You Need to Fucking Listen

‘You need to take a…. and whe…. you take a… at the pub on th… and call me ba…‘
I was in the passenger seat and turned to Kate who was driving
‘turn here I think’ I said. I wiped my forehead, my underarms were soaked. The call ended
‘I couldn’t make him out – the line was really bad’. Kate had a brittle temper
‘well fucking call him back’ she snapped sniffing and wiping her nose.
‘Aaawww’ I wined ‘the guy has serious anger management issues – if he gets pissed off he won’t serve us’ Kate drove onwards. We were both withdrawing and our muscles were rigid as starched collars.
‘Shit! I’ve had enough of that weak shit Steve is serving, I don’t even get a rush off it’ Kate complained. As if I didn’t already know. I called him back
‘You there yet?’ He demanded
‘err yeah nearly we’re at the pub on Lime Street yeh?’
‘fucking Lime Street!’ He yelled, incredulous at our ineptitude,
‘I said take a left at the station not a fucking right’ praise God I could make out his words. Kate turned the car back around and we took the right turn. Relief was getting closer. This gear was the best, it barely colored the syringe. It was really clean
‘where to now?’ Asked Kate. Our breathing has picked up from the anticipation. I mopped up more sweat from my brow
‘Ok, I’m pretty sure he lives down this road, I’ll bell him and check’
‘Are you sure? He seemed pretty pissed off before’ Kate said. I picked up my phone
‘Hey bro where to now?’ I asked as humbly as I could
‘Yeh just tur… and the…  and…at Tescos’ and he hung up. Shit. I didn’t catch it all. Kate looked at me like the captain of the Titanic looked at the iceberg
‘err he definitely wants to meet us at Tesco’s but I didn’t catch the directions’
‘Fuck, you gotta call him back’ she said
‘Fucking hell’ I said holding my breath as the phone rang again. It carried on ringing and ringing and went dead
‘Oh God, he’s not picking up, he’s not picking up’ I panicked
‘you fiend!’ Kate yelled hurting my ears. ‘Call him back right now, if you fuck this up…’ she trailed off overcome with her own menace. I tried to rub feeling back into my legs that were painfully contracting in the footwell. The phone rang, and rang, then he picked up
‘hey bro where did you say Tescos was again?’ I asked innocently
‘nah bruv, you need to fucking listen!’ The decibel level rose until his voice fragmented into a load of angry crackling
‘fuck… fucking…and don’t ever… junkie…calling…you…prick!’ Click. Shit.
‘I told you he had anger issues’ I glared at Kate. ‘What the fuck are we going to do now?’
‘Well if you had been a bit clearer and not talked at him like a whiny little bitch’ Kate spat back at me
‘Pull over I gotta puke’ I said. She pulled up at an anonymous street. I opened the door and vomited burning acidic sick onto the curb. I hung my head resting for a moment watching the vomit slide into the gutter. With the door already open I decided to step right out of the car
‘if you wanna talk to me like that how about you fuck off’ I said
‘fuck you’ Kate’s last words were punctuated with the squeal of wheels on asphalt. I felt elated for a few seconds and then the withdrawal flooded back. I hunched over at the sudden coldness of the atmosphere, nose running and throat burning. I was miles from our other dealer. Fuck this shit. I was crying from pain and frustration. I shuffled round the corner trying to find a late-night chemist or something maybe I could buy enough codeine to help me walk home. And then I saw the Tesco’s building burning brightly like kingdom of heaven. I grinned when I realized it was the opposite direction Kate had driven
‘I’m there’ I texted him
‘5 minutes’ he replied immediately.
I folded my money into a palm-sized bundle and smiled. Above me, a street lamp cast a pallid light on the pavement around me.