Tim let out a bark of laughter. “Eager beaver. A real go-getter,” he said. “I like that.”
I shrugged. “I've got a brother and sister to feed.”
Tim nodded, giving me a look that said he understood. I really doubted he did. He got up off the couch and walked into the bedroom. I heard him rustling around in there and a couple of minutes later, he came out holding a black backpack. He tosses it to me. It was heavier than I expected.
“Okay, before we get started, there are a couple of ground rules here,” he said.
I nodded, waiting for him to lay out the rules for me. The weight of the pack in my hands was heavy and sent an ominous chill rolling through me. I was really doing this. I was going to be a drug mule. I couldn't even believe it.
Standing there in Tim's living room, with a bag full of drugs in my hand, I gained a new understanding of the phrase, desperate times call for desperate measures.
“First, you need to make sure this bag stays with you at all times,” Tim said. “Do not leave it anywhere. Not even in your car if you stop to take a piss. This bag goes with you everywhere. It's like a part of your fuckin' being now, man.”
“Got it,” I replied.
“Second, you are to get the bag to the location within two hours of when I hand it off to you,” he said. “The customer will be waiting and watching the clock.”
“Two hours?”
Tim nodded. “That gonna be a problem?”
I think about my car sitting out back. Granted, Walter wasn't that big of a town to begin with. You could probably walk from one end to town to the other in two hours. But, it might be close.
“It could be,” I admitted. “My car's not working right now.”
A frown creased Tim's face. “Got a bike?”
I wanted to kick myself for not thinking of it sooner. Buried in the garage downstairs was my old mountain bike. I nodded.
“Yeah, I do,” I said.
“Then, you'll have no problem working in that time frame.”
“Nope,” I said. “Shouldn't be a problem at all. Anything else?”
“Yeah, one more thing,” he said. “Under no circumstances are you to open the bags I give you. None. You are to take them from me and drop them off where I tell you. Clear?”
I gave him a thumbs up. “Crystal.”
I had no desire to look into the bag in the first place. I'd be muling pot. Big deal. I mean, it would be a big deal if the cops stopped me and found out what's in the backpack. But, I'd never been in trouble and hadn't ever been on the radar of the police around here, so the likelihood of me getting stopped was probably pretty slim. To them, I'd probably just be another guy riding his bike through town, which suited me just fine.
“Okay, the last thing I'm going to need,” Tim said, “is for you to take a drug test for me.”
My mouth fell open and I stared at him, not sure I'd actually heard him correctly. There was an awkward silence between us for a moment and then Tim erupted in laughter. He laughed long and hard, doubling over and slapping his knee. A nervous chuckle escaped me, though I wasn't sure what was so funny.
“I'm kidding, man,” he said. “I'm just yanking your chain. A drug test? Seriously?”
An awkward grin touched my lips and I suddenly felt stupid for not catching on to it sooner. A drug test from a guy I was going to be muling drugs for. Yeah, great. Maybe I had to be high to appreciate the attempt at a joke. Or, maybe I was just so twisted up and high strung about what I was doing that I wasn't going to find anything funny at all.
His laughter finally faded away and he wiped at his eyes, shaking his head. “You should've seen your face, man.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Funny.”
Tim clapped his hands together. “Okay then,” he said. “Time to earn yo
ur money.”
“Speaking of that – ”