Good Luck Movin’ Up

Shrill ringing woke Snow from a restless, disorienting sleep and he rolled over to stare at the glowing screen of the cordless phone sitting on the nightstand, reaching out a shaky hand automatically to grab it from the cradle just to make the sound stop drilling through his aching head. It felt like he was only dreaming that the phone was ringing when he managed a sleepy ‘hello’ into the receiver, but then he heard a thick cough and then Ricky’s raspy voice on the other end.

“Snow …”

Snow bolted upright when he heard him and his heart thumped in his chest. He didn’t care about the pulsing in his skull or the burning in the palm of the hand holding the phone. He was suddenly wide-awake and angry with himself for even allowing himself to fall asleep without waiting for his lover to get home. “Rick, where are you?”

“I’m back near the building. Can you come?” He sounded exhausted and dazed. Snow could picture him pacing around and fidgeting in the small space of the graffiti laden phone booth near their hang out spot.

“Of course.” He rubbed his eyes with his free hand and swallowed down the lump in his dry throat. “I’ll be there in a few. Hang tight.”

Snow hung up and glared at the clock, shocked that it was already one thirty in the afternoon and that he had fallen asleep in his clothes. The events of his dealings with Carlo after he came home and the emotions those events led to rushed to the forefront of his mind, but he pushed them away. He was intent on getting to Ricky as quickly as possible and Carlo’s threats weren’t quite as important to him right then.

Yanking his boots on, he zipped them up and hurried out of the bedroom, careful to keep his footsteps quiet so as not to wake Carlo as he walked through the apartment. Once in the living room, Snow grabbed his keys from the table sitting against the back of the leather couch and hurried from the apartment, stepping into the dim hallway and pulling the door shut behind him with a low thud.

The sunlight was brighter than he’d expected for that time of day when he reached the street and he was regretting not taking the time to get his sunglasses, but he pressed onward. Ricky needed him and he wanted to get there as quickly as possible to assure himself that his friend and lover was okay. All sorts of perverted scenes were running through his mind as he wound his way through the early afternoon shoppers, but Snow tried to shove them to the back of his mind.

He didn’t stick his nose in Carlo’s operation enough to know the dirty details of those parties, but he heard things on the streets … things that made sure that he never wanted to be included in one of them. He’d managed to obey the rules and keep Carlo off his ass for the duration of his time with him so far, and he wanted to keep it that way. Ricky’s rebellion and lack of concern for his own welfare was both intriguing and frightening to Snow, but he knew admonishing the older boy for his attitude would only make him more determined to defy their boss.

Snow turned the corner and headed for their usual meeting, spotting the blond sitting on a step in front of the old building almost immediately by the way his hair gleamed in the afternoon sunlight. Ricky didn’t look as bad as he’d expected him to after one of the serious parties. In fact, except for the glazed over look on his face, he looked fine.

His jeans and shirt were rumpled looking like he’d slept all night in them the same as Snow had, but he knew that anything Ricky had done wouldn’t have included being dressed. Snow came to a halt in front of him and shook his dark brown hair out of his eyes. “Hey, Rick.”

Ricky tilted his head back and squinted up at him in the sunlight, a smirk turning his lips upward mockingly. “Hey, Snow.”

“You alright?” Snow scanned the blond from head to toe with relief before meeting his blue eyes again and lifting both eyebrows. “Nothing broken?”

Ricky shook his head slowly and scooted over on the step to make room beside him. “Didn’t wanna go back home yet but I wanted to see you. Sorry I woke you up.”

Snow sat down next to him and lit a cigarette, handing it to him. “It’s cool. Long as you’re okay.”

Ricky was still smirking as he leaned back a little and dug his hand in his jeans pocket, pulling out a sandwich bag of pills in a rainbow of colors and shapes and a few small baggies of white powder. “They didn’t know who they were dealing with.” He chuckled softly and took a draw from the cigarette. “They couldn’t hang as long as I can.”

Snow had to laugh as it hit him that Ricky had robbed the clients of their stash before leaving the party. Only Ricky. He didn’t give a thought to the consequences of that one, or anything else for that matter. “You’re fucking crazy, man.”

“I know, but what’s the worst that could happen? If they killed me it’d be an improvement to what they did to me last night. Fuck’em,” he replied with venom in his voice. He stood up slowly and staggered a little while shoving the drugs back in his pocket. “Fuck’em all.”

Snow caught him wince and got up, putting a hand on Ricky’s shoulder to steady him. “You sure you’re okay?”

“Like I said, killing me would have been an improvement.” Ricky glanced around the street at the people passing them and took a deep breath. “Let’s go to the diner.”

Snow knew exactly where he meant without him having to say the name even though there were at least four diners in the general area. Fred’s was their place and they went there quite often after working their street shift. It was a place to unwind and to be with others like them, the clientele being other street dealers and corner whores that they knew by name or reputation.

It wasn’t a fancy place or an eatery anybody would take their family to for a night out, but it suited them just fine. The dark red booths and scarred Formica tabletops fit in with the seedy side of their lives and they both felt comfortable there where the stark fluorescent lighting left no shadows. The food was good and the coffee even better no matter what time of day or night they went there.

They both had coffee. No food. It was too early for Snow to eat and too late for Ricky. Under the table, Ricky was fumbling with something then reached across the table and shoved a couple pills into Snow’s hand. He popped three in his own mouth and washed them down with the coffee the bleached blond waitress had just brought them. “Cheers, baby,” he said smugly, winking tiredly. “Down the hatch.”

Snow washed his own down with the hot liquid and winced a little as the coffee seared his throat. It didn’t really matter what the pills were or what the effect would be. They’d both done enough drugs to build up a tolerance for a few stupid pills. If anything, he hoped it would just mellow him out.

“So what happened?” Snow blurted out as he rested his forearms on the table and propped one cheek on his palm. “Where did you go?”

Ricky smirked again, his usual cover up expression when something bothered him, and shook his head. “Nothing good. Nothing you need to know either.”

Snow twirled a lock of his hair around his fingers nervously. “It ain’t like I don’t know what goes on at those parties, Rick.”

“And it ain’t like you do, either,” Ricky replied bitterly, his features hardening briefly before smoothing back out into an emotionless mask. “Not first hand, anyway.”

Snow stared down at his coffee and started swirling his spoon in the black liquid, knowing he wasn’t going to get anything more from his friend. The barrier was up and the time for talking had gone by. What could he say to that? It was the truth. He didn’t know anything beyond the whispers and rumors on the streets about those parties.

“I was thinking about something,” he said, changing the subject. “Been thinking about it for a few weeks now.”

“What’s that?” Ricky answered, raising his cup to his lips and taking a sip of the hot coffee.

Snow tilted his head to the side and smiled, anxious to see Ricky’s reaction to his carefully thought out plan to get them away from Carlo’s rule somewhat. “Why don’t we get our own place? Just you and me.”

Ricky choked on his coffee and started coughing, grabbing a napkin and covering his mouth. “What drug brought that thought to your mind, babe?” He laughed and shook his head, wiping the dark stain from the tabletop where his hand had jerked and spilled coffee out of the cup. “Carlo would never let that happen.”

“What makes you think that?” Snow dropped his gaze to his coffee again, knowing good and well why Ricky thought that but still wanting him to say it. He had spent quite a few long nights thinking about how he was going to broach the subject with Carlo if Ricky agreed to get a place just for the two of them so he was prepared for any doubts his lover could voice.

“You actually think that bastard is gonna let you outta his sight, Snow?” A sarcastic chuckle came from Ricky before he lifted the mug back to his lips and took a sip. “You’re his meal ticket. He ain’t gonna let you move out with someone like me.”

“You might be surprised,” Snow replied smugly, giving Ricky a wink over the rim of his own cup. He swallowed and grinned at him. “Actually … you will be surprised.”

Ricky shook his head and smiled ruefully. “Yeah, we’ll see, my little dreamer.”

Snow took a long sip of his coffee and held Ricky’s gaze confidently. Yes, we will.

0o0o0o0o

The bedroom was bathed in soft light from the lamp sitting on the oak nightstand and the dark reds and gold accents made Snow think of a bordello as he stood in the doorway watching Carlo counting out the piles of money sitting on the bed and putting bands around them. He studied the handsome lines of his boss’ face and fought the anxiety that was threatening to send him running back to the room he shared with Ricky. Only the reason for his visit to Carlo’s room kept him firmly in place and gave him the strength he needed to approach the man.

Snow knocked softly and leaned against the doorjamb. “Carlo? Can I talk to you for a minute?”

The dark head nodded but the equally dark eyes didn’t lift to where he was standing so Snow took that as an invitation to enter the man’s private domain. He crossed the wine colored carpet and sat down on the edge of the bed, automatically starting to help with stacking the money like he’d been taught so long ago. Almost everything involving the business was second nature to Snow by now and Carlo allowed him access to just about everything.

Snow didn’t say anything right away until Carlo looked up at him and raised his eyebrow. “What did you need, Snow?”

“Oh. Umm …” Snow suddenly was nervous and every amount of reasoning left his head, making him stumble on his words for a moment. “I was, uh, wondering if maybe you’d let me … um …”

“Spit it out already, would you?” Carlo said, irritated. “I have a meeting to get to and I don’t have time to sit here.”

Snow took a deep breath and met the man’s dark eyes hopefully. Here goes nothing … “Can I get my own place?”

Carlo stopped what he was doing and stared wide-eyed at Snow, his features showing the shock that was mirrored in his gaze. “Get your own place?”

The man’s eyes darkened to almost black in the lamplight and narrowed slightly as he stared at Snow. “What? With your little boyfriend?”

Snow smiled a little at the slightly jealous tone Carlo used when referring to Ricky and nodded. “Yeah, with Ricky,” he answered, tilting his head a little and smirking as he widened his eyes innocently, hoping the puppy dog look would still work on the man like it did when he was younger. “Look, you two are like oil and water, Carlo. I was thinking maybe he’d follow the rules better if it were just me and him.”

“I think it was better when it was you and me,” Carlo grumbled under his breath as his attention moved back to his money. “That kid’s nothing but fucking trouble. He’s got no respect and no discipline.”

Snow got up and walked to the safe in the closet, pulling out the strong box and bringing it over to Carlo. He knew the man was thinking by the way he was sucking in his top lip and the teen hoped the words were sinking into the man’s thick skull. He knew he could get Ricky to stick to the rules better without their boss there to rile him up at every turn and he knew that Carlo could see the benefits of it, too, if he’d just get over the jealousy thing.

“Please?” Snow asked gently with the innocent look still in place. It was a look he knew always got him his way with Carlo and a look the man was so obviously trying to avoid right now. “We won’t live very far from here and it would give breathing room between the two of you.”

Carlo placed the wrapped money in neat little stacks in the box then locked it. He walked past Snow to the safe and put it inside before he closed the safe door and finally looked back over his shoulder at Snow. “Do you really think you can keep him in line on your own?”

Snow’s stomach fluttered a little and a giddy feeling washed over him. It was looking like Carlo might actually say yes and that boosted his confidence even more. “I think I can do a better job of it on our own than I can here.”

He shrugged and reached up to tuck one side of his hair behind his ear. “I mean, you know how you both are … stubborn and neither willing to bend an inch. Ricky’s more comfortable with just me,” Snow spoke earnestly now, wanting Carlo to see that he took the job seriously and that moving out didn’t mean he was trying to get away from him. “I make enough, you know? I’m not asking you for anything more, just …” He shrugged. “I really want this.”

Snow held his breath when Carlo walked slowly over to him and put his hands on his shoulders. “Don’t let me down, Snow. You know you’re my right hand and I rely on you to keep the business straight.”

A huge smile spread across Snow’s face as he realized he’s won the round and he threw his arms around Carlo’s neck, hugging him like never before. “Thank you! I swear to you it’ll be good. I won’t let you down.”

Carlo sighed and Snow knew he’d better leave the room before the Italian changed his mind. He gave him one more quick squeeze like a little kid and ran out the door to his room where Ricky was waiting. He busted through the closed door and jumped on top of Ricky who was lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling, and kissed him. “He said yes!”

Ricky pushed Snow off him and stared at him in disbelief. “Holy shit. You and me? He said we could?”

Snow nodded, smiling excitedly and bouncing on the bed. “You and me,” he breathed out. “Our own place.”

The signature tough smile lit up Ricky’s face and he looked almost relieved. He pulled Snow back down on top of him and kissed him again. “I can’t wait.”

“Neither can I.” Snow rolled over to snuggle against the older boy’s side and stared up at the ceiling, a smile on his face. “We gotta go find a place tomorrow.”

He couldn’t belief Carlo had agreed, but now that they had their boss’ blessing to move out, Snow wanted to do it as fast as possible before the man changed his mind and came to his senses. It wouldn’t do to drag it out and give Carlo time to think about his agreement. A lot of things could happen that would change his mind if they lingered too long over the details and that just couldn’t happen.

Tomorrow … it’s now or never and I’m not going to let it be never.