Things never pan out as you expect.

Sleep wasn’t coming to him naturally. He rolled onto his side once more and pressed the button on the side of his watch, the green glow told him it had just passed 2 am. He audibly exhaled, he didn’t want to wake her up, or maybe he did, otherwise why would he exhale in such a way. Jealously filled his body, it seemed unfair that she could immediately fall asleep whereas he was trapped in his own head, to boot he could feel the caffeine coursing through his veins, and he was wondering why he couldn’t sleep? 

It was the third night in a row that she had stayed over. They weren’t a couple but they enjoyed each others company and sleeping together seemed like something they probably should do as opposed to a burning desire in each of them. They lived in the same sleepy town and were roughly the same age. Generally, when people leave the town, they never return, they go to boarding schools, universities and then cities to pursue lifelong dreams, but somehow Katie ended up back in Liss much like him and the town wasn’t exactly bursting at the seems with twenty-somethings. Sometimes things don’t pan out the way you intend. 

It was with this thought that his phone started aggressively vibrating on the floor, blue light illuminating the room in an unnatural, creepy glow. He waited a second, the phone would stop vibrating if it was a text, or he’d have to get up and go deal with it if it was call. Katie stirred, mumbled something incoherent.

What. He said.

The response wasn’t coherent, and he realised she wouldn’t be returning to the land of living any time soon. He rose from the bed and padded over to his phone, squatting down to pick it up he felt self-conscious about the compromising position his naked body was in, he cradled the phone in his hands. 

Oi, you up? We still on for tonight? A message from Danny, the third twenty-something in Liss. 

Yes fella, 2:30 round the back of Tesco. He tapped out in reply. 

Safe. What do I need to bring? The response from Danny instantaneous. 

Eh? He replied, at this point, he was completely awake, phone light does that to people, something about chemicals and dopamine, he read it recently in the paper. 

Like a knife? Bags? Scales? The question marks transmitted Danny’s anxiety to him. 

Mate, it’s not fucking Scarface. Be normal. He replied. He went to the foot of his bed and quickly got dressed, black skinny jeans, a grey t-shirt and white socks. Katie wasn’t stirring, in two minds to wake her up and ask her to leave or let her lie, he chose the latter, all things going to plan he should be back within an hour, hour and a half tops. 

Making his way downstairs he checked for noise from his parent’s room, they weren’t awake when he and Katie returned late and they weren’t awake now. Slipping his black trainers and North Face jacket on he realised he was decked in head to toe in black, this wasn’t his intention and he couldn’t decide if this made him stick out more, or less. He unhooked his keys and the keys for his dad’s allotment shed from the family key house, and dropped them into his pocket, as he slid out the front door. 

He made his way to the car park, thinking about what was to come. He had briefly sold drugs at university, but he would never declare himself a drug dealer. He just knew a lot of people, and a lot of people asked him for drugs, there reached a point where he was sorting up to ten friends a week for various illegal products. He did what everyone else did, cocaine, ecstasy and weed, and after buying in bulk from other uni students he decided to cut out the middle man. Familiarising himself with the dark web, he would buy 14 grams a week of each drug and then sort it into smaller 0.7-gram bags which he would then sell to his friends at a slightly cheaper than the market rate. During his last year of university, he was making over £1500 a week. This might have been the reason he didn’t quite get his job applications in, but he also didn’t know what to do.

It was cold, the back end of November always felt bleak and wintery to him and he wished he had another layer or two on. He went into the car park and realising he was five minutes early, and starting to feel a bit anxious, he put his hands to use, rolling a cigarette and lighting it. He hadn’t bought and sold drugs in Liss yet, but with Christmas around the corner and the inevitable influx of school friends returning to leafy Hampshire, plus not having that much cash himself he decided to order some cocaine and ecstasy to his parent’s house. 

He knew it was a stupid thing to do, but as long as he could intercept the package before his parents there wouldn’t be any problems. He had managed to pick up the parcels last week, and after putting them in his room, he decided to move them. His mum still liked to pick up his washing and do his sheets for him and he didn’t want to run the risk of his mum finding 14g of cocaine in his draw. He moved it to his dad’s allotment shed, it had everything they would need, it had lights and a table, he still had his scales and enough bags from his university time. It was just a question of repackaging the drugs in the allotment. 

A hooded figure entered the car park, he was moving skittishly and was fitted head to toe in black. Idling over where he was sat, Danny pulled down his hood. 

Fucking freezing eh? Danny said as he held out a fist for a bump.

Winter. He replied. Touching his fist into Danny’s. 

Danny was wearing black tracksuit trousers and a black windbreaker. Together it was hard to say they didn’t look conspicuous. Danny started talking about what happened the night before, banal conversation that he could just nod along to, as they made their out the back of the car park towards the allotment. Danny seemed pretty highly strung to him, and he asked him if there was anything wrong, Danny was on edge and it was making him a bit nervous. 

Just excited mate. First time doing this. Danny said.

It’s literally just putting powder in bags. It’s not rocket science, glamorous or even remotely dangerous, although I can say you do look the fucking part. He said. 

Yeah yeah yeah I know, but we are like now the biggest drug dealers in town, this is our kingdom and we are the kings! Danny rattled off. 

It’s not exactly a title that’s been given to us, and it’s not like we are going to do this weekly, we’re just being smart, no biggie. He said back.

At the mention of the word “biggie,” Danny started to mutter some Notorious B.I.G lyrics under his breath, by this point he was fully aware Danny was high, or at least on some form of upper. He was too scatty and on edge and it was obvious in his voice. It didn’t bother him, Liss was a town of fewer than 5,000 people and wasn’t exactly fighting a war on drugs akin to other big cities and towns. He turned to Danny and said, Mate if you’re feeling on edge you can go home and I’ll take care of it. 

No way Jose! I need Don Pablo to show young Danny how to handle the product. Danny replied in an offensively bad Mexican accent as they rounded the corner into the park. The allotment was behind the tennis courts tucked into the corner of the green space, they were large but becoming slightly redundant in the town, food had become so cheap in local shops that people had stopped growing their own food. 

The allotment itself was never locked, but beyond the rows of overgrown green were 6 sheds assigned by the local council to outstanding town citizens. They were assigned on four-year rotations and his dad had been trying for 3 rotations to secure one, every time he failed he became more determined to be an outstanding citizen in the town, he wrote for the local paper, he organised red nose day events and even tried his hand on baking for children in need. His dad, once being awarded the allotment had never used it, for him it was all about the pride of having an allotment bestowed upon him, just to say he had one. 

He was different to his dad in this sense, he didn’t brag and that’s one of the reasons he had been able to sell drugs for so long, he was understated. Danny was still clattering on as they passed the rows of grow bags, seeing these, Danny was suggesting they start a full-on Marijuana grow plot.

His eyes now settled onto the sheds out in front, his dad’s second from the left. He thought the window looked strange and not completely flat, as they got closer he picked up his pace. The window was smashed. The bottom rails had been cleared out, and glass was jutting out from the top. He took a second to think. Danny finally fell silent.  

Danny, did you tell anyone what we were doing? He said in a voice both quiet and accusatory. 

No, no, not that I can think of. Danny uttered back.

Well. I didn’t. He said moving towards the door. Worrying that you have to think of it though. 

He slipped the key into the door, which was already ajar. The shed itself was pristine, besides the shattered glass on the workspace. 

Mate, do you think it’s an inside job? Danny whispered. 

The movie references were starting to wear thin now and he checked where he had hidden the packages, he knew they wouldn’t be there. Danny, he said, we are the only two on the job, so if it’s an inside job, as you are suggesting, you are basically accusing one of us of stealing our own gear, and I am sure as hell I didn’t do it. He was maintaining his cool quite well but he was starting to get impatient, it was his last £400, not life or death money, but have a good Christmas kind of money. 

Well, what are we going to do? Danny inquired.

You’ve got two options. One, we go to the cashpoint now and you give me £800 for the gear. Two, you tell me who has it. He said, trying to sound as sinister as possible. 

Mate, I don’t like the way your talking? Do you think I did it?! Danny said aghast, eyes like dinner plates.

Danny, your jaw is fucking wobbling and you’ve chewed off half your fucking lips. He exaggerated here, but Danny was clearly quite high by this point. Fucking Biggies ten crack commandments. He added as a footnote. 

Never get high off your own supply! Danny exclaimed. Unable to quell the serotonin and dopamine flooding his brain. He waited for Danny to decide what to do, but Danny was not in any fit state to decide anything. He realised he was going to have to force the issue a little more. He turned to Danny and pushed him hard out of the shed. Danny stumbled back and fell. 

Hey man! What the FUCK! Danny yelled while peeling himself off the grass. He pushed Danny again.

Money or where is it? He said. 

Danny scrambled to his feet and turned to start out the allotment. His legs and body weren’t working in sync anymore and he could amble behind without really trying to keep up. Danny fell once more, turning and looking over his shoulder he scrambled out of the park. He caught up with Danny and grabbed the back of his jacket. He spun him around and hit Danny square in the face. Danny yelped. He swore. It was the first time he had ever hit anybody and he thought it probably hurt him as much as Danny. Danny picked himself up and started to run down the road again. 

By now he was pissed, he wanted this to be easy and it was falling apart. He considered turning and going home, back to bed with Katie, staring at the ceiling, he could deal with this later. Danny was further away now. He tore down the road, after Danny, and launched himself into Danny’s back. He channelled all his rugby muscle memory and landed the hit clean in Danny’s lower back. Danny’s body whiplashed, his head and neck snapped forward. The sound Danny’s head made on the concrete was more crack than thud.

He got off Danny. I’ll see you tomorrow. Same offer, money or where is it. I can’t speak to you when your fucking mangled. He said. 

Danny didn’t reply. He pushed Danny with his foot, there was no response. Danny was still face down in the concrete, and a crimson pool was starting to pool around his head, almost a red halo. 

He started to panic. He bent down and put his fingers on Danny’s neck, looking for a pulse. There was a pulse, Danny was out for the count. There was nothing he could do here, he turned Danny onto his side, pulled him into the recovery position and thought. He couldn’t phone the police or an ambulance, there would be too many questions. He looked at his watch, 3:47 am. He figured dog walkers would be out and about in the next hour or two, and he could leave Danny here to be woken by an outstanding citizen. 

He walked as quickly as he could home. Slipped himself through the front door, hung the keys up, and retraced his steps into his room. He took his clothes off and slipped back into bed.

Where were you? Katie muttered, still half asleep. 

Just pissed. He replied. Laying on his back his thoughts were racing, but the bed was warm, and the smell of Katie, was soothing. He was still trying to think of possible suspects as he drifted off to bed. 

He woke to his door being knocked. Katie wasn’t in his bed. It was gone 11am.

Paul, his dad whispered, the police are here, they want to talk to you.