Riven - Jerry B. Jenkins [90]
“I mean, once he’s paid off I won’t feel so bad running into him around, see?”
The cop nodded and took the cash. He looked at his partner, and neither moved.
“Anything else?” Brady said, standing.
“Matter of fact, there is.”
Brady sat back down. “What?”
“Are you really this stupid, or do you think we are?”
“What are you talking about?”
“You’d trust us with $130 in cash?”
“Why not? You’re cops.”
“So we take this and give it to Tatlock and when we get back to headquarters, what, we find you’re charging us with shaking you down?”
“I wouldn’t do that.”
“We can’t take your money without giving you a receipt. You really don’t know that?”
Brady shook his head.
“Tatlock says he sees something in you if you can control your temper. I hope he’s not just seeing naiveté.”
“Well, I wasn’t trying to pull anything on you. I’ll take a receipt, sure.”
“And it will stipulate what we’re to do with the money.”
“Okay, good.”
The cops left shaking their heads, and Brady waited a few beats before retrieving his grass from the kitchen. He tucked it back into his belt, then hollered to Petey, “Headin’ out, man. Be good!”
Peter padded out. “What was that all about?”
“Oh, they’re checking out one of the Mexicans I’m living with. They think he’s pushing drugs or something.”
“Is he?”
“Not that I know of. I just told them I didn’t know anything. They were cool.”
“Don’t forget your book, Brady.”
“Yeah, that’s right! I’ll start it tonight.”
Brady arrived back at the trailer park with Stevie Ray about three in the morning, noticing that his mother’s car was parked askew near the trailer. He considered checking to be sure Petey was all right but decided against it.
“Want me to drop you at the shack?” Stevie Ray said.
“Nah. I’ll walk.” He retrieved his book from Stevie Ray’s living room and lit out.
As Brady approached the shack, he was not surprised to see lights on. These guys knew how to party, especially when they had no work the next day.
But when he entered, he met the same scenario as when they confronted him about his job at Burger Boy. Someone turned off the TV, everyone went quiet, and Pepe pulled Brady into a corner. “You a snitch?” he said. “A cop?”
“You kiddin’? I’m sixteen!”
“What were the cops doing at your place tonight? They on to you? asking about me?”
“No, it was about my mother. She’s late on some payments or something. They got it all straightened out.”
“You sure? We can’t have ’em coming around here.”
“They won’t.”
“They’d better not. It’ll be on you, muchacho.”
“Don’t worry.”
“Now, Manny’s looking for the rent, and I’m looking for my money.”
“Yeah, about that. I’m a little short. I had to help my ma with her late payment, so this is all I have.” Brady produced about half what he owed each guy.
“Manny, come’re, man,” Pepe said. “Look at this garbage.”
“Oh, no, no, no,” Manny said. “This isn’t going to go, Brady. What do you think you’re doing? You got three jobs, dude, and what you do for Pepe pays more than the other two put together. And now you’re short? No.”
“It’s just temporary,” Brady said. “In fact, a guy owes me. I can have it by tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?”
“Promise.”
“No credit this time,” Manny said.
“From me either,” Pepe said. “You give me the money tomorrow or you owe me a kilo.”
Giving back the kilo would have been easy and gotten Brady off the hook. But he needed some weed himself, and he could make a lot more selling the rest than returning it.
When Manny and Pepe and the others lost interest in him and turned back to their partying, he slipped away to find his favorite customer. The college kid lived above a garage, and Brady woke him.
“What’re you doing here?” the kid said. “I don’t need anything.”
“You can help me out.”
“Why should I?”
“’Cause I always get you what you need.”
“I don’t have any money to lend you.”
“I’m not looking for a loan. I have a bargain for you because I need some quick cash.”
“What kind of a bargain?”
“Twenty-five percent off of almost a kilo. Let me smoke two joints with you, and you get the rest.”
The kid seemed to study him. “No deal.