She looked up when I entered the room. “Uh, hey, I thought you were working.”
“How about you come see my job?”
She frowned and narrowed her eyes. “Excuse me?”
“Come out with me today.”
“No thanks.”
“I know you hate all this shit, but come with me anyway.”
“I’d rather not.” She turned back to her cereal.
I walked over and shoved her bowl away. Milk splashed over the rim and onto the table top. She leaned back, eyes wide with surprise, spoon suspended above her lap. “What the hell?” she snapped.
“Remember what I said last night about being seen together?”
“I thought that was just—”
“You thought wrong. Get up and come out with me.”
She stared at me and I knew she was trying to decide if she should fling that bowl of cereal in my face or suck it up and do her job. In the end, she lowered the spoon down and shoved her chair back. She clambered to her feet and glared death at me—but at least she was up.
“Fine,” she said. “I need to get changed.”
“Car’s running. Make it fast.”
She stormed out of the room without another word.
I walked back to the car whistling a tune and sat behind the wheel. Old ladies walked past in a little group wearing ankle weights, their white hair poofing off the top of their skulls. I sucked in a breath and wondered how this would play out—if Cora would last more than one drop before flipping shit and running off, or if she’d stay quiet and end up even more resentful, or if she’d have some other reaction.
Maybe she’d like it and get sucked down deep into the dark side and end up a bad-ass mobbed-up monster.
Unlikely though, but a guy could dream.
She came out ten minutes later in black jeans and a gray zip-up sweatshirt. I sighed as she climbed into my car.
“You look like a thug.”
“That’s what I am today, isn’t it?”
I rolled my eyes and drove off. Traffic was light as I made my way across town then went over the bridge to West Philly. She was quiet the whole ride and I didn’t push her. The radio played Top-40 hits and she hummed along to a few of them.
The stash house was an old brick Victorian barely five minutes off UPenn’s campus. I parked out front and popped the trunk then waited.
Cora frowned out the window as two frat guys with backpacks and Gamma Alpha Whateverthefuck t-shirts strolled past.
“What are we doing?”
“Waiting.” I checked my phone for messages.
“Thanks, asshole. For what?”
“You’ll see.”
She grunted. I knew she was annoyed, but whatever, I could have a little fun.
A few minutes after parking, Lonnie came down with a big purple tote bag. He tossed it into the trunk then slammed it shut before coming around to my side and patting the roof.
“All set.”
“How much in there?”
“Two pounds, give or take.”
“Give or take?” I frowned at him. “You know weight’s gotta be—”
“It’s two pounds.” He gave me his crooked grin and poked his big nose into the car. “Hey, you’re the wife.”
Cora gave him an odd look. “And you must be one of my husband’s associates.”
Lonnie cackled. “Yeah, right, associate. Good one.”
“Lonnie’s a drug-dealing scumbag.”
He nodded and grinned bigger. He was missing a couple molars from his meth days. “But a lovable scumbag, if I do say so myself.”
“Thanks for the bag, Lon. I’ll be back in an hour.”
“Adios, boss.” He headed back inside without another word.
“So that’s what we’re doing.” She spoke low as I put the car into gear and pulled into traffic. College kids wandered on the sidewalk heading to class and traffic got tighter as I wound my way around campus.
“That’s what we’re doing,” I confirmed.
“I thought you’d have guys who do this for you.”
“I do.”
“Then why are we driving around with a trunk full of drugs?”
I chewed on that for a second and wasn’t sure how to answer. There were a lot of reasons I could give her, but in the end only one really mattered.
“I’m a hands-on kind of guy.”
She sighed. “Right. Sure. Of course. Hands on with your drug dealing.”
“I want my crew to see me every day. I want them to know that I’m in the shit with them, even if they’re the ones risking themselves more than I am.”
She gave me a look, but it wasn’t angry or resentful or even pissed off. She seemed genuinely curious, and as I pulled up to the light, I gave her my best smile.
She rolled her eyes again and looked away.
I drove around West Philly for a while, not doing much of anything, before I cut back over a bridge and headed south again. I stopped at a house a few blocks off Passyunk and another guy came out. He opened the trunk himself, took the purple tote, and disappeared back inside with a wave.