His group ordered pitchers and sat down, laughing loudly and talking. I tried to ignore them, but I could feel Tadd’s eyes burning into my back. I finished my first drink and felt the warm, comforting buzz of the alcohol wrap itself around my brain. I nodded to the bartender and ordered another.
Before my second drink appeared, I felt a body take the seat next to me.
“Hey there, blondie,” Tadd said. I looked at him and frowned. His pig face was scrunched up and he had this terrible, leery smile in his eyes.
“Hi, Tadd,” I said quietly. The bartender returned with my drink.
“No Rex around tonight, blondie?”
I shook my head in response. “Just waiting for him.”
“Oh, you’re waiting for him, are you? That’s interesting.” Tadd took a deep drink from his beer and shifted his body closer. I could smell his thick stench and shied away as much as I could.
“Yeah, he should be here soon.”
Tadd’s grin grew larger. “He’s going to be here, in this room?”
“That’s what I said.”
He leaned his left elbow on the bar top and looked at me curiously. I couldn’t read his expression. “That’s very interesting, blondie. Very interesting. Say, why don’t you come join my friends and me over there? We’re very friendly.”
“No thanks. Like I said, waiting for Rex.” I didn’t understand why he wasn’t getting the hint.
His grin got even bigger. “That’s okay, he can join us too.”
“No, thanks. I’m fine here.”
“Oh come on, blondie. It’ll be fun. I’ll buy you drinks.”
I looked at him as seriously as I could. “I said no, Tadd.”
His face dropped. “You’re a rude bitch, aren’t you?”
“Leave me alone, you smell like shit.” My heart began to hammer in my chest.
He burst out laughing. “Rude and ballsy. When’s Rex getting here?”
I felt my hands begin to shake and the fear spike through my body. Something felt off about the conversation. Tadd was terrified of Rex the last time we had talked, but for some reason he wasn’t backing down. I realized suddenly that he knew I was bluffing, but it was too late to go back. I had to convince him I wasn’t lying, and that Rex was going to show up soon.
“I don’t know. I heard from him this morning. He’s meeting me here.”
“Rex isn’t coming here, you fake bitch.”
“Call me a bitch again.” I wanted to claw his disgusting eyes out.
He leaned closer, and I could smell his breath. It was like old pickles and mothballs mixed with alcohol.
“Bitch.”
“I’m going to rip your balls off,” I said, gripping my drink.
He leaned back and laughed again. I felt a few of the people at the bar watching us, but nobody looked like they wanted to intervene.
“Come on, come join me and my friends. It’ll be fun. I’ll treat you better than Rex ever did.”
“I said, leave me alone, Tadd.” I felt my anger beginning to overtake my fear.
“Don’t be so stuck up. I’m a nice guy.”
“I just want to be left alone right now.”
“Why, so you can meet with your big, handsome junkie fighter boy?”
“What do you know about Rex?”
“I know Rex is a junkie. I know he shot up thousands of dollars into his pathetic junkie veins, and now Michael owns him.”
“What are you talking about?” I knew Rex owed Michael money, but he never said exactly what he had done to fall into debt. I assumed it was a gambling issue, or maybe he had borrowed it for some stupid reason, but drugs? I knew Rex was an addict, but I couldn’t imagine he had used that much.
“What, you didn’t know? Rex is a pathetic junkie. Don’t let the muscles fool you.”
“Ex-junkie. He’s clean now.”
Tadd laughed even harder, head thrown back. “Is that what he told you?”
“What the fuck do you want, Tadd?”
“Oh my god, he actually told you he’s clean? Rex is a lying junkie shithead.”
“Fuck you, Tadd.”
His face softened. “Aw, don’t get mad at me. I didn’t make Rex shoot up all that shit. I didn’t make Rex boost cars or fight dudes.”
“What do you mean?”
“Rex is Michael’s go to muscle. He used to steal cars for the people, back when he was a skinny shitbird, but now he’s all muscles and tats. And you know he’s still shooting that garbage up to make his jobs go easier. Once a junkie, always a junkie.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“You don’t have to, but it’s true. Rex and his partner used to get into all sorts of shit. You should hear the stories people tell about him. Apparently, he shot up so much heroin that he owes Michael thousands. Michael basically owns his ass now. Rex has to do whatever Michael says, or it’s lights out for him.”
I took a second to absorb everything. I couldn’t believe what Tadd was saying, but there probably was some truth to it. I believed that Rex went into debt over drugs, and I believed that he probably did some bad things in his past. But I didn’t believe he was still using. Nothing about the man I knew suggested that he was anything but clean and trying to get his life together. I knew that Tadd was the sort of human filth to lie about someone for his own gain.