by Mitch Goth
That night, Ben’s Cadillac was packed as it sat outside Vin’s house. Rain sat in the passenger seat, looking with a concerned expression at the home they’d parked in front of. Joe and Dando sat in the back, in the car just to see the house for themselves finally.
Vin’s house looked more like an old church than anything else. Tall, arched windows lined it at all sides, tall spires stuck out of the roof, and the entire structure was built of deep brown bricks that seemed hand carved. The home was dark except for one thin window in the first story. Despite the light, the house seemed devoid of all life.
“Damn, this place is eerie,” Dando chuckled as he observed the large home of his boss.
“Maybe it’d just be easier for you to leave and go home,” Ben suggested at Rain upon soaking up the sight.
“I’m not going home, just drop that idea,” Rain retorted swiftly.
“Well leave at least. You don’t have to do this you know?” Ben went on.
“Vin said I should be here.”
“We’ll tell him you just sort of ran away from us.”
“Vin’s not that stupid,” Dando pointed out.
“You can’t really lie to the guy,” Joe agreed. “Just go in there kid.”
Rain sighed as she took another look at the house. After a moment of thought she finally came up with a sure decision.
“I can’t risk leaving now, for your guy’s sake,” she opened the car door but didn’t get out.
“I’ll tell you again that you don’t have to do this,” Ben tried to convince her not to go through with it.
“Sadly, I think I want to,” she finally hopped out of the car and began the walk up to the door.
The three others in the car sat and watched tensely as she approached the house. Each of them had their own ideas about what would happen in the house, but none of them said anything. They all wanted to see for themselves.
Just as Rain was ready to knock on the tall, solid wood door it opened with a slow creak. Vin’s warm, smiling face greeted her.
“Glad to see you could make it,” he gestured her inside. As she passed into his foyer, he shot a small but noticeable glance at the Cadillac sitting on the curb before shutting the door.
“Wouldn’t miss it,” Rain tried to sound convincing, although she was too taken by the eloquence of the entryway to focus too much on her tone.
The foyer matched the exterior in its style. There were tall, stone archways on either wall and a large stone and wood staircase across from the door. A large metal chandelier hanging above lit the area surprisingly brightly.
“Quite a place isn’t it?” Vin noticed her noticing his house.
“Yeah,” Rain nodded, “it’s very…gothic.”
“Thank you,” Vin smiled, “but it’s actually not gothic.”
“It’s not?”
“I believe its called Richardsonian Romanesque, but it certainly looks gothic.”
“Beautiful,” Rain spoke in a stunned softness. Once again she was shocked by the classy life this drug lord seemed to carry on.
“Thank you,” Vin approached her, “but, as I’m sure you can figure, I didn’t ask you here to assess the beauty of my home.”
“Right,” Rain replied, coming out of the trance the foyer had put her in. “What did you bring me here for?”
“Follow me,” Vin gestured as he wandered through one of the tall arches and into an adjoining room.
The room they entered into was a deep red wood from floor to ceiling, a color that was accented by the similarly shaded bookshelves, artfully carved fireplace, and dark leather chairs not unlike those in the study at the hotel. The fire was more of a blazing inferno, creating all the light that was needed in the room, although it created its fair share of long, dark shadows.
Rain sat in one of the leather chairs facing the fire and Vin sat beside her. Without saying a word or making anything other than a few minute sounds, Vin grabbed a crystal decanter off of the end table between them and poured two glasses of whiskey. He then moved into the drawer of the table, which was nothing more than a craftily hidden humidor. He cut two short, fat cigars and handed one to Rain, who took it after a moment of confused stillness.
Vin lit his first before handing the lighter to Rain. She paused for a second before sensing Vin’s cutting gaze and lighting her cigar. She’d never even held a cigar before, not even the eighty-nine cent ones that could be bought at any gas station. Her only point of reference being movies, Rain puffed on it in short bursts just like she’d seen all the old school film gangsters do.
“Oh my God,” Rain said, blowing smoke as she spoke, “that’s really good,” she laughed.
“I only buy the best,” Vin grinned, puffing on his own. “Here,” he slid her the glass of whiskey he’d poured for her, “try that.”
“What is it?” Rain inquired, picking up the crystalline glass.
“Only the finest,” Vin replied, lifting his glass, “salud,” he drank down the amber liquid.
Rain looked down at her glass. There was only enough liquor in it to cover the bottom, but still she was apprehensive. She was more of a vodka girl. But as soon as she heard Vin’s glass land back on the table, she shot the whiskey back without another thought and quickly set the glass back on the table. She immediately grimaced at the taste of it.
“Jesus,” she coughed, “that’s just awful.”
“It grows on you,” Vin chuckled, pouring himself another glass. “But you seem to be a fan of that cigar.”
“Oh, yeah,” she nodded, taking a few more puffs, “I don’t know why this tastes so good. I’d hate to know how much one of these costs.”
“It’s not nearly my most expensive cigar,” Vin explained. “But it’s by far the best tasting.”
“I wonder why,” Rain spoke through several more puffs.
“Its because its illegal.”
“What?” she stopped smoking.
“That is a mid-quality Cuban you’re smoking, incredibly illegal in the United States,” Vin said. “It’s funny, we’ve been taught all our lives that things are illegal in this country only for good reasons. And I’m sure you thought that, I did when I was your age. But after smoking that cigar, what’s your thought?”
“I’m thinking the American legal system doesn’t know what its missing,” Rain laughed.
“There are a lot of things they’re unknowingly missing out on.”
“Like what?”
“Well, you seem like quite the adventurous teenager,” Vin observed. “A lot of things are illegal to you, but my guess is you do them anyway, am I right?”
“Yeah,” Rain spoke softly.
“So why don’t you tell me what they’re missing? High proof alcohols?”
“Yeah.”
“Pot?”
“Yeah.”
“Ecstasy?”
Rain paused for a moment before answering, “Yeah.”
Vin raised a brow, “Cocaine?”
Rain almost didn’t answer. It took nearly half a minute for her to muster enough gusto to nod, much less speak, “Yeah.”
“The legal system sure is missing out on a lot isn’t it?” Vin smiled.
“Yeah,” Rain came out of her guilty stupor with a grin identical to Vin’s. “But what does any of that have to do with tonight? Did you just call me here to find out what I’ve done in my life?”
“Not what you’ve done, but what you’re willing to do now.”
Rain sat up at this remark. She didn’t know why, but it scared her. She looked over at Vin, her eyes wide, focused. Her body was ready to bolt at the first hint of trouble. The wait for the trouble was excruciating. She wasn’t sure what trouble she was expecting, but still she knew she needed to be ready for something.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked, harshness showing in her tone.
“Why’d you leave home, Rain?” Vin ignored her tenseness.
“I didn’t like it at home.”
“Why not?�
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“Why’s that important?” Rain sneered, the stress was doing a number on her mood.
“It’s not, I’d just like to know I suppose,” Vin shrugged.
“I got arrested for stealing, so my parents were going to send me to some academy far away. So I left.”
“Why would a smart kid like you steal?”
“Why would a smart guy like you sell drugs?”
“Selling drugs has made me rich, it bought this house, that cigar you’re smoking, everything I have. What purpose does stealing serve to you?”
“You sound like you already know the answer, so why don’t you tell me?” Rain was growing impatient of being at the ready for something to happen.
“My guess is that it didn’t serve any material purpose,” Vin figured. “No, it wasn’t about what you were taking, it was about how it made you feel to do it. It put adrenaline in your blood, excitement in your brain. All you wanted was a little adventure, didn’t matter how. You could’ve been stealing something, speeding straight through a school zone, drinking, using drugs, staying out past curfew, disobeying in general.”
“Look at you, hitting the nail on the head,” Rain puffed at her cigar. “What’s your point?”
“My point is that if you’re looking for adventure in your life, you landed in the right place.”
“What are you gonna make me do? Shoot someone? Hold up a store?”
“Oh, Rain, I’d never force anyone to do anything, it’s not my style,” Vin smiled. “Everyone who works for me does so because they want to.”
“What do you expect me to do, work for you forever? I want to keep going eventually, see more of the world,” Rain replied.
“Not forever, a few weeks at most,” Vin explained. “What I want you to do is easy.”
“In your eyes maybe. Murder might not come simple to me.”
“Don’t worry, nobody is going to die by your hand,” Vin assured. “All I want you to do,” he reached into his pocket, “is this,” he set a small plastic bag on the table and slid it to her.
Rain picked up the bag. At first it looked empty, but as soon as it came into the light of the fire she saw what it contained. One triangular orange pill was held in the bag. There weren’t any letters engraved into it, nothing to tell her it was from any pharmaceutical company. It was incredibly simple, yet frightening at the same time.
“What is it?” she wondered, fearful of the answer.
“It doesn’t have a name yet,” Vin explained. “It’s a new product my chemists and I came up with. Its never been done, nobody knows the effects. But I need someone to test it and tell me how it is. I’m confident it’ll be good, I’ve put a lot of time into making sure of that. But the effects need to be known, and I want you to be the one to learn them.”
“That’s it?” Rain asked quietly, mesmerized by the pill. “I don’t need to keep taking it if I don’t want?”
“Well, we’ll need your experience to act as a kind of advertisement when we’re trying to sell it at first, but you won’t need to take any more of them for that, if you don’t want to that is. But, other than that, that’s all I ask. All I need is one test, one pill, nothing more. Once we get this selling, you’re free to go if you so choose. But if your goal in life is to search out adventure,” Vin leaned over and tapped the pill lightly through the bag, “this is a great place to start.”
8
