Thread: Drugs and Money [Chai & DeRe]

Sofia's head spun as the car pulled into a highway. Or maybe that was the world spinning her, throwing her relentlessly from situation to situation like a tornado, and not caring where it spat her out. It had ejected her roughly, beaten and bruisedquite literallyand thrown to the wolves. And that wolf had torn her apart in almost all conceivable ways, though there was some solace to be found in his death. She replayed the moment in her mind over and over again, each time imagining herself delivering the final blow. Swallowing dryly, she tried to ignore the wash of shame that coursed through her, accompanied by the humiliation. While she was grateful for the two strangers intervening, she also knew she wasn't out of hot water just yet. But for the time being, she relaxed and let herself worry only about the present. The car swerved suddenly, a result of another car nearly clipping them trying to switch lanes, and Sofia made an audible groan as her body jolted to right. Damien cursed, honking his car horn a few times in rapid succession and glancing briefly in his rear view mirror at Sofia, while Carlos put a hand on the dash to steady himself. Drive better, Damien, fuck, Carlos said after a moment, frowning and turning the radio on to some Tejano station, the soft sound of a bouncy accordion and drum beats playing in the background. Not my damn fault. And you know I hate when you play that shit in my car, the younger brother replied. He fiddled with the steering wheel controls, browsing through stations until it landed on a mix of 70's and 80's rock hits. You awake back there, senorita ? Damien's eyes flicked momentarily to the young woman who was fidgeting about, wrapping the blanket to cover more of herself. She said nothing, only staring straight ahead at the black pavement as the car flew through the highway. Even before Leo, working on the streets of Culiacn had taught her to keep her mouth shut around people she didn't know, and this time was no different. Arguably, it was an even worse situation being passed from cartel to cartel wasn't a good thing, no matter who it was or where they were from. And Sofia knew who the Los Zetas cartel was despite operating more across the U.S.Mexico border, they still had a fierce reputation in Mexico and could hold their own when it came to violence, murder, and crime. Rumor had it that their leader used to be on friendly terms with the Jimnez cartelthe cartel Leo, Gato, and Geuvo were associated withbut somewhere along the lines, things went south. Things went really south, apparently. Carlos turned briefly to look at her. The bitch don't wanna talk, he shrugged, digging a cell phone out of his jacket pocket and dialing a number. Sofia could hear the faint echo of ringing before someone picked up the phone. The words were unintelligible, but the voice itself was male. We're exiting now. Be there in five, she heard Carlos say before he tapped to end the call and tucked the phone back into his pocket. Damien was pulling the car off the highway into the outskirts of downtown, into what looked like a largely industrial sector of the city. Commercial buildings and shipping trucks made up a majority of their surroundings, and after a few minutes more of driving, they pulled into a mostly empty lot behind a large warehouse. It was a drab dirtied white, the steel rusting a bit at one corner, but still relatively clean under the orange glow of the city lights. He cut the engine, leaving them in silence before opening his door and stepping out into the cool summer night. Let's go. And don't forget her shit, he told his brother, pointing to Sofia's stolen olive green rucksack sitting on the floor between his legs.