Indigo Frog had a knack for getting people out of dangerous situations. She'd spent her entire life a buffer between her brothers and any dealers that came around looking for their parents. She used to play hide n' seek with the two boys, only to face down the sort of people you wouldn't want a teenage girl near. She'd done things she'd never tell her brothers. Never tell anyone. She'd do anything to keep them safe while their parents wasted away. Anything.
Those two boys, despite pushing every single one of her buttons where her brothers. And she'd die before letting anyone lay a finger on them. Most people in Santa Carla knew this. Indigo was a fan of making statements, and nothing made as big of a statement as a Surf Nazi beaten to a pulp for stealing a shitty ass comic. Honestly she only beat that one so bad because he called Edgar a...she wouldn't repeat it. The message was clear though. Sure, some people still came by, but a quick swing of her bat had them running the other way.
Knives be damned, her bat was better.
Raising her cigarette to her lips she inhaled deeply. Letting the smoke settle within her lungs before exhaling. Each puff fueling the addiction she didn't want to shake. The nicotine poisoning her lungs and calming her anxious mind as she watched the lights of the boardwalk flicker across the alleyway entrance. Said entrance having claimed the young woman's attention as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other.
Ecstasy, LSD, Heroin, she didn't know what kind of drugs she was being sent to retrieve. God, what if the money she had wasn't enough? She'd never known Carl to offer charity. Money up front or no product. No exceptions. Clover would sometimes. She was always kinder to the eldest Frog than the other dealers her parents dealt with. Though Indigo knew it had a lot to do with her friendship with her niece, Matilda or Millie. They where friends since childhood, the two having been in the same daycare before Indigo's parents started doing coke.
Jeremiah was easy, flash a nervous smile and a bit of innocent flirting and he'd usually be more than willing to negotiate. He had a weakness for young and impressionable women. She'd never let him go too far, never let him get fully what he wanted. She'd learned the hard way how to dance the proverbial line. Jeremiah had more tells than most of the dealers she dealt with. Carl was a stone fucking statue, and all Indigo had to do was talk about her plans with Millie to get Clover to back off.
She took another puff of the cigarette in her hand. The bills in her back pocket feeling heavy as she felt the familiar panic pooling in her gut as a figure appeared in her field of vision. The bald, burly brute of a man looking incredibly annoyed as he stalked down the alley towards her. Each step only inspiring dread in the teen. Carl had that effect on people. Her especially as she reached into her back pocket. The wad of cash looking so much smaller as he stalked towards her.
"You again?" He scoffed, moving the toothpick with his tongue. His single silver capped tooth glinting in the light as he frowned. "I've half a mind to walk away now. Philipe's pissed about his boy."
The eldest Frog resisted the urge to roll her eyes as the man stopped in front of her. Her eyes flicked quickly to the gun holstered at his waist. "With all respect, Philipe's brat shouldn't of tried stealing from my shop."
Carl grumbled something under his breath before pulling a baggie of white powder from his back pocket. The unassuming almost sand like substance the bane of her very existence. "Your ma and pa wanted the good stuff." He practically hissed. "Three hundred kid."
She grimaced, glancing to the wad of twenties in her free hand. Indigo knew he was overcharging. The small bag would've gone for one fifty with any other dealer, though she also knew Carl sold quality over quantity. Any arguing was practically asking to be struck.
Placing the cigarette between her lips she began to count out the cash. She made sure Carl could see each bill in its entirety. That he could in no way accuse her of double counting one of the seventeen twenties in her hand. The remaining two quickly shoved back into her pocket as she handed the brute of a man the money.
He scowled at the cash in his calloused hand. Slowly he began to recount each bill at a tortuously slow pace. His dark eyes occasionally flicking to her face before he finished. "You're lucky, girl." He grumbled under his breath. "Your ma said you'd have the money, didn't believe the tramp for a fuckin' second. Specially after all that nonsense with Fernando."
He held out the small baggie. The unassuming powder the cause of every problem in her life. It'd be so easy to just walk away. To take the three hundred and run. She could leave Santa Carla and build a life for herself somewhere far away. Preferably somewhere with snow, she'd always wanted to see it. Yet she knew, deep within herself that she'd never leave Santa Carla. She'd begun saving though. Every penny she could spare was being hidden in a hollowed out book hidden beneath her bed. The forty in her back pocket destined to buy food before joining the rest she'd saved in that hollowed out book. She'd ensure her brothers got what she never did. A chance.
So with no other choice she stomped out her cigarette and extended her hand. Once more accepting the poison that ruined her life.