to pay for the goods.
It was a regular business, Leonard said.
All orders would be kept track of, and Leonard’s people also knew the exact quantities of drugs given to the couriers as well as their value. At the end of the day,
Leonard said, just like any other business they would make sure the goods matched the receipts, and confirm that all the money was handed over.
Assuming Theo and Morgan were honest, they would have no problems. If there were ever any payment issues, or they’d taken in more (or less) money than expected, all they had to do was relay the information.
The quicker they worked the more money they made, the more stops they’d be able to hit during the day. You wanted to take a two-hour lunch? Your take would suffer.
Get caught in traffic? Tough shit.
The only people who moved up in this world were the ones who fully dedicated themselves. You want vacation days? You got ’em. Only your creditors don’t really think of them that way.
The first stop was on Nineteenth and Third, off the corner of the avenue, a brownstone wedged between a cellular phone store and a diner. Morgan walked up and pressed the buzzer for 5A, taking a quick look around them to see if anyone was watching.
“You need to relax, man,” Theo said. “Ain’t nobody thinking twice about us.”
“Who is it?” came the scratchy voice.
“Delivery,” Morgan said.
“I didn’t order… Oh wait, yeah, come right up.”
Another buzzer went off and the door unlatched. They entered the lobby and went over to the elevator. It was not a particularly nice brownstone. The floor tiles were chipping, and it looked like with just minimum force he could have pried open any mailbox he chose.
The elevator arrived and they took it to the fifth floor in silence. Morgan held his briefcase, feeling the plastic crinkle through the leather. Theo watched him do this but said nothing.
When the door opened, they turned left (A-D) and rang the doorbell for 5A.
“Who is it?” the familiar voice said.
“Delivery,” Morgan said.
“Oh yeah, right, come on in.”
The door opened, revealing a tall, thin guy in his mid-thirties wearing pajama bottoms, a loose T-shirt and slippers. The apartment behind him was sparingly furnished. There was a cot covered in faded blankets, an old twenty-four-inch television, and a bookshelf with textbooks. Morgan looked closer. The textbooks had odd titles like Principles of Economics and Finan- cial Management: Theory and Practice. The books looked well used.
The man had a three-day beard growth and his hair looked like it hadn’t been combed since the last time he’d shaved. His eyes were red-rimmed, and his breathing was quick. Morgan had no doubt the man had a serious coke problem. He supposed that’s why they were there.
The man moved out of the way and ushered them inside, waving his hand like he was shooing away an unpleasant smell.
“Two of you,” he said, looking at Theo. “Is he like your bodyguard?”
Theo simply replied, “One eight ball. That right?”
The man nodded his head vigorously and reached out his hand.
Theo placed his briefcase on a small wooden coffee table, stained with circular rings and other substances that couldn’t even be guessed. Theo undid the lock and rummaged through the case, eventually coming up with a small plastic pouch containing white powder. Marked on the outside were the numbers 1/8, for an eighth of an ounce.
The man’s eyes went wide.
“That’s a hundred and fifty,” Theo said.
The man reached into his pockets (it didn’t occur to
Morgan that they made pajama bottoms that had pockets) and pulled out seven crumpled twenties and two fives. He handed them over to Theo like he was getting rid of toxic material. He put out his hand eagerly and Theo dropped the pouch into it.
“Pleasure doing business with you,” Theo said.
“Hey, man, one sec,” the guy said, his eyes rimmed with red. “I heard about this new drug, dark something.”
“Darkness,” Theo said.
“Yeah. Supposedly it’ll mess you up right. You ever tried it?”
Morgan shook his head. Theo said, “No.”
The guy stammered, almost embarrassed. “You wouldn’t happen to have any, would you?”
“Matter of fact,” Theo said, “we do. How much do you want?”
“I’m not sure,” the guy said. “How much is enough for a few good hits? I don’t want to love the stuff and have to call you right back.”
“Three rocks,” Theo said. “We have an introductory offer, and it’s enough for a few hits.”
“And how much is this introductory offer?”
“Three rocks? That’ll run you fifty bucks for the first purchase. Call it a beginner’s discount. After that it’s twenty-five a pop.”
“S’not bad,” the guy said. “Can I try the intro offer?”
“Let me see the money.”
“Yeah, money, hold on one sec.”
The guy walked out of the living room and into a side room. Morgan heard him rummaging around and cursing.
Then he came out with five neatly folded tens.
“My old lady’ll kill me if she knows I used this. Supposed to be for emergencies and stuff. Ever since we both lost our jobs, money’s hard to come by.”
“Don’t I know it,” Morgan said. Theo shot him a look.
“Fifty for three,” Theo said. He took another small plastic pouch from the briefcase, containing three small black rocks.
“How do you…do it?” the guy asked.
“Two ways, either a pipe-same way you’d smoke weed-or you can crush it up, cook it and inhale like that.
They’re both pretty potent.”
“Gotcha.” He handed Theo the bills, and Theo dropped the pouch on top of the cocaine.
“That it?”
“That’s it until my unemployment check comes at the end of the week. Thanks, fellas.”
Theo didn’t say a word. Morgan followed him out the door. When the elevator door had closed behind them,
Morgan said, “That was impressive. Not sure if I would have remembered all of that.”
“For your sake I hope you do. I’m not gonna be doing all the talking at every stop.”
The elevator began to go down, but then there was a screeching noise and the car ground to a halt. Morgan looked up at the display. The light had stopped between the second and third floors. They were stuck.
“Just perfect,” Morgan said.
“No,” Theo said softly, an undercurrent of anger in his voice. “No! Goddammit, come on!”
“Hey, man, take it easy. I’m sure we’ll get going in no time.”
Theo kicked the elevator door hard, leaving a small dent in the metal. “Let’s move this crate!” He jammed his thumb against the emergency button. When he released it, he jammed it in again.
“I think they heard us,” Morgan said.
“Are you kidding? Roach motel like this, I bet the super doesn’t even live on the premises. We could be stuck here all day.”
Morgan looked at the roof of the car, hoping there might be some easily opened hatch where they could boost each other out onto the roof, then find a ladder or escape hatch that would lead them to freedom. Sadly,
