My Life Underground ~5~ Found
It continues!!..not sure how long it will be as it is in the works, but here's the next part anyway...thanks to all those that read and input! keep it up and I will too :)
PART FIVE:
The steps up to the house feel like an hour worth of walking. Teagan stretches out one unsure hand and taps quietly on the door.
"Who do you know here anyway?" I ask her in a low whisper. There is rustling on the other side of the door.
"Matt's friends. I know like, 4 of them. And you'll remember Jeremy from the last time you were here."
The door swings open and a skinny, greasy looking guy in sweatpants opens the door. I recognize him immediately as the Jeremy, Teagan was talking about. Except he has drastically gotten worse from the last time I saw him. He looks like he is on his deathbed. Last time I saw him he was kinda good looking. He mumbles something that might be "hey", but I can't really tell, then he turns around and walks into the house, leaving the door wide open. We follow him in.
"We gotta find Brian." Teagan whispers to me, "he's the one who will know shit, if anyone does."
We walk through the living room, there is a girl on the couch, her eyes are closed and her mouth open as if she is in great ecstasy but there is a needle with blood on the tip in her clenched palm. Sitting next to her is a guy, he has his feet up on the coffee table and a smoke hanging out of his mouth. Teagan turns to him, waves her hand nervously.
"Hey Brian," she says.
"Teagan, what can I do for you? I thought you were off the smack?"
"I am," she says, " I just wanted to know if you had seen someone. I'm looking for a friend of mine and the last rumors were that he was selling on Hastings, and if he was, well I thought you would know about it for sure."
"Name?" asks Brian, taking a huge drag of his smoke.
"Keenan."
Brian is quiet, thinking. He drags from his smoke again. The long ash falls off the end and lands on his shirt, he doesn't notice. The girl next to him stirs and grumbles something under her breath.
"Tall guy, brown hair?" asks Brian.
I nod.
"Ya, I seen him. Last I knew he was selling for Greg. You might wanna pay him a little visit."
"Thanks." says Teagan. I nod at him.
We walk out of the living room and out the front door. We start our walk back to the car. I remember Greg. He is very high up in the dope world. Very well off. We are definitely in the wrong part of town to be seeing him. I'm not quite sure how Keenan managed to get into Greg's group, but if he did it was not going to be easy to get him out. I vaguely wonder if Luther knows Greg. It is a quick thought and leaves almost as soon as it comes, but it still makes me feel like throwing up my guts. I hold it back.
We reach the car and I force myself into the passenger seat. All I feel like doing is running away. But instead I light a smoke. Inhale. Exhale. Breathe. Find Keenan. Then I can continue on with my miserable existence in peace. We drive. Greg, if I remember correctly lives in White Rock, in a beach front property. Lucky Asshole. I turn to Teagan.
"White Rock?" I ask her.
She just nods and lights a smoke of her own. I think she is dreading seeing Greg as much as I am. My phone rings. I don't even think, I just answer it.
"Hello?"
A familiar voice, "Hey gorgeous."
I resist the urge to slam my phone shut and wing it out the window. I don't say a word. I try to remember to breathe. It is Luther. Teagan looks over at me questioningly. I am paralyzed in fear. I know he is 9 hours away. But I still can't move. Can't breathe. Can't think.
"Sunday drive?" he asks, "White Rock?"
"How do you-" I start, he cuts me off.
"I thought you said Teagan drove a black car?"
Click.
I take a drag of my smoke. I turn to Teagan.
"Luther is following us. Or one of his boys are." I resist the urge to throw up again.
I turn and look behind us. There is a black car, about 5 ft behind us on the freeway. The guy in the drivers seat waves at me. He flashes me a cocky grin that I can see from here. I recognize him instantly. Joe.
"Teagan we need to lose him. Now." I say.
She chucks her smoke out the window and looks at me.
"You need to drive." she says, "You know I don't do well under pressure."
She sets the cruise control and slides her seat back. I slide over as she slides into the passenger seat. I move the seat ahead. Turn off the cruise. Floor the gas pedal. I quickly maneuver the car in and out of the lanes, swerving around everyone going slower than 140km. I look in the rear view and see Joe. He is further behind now. He is struggling to keep up but he is still doing it.
There is construction up ahead. My heart is pounding. The adrenaline pumps through me. Clears my head. I can see what I need to do perfectly I risk a glance a Teagan. Her face is drained of color, she is grasping the door handle with white knuckles. I glance at the speedometer. 170 km. I pin it and fly in front of the traffic and sneak into the single lane. I honk the horn loudly. I see the flagger saying something on the radio as she moves quickly out of the way. I fly through the construction zone. I swerve madly to avoid a slow moving car in the single lane. Teagan's eyes are closed tightly. The flagger leaps out behind me and holds traffic back again.
I glance in the rear view. Joe is gone. I lost him. I set the cruise and switch seats with Teagan again. Once we are righted she looks over at me.
"Who ARE you?" she yells at me in shock.
I just laugh at her. She turns back to the road and grips the wheel with both hands, still white knuckled as if it were her driving. I pull the baggie out of my purse.
"Do you mind?" I ask her.
"Fuck it," she says "Go for it."
I laugh again, all the adrenaline is making me crazy. I roll up my 20, dip it into the bag. Snort. I try to swallow my heart back down into my chest but it seems pretty intent on beating up into my throat. At least for the moment.
We hit White Rock and pull down the main drag along the pier.
"There it is." she says, pointing at a huge house situated in the row perched above the main drag, overlooking the ocean. It has a huge deck and enormous windows. She keeps driving.
"We might want to park somewhere else." she says.
We pull around the corner and park in the alley behind the strip of bars and stores. She shuts off the engine. We get out of the car and both light up cigarettes.
"You ready?" I say, turning to her.
"As ready as I'm ever going to be." she says.
For some reason this sends us into hysterics and we start down the street laughing and clutching at our sides like school kids. Our laughter continues until we reach the towering house where we might find Keenan. Or I might find trouble. Either way I've already decided I'm going in.
Standing in front of the house, I realize I couldn't find that laughter of 5 minutes ago, even if my life depended on it. I don't know if I am ready to see Keenan broken like he is sure to be, if he's even there at all. I close my eyes and breathe in and out. Just focus on it.
"Let's go Ainslee." Teagan pulls lightly on my arm.
I allow her to lightly drag me toward the door. I open my eyes and continue to focus on my breathing. It seems only an instant and we are at the door. Teagan gives it a tentative knock. It swings open and a tall, bald and bearded guy is standing there. He obviously recognizes Teagan and lets us in. I let my eyes swing around the huge open room we are in.
"We're here to see Greg." Teagan says to the tall, bald and bearded guy.
"No problem Tea," he says," Just wait here." He turns away, to go find Greg.
My eyes land on a familiar dark, shaggy head, complete with tell-tale sea green eyes. I exhale sharply and say, in no more than a sharp whisper:
"Keenan."
The steps up to the house feel like an hour worth of walking. Teagan stretches out one unsure hand and taps quietly on the door.
"Who do you know here anyway?" I ask her in a low whisper. There is rustling on the other side of the door.
"Matt's friends. I know like, 4 of them. And you'll remember Jeremy from the last time you were here."
The door swings open and a skinny, greasy looking guy in sweatpants opens the door. I recognize him immediately as the Jeremy, Teagan was talking about. Except he has drastically gotten worse from the last time I saw him. He looks like he is on his deathbed. Last time I saw him he was kinda good looking. He mumbles something that might be "hey", but I can't really tell, then he turns around and walks into the house, leaving the door wide open. We follow him in.
"We gotta find Brian." Teagan whispers to me, "he's the one who will know shit, if anyone does."
We walk through the living room, there is a girl on the couch, her eyes are closed and her mouth open as if she is in great ecstasy but there is a needle with blood on the tip in her clenched palm. Sitting next to her is a guy, he has his feet up on the coffee table and a smoke hanging out of his mouth. Teagan turns to him, waves her hand nervously.
"Hey Brian," she says.
"Teagan, what can I do for you? I thought you were off the smack?"
"I am," she says, " I just wanted to know if you had seen someone. I'm looking for a friend of mine and the last rumors were that he was selling on Hastings, and if he was, well I thought you would know about it for sure."
"Name?" asks Brian, taking a huge drag of his smoke.
"Keenan."
Brian is quiet, thinking. He drags from his smoke again. The long ash falls off the end and lands on his shirt, he doesn't notice. The girl next to him stirs and grumbles something under her breath.
"Tall guy, brown hair?" asks Brian.
I nod.
"Ya, I seen him. Last I knew he was selling for Greg. You might wanna pay him a little visit."
"Thanks." says Teagan. I nod at him.
We walk out of the living room and out the front door. We start our walk back to the car. I remember Greg. He is very high up in the dope world. Very well off. We are definitely in the wrong part of town to be seeing him. I'm not quite sure how Keenan managed to get into Greg's group, but if he did it was not going to be easy to get him out. I vaguely wonder if Luther knows Greg. It is a quick thought and leaves almost as soon as it comes, but it still makes me feel like throwing up my guts. I hold it back.
We reach the car and I force myself into the passenger seat. All I feel like doing is running away. But instead I light a smoke. Inhale. Exhale. Breathe. Find Keenan. Then I can continue on with my miserable existence in peace. We drive. Greg, if I remember correctly lives in White Rock, in a beach front property. Lucky Asshole. I turn to Teagan.
"White Rock?" I ask her.
She just nods and lights a smoke of her own. I think she is dreading seeing Greg as much as I am. My phone rings. I don't even think, I just answer it.
"Hello?"
A familiar voice, "Hey gorgeous."
I resist the urge to slam my phone shut and wing it out the window. I don't say a word. I try to remember to breathe. It is Luther. Teagan looks over at me questioningly. I am paralyzed in fear. I know he is 9 hours away. But I still can't move. Can't breathe. Can't think.
"Sunday drive?" he asks, "White Rock?"
"How do you-" I start, he cuts me off.
"I thought you said Teagan drove a black car?"
Click.
I take a drag of my smoke. I turn to Teagan.
"Luther is following us. Or one of his boys are." I resist the urge to throw up again.
I turn and look behind us. There is a black car, about 5 ft behind us on the freeway. The guy in the drivers seat waves at me. He flashes me a cocky grin that I can see from here. I recognize him instantly. Joe.
"Teagan we need to lose him. Now." I say.
She chucks her smoke out the window and looks at me.
"You need to drive." she says, "You know I don't do well under pressure."
She sets the cruise control and slides her seat back. I slide over as she slides into the passenger seat. I move the seat ahead. Turn off the cruise. Floor the gas pedal. I quickly maneuver the car in and out of the lanes, swerving around everyone going slower than 140km. I look in the rear view and see Joe. He is further behind now. He is struggling to keep up but he is still doing it.
There is construction up ahead. My heart is pounding. The adrenaline pumps through me. Clears my head. I can see what I need to do perfectly I risk a glance a Teagan. Her face is drained of color, she is grasping the door handle with white knuckles. I glance at the speedometer. 170 km. I pin it and fly in front of the traffic and sneak into the single lane. I honk the horn loudly. I see the flagger saying something on the radio as she moves quickly out of the way. I fly through the construction zone. I swerve madly to avoid a slow moving car in the single lane. Teagan's eyes are closed tightly. The flagger leaps out behind me and holds traffic back again.
I glance in the rear view. Joe is gone. I lost him. I set the cruise and switch seats with Teagan again. Once we are righted she looks over at me.
"Who ARE you?" she yells at me in shock.
I just laugh at her. She turns back to the road and grips the wheel with both hands, still white knuckled as if it were her driving. I pull the baggie out of my purse.
"Do you mind?" I ask her.
"Fuck it," she says "Go for it."
I laugh again, all the adrenaline is making me crazy. I roll up my 20, dip it into the bag. Snort. I try to swallow my heart back down into my chest but it seems pretty intent on beating up into my throat. At least for the moment.
We hit White Rock and pull down the main drag along the pier.
"There it is." she says, pointing at a huge house situated in the row perched above the main drag, overlooking the ocean. It has a huge deck and enormous windows. She keeps driving.
"We might want to park somewhere else." she says.
We pull around the corner and park in the alley behind the strip of bars and stores. She shuts off the engine. We get out of the car and both light up cigarettes.
"You ready?" I say, turning to her.
"As ready as I'm ever going to be." she says.
For some reason this sends us into hysterics and we start down the street laughing and clutching at our sides like school kids. Our laughter continues until we reach the towering house where we might find Keenan. Or I might find trouble. Either way I've already decided I'm going in.
Standing in front of the house, I realize I couldn't find that laughter of 5 minutes ago, even if my life depended on it. I don't know if I am ready to see Keenan broken like he is sure to be, if he's even there at all. I close my eyes and breathe in and out. Just focus on it.
"Let's go Ainslee." Teagan pulls lightly on my arm.
I allow her to lightly drag me toward the door. I open my eyes and continue to focus on my breathing. It seems only an instant and we are at the door. Teagan gives it a tentative knock. It swings open and a tall, bald and bearded guy is standing there. He obviously recognizes Teagan and lets us in. I let my eyes swing around the huge open room we are in.
"We're here to see Greg." Teagan says to the tall, bald and bearded guy.
"No problem Tea," he says," Just wait here." He turns away, to go find Greg.
My eyes land on a familiar dark, shaggy head, complete with tell-tale sea green eyes. I exhale sharply and say, in no more than a sharp whisper:
"Keenan."
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