"Marti."

"Marti."

I felt my body being shaken and my name said. I snapped awake and looked around. Jackson had his hand on my shoulder, "Come on Marti, you've been napping long enough."

I groaned slightly, "Jackson can I just sleep and you do the package delivery yourself?" I asked jokingly, half awake. I looked at the clock, it was 4AM.

"Sorry princess, you know we both have business with Alec tonight so we both have to drop off the package to David," he said, "besides we're getting paid a lot for this package remember? Barely any work tonight," I nodded in agreement and grabbed the package from under my bed and handed it to Jackson. I got up and began to get dressed when I heard Jackson sigh.

"What's up?" I asked.

"You ever think we'll be able to do something other than this for money?" he asked while playing with the edges of the package.

"Yeah of course, one day we will," I bit my lip, "but right now business is good and the police have no leads on us, and it's good money for now until we get to do something else."

I wanted badly to tell him he's not the only one having second thoughts about doing this kind of stuff. But it pays so well, it's so easy for us to do with our preppy school. And it'll help pay for college and whatever Jackson decides to do in the end, he says he wants it to be a surprise to even him.

"I guess so," he said as I was checking my gun. I walked over and put on my boots. "Let's go," he said patting my back. I got up and followed him out the window and into the woods.

I looked around at all the leaves and trees. When I looked back I could've sworn there was someone staring at us. "So what do you think of Alison Carter in our class?" Jackson asked, snapping me away from thoughts like that.

"She's alright," I shrugged and said, "I'm not all that into gals remember?"

"Ohhhh yeahhhh you're mostly gay but will make exceptions for girls," he chuckled.

"Ergh fuck you," I growled, I picked up some leave and threw them at him which caused him to laugh and run back, he lifted me up quickly. "Hey hey!" I tried to stay as quiet as possible.

He put me down, "don't say "fuck you" to me ever." He clicked his tongue.

I blushed slightly. Gosh he's so cute sometimes. We continued walking and making quiet jokes for another 20 minutes. The night air was crisp and felt amazing. I know we will see the sun come up in about two hours.

I looked behind us and swore I saw someone standing behind us near the trees. I shrugged it off as we got to David's house and knocked on the door.

I don't need to think of something that scary, not now, not ever.

He opened the door and grabbed the package and tossed it on his couch. He shook Jackson's hand, then shook mine.

"Pleasure doing business with you boys," he stated, I looked down at my hand and only saw half of what he owed, I looked at Jacksons hand too, then we looked at each other, then back at David. He laughed nervously and smiled, his rotted teeth made me cringe slightly. "I'll give you guys the rest tomorrow, promise."

"Don't let me down David," Jackson said and cocked his gun, making sure David could hear it. He got more nervous and looked at me I just gave a smile letting him know I was packing too. He nodded his head and we took off, out of the woods to go to our packers house to pick up more product.

"God what a douchebag he is, why can't he just pay full price when full price is due?" I groaned and Jackson patted my back.

"It's annoying as hell but sometimes it's what you have to deal with," he explained.

I looked back and swore I saw someone again, "I didn't want to bring this up earlier, cause I thought it was paranoia but I think we're being followed because I've seen this person three times now, I think."

"Oh fuck Marti, you can mention it to me the first time, even if you think it's paranoia," Jackson wrapped his arm around me and looked behind us and pulled out his gun. I pulled out my gun and stood next to him. "Marti, your back to mine remember?"

"Oh right sor-" my voice hitched in fear as I put my back to Jackson's.

"Hello there," a voice said while waving at me in a creepy way.

There was a clown mask in my face and I saw two more people behind him in clown masks. "oh my god Jackson!" I yelled. He turned around and pulled me away from them then shot one of them in the leg and we bolted off.

"We can't fight them, all we have to do is just go," he said as we were running.

"That makes sense. But what if they come after us?" I asked.

"They'll be focused on their clown friend's wound for now," He said. I looked back and noticed the clown who was staring at me was still watching us. It was incredibly disturbing. We finally got into the city and we switched our jackets inside out to new completely different colours. And I put on my black beanie and Jackson put on his green hat.

I can't get that clown mask out of my head. He was right in my face, and it was terrifying. Like something straight out of a horror film with the angry eyebrows and the creepy wrinkles... the blood. The only thing I really hope is that it wasn't real blood and those are just pranksters. But I also hope Jackson didn't just shoot some prankster that would be awful.

While walking the streets we kept a close eye on people around us.

Considering the murders that have been going on as well. This guy walking around is trigger happy and been killing everyone he sees. Police have absolutely no leads on who it could be.

When we arrived at Alec's door Jackson knocked 4 times and he opened the door and let us in.

Jackson handed him the cash and Alec sighed with annoyance lingering in him. "Jackson, Marti, we would like to inform you that if David doesn't pay full on the spot next time we get him, got it?"

"Got it," Jackson said nervously, "I'm sorry, I already threatened him."

"Thank you," He said to Jackson.

Alec looked at me, I nodded, "got it."

Alec smirked and sat on his couch, "Please take a seat, only about an hour before you lads need to be ready and walking to school." Alec turned to me, "And I'm aware how important school is to you Marti, I assure you I don't intend to keep you from going at all."

"Thank you sir." I said, sitting down.

"No need to call me sir, I'm not that much older, remember?" Alec chuckled.

"I do, I apologize it's just a habit of mine," I said with a slight smile.

"Charming," Alec muttered as he lit a blunt. "Jackson, has you-know-who been taken care of? He's been stealing from our customers."

"Not yet, when I see him I will take care of him, I know he goes to our school." Jackson stated, Alec handed him the blunt and Jackson took a big hit.

"Don't get expelled now," Alec said, "some of our best customers are at that school and I would hate to force all the workload on Marti." Alec looked at me and winked. Jackson handed me the blunt. I gave a small smile and looked down shyly. I took a big hit, I know I need this after all that clown stuff.

"I'll get him outside of school most likely," Jackson said. "And uh... we also saw some clowns, you know anything about that?"

Alec paused, "was it clown makeup or clown masks?"

"Clown masks," I said.

He looked a bit confused, "oh no nah, I ain't never heard of the clowns with the masks. Just the ones that paint their faces and ride, they steal supplies and money," Alec explained.

"Oh," Jackson said a bit disappointed, "these were honestly weird, I didn't get a very good look at them but I saw at least three. Marti you got a good look right?"

I kept my head down and I nodded slowly. "Y-yeah I-I did."

Fuck it's a bit traumatizing looking back on it so soon. He was so close to my face.

Alec handed the blunt back to me, "here." I smiled at him and took another big hit. "You guys gotta be careful."

"Marti and I had our guns out, that guy was so close to him, almost a foot away from his face, and he was leaning over too, I don't think he was standing up straight. It was creepy as hell, I remember," Jackson explained.

I coughed from the hit and looked at Jackson, I handed him the blunt, "Jackson had to pull me away from the clown, he was so close to my face," I explained more.

Jackson let out a hit, "and the craziest part was when that dude stood up and stared at us as we were running, I was sure he was gonna find us in the city."

So Jackson did see that as well.

"Hmm," Alec thought. "You didn't smoke before you went right?" He chuckled.

"Fuck you man," Jackson laughed.

"Alright alright, we'll keep a look out for these guys, you said three of them?" Alec asked.

"Yes," Jackson said and he looked at me. "Oh right, we better get going, princess here doesn't want to be late for school." I groaned at him and they both chuckled.

"I understand, if you guys need any weapons let me know," Alec said, stood up and shook Jackson's hand, leaving 200$ in his palm. Then he shook mine, leaving another 200$ in mine. "One day Marti I would like to have an actual conversation with you, though I understand you don't like speaking much, that's alright." He handed me a plastic bag filled with a bunch of tiny ziploc bags filled with product. "Make sure to hand those out to the school customers, you know who they are, as much as you can get them for."

"I do, and I shall," I nodded my head at him as I took a last hit.

"till next time then."

———

"So are you excited for today?" Jackson asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Jackson ran to me and scrunched my head, ruffling my hair, "it's another day!" He shouted and hugged me. I laughed and hugged him back. "We got so much cash and we're high as fuuuuuck," he whispered in my ear.

"Y-you're a goofball..." I said laughing along with him.

He was right, today was another day, but somehow just a bit better than other days.

"Indeed I am," he said while walking and hugging me.

We finally got to my house and Jackson pushed me up to the ladder, I climbed up the ladder and into my window. I waved Jackson off, and he drove away and I went to my closet to change into my uniform. I opened the secret pocket and slipped in the product that Alec had given me to sell. Then spray cologne over the pocket and all over myself. Then headed downstairs and grabbed my bookbag. My father was drinking coffee and looking at his newspaper, he didn't seem to mind what I was doing.

"Bye dad!" I said as I was slipping my knife into my other pocket. He was still staring at his newspaper when he waved at me goodbye. I headed out the door a little upset. While walking to school as I took in a deep breath.

I need to stop caring about that...

The grass was wet and the air was light. The sun had not risen yet but that was perfect for me to walk and enjoy the crisp air.

I'm able to jump over the blockades on the boardwalk and continue my shortcut walk to school. I put in my headphones and turned on my music as I'm walking. I thought I saw someone watching me so I put my back against the wall and had my hand over my knife ready, looking all around and continued my walk quickly.

I shrugged when I realized I probably just imagined it, I didn't get much sleep last night anyways. I continued my walk and jumped over the other side of the barricade and to the sidewalk that lead to my school. I walked past some of the students and to my locker when a girl came up to me and wrapped her arm around my shoulder.

"Hey Marti, you got some?" she whispered to me and put her hand on my chest. I looked down at the 100$ bill and nodded. I grabbed her hand, stealthily getting the money and putting it in my pocket and grabbing out a bag of weed. 3 grams. I grabbed her hand again and she grabbed it. "Thanks hun," she winked, kissed my cheek and walked off.

First customer of the day marked off, I snorted to myself, these uniformed kids will pay anything. I grabbed my 1st period supplies and walked into my class. I sat down in the back of the classroom and started my work. A boy sat next to me gave me some cash to copy off my homework and I gladly accepted it.

I have many sources of income, especially in school. This is all going towards my college so I can get a real job and become successful. I don't want to be trapped in this city forever. Dealing drugs and having people get hurt for my benefit. I want to be a doctor, maybe a psychologist.

———

I let out a deep sigh as the last bell went off. I successfully sold every bag and now have about 2k in my jacket of cash. I walked out of the school and Jackson brought the car around to me and I got in the car.

"I sold every bag," I said as he started driving off to Alec's house.

"Alec will be extremely happy with you, I sold majority bags, I have about 3 left, they didn't show up to school today." He stated.

"You don't think they got shot or anything do you?" I asked.

"No, I'm sure they would've popped up on the news," he said.

I shifted uncomfortably when he said that.

Our City's news was ridiculous when someone died they will broadcast about that person everyday for as long as they can, it's depressing to see if it's someone you knew personally.

We parked at Alec's house. We walked up and knocked 4 times, he opened the door and we saw a lot more bags ready on the table. "How many did you sell Marti?" Alec asked.

"All of it," I said as I took all the cash out of my jacket and handed it to him and he handed me back 500$ of the 2k, so I made 700$ profit today.

Holy shit. That's way more than I expected I'm glad we're working with Alec now. This is our fifth time, last time I made 300$ in one day and was going crazy happy. I don't know how to function at the moment.

Jackson handed him 3 bags and the cash. Jackson was only handed back 300$.

"The three people weren't in school today, hadn't seen them in a while anyways," Jackson said as he slumped down on the couch.

"It's perfectly alright, just keep selling to the customers that want it," Alec stated. "I have more bags for you here."

I handed Alec my backpack and he put a pound bag inside, "you can have as much as you want for yourself Marti, I know things have been stressful."

"Wow thank you," I said and shook Alec's hand, he pulled me in for a hug.

"No worries," he said and smiled at me. I smiled back.

"I hate to be rude but I need to head home," I said shyly.

"Of course no worries, get some rest okay? Thank you for your service today Marti," Alec said with a smile.

I nodded, "thank you for letting me work for you."

Alec chuckled, "come over any time okay?" I nodded again with a smile and headed out the door.

This is honestly a really great job, and Alec told us in the beginning that when we want to quit we can. So thankfully there's no pressure.

While walking down the streets I heard loud music coming from someone's car I looked back and guys were hanging their arms out the windows, with machetes. They swung them around and one guy in a clown mask looked at me and pointed with the machete.

"Oh shit, a fucking clown," I said freaking out and bolted the other way into the forest. I could hear the leaves crunching behind me. As one of them were coming after me. I saw my house and jumped up the ladder and climbed up quickly. I grabbed the gun from under my bed and pointed it out the window at them. They held up their hands and backed away from my house and walked off.

I let out a huge sigh and slumped against the wall and tried my best to catch my breathe. I called up Jackson.

"Clowns were after me, I think maybe they're mad that we're selling in this area more than them?" I asked while staring out the window and watching them leave.

"Well don't let them catch you alright? You have your gun?" He asked.

"Yes," I answered then shut the window and locked it.

"Good, keep that like your life depends on it." he said and hung up.

I put my phone back in my pocket and got up and laid in bed. I looked at the clock and it was only 6PM. I locked the money in my safe and changed into comfortable clothing. I headed down stairs and passed my dad who was drinking a beer.

"What's up kiddo?" he asked.

Oh nothing! I just ran from psycho clowns with machetes and had to ward them off with a gun after dealing drugs all day in school! Hehe what about your day daddo?

"Just a regular school day is all," I said and got some soup from the fridge.

"Ah," was all he said. I looked at him and saw he was ignoring me and looking at his phone. I heated it up in the microwave and brought it back upstairs. I placed my soup on my desk and opened my backpack and placed my books out, ready to finish the homework I have for the day.

Whatever. At least I can smoke inside the house because I know they smoke. I caught them when I was 14 years old, they were smoking out of a bong together after they thought I was asleep.

I rolled a quick blunt and lit it then I looked at the biology books and kept writing definitions down, one after another. Taking hits and eating. I rubbed my eyes as time passed by and it was 8PM already.

I closed my books and laid in bed, then closed my eyes ready for a dream to hit me.

———

"Run Marti run!" Jackson shouted as we ran through the forest, a van was driving after us and we had no escape. I ran for my life trying to find a safe area.

I jumped down behind a tree and crawled into the leaves and dirt under a fallen log and waited. I heard the van screech to a stop and it shut off. The crunching of leaves was the loudest thing I had heard as it got closer and closer.

I held my breath trying to stay quiet but it was no use. I opened my eyes to see a gun in my face and a wicked clown mask staring down at me.

"We've been looking for you for a long time Marti, I can't believe you've just been running away from us," he leaned down to my face and cocked the gun. "You know why we're here, don't resist fate."

A gunshot was the last thing I heard before I shot up in bed, covered in sweat. "Shit," I said to myself. I looked at the clock and it was 11pm.

I got up and went to the bathroom. I turned on the shower and stepped in when it got hot. I sighed as the hot water hit my skin. I leaned against the wall and hummed as I tried to wash away the nightmare.

One day it might happen if I'm not careful enough. I'm fully aware that it could happen. I'm just terrified by the constant nightmares I have of the inevitable event.

When I stepped out of the shower I looked at myself in the mirror and stared for a bit. My eyes were dark and full of stress. I dried myself off and walked back into my room and fell back asleep. Hopefully to a calm night and no more nightmares.

———

Yes, a regular day in my life, waking up at 4AM to give out drugs and dealing drugs at school. Then of course being chased by a gang or two out of spite. Some days I even don't deal drugs and I'm a regular school student who is just studying to be a doctor. Having constant nightmares is a regular in my life as well. I know one day if I'm not careful I'll be killed. But my life is chaos all the time and I'm unfortunately getting used to it. I don't believe anything can be more chaotic than the daily bullshit I already go through.