Chapter 25

“Absurd occurrences can serve as major life lessons.”

Shannon

~~~

I felt a twinge at the pit of my stomach when my earpiece suddenly went silent, losing touch with my father. I had no idea whether it was a technical or connection problem but I needed to hear his voice. I kept fiddling with it secretly throughout the car ride but to no avail. When the car came to a halt, Matthew took off my blindfold, rummaging my pockets for who knows what before asking, “Are you ready?”

I rolled my eyes and hopped out of the car, stretching to rid exhaustion off my body. We’d been driving for more than an hour and I could tell we were out of town. My eyes quickly scanned my surroundings, it was everything I expected a drug dealer’s hideout to look like. From tall prison-like walls to heavily armed men dressed in black, to a huge electric-looking black gate.

A blonde blue-eyed woman stepped out of the house clad in nothing but her birthday suit and red stiletto heels. She looked young with her neatly combed hair high in a ponytail but her body resembled a shapeless foodie. I gawked openly at her erect nipples, big breasts, and clean-shaven vagina. My mouth snapped shut when she pulled me flush against her and was about to protest when she let go of me, doing the same to Matthew, their hug lasting more than was necessary.

When he squeezed her chubby butt cheek, I stepped back, bile burning my throat as I began sprinting in the direction of the gate. Enough was enough, Matthew had gone too far by taking me to a strip house. My screams filled the air as I tried to let loose from the strong hands lifting me off my feet and taking me back to where Matthew and his slut stood, grinning from ear to ear.

“Where did you get this one?” She gave me an impish look, hooting with laughter at the scowl on my face. The sight of her disgusted me just as much as Matthew, maybe even more. I wasn’t envious, I was furious. How could I have been lured by such a grody man?

“She’s not one of you, she’s my girlfriend.” His hand went around my waist but I yanked it off. “Take me home!”

His palm wrapped around my wrist, tugging me close to him and forcing me to look into his eyes. “You’re not going anywhere! I have to teach you something. In this line of work, you have to learn the basics, just in case we have no one to trust and have to do the work ourselves.”

That’s when it hit me, we were in his trap house, the key to getting my life back on track. I had to cooperate with them, it was the only way they could trust me. Wendy, as Matthew had called her led us inside, swaying her hips from side to side, her ass jiggling in rhythm with her slow and seductive steps. A sigh left my lips, I could see a long day ahead of me.

Contrary to my expectations, everything looked completely normal, like a family house. A squeaky clean living room with expensive paintings and fancy furniture. It was well designed but nothing there required the amount of security in the compound, there had to be something else, a hidden room somewhere housing the drugs.

Wendy turned to me when we stepped into the kitchen and flat out said, “You have to strip.”

“Excuse me?” I let out a humorless laugh and asked Matthew, “What the fuck is she talking about?”

He shook his head and strode to the fridge before shoving it back to unearth a pathway. I wasn’t startled, I’d gotten used to the secret hideouts already. He waved me over but Wendy went in first, Matthew and I following shortly after.

The hallway was dark, creepy, and lanky. The only sound being the irritating click clack from Wendy’s footsteps. After descending a flight of stairs, we got into an elevator that led us down a few feet before coming to a halt. The doors flew open to a room full of naked women and men who stopped to stare at us before going back to what they were doing. Several men paced the room with guns in their hands, seemingly supervising the active workers. What the heck!

Wendy and Matthew marched out, leaving me paralyzed at the grotesque before me. It was hard to keep my eyes only on their faces because I’d never seen something close to what they displayed nonchalantly. I was almost convinced they were high on something to have such courage.

Everyone was busy, barely having time to speak to the other but a few whispers could be heard sporadically. The women were gathered around a huge square table brimming with white powder, their diligence being the reason for the silence in the gigantic room. It was slice, pack, and seal, a routine they seemed to have mastered pretty well due to the number of sachets they filled within a minute.

At the corner of the room, a man wearing a white coat and safety goggles was surrounded by lab-like equipment, evidently experimenting. On the other end, a few men were busy packing kilos of white powder into empty cans of paint before pouring paint over them and sealing the cans. Matthew’s surname on the can of paints called to me and I quickly put two and two together; that’s how he smuggled the drugs in and out of the country. The paint company was just but a disguise for his illegal business. Goodness!

“Are you going to stand there all day?” Matthew’s voice jolted me out of the elevator, going to stand next to him before surveying the room one more time. It was as real as it could get. “Why are they naked?”

“Duh! Don’t you watch Tv? This is a strictly no clothes room, we do this to outsmart people with sticky fingers cause where are they going to put it if they’re all in their birthday suits? This shit is expensive and even the smallest quantity is worth a lot,” Wendy explained, her chirpy voice echoing to anyone who cared to listen.

Matthew led us further into the room and to the table. Lifting a clear bag filled with powder, he said, “I want you to learn how to package this.”

He dropped it into my trembling hands and I examined it but made no effort to open it. “Is this what I think it is?”

He nodded, taking it back before saying, “You have to strip. I’m doing the same.”