Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 73828 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73828 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
And I’m happy to be the one.
“God, it’s weird as fuck having a guy that I’m talking to about my business. I’ve always kept that to myself.”
“I’m just glad you’re talking to me about it.”
“Now I’m monopolizing the conversation. How’s waiting tables going?”
I roll my eyes as I launch into my own frustrations about closing the place on the days I work, but always having to work when people call out, bussing tables by myself. I’m amazed when he listens to me complain about my stupid job when his issues are so much more serious, but he’s attentive and even laughs as I fuss about my coworkers. And I notice as we chat, neither of us lets up our grip on the other’s hand.
19
TIM
Jesse stuffs my bag with my goodies for the week, chatting me up about some renovations he’s doing on the house. When he takes a breather, and I can get a word in, I go for it: “So those runs that you were telling me about.”
“Ah, suddenly seeing the ka-ching that you could be making?” he asks.
Jesse’s dressed in a pair of basketball shorts and a button-up shirt with no sleeves. He smiles like he’s proud that I’ve finally come around.
“Whoa, whoa,” I say. “I’m not saying I’m all in right now. I’m just curious about what it would entail.”
“I have my list of clients around town. There are two other guys on runs, but I still handle a few because these are for my top-level clients, and I don’t trust my other guys with this shit. I trust you.”
“But what would I be doing?” I ask.
“I have a list I give you and what to drop off. You head over. Drop off. Collect the cash. That’s it. That’s the whole gig. You do about nine of these stops throughout the week, and you get paid. It’s much easier than what you’ve got going on now.”
“I know, but I’m not sure I’m ready to go into all that.”
“You cut out the risk of keeping your own clientele,” he says. “You do the runs and make a good commission off the cash you grab.”
“I like having my own clients. Deciding who I trust. I’m not so sure about some of these bigwigs that you’re working with.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, we’re obviously talking about guys who are running around with gangs and prostitution.”
“You make it sound classy,” he says, and I can tell he’s being serious. “I’m not going to play around with you, Tim. With these guys, we’re talking trafficking, arms-dealing, some foreign interests.”
“You mean terrorists?”
“I mean what I mean.”
Holy shit. We’ve never had a serious chat about this, so I didn’t realize the extent of what Jesse was involved with, but hearing that, I’m even more certain that it’s not something I want to play around with.
I shouldn’t even be considering this, but thinking about the stress of that mother-fucking bill for the CT scans makes me think how easy it could be to wipe that problem off my plate…and the fucking last lien on the house.
“Look, I know it’s a hard year for you, kid. And I’m here for you if you need some help is all I’m saying. Outside of doing runs.”
“Oh, God. The last thing I want is to have you sending loan sharks after me,” I tease.
He chuckles. “Yeah, right? But seriously, what’s holding you back from helping me out with this gig? You need the money. It’s good money.”
“I want out. You know that.”
“You gonna go out there and work a job making even less money, being able to pay off even less of your nanna’s debt? Because that’s the life that’s waiting for you out there. That’s the life you’re reaching for. I’ve never had a serious talk with you about this because you’re a kid. I thought, the longer you’re in it, the more you’d come around to get that this is what it is and that it’s worth it. But I can see you’re struggling a bit still. You and me, we’re not like the rest of the guys out there. We’re the Bonnies and Clydes of the world. We get to live the fucking dream and not pay taxes on it.”
“Well, it’s not an honest life.”
That’s the kind of life I need, if only for Mark’s sake. He deserves better than a fucking drug dealer. He deserves to be with a real man. A man he can proudly walk around town with, who’s not afraid that being out as a couple could hurt his mother’s reputation. I’ve never met someone who’s made me want to be a better person like he does. Even his dream of being a physician assistant makes me aspire for more.
Jesse eyes me like I have something on my face. “What you looking for an honest life for? Sounds like you got a man?”