had told the aging businessman to supply them with as much alcohol as they could drink. Trent and his house guests enjoyed the alcohol, but none would have wished Bailey on their worst enemies. Society was all about compromise, though, so everyone dealt with him.

“Hey guys,” Bailey's voice seemed to scratch at the walls as he waddled into his store. “Trent, it's been awhile, I was wondering what you've been up to.”

“What's up, Bailey?” Trent worked to keep his voice cordial.

“You know me, out and about like always. Just livin' it up.” Even Dave knew he was lying through his teeth. “I actually wanted to talk to you about something.” He looked at Dave suspiciously. Dave could have been a customer for all he knew, and it wouldn't have been good to alienate one of such a rare breed.

“He's cool, whaddaya need?” Trent glanced at Dave.

“Well, I...I was curious if you knew anything about finding some marijuana?” Bailey glanced once at Dave like the guy was about to pull out some handcuffs and tell him he was headed to jail for thinking about drugs in public.

Trent grunted, but didn't say anything. Bailey drank, and Trent couldn't blame him. He would've drowned himself in vodka if he looked like Bailey, but he had never suspected the guy would try to mess with drugs. If weed could be considered such.

“Ya see,” Bailey continued, “I”ve seen you kids smokin' at your parties, and I was wonderin'...” He trailed off when Trent raised a hand to cut him off.

“Not a problem, Bailey. As a matter of fact, I can help you out right now.” Trent glanced at Bobby and smiled widely. The blonde kid's mouth was hanging open.

“Right now?” Bailey's belly swelled at the prospect.

“Sure, why not?” Trent looked at Bobby, who struggled to close his mouth and shake off his surprise. “We can go in the back room and no one'll ever know.” He waved Bobby and Dave toward the back of the store and lifted the little clapboard flap that served as a barrier between customers and the area behind the counter. Bailey wrung his hands as he followed Trent, and looked back when Dave stepped behind him.

“What's up?” Bailey asked tentatively as they followed the two youngsters in to the back of the store.

Dave grunted, unsure of how to treat the hideous little man. He was doing his level best to not even look at Bailey, he wasn't about to strike up a conversation with him.

The lack of response made Bailey even more nervous about Dave. There just seemed to be something about the large man's silence that felt dangerous. No one saw Trent reach in Bobby's back pocket and pull out his bag of weed. Not even Bobby.

Trent sat in one of the two chairs and Bobby opened the back door that let out into an alley. Bailey took the second seat as his due, and didn't notice how practiced the younger men's actions were. When Bobby turned from looking down the alley Trent was already rolling a joint from the stoner's bag, and Bailey was watching attentively. He acted like he knew what was going on, but it didn't fool anyone.

“I'll get ya some of your own when we get back to my apartment. Then we'll have to find you a pipe or a one-hitter 'til ya learn how to roll joints.” Trent licked the joint closed.

Without a moment's pause Trent pulled out his lighter, flicked it, and fired up the joint right in front of the staring Bailey. He didn't want to have to deal with Bailey any more than was necessary, but it was money, and money trumped what he wanted. He only took one hit before passing the joint to Bailey. The businessman needed to enjoy his first experience, so Trent wouldn't hog the weed.

Bobby and Dave watched in amusement as Bailey took his first hit, and erupted in an explosive coughing fit. Dave grabbed the joint before it could go spinning to the ground, and Bailey forgot himself enough to smile at the cold-faced man between racking coughs. Dave took a hit and passed it over to Bobby.

Bobby's eyes were still wide enough to tell everyone how surprised he was by the situation. Selling weed to his boss was one thing. Smoking with him like they were old friends was another.

Dave shrugged at him, and Bobby shook his head in response at what was happening before taking a hit of his own.

Trent didn't see any of the exchange, so caught up was he in how Bailey was taking the new experience. Bailey would provide steady income, and a dealer always wanted regular buyers. Without taking his eyes off the red-faced, gasping businessman, Trent picked up Bobby's bag of weed and waved away the joint when Bobby tried passing it to him. He rolled another to share between Bailey and himself. He needed Bailey to feel like he was one of the crew, the same way he had when Trent manipulated him into giving them the alcohol.

Three joints later, Bailey was giggling obnoxiously as he fell out of his chair for the second time.

Dave wasn't there to catch him like he had the first time; either too slow, or he just didn't feel like catching him again. Bailey hit the floor with a soft thud and a hard gasp. The other three in the room winced, but Bailey just started his incessant giggling again.

“Think we can get outta here?” Dave sighed heavily and lifted his foot to keep it out of Bailey's grasping hands.

“Yeah, ain't any reason for us to stay.” Trent didn't take long to consider. “Bobby, grab a few drinks, and meet us back at the apartment.” he looked at the fat man on the floor as Bailey pulled the plastic chair he had been sitting on down to its side instead of pulling himself up. “Crap,” he looked slowly at Dave, “Will you take him back to the apartment for me? I got a call to make, and I need to make sure everything goes right with it.”

Dave frowned as Trent struggled to fight the smile twitching at the corners of his mouth. He didn't answer the younger man, but grabbed Bailey's arm just below the shoulder and yanked him roughly to his feet without taking his eyes off Trent.

Bailey continued his giggling as Dave pushed him back in to the store.

“Dude, that ain't right. Dave's gonna kill 'im.” Bobby said once they were alone.

“Nah, although Bailey probly won't have a nice walk.” The front door of the store chimed, and then slammed shut violently. They glanced at each other and chuckled meanly. Neither of them was particularly stoned, but the weed was having an effect.

“Let's get some drinks then. We gotta have some way to celebrate.” Trent smiled.

“I don't get it. You lose your job, break up with your girlfriend, and suddenly you got a way to have it better than anyone else. How the hell's that make sense?” Bobby shook his head in honest bewilderment.

“Who knows, man? I'll take your weed back to the apartment, too.”

“What?” Bobby reached in to his pocket, “How the hell did you get that?”

Trent winked at him and smiled. The blonde kid shrugged and pulled the back door shut and walked out of the tiny break room. No one else in his small group of friends would have decided to stick with him as easily as Bobby had. Of everyone Trent had met over the past six years, Bobby was by far the most loyal. Trent considered Lex his best friend, simply because the guy had been the first person he met after leaving his old life behind. But, every once in a while Trent wondered if Bobby wasn't the better choice.

At the thought of Lex, Trent pulled out his cell phone and dialed. The phone rang twice and clicked as Lex picked up. “Sup? I needed to talk to ya. Got a minute?” Trent asked before Lex had a chance to say anything.

“Uh...Yeah, I'm at Charlie's so I ain't got that long.” Lex sounded a little surprised to hear from Trent. It wasn't the first time Trent dropped off the radar, but it had been longer than normal.

“I came up with a way to make some money. But, I kinda need your help.” Trent hesitated, wondering just what Lex would think. “I need to get in touch with Crazy Pete and talk to him about puttin' me on the payroll.”

Lex didn't respond for a long time, and when he did, it wasn't in response to what Trent had said. “What the hell happened with you and Erin? She's been sayin' s**t that doesn't sound like the kinda things you say about someone you care about.”

Apparently Lex wasn't going to readily agree with Trent's plan. “We had a fight. And to be honest, I think it's over between us. She ain't right for me, anyway. It's been obvious for longer than I care to think about that we weren't right. I've just been too damn bored to do anything about it.”

Lex jumped back in before Trent could get back on the subject of far more importance. “Look, I dunno if you should give up on her that quick, brother. She's a good girl.” Trent wasn't really trying to hear about Erin, so he waited. Lex always had more to say. “Don't sell yourself short. That drug game ain't all it's cracked up to be. Prison ain't a fun place to hang out. And that's the only place you're gonna end up if you don't end up dead...” Lex stopped, realizing he was lecturing the guy known for not listening to a word anyone said.

“First of all,” Trent tried to keep his cool, but it was hard when Lex acted like he knew what was best. “Me and Erin are done. I don't even like the b***h. She's uptight, and she's bossy, and I'm tired of gettin' told what to do all the time. Plus, she's the one that decided to leave.” He stopped himself, sure that Lex would want to say something about that; Lex was always trying to defend whatever Erin did or said, but he stayed quiet. “Second of all, I need some way to make money, and some little crappy job that makes me pennies for full time work really ain't gonna cut it. So, I need to talk to Crazy Pete.”

“Before we go and talk to Crazy Pete, I wanna talk to you about Erin--,” Lex started, but Trent cut him off.

“Look! I don't wanna talk about Erin. I don't wanna be with her anymore, and I'm not gonna be with her anymore. End of story.” Trent took a deep breath, he didn't like yelling at Lex, and he needed him happy to go along with introducing him to Crazy Pete. “All I wanna know is whether or not you're gonna help me. It's my only option...”

He had never gotten upset with Lex before, not to the point that he called upon their friendship the way he had. No one ever put Lex on the spot like that.

“Alright, buddy,” Lex whispered. “I'll help you get in with Crazy Pete. But don't try and stay in and get rich. Just get enough to get yourself by, and then call it quits. That life ain't cool. I'll talk to you about it later, and we can call Crazy Pete tonight to find out what's up. That way I can try to cushion the meeting a bit.”

Trent nodded and fought the urge to scream triumphantly. “Right on. I'm throwin' a party tonight. Maybe let 'em know, and we can try and set up some kinda meeting there.”

“I'll see ya then...I gotta get back to work. Charlie's been in full Nazi mode since you talked bad to him, and no one else here is in all that great a mood. I'm out.” With that statement Trent heard the connection end.

He felt good.