by K. L Randis
“Well yeah but… I mean…Hey that’s not a bad idea.”
“I know. Have some guys give blood, others urine. Whatever you need to make it more legit. Set it up with your lab guy and get in touch with the other doctors to have them start doing the same, as of immediately.”
Dr. Holden looked relieved. “Okay, that sounds like a better plan. Much better plan.”
Jared listened to the deadbolt tighten behind him as he left Dr. Holden’s office. Dex had the same operation running out of offices in East Stroudsburg, Stroudsburg, Pocono Summit, Cresco, Mount Pocono and Blakeslee. That was only a small stretch of area that didn’t even begin to cover the larger terrain of the Monroe County area. Jared would need to visit the ones he knew Dr. Holden didn’t have contacts with and set up the newer procedure with them too.
“Going to be a long day tomorrow,” Jared muttered, steering his car towards home.
CHAPTER NINE
Jared recruited Rick’s help over the next two weeks to set up the new system at the fast food places and doctor’s offices. At first Jared attempted to do it himself, spending the first two days after seeing Hailey with his mind wandering all over the place, before asking Rick for his help.
Hailey didn’t call or text Jared after their meeting at the park. He wasn’t sure if he was supposed to call her either. The shock of her pregnancy still left so many unanswered questions for him. Did she still want to be with him? What made her come back after all these years? Would she have kept the baby if she stayed in PA?
Tina caught Jared’s gaze just long enough to snap him back. “Jared? Everything okay? You’re quiet today.”
“Yeah, I’m fine. Was just thinking.”
“About what?”
My ex-girlfriend.
“Was thinking maybe in a few months maybe we should move,” Jared said casually. He was curious to see if Tina would even humor the idea.
“Move?” Her eyes widened, “Like closer to town?”
“Like out of the country.”
“You’re not serious?”
Jared replied with a blank stare, waiting for her to think about it.
“Why would we do that?” Tina asked, clicking through channels and avoiding his eyes. “I think it’s fine here, we have everyone we know here. Plus you just got a new job, it wouldn’t make sense to move. And out of the country? That’s a little involved.”
“So you don’t want to be involved with me? If we could go anywhere, anywhere in the world, where would you want to go?”
“Right now I’m content with the bathroom.” She pushed the comforter off of her lap and let it sink to the floor. He watched her cross the living room, adjusting her t-shirt and twisting her hair to the side, something she did when she was nervous. She shut the door halfway and he waited until he heard the sound of her washing her hands until he called out to her.
“So not Argentina? Paris? Some abandoned Tropical Island? You’d want to stay right here in Brodheadsville?”
“Yeah I guess, I mean you make it sound like it’s a bad thing. I was born here ya know, I wouldn’t just up and leave without a good reason. It wouldn’t happen anyway, it’s not like we’d have the money to do that so why bother talking about it?” She settled into her spot on the couch again.
Tina just couldn’t figure out what was bugging Jared. Ever since he started his new job he seemed stressed as ever, coming home late from his shifts and mumbling under his breath. He checked his phone constantly, as if waiting for someone to call. She figured his boss was piling on the work, although she couldn’t imagine how patrolling the local park could be all that stressful. He started bringing his mood swings home with him, asking questions about moving and questioning her commitment to him. It was getting exhausting.
She figured he must be on the verge of relapsing again. He had acted the same way when she had first met him—mood swings and irritable—after graduating from rehab when Troy died. She insisted he take a Perc ‘just to relax’ one night, lassoing him back into his old ways with a single pill.
“Why do you keep asking such weird questions anyway? One day you want to move, the next you’re accusing me of keeping secrets from you and pushing me away.” Tina put her hands over Jared’s, “Talk to me.”
Jared knew he was giving Tina the third degree but he couldn’t help it. Ever since he saw Hailey he was questioning his own commitment to Tina, his town, and where he wanted to end up. What happens when the first person you ever loved walks back into your life? What he had with Hailey wasn’t just puppy love, it was real. It was why Hailey’s dad felt the need to move her hundreds of miles away. He knew that distance was the only thing that would truly keep them apart.
“There’s nothing to talk about apparently,” Jared said, “you don’t want to move, even though we’d have the money. You wouldn’t want to start somewhere fresh with me, I get it.”
“What are you not telling me? We’d have the money? You’ve been talking about going to another country, buying a house and never working again like we’d be able to just sit around raising a family on the savings you have from working as a Park Ranger. Is that what you’re even doing? Are you dealing again?”
“Tina, forget it,” Jared said. He wasn’t even sure what he wanted, so it was unfair of him to ask her what she would do.
“I’m not going to just forget it. I’m starting to think you’re lying to me about this park job.”
“Great, I guess I’m a liar.” He picked up his keys from the center island in the kitchen, checking his phone for missed calls before putting it into his pocket. “You said yourself that some guy named Craig drowning this area with heroin so why would I bother trying to deal pills?”
“Are you cheating on me?” Tina asked.
“What? No! Why would you even think that?”
“What am I supposed to think? You leave at all hours, come home whenever. You don’t even try and make plans with me anymore,” Tina started, bending over the coffee table. In one swoop she vacuumed a line of crush into her nose, “And you play the twenty-questions game only to get mad when I’m actually being honest about how I feel or what I want.”
“You know how I feel about that crap,” Jared said, pointing at the table, “yet you have done nothing to stop yourself or even try to be discreet about it when I’m home.”
“Since when do you care what I do?”
“Since Lacey died, that’s when! When I was too fucking high to know that she was in the next room drowning.”
“Jared, I’m…”
He couldn’t hear the rest of what she was saying as he slammed the front door behind him. Staying in a relationship with her after rehab was a mistake. She was never going to change because there was no reason for her to. She still had her job and friends and there was no motivation to ever stop getting high. Jared wasn’t perfect but at least he knew when it was time to start making better decisions about his life. She would always gravitate towards the same people and lifestyle, probably no matter where they lived. Tina was content with her life as it was.
He noticed the speedometer cruise past 85 mph as he maneuvered his way towards Chester Park. When he finally arrived, he found the darkest corner of the parking lot and backed his car in. No one was around and he wanted to be back at the last place he felt anything real. Hailey had revived something in him, something he longed for more than Percs.
His own demons couldn’t bring him to call her though. What did he really have to offer her, drugs? Money? Everlasting love with a side of lies and manipulation? As much as he didn’t think being with Tina was where he wanted to be she would at least love him for what he was.
She’d love his mistakes and his lies, willingly go to bed with him when he would eventually relapse and be right at his side swallowing oval shaped temporary getaways. Maybe he couldn’t change. Maybe he was destined to be with someone like Tina, missing his family and hating his life. Other than his customers, he had nothing positive to offer anyone. He was a drug
dealer and a businessman of the junkies. He was a Pillbillie.
There was a bag of Lace nestled in-between the driver’s seat and shifter console. He dug it out and dropped two decorative pills into the palm of his hand. They gleamed in the dim light of the moon hovering above his car and he wondered how long they would take to kick in once he swallowed them.
Only one way to find out.
He tipped his head back and just as he brought his hand to his mouth he caught sight of the faded picture of Lacey staring back from his dashboard. Her eyes glowed next to the speedometer, reminding him of why he needed to have a shrine of her wherever he went. She looked like a doll in her frilly dress with matching pink and white hair bow, beaming a contagious smile.
“Damn it Jared,” he said to himself, pushing the pills back into the baggie. He pulled his phone from his pocket. He needed answers.
“Hailey?” he asked when she picked up, “can you meet me at Chester Park? It’s important.”
Fifteen minutes later the gleam of her headlights bathed his car as she entered the parking lot and backed into the spot next to him. He tried not to laugh as she bounded out of the drivers seat, her hair in a messy ponytail, making her way around her car, pulling on her sweatpants and smoothing her sweatshirt. She had been sleeping.
“Jared, you okay? It’s not like you to call me this late,” she said, pulling the passengers side door closed as she shimmied in next to him. “Sorry it took so long, I couldn’t find my keys, you know how I’m always--”
Jared took her chin in the cup of his hand, pressing his lips against Hailey’s in a furious attempt to get her to stop talking and just be there. He was done watching her lips move; he needed them to be on his.
Hailey gasped, struggling to decide whether to melt into Jared or pull away for Matt’s sake. Her resistance was meaningless, the deed had already been done, so she decided to let it fly for a few minutes longer. She went with it, pulling on a stray lock of hair that always seemed to defy the laws of gravity near the cowlick on the back of his head.
Guilt overpowered her and she pushed against Jared’s shoulder, almost playfully, hoping he would suck her back in.
He did.
For another three minutes, they sat in the front seat of his car making out like teenagers after a high school dance.
When Jared finally pulled away, the obvious and sudden realization of what they both did showed on each of their faces. For a minute he thought Hailey was going to puke. “Shit Hailey, I’m sorry, I don’t want to make things hard for you. I don’t even know why I called you, I just…I wanted to see you. I needed to.”
“I’m glad you did,” she said, staring out the window. When she finally turned towards him her cheeks were wet and she let the tears soak into her poised face, but her voice was unruffled and without a hint of uncertainty, “Do you know how long I’ve waited for you to do that? Years.”
Jared smiled. She was being brave. The corners of her lips would tilt upward, involuntarily, when she was unsure or lied. He was sure that Matt was lurking in the back of her mind somewhere. “I can leave you alone,” he promised, “I won’t call you again if that’s what you want.” He meant it. He didn’t need to ruin both of their lives.
“Is that what you want?” Hailey asked.
Jared’s phone cut through the tension, jolting Hailey from her seat at the unexpected disruption.
“That can’t be work,” Hailey accused. “It’s almost midnight Jared, the park isn’t even open.”
“One second,” Jared said, holding up his index finger and accepting the call. “Jared. What?” he huffed.
“Nice to speak to you too Jared, is this a bad time?” Dex cooed.
“Yes, it is,” Jared said, “I’ll call you in the morning.”
“Not so fast, I need you to come by the farmhouse. Immediately. There’s a new push tactic I’d like to run by you.”
“Right now? Sorry, I can’t.” He looked at Hailey. “I’m with someone right now.”
“No dear boy, not now, in ten minutes from now. I’d imagine that’s how long it will take you to drive here from your house, yes? Oh and Jared, you’ll want to come, I have some information for you about your drug dealer you are so desperate to find. See you soon.”
All hopes of blowing Dex off dissipated at his last remark. Jared had to see what new information there was. There had been a lull of progress in the past two weeks that was getting harder to ignore, so any news was good news at that point.
“What’s your deal? I mean do you really work for the park or is that some kind of cover?” Hailey said, darting her eyes across the screen of Jared’s phone to see if she could recognize the number. “You get called in at all hours of the night, why?”
“There was a bear.”
“A bear?”
“Yeah, a bear broke through one of the fences that keeps one of the trails secure. Need to get out there and help the boss patch it.”
“Now?”
He hated lying to her. It was easier with Tina because she never questioned him. Hailey could smell deception miles away most times. “Yes now, because early morning hikers take that trail. I’d rather patch a fence now than have to rescue a hiker tomorrow morning.”
“Whatever,” Hailey said, pushing her door open, “good-night Jared.”
He didn’t have time to go after her. As he pulled onto the main road and watched her taillights disappear in the opposite direction he made it a note to call her the next day. Maybe they could have lunch like she suggested. He would turn his phone off while they ate, just in case.
“Celebrating something?” Jared asked as he opened the front door. He could see the luminous farmhouse as he came down the dirt road. It seemed like every light was on. Even the front porch had a newer LED light bulb in place.
“Just another day in paradise,” Dex said, moving his way into the living room. He checked his watch. Twenty minutes huh? Must have been quite the date night. Tell me, whom had the pleasure of your company?” He was wearing the same high collared zip-up sweater he always wore. He had on an expensive pair of cowboy boots, or probably what Dex would consider cowboy boots, and he swung one leg over the other when he sat down, pressuring Jared to take notice: a newfound confidence in wasting electricity, some snazzy cowboy boots. Business must be good.
“You had something you wanted to discuss?” Jared replied dryly.
“Oh, all business and no play I see. Well then, come have a seat and a glass of wine and I will share with you. Caviar?”
Jared’s stomach lurched. “No thanks.”
“More for me then,” Dex said. “You’re a smart business man Jared, I’ll give you that. The new system you pushed through the doctor’s offices was pure genius. We’ve almost doubled in production with the volume of patients each office can see on a weekly basis now. Excellent work.”
“No problem.”
“But there is an untapped market we just aren’t profiting from as much as I’d like. The boss isn’t happy, Jared. I think you can imagine that when the boss isn’t happy, it tends to trickle down.” He held his hands above his head, wiggling his fingers down past his face to demonstrate. “No problem though, if there’s a will there’s a way.”
“What untapped market? I thought we were shooting for people in their twenties and up since they’re the most likely to have jobs and spending money?”
“High school kids, Jared.”
“The hell are you talking about high school kids for?”
“Kiddos with mommy and daddy’s money. Or even if they don’t have the money, they’re more likely to take risks and get it any way possible. They’re ferociously dedicated once they are hooked, we did a test run in Gouldsboro and the profits nearly tripled. The older generations tend to play it a little more safe. They spend more per deal, yes, but they only come around once or twice a week. These kids are looking to make deals every other day.”
“You want our guys to deal to kids?”
“Of
course not, use your head Jared. There is no way we could place one of our men inside a school. Unless they worked there of course, I mean that could—”
“Inside a school? No way. Keep it the way it is. If I have kids as customers already that’s one thing, but I’m not in the business of getting kids addicted to your garbage.”
Jared underestimated Dex’s speed and strength, regretting that he left his switchblade in the car as he struggled to free himself from the grip around his throat.
“My masterpiece is not garbage, it is a delicate balance of perfection, a product of unparalleled quality, do you understand?” Dex hissed, pushing Jared’s head into the drywall. “I am not asking you to do anything, I am telling you, nod if you understand me.”
Jared nodded and when Dex removed his hand he fell to his knees gasping and twitching.
“Flick has made his orders clear, we are to push into the local high schools within a weeks time. I thought you’d be pleased at this news Jared, it means your profits will surpass our original agreement by the end of your six month term. Now, obviously many of your Pillbillies have children throughout the school districts so we will target them first. Increase their cuts by five percent if they agree to recruit their kids into the deal. Go after the ladies first, the idea is to use those soft bristled hairbrushes to get Lace into the school. When you remove the bristles the compartment underneath can store at least twenty-five pills. Have them set up meets in the bathrooms, there are no cameras. Tell the girls to mark the wall behind the toilet with a small line of red lipstick then tape an empty plastic baggie to the backside of the toilet. When the baggie has the money they can replace it with Lace, then erase the lipstick mark. Are you getting all this Jared or do I need to repeat myself? I hate repeating myself.”
Jared rubbed the raw skin around his neck and nodded.
“Excellent. There’s a small distribution issue with the hairbrush method, however, and we need to come up with a remedy. There are only so many times the girls can go to their lockers or have their purses readily available with the hairbrushes inside to make sure they can meet the demands. The bathroom deals can be used for the larger orders but do you have any ideas on how to make sure our girls will have smaller amounts of product on them at all times?”
