The year is 3014 and I've taken the assignment no one wanted. I am now making the cross country trip to North Carolina. I'll be documenting the life in the trap city of Durham. None of my other colleagues would take the job and I drew the short stick. Upon entering the city it seems it is deserted, but I've been advised to go to the center of all things trap on ninth street. When I got there the streets were lined with old brick buildings with boarded up windows. I wandered aimlessly down the street when a door was thrust open and I was grabbed and pulled into the building suddenly. I reached for the 9 mm glock 17 in my waistband that I had no idea how to use. My boss had insisted I bring it with me with the instructions, "aim and squeeze," like it was really that simple. The person grabbed my arm, "there's no need for that," a female voice said from behind me. I turned around to see a tall girl with feline features and a long brown braid hanging over her shoulder. She was wearing a cropped white ribbed tank top and black cargo pants.
"Who are you?" I asked, highly perplexed.
"I'm the girl that just saved your ass, but you can call me Lexi," she said with a wry smile.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"It's no secret that you were coming, and you can't just walk through the steets alone like that, that's how you get kidnapped,"
"Sort of like what you did?" I asked grinning.
"Yeah except I'm not going to make you sell cocaine for me or kill my competitors," she said raising her eyebrows at me.
I decided I'd just keep my mouth shut after that statement.
"You can't wander the streets looking for answers, I'll tell you what you need to know, so you can get out of here,"
"And what do you want in return?" I asked suspiciously.
"Nothing, the quicker people know the truth about this place instead of stupid rumors, the quicker something can be done about it,"
"How do I know what you're telling me is the truth?"
"I'll take you on a tour later if you insist,"
"I guess I have to," I murmured. I pulled out an IPhone and set it up to record.
"Kind of old fashioned don't you think?" she asked in an amused tone.
"Well I like it," I shrugged pulling out a notebook full of questions.
"So," I started, "What's the dynamic around here? Tell me about the average person's day to day life,"
"Well I guess they report to whichever trap leader they work for and get their supply. A lot of drugs are pushed around here, but coke is the biggest seller," she said. I noticed as soons as I started asking questions she seemed to go somewhere else in her mind. Her eyes glazed over slightly as if she was reliving some awful memory.
"And all of these people started doing this on their own?"
"At first- but i guess there weren't enough willing participants because kids started disappearing on their way home from school. Sometimes they were as young as seven," she said shaking her head.
"What did law enforcement do about this?"
"At first they were adamantly pursuing all responsible parties, but it wasn't just one group, so eventually they gave up. Now they are just as scared as anyone else if they aren't corrupt themselves,"
"What happens if you're kidnapped, but you refuse to cooperate?"
"It depends, but let's just say you won't be saying no for long," she said ominously.
"Why are you still here? Clearly you aren't cooperating for anyone. Why don't you just leave town- don't you have family somewhere else?"
"When I was 16 my mom got addicted, my older brother went to get her from Hydrae, the biggest coke pusher around here. Hydrae tried to make my brother sell, but he wouldn't, so Hydrae broke all of his fingers. When my brother continued to refuse he cut out his tongue, mutilated his face and then finally killed him. Then he went after my mom because she owed him money. She got a job with Hydrae's biggest rival Orion who is also her supplier. Orion's protecting her for now, but she's so strung out she has no sense of self preservation. I'm finishing what my brother started seven years ago and I'm not leaving without her," she said finally making eye contact with me.
I grinned at her nodding my head, "Let me help you."
No comments:
Post a Comment