I’m here. Meet me in the restroom.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” I say and get up.
“Don’t think you’re getting out of it that easily.” Alfonso places his hand on the table and blocks my path.
“Well, unless you want me to piss my pants up onstage, I better go to the restroom first.” I reach for his hand to remove it.
“We will all be here waiting when you get back.” Alfonso’s brows rise before he turns to a crew member, who hands him a drink and slaps him on the back.
I make my way out of the bar, across the entrance and to the restrooms, motioning to Rob not to worry, and enter to see Johnny lingering by the sink. I stand next to him and trigger the faucet sensor so the water starts flowing.
“You got the coke?” My eyes are locked on the door’s reflection in the mirror above the sink.
“Nice to see you too,” Johnny responds sarcastically as he turns to face me. A light splatter of water covers his black T-shirt and jeans.
“Good to see you, Johnny. Have you got my coke?” Tension rises in my temples.
The pulsing beat of my heart reverberates in my ears. I need a fix to get me through the rest of this night, and the two lines of coke I had in the trailer aren’t going to cut it.
“The guy I go to isn’t in town this weekend.” Johnny reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a small Ziplock. “All I could get a hold of was some MDMA.” He shakes the four pills inside the bag.
“Surely there must be someone.”
“I’m not a drug dealer; I’m a runner.” Johnny scrunches the bag up. “And I’m doing this as a favor for you.”
“And don’t I remunerate you accordingly?” I say and grab my wallet, pulling out three Benjamin bills.
“Look. Take it or leave it.” Johnny opens the palm of his hand. “This is all I’ve got.”
I need something, anything, at this point.
But I’ve never done hallucinogens before. Though how bad could it be?
“I’ll take them.” I slide the bills into his pocket.
Just as I grab the pouch from his hand, the door bursts open and Brian enters.
“What you got there, boys?” A smirk rises on his face as he strides toward us.
“Nothing,” I counter and I quickly slide the bag into my pocket as Johnny makes a B-line for the door.
“Don’t be such a buzzkill,” Brian says, coming up behind me. He presses his body up against mine, slipping his hand into my pocket. I try to push back, but he’s too quick. He pulls out the bag and waves it in the air.
“Is this Molly?” He studies the contents up close.
“MDMA.”
“Same thing.”
He opens the bag, tips a pill out into his hand, and slips it intohis mouth before chucking the bag back to me. He sets off the tap, cupping some water into his hands and drinking it to wash the pill down.
“Let’s have some fun tonight.” He gives me a wink as he wipes the water from the side of his mouth before heading over to the urinal.
What if this is laced with fentanyl? My mind drifts to all the news reports of people dying from accidentally ODing. I shouldn’t take one. I study the pouch and the three pills staring back at me.
“What you waiting for, big boy?” Brian says, zipping himself back up and coming over. He grabs my crotch with his hand.
There’s something in the way he looks at me when sayingbig boythat makes me throw caution to the wind. I take one of the pills out, swallowing it down whole, and follow Brian out of the restroom.
