Bad Chemistry by Tom DeGeorge
Author:Tom DeGeorge [DeGeorge, Tom]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Aethon Books
Published: 2024-03-12T00:00:00+00:00
CHAPTER THIRTY
I parked next to the old white beater still squatting in front of Michael Bellâs office. The day was fading to dusk, and it was just dark enough to take the ugly off the neighborhood â enough to redeem the once well-kept houses and to silhouette the big oak trees that had seen the street when it was livable.
The discount store had plenty of business, all foot traffic, no cars out front. I didnât see Grant, the homeless guy, around, so I went into the liquor store.
People will exchange information more freely if youâre handing them money, so I picked up a bottle of Hornitos I didnât need and shuffled about until the only other customer left.
At the counter, I asked, âDo you know Grant? Black guy, hangs around here regular?â
The clerk didnât like me, and didnât mind showing it. âEveryone comes in here is black. Except you. I donât ask names, and if I did, I wouldnât tell you.â
âThanks.â
I put my wallet away and left the bottle on his counter. Asshole â racists come in all colors.
Grant was coming down the sidewalk along the storefronts as I stepped around the liquor store. He was carrying two bags of chips and a liter of generic grape soda.
âHey, Grant. Is that dinner?â
âBreakfast. I get hungry early, before they open.â
âYou remember me, right?â
âSure, yeah. Patrick. Twenty-dollar bill Patrick. Iâm an addict, not a retard.â
He didnât look any worse. Not any better, either. I was glad he wasnât posturing â we were past that. Trying to imagine him before the drugs was too hard. I couldnât pull it off.
âI need some technical help, someone who knows cars, and other tools. Very early tomorrow morning. The pay is good.â
âIs it legal?â
âNo. Does it matter?â
âNot really; itâs just hard being in jail when youâre hurting.â
âIn the morning. Can you work then? Tell me now â I can work around what you have to do.â
âYou mean you can wait until Iâm not high, right?â
âThatâs right.â
âI can be straight in the morning. I can work. Whatâs the pay?â
âTwo hundred. And dinner tonight, a hotel room, and breakfast.â
âItâs worth more than two hundred, isnât it?â
âYeah, it is. But I donât want to kill you either. Two hundred is a lot of drugs.â
âPay me after. I have what I need tonight. Buy me dinner, the hotel room, breakfast, all good. Just pay me after.â
I wanted to bark at him â if you have that kind of self-control, then try rehab! Try saving your life! Try! But I didnât. Instead, I used him. Like I had too many others.
âOkay, if thatâs what you want. Four hundred - after.â
âYeah.â
Grant wanted Italian â craving carbs, he said. He wasnât looking too shabby; heâd showered and shaved at the Lutherans that morning and got some clean clothes. We ate at Ledoâs in College Park, near the University of Maryland. There was a chance Iâd see old friends there â I remembered a girl from high school who had lived in College Park â a sweet friend I cherished.
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