Page 8 of A Dead Man's B-Side
He opened his mouth to speak before thinking better of his words and exhaling them in a deep sigh instead. He shifted in his seat and turned to face me properly, his entire upper body now facing me, caging me in. With his arm on the armrest between us, his voice turned dark, and my insides shrivelled, “Listen, kid, switch drinks or you’ll be arriving in Scotland with a broken arm.”
Panic seized my gut as I shoved my glass into his awaiting hand at the speed of light, out of seemingly gripping fear, before grabbing his own and placing it in front of me, though not daring to touch it.
I knew it.
He smiled at my expression, looking into my soul with a spiteful smirk as he took a sip. He continued until he finished the entire cup, and maybe he’d really done it out of spite, but he shouldn’t have.
I wasn’t stupid enough to gloat in his face, choosing to wait until he couldn’t resist the effects of the drug. Many can do a lot in a few minutes, and I wasn’t willing to find out whether he can reallystomach breaking a young boy’s arm.
I wanted to smile, but despite my victory, his words made it a small one.
A fleeting thought at the sharp rumble of his threat made me wonder if there was something larger at play, which only made me that much more grateful for thinking ahead.
He’d seemed harmless, he really did. Like those wealthy men whose only strong suit is their words and would be completely battered in a street fight. Sure, he worked out, but I assumed it was all cardio and maybe boxing to make himself feel more masculine.
“I didn’t put anything in your drink.”
“Then drink it.”
His drink remained untouched on the tray in front of me as I glared and turned to face the window before mumbling again, “I didn’t put anything in your drink.”
I held my tongue from spouting out that married men had a stronger sense of self-preservation. He couldn’t exactly visit her all the way from prison, now, could he?
The night sky was gone now, hidden from me by the expanse of thick clouds. There was a complete void of any light save for the ones flashing on the wing, and it was a soothing rhythm to follow.
On. Off. On. Off. On. Off.
The Restoril worked fast, and it wasn’t long before he fell asleep, helpless to the pull as I once was only hours before.
Finally, I allowed myself an exhale of breath, and my shoulders lowered to a relaxed stance.
Looking over at him, I was cautious enough to wonder if his eyes would pop open when I leaned too close or blew over his eyes.
Even in his sleep, he was eerie. Someone who you’d always feel on guard around. But that didn’t stop me from reaching out a hesitant arm towards his pockets. After making sure that he was truly out cold, I abandoned all propriety and patted him down. Feeling something small and thick, I shoved my hand into his pants pocket and pulled out an expensive leather wallet.
His slumped and slumbering body certainly didn’t stop me from swiping the stack of fresh euro bills and shoving them into my pocket.
I didn’t worry about waking him; he was out cold from the way he’d remained that way when I tried shaking him awake. From the looks of it, he wouldn’t gain consciousness until after we landed.
I went through each fold carefully. From top to bottom, right to left. His namewasEvan, but I didn’t care about that.
Evan Bloom.
What a horrible name.
In fact, I barely skimmed the things others would have considered important.
It was mostly useless information like his birthday and eye colour.
The only thing that made me pause was the paper. It was too clean, formal. Usually, there would be ink bleeds or slight misalignments. The paper stock itself was too stiff for a card issued…
Five years ago.
I glanced at the stiff folds of his wallet, at his well-pressed suit, and noted that his license was issued by the state of Rhode Island. Where the wealthy cluster.
If it was a fake, it was poorly made, but I would guess its condition came from pristine care and proper attention from the issuer. Something the working man couldn’t afford.
What really caught my eye, however, was the rainbow of credit cards, each a different gleaming colour. Gold, black, green, silver, blue.
