The rest of the Sunday was pretty chill for the fry cook. He decided not to hang out with Patrick that day
"Not feeling well, maybe later this week?"
"Rats, I planned on us tripping balls today…"
A few more days passed, and it was already Wednesday. The lunch rush at the Krusty Krab was abnormally slow, and the employees were tidying up their stations. A few customers were eating at the tables but besides that it was eerily hushed. SpongeBob did eventually meet up with that woman from AA two nights ago. They met in a gas station parking lot around seven pm. Juney was nervous as hell.
"...s-so it's safe right? You tested it?"
Spongebob lifted an eyebrow looking at her. She acted like she was being interrogated and it made him uneasy.
"It's safe, believe me. I use it myself."
Spongebob grabbed the money from the woman's moisturized hands and placed a baggie with four pills inside back to her.
"Uhm ok then" She looked down at the bag before putting it in her pocket.
"Alright…well don't take more than one…be safe out there"
At least he made some more money. But still not enough and Bubble Bass is already coming next week. He's gotta prove that he is reliable.
Back at the Krusty Krab, Spongebob was chopping up some more veggies to stuff in the containers. He mindlessly was chopping away until the door to the office squeaked open. Spongebob turned his head around to see his boss smirking at him.
"Hello, Mr. Krabs"
"Hey boy-o…say do you mind coming in me office for a sec?"
Spongebob nodded and put his knife down then wiped his hands on his shirt. He walked in the office as Mr. Krabs was sitting down.
"Shut the door will ya?"
The door was shut quietly and Spongebob took a seat. The back support was so fucked up that it felt like wood being poked into his back and the chair was starting to sink in the bottom. Would've been better to stand up.
"So laddy…I ran your shit through my guys and just heard back from them…"
Spongebob leaned in.
"It was a hit! A couple people are already asking when more will come in" Mr. Krabs exclaimed
The fry cook leaned back and smiled, relaxing a bit "That's great! So, you wanna buy more off me?"
Mr. Krabs also leaned back and crossed his arms "Well…that depends…I wanna know who your supplier is"
Spongebob froze. Why would he wanna know that? Why does it matter?
"It's just a guy from the hospital. We made a deal"
Mr. Krabs squinted his eyes "I see, I guess you can't say their name huh…well, anyways I'm interested in buying more. How much do you have left?"
Spongebob pulled out a baggie with around twenty more. "About twenty"
"Ok, here's $200" Mr. Krabs pulls out his wallet and hands him ten twenty-dollar bills.
"When will you get more?"
Spongebob looked up and scratched his chin. "I don't know, maybe sometime next week?"
Mr. Krabs nodded "Very well, tell that guy of yours you wanna buy more too. We are gonna have a good thing going me boy"
Spongebob smiled and nodded before getting up and heading back to the kitchen. More thoughts were going through his head. How much money is he gonna make? Why was Mr. Krabs so curious to know where the pills came from? How long is he gonna have to lie to Squidward?
He went back to chopping vegetables after lighting up another cigarette. Just gotta get through one more day, one more day, one more day…
—-
Spongebob was chilling in his living room watching tv. An anemone was shaking its ass on the screen. The sponge was sipping on a beer as he slumped in his red inflatable chair butt naked. He was trying to jerk off but just wasn't in the mood, so he just glued his eyes on the screen for the hell of it. He thought back to the $200 he made earlier. The sponge was relieved that he can pay back Bubble Bass, even Mr. Krabs, on time now but, he is still kinda nervous about all the shit he's gonna have to do until all his debts are paid off. Still gotta pay Sandy for bail, Squidward for his copays, and possibly court fees for when he's charged. He groaned at the thought of having to wait months before finally making actual money for himself.
But then what?
What did he want to do once he became richer? Buy a car? Go back to school? Travel? He looked around his house. Ripped up wallpaper, stains, and chipped furniture adorned the already disheveled household. The place smelled inside and could use a fresh coat of paint outside. Maybe start here? But he had dreams too. Dreams of finally leaving Bikini Bottom. Perhaps he'll start fresh in a big city studio apartment or maybe move out into the boonies living on a farm with sea cows.
Spongebob smiled at the thought. Ya…somewhere far from here.
Riiing riing
The sponge glanced at his phone on the floor. Whose calling him this late? He looked at the ID and it was restricted. Must be spam. He declined before it rang again.
"Jesus, who is this?" He then answered the phone.
"Yello?"
"Spongebob it's Bubble Bass"
"Hey…how did you get my number?"
"The internet. You should really wipe your LinkedIn…anyways I'm gonna stop by your place soon I got some news for you"
"Ok, good news?"
"Yes, don't worry. If it was bad, I wouldn't even warn ya hahaha"
Spongebob laughed back nervously. This guy is a nut, he thought.
"Alright, see you then"
—-
Half an hour passed. Spongebob had put on some pants and was still watching tv while drinking. More anxiously this time. Good news? What does he mean by that? None of this was making sense. Even if he did find out that he sold out, who told him? Does Mr. Krabs know him?
Knock knock knock
Shit.
"Coming"
The sponge went over and hesitated before opening the door.
"Please don't let there be a gun in my face lord"
He opened the door suddenly to see a jolly Bubble Bass smoking a dart
"What's up Spongeboob?"
"Hi Bubble Bass…wanna come in?"
The bass smiled and walked in, pushing aside his street runner. SpongeBob shut the door and turned to stand facing him.
"So…what's the good news?"
Bubble started a slow pace back and forth horizontally, arms behind his back.
"The grapevine runs all through town, Spongebob, I've heard you already making bank. Is this correct?"
"Uh ya"
"How much profit exactly?"
"Like for me or-"
"Yes for you ya boob"
"Well…I haven't counted but probably around another 250?"
Bubble Bass stopped and faced the fry cook. Still keeping that eerie grin.
"You've got a natural nact huh? How do you do it? A whole week before pick up too!"
Spongebob started sweating a little. Why was he so curious?
"I-I don't know…"
Bubble Bass started hollering and slapping his other fin.
"Spongeboob please RELAX. I'm just fucking with you! I'm glad you have my money early…you can get it now speaking of which."
The sponge nodded and went over to under his couch. He pulled out a wad of cash and started counting.
"...Thirty, forty, fifty. One-fifty bucks, here ya go" Spongebob said as he handed it over.
Bubble Bass fanned the bills open and counted again. Seeming pleased, he stuffed the wad in pocket. "Very good, Spongeboob. I got some more product I need you to push, how much are you willing to spend? Buying in bulk comes out around five each."
"I don't know then. Maybe $50?"
Bubble Bass laughed. "C'mon Spongebob, that's nothing. You gotta spend a lot more to keep this thing going. I'd suggest a couple hundred…"
Spongebob remembered what Mr. Krabs said suddenly. Buying more to make more. Is it a risk he's willing to take?
"O-ok…I guess $200 then?" Spongebob gave him another wad.
"C'mon I know you can do higher"
"300?!"
The obese man smiled and then pulled out a baggie. He opened it up and counted the amount, taking away some and putting it in another bag. The first baggie was thrown into Spongebob's hands.
"Here, and this time I will show up at your work in one week since you're catching on quickly."
"Ok"
Bubble Bass started to head out, Spongebob's voice followed.
"Who told you?"
Bubble Bass stopped. "Just a friend of a friend, don't worry about it, it's not a big deal…you really need to learn to chill out, Spongeboob." With that, he let himself out the door and into the night. The sponge was left with more questions now than before. Maybe he should just not worry about it. As long as he gets paid, who cares?
He looked at the baggie and felt the pills. The crazy adrenaline rush he had first doing this is slowly being replaced by a pit in his stomach. Something feels wrong. This is unsafe. This is fucked up.
This is reality.