Shifting Weight
“Dude, I don’t know what the hell he’s saying.” Jess Bonnet said with slight annoyance to James in their New Delhi tuk-tuk.
The driver was screaming at the sea of noise in the crowded streets.
“Darling, I thought you’ve been here for over a year? Don’t you speak Indian?” James said through a thick Australian accent.
Jess sighed through the thick New Delhi heat.
“Okay two things. One, they speak Hindi here, and two, I’ve been in Thailand for the past year, not Delhi.”
James looked confused and hesitated to respond.
“I speak Thai not Hindi.”
James gave her a dirty look.
“I set up this meeting for you with the king of the smugglers, Mr. Singh. It’s simple, I get my cut and that’s it. If you have a problem I can always call it off.”
James glared at Jess and looked out the window, gazing into the sweltering city.
“You know, for a girl with an NA chip, it’s surprising to see you in this line of work.”
Jess laughed. “Call it what it is, we sell poison to people who have given up on life.”
“Just an observation. All business with you Americans aye?” James responded.
“Correct.”
“What was it?” James asked.
“What?” Jess responded.
“What was your gear? For me, I like a bit of smack. What’s your poison?”
“Blow.”
“Ah, that fig-”
“Shut up, we’re here.” Jess cut him off as stepped out of the tuk-tuk.
They arrived at a nondescript building in a random neighborhood. Jess gave three sharp raps on the door. A window opened up to show eyes with thick black makeup.
“Mrs. Bonnet?”
“Yes, here to meet with Maalik.”
“Of course.”
The window slammed shut and the clanking scream of several locks sounded off before the door opened. Jess and James sauntered into the house. Both of their eyes struggled to adjust to the infinite darkness.
Jess looked around for the doorman but, there were only the ghosts of old footsteps.
“Mr. Singh? It’s me, Jess Bonnet.” Jess asked to the darkness.
There was no response, only a single dim lightbulb illuminating an older man lounging in a wingback chair beneath the light.
“Mrs. Bonnet. I am Mr. Singh’s partner, he was unable to join today.” The older man stated with a smile.
“Would it kill you to let in some sunshine? I didn’t realize we were dealing with vampires.” James laughed.
The older man’s smile dropped from his face. He gave a gentle snap with his fingers and Jess’s ears exploded into pure white noise. The side of her face was splashed with a thick warm liquid.
She turned her head to see the doorman’s pistol breathing out a curl of smoke. Her fears were realized as she looked down to see James’s head oozing blood all over her shoes.
“What the hell!?” Jess screamed.
The older man smiled again. “Mrs. Bonnet, I am quite disappointed that you would choose to partner with something so, disrespectful.”
Jess felt her feet and hands go completely numb.
“Listen, just take whatever you want.”
“You know, it always surprises me how easily you westerners trust us. Have you considered that people can lie?”
The older man gave a nod to the doorman. Jess took off her backpack full of the rest of her money, her passport, and a kilo sample.
Letting it fall to the ground, she sent daggers with her eyes toward the older man.
“Pick up the bag and pass it to the man who murdered your friend.”
Jess never took her eyes off the older man and she squatted down to retrieve the backpack.
“Hurry up!”
Jess didn’t respond, only moved slower. The doorman took a step closer and screamed at Jess to move faster. The moment Jess was back in a standing position, Jess swung her backpack with full force at the pistol.
The sudden attack caused the doorman to fire, sending a round into the single lightbulb. Sparks showered the room as darkness returned. Jess’s backpack was ripped from her hand as she narrowly escaped the doorman’s grip and kicked open the door into the blinding streets.
Jess was out of the door and sprinting down the street before her eyes had fully adjusted. She collapsed somewhere near an alley in the dense city. Wiping the remains of James from her face with her filthy shirt, she gave a long internal scream. Jess slumped down to the ground and pulled out her phone to make a call she wished to never make.
“Answer!” Jess screamed into the ringing phone.
“Hello?” The voice sounded groggy.
“Hey, Alice.”
“Oh no. No. You do not get to drop off the face of the earth and then just say hi! I haven’t talked to you in three years and you just randomly call me from a weird number at four in the morning. No Jess!”
The call dropped and Jess furiously hit redial.
“No Jess! I’m your sister! You don’t-”
Jess cut her off, “Alice just listen. I’m sorry for disappearing again. I know my last rehab stint didn’t go super great but please just listen. I’m in a really bad way.”
“When are you not? All you do is take. I have tried to help you! But you won’t take it. I’m hanging up.”
“Alice, please! I’m two years clean. Listen, I’m in India and I just got robbed. I need you to wire me two thousand dollars. Please I’m begging you.”
Alice didn’t respond.
“Alice! Alice!” Jess pleaded.
Alice let out a long sigh. “You know Jess, out of all the bullshit you’ve told me over the years, this really takes the cake. You just got robbed in India? Sure and I’m the king of Albuquerque. GO. TO. HELL!” Alice screamed as she hung up.
Jess felt her heart skip several beats and fall through the center of the earth.
Jess’s hands were clenching. A sharp stab of angry electricity jolted up her spine. Her brain was screaming at her to find a fresh bag of coke. She had a dealer in the city. She could have it in less than thirty minutes. Her hands trembled as she started dialing the number for her guy.
“Hello?” The dealer answered.
Jess couldn’t speak at first but soon found her courage.
“Hey! Hey, sorry. Listen my horse ran away.”
“Oh for god’s sake. It’s going to cost you extra. Anything else?”
“Yeah, do you still have that number for the papers guy? I lost my passport. And my new horse is going to need to be on credit.”
The dealer didn’t respond for what seemed like years. “Yes for both, but we’ll need to talk first. Tell Mr. Singh I’m not happy.”
After taking far too many deep breaths she rummaged around her pockets for any Rupies left and got in a tuk-tuk to the dealer’s house.
A short hour later she was banging on her dealer’s apartment door. Her dealer ushered her inside.
Before Jess could even explain she broke down. Tears soaked everything. Her dealer’s annoyance transformed into empathy as Jess retold the story the best she could.
As Jess dried her tears and washed the rest of James off her body, she began formulating a plan to get the new kilo of heroin back to the states. In the end, it didn’t really matter how.
Not even Jess believed it as she was throwing the heroin-filled suitcase into the back of her friend’s car outside of the Seattle airport. As they drove along towards downtown, her phone lit up with a message from a familiar number.
Good job. Sorry about James. Had no need for someone who planned on being their best customer. We’ll be in contact. — Singh
