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and shouted, “Hello, Mister and Missus Feldman. Bet you’re excited about your cruise!”
    “Very much so, Derrick,” Mr. Feldman said. “We’re just waiting for my son. He should be here any moment to take us to the airport.”
    “Well, you have a good time.” Derrick grinned, revealing his crooked front tooth.
    “You will keep an eye on our home, won’t you?” Mrs. Feldman asked. “You’ll take in the mail?”
    “Absolutely,” he assured them and ducked into his home, pulling the door shut behind him.
    Through the window, he watched the couple. They hadn’t stopped looking at the front door. The woman said something to which the man nodded. They were probably talking about Juan and how he looked like a fish out of water in this neighborhood.
    Derrick turned from the window. The vestibule led into the living room where a red couch and two brown easy chairs surrounded a battered, old coffee table. Nothing hung on the walls, nor was there carpeting on the floor, all of that had yet to leave Derrick’s to-do list. The hallway led into the kitchen which, from where he stood, had only the bare minimum as far as appliances were concerned. On the Formica-topped kitchen table sat a laptop and nothing else, not even a tablecloth. The only outstanding part of the room was the large picture window that overlooked someone else’s backyard. There were two staircases off the hallway—one led upstairs and one led down.
    Derrick twisted the deadbolt lock. “Okay. Do you have my order?”
    Juan tapped the left breast of his jacket. “I got it right here.” He reached into his inside coat pocket and pulled out a bag filled with large, white capsules. The bag was larger than his hand.
    Derrick took it and held it up to the light. “This the good stuff?”
    “Yeah, it’s all good. You sure got a lot there. I never delivered that much before.”
    “I’m celebrating,” Derrick said with a confident nod. “I think I found an old friend. The Internet is great for things like that.”
    “Whatever, man.” Juan rolled his eyes.
    Derrick tossed the bag in the air and attempted to catch it. Instead, it tipped off the side of his hand and fell to the floor. Derrick snatched the bag up and took a few steps forward, laughing off his clumsiness. He turned back to Juan who was still standing in the vestibule.
    “Your bosses will extend me my usual credit?” Derrick asked.
    “No credit. Cold hard cash is what I got to come back with.”
    “All right, come this way.” Derrick let out a sigh and walked toward the down stairway. He took a few steps down the basement steps and then stopped and glanced at Juan, who remained in place, eyeing him suspiciously. “You want to get paid, right? Come on, I have your money in my safe downstairs.”
    Juan followed, but he kept his hand inside his jacket pocket. Derrick let out a scoff. Figures he is packing heat . The lack of trust among kids today, hadn’t they heard the phrase, “honor among thieves?” Guess not . Derrick continued down. Juan went down three steps, hesitating on each one. The guy was nervous and he couldn’t hide it. Some boss probably threatened to kill him if he came back empty-handed.
    Serves him right for getting into this line of work . At the bottom of the stairs, Derrick opened a door and stepped through with Juan following.
    Juan’s eyes bulged at the enormous basement, much to Derrick’s delight. It was cluttered, mostly due to two large wooden bookcases standing parallel to one another in the center of the room. Both almost touched the unfinished ceiling. Each had five shelves of different heights; neither had actual books on them. Instead, various sizes of glass jugs and jars occupied the shelves. Each filled to the top with a liquid substance that caught Juan’s attention. “You keep your own gasoline?” He must have recognized the aroma.
    “Have you seen the prices of gas out there today?” Derrick pointed out while placing the bag of pills on