"HAHAHA!" Berk laughed, swinging the bag of Joy in his hands. "I can't believe you're this naive!"
"What do you mean?" Caesar asked.
"I could take this Joy for myself and not give you anything. Seriously, it's like taking candy from a baby, I almost felt bad."
Berk stopped laughing and looked at Caesar with a sly smile on his face. Then, he took out a butterfly knife from the pocket of his jacket and swung it around his hands with ease.
Caesar saw the threat in Berk's hands, but he didn't bat his eyes. He kept a calm demeanor, almost too calm. Berk noticed this, but he treated it as if Caesar was only putting on a tough act.
"You'll hurt me? We're just a few feet away from a church," Caesar said, pointing at the door only a few meters away from where they were standing. One shout would be enough to rouse the sleeping priests.
Berk scoffed. "You think I'm afraid of the church? I just dropped off a few kilos of Joy on their doorstep a few minutes ago. You think they would punish me if they found out?"
Berk was clearly at the advantage in this situation. He could commit a grievous crime like murder, but the addicted priests would turn a blind eye on everything, especially if it involved their dealer.
But Caesar still kept a calm demeanor.
"If you kill me, you'll never get a taste of that Joy again," Caesar said as a threat even in this disadvantageous position.
Berk's first reaction was to tighten his grip on the bag of Joy on his hands. He subconsciously protected the substance as if it would disappear. This overreaction was an indication to how much the pure Joy got a tight hold on Berk.
"Y-you think I care about that?" Berk said unconvincingly.
Caesar smiled. "But you do bring up a good point. You could run away with the Joy and never bring me any money. That's a no-go for me."
Berk scrunched his eyebrows. He didn't know where Caesar was going with this, but he didn't have a good feeling about it.
"I've decided. You pay me upfront P5,000. 3,000 for the Joy, and another 2,000 for insurance."
Berk almost jumped from the request. He looked at Caesar up and down as if he was looking at someone who was crazy. Why would he pay 5,000 Parou up front?
"You're an idiot. I won't pay you a cent. And as a fee for your arrogance, I'll keep this Joy and won't share the profits. Kukuku, who am I kidding. I never planned to in the first place!"
Berk waved his hands goodbye from Caesar and started to walk away with the product, never planning to return with the money.
"With what Joy?" Caesar asked.
Berk stopped in place and looked back at Caesar. "With this! Did you forget already you child!" Berk waved the bag of Joy in his hands and looked at Caesar as if he were a toddler.
Caesar smiled and said, "Are you sure that's Joy?"
With Caesar's question, Berk suddenly felt doubtful. He examined the bag and saw that it was the powder of pure Joy that he had tasted before. It was smooth and it was red, indistinguishable from the real product.
Then, Berk opened the plastic bag and took a whiff of the powder, expecting a pleasant smell. As soon as the scent hit his nose, he whipped his head back, not because of pleasure, but because of the bad odor.
"That's not the real Joy. That's clay powder, a little cow manure, and other additives. You definitely won't get high with that," Caesar said.
Berk pinched his nose and immediately threw the bag away from him, splatting the powder on the wall. He looked at Caesar with burning eyes. He had been tricked!
Caesar saw Berk losing his patience, so he quickly said, "Don't worry, I got the real product right here. I just wanted insurance that I'll get the money." Caesar took out another bag of Joy from his pocket.
Berk didn't speak another word and reached out for the bag while glaring intensely at Caesar. But before he could take the bag, Caesar pulled it away from him at the last second.
"You bastard stop playing!" Berk bellowed while swinging the blade of his black butterfly knife towards Caesar. His anger was real, and he was planning on injuring, if not killing the kid.
"Wait," Caesar said with a calm voice. He didn't flinch nor was he flustered even after the tip of Berk's blade was only an inch away from his left eye.
"Let's be professionals here," Caesar said. "Do you think I'm an idiot," he asked Berk while looking at him straight in the eye. His gaze was cold, unaffected, and even a hint of crazy.
Berk felt a chill on his back. This kid was no longer the innocent and naive kid that he had perceived him to be. No, he was someone, something that wasn't afraid of death.
Berk withdrew the knife pointing at Caesar's eyes and crossed his arms. He looked at Caesar with a serious face. Seeing this, Caesar continued.
"This is a business proposition. We need to have a proper transaction. I'll give you the product, and you give me the money. Since this is the first time we are dealing with each other, we need to build trust."
Caesar saw Berk listening, but it seemed that his focus was not on the conversation, but on him. He was wary of Caesar.
This was not ideal. In order to make this transaction go as Caesar planned, Berk needed to accept his proposition. If Berk rejected it, then everything will go to shit. But Caesar didn't panic. This was an easy fix.
Caesar then opened the bag of Joy, letting the aromatic scent flow through the wind and into the nose of Berk. Immediately, Berk got the flashback of the ecstasy he felt consuming Joy.
His demeanor changed from being cautious to being addicted. His line of sight changed from Caesar to the bag of Joy in his hands.
Caesar slightly shook his head with a smile on his face. Just like that, Berk was ready to give anything just to get a taste of the pure Joy. It was so easy to trick an addict, like tricking a baby to give you candy.
"For me to trust you, you'll have to give me P10,000 upfront,"
Berk was about to have another outburst hearing the rise in price, but Caesar put up his hand and continued to talk, not letting Berk interrupt him.
"Now listen, the other 5,000 Parou is the assurance that you'll come next week. It's the payment for the next shipment so you'll definitely have to come. I want this to be a long partnership,"
Berk furrowed his eyebrows. His half-side of the brain told him that this was a risky move and that he should not trust Caesar. P10,000 upfront? That was too much money to give out.
The other side of his brain was filled with screams and pleads for another hit of pure Joy. This was currently winning.
"Don't think of this as a loss. This is an investment. Think of how much money you are going to make. Think of a future where you could take a hit of Joy anytime you like with a gaggle of naked women around you."
And with that, Caesar hit the final nail in the coffin. All sorts of logic and reasoning went out the window in Berk's mind and he immediately agreed to Caesar's tempting proposition.
Berk took out his leather pocket filled with money. Caesar took a good look and saw that there was a paper note that was filled with scribbles and a handwritten map. From his guess, it looked like a layout of the town.
Berk took out ten sheets of money, each worth and equivalent to 1,000 Parou. This was P10,000, an amount of money that a poor kid like Caesar never touched before.
This was his first profit, and it felt good.
Berk and Caesar exchanged the money and the Joy at the same time. Both of these people had an intense glare at the item they were going to receive. They were both addicts.
Berk took a small taste of the Joy and confirmed it to be the real thing. Then, he looked at Caesar and spoke.
"You bring 5 kilograms next week. We'll meet here. Next week don't be late, and don't bring any less. "
"That's too much. I can't produce that much in one week."
"Don't deliver, then I'll bury you and this whole orphanage to the ground,"
And with that threat, Berk left the alleyway with the bag of Joy securely in his pockets. He stopped in a while and looked back at Caesar, bringing his knife out and gesturing to cut off Caesar's head as a threat.
Caesar smiled and waved calmly. As soon as Berk was gone, he took a look at his money. He was now 10,000 coins richer than he was yesterday, just as he planned.
And 5 kilograms of Joy can net him more than 5,000,000 coins!
But this was not enough. He wanted more.