The club was a curious place. Neon and flashing lights blinded me once I got past the guy at the door, who looked at me as if I was an alien. Guess he wasn't that used to seeing guys in a suit and a tie. I cursed to myself. Seriously, I kinda get the whole suit thing, but a tie? … To, ahem, talk to a teen? … Sigh. See why I say I had no choice?
Anyway, after a few minutes of getting used to the flashy, blinding lights, I finally saw them. They were sitting at the bar, a glass in their hands, looking around for prey to hit on. Holy shit, they were teens, yet I felt bad for the poor guys they may have met.
I took a good look around before heading up to them. How they got past the door guy, I have no clue, it was so obvious they were underage. I quickly took note of at least four thugs, and a guy who may as well have been carrying a sign stating that he sold drugs. Okay, keep a low profile, I thought, last thing I need today is to get in trouble.
After fighting the crowd, I finally managed to get to the girls. I put on my best gentleman mask. “Hello, ladies. Any of you want a drink?”
“You silly, this is soda.” She replied. “We don't really drink anymore.”
“Well, I can get you a soda if you want.” I winked an eye at her. My, she was stunning.
“Actually... there's something you can get us. If you're brave enough, that is.”
“I'm all ears.”
“See that guy in the corner behind us? Long hair, leather jacket?”
Yes. The dealer. Shit. “You've described about a fourth of the guys in here, you know.” I joked.
“You silly, you know which one I'm talking about. Well... he does have something we could use. If you don't mind talking to that kind of people.”
Sweetheart, I've seen far worse. But whatever. “Okay. Be right back.” I smiled at them.
Again I fought the crowd, this time to get to the guy. I didn't need to look around to notice that his thugs were now much closer. I also saw a glint coming from one of their pockets. Shit. Stupid suit. They'd thought I was a cop. … Which I guess wasn't that far from the truth, me officially working for the Agency, and that. But … this was not exactly a cop's job. I finally got to the man.
“Hey.” I greeted him.
“What the hell do you want.” He glared at me, again as if he'd seen an alien. Or a cop. Or an alien cop. Heh.
“You know the girls over there?” I pointed at them with my head.
Silence. He was being rude on purpose. Trying to get me to make a mistake. Except, I was definitely not a cop.
“Well... I'm trying to flirt with them, and they said you have something they want.” I took two 1,000₽ bills from my pocket – roughly $40, and handed them to him. I had no real clue as to what he actually sold or what they wanted, so better offer too much than too little. I honestly didn't care if I paid too much.
A hand patted my shoulder. “You're in the wrong place, my friend.” The thug said the last word with as much sarcasm as he could muster.
Shit. Seriously, why the hell did I have to wear a suit to a teen club? “No, I swear! They're lovely!”
“And roughly half your age.”
… Ouch. I'm quite younger than that, man. “Any problem with that? I like them young, m'kay?”
The dealer handed me a tiny bag of what looked like weed as he tore the bills from my hand. “Here. Now, fuck off.”
I looked at him. If you think I'm falling for this, you're wrong. “That's quite expensive for weed, isn't it?” I opened it and smelled it. Okay, no, that was not weed. Not the sort that people smoke, anyway. “Hey, man. I'm not an idiot. This is not what the girls want, and you know it.”
He stared at me as if I was out of my mind. Then he burst into laughter. “Sorry, man. One can never be too sure, especially looking like you do.”
“Yeah, I guess. The girls also don't look too keen on my suit. And here I thought I could impress some ladies with it, silly me.” I joked back.
“Here.” He handed me two much bigger bags. “Feel free to smell it if you want.”
I opened one and smelled it. Shit, it was strong. I also noticed some chemical I couldn't pinpoint. Oh, well. It's not like half the people in the place weren't smoking weed, so I took a wild guess and assumed it wouldn't kill anybody. “Well, this is something else, man. A pleasure to do business with you.”
“You're welcome.”
I left his table and headed back to the girls. I didn't have to look around to see that one of his thugs was just two guys from us. Sigh. Guess they'd rather keep a close eye on me. Fine. It's not like I had anything to hide – from them, anyway.
“Hey, girls. Sorry it took so long, I think your friend took me for a cop and tried to sell me cooking herbs.”
She smiled at me. “Yeah, he often does that. So, you're not a cop?”
“Nah, I'm just a guy who likes cuties like you. Here.” I handed her the two bags.
She took a pipe out of her handbag and poured some. My heart died a bit on the inside. They were so young for this... And I could take a good guess as to where that weed probably came from.
After they all had had some, she handed the pipe to me. “You want some?”
I looked at her eyes. So beautifully glistening like a campfire, daring me to try it. “Yeah, why not?” I took a hit. The chemical I'd smelled filled my mouth, and I tried hard not to cough like an idiot. “Holy shit, this is strong.” I made a mental note to ask Andrei what the hell was in those bags. Even if this didn't come from his network, he'd surely knew what was the last fancy thing in the clubs.
“You're not used to this, are you?” She laughed at my face.
“Well, it's been a long time since I last smoked weed. But I'd swear it didn't taste like this.”
“Yeah, that's why we keep coming here. There are cheaper dealers, but his stuff is something else.”
Well, it was a good thing knowing that we wouldn't die from it, thanks.
I asked the bartender for another beer – I've never been into smokey stuff. We kept the small talk for a good while. They were the most boring girls I've met, I swear. It's like they didn't know how to attract a guy. Or maybe they were trying to shove me off. But her glances didn't show that. Like, at all.
