She chuckled, reaching for her bedside table, “You see, that’s the thing. I want to offer you a better deal.” Pulling out a different envelope and throwing it towards me. “No middleman. NoDanny… Just you and me, wheneverIwant.” She paused. A smile spread on her face, “You’d be well taken care of.”
My eyes lingered on her for a moment before falling to the envelope.
“That supposed to impress me?” I asked.
She shrugged, “It’s supposed to make things simple. There's enough in there that you won’t need to ask for anything.”
I stepped forward slowly until I was standing at the edge of the bed, the envelope placed between us. Picking it up in my hand, I leaned down just enough for her to see the crack in my smile.
“I don’t do simple,” I said. “And you don’t get to treat me like a commodity. Not anymore.” Peeling open the envelope to see a stack of neatly placed notes. I’d never seen this kind of money, not in my hands anyway. Danny made sure of that. After every job, it was the first thing I had to hand over, and I was always told never to look inside. He’d flip his fucking lid if he knew I was considering cutting him out of what I can only imagine is a hefty payout.
“So? What do you say?”
My eyes flashed down at the money, then back up to her. “I could take this,” I said. “And vanish. No calls. No answers. You’d never know if I was coming back.”
“You won’t vanish,” she said too quickly, confident in her position.
I smiled wider, “How can you be so sure?”
She didn’t answer me; she just raised an eyebrow as if to say, 'You need this.' I tucked the envelope in my back pocket.
“Because I know you, or are you forgetting that?” Her hand extended towards my phone on the dresser. Punching her number in with a smirk on her lips, “Until next time then?”
Lying herself back down onto the bed, holding her tight grin.
My options lay bare before me.
Allow my body to once again not be my own.
Or accept a type of freedom I would never get from Danny. That kind of money could get me and Squeeks out, far away from anyone who thought they could take from us.
I grabbed my shirt, still feeling the warmth of her breath against my skin. Was I really going to do this? Dive into the one aspect of my life that I loathed entirely. I left the bedroom, feeling like I'd just signed a contract with the devil.
Arriving home, the front door slammed shut behind me. Squeeks looked up from the couch, a plate in her lap, chewing on a half-eaten piece of toast. Her eyes caught the storm in mine before I could hide it. She didn’t ask. She just watched me as I strolled past her towards the back room, boots heavy on the floor. Danny sat there, in that shrine of sweat-stained leather, bad bets, and the thick stink of damp and smoke. His shoulders hunched over the table, shuffling through a pile of crumpled notes like they meant more to him than people ever had. He didn’t look up as I entered.
“Took your time!”
I pushed the door closed behind me. “I was making sure she had her money’s worth. Plus, she made me a deal.” I replied with a slight cockiness in my tone. He paused for a moment, then looked up, eyes narrowing.
“Who?”
“Selene.”
His whole posture shifted, like a wolf catching scent of blood. “What kind of deal?”
I propped myself back against the wall, tilting my head to one side as my eyes drifted to him. “The no middleman. No Danny. Fuck her directly, kind of deal.” The silence cracked between us.
He suddenly broke into laughter, “You’re kidding. She’s having you on boy, crafty bitch.”
I didn’t blink, jaw tensing, “You wanna test that theory?” I revealed the envelope from my back pocket and flaunted it in front of me, raising an eyebrow as a smirk tugged at the corner of my mouth. He stood, each joint popping like the tension inside him needed somewhere to go. He crossed the room until we were face to face, or at least, until his breath hit mine.
“You think you can cut me out?” he hissed, “You think you’re fuckin clever enough for that?”
I didn’t move, “She made the offer. I’m just doing the courtesy of telling you.” My cocky smirk remained planted on my face.
He grabbed the front of my jacket before I could finish the breath. Slammed me back into the wall so hard my teeth rattled. His face was red now; all spit and rage.
“You ungrateful little shit,” he snapped, “I pulled you out of the gutter. Gave you a roof, gave you work, and this is how you fucking repay me.”
