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patterned sofa, lights up a fat-ass joint and
takes a long drag from it before passing it to Decks. Decks puffs a few times
and then says to Russ, “Those greedy little bastards even pre-ordered shit for
tomorrow night’s social gathering.”
    “Sweet,”
Russ declares, licking his lips as Decks shoves the tight rolled blazing
marijuana toward Murph who’s sitting next to him. Murph shakes his head,
passing on his turn so Decks thrusts it at me. I glance up at Russ for
permission and he nods. I pretend to pull in the illegal substance softly twice
before faking a long drag and then mimic choking immediately. I hate the smell
of marijuana and getting high, but appearances are everything in this world.
The next time they offer me some I’ll just throw out the old standby cover and
tell them I’m on color code. Works every time .
    “Damn.
Girl likes her reefer,” Decks croons, a devilish grin forms on his dark red
lips. 
    Forcing
my words out, I fake a couple more coughs and giggle, “Good shit.” All the guys
laugh, and Russ finishes off the first pass around handing it back to Minder.
    “How
was business here?” Minder asks, rolling a second joint up and I zero in on his
masterful skills. It’s mesmerizing watching how he crinkles the paper into a V
shape, sprinkles a little of the dried cannabis into it and then slowly slides
the tip of the paper across his tongue.
    Dammit,
I’m fucked up from a contact buzz.
    Minder
glances up at me, catching me staring he winks and I smile shyly. Realizing
that I am drooling, I wipe my thumb on the corner of my mouth and now his eyes
zero in on my lips. Thankfully the other guys draw him back into their
conversation, and I sneak off toward the bathroom.
    Upon
reaching the doorway I hear a soft murmur coming from the room beyond the
bathroom. Momma has been asleep for several hours, and it sounds like she’s
having a bad dream. I pop into the grimy bathroom and out just as quickly after
splashing water on my face. Entering the hallway I hear the sound again, louder
this time. I knock on her door, but there’s no response. Opening the door, I
see Momma sleeping soundly in the bed, but I pause to see if she is the source
of the noise.
    “Martin?”
Momma whimpers.
    I
sit on the edge of the bed beside her which creaks under my weight. I softly
slide my hand over her cold arm and she shifts around slowly. Smiling up at me
with glistening eyes, she grips my hand weakly with frozen fingers.
    “Just
a bad dream Sugar. I’m alright now. Go join your friends.” She rolls away,
pulling the thin cover over her shoulder before adding, “Good night dear.”
    My
heart crushes for the sweet, old lady who is being used by her friends as a cover for their illegal operations, but she is completely unaware that her
fleabag house will soon be taken from her because of them. Yes, in this
business even the innocent people lose big.

Chapter
Six
    May
    “Dance
with me,” Decks whispers into my ear, ordering me rather than asking, “I am the
birthday boy after all.”
    Standing
over me, he leans back to look me in the eye teasingly. His dimples pierce deep
into his cheeks with his playful smile while his dark brown eyes smolder just a
little darker with lust. Knowing that he won’t give up, I take his offered hand
and allow him to guide me out on the dance floor.
    Tonight
marks five months since I joined Russ in this assignment we jokingly refer to
as “Busting Kennedy’s”. Yes, it is a completely lame ass name, but we struggled
with it for over a week, and as clever as we are we still couldn’t come up with
a better title. It is the Kennedy name (no, not those Kennedy’s), and their
money, backing most of the suspicious activity, and controlling all of these
players. Plus, busting criminals is our game. Okay, yes again I admit, it is
weak.
    “Happy
birthday, Decks,” I say, drawing my hand up to his shoulder as he pulls my body
against his for the slow Coltrane song that just began