Answer the f**king question, ass**le! “I know how it works. So what’s this weeks total?” I asked again, feeling my blood pressure start to rise from the anger.
“Fourteen and a half,” he stated, pressing his fingertips together and sitting back in his chair, his eyes clearly amused.
It went up by one and a half thousand in a week? Oh shit, I am in so much trouble! I tried my best not to show any reaction, that was exactly what he wanted. I stood up and pulled the seven hundred bucks that I had managed to get from the ATM down the road. I threw it on his desk and sat back down.
His eyes grew amused as he looked at it. “I may not be Rain Man but even I can see that doesn’t quite cover it,” he joked, smirking at me.
“I know. Call it a down payment or something. I want you to leave my mother alone. I’ll be taking over her debt, from now on you deal with me.” I looked at him sternly, this wasn’t a request, if he touched my mother again then I was cutting him to pieces and mailing his wedding ring back to his wife in a clear plastic bag.
He smiled and leant forward in his chair, “Oh really? Brett Mason’s little protégé owes me money? Well call this my lucky day,” he said, laughing quietly to himself.
I ignored the little glint in his eye when he thought about me being in his debt, maybe he was thinking I still had links to Brett and his organisation or something. “I can get you about a thousand a month,” I offered.
He laughed right in my face, a big booming laugh that made the room echo slightly. “The interest alone is six thousand a month.”
I felt my heart sink, there was no other way around this, I couldn’t just take over the debt and pay him using my wages, I didn’t even earn six thousand a month! “Right, of course. Look I’ll figure something out, just transfer the debt into my name and forget you ever heard the name Sharon Cole. I’ll get you your money, do we have a deal?” I asked, looking at him hopefully.
He seemed to find me amusing again, he sat back in his chair with his fingers together under his chin, his eyes scanning my face. “You know, if you were to come and work for me, I could forget this debt ever existed.”
I shook my head fiercely, my loyalty was and would always be to Brett, I wouldn’t ever jump ship like that, not to mention the fact that Brett would have me killed if I did. “No thanks. I’ll get you your money as soon as I can. In the meantime, if I find out one of your boys has even looked at my mother in the wrong way, then I’m killing them.” I stood up, signalling that the meeting was over.
He laughed, “You always were a scrappy little shit.”
I smiled and nodded once in acknowledgement. “So they tell me. Thanks for your time.” I headed out of the door without waiting to be dismissed and walked out of the building quickly before I was grabbed and dragged into the back alley and beaten senseless for the semi disrespect that I just showed to him.
I made it to the car unscathed so I jumped in and pulled away quickly before he could send someone out here after me. I could look after myself but guys with guns really wasn’t in my favour.
I stopped the car when I was a few blocks away and cut the engine.
I gripped the steering wheel tightly and closed my eyes, thinking everything through. I didn’t have any choice, I didn’t earn enough to cover this debt that I’d just pulled over my head, this was the only way out of it.
I pulled my cell phone from my pocket, dialling his number and then sat there with my head resting back on the seat, waiting for him to answer. When the line connected I felt empty, emotionless and resigned to the fact that a waster like me would never get out of the life of crime.
“Hey, Kid!” he chirped happily.
I smiled at his warm tone, I had always got on well with Brett, I guess he was the missing father figure from my life. I swallowed my pride and just did what needed to be done, there was no other way around it, it was this or I’d wind up dead.
“Hey, Brett. I’m, err…..I’m in a bit of trouble and I need a couple of jobs.”
Chapter 14
I pulled up outside the warehouse and just sat in the car looking at it, wondering what on earth I had gotten myself into. I knew I could just tell Brett about the debt and he would pay it off, all interest would stop being added, the threats of violence would cease. But the thing is, I would actually rather owe money to Tony Grier than Brett. If I owed Tony, once the debt was paid off, I was free, it was over. If I let Brett pay off the debt for me, then owing him would be worse in the long run. I would be forever indebted to him; there would always just be one more job that I owed him. I couldn’t have that. Once this was over, I was going straight. Ellie and I were making a go of it, I was determined to make something of myself and not screw it up.
Something rapped on my window, making me jump. I looked around to see Ray grinning at me happily. Forcing a smile, I pushed the door open and stepped out. “Hey, what you doing here?” he asked, looking a little confused. “I thought we weren’t meeting until later in the week.”
I smiled, pretending that everything was fine, pretending that I didn’t have a whole heap of shit suspended above my head at the moment. I always was good at lying, I’d become practiced at telling people I was fine from a very young age.
“I just came to speak to Brett. I need a little money so I’m gonna ask him for a couple of boosts,” I replied, shrugging like it was no big deal.
He frowned. “I thought you were going clean. That you were happy being out of this all. I thought you didn’t want your girl to know what you used to be. Why do you need it now?” he asked, looking concerned.