The Front by Mandasue Heller

nodded quickly. ‘Course, man. I wouldn’t do that to you.’
            The Man held his hand up in a sign of acceptance and settled back into his seat. ‘I had to ask, Max. You know how it is these days. Can’t be too sure of no one. See you later, yeah?’
            Max nodded. He knew the score. Everyone was stabbing each other in the back since smack became such hot business, and no one was taking any chances.
            Turning to leave, he stopped when The Man called out to him again. The icy prickle returned.
            ‘Where you headed?’ The Man asked.
            ‘Down The Nile,’ Max told him. ‘Why, what’s up, bro’?’
            ‘Just want you to do one more thing,’ The Man said, holding the spliff out towards him.
            ‘Sure,’ Max agreed, leaning across to take it. ‘So long as it ain’t popping no one else, ’cos I ain’t equipped no more.’
            The Man shook his head. ‘I just want you to drive past the estate and see if Pasha’s still there. You got your mobile?’
            Max nodded and patted his pocket, smoke swirling up from his nostrils. Taking another pull, he handed the spliff back. ‘Is that all, just drive past? You don’t want me to go and see him?’
            The Man shook his head. ‘Nah. If the lights are still on, it’s cool. I just want to know if he’s there or not.’
            ‘I’ll bell you as soon as I see anything,’ Max said and, waving, he hotfooted it out of there before they thought of anything else to detain him.
            Jake let him out, waiting until the heavy security door on the ground floor swung firmly into place before closing The Man’s door. While he was relocking it, Linda emerged from the bathroom and staggered past him into the living room.
            Kicking off her stilettos, she floated down to the floor at The Man’s feet and sifted lazily through her purse for the lump of soft black draw he’d given her. Finding it, she attempted to roll a spliff. Her head lolled forward in deep concentration, her mouth hanging slack and wet.
            Coming back, Jake looked at her with disgust. ‘She’ll be a junkie in a week,’ he declared venomously. ‘She like it too much.’
            ‘She’ll be paying for it if she wants to carry on,’ The Man said. ‘I ain’t keeping her supplied.’
            ‘She working?’ Jake asked.
            ‘Not yet,’ The Man said. Leaning forward, he coiled Linda’s long hair around his hand and pulled her head back. She looked up at him, her eyes rolling heavily. Laughing softly, he let go and sat back. ‘Not yet,’ he repeated.
            ‘So what you gonna do with her?’ Jake asked. ‘You ain’t planning on keeping her round, are you?’
            The Man shook his head. ‘Nah. I’ve done everything I want with her already. Anyhow, Patrice is coming home soon, so she best be gahn, else she’ll be losing all them Goldilocks – and she won’t be earning much without them, eh?’
            Jake laughed. Patrice was The Man’s baby-mother. A gorgeous, crazy black queen. She wouldn’t take too kindly to this bimbo, that was for sure. A white woman getting it on with her man was a soon-to-be-dead white woman.
            ‘She got her own place?’ he asked.
            ‘Dunno.’ The Man shrugged. ‘But I’m thinking to move her into a nice place of her own anyway. Get her away from her lickle friends, mek her more high-class.’ He nodded thoughtfully, voicing the idea that had been growing all week. ‘I’m thinking she’d be good for business types with them baby blues.’
            ‘So long as she can keep them open!’ spat Jake, throwing Linda another filthy look.
            Standing up, he stretched, rolling his tongue around his dry teeth. ‘You want a drink?’
            The Man nodded and glanced at his watch with a frown. His patience was beginning to wear paper-thin now. Pasha