Vodka and Lemonade

“Well, hello there, Danielle.” His tone was biting.

I cringed a little. He only called me “Danielle” when I was really bad. “Hey, Lou,” I responded cooly, trying not to let my fear show through.

“I wouldn’t have come if I were you. You know the rules,” he responded, high upon his chair. He looked like a king on his throne- a throne of drugs and heartbreak.

“I-I know, but it wasn’t my fault. You see, it was all a setup. Please, believe me, I don’t want to go back to Brooklyn Heights. I can’t. Please don’t do that to me, Lou. It won’t happen again, I swear,” I said, almost groveling at his feet. There was no way I was going back to that place. I didn’t care how many men I had to blow in return.

Lou grinned his crooked little grin and opened his arms out to me. “I can’t let my favorite girl, go, now can I?” he asked. “You are forgiven just this once. Come, my child.”

I immediately went into his arms. “Oh, and I brought you a present,” I said, turning around so that I could sit on his lap. “This is Jimmy, AKA Rain Man. I thought he could be of some use.”

Lou laughed. “you mean you want him as a pet?”

“Well, he did help me out of the cage.”

Lou smiled and kissed me hungrily. “Anything for my favorite. Jimmy, come here.”

Jimmy obeyed without question.

“Look me in the eye. Is what she said true?”

“Yes.”

“Can I trust you?” already, there were some guards beginning to encircle him.

“Yes.”

“Do you know what you’ve gotten into?”

“I-I have a good idea,” Jimmy replied hesitantly.

I could feel Lou smirking behind me.

“Then you know that I cannot let you leave,” Lou squeezed my hip bones. “Well, at least not without you giving me something.” Lou patted my hip. “You say he’s trustworthy?”

“Well, he is the client you gave me. And he didn’t squeal to the pigs- not once,” I replied, keeping my eye on Jimmy. He looked a little uncomfortable.

Lou patted my hip again, telling me to get up. “Very well. You have two choices, Jimmy. On the one hand, you can either swear your allegiance to me,” he said, stepping down. He kept me close to his side.

“And the other?” Jimmy asked timidly.

Lou and several others let out deep guttural laughs. “You can die.”

“I’ll take the first option.”

Lou smirked. “Good. I’ll start you off as a petty dealer, then you can work your way up by getting more customers. Danni, will you get his initiation right?”

I smirked and got a blunt of Lou’s special blend from a drawer in the chair. “Here you go, Lou,” I said while handing it to him.

He took it and offered it to Jimmy, but quickly snatched it away before the boy could take it. “ah, ah, ah. Not so fast. I need to lay down the rules first. There is only one: no telling anyone where this place is. If I hear so much as a whisper, you’re dead. Got it?”

“Yes. I won’t tell a soul. I promise.”

“Good,” Lou said, clapping Jimmy on the back. “Everyone, I present to you our newest member. This is Jimmy. Jimmy, Welcome to the family. Now, take a blow, you’ll be happy you did in the morning.”

Jimmy timidly took the joint and took a drag. I could tell the drugs instantly affected him. His eyes clouded slightly and he had a giddy grin.

“Now, let’s celebrate!” Lou called out. He looked down at my shivering body. “Danni, why are you shaking?”

“N-need m-more,” I replied through my chattering teeth.

“Well, go on, you know where it is. And take Jimmy. He will be your project.”

I nodded and dragged Jimmy over to a far corner.

“Normally, Lou gives the price, but if it’s a good batch, then you’re allowed to adjust the batch as you see fit. If it’s a bad batch, lower it as low as half and give it to the idiot clients. They won’t know the difference anyways,” I began, my hands shaking as I opened up a little plastic baggie. “Have you ever done coke before?”

Jimmy shook his head. “No, just weed.”

I grinned. “Well, looks like you’ll be trying a lot of new things today. Lucky you.”

‘But, I thought mixing-”

I laughed. “Don’t believe what they tell you. Believe what I tell you. Here, we don’t mix things that’ll kill you. That’s just bad business. Killing new clients is just stupid. If you want them dead, wait until after they're completely hooked and have given you a few of their friends. Now here, you have a mirror and a straw. Watch me.” I commanded as I put the white powder into four neat lines, bent down, and snorted one. I straightened back up and looked at Jimmy expectantly. “See? Easy. Now you try.”

Alcohol came and went that evening. Lou seemed to be in a really good mood, so he brought out some of the best of his stock. A few hours later, Jimmy and I were as fucked up as could be. I was sitting on Lou’s lap again and Jimmy was sitting in front of me. We were talking about…something- I can’t remember much from those years. Anyway, he made a sudden move and I punched him out of paranoia. It took me a few moments to figure out what exactly happened. When I did realize what happened, my drugged eyes went wide and I immediately looked at Lou.

“Whoops.”

“Danni, no killing new family members, you know this,” Lou said, laughing the entire time. “Now go in the back and apologize to him, then come and get me. I want to have some more fun with you before the night ends.”

I nodded my head and licked his lips before jumping off of his lap and dragging Jimmy, again, to the back. We didn’t stop in the Coke corner this time, though. I dragged him through a black door and down an ill-lit hallway. I took him into the Red Room, named for the color of its door and interior walls. I immediately closed the door behind us and shoved him against the wall before I got down on my knees. “Don’t worry,” I told him as I unzipped his fly. “I’m the best this side of L.A.”

He hid himself with his hand. “D-Danni.”

I rocked back on the balls of my feet and cocked my head to the side. “You’re new at this, too, aren’t you?” I asked with a small smirk.

Jimmy could only nod his head.

I cooed at him. “Aw, don’t worry. I’ll be gentle on you.” And so I was, for the most part. I do admit that I can’t remember much of the encounter- just that it happened. I also remember going straight back out and playing with Lou for a bit before we went to his room, which lay in the very back of the maze-like hallways.