Friday morning Swithin awoke to the sound of his cell phone ringing.  He glanced at his alarm clock and noted the time, 10:50 am.  Then he reached out, picked his phone up off his nightstand and checked to see who was calling.

“Hey Carlton,” Swithin spoke sleepily into the phone.  “What’s up?”

“When are you heading out for lunch?”

“Lunch,” Swithin said through a yawn as he sat up in bed.  “I’m just waking up.”

“You’re not working today?”

“Not today.”

“How long before you think you’ll be up and about?”

“I could head out in an hour.  Why?”

“I’d like to treat you to lunch, or in your case, breakfast.”

“You want to buy me a meal?” Swithin questioned suspiciously.

“What’s wrong with that?”

“I’m just surprised.”

“You’ve bought me lots of meals.”

“I know… And, until now, you’ve never once offered to return the favor.  Still, don’t let that stop you.  Buy me lunch.”

“When can you get here?”  

“How does…” Swithin trailed off as he looked at his alarm clock, “twelve thirty sound?”

“Works for me!” Carlton replied enthusiastically.

“Cool, I’ll see you, then.”

Swithin didn’t have to leave for Carlton’s until noon.  So he had ample time to take a bath, instead of the shower he usually took every morning.  After lounging until the bathwater went cold, he refilled the tub with hot water.  Then he washed up, situated himself and headed out to Carlton’s. 

Once Swithin reached the Lower Height it took some effort to find parking.  Still, he made it to the apartment on time.  Carlton was standing out front—his right leg in a brace, a crutch under each arm.

“Are you ready?” Swithin asked Carlton as he walked up.

“You look like you just walked off a runway,” Carlton commented with a smile.

“Thanks!  For a gimp you don’t look so bad yourself.”

“And, a sense of humor too,” Carlton continued.

Swithin raised an eyebrow.  “What’s going on?”

Carlton startled back as if surprised.  “What do you mean?” 

“I mean, what’s going on?” Swithin repeated.  “First you offer to buy me lunch.” Swithin paused for a moment and smiled.  “Which you’re still going to, by the way.”

“Does Kate’s Kitchen work for you?”

“Perfect,” Swithin replied as he followed beside Carlton.  “Then, you start in with the compliments.”

“So I feel generous today...  What does it matter?”

Swithin gave Carlton a cockeyed glance.  “If you say so.”

“And,” Carlton cleared his voice, “I wanted to know if you were still up for selling some of my sheets?”

Swithin smiled.  “I knew it!”

“You told me to give you a call if I changed my mind!”  Carlton snapped back defensively.

“It’s all good.  I’m not tripping. It’s just funny how you eased into asking.”

Carlton took in a breath.  “I’m sorry, but this whole thing’s new to me.  I’m still not completely comfortable with it.”

“Don’t worry,” Swithin replied with a smile. “I’ll talk care of everything.  I’ve already got a guy lined up and ready to go.  And, get this…”

Carlton looked up at Swithin.

“He’s prepared to pay three to one!”

“You’re kidding me?”

“I shit you not.”

“Then, I want to sell ‘em all!”

“You don’t want to keep any for yourself?”

“Did you?”

“I kept thirty.”

“Did you try any?”

“Not yet.  But I plan to.”

“Nah,” Carlton replied decisively. “I want to sell ‘em all.”

“That’s cool,” Swithin commented.

“And, we spilt the profits down the middle, just like before.”

“Are you sure? I’d be fine with a forty-sixty split.”

Carlton paused for a moment as if in thought. “No, you’re still taking most the risk.  We’re splitting the profits fifty-fifty.” 

Swithin playfully tapped Carlton’s shoulder.  “Thanks. That means a lot to me.”

There was a crowd of customers milling about in front of Kate’s Kitchen, waiting to get in.  Swithin filled out the waiting list—a yellow legal pad, dangling on a clipboard, hung from a hook outside the restaurant.

“So who’s this guy you have lined up?” Carlton asked in a lowered voice as he and Swithin stepped away from the crowd.

“His name’s Gifford, Johnson works for him,” Swithin replied, his voice also lowered.

“You’ve mentioned Johnson before.  But who’s Gifford?”

“Remember the hot tub party?  Where I told you I meet Amy?”

“The hot chick you fucked last weekend?”

Swithin sighed. “The hot tub party!  Focus!”

“Sorry, I don’t remember it,” Carlton snapped back.

“Well…  My first weekend in town, I went to a hot tub party.  The house it was held at was Gifford’s.” 

“So you met Gifford at his party?”

“Not exactly.  I’d heard his name tossed around at the party, but I didn’t officially meet him until last Wednesday night.  Johnson had passed on my information to him, then set me up to meet him.”

“Set you up?”

“Johnson invited me to a barbecue at Gifford’s house.  I went thinking others would be there too, like Amy.  But as the night wore on, I started thinking I was probably the only person invited.”

“And you feel safe dealing with these guys?”

Swithin took in breath.  “Not straight up like I dealt with Paul.  No, with these guys I’ve got to play things differently.  But don’t worry.  I’ve got a plan.”

“What?  To get your ass kicked and robbed by a couple of guys?”

Swithin stepped in toward Carlton.  “When we’re done with this deal, not only are we going to be $13, 500 richer, Johnson and Gifford are going to think I’m connected, that I’m part of a powerful acid syndicate. They’d be fools to try something stupid.”

“An acid syndicate?  We’re two bumble-fucks who were gifted some sheets.”

“I know that.  You know that.  They don’t.”

Carlton looked down and shook his head.  “I don’t know man.  This sounds risky.”

“Look at me,” Swithin said.

Carlton looked up at Swithin.

“Do you want to sell your sheets or not?”

“I do,” Carlton sheepishly replied.

“Then you have to trust me 100%”

Carlton locked in on Swithin’s eyes.  “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

“I am,” Swithin replied confidently.

“Okay then…  I trust you.”

“How much?” Swithin asked.

“100%,” Carlton replied.

Suddenly a girl’s voice called out.  “Grandmaster Pimp, your table’s ready!”

“Over here!”  Swithin called back.

Carlton smiled.  “You’re fucking nuts.”

“I couldn’t resist,” Swithin commented with a smile as he opened the door for Carlton.

“Because your nuts,” Carlton commented as he hobbled by.

Swithin’s smile widened.  “Yeah, I know.”

After lunch, Swithin called Johnson, while Carlton stood by listening in on the conversation.

“Hey, Johnson,” Swithin spoke into the phone.  “It’s Saint Swithin.  I’m not sure what the rest of your day looks like, but if you can spare the time, I’d be up for a meeting later this afternoon.”

“Would this meeting pertain to lavender bears?”

Swithin winked at Carlton.  “That it would.”

“Hold on a second.” Johnson went silent.

Swithin waited.

Johnson’s voice returned to the phone. “You’ll be meeting with me.  How many, where and when?”

“If you don’t mind I’d like to discuss details in person, not over the phone.”

“Hold on.” Johnson once again went silent.

Swithin waited.

“Okay, where and when?”

“Three o’clock this afternoon, Duboce Park.  Know where it is?”

“Remind me,” Johnson said.

“It’s the large dog park in the Duboce Triangle.”

Johnson was silent.

“Upper Safeway, between Duboce and Waller?”

“Ah…  I know where you’re talking about.”

“On the north side of the park, three benches line up facing west.  Meet me at the most westward bench at three.”

“Should I bring funds? 

“Just yourself.”

“Okay…  I’ll be there.”

A few minutes after three o’clock, Swithin walked up to Johnson.  “How are doing?” He said nonchalantly as he sat down next to Johnson on the bench.

“Fine,” Johnson replied in an apprehensive tone.  “Let’s talk details.”

Swithin smiled.  “Before we do that, we need to take a short trip.  If the trip pans out okay, we continue our conversation, if not we part ways, you loose my number and we never speak again.”

Johnson turned and looked at Swithin.  “What the fuck are you talking about?”

Swithin stood up.  “Like I said before, it really isn’t up to me.  If you want to deal, we have to take a short trip first.  Otherwise, we part ways right now.  It’s that simple.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

“No, ” Swithin replied with a stone face. “I’m not.”

Johnson sighed, stood up and gestured for Swithin to start walking.  “Well then, after you.”

A few minutes later Swithin and Johnson were standing in front of Carlton’s apartment.  Swithin gestured for Johnson to stay where he was and walked up to the front door.  At the door Swithin pulled out his cell phone and dialed Carlton’s number.

Johnson stood and watched on from a distance, with his arms crossed.

“You there?” Carlton asked over the phone.

“I am,” Swithin replied.  The front door popped open following a load buzz.  Swithin flipped his phone shut and held the door open as he gestured for Johnson to come in.

“Are we meeting somebody here?” Johnson asked as he entered the apartment.

“Not quite,” Swithin replied as he stopped in the middle of the apartment’s lobby and turned around.  “We just need to know if you can be trusted.”

“Who are, ‘we’?”

Swithin ignored Johnson’s question.  “Take off your clothes.”

Johnson’s head cocked back. “What?”

“We’re not talking ‘till we can confirm you’re not wired.”

“What is this ‘we’ shit?”

Swithin’s phone rang. He pulled it out and flipped it open. “Yes?”

Carlton’s whispered, “This is my two minute call,” into the phone, and then he hung up.

Swithin behaved as if someone was continuing to talk to him.  “Uh huh… I know.” Swithin looked at Johnson.  “No, sir.”  Swithin turned away form Johnson.  “Yes sir, I’ll tell him.”  Swithin flipped his phone shut, sighed and turned back around.  “Listen, if you don’t strip down right now, I’ve been told to walk away.”

Johnson paused for moment, then sighed.  “Okay, but if I have to strip down so do you.”

“No problem,” Swithin replied.

Johnson kicked off his shoes, pulled down his pants and hiked up his shirt and jacket.  Swithin gripped Johnson’s pockets and patted down his jacket.  He gestured for Johnson to spin around.  Once Johnson was facing him again, Swithin looked down the hall at an opaque glass window above a closed closet door, nodded and gave it a thumb’s up.  After that he performed a strip down of him own. Like Johnson, pulling his clothes back on when he was finished.

Once Swithin finished getting dressed, Johnson turned toward the opaque glass window Swithin had thumbs upped and, with his hands cupped over his mouth, called out, “Are we good now?”

Swithin smiled. “We’re good.  Let’s get out of here.”

As Swithin and Johnson were leaving the apartment building a thin Asian man in a fedora and a 50’s styled suit happened to be walking up.  Swithin held the front door open for him.  “Good day, sir,” Swithin said to the man as he passed, the man, turned back and tipped his hat as he walked down the lobby.  Outside the apartment Swithin nudged Johnson, shook his head and said, “They’re always checking up on me.”  Then he started walking back toward Duboce Park. 

Johnson followed beside Swithin with a stunned looked on his face.

“The Asian gentleman you just saw,” Swithin suddenly began,“ represents a very influential, primarily east coast centered group called The Family.  To date, The Family generates and distributes product from New York to Chicago.  But, they’re in the process of creating a satellite operation out here on the west coast.  That’s where I, and a handful of others come in.”

Johnson continued to walk beside Swithin, listening intently.

“I’m a go-between,” Swithin continued.  “A conduit, if you will.  Connecting The Family’s product to potential buyers such as yourself and Gifford.  My job is a simple one.  I screen potential clients and set up deals.  In return, The Family pays me a comfortable salary and covers my ass, should it need to be covered.”  Swithin stopped walking at the base of Duboce Park.  “Fuck with me, and you fuck with The Family.”

Johnson stood silent, his eyes lowered and staring at Swithin’s chest.

“Are you ready for details?”

“Yes,” Johnson replied.

“4,500 tabs, for $13,500.  That’s three dollars per tab—just as Gifford suggested he’d be willing to pay. If Gifford’s good to go…”

“He is.”

“Then, I’ll call you tomorrow morning at eight o’clock.  The details of the exchange will be given then.”  Swithin stopped talking.  A brief silence fell between him and Johnson.

Johnson took in breath.  “Can I go?” He asked nervously.

 “You can go.”

Seconds later Swithin’s cell phone rang.  He pulled it out and flipped it open.  It was Carlton.

“Good timing.”  Swithin commented into the phone.  “Johnson just left.”

“How’d it go?”

“We won’t really know until tomorrow.”

“If you had to guess?” Carlton followed up in an exasperated tone.

Swithin looked off in the direction Johnson had walked and smiled.  “They’ll deal on our terms…  No problem.”

Chapter 24: The Exchange >>