Page 6 of Gray Area

Maybe I had met him over the years? Maybe he’d been in one of the foster homes I had been in?

I close my eyes and shake my head. Who knows? The whole thing was still weird no matter what I think of it now, from the safety of a vehicle taking me away from him. I am just glad tonot be going back to class for several days. Hopefully he gets his staring out of his system before then.

Chapter 3

DECLAN

Her eyes are green. A light green with a golden ring around her pupil. Her face is heart shaped and her skin is the color of creamed coffee, with freckles over her nose. I tried to count them throughout the class but she would move and fidget and I’d lose count. And then I’d have to start all over again.

I know my gawking made her uncomfortable, and that she was purposely ignoring me, and for some reason I like that. I like that I have an effect on her. I have found that women generally react to me in two ways—either they see me as a fun challenge or they fear me. This woman, this Vivian, is neither of these two. She isn’t afraid of me, but she also isn’t going to give in to me. She seems strong-willed. And I like that, a lot.

I am drawn to her. I’ve been unable to stop thinking about her since the last class, and I’d only seen the back of her head andher glossy black hair. Now that I have seen her face, seen her beautiful features, I am obsessed. I can’t explain it. I thought before I’d gotten to class it was curiosity. I’d anticipated that once I had seen her face I would be satiated, my curiosity fed.

Then before I knew it the class was over.

I don’t usually become so fixated that I lose track of time. It disturbs me that it happened. But it is more disturbing the way she practically ran from the classroom. It is then that I know I’ve overstepped. I keep my pace slow as I leave the building, trying to allow her to escape me. But as I exit the building, there she is, staring right back at me from the bus window. I hold her gaze with my own, trapped in place, stopping to give her the space I hadn’t in class.

But this time she doesn’t look away.

I watch the bus leave the stop then look toward the parking lot. That is when I notice the white Mercedes with heavily tinted windows and shiny rims parked next to my black Charger. I heave out a breath and make my way to my car and to my visitor. I can feel the bass of the music coming from the Mercedes as I get closer and then it suddenly stops.

I stand where I am and cross my arms over my chest, waiting. The window rolls down and the face that meets me is the one I am expecting. Eduardo Cruz, errand boy for notorious drug dealer Antonio Perez. Antonio rules the drug market in the area.

“Long time no see, hey Dec?” Eduardo, or Eddie as I’ve always called him, asks me from a small opening in his car window. I don’t answer him. Eddie and I had gone to school together, and he, like many of my classmates, had not been well off. But when he got to high school, he decided to change his fate, and he started dealing at school. The thing is, the administration never knew it was Eddie. He was forgettable. So he moved the stuff quickly and easily, without any hiccups, and was rewardedhandsomely. Once out of school, he worked his way up the chain of command to be Perez’s side man.

“Nothing to say to me?” he asks as I just stand there, looking at him.

“You came here,” I remind him. “Do you have something to say to me?”

Eddie laughs, nodding his head. “Yeah, I do.”

I am quickly getting sick of whatever little game Eddie is playing. “Then get out of the fucking car and talk to me like a man,” I demand. I know Eddie is a pussy, but I also know he is most likely well-armed. My father taught me to get people out in the open and assess what harm they could cause. I want Eddie out of that car, and I know watching him get out will let me see if there is anyone else in there with him.

Eddie opens the door, and from my position I am able to see the inside of his vehicle. I scan it quickly, finding all the seats empty. I casually turn my head to see to the floor in both the front and the back, finding those spots clear as well. When I am done, I look at the man before me, and it takes everything I have not to roll my eyes at Eddie.

The Eddie I remember from growing up had clothes either too small or too big, worn out and with holes, often dirty. This Eddie is dressed like every sleazeball drug dealer ever portrayed in any movie. He wears a suit jacket, with a button-down underneath which is open to his stomach. Around his neck, Eddie has so many chains with diamonds it is a wonder he can stand up straight. As he moves his body, the chains sway and catch the light, nearly blinding me from the reflection. To top it all off, his hair is slicked back and appears to have been lathered with petroleum.

Eddie stands with his feet wide and crosses his arms, mimicking my posture, and it pisses me off. “Better?” he asks with sarcasm.

“Talk,” I bark at him, and I’m rewarded as he jumps from my command.

Eddie clears his throat. “Word is you guys are letting people sell at your spots.”

“Word is wrong.”

“I don’t know, Dec,” Eddie says, sounding doubtful at my claims. “My sources say that the Vavito boys have been moving some product out of there. And I have good sources, you know, the best money can buy. Billionaire-level sources.”

“Fuck your sources.”

Eddie shrugs, sending his ridiculous necklaces swinging again. “Or maybe you guys made a deal with someone, someone who doesn’t have support in this area, in which case it’s fair game for anyone-”

I close the gap between us in two strides and pin Eddie to his car with my forearm at his neck. “Are you fucking threatening me, Eddie?”

Instantly Eddie looks panicked. He shakes his head frantically. “No, no,” he chokes out.

“I just fucking told you that there are no drugs being sold out of my family’s places, and you just said you don’t believe me. So either you are calling me a liar or you are threatening me. I don’t fucking like what you were insinuating, whatever it was, understand?” I bite out and give him a final shove with my forearm, knocking his head against the car in the process, then stepping back.

Eddie falls to a heap next to his car, coughing and grabbing his throat. Happy with his status, I turn around and walk to my own vehicle. My mind immediately goes into action. I’ve got to talk to my dad. If people are out there saying we sell stuff at the bars, we need to find out who is starting these rumors and why.

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