Page 9 of Mine

“Can we get to the point?”

“Fine, I took the bets from Kady, but last week when I went to collect, he says he doesn’t have the fifteen he owes me and that he ain’t gonna have it this week either.”

“And?”

“So I talked to him some and he basically told me that he needed me to carry him for another couple of weeks and then he’d have it.”

“What’d you say?”

“What the hell do you think I said? I told him to go fuck himself and to pay me my goddamn money.”

“Did he pay?”

“No, Benji paid me.”

“What?”

“Yeah, he said that he’d get it from Kady, and he gave me what Kady owed.”

“Oh shit.”

“I dunno what’s with your boy, Gabe, and when you tell me that Kady fucked up Benji’s shit, I gotta wonder what the hell’s with that, ya know?”

“Why didn’t you hire some muscle and go get your money from Kady before Benji paid you? It’s not like you to run scared.”

“Fuck you, I wasn’t scared,” Luis assured him. “I just don’t have the cash right now for enough guys.”

“How many guys did you think you needed?”

“At least five,” he grunted, “the way Kady’s fortified at his big club at Jericho; I wouldn’t wanna walk in there alone.”

Long pause. “Adrian can’t have people thinking they can fuck with his runners.”

“Nope.” Luis agreed.

“Does Kady have any backing?”

“You mean like muscle backing?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t know.”

“Do you want to come stay at the house?”

“We’ll see.”

“Should I ask Trevan?”

“Fuck no. He’s got Harris watchin’ his back and everybody knows it. Ain’t nobody gonna fuck with him. Even if he sees Trevan walking down the street, Kady ain’t stupid enough to fuck with him.”

“Okay, I’ll talk to you.”

Luis was gone a second later.

“Sorry about all the faggot crap, T.”

“Like I care,” I said, letting out a deep breath. I had never cared what Luis Vargas thought about me, and I certainly wasn’t going to start. “He’s a dick, he’s always been a dick, and he’ll always be a dick. Vargas can kiss my ass, but what I care about right now is Benji and the fact that if you add it all up, I think Kady owes us, like, two.”