“Great, see you—”
I didn’t even wait for him to finish. I hung up and hurried back into the drawing room. I didn’t want to have to cut the evening short, but I saw no other way around this. I went up to Zoey and interrupted the conversation.
“I’m sorry, ladies,” I said. “But I just received a call from my boss. It seems there’s a small emergency with the latest editorial and I need to check it out.”
“Oh no… does that mean you have to leave?” Mrs. Swanston asked.
“But Zoey hasn’t even played for us yet… and she promised,” mom said, taking me by surprise by how disappointed she looked.
Zoey gave me a questioning look. “Can’t you handle it tomorrow?” she asked.
“Uh… I’m afraid not,” I said. “It won’t be long… I’d say half an hour or so.”
“Well, then why don’t you go do what needs to be done,” mom suggested. “Zoey can stay here with us, and when you’re finished, you can join us again?”
I looked at Zoey to see if she was ok with that and she smiled and nodded. “Ok then,” I said, giving her a light kiss on the cheek. “I’ll be back as fast as possible.”
I excused myself and headed out the door. I was aware that my father was watching me, but I felt a little too guilty to meet his eyes as I left. I was glad that I had borrowed Zack’s car today, it would make this a whole lot easier… not to mention faster.
I zoomed over to the apartment, grabbed the bag of weed from my closet and headed straight for the park. It was a lovely night, and I looked around impatiently for Larry, who was of course nowhere to be found.
“Fucking Larry,” I said, under my breath. He should have been here by now.
I was just about to call him when I saw him turn the corner and walk towards me. A second later I saw that he was not alone. He had brought his damn girlfriend with him after I had expressly told him that I didn’t want to deal with her at all. He must have thought coming with her had sidestepped that whole problem. I gritted my teeth and decided to let this one slide. After all, this was my last deal, and after this, I would be putting this whole business behind me.
The girlfriend was tall and pretty… much prettier than Larry deserved. She looked smart too, and I couldn’t help but wonder how Larry had managed to get a girl like that. She was obviously way out of his league. I didn’t question it too much; I was just impatient to get this done so that I could go back to my parents’ house with the knowledge that I could start fresh with Zoey having turned over a new leaf.
“Hi, man,” Larry said. “Why are you all dressed up?”
“I told you, I was at a dinner,” I said.
“At your parents’ house,” Larry nodded. “You get all dressed up for that?”
“My parents are not your average parents,” I replied impatiently, before turning to his girlfriend. “You must be Chrissy?”
“I am,” she nodded.
Her eyes were hard to read under the streetlights, but I could still tell that she was sharp and alert. I started to feel a little uneasy, but my eagerness to get this deal over with was clouding my judgment.
“So… do you have what we asked for?”
“Yes,” I said, passing him the package without hesitation. “This is going to be the last package.”
“Don’t you have any more?” Chrissy asked, glancing at the package in Larry’s hands.
“No,” I said. “As I told Larry, I’m done with this. You’ll have to find a different dealer. Now I’ve got to get going so…”
“Oh right,” Larry nodded, as he pushed some cash into my hand.
“Thanks,” I said, turning my back on them.
“Hold on,” Chrissy said, making me freeze in place. “I’m going to need you to stand there.”
I turned around, and from my peripheral vision, I saw two more figures approach. Instinctively, I knew what was happening. It all made sense now. The truth had been staring me in the face, but my need to unload the last of my pot had blinded me to the signs. Of course she was too good for Larry… because in reality, she would never have given him the time of day. She was not some random loner looking for a high. She was a narc.
Larry didn’t catch on as fast as I did. He stood there gaping at her. “Why do you need him to stand there?” he asked, trying to put his hand around her.
“Keep your hands by your sides,” she said curtly, moving away from his grasp. “And no sudden movements.”