We pulled up to Malik's house, and it was nothing like earlier in the morning. The energy had died down, just silence except for the low hum of the engine as Malik parked the car.
As we stepped out, Malik reached under the seat, grabbed the package, and slipped it under his jacket.
Inside, the place was almost unrecognizable. The floor was clean, no bottles, no pizza boxes. Duke was stretched out on the couch, eyes half-closed, looking like he'd just survived a war.
The TV was playing some action movie, but he wasn't paying attention.
The moment we walked in, Duke barely lifted his head. "How'd it go?"
Malik smirked, tossing his keys on the table. "He's in."
Duke sat up, rubbing his face. "What? Just like that?" He turned to me. "What did Vigo say?"
Malik dropped onto the chair, leaned back. "He gave him a kilo. Told him to move it fast. That's his test."
Duke's face changed. He straightened up, fully awake now. "The hell did you tell him to make him trust you so fast?"
I shrugged, still processing everything. "I just answered his questions. Told him the truth."
Malik laughed. "Vigo sees things. He don't need much to know if a person's solid."
Duke shook his head. "Man, Vigo don't trust easy. You know that. He must've seen something in you."
I leaned against the counter, arms crossed. "Or he's just testing me, seeing if I'll fold."
Duke nodded. "Yeah, that too." He looked at Malik. "So, what's the plan? How's he moving it?"
Malik stretched his legs out. "Told him the way we do it. Find trusted people, give them product, take a cut. You know, stuff like that." He glanced at me. "If you try selling it all yourself, you'll take forever."
I exhaled. "That's the thing. I don't know people like that."
Malik smirked. "You're not supposed to already know them. You spot them. Just keep your eyes open. When you see them, you'll know."
Duke tapped his fingers against his leg. "Yeah, but you gotta be careful. Wrong move, wrong person? You're done."
I nodded. That part, I already knew.
Malik sat up, stretching his arms. "Since this first kilo came out of nowhere, I'll help him move it. He'll be there the whole time, watching how it's done. After this? He figures out his own way."
Duke looked between the two of us. "So you're really in this now, huh?"
I let the thought settle in my mind. Yes, I am in."
Duke leaned back on the couch, stretching his arms. "Man… I should've proposed a toast with whiskey for Luis officially stepping into the game." He smirked. "But I already had too much of that today. One more shot, and I might pass out."
We all laughed.
Then it hit me.
"Shit." I rubbed my forehead.
Malik looked at me, confused. "What?"
"I didn't go to work today. And I didn't call in sick."
Duke frowned. "Wait… you still work at that construction site?"
"Yeah," I said.
Duke chuckled. "What do you even do there?"
"Whatever unskilled labor they need. Sometimes I carry bricks, sometimes I dig trenches. Whatever they tell me to do, I do it."
Duke shook his head. "Damn. All that for little pay?"
I sighed. "When you have no choice, you do it. But the skilled workers get paid more. At least the money they make can take care of their families."
Malik smirked. "I don't think you'll be needing that job anymore."
"Yeah, maybe," I admitted. "But it's not right to just stop showing up. I should at least let them know I won't be coming back. I'll call the foreman when I get home."
Malik nodded. "Alright. But listen, we're starting on your kilo tonight."
I looked up at him. "Tonight?"
"Yeah," he said. "Since I'm out of product, we're moving yours now. And since it's just one kilo, we'll do it ourselves."
I exhaled, thinking. "Alright… so I'll be selling my own product now."
Malik grinned. "Exactly. And you'll meet some of my regulars tonight."
He got up and walked to the bathroom. When he came back, he was holding a pack of small, transparent bags. He tossed them onto the table in front of me.
"You'll need to get these," he said. "But for now, we'll use mine. I'll charge you for them later, after we sell your kilo."
I nodded. "No problem."
Malik sat back down and opened the pack of bags. "Come on. Let's break this down into small pieces so it's easier to sell."
We started working, cutting and bagging the cocaine into smaller portions. As we did, Malik started explaining the numbers.
"Alright, listen," he said. "A full kilo? That's about 1,000 grams. We're gonna break it down into smaller bags, and each one will sell for around $100 a gram."
I raised an eyebrow. "So that's… $100,000?"
Malik nodded. "Yep. But that's if you're selling every gram yourself. When you start letting other people sell for you, you'll have to pay them their cut."
I nodded slowly, letting it sink in.
Duke chuckled. "Crazy, right? That little bag in your hand is worth more than a week of your construction job."
I looked down at the small bag of powder between my fingers. A week? More like a year.
Malik smirked. "Welcome to the game, bro."
I exhaled, Yeah.
"So, we're selling at clubs," I asked Malik.
Malik grinned. "Yeah, we'll get to that. But it'll be the last thing on our list tonight. See, when you have regulars, you don't rely on clubs so much. They're good for quick flips, but loyalty is where the real money is."
We finished bagging the coke, little dime bags stacked neatly on the table. Malik gathered them all up, tying them together in a tight bundle. "Alright," he said, heading back to the bathroom. I heard some rustling around, then he came back out, hands empty. "All set," he announced, a satisfied look on his face. " Now we just wait for tonight.