“Problematic For Business”
Adam wiped the grease from his brow, lit up a joint. Arthur had been taking the piss outta him all morning after Colin left and he’d finally had enough and stormed out of the garage to take a break. He pulled out his cell phone, scrolled through his contacts until he came to the one he was looking for, then dialed the number.
After two rings, the man’s gruff voice answered, “Yeah?”
“Dob, it’s me,” he told the man, then took a hit off his joint.
“Problem, mate?” Dob asked, angrily.
“Not sure yet. Could be, though.”
“What kind of problem?”
“Bloke I was covering for is back.”
“Who? That ex-con brother-in-law of yours?” Dob laughed, “Thought he had a broke leg, would be out for another couple months at least?”
“No, not him,” Adam said, “the bloke that was working for him, Dominic something-or-other. Heard he’s a war-vet or something. Haven’t met him yet.”
Dob was quiet for a moment, thinking.
“Dob? Look, I don’t need this shit, ya know? If this bloke gets suspicious, goes spouting off to Colin or worse – the authorities... hell, I don’t need anymore trouble.”
“You just keep on doing the job I pay ya for, mate,” Dob sneered, “If this Dom bloke does put his fat nose into our business, I’ll take care of it. Understand?”
Adam took another hit of his joint, blew out the smoke, “Yeah, yeah, completely,” he said, nervously. He knew first hand how Dob took care of things, had seen it on more than one occasion. That was enough.
“Now,” Dob told him, “Anything else you need to tell me?”
“Not a thing,” Adam answered.
“Good. Then stop screwin’ around and get back to work. Next shipment will be arriving in 2 hours. Pick it up over your lunch break, quick like. New customers will be by there right before closing.”
“Will do,” Adam replied.
Click, Dob hung up.
Adam sighed, shoved his cell phone back into his pocket, took one last hit off his joint, then walked back around to the front of the garage. Shit. Could the day possibly get any worse? He wondered as he picked up his tools and dug back into his work.
