“I’m out,” Emmet says again.
Terry and Bill stare at him for a moment. Then Terry bursts out laughing. He just laughs and laughs and laughs. Emmet gives a heavy sigh and rolls his eyes.
“Oh God,” Terry says through his tears and laughter, “Oh that’s a good one mate. Good on you. You finally found your sense of humour. First time tonight too!”
Emmet doesn’t say anything. He just keeps looking at Terry who’s now rolling around on the floor laughing his head off. Emmet glances at Bill who’s watching Terry. Then their eyes meet. Bill raises his eyebrows. Emmet nods. Bill nods gently.
“He’s not joking,” Bill says quietly.
Terry stops laughing suddenly and looks at Bill. Then he turns to stare at Emmet.
“Of course he’s joking,” Terry insists. “He’s a moron if he’s serious. You’re joking aren’t you mate?”
“No,” Emmet says with a shake of his head. “I’m not kidding around.”
“Alright mate,” Terry says, climbing to his feet, “You’ve had your laugh, now give over.”
“He’s serious.” Bill says. “I’ve known him since he was 5. I know when he’s joking and when he’s not. This time he’s being serious.”
“Give over!” Terry shouts, rounding on Bill. “You don’t know shit. You’re just having a laugh and mucking around. Stop taking the piss and tell me where we’re gonna get rid of these 100 we’ve got left.”
“Terry, I’m out,” Emmet says, “I’m not doing this anymore.”
“Oh god.” Terry says, his face falling and his mouth dropping open. “You’re actually serious aren’t you. You’re out.”
“Yeah,” Emmet says. “It’s getting too dangerous now. We’re just going to get in worse shit if we keep on going.”
“Well fine,” Terry says “I’ll keep the money from these 100 and you can pay me back for the 100 you lost. I forked out good money for these pills.”
“No way mate,” Emmet says. “We split the loss, fifty-fifty.”
“Bullshit!” Terry cries. “It was you that lost the pills you had. It was your fault we got caught. Not mine! You’re the one that wanted us to sell in all the Baz clubs. Not me!”
“We split the loss,” Emmet says again, his face stony and firm, “It was my idea to sell in the Baz clubs but it was your idea to go to Chris’ club and sell without his permission. You wouldn’t even let me talk to the bouncer.”
“Cos we would have lost our money,” Terry shouts, “If we’d asked Chris we would have had to give over half our money. We both knew it. There’s no way I was gonna let us lose out on that much money!”
“We split the loss!” Emmet says loudly but firmly. He stays in his seat and locks eyes with Terry. “This is a joint enterprise. We both put in our money for the pills. We always split the profits. That means we split the losses too.”
“No mate!” Terry says firmly. His face contorts in anger. “You’re the one that fucked up, you’re the one that loses out on money.”
“Fuck off!” Emmet shouts, “We both fucked up. I wanted to sell in Baz, you wanted to sell in Chris’ club. You’re the one who got the bouncers looking at us. You’re the one that pissed off Chris with your loud mouth.”
“I’m not losing out on that money!” Terry says insistently. “No way am I gonna be out of pocket.”
“You’re not going to be out of pocket,” Emmet replies. “We can still make a profit from the stuff we’ve got left, we’ve just got to split it once it’s sold.”
“Thought you were out,” Terry snaps, “If you’re out why should you get the money at all?”
“Because I helped buy the pills,” Emmet snarls, “I put in just as much money as you did even though you seem to have forgotten that. I’m going to need it to go legit,”
“Bullshit,” Terry says, “You’re probably gonna go off and buy more gear.”
“No,” Emmet says firmly. “I want to do something new. I need money to do that. I want to make back the money I spent on those pills, with profit and then that’s it. I’m done.”
“Fine!” Terry snarls. He stops and freezes, like he’s just as surprised by what came out of his mouth as the others are. He frowns and continues. “We’ll split what we make from the pills. Then we go our separate ways, just like you want.”
“Good,” Emmet snaps. “You sell my fifty and give me seven quid a pill.”
“Why’ve I gotta sell your shit?!” Terry cries out. “Why can’t you sell it?”
“Because I want it gone and I want it gone fast,” Emmet says firmly. “You sell my half, give me the £350 and then I start some sort of business outside of drugs. It might be legitimate, it might be a bit dodge, but it’s going to be out of the drugs game. End of discussion.”
“And how am I gonna get rid of one hundred pills by myself?” Terry says plaintively. “I’ve never sold by myself before. I don’t even know where to start.”
“You can do it fine,” Emmet says. “You’ve got the gift of the gab. You can sell snow to an Eskimo.”
“Fine, fine,” Terry says with a heavy sigh. “Where’m I gonna get one hundred sold at once though?”
“Try Damian,” Emmet says, throwing up his hands in the air, “He’ll probably take them as a job lot for seven hundred. Guy’s always loaded.”
“Alright,” Terry says nodding. “So you gonna call him and sort the deal out?”
“Yeah,” Emmet says. He looks at the watch on his wrist. “But it’s going to have to be later. It’s 4 am, he’s never going to agree if I wake him up at this time.”
“Shiiit,” Terry says, drawing the word out. “I better get home.”
“Want a ride?” Emmet asks and climbs to his feet. “It’s probably calm back in town now. I think I can get my car.”
“Nah mate,” Terry says. He stretches. “I’m just gonna walk home, work off the adrenaline you know.”
“Alright,” Emmet says with a nod. “Bill, thanks for letting us crash. I’ll see you later mate.”
“Sure, no problem,” Bill says with a nod. He gets up and shows the pair to the door. “Be careful getting home Terry, I don’t wanna hear you’ve been found in a ditch tomorrow” he says sarcastically.
“No fear,” Terry says. Emmet walks past him and heads back to Baslow. He can hear Terry talking behind him, his voice slowly fading away. “I’ll be round later to finish that game. I’m — na —ck…”
Emmet shakes his head and keeps walking.
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