The Secret Life of Criminals
6 months prior
The aroma of sex and drugs fills the dingy apartment that I find myself in. I've been here so many times. This apartment, with its broken windows and collapsing ceilings, has been my sanctuary. I slowly open my eyes, revealing a dark bedroom with the only furniture in it being a mattress on the floor. I look at Dimitri, my on-and-off again boyfriend (right now on) as well as my drug dealer and the owner of this apartment. I fell for his "dark and mysterious" image, and somehow I fell in love with his volatile personality. We've been dating for about a year, I sold coke to him a couple times and we hit it off, now we fight, make-up (which we're doing now), and repeat.
"I missed you Natalya," Dimitri whispers after he takes a drag from his joint. I smile and give him a chaste kiss. He tries to deepen the kiss, but I shake my head.
"Dimitri I can't I have to be home in an hour," I whisper, clumsily standing up and looking for my clothes that were haphazardly thrown around the room. I can still feel the high, my mind and body completely clouded from whatever pills Dimitri gave me.
"Baby we can make it quick," he whines as he ashes out his joint. I let out a laugh as I put on my pants, and search for my bra and shirt. This was the Dimitri I loved, not the aggressive and delusional druggie.
"We both know that's not going to happen," I say as I finally find the rest of my clothes and put them on, "Plus this meeting is about new merchandise it's important for both of us." Here's the thing Dimitri sells to me but he buys from my family. My family is the top drug trafficking dealers around, however they have a rule about nobody in the family actually using the merchandise. So course I go around that rule through Dimitri, come on what's the fun of selling drugs if you can't even test them out?
I watch as Dimitri sighs and replies, "Alright but as soon as the meetings over you better come straight back here." I smile and quickly give him a kiss goodbye. Of course I was going to come back here I needed to restock on my drugs. After our goodbye I picked up my purse and walked out of the bedroom. The apartment overall wasn't that small, however the amount of people that are always here make it feel so cramped. Just walking out of the apartment I saw fifteen of his regular clients sitting down waiting for their next fix.
Finally I was out of the apartment and onto the streets of New York City. I've lived in a couple different cities throughout my seventeen years, and New York City has been my favorite one. There's just something about the fast pace atmosphere and the secrets lying throughout the city that make me fall in love it. "Natalya Baker!" a voice screams in the crowd causing me to stop in my tracks. I bump into a couple people earning me to be called a couple different names as I look for the owner of the voice.
Suddenly a hand grabs me and pushes me into an alleyway. I try to reach inside my bad for my knife, however I stop once I realize who my aggressor is. "Eddy what the fuck!" I yell after realizing my aggressor is my older brother. Edward Baker, my eldest brother and the heir to the Baker business, has always been my favorite brother. I have three brothers, two older brothers and a younger one. Edward has always looked out for me, and has hidden my rule breaking problem from the family for a while now.
"Natalya they know," he tells me as he lets go of me.
"Who knows what?"
"Mom and dad they know about you and Dimitri," he explains as I stare at him "and they know about your addiction." Suddenly everything came crushing down on me. I slowly leaned on the building behind me for support. This was bad, so terribly bad that there wasn't even a word for it yet. My parents, the leaders of our family business, know I had broken the most important rule in our family. Only one other relative has ever broken that rule, and he was kicked out of our family left to fend for himself.
"Eddy what am I supposed to do?" I sob as I try to think about my future.
"Look Natalya they're giving you one more chan-"
"I'll do whatever it takes," I cry, thanking whoever for my second chance. I watch as my brother lets out a small laugh. I know this second chance is going to have to be earned, and it's not going to be easy.
"They want you to go to rehab in Japan," Eddy explained, "and don't worry I'll be coming with you as emotional support." I stared at my eldest brother. Really that was it. I had broken the biggest rule in my family and my only consequence was going to rehab in Japan. I mean granted I don't speak a word of Japanese and I'll miss everyone in New York City, but damn this was too good to be true.
"What the catch Eddy?" I ask as I wipe the last tears of my face. He shakes his head.
"Nothing for now we just want you to get better sis." I nod my head. Okay I could totally do this.