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A Bitter Pill to Swallow

Reuben

Why was she in our club? Does she know who I am? Was our “meeting” a ruse?

“Wake the fuck up!” Orzo barks across from me.

Leaning back in my chair, I offer him a tired gaze. “I’m awake. What do you want me to do?”

“Kale needs to die,” Orzo heaves out, a vein bulging in his temple, and I can almost see steam coming out of his ears.

He reaches into his pocket, throwing a bag onto my desk.

I pick it up.

There’s a familiar pill inside.

Adderall.

“We don’t know this is what killed him,” I say, but even as I do, it makes the most sense.

What better way to cause chaos than to press pills. To put it in what the Barleys sell.

To frame them for the deaths.

“There was nothing else on his body.” Orzo narrows his eyes. “We need to kill Kale. Stop dragging your feet. As soon as I found out his location, we should have acted.”

Colby leans against the bookshelf, his eyes ease shut, a soft snore leaving him.

“Killing Kale won’t fix our current problems. If anything, Romaine will come at us ten times harder.” It’s a weak excuse.

Romaine is already throwing more out.

More poison. More shipments. More anger.

And it’s been less than a week since this started.

Orzo grabs the picture frame off my desk.

The one with Maple’s face.

He whips it at Colby.

“What—fuck!” Colby rubs his forehead, jumping to attention. “What do you want, Orzo?”

“Set up Kale’s hit. It’s clear that he won’t do it,” Orzo jabs at me.

“I can—I can do it,” I interject. “I’ll have him meet at Gumbeaux. He's one of the few who know it’s mine. I’ll offer a peace agreement… What if…”

“No. Kale’s already too close,” Orzo snaps, his nostrils flaring. He points a finger at Colby. “Sort this shit out with him. He needs to be dead no later than tomorrow. And then we can end it with Romaine once and for all.”

He marches away, no blood or mud or sand left behind.

Just the lingering threat.

And confusion as to what had changed.

I guess watching someone die from the drugs set him off.