DUTCH
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!“Dutch! Get the hell up! Church time!”
I groaned as I rolled over in bed. “What time?”
BOOM! BOOM!“Twenty minutes!”
“Jesus fucking--,” I hissed as I tossed my arm over my face, “yeah, yeah. I’m up.”
BOOM!“One more for good measure!”
“Fuck you, too,” I groaned.
The sound of motorcycles rumbling up the street rattled my ribcage. It sounded like the damn apocalypse descending upon us, but it shouldn’t have surprised me. The big day was upon us. After scouting out our meet-up area yesterday, it didn’t shock me that Ranger wanted to be in everyone’s ear one last time before we cleaned up the mess Naomi’s father had made.
And yet, I was pissed that I didn’t have time to shower.
“Gross,” I murmured as I threw the covers off me.
Lumbering into the bathroom always gave me a shock to my system. The tiled floors were always piercingly cold, so I splashed some hot water onto my face. I stared at the bags beneath my eyes. Jesus Christ, when did I get so old?
“When Ranger started waking me up in the mornings,” I murmured.
I cleaned myself up as much as I could. Well, as much as I could stand, anyway. I hated the feeling of being unclean. Dirt had no place in my world, and neither did smells. I practically took a whore’s bath at the sink, scrubbing my armpits and groin with a soapy washcloth. And after doing the best that I could under the circumstances, I dried off before slipping into some clothes.
I arrived in the conference room on the third floor just in time to slip into my seat before Ranger turned to face us like the dramatic bitch he always had been.
“Today’s the day we get paid, everyone,” our President said as he placed his hands on top of the table. “Dutch and I scouted out the place yesterday, and it’s primed for the exchange.”
Bury, one of our newest prospects, cleared his throat. “Y’all need a lookout for the exchange?”
I shook my head. “Nowhere to perch you.”
Ranger pointed at me. “Dutch has this one under control. This isn’t a learning transaction for anyone. We need this done, and we needed this done yesterday.”
Trooper kicked his feet up onto the table before he started playing with one of his smaller sets of knives. “What time is everything taking place?”
“Me and Dutch leave in an hour.”
Bury tilted his head. “You’re doing this in the middle of the day? Is that smart?”
Ranger shot him a look. “The area where we’ll be is concealed in darkness. No point in waiting any longer than necessary.”
“Don’t worry,” I said as I peered over at Bury’s worried face, “we’ll get your money in time for your mother’s payment to the hospital.”
I felt bad for the man. I really did. His mother had been diagnosed with cancer for the third time in her life, and this time was the most aggressive. They were buried under mounds of medical debt, hence why Trooper practically dragged him to us, kicking and screaming.
If anything, we owed it to the members of this crew that needed this money to simply survive.
“So,” Trooper said as he kicked his feet back off the table, “want to walk us through how this is going to happen?”
Ranger finally took a seat as all eyes turned to face him. “We’re meeting at--.”
“Is someone going to bring me breakfast!?”
My brow furrowed. “Is that--?”
Thump, thump, thump.“Hello? Can anybody hear me!?”
