Flaws
Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2018 8:33 am
(Andrea Raymer continued from The Alibi)
[open topic to anyone that feels like coming by]
She treaded lightly across the pavement, imagining she was walking on air. The Promenade's parking garage had been built to hold enough cars during the peak shopping seasons, so during the rest of the year the lower levels were deserted save a few cars here and there. They were also, happily, mostly deserted of stuff like cameras and rent-a-cops, which did lead to occasional illegitimate occurrences. Of course, this was still fucking St. Paul, Minnesota, so the place was safe 99% of the time and the rumors of sinister rapists and roving gangs and dealers lurking behind every pillar were generally nonsense. Still, the place still had a reputation, which was one reason she didn't mind it. Because it was for unsavory reasons that she was here, of course.
She reached her car, glancing around but not seeing any sign of the kid. Bah. He'd probably taken off already. Andrea wasn't very fond of her car. It was a used Saturn that was unimpressive in every way, but it had been a gift, so it had been free, and once she turned 18 she'd be able to waste her incoming money on something better like-
"You're late."
"GAH!"
The junior high kid stood before her. His name was Steve Somethingorother, and he'd heard about her the same way most of her other connections had: simple word of mouth. He was a scrawny little bastard in baggy clothes, and he kept glancing around like he expected some mall cop to chase after him with his deadly flashlight. Whatever, it had been his idea to sell here, and one spot was as good as any as long as it wasn't in broad daylight. And it wasn't like she could sell from her front door.
"Wow, this is kind of lame. I thought you were some kind of big time dealer or something."
She glared back, then rolled her eyes and smirked. "Yeah well, things don't really work that way, Steve. I'm Andrea."
-----------------------
"Seriously, I can't believe people actually pay for this stuff, my parents put me on it a year ago."
"Yuh huh."
The white tablets were on her palm and she was sifting through them, estimating rather than counting. She'd tuned Steve out once he'd shown her the pills, and it was typical low dosage stuff that wasn't going to put her on the moon or anything, but was perfectly serviceable for what it was.
"I stopped taking it and they can't even tell the difference, so then my friend Umar told me that his buddy Dylan in the ninth grade sold it to you before. So I went to ask Dylan...."
"Yuh huh."
Andrea's "business" was not exactly a thriving operation. She had a few buyers, a few sellers, and relied on the small network that grew out of them. But she was happy she had it, regardless. Hers was an expensive habit, and it was either do things on this level or pay way, way too much to the people who'd be conducting her deals otherwise. And even better, by going outside the stimulants and dealing in other meds, she could resell those for a decent profit. Not that she was hurting for money of course, given that she could bum cash off her mother whenever she wanted. But having this both helped her avoid suspicion by asking for money that seemingly went nowhere, AND kept her shielded from the horrors of legitimate work. Gah, the mere thought of having to work for someone else in exchange for a paycheque caused Andrea to shiver.
She funneled the Ritalin back into the canister and faced the kid again.
"Alright. I will reach into my pocket and give you forty bucks for what you've got here."
"Forty bucks?!" he said. "That's like, how much they cost regularly!!"
Ugh, kids these days. And obviously that was what they cost regularly. How much did he expect to get for them? They weren't exactly selling heroin on the streets of Manhattan here.
"I was at this message board and they said that I could get like five bucks a pill for them!" He was continuing on, and it was starting to annoy her. She interrupted.
"OK, first of all I really doubt you buy these yourself, so just keep in mind that I'm giving you free money for them. Second, these are 10 mil tablets, which is like nothing, so you're not gonna get five bucks a pill for them, AND I'm buying them all at once, so I obviously get a bulk purchase special discount on these things. I mean, that's sorta how this works. Unless you wanna start dealing yourself, and hey, if you want to go sell them one at a time to your buddies on the playground at recess, that's fine by me."
"OK...."
"Because I'm sure you could totally set up a home turf and get dozens of connections at Ralph Murray Junior High to deal with. And no way you'd ever get caught, you'd make like, super deals in the boys room and the teachers would be none the wiser..."
"OK!" Ah, good. Maybe he'd end up a repeat seller after all. Steve (she had to get his last name at some point, she'd probably written it down somewhere and forgot) then pulled out a second pillbox.
"How much will you give me for these?"
He tossed the unlabeled bottle in her direction, but she fumbled the catch and it fell to the floor, spilling out a series of oversized, yellowish pills. Even worse, he was snickering as Andrea dropped to her knees and gathered them up. Well, nothing like a little embarrassment in front of some pimply kid to keep your humility up. There were about twenty of them, and she swept them in without counting yet. She wanted to get them back in the canister and get back on her feet before she looked any dumber.
"So what the hell are these?" she asked.
He stopped his stupid chuckle and shook his head. "I dunno, OK! I got it from my dad's medicine cabinet."
Finally getting the last pills into the box, Andrea kept one between her fingers and studied it intently. Oooh, Vicodin. That was something she could pull a profit on.
"Dude, these are expired. I'll give you twenty bucks for 'em."
He opened his mouth, presumably to agree, and then paused, looking confused. "Uh, how do you know they're expired? There's no label on them or anything."
Whoops.
Ugh, there was really nothing worse than looking like a klutz and then getting outsmarted by this goddamn tween. Andrea needed another coffee.
She went with the first thing that came to mind. "Look, they look old, OK? Alright, twenty five bucks. Like I said, you're getting money for uh, absolutely nothing here, so I'd say that's a pretty good deal."
And thankfully he nodded, so Andrea could finally get this freaking deal over with. She pulled a bunch of bills out of her jeans pocket, counting the right amount. Bah, that had been a hit to her finances, but she could sell the Vikes for enough to make up for it, and she knew a bunch of juniors who'd need new stuff soon, so it was all good.
"Tell your friends!" she sarcastically called as he walked away. Then, breathing out, she dropped the pills back into her bag and turned back to her car. She did have to admit that she got a bit nervous any time she did a deal. Just a bit.
[open topic to anyone that feels like coming by]
She treaded lightly across the pavement, imagining she was walking on air. The Promenade's parking garage had been built to hold enough cars during the peak shopping seasons, so during the rest of the year the lower levels were deserted save a few cars here and there. They were also, happily, mostly deserted of stuff like cameras and rent-a-cops, which did lead to occasional illegitimate occurrences. Of course, this was still fucking St. Paul, Minnesota, so the place was safe 99% of the time and the rumors of sinister rapists and roving gangs and dealers lurking behind every pillar were generally nonsense. Still, the place still had a reputation, which was one reason she didn't mind it. Because it was for unsavory reasons that she was here, of course.
She reached her car, glancing around but not seeing any sign of the kid. Bah. He'd probably taken off already. Andrea wasn't very fond of her car. It was a used Saturn that was unimpressive in every way, but it had been a gift, so it had been free, and once she turned 18 she'd be able to waste her incoming money on something better like-
"You're late."
"GAH!"
The junior high kid stood before her. His name was Steve Somethingorother, and he'd heard about her the same way most of her other connections had: simple word of mouth. He was a scrawny little bastard in baggy clothes, and he kept glancing around like he expected some mall cop to chase after him with his deadly flashlight. Whatever, it had been his idea to sell here, and one spot was as good as any as long as it wasn't in broad daylight. And it wasn't like she could sell from her front door.
"Wow, this is kind of lame. I thought you were some kind of big time dealer or something."
She glared back, then rolled her eyes and smirked. "Yeah well, things don't really work that way, Steve. I'm Andrea."
-----------------------
"Seriously, I can't believe people actually pay for this stuff, my parents put me on it a year ago."
"Yuh huh."
The white tablets were on her palm and she was sifting through them, estimating rather than counting. She'd tuned Steve out once he'd shown her the pills, and it was typical low dosage stuff that wasn't going to put her on the moon or anything, but was perfectly serviceable for what it was.
"I stopped taking it and they can't even tell the difference, so then my friend Umar told me that his buddy Dylan in the ninth grade sold it to you before. So I went to ask Dylan...."
"Yuh huh."
Andrea's "business" was not exactly a thriving operation. She had a few buyers, a few sellers, and relied on the small network that grew out of them. But she was happy she had it, regardless. Hers was an expensive habit, and it was either do things on this level or pay way, way too much to the people who'd be conducting her deals otherwise. And even better, by going outside the stimulants and dealing in other meds, she could resell those for a decent profit. Not that she was hurting for money of course, given that she could bum cash off her mother whenever she wanted. But having this both helped her avoid suspicion by asking for money that seemingly went nowhere, AND kept her shielded from the horrors of legitimate work. Gah, the mere thought of having to work for someone else in exchange for a paycheque caused Andrea to shiver.
She funneled the Ritalin back into the canister and faced the kid again.
"Alright. I will reach into my pocket and give you forty bucks for what you've got here."
"Forty bucks?!" he said. "That's like, how much they cost regularly!!"
Ugh, kids these days. And obviously that was what they cost regularly. How much did he expect to get for them? They weren't exactly selling heroin on the streets of Manhattan here.
"I was at this message board and they said that I could get like five bucks a pill for them!" He was continuing on, and it was starting to annoy her. She interrupted.
"OK, first of all I really doubt you buy these yourself, so just keep in mind that I'm giving you free money for them. Second, these are 10 mil tablets, which is like nothing, so you're not gonna get five bucks a pill for them, AND I'm buying them all at once, so I obviously get a bulk purchase special discount on these things. I mean, that's sorta how this works. Unless you wanna start dealing yourself, and hey, if you want to go sell them one at a time to your buddies on the playground at recess, that's fine by me."
"OK...."
"Because I'm sure you could totally set up a home turf and get dozens of connections at Ralph Murray Junior High to deal with. And no way you'd ever get caught, you'd make like, super deals in the boys room and the teachers would be none the wiser..."
"OK!" Ah, good. Maybe he'd end up a repeat seller after all. Steve (she had to get his last name at some point, she'd probably written it down somewhere and forgot) then pulled out a second pillbox.
"How much will you give me for these?"
He tossed the unlabeled bottle in her direction, but she fumbled the catch and it fell to the floor, spilling out a series of oversized, yellowish pills. Even worse, he was snickering as Andrea dropped to her knees and gathered them up. Well, nothing like a little embarrassment in front of some pimply kid to keep your humility up. There were about twenty of them, and she swept them in without counting yet. She wanted to get them back in the canister and get back on her feet before she looked any dumber.
"So what the hell are these?" she asked.
He stopped his stupid chuckle and shook his head. "I dunno, OK! I got it from my dad's medicine cabinet."
Finally getting the last pills into the box, Andrea kept one between her fingers and studied it intently. Oooh, Vicodin. That was something she could pull a profit on.
"Dude, these are expired. I'll give you twenty bucks for 'em."
He opened his mouth, presumably to agree, and then paused, looking confused. "Uh, how do you know they're expired? There's no label on them or anything."
Whoops.
Ugh, there was really nothing worse than looking like a klutz and then getting outsmarted by this goddamn tween. Andrea needed another coffee.
She went with the first thing that came to mind. "Look, they look old, OK? Alright, twenty five bucks. Like I said, you're getting money for uh, absolutely nothing here, so I'd say that's a pretty good deal."
And thankfully he nodded, so Andrea could finally get this freaking deal over with. She pulled a bunch of bills out of her jeans pocket, counting the right amount. Bah, that had been a hit to her finances, but she could sell the Vikes for enough to make up for it, and she knew a bunch of juniors who'd need new stuff soon, so it was all good.
"Tell your friends!" she sarcastically called as he walked away. Then, breathing out, she dropped the pills back into her bag and turned back to her car. She did have to admit that she got a bit nervous any time she did a deal. Just a bit.