He’s a badass. And I have to admit, part of me likes watching Alvin get some of his due.
His eyes cutting to me, Chance points with the shotgun at the product on the table. “Dump it in the toilet and flush it all, mama.”
“Fuck, no,” Alvin moans. “Don’t do that. Please.”
I scoop up the bags of meth, hands shaking, gut sour, heart pounding. I’ve not held meth like this—unpackaged, open, visible, tempting—since I got clean. I stare at the baggie of whitish crystals, sucking in harsh, shaky breaths.
“Annika?” His voice cuts through the haze of need, fear, and anxiety. “Dump it. Flush it.”
I nod jerkily and move to comply. His bathroom is tiny, dirty, cramped. The mirror is filmed so badly I can’t see my reflection in it. The toilet is vile, crusted and stained and unflushed. One after another, I dump the bags into the toilet. Flush. No hesitation. Glee burns in my chest as the water swirls and the poison vanishes, and I feel a weight lift off my chest. Like I can breathe again. Like I’ve got a piece of my old self back.
I toss the empty baggies into the sink and go back to Chance. “That felt good.”
Chance grins at me. “See? You’ve got the power back, mama. You’re in control, not it. Yeah?”
I swallow hard, eyes burning. “Yeah, Chance.”
His eyes go back to Alvin, going hard, losing the soft and warm they have when they’re on me. “You, motherfucker. I’m gonna make you a real sweet deal, ready?”
Alvin spits blood. “Fuck you.”
“You haven’t learned?” Chance tisks his tongue.
Tossing the shotgun onto the coffee table, he grabs Alvin and hurls him across the room again, this time with both hands, hard, into the kitchen, where he crashes into a cabinet over the stove. The cheap cabinet crumples under the impact, glassware shattering, and Alvin slams down onto the counter. Chance is there, hand around Alvin’s throat, lifting him one-handed away from the counter, feet dangling six inches off the floor.
“You ain’t shit,Alvin,” Chance snarls. “You think I’d give it a second thought to snap this puny little neck of yours?” He squeezes, and Alvin’s feet kick, fingers scrabbling at Chance’s hand. “Now. You ready to listen?”
Alvin attempts a nod. “Y-yeah,” he scrapes. “Listen. Pl—please. Listen.”
Chance drops him to the floor, squatting over him. Draws his pistol and jams the barrel into Alvin’s mouth. “Now. Listen up, dumbfuck.” He waits. Cocks his head. “You listenin’realfuckin’ hard, dumbfuck?”
Alvin nods, eyes wide. Grunts an affirmative, the sound muffled by the gun barrel.
“Consider this your one and only warning. Annika no longer exists for you. You forget her name. You forget what she looks like. What she smells like, where she lives, who she knows.” He shoves the gun deeper into Alvin’s mouth, prompting a whimpering gag. “Most of all, you forget she owes you. This is it, Alvin. That’s done. She don’t owe you shit. Now, I’m gonna pull this gun out of your mouth and I’m gonna ask you some questions, and you’re going to answer. If you don’t answer in a way I like, I’m gonna drill a round through your balls. Got it?”
Alvin grunts an affirmative.
Chance draws the gun out and jams it, none too gently, into Alvin’s crotch. Jerks his head toward me. “Who’s that?”
Alvin spits blood, the reddish saliva dribbling down his chin. “I…I don’t know.” His words are garbled, slurred.
“Good answer.” He tilts his head to the side. “She owe you money?”
“N-n-no.”
“She ever, ever, fuckin’evergonna so much as catch a whiff of your sorry carcass for the rest of her life?”
“No.”
Chance nods slowly. “All right then.” He stands up, keeping the pistol trained on him. “That your Challenger out there?”
“Y-yeah.”
“Keys.”
Alvin digs them from his pocket, tosses them to Chance. “You already trashed one ride, man. Come on. Cut me a break.” He spits blood, and I see pieces of tooth in the blood.
“Like you cut her a break?” Chance barks a laugh. “Bitch, please.” He turns away, and then pauses, turning back. “Oh yeah. And if you send anyone else after us, I’ll find you. Promise. I’ll deal with anyone you send my way like I dealt with those wannabe fuckin’ punks back at the motel, and then I’ll find you, and then I’ll break every bone in your goddamn pathetic body. You with me,Alvin?”
