Parker 05 - The Darkness (26 page)

they'd requested.

Obviously there would be a little flexibility, as sometimes the customer would buy more than they'd initially

requested. And sometimes, of course, they would buy

less, often because the customer didn't have enough

money 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.

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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.

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Jason Pinter

"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.

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215

"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.

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"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

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217

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, Morgan

realized, those kind of things only existed in
Die Hard

films, and the roof of this car was one solid piece of metal.

"Okay," he said. "Maybe we can pry the doors open."

Theo kicked the door again, widening his boot imprint.

"I don't think that's helping."

"Listen, asshole," Theo said. "Every second we're

stuck in here, there are other folks selling product. And

when they come back at the end of the day with higher

receipts than us, you tell me then to calm down. I'm not

in this to lose, Morgan."

Morgan stood there, nodded, figuring anything he said

would only enrage Theo more.

Five minutes went by. Ten. Theo stopped kicking.

He tried his cell phone, but they didn't get reception in

the elevator.

Theo was shaking. His hands were trembling, knees

knocking against one another. A sheen of moisture appeared on the young man's lip, and he licked it away, his

eyes darting around the car looking for some way out.

"Theo, you okay?"

"Shut up, I'm trying to figure out how we can get

out of here."

"I don't think..."

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Jason Pinter

"I said shut the hell up."

Morgan moved into the corner of the elevator, looked

at his watch and hoped for a miracle.

Finally, after fifteen minutes, Morgan felt a jolt and the

elevator began to move.

"Oh, thank God," Theo said.

Morgan held his breath until they reached the first

floor, then as soon as the doors opened the pair bolted into

the lobby before the elevator could change its mind.

"Holy crap, man," Theo said. His hands were shaking,

and his brow was covered with sweat. "I was worried

we'd be stuck in there until the cleaning crew came by or

the thing just detached from its cables."

"Well, we're out now," Morgan said. "We can get back

to business."

"Next stop," Theo said, still breathing heavy, "you

handle all the talking."

"No problem. I'm a fast learner."

"You might be a fast learner, but I've already learned."

Theo looked at Morgan with a cocky smile, letting him

know that they weren't just partners, but competitors.

Theo wanted to move up the ranks just as much as

Morgan did, and the longer it took Morgan to catch up

the farther ahead Theo would pull. His reaction inside the

elevator only proved it. Theo didn't want to waste a single

second not making money.

They exited the building into the early sunlight,

Morgan squinting as he took out the cell phone to wait

for the location of their next customer.

"That went easy," Theo said.

"Yeah. Hope they're all like that."

"I'm sure some of these freaks will be a little more

strung out than our man up there but just remember that

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219

all they want in the end is the stuff. They don't want to

haggle and they don't want a lot of fuss. Some of these

guys might have coke muscles, but if in the end they

think you're going to hold out on them, they'll bend faster

than an elbow."

"I hear you."

"So what's the next stop?" Theo asked.

Morgan looked at his cell phone, reception returning

after the elevator fiasco. He had one new text message.

Morgan pressed Retrieve Messages, and an address

appeared on the screen.

"That can't be right," Morgan said.

"What? Where is it?"

Morgan checked the time and date it was sent. The

time stamp was dated just minutes ago, while they were

stuck in the elevator.

"Hold on, I need to confirm this."

Morgan went to the address book and dialed the

number marked Home. A strange, deep, robotic voice

answered. It was clearly being masked by some sort of

voice-altering technology.

"Yes?" the voice said.

"Hi, uh, this is Isaacs and Goggins. We just wanted to

confirm the address just sent to us."

"Three-forty East Nineteenth. Apartment five A," the

voice said.

"Yeah, um, that's where we just left."

"And that's where you're going back to."

"Uh, okay."

The voice explained the situation to Morgan, who

stood there, eyes widening. He understood everything

that was being relayed, but couldn't understand why it

was happening so quick.

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He didn't know what was in those little black rocks,

but it must have thrown pajama dude in 5A for a loop.

The other line went dead. Morgan closed the phone

and put it back in his pocket.

"What was that?" Theo said.

"We're going right back upstairs," Morgan said. "That

guy we just sold to, he took one hit of the Darkness and

put in an order for half a dozen more rocks at the standard

price. Guy said it was the best high he's ever experienced."

"Good for him, good for us," Theo said.

"And," Morgan continued, "after we're done here

they're sending over another address where the customer

wants another ten. Home base said to expect a lot of

Darkness deliveries today."

"Another hundred and fifty bucks for five minutes'

work," Theo said. He tried to whistle, but again it came

out more like an aborted attempt at a raspberry. "Let's not

keep the man waiting."