I’d intended to just go on a quick drive around. But I ended up out on Route 50, and I started driving west. And then, when I came to the intersection with 92 North, I took that. And then I was just obviously on my way to Morgantown, so I decided to go the rest of the way.
Morgantown, West Virginia was a really big town compared to Thomas, West Virginia. It was where West Virginia University was. WVU’s claim to fame was that it was a big party school. I guessed people actually went to class there and learned things, but the atmosphere in Morgantown was anything but, um, collegiate.
Morgantown, like everything in West Virginia, was built on a hill. I drove through the streets, going further and further uphill as I did. On each side of the street, the houses clung to the ground, and looked like they might tumble into each other like dominoes if the right person pushed.
I had to go up pretty high before I got where I was going.
I parked my car on the side of the street and walked up to the door. The lights were on inside. But then the lights were always on. Middle of the night was a great time to show up at this house. Afternoon? Not so much.
The door opened. A guy stood there. “Yeah.”
“Hey, Shane,” I said.
He seemed to be having trouble focusing on me. “Do I know you?”
“Yeah, it’s Leigh,” I said.
He shrugged. “Whatever. You here to see Benton?”
“Yep.”
He let me in.
Inside the house, it smelled like dog shit. Benton had about five dogs, all purebred beagles. But he neglected them something awful. He didn’t clean up after them. He yelled at them. He only fed them junk, and he did that irregularly. I felt really bad for them, but I didn’t dare say anything to Benton about it.
You don’t piss off your drug dealer if you can help it.
“Who is it?” came Benton’s voice.
I followed Shane into the living room. There was a big screen TV on one wall. Stacked beneath it were at least five different game consoles, every kind you can think of, all brand new.
Benton was lounging on a leather bean bag chair, holding a Playstation controller in his hand. He was shirtless, revealing his skinny arms and torso. He wore a backwards baseball cap. Several dogs lounged around his feet.
“It’s Leigh,” I said.
“Holy shit!” Benton dropped the controller and jumped to his feet. “I have been fucking waiting for you.”
The dogs all jumped to their feet, barking.
“Shut up,” screamed Benton.
The dogs quieted immediately. Tails between their legs, they slunk out of the room.
“That’s right,” said Benton, eyes wide, nodding. “That’s right, boys. You keep your mouths shut.”
Benton was always a little tweaky. He dealt crystal meth too, and I wasn’t sure that he didn’t dip into that a little too often. But he seemed a more hyper and strange than usual. He had lots of people he sold dope too. Why would he have been waiting for me?
“Well,” I said. “I’m here.”
He held his arms out. “Hells yes, you are.”
Did he think I was going to hug him? I was so not going to hug him. “Uh, I was just wondering about, um, some of the big C, you know? You got anything?”
He let his arms drop. “Yeah.” He dragged the word out to about four syllables, all the while bobbing his head. “Yeah, I can hook you up, girl. I can definitely hook you up. You know me. I’m good for it.”
What was going on with him? He never paid this much attention to me. Usually, I had to sit around for twenty minutes until he got to the next level of whatever video game he was playing.
He pointed at Shane. “Go get some product for the lady, why don’t you?”
Shane backed out of the living room.
Benton bounced on the balls of his feet. “So, Leigh, where did you say you were living these days, huh?”
I narrowed my eyes. Why was he asking me that? “I don’t think I did.” I didn’t tell random people my business. I was in hiding in Thomas. Benton didn’t need to know that I drove an hour and a half one way to buy coke. It was the easiest, most reliable place to get it. And I’d hoped that if anyone tracked me to Benton, they wouldn’t be able to tell where I lived.