"What are you doing?"
The woman who had approached me on Plano stood over me.
"What does it matter? My own family only thinks I'm worth a dollar. I'm going to be dead anyways when Johnny finds me, so why not go out on my own terms?"
I sink my chin into my chest. Hot tears form in the corner of my eyes.
"What if I told you there was a way you could change your life around?"
"What do you mean?"
"I told you I had a job offer for you, right?"
"So? What good would a job do? Listen...do you have any money? I just need—"
She reaches into her purse and pulls out a little baggie. Sagging down the bottom were shards of ice. I reach out for it, and she snatches it away.
"Before I give you this…" she hides the bag as a car passes by, "I need you to sign a couple of papers, first."
If it meant getting that last hit and finally changing my life, I would sign away the rights to all of my organs, if that is what this angel wanted. From the moment I saw its beautiful twinkling light, my bones began to ache, and my skin began to itch as if a scab had been formed right beneath my skin, and good lord did I need to scratch it. I don't even see her hand dip into her bag before the papers are handed over to me.
"This packet acknowledges the risks and dangers that you will face. Basic liabilities and such things."
I don't even take a second to read through it and sign, print my name on the dotted line on every line it asks in the whole packet, and hand it back to her. She looks it over before clicking her tongue.
"I need you to sign with your real name, or it won't work."
"But...that is my real name?"
"Your real name is Lyle Kyle? Really?"
She searches my face for any sign of dishonesty.
"Your parents had a really horrible sense of humor, didn't they?"
"What's wrong with it?"
"Nothing." I see her suppress a chuckle, "Here, this is the next one."
She hands me another packet.
"This is an agreement of employment; you will be contacted by White Company and acknowledged as such. You acknowledge that while your contract might be lent out to various companies, your loyalty shall remain solely with the White Company until the end of your contract period. There's a few other stuff, but you can ignore that for now."
Loyalty? That's a strange request for a company. Ah, but she rattles the bag in front of me like one might rattle keys in front of a baby. I sign it. She snatches the papers out of my grasp.
"This one is an NDA. No matter what, you cannot tell a single soul, otherwise...well, the terms of you breaking it are outlined within, here," she taps a large block of text with her finger, "here, and here."
I don't read them. Why should I? My new life is calling. I sign the papers, and once more the woman pulls them from my grasp.
"These are the last ones: they detail the terms of the current job, payment, and the period of your initial contract."
"Payment?"
"It's right here."
She taps a figure at the top.
"Is this right? 130,000 for six months of work? What kind of work will I be doing?"
"You'll be briefed on that later." She says, "Now, sign here."
She taps the bottom of the page, and I sign there without hesitation.
"And that's that."
"Wait, really? No interview?" I manage to stammer out.
"Nope, no interview. We're really just desperate for bodies at the moment."
"Really?" Was this my lucky day, or had I died and gone to heaven.
"Now that's all finished, here." She passes me the baggy and then pulls out her phone.
I step into the dark of the park and sit beneath a tree to fish my pipe out of my pocket. Fuck. It fell into the fucking pond. God damn George. Maybe I should kill him…
I smack the baggie against the tree until those beautiful crystals turn into sparkling dust. I pull out a pinch, hold it up to my nostril, and block the other before snorting it in. My head rushes as the powder works its magic. Oh, I need another. While I take noseful after noseful of the wondrous powder, a black car pulls up next to the woman. She motions towards me, and two large men in suits step out.
They walk up the sidewalk and step into the park. I do another bump. My head swims. It's nearly orgasmic as the intoxicating elixir works through me.
"Are you Lyle Kyle?" One of the men says. He wears a suit: a black jacket, a black tie, and a white undershirt. His gray eyes shine in the light, or perhaps that was the meth.
"Yeah, so?"
He motions with his head at the one standing next to him; dressed in similar attire. The man smacked the bag out of my hands, and the glorious, glimmering stardust fell onto the grass.
"Hey, what the fuck."
He grips me by the arm and pulls me up, while the woman approaches. The other helps to hold me in place while I struggle against it. Ah, fuck. I should have read the contract. They're really going to steal my organs or something.
"Help! They're trying to k--" One of the men wraps a belt around my mouth to muzzle me.
The woman pulled out a needle filled with a clear liquid. I try to scream against the belt as she approaches with it and slides the needle into my throat. A coldness washes over me as I black out a second later. I barely register them moving me over the grass, and tossing me in the back of their car.