This Guy #6

I was pretty upset Wriggly had told someone where we were. It was Stet, so there was no real damage done, but now I had to worry about who else he might have told, who they talked to and so on. I didn't tell Stet or Niklas and went to go have a talk with wriggly. I went to his apartment in Philly, one of his couriers, Benny, was just coming out as I came up. He looked pissed, and was muttering under his breath, when he saw me though he froze for a second then smiled.
He opened the door for me and waved me in, "Just go in man, he's not busy." I looked around suspiciously trying to see anything out of norm, but didn't.
I was starting to sweat, but tried to stay calm, I went in watching a reflection of Benny in the door glass half expecting him to jump towards me. Instead he turned an sat on the bottom step of the little stoop. I closed the door behind me and clicked the bolt closed, if he heard he didn't give a sign, It probably wouldn't stop him if he came in but at least I'd hear him.
I rounded the hallway corner slowly scanning the length of the front room, Wriggly was sitting, facing me, but he was bent over a stack of cash, and didn't seem to know I was there. I stepped out into the doorway a little more, my boot clunked on the floor and he jerked up in surprise. When he saw it was me he jumped to his feet.
"Fuck" he yelled and lunged low, making it past me with no trouble. Before I'd even made it a step back into the hallway, the fact that he was running from me just sinking in, I heard him throw the bolt on the door. I came out in the hallway just in time to see Benny's fist shoot through the gap in the open door and catch wriggly square in the face. Wriggly flopped over backwards, dazed, blood starting to pour from one nostril. His hands waved vaguely in the air for part of a second, then he went limp and his eyes rolled back in his head.
Benny pushed on the door but now Wriggly was blocking the way. I grabbed a handful of his hair and dragged him back into the living room. Benny followed and I heard the bolt shut again.
I was feeling a little bewildered, but dragged wriggly over to the sofa where he had originally been sitting and left him lying on the floor in front of it. Benny was out in the hallway looking back and forth between me and Wriggly.
"What the fuck Benny?" he met my gaze squarely, and then his eyes flickered down to my hand and back his face whitening a little. I actually had to look down to see that I had my gun out and was squeezing the hell out of it, my hand all white and trembling. I didn't remember pulling it out, but damned if I was going to put it away now.
Benny' father came from some what he said was one of the larger crime families in North jersey, New York. He never named him or them, but he would tell stories about some of the shit that went on at their family gatherings. His mother was Vietnamese, having met his father during the war, coming back to the states with him to be married. His father had gone back into the family business when he got back from Vietnam, got sent to prison and ended up dead in a prison fight. Benny and his mother pretty much got tossed out by the family as soon as his father was dead, maybe that's why his father didn't make it. He didn't really know, didn't care either, he took his mother's maiden name came to work the streets eventually working for wriggly.
He was kind of short, but his Italian blood, or his insane workouts left him bulging with muscle, he was the biggest oriental person I'd ever seen short of sumo wrestlers. He could move too, he was fast, had taken some kind of martial arts since he was a boy. Right now though I was far enough away from him he couldn't get to me without me shooting. I wasn't planning on it, but if anyone had jumped or moved suddenly I was keyed up enough I would have started blasting.
"He sold you out man." Benny looked like he was going to spit on him, but instead just waved at Wriggly. "See that cash?" he pointed at the stacks wriggly had been counting. "A guy named Sal Rogelio came by this morning. I never heard of him, but I seen him before, and not with nice people."
"What’s he look like?" I asked. Benny gave a great description of that guy I was looking for. "Damn" I let out a slow breath.
"That's all you're going to say? Damn?" Benny asked.
"I'm just thinking man." and I was, only it was more like trying to stick a paddle in the whirlpool of info in my brain.
"What's he tell him?" I asked waving the pistol at wriggly.
"I don't know. The guy came in and said 'I’m Sal Rogelio' like we should have known him. He asked about Niklas, only he knew his real name. He asked about you too, had a good description of you right down to your tattoos. I kept expecting Wriggly to tell him, we didn’t know anything and to fuck off, but instead he sends me to wait outside!" Benny was fuming. "Sal had these two big grease ball fucks with him he sent out after me, they waited on the step with me until Sal came out, then they all left. I went inside and Wriggly sitting there counting out this brown paper bag full of cash.
"I asked him about Sal, but he tried to be all big, told me to keep my mouth shut. Get the fuck out." He shrugged "that's when I came out and saw you coming. I figured you found out somehow?"
"No, I mean, I knew he told one of my friends where I'd been. I was just coming to tell him to knock it off. Shit."
"It was fucked up for him to do that." Benny leaned against the wall. "As soon as anyone heard, no one would do shit with us ever again. He's a fucking rat, he turned on you so fast, it was like he called the guy and told him to come over."
I could hardly believe it, one of my old friends actually stabbing me in the back had never occurred to me, now that it had happened I was trembling in rage, or fear, I couldn't tell.
"So what do you want?"
"I want this set-up." Benny looked around the small room. "I know where he gets his shit and I know all the runners. So you take him out of here" he nodded again at Wriggly, "and I take over in his place."
"What you think I'm going to kill him." I asked anger flaring up.
"Shit, you need to kill him, if you don't though I don't care, because me or one of the other runners will. We make too much money off this, we don't need him, and if he disappears every one will get the message that he got his for ratting someone out. We'll still be good here. No problem."
He had it worked out, that's for sure. Only I couldn't kill Wriggly, we'd shared some good times together. I couldn't leave him here either, I just didn't want him killed.
"I'll take him with me." I said squaring myself towards Benny so he got the threat. He nodded.
"Just make sure he never comes back here." he met my eyes. "Don't trust him. He's a fucking junky; he'd sell you for bottle cap full of Clorox, man."
Wriggly was starting to move around again, I had to get us out of here. I had a feeling Benny liked me enough, but he was all business and If I didn't get moving he'd make it easier on me, just not the way I wanted him to.
"Can you set up a heroin shot?" I asked Benny as I bent down and unlaced both of Wriggly's shoes. He said yes, so I had him fix me up two syringes, I gave Wriggly one in the forearm, just as he was coming awake. I watched the panic fade from his face as the drug hit his system, he gave me a sleepy looking grin, patted me on the arm. I tied Wriggly’s shoes together leaving 2-3 inches of slack, childish maybe, but he if he tried to run away it might be my only chance at catching him, he was fast.
Benny had gathered up the cash on the table and put it back in a brown paper bag. He handed it to me as I was leading Wriggly out the door. He gripped my arm for a second “Remember. That cash bought you from this man." I met his eyes then nodded.
"You won't see him again." I promised, hoping I could convince Wriggly of that.
"You're cool here. Come see me if you need something."
I threw Wriggly into the backseat, he was a little more lucid, but definitely high, Benny must have fixed one hell of a shot. I turned back, shook Benny's hand then left.
I drove back into Jersey and headed east, Wriggly mumbling and laughing in little snorts in the backseat. After driving about an hour I pulled off and went into a diner and had some coffee. Things were beginning to fall together again; I was just realizing the enormity of what Wriggly's betrayal could cause. Did he give our new names to Sal? If he did he could just call hotels until he found us. He must have figured we were still around, Wriggly would have told him we were. Would have told him I was looking for him.
I watched the car, but wriggly wasn't moving around a lot, I could see him in there, but he was beginning to worry me. I didn't know a lot about junk, but I figured even high he should move around more than he did. I paid for my coffee and went out, shaking him awake, slapping him in the face a few times. That when I saw the second needle in his hand. He stabbed towards my face, I jerked my hands up reflexively and felt the needle burn into the flesh between my thumb and first finger. It felt hot as he started to press down the plunger, and I jerked my hand way almost screaming as it ripped the syringe from his hands.
I punched him in the face with my left hand knocking him back into the car. My second hit went into his guts, making him retch onto the car floor. I didn't care I leapt into the car on top of him bashing him again and again with my left hand and my forehead. I felt his nose crush, felt a tooth crack, and finally managed to draw back. My left hand was covered in his blood, and some vomit, I didn't see any cuts on it, and had a flash of panic as I thought about what kind of sickness he might have from all his years shooting up.
I probably wasn't going to live through this though, if I didn't get killed by that guy Sal or one of his cronies, I was probably going to prison for the rest of my life. I looked at my other hand which I could feel throbbing, but numbly. The needle had gone almost all the way through my hand. I could see the dark tip right under the skin. A large bruise was forming around it though, getting darker as I watched. I jerked the needle out, noting he had pushed about a third of it into my hand. I was hoping some of it had been lost before it had stabbed me, but I could feel a tickly feeling building up in my chest, like when I'd gotten laughing gas at the dentist.
I didn't know how much it would take to get me high, but suddenly I was smiling and my hand felt great. I looked at it and flexed it several times watching the bruise swell. I had to get out of here though, I climbed back into the driver’s seat and took off, heading south until I was lost in the woods and didn't see any more houses. I pulled over leaned out the door and puked, not really minding that I was throwing up, but it did clear my head a little. I had no idea where I was, but I knew I had a problem. Wriggly was moaning in the back seat, when I looked back at him his face looked all crushed in. Both his eyes seemed to be swelled shut, just looking at him made me feel ill. He had sold me out, sold out Niklas, after all the work we did to hide. After killing that muscle guy and the drug dealer, he had gone and ruined that by selling us out to Sal Rogelio. He had to have known who Sal was when we were there. That's why he wanted us to leave. So he could call Sal, make some money. I could feel my chest heaving, my hands were trembling and I wanted to hit him again, but he was already hurting pretty bad.
I finally couldn't take it any more I got out opened the back door and dragged him out dropping him roughly to the concrete. I kicked him ribs, but pulled the hit a little, I just didn't have the heart to once I saw him lying there. He was pretty dazed, and wouldn't answer me when I tried to get him to acknowledge me. I dragged him off the road a little into the woods and leaned him against a tree facing away from the car. He came too finally, staring at me blankly for a few minutes. I crouched down in front of him.
"You fucked me up." his voice rasped out of his swollen mouth, streaks of blood were dried on his face.
"Yeah."
"Sorry man, being and addict, it’s a bitch." Only one eye seemed to be tracking me, the other gradually was drifting off to the side. I felt like crying, I had blinded him, I really lost it.
"Just for the money?" I asked swallowing down a lump in my throat.
His head nodded a little before he lifted it back up to answer me. "Yeah."
"Fuck" I said softly barely a whisper.
"Give me the rest of that shot?" he asked lifting a weak limp arm. "Just one more shot, then leave me here. You'll never see me again." A tear formed in his eye, rolled down his cheek riding a ridge of dried blood.
"Okay." I hung my head, tears of my own welling up. I walked back to the car and picked up the needle from the floor where I'd thrown it.
I crouched down in front of him, placed the needle in his hand, rocked back on my heels. He bent his head and worked the needle into his limp arm. I pulled my pistol out and pointed it at his head, tears blurred my vision, I knew my hand was shaking, but I wouldn't miss him from this close. I almost didn't shoot, but then his head swung up, his one eye met mine steadily and I swear his swollen lips pulled up in a tight smile.
I pulled the trigger.