C'mon
up he'd said, but the main door of the apartment building resisted my
push. I shoved harder and it grated open enough to squeeze through. A large bin was wheeled-up inside. The scraping sound signalled
someone entering and a whistle summoned me upstairs. That cat Jagga
is more than just a pretty face, I thought wryly while ascending
warily.
Jagga
and his lieutenant Nerble slouched on the second-floor steps,
surrounded by paraphernalia and trash. They were smoking heroin off
metal foil; I watched Nerble's pipe avidly chasing a brown blob
resembling a frantic cockroach. Looked like insect training for
Beetle Olympics. Fumes filled the air and I wondered idly if
residents wouldn't maybe fuss. Presume they'd be advised to fuck
themselves. Irrelevant conjecture. Down to biz.
"Having
a picnic? Haha, nice day for it. Got three scores?"
Jagga's
woman must've kicked him out. Nerble presented a Blackberry for my
perusal.
"Sixty
quid, ya nutcase. Bargain."
I
pulled 3 twenties from the sleeve of my bomber but handed them to
Jagga.
"I'd
rather buy drugs...maybe I got a problem."
Jagga's
fingers were astoundingly filthy but I immediately gummed the little
knotted bags he served. Standard Operating Procedure. Jagga
regarded me slantwise through half-drooped glassy eyes. His flared
foil flute hung steep from split lips, casual expression of the man
and his minute. Arrogance, insouciance, power. The gear was preme
in town, probably from prison connects.
Enjoy
your brief reign stoopid, I thought skipping to the exit. The cops
kept busting Jagga but he wasn't fazed. Likely fatalistic,
career criminal living in the moment. Make hay while the sun shines.
Cheerful thought. Soon I'd smoke the sun, ingest uncanny luminance,
chemical dance round brain-stem maypole.
Passing
by the bin and out the door, my arm was half-nelsoned and throat
choke-locked. In one smooth move I was tripped and flung down,
police jujitsu. Men were shouting in my ear to spit it out, spit it
out. From the ground I could see the dainty feet of a WPC who gazed
down smiling, fondling spray cannisters on her utility belt. Yeah...the little dog laughed to see such fun.
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