Didn't sleep again.
Vex lay in bed. Stared at the ceiling. Water stain. Same as always.
Burner phone on the nightstand. Silent. Waiting.
3 AM. Still six hours till the text would come. Probably.
His real phone buzzed. Kairo: "cant sleep. you up?"
Vex stared at it. Didn't reply.
Another buzz: "guess not. sleep well bro"
Vex put the phone face down.
Couldn't tell Kairo. Couldn't tell anyone.
Your mom's pretty. Your sister's young.
Raze's words kept replaying. Over and over.
Vex got up. Walked to the kitchen. Quiet. Dark except the lamp mom left
on.
She still wasn't home. Double shift. She texted around 1 AM: "Few more
hours. Sleep tight honey."
Honey. She hadn't called him that in years.
Vex opened the fridge. Leftover pizza from yesterday. Grabbed a slice. Ate
it cold. Didn't taste it.
Checked the burner. Nothing.
Back to his room. Sat on the bed. Waited.
Dawn came slow. Light creeping through the window. City waking up.
Vex heard the front door. Mom coming home.
Footsteps. Tired ones. She walked past his room. Didn't open the door.
Probably thought he was sleeping.
Her door closed.
Silence again.
7 AM.
Vex got up. Shower. Got dressed. Sunday. No work. No college. Just...
waiting.
Grabbed his regular phone. Messages from Kairo. From Senna. Even one
from Tobi asking if he was okay.
Ignored them all.
Walked to the kitchen. Made coffee. Bad coffee but it was hot.
Sat at the table. Drank it. Stared at nothing.
The burner phone was in his pocket. Felt like it weighed ten pounds.
Lira came out around 9. Hair messy. Oversized shirt. Rubbing her eyes.
"You're up early."
"Couldn't sleep."
"Again?" She grabbed juice from the fridge. "That's like three nights now."
"I'm fine."
"You say that a lot."
She sat across from him. Poured juice. Looked at him.
"Mom came home?"
"Yeah. Like an hour ago."
"She okay?"
"Exhausted. You know how it is."
Lira nodded. Drank her juice. Quiet for a bit.
"You working today?" she asked.
"No."
"Plans?"
"Not really."
"Wanna watch a movie or something? I got homework but I can do it later."
Vex looked at his sister. Sixteen. Still had that kid face. Still believed things
would be okay if you just worked hard enough.
Innocent.
He needed to keep her that way.
"Maybe later," he said. "Got some stuff to do."
"Stuff?"
"Yeah."
"Vague."
"Yep."
She gave him that look. The Lira look. Suspicious but not pushing.
"Okay. But if you need to talk..."
"I know."
She finished her juice. Got up. Ruffled his hair like she used to when they
were kids.
"Don't be weird, Vex."
"I'll try."
She went back to her room.
Vex sat there. Coffee getting cold.
The burner phone buzzed.
He pulled it out.
Unknown number: "Tonight. 9 PM. Corner of Fifth and Morrow. Ashward.
Someone will hand you a package. Take it to The Hollows. Warehouse on
Seventh. Give it to whoever's there. Don't open it. Don't look inside. Don't
ask questions. Confirm receipt."
Vex typed: "Received."
That was it. That was the job.
Simple. Too simple.
What was in the package? Drugs probably. Maybe money. Maybe
something worse.
Didn't matter. Wasn't supposed to ask.
Just deliver. Get paid. Reduce the debt.
Eighty thousand.
How much would one delivery take off? Hundred? Five hundred?
Probably less.
This was gonna take forever.
Vex put the phone away. Finished his cold coffee.
Twelve hours.
Killed time walking around. Avoided people he knew. Couldn't deal with
questions.
Ended up at a park in Ashward. Shitty park. Broken swings. Graffiti on the
slide. But quiet.
Sat on a bench. Watched kids play. Young ones. Maybe seven, eight years
old. Laughing. Running. Normal.
Made him think of Lira at that age. Always smiling. Always dragging him
to play.
Now she worked to help with bills.
Now he was running packages for gangs.
Dad would be proud.
No. Don't think that.
Dad worked for them too. Got himself killed. Left them in debt.
Selfish bastard.
Vex's phone rang. Regular one.
Senna.
He stared at it. Let it ring. Voicemail.
She called again.
He answered. "Yeah?"
"You've been avoiding me."
"No."
"Vex."
"I've been busy."
"Doing what?"
"Stuff."
Silence. He could hear her breathing. Controlled. She was annoyed.
"I'm not stupid," she said.
"Didn't say you were."
"You're in trouble. I can tell."
"I'm not."
"Then why won't you talk to me?"
"Because there's nothing to talk about."
More silence. Longer this time.
"Fine," she said. "But when this blows up in your face, don't say I didn't
try."
She hung up.
Vex put the phone away. Felt like shit.
She was right. This would blow up. Eventually. But what choice did he
have?
None.
Kept walking. Hours passed. Sun moved across the sky. Got lower. Darker.
Grabbed food from a corner store. Cheap sandwich. Ate it on another bench.
7 PM.
Two hours.
Headed home. Changed clothes. Dark hoodie. Dark jeans. Shoes he could
run in if he needed to.
Mom was awake. In the living room. Watching TV. Some show she liked.
"Going out?" she asked.
"Yeah. Meeting a friend."
"Which friend?"
"Kairo."
Lie came easy. Too easy.
"Don't be out too late."
"I won't."
"Vex?"
He stopped. Turned.
She was looking at him. Really looking. Tired eyes. Worried.
"You'd tell me if something was wrong, right?"
His chest hurt.
"Yeah, Mom. Of course."
She smiled. Small. Didn't reach her eyes.
"Okay. Be safe."
"Always."
He left.
Fifth and Morrow. 8:55 PM.
Corner of Ashward. Streetlight flickering. Few people around. Homeless
guy sleeping in a doorway. Couple walking fast, heads down, not looking at
anyone.
Vex stood under the light. Waiting.
Burner phone in his pocket. Regular phone on silent.
A car pulled up. Old sedan. Tinted windows.
Passenger window rolled down. Guy in the passenger seat. Baseball cap.
Sunglasses even though it was night.
"Vex?"
"Yeah."
He held out a package. Small. Wrapped in brown paper. Taped tight.
Vex took it. Heavier than it looked.
"Don't fuck this up," the guy said.
Window rolled up. Car drove off.
Vex looked at the package. About the size of a brick. Could be anything.
Drugs. Money. Weapon parts. Who knows.
Didn't matter.
Just deliver it.
He started walking. Toward The Hollows.
Took twenty minutes. Package felt heavier with each step.
Warehouse on Seventh. Different from the one he met Raze in. Smaller.
Looked abandoned but wasn't. Light in one window. Top floor.
Door was unlocked. Vex went in.
Dark inside. Stairs to the right. Went up.
Second floor. Third. Fourth.
Top floor. Door at the end of the hall. Light coming from under it.
Vex walked to it. Knocked.
"Come in."
He opened the door.
Room was small. Empty mostly. One guy sitting on a crate. Young. Maybe
early twenties. Thin. Nervous energy.
"You the delivery?" he asked.
"Yeah."
"Package."
Vex handed it over.
The guy took it. Looked at it. Didn't open it.
"Wait here."
He disappeared through another door. Vex stood there. Room smelled like
cigarettes and mold.
Guy came back. Handed Vex a phone.
Not the burner. A different one. Smartphone.
"Boss wants to talk to you."
Vex took it. Put it to his ear.
"Hello?"
"Vex." Raze's voice. "Good job. On time. No issues."
"Yeah."
"See? Easy money. Check the burner tomorrow. You'll see what you earned
tonight."
"How much?"
"Two hundred. Toward the debt."
Two hundred. Out of eighty thousand.
Three hundred and ninety-nine more jobs to go.
"Great," Vex said.
"Don't sound so excited." Raze laughed. "You'll get more as you prove
yourself. For now, you're bottom rung. Do what you're told. Don't ask
questions. Stay useful."
"Got it."
"Good. Hand the phone back."
Vex gave it to the nervous guy.
"You can go," the guy said.
Vex left.
Down the stairs. Out of the building. Into the night.
Two hundred dollars.
First step into the hole.
Only three hundred and ninety-nine more steps to climb out.
If he even could.
Got home around 11.
Apartment was quiet. Mom asleep. Lira's door closed, light off.
Vex went to his room. Closed the door. Sat on the bed.
Pulled out the burner. Message waiting.
"$200 credited. Current debt: $79,800. Next job TBD."
Seventy-nine thousand, eight hundred dollars.
Barely made a dent.
Vex put the phone in his nightstand. Lay down. Stared at the ceiling.
Water stain. Always there. Never changing.
His regular phone buzzed.
Kairo: "you alive?"
Vex: "yeah"
Kairo: "good. was getting worried. you've been MIA"
Vex: "just busy"
Kairo: "with what"
Vex: "stuff"
Kairo: "helpful"
Kairo: "seriously tho. you good?"
No. Not even close.
Vex: "yeah. tired. gonna sleep"
Kairo: "ok. hit me up tomorrow. we need to hang"
Vex: "maybe"
Kairo: "not maybe. definitely. ur being weird and i dont like it"
Vex didn't reply.
Put the phone away. Closed his eyes.
One job down.
Three hundred ninety-nine to go.
Unless they gave him bigger jobs. Paid more. Then maybe less.
Or unless he fucked up. Then...
Don't think about that.
Just survive. One day at a time.
One delivery at a time.
One lie at a time.
Sleep didn't come.
But morning would.
And with it, another day of pretending everything was normal.
Another day of lying to everyone he cared about.
Another day deeper in the hole.
Vex lay there. Waited for dawn.
The water stain stared back.
Silent. Unchanging.
Just like his situation.
Trapped.