The crew and I were all sitting in Zack’s living room, a cold bottle of beer in each of our hands. As soon as we had gotten to the drop-off point, we split up immediately, only returning to Zack’s place later in the day.

“I would just like to say,” Vince began holding his drink out, “that I am so glad that you were with us last night.”

“Couldn’t agree more,” Felix added.

I snorted. We all got up from our seats to connect the ends of our bottles to a sharp clanking noise.

“Funny I remember you saying the complete opposite, Felix,” I commented and then took a sip from my bottle. “Something about waiting in the car as I was next to useless, was that right.”

They all came back with a bunch of denials and hand waves about how none of them, had even uttered something along those lines.

“Don’t sound like me,” Vince dismissed.

“I said what I did to remind everyone that you could shift into a Dragon,” Felix clarified. “Besides, the award for the most useless person in the room goes to the one next to me.”

He nudged Brent in the arm jovially, the elf seemed to really be out of it.

“Cut me some slack,” he groaned, “last night was fucking weird. Everything went the exact opposite of how it was supposed to, not my fault I stumbled a bit and now I'm out of it.”

It was true that things had flipped up, not to mention it all happening within a span of the shortest seconds ever.

Though I understood, I couldn’t empathise. After all, as the red dragon present, therefore the strongest in the crew, I had taken matters into my own hands.

Despite Brent’s lack of involvement with the here and now, he didn’t at all seem tired, I would even go as far as to say he was very well rested.

“Let’s not forget you goons, that I was the one who had the preparations on lock,” Zack stated. “We would have sat there with our dicks in hand for God knows how long.”

A few shallow nods at this news made it clear that his efforts were recognised.

“That’s a fair point,” I admitted. “But your plan only went so far. In hindsight we could have done with a distraction, maybe Legolas could have been more usable rather than just yelling. In hindsight of course.”

Zack gave me one of those ‘you arrogant little shit’ looks where he appeared to almost crack a smile but his eyes were filled with violence. I thought he might make a move to hit me, as it usually accompanied the stare, but he didn’t now.

Most likely because now wasn't human anymore, a far cry from the skinny kid he met in high school. I got the feeling he took my statement a little too hard even though that wasn’t my intention, but based on how he searched my face as I matched his stare, he didn’t want to risk pissing me off.

He just settled for sighing and taking a sip of his drink.

“You did ‘bring back our goods’,” Zack drawled.

“My ‘goods’.”

I decided to highlight to Zack’s growing annoyance.

“Damn, I know I was scared shitless,” Brent confessed. “But I’ll have to at least get a bonus for emotional damages.”

“Yeah,” Vince agreed. “I had multiple claws in me at a time, I’m going to need to walk away with enough to pay a shrink. ‘My loot’, this guy.”

“But it is my loot,” I corrected them. “My job anyways, right Zack? I get to decide how little or how much I walk away with.”

Instantly the room went all but silent as eyes gravitated towards me.

Vince was mouthing something as he eyed both Zack and me.

“Is he for real, Zack?” Vince challenged.

“Nah I’m just playing,” I joked, switching my tone. “What the hell would I do with all the drugs anyways, that shit’s all you guys.”

A few short chuckles, nods, and sips of their beers was the confirmation I got to know that their apprehension was gone.

Guess I had been laying it on a bit thick, oops.

Zack sensing the atmosphere was still not where it should be, spoke up.

“You got that right?” Zack guffawed. “Did you see this asshole rack another bullet even though there was already one in the chamber?”

They all laughed this time, a genuine laugh. I had been joking of course but did I was actually.

“Whoa,” Zack called, gesturing to my bottle. “Looks like you’re in need of a refill?”

He got up from his seat and I followed him till we were in the kitchen. Zack fished out a fresh bottle from the fridge and handed it to me. I nodded as I received the drink.

“What was that?” Zack asked as he folded his arms and licked his lips.

“What was what; I was just messing around man,” I replied and took a sip of my drink.

“Yeah sure, right, okay.”

Zack then grabbed himself a bottle and started to drink without making eye contact with me.

“I have to say thank you man, again for giving me a chance to be a part of last night,” I expressed.

Zack just shrugged off the thanks not thinking much of it.

“You should know me well enough by now,” he said. “You did get us out of there, maybe I should have been more observant. Just don’t try too hard to ride my ass about it from now on.”

“That bouncer wasn’t supposed to be there,” I reminded him. “You did your best with the plan, honestly, there was no way you could oversee every little detail."

Zack shook his finger in disagreement.

“In this type of business you can’t afford to make mistakes,” my bro explained. “Even little ones, sometimes you end up doing things you find uncomfortable because the consequences are that serious.”

Zacks' words lingered in my thoughts for a good amount of time as I pondered them. his eyes fixed at the bottle rim made me think there was some history attached to the statement.

“Having a psycho dragon around will only keep you from eating a shit sandwich after all," Zack joked.

“Fair enough,” I chuckled.

I took a long sip from my beer as I leaned against a wall with Zack nursing his own drink and taking glances at the guys chuckling.

“So what exactly did we get from the job?” I asked.

Zack faced me after he finished what was in the bottle and set it on the counter.

“Despite the number of bills, we’re only looking at ten k more or less,” Zack confessed. “The contact said that that’s how much should be in there, but I’ll need to count it all to be sure. Most of the money is in the drugs, there’s roughly about twenty-five to thirty k between the marijuana and LSD pills.”

I marveled at the amount, just the thought of knowing that much was nearby sent my mind spinning with possibilities. I could move out of my shitty shoebox of a room, get a car or some shit, hell even the satisfaction of having that much cash on hand was driving my imagination crazy.

“Yeah, it was a pretty sweet job,” Zack said with a satisfied smirk,“the information I got seemed to pan out, save for the fuck up near the end.”

“What’s the split gonna look like?” I asked folding my arms.

“Even-split, so about twenty percent each.”

I blinked in part mocking, part genuine surprise.

“This was my job wasn’t it?” I argued, “doesn’t that like entitle me to a larger cut.”

“It doesn’t work like that Niko,” Zack countered, I never promised you more than the others. Whatever the amount, I’ll be handing everyone their fair share.”

I shrugged, not really caring what deal he made with them.

“Niko,” Zack began, “I get that you might have thought I was promising you something more but-”

“Zack, this is bullshit man,” I interjected, you owe me and you know it?”

The heads from the couch swiveled to us and Zack waved off their concerns.

I took a small breath, folded my arms, and reoriented myself.

“Look man, can you even say that everyone pulled their weight equally last night,” I reasoned in a more subdued tone. “I think we both know some of us did more than others. You, Vince, and me, you know I’m not wrong.”

We both casually took turns looking at Brent who was in the middle of explaining something about lock-picks.

Zack cast his eyes downward as he scrunched his face for a few seconds.

“Fuck it, why not,” Zack agreed with a shrug. “I’ll just spin it that it’s his first job and we did this on your behalf anyways. But if it’s profit you’re after I’m not sure there’s going to be that big of a difference in money. Getting just a grand isn’t much of a bump.”

I scoffed at the bit of news, annoyed.

More money was always better but what could the other option be?

That’s when it hit me and a memory from when I first started the semester came back. Going to a college meant there were plenty of students who were looking for a plug to get drugs.

“How about the weed?” I inquired.

“There are a couple kilos in the bag,” he informed. “But if it’s the cash you’re after, then take the LSD pills, they got much better street value.”

“Nah,” I shook my head. “I’m thinking of selling at school but I don’t want something that brings more heat if I can avoid it.”

“I got you,” Zack said and then crooked his head for me to follow.

We moved through the living room and headed upstairs, grabbing my backpack on the way up.

On the bed were the bags from last night and Zack began to dig out the ones with the marijuana in them. Once one bag was emptied completely,

Zack filled it with all the marijuana bricks that were there.

“Who the fuck shrinkwraps this shit anymore like this,” my bro muttered to himself as he inspected one of the bricks.

Once the bag had all the marijuana in it, he opened up the bedside drawer to fish out an envelope, hesitated, and then grabbed another. Zack did a quick count of the bills and appeared to take half from one and placed the rest in another envelope.

“Your three grand,” Zack offered to me. “Based on how much the pills will go for, we’ll still have full stomachs at the end of the day.”

“It’s my share,” he deadpanned, and before I could object he continued. “The money I’ll make for the pills is weighed more than the envelopes. So here, think of it as my congrats on for making the job a W.”

I gracefully accepted the envelopes and inspected the contents before the envelope was completely in my hands.

“This is so kind of you Zack, I take back half of the shit I said about you,” I thanked with exaggeration. “If you were to hand me another envelope, my respect for you would deepen even further.”

He eyed me up and down and waved his hand for me to hand the money back. I laughed as he shook his head.

“But thanks though, seriously,” I said placing the envelope in my bag.

“Ain’t a thing,” he replied clasping my hand.

He then turned to stare at the bag full of marijuana and unzipped it to pick out five keys.

“You should take these for now,” he advised handing the bundles to me. “Depending on how you sort it out, you should be able to get that gone in a week. If you want, I can come with you to your college to show you how.”

For some reason, the idea of Zack getting involved in my affairs at school didn’t sit right with me. Sure I wanted to show him around but didn’t want him around for that reason, plus there was Sophie who would most likely ask questions if she saw or heard about Zack being around.

“Nah I’ll figure it out,” I told him, “I’ll hit you up if I need any help though.”

“G,” Zack replied as we bumped fists. “I’d pass you the bag with the green in it but it might draw attention. I’ll keep it here; or shit, you can take it with you now.”

I scrunched up my face and shook my head to decline his latter suggestion.

“That’s cool man,” I told him. “I’ll work with what I’ve got for now.”

Zack nodded and was about to descend the stairs before I caught his attention.

“Have you got any more of the…?” I hinted with a gesture to my nose. Zack got the gesture and returned to his dresser to pull out something from the lower drawer.

It was a vial of the Gold Rush.

“Here,” Zack said.

“Thanks,” I replied and pocketed the drug.

“No problem. I got you anytime man, you and I are in this together.”

We bumped fists and returned to the living room.

Sitting in my lecture, I kept locking and unlocking my phone to see what the time was. Majority of my notes were already written down from the online resources while my lecturer only gave me a few lines to add in.

Once we were dismissed, I packed my things up and exited the room. I was going to leave annoyed but then I ran into the whole reason I had endured the boredom.

A dude in an orange beanie and neat goatee was accepting some papers from someone that had been in the same lecture as me. The beanie guy had been in a lecture a couple of days ago and I had singled him out because of the distinct smell of dope. Last I had spotted him, I had to leave the lecture early to meet Zack.

I walked up to him and caught his attention.

“Hey bro, you got a sec?”

“Sure…depends…?” he replied hesitantly while thumbing his bag strap.

“Who’s your dealer bro?” I muttered.

“Oh, yeah cool I got you man. Lemme get your social.”

“Thanks,” I said, “I’m Niko by the way.”

“Yeah I’m Lucian,” he introduced himself.

The mild stoner pulled out his phone as his expression shifted from meek to carefree.

“Yup,” Lucian stated as I followed the account he gave me. “You should get a quick reply from him.”

“Thanks,” I said as we bumped fists and then went our separate ways.

I sent a message to the guy and as I was told, he got back to me quickly. He sent me a location and we both agreed on a time to meet, which thankfully was soon.

I was outside a door in one of the housing blocks on campus. There was music being played loud enough, I didn’t even need enhanced hearing from where I was standing. So I knocked loud enough to be heard.

“Door’s open,” someone called out.

I opened the door to find someone in an oversized white hoodie and hat on backwards. He had a pretty nice desk setup with a high-end-looking pc, widescreen monitor, and sleek ass speakers.

A bunch of light fixtures like LED strips and panels gave the room a very vibrant atmosphere.

The guy spun around to face me but didn’t speak immediately. He seemed to stare at my face for a while before making up his mind on something.

“Hey, I remember you,” he said pointing at me, "you tried to hit me up for some grass ages ago right?”

He had struck up a conversation with me at the start of the semester. The guy seemed to be a decent dude until some girls he knew came up and started their own conversation with him. Getting the hint, I got my phone out to get his contact but when he addressed me, the asshole began to chuckle at me. That got the attention of the girls and so for some stupid reason decided to add in their laughs as well; both were a hundred percent fake. I had strolled off in embarrassment.

As he silently chuckled, I just stood there immobile.

“I’m just playing man,” he dismissed with a swipe of his hand. “You been working out? Don’t mess me up man. What can I get for you? Sweet Tooth? Snowcap, Trainwreck…?”

I inspected the room to look at the shelves that showcased his sneaker collection. He was living alone in a room this big? Lucky bastard.

“Name’s Niko by the way,” I informed him.

“Right, I’m Ray, but you know that already,” he said. “How much do you need anyway? Didn’t you say like thirty grams? Shit, if you got the money-“

“I need to ask some questions, first,” I interrupted, “this will be my first time getting pot from you. I’m a little curious.”

“I can respect that,” nodded Ray. “Fire away.”

“Do you know anyone else that deals? I’m only asking just in case I need to re-up and you’re not available.”

“There are a couple of other people,” Ray revealed, “but they all work for me.”

“Cool, cool. So where do you get your dope?”

He turned from his monitor to swivel and face me.

“Like in the sense of, do you know where it’s grown; if they like add shit to it?”

“Oh Nah man,” he clarified,“people don’t really do that shit no more. Hell, I ain’t ever heard of it…I know the guys and where they grow it. Trust me, my shit’s legit.”

“Do you sell anything else by the way?”

“Yeah man, I can do some pretty good edibles. But if you’re talking beyond Mary Jane then I occasionally get pills like x and Mandy. Haven’t got any to sell at the moment though.”

Ray then took his phone to check something.

“We need to hurry this up. So, thirty grams?”

I stopped moving around his room and stood next to him at his desk.

“I’m going to need you to stop selling weed for your guy,” I told him.

He let out a small scoff and looked at me funny.

Ray then shook his head, rested his chin on the back of his hand, and thought for a moment.

“I’m guessing that you’re pissed from before but there’s no reason for you to blow up like this. I was acting the fool and I barely knew you, I’ll admit

I was doing a bit too much. Look, I’ll give you a crazy discount but you got to put an end to all that ‘tell me to stop selling' noise.”

“I’m being serious,” I insisted and unzipped my bag to reveal its contents. “Because I want you to start dealing for me or I’m going to the faculty and letting them know that you’re a dealer.”

“The fuck?” he started, clenching his fist tightly on the desk, “yo that’s not cool man.”

Ray got up from his chair and pointed to the door.

“I’m not going anywhere dude,” I chuckled as I let the new backpack I bought hit his desk.

Ray just shook his head and got in my face. He starred in my eyes no doubt looking to intimidate the kid he had brushed off but instead, he recognised that he was in the presence of a force of nature.

“I can understand that in your situation you would get a little excited but if you know what’s good for you…you’ll sit your ass back down.”

His behind stuck to the chair like it was magnetised.

“Ray, I’m going to need you to do exactly as I say or things will get extremely more uncomfortable than expulsion.”

“Okay, okay, I got it,” he nodded fervently, “just tell me what you need from me.”

It seems that a few of Zack’s tips on intimidation were solid plus it helped that I was now Hugh Jackman jacked.

“How long would it take for you to sell all this?” I probed as I nudged the open bag.

His eyes shot to the opening to count bags within.

“With the way things are going,” he said with a wince, “I could probably get through that in like two weeks, a month tops.”

“What percentage do you and your people usually take before sending back the money you received?”

“Well, I usually get my stuff in bulk, a couple of kilos at a time. Cos it's a lot cheaper in bulk, I end up doubling what I paid for it. I give each of the people five percent, for every kilo we sell. Oh, and I have four people dealing for me.”

I nodded in understanding but caught myself and narrowed my eyes.

“You’re not lying about the percentage to me are you?” I asked.

His jaw hung open a bit as his eyes nearly popped out of his head.

“Nah bro, I’m being straight with you.”

“Hmm…”

I let my eyes linger on for a while.

“I swear man, I am not.”

“How much weed have you got left to sell?” I inquired.

“About a couple more ounces,” he replied nonchalantly. “Should be able to get rid of it soon.”

“How much is a kilo of worth after you sell in on the street?”

“Roughly three k.”

“Huh,” I considered.

I’ve got about fifteen k in my bag, shit, I wonder how much I could have gotten if I got pills from Zack. I needed to definitely hit him up about the rest of the marijuana. This made me rethink how I would do this a little.

“Good. For the near future, you’ll put a pause on your current supplier, I’ll be taking over that privilege. You have a couple of weeks to pay me for this.”

I nudged my bag with my elbow.

“Fifteen k right? Once you’ve gone through what I gave you, I’ll be able to supply you for a little bit. Maybe even get you something other than dope.”

Ray seemed to have an opinion on that but he remained silent.

“Any problems?” I checked.

“Does that mean I’ll be able to pick up from my guy at some point in the future?” Ray asked.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” I reassured. “Anything else?”

Ray shook his head.

“Good,” I said and I got off the edge of his desk. “I’ll give you a date for when I get my money. This has to go smoothly Ray, you can’t afford any hiccups.”

Ray looked back at the bag, then to me.

“I don’t just have fifteen grand on me,” he informed, “the most I can do is two keys at the moment. Plus I got people that to pay as well man.…”

I stared at him, there was the possibility he was lying but I didn’t think it was crazy that he would only have as much.

“Sure, six k then, I’ll let you know when.”

I headed to his door and before leaving it turned to Ray.

“Make the right choice Ray,” I advised before leaving and closing the door behind me.