Chapter 12 OUT IN THE OPEN

The Past

DETROIT, MICHIGAN

A U R E L I A N O

Come see me now if you want to get back into Wayne state University.

Wait, what?

As I stare at my phone, my eyes begin to do that weird spinning thing when they're staring at something unbefrigginglieveable, like now.

Roxy sending me a text, telling me she can get me back into Wayne state university?

That's a rarity if I ever saw one.

She's either on some high - end crack or she's got major grandeur illusions.

Either way, she's full of shit and looking for someone to rub it on, but I'm not gonna give her the time of day.

I roll my eyes for emphasis and a wave of nausea hits me hard. As I lift the now-half bottle of Scotch to my lips, a loud belch escapes me. Once that's out of the way, I take some sips, grimacing as it burns a pathway down my already-scorched throat.

Tastes like shit. But hey, a beggar has no choice.

Found this old man's drink under the bed. Mama's stash for when she's feeling blue.

Would have loved to drink my usual Hennessey but I'm low on funds and can't keep crawling to mama for money.

Fuck it all!

I tip the bottle against my lips once more, letting out a little grunt as it courses down my throat. Pretty sure I'll be croaking out my words for a while.

I glance at the text once more, wondering if I should delete it.

Or maybe I should keep it?

Common sense wins as I extend my hand to click on the delete button.

But just as I'm about to do it, another one comes through.

A beggar definitely has no choice. I really can get you back into Wayne state university. All you have to do is come see me --- NOW!

Uh huh!

Bitch sure is on something strong for her to think she can order me around.

Still thinks I have the hots for her.

But even as the thought enters my head, lil boy begins to rise at the thought of her.

Alright!

If for nothing else, maybe a last time fuck would do.

Yeah! I'll ride her for the last damn time, get my release and walk off.

Making up my mind, I shrug on a leather jacket as it's begun to get chilly. While I lock up, I see two of the neighbors coming out of the big house next door, pimped up to the teeth, looking snazzy in vintage silk shirts, gold necklaces and French - cut pants with gators so sharp, they could cut paper. They finish this up-beat look with pure crocodile leather shoes.

From their slicked back hair do's to their too - expensive leather shoes, they scream large denomination benjamins and they know it.

I've often wondered what they do to afford expensive things and look this good. Although I know for a fact they clearly do nothing, as they're always lounging around, having one wild party after the other.

Smells suspiciously like easy money.

One of them see's me and waves me over with a smile.

Even from this far, I can see his gold upper teeth twinkling away.

'These are statement-style teeth,' he'd said to me once, when I asked him why he removed all his top teeth and got these fixed.

As I get close to them, their strong heady perfume wafts into my nostrils, making me nauseous for some seconds. "Aureliano!" The one I'm close to addresses me, his distinctive Italian accent making him sound like Alpacino. "It's a Friday, so we're gonna go hang out with some friends." He leans casually on his silver Mercedes coupe, drawing my attention to the ostentatious gold Rolex wristwatch on his wrist. "Wanna come? You'll be well taken care of, I promise you."

I don't doubt that.

It's a big fucking deal being invited to rock with them tonight, but it's an even bigger deal where I'm heading to, so with a smile and a shake of my head, I turn down the offer. "Thanks, maybe some other time."

"Your loss, mio amico." (My friend), the other one pipes up. "We'll definitely have fun on your behalf."

I watch, entranced, as the doors to the coupe slides open and hangs in the air like gull wings. They make a big show of getting in and settling themselves in their seats as the doors slide down from their hanging positions. Not long after, they zoom off with a toot of the horn.

I wave at them and walk over to my three - year- old Buick, a gift from Dipo's mum for getting a scholarship into Wayne state university. After jiggling the key in the ignition a few times, it sluggishly starts up, coughing out black smoke from the exhaust pipe.

I've definitely got to get a new car before this one totally dies on me.

The car chugs all the way to Roxy's place and I'm scared it'll die on me, but somehow I find myself driving into Roxy's area.

Suddenly, a huge building looms from out of nowhere, making me realise I'd spaced out on the drive over. A very unnerving feeling.

Tenseness seeps into my skin, speeding up my heart beat as I stare at the imposing building.

I should not have come here.

What the hell was I thinking?

But even as the thought is projected, I'm already parking the car at a designated spot and coming down, all the while doing a sweep of the extensive grounds with my eyes.

I walk leisurely to the huge glass doors, like I don't have a care in the world.

Like I didn't just get rusticated from school.

On getting to it, I pause.

My heart is thudding restlessly. My palms are sweaty. My eyes are heavy. I'm dizzy as fuck with a hang over the size of mount kilimanjaro and I can't for the life of me figure out why it feels like I'm going to face a firing squad.

One last chance to turn around.

One last chance to walk away . . .

Yet, all I do is stare at the door handle like I'm just seeing one for the first time in my life.

I can't do this.

It's not worth it.

Making up my mind, I turn around, read to bounce when it opens to reveal a woman. She looks suspiciously like Roxy, and at the same time not like her. This one's hair is blonde from the roots to the tips. She's clutching a flimsy satin dressing gown to her body, accentuating all her curves.

That's when I'm certain about who she really is.

"Roxy?!"

She grins, like we didn't part earlier on today on a bad note. "Come on in." She waves me inside cheerily.

The foremost question on my mind now, is, why did she dye her hair black?

Is blonde even her natural colour?

This whole situation feels off, yet I follow her inside, other questions swimming around inside my head.

Maybe it's because I've been priming myself to have her one last time.

Or maybe I need to know why she laid a trap for me . . .

Could also be I just need closure . . .

Whatever it is that brought me here certainly doesn't prepare me for the scene I encounter as I step into the sitting room for the first time.

Two females giggling and whispering to each other, dash past me. It would have seemed normal to me, if not for the fact that they're starkers --- as bare as the day they were born.

My mouth hangs open on seeing this.

Two men in only their boxers chase after them.

People in different stages of undress, loiter around. A lot of skin contact is going on between same sex and different sex alike.

A white substance is piled high into a small mound on the glass table. I notice some of it is also on the ground. A few people are on all fours stuffing their faces with it. When they eventually sit up, some of the white substance is smeared all over their noses and mouths.

I've heard about parties like this before --- wild orgies, but never really experienced one before.

I do a 360° sweep of the place once more, until I zone in on Roxy. She's got a speculative look on her face as she stares at me.

I have a feeling she's been watching me all this while.

She smiles when our eyes collide.  Like a feline, she archs her back and leans down, her housecoat slipping open to reveal the curve of a boob. She lets it slide open further as she leans all the way down to the table. A clear tube materialises in her hands and she snots the white substance into her nostrils, and I watch in morbid fascination as her eyes roll, almost to the back of her head.

From the corner of my eyes, I see Roxy's brother walking in through a door at the far left end of the sitting room.

Now I've only seen him once, on one of the days I went to pick Roxy up. He'd stood by the door with a blank expression on his face, watching me with hooded eyes as I peeled away from the driveway, brakes protesting shrilly. When I looked in the side mirror, he was still standing at the doorway fixated on my car.

Let's just say I didn't get very good vibes on seeing him that day.

As he walks in, his eyes zone in on Roxy, who's begun flashing her boobs.

Shit's sure about to hit the fan now, I'm quite sure.

He makes a beeline straight for her. This time his expression is stern --- angry, even.

But as he gets close to an inch of her, the frown melts away to reveal a smile. He grabs a hold of her ponytail and jerks her head backwards, kissing her full on the lips.

And for the second time today, and just in the space of a few seconds, I'm struck speechless.

My mouth hangs open in shock as I stare at the both of them.

Roxy's incest brother, turns to me, extending his hands with a smirk on his face. "Hi! I'm Abdul."

My bottom jaw drops lower. "But I thought --- "

"That we were brother and sister?" He cuts in, as he openly caresses Roxy's neck. Turning to her now, he says. "They always fall for the same old lie. So dumb!"

Roxy sniggers in return. They're obviously sharing a joke that I quite don't catch yet, until . . .

"Hold up, hold up, hold up,' I start, with a hand raised up. "You're trying to tell me you two aren't related?"

Abdul turns to Roxy with a few creases in between his brows. "Thought you said he was smart? Doesn't seem so to me." She says nothing except to turn to me with a frown on her face.

"Are you really that dumb, Aureliano, really? You know I'm Mexican, but Abdul here is . . . you know what, never mind, you'll know soon enough." A devious light enters her eyes and she turns to me fully. "Did you think all you and I had was real? The kisses, the sex, the dates with Dipo. Did you really think all of it was real?"

And then the gears in my head begin to shift slowly. They begin clicking together to form pieces of a puzzle. "It was all a show?" I'm still stupefied from what she just said.

She directs a look at me. One that is chilling in its malevolence. "I always have to explain this shit to them and it's so strenous." She huffs, as she turns back to Abdul.

"It's your job." He shrugs.

"Well it's a shitty job." She quickly fires back, slumping her shoulders in defeat.

Turning back to me, she nails me to the ground with her eyes, where a minute ago I'd been ready to walk out the door.

Looking back at it now, I didn't know I hadn't even begun to skim the surface with what I was about to hear.

"Do you remember when you first met me at the club with Dipo?"

I nod dumbly, still clearly perplexed with everything going on.

"Well, that was definitely not my first time of seeing you." She looks at me pointedly, expecting me to say something, but I don't, so she continues speaking, this time wrapping the night gown around herself tightly. She starts to pace, the words rolling off her tongue like she's in a haste to get everything out there. "I've been following you all this while because we need more hands. We like to scout people from the University, especially those in their final year, so that when they come out with their expertise on Finance and human resources degree, like yourself, they'd be better able to handle the job."

The more she speaks, the more I become more confused. At a point, I stop listening to her and begin listening to what she isn't saying . . . yet.

"Alright, stop! So you need me for a job that's clearly not legal and then you feel I'll be the perfect fit for the job, because . . . ?"

"Simple!" She smiles genuinely now. "You're not a very nice person, neither are you straightforward either." She smirks when she finishes speaking.

And then suddenly, the last dots of the puzzle fit perfectly together, forming a scary pattern that is almost inconceivable to fathom.

It was all a test.

The games with Dipo. Sneaking behind his back with her. Making me jealous with another guy. That was the ultimate test, and I fell --- right into it.

My final exams are coming up in a week's time and she knows I need to take it, yet she got me expelled to box me into a corner so I'll have no option but to agree to her ---- their demands, from the looks of it.

That means . . .

They would have to have a lot of power to be able to get me back into that school.

There must be a network of them. A horde of them teeming around, in and outside of school, spreading their tentacles probably to other schools and beyond.

Could it be Mr. Brown and some others are also in on this whole business too?

I turn frowning eyes to Abdul. He looks at me with a certain amusement pasted all over his face.

"Looks like our boy has finally understood the game." He glances at Roxy as he says this.

I stare in shock at him -- at both of them. They're also staring at me as well in amusement.

Not a second later, the smile slips off Abdul's face as he looks at me and exhales tiredly. I get the feeling he's done this a million times before and he's getting tired of it. "Alright, I'll cut to the chase." He starts. "We think --- no, we know you're a perfect fit for the drug business. Your first assignment comes up in . . . " He glances at the ostentatious watch on his wrist and looks back up at me, this time with a hard glint in his eyes. "Less than two hours from now."

From behind her, Roxy produces a bag and throws it at me. Instinctively, I catch it with my left hand. "See, I told you he'd be perfect for the job." She tells Abdul with pride in her voice.

Guess I was a lab rat all along.

I'm also guessing lab rats don't have any choice.

I realise Abdul is talking, so I force myself to listen to him.

"You are to deliver that package to the address I'll be sending to your phone. You must NOT open, neither must you get high on the supply either, otherwise I'll have to take it out from your salary."

Drugs? Salary?

What on this green earth have I walked into?

My head is reeling with questions, yet my mouth refuses to move.

"Aww! You poor baby." Roxy pouts, coming to stand directly in front of me. "I'm sure you're still very confused with everything taking place right now, but I promise I'll take care of you, don't worry."

She places a hand on my chest and begins to caress it for a bit. Once her hand starts to slide lower, I catch it in an iron grip, stopping any further movement. "You will tell me this minute why you sent me the text telling me you can get me back into school?"

She looks at me coyly, then throws a look at Abdul, who nods his head in a quiet signal. "I can get you back into Wayne state university, if you prove yourself by dropping off that package in your hand."

"But how --- ?" I begin, confusion clouding my aching head.

"Nothing for you to worry yourself about, handsome. Seeing you've still got some spare time on your hands, how about I take care of you till then." And without waiting for me to say yes or no, she slides a hand down to lil boy, squeezes gently and begins to unbuckle my jeans.

Sometime during the conversation, we must have migrated away from the sitting room and into a bedroom.

If you ask me how I got here without my knowing, I'd definitely come up empty.

Instead of saying something -- anything -- to stop her, I keep quiet as she leads me to a bed and pushes me onto it.

Abdul smirks and walks off. I crane my neck looking around, only to notice Roxy and I are all alone.

Somehow, my boxers fall to my ankles and she begins sucking me off.

As the feelings take control of me, all I'm able to think of is how to make mama proud.

By all means necessary.

Even if it means me becoming a lackey, delivering drugs to people.