Saving Rain

by Kelsey Kingsley

“Hey, Soldier, you got something for me?” “Maybe.” I slipped my arm from around the shoulders of Tammi, a girl I was getting used to calling mine. At least for the moment. “Do you have something for me?” The Pit was crowded, but that was typical for a Saturday night in late spring. I led the kid who I knew to be a senior away from watchful eyes and let my hand drop to my side. He slipped a folded bill between my fingers. I looked down to see that it was a twenty and proceeded to produce two little pink pills from my pocket. “You know the deal,” I said to him, keeping my voice low with a cool warning. “You don’t come back to me for at least a couple of weeks. And I’d better not catch you asking anybody else to buy for you. I have eyes all over this place. You understand me?” It was a rule I stupidly believed would do some good. They could pop a pill, maybe share it with a friend, and have a good time, but that was it for a while. I figured if these kids weren’t coming to me constantly for a fix, they were less likely to become dependent on the shit—or so I told myself. I guessed, deep down, I knew they were just going to someone else. I mean, there was always Levi Stratton—who had in recent years become something of a rival—and that creepy asshole he always hung out with, Seth. Neither of them had gone elsewhere since I’d started swiping Mom’s pills and selling them to my peers, so I knew business had to be worth it for them still. But … I dunno. I supposed I liked to think...