Chapter Two:

Katie walked into the Four Roses bar, wearing pretty much the same thing she always did; low ride flair jeans, a white camisole, and beat up all stars. As always, the gang she was forced to work for was all assembled, drinking and jeering over something incredibly loudly. As she approached the table, they quieted down, and Katie held a worn, dirty, canvas back-pack out to Billy.

Unlike every other night, he didn't take it, just commanded her, "Sit, now." He tilted his head up, signaling the empty spot in the booth across from him, next to Tommy. Knowing the consequences, the blonde complied, setting the bag on the table. The past year hadn't been too horrid, much to her surprise. Sure, she was working off a debt that wasn't hers, but she did get to keep some of her earnings.

It was an unusually nice thing of Billy to let her do. Forty percent of what she brought in was for the debt, fifty percent to the gang, and ten percent to her. Like she had a real job, almost. As she sat, Billy grabbed the sack and opened it, pulling out a couple stacks of money. Thumbing through them, he let out a low whistle and commented, "Busy week."

Katie shrugged and replied in relative civility, "Party last night. Moved left overs, got paid."

Billy's eyes narrowed and he growled, "Who's left overs?" Katie wasn't a dealer, not usually. Her job was to collect money from the snot nosed brats in her area, or even adults. If she had moved left overs, it meant someone hadn't moved all their stuff like they said.

Katie gulped. It wasn't like she could lie where the money came from, Billy always knew. But she couldn't throw anyone under the bus, they were actually her friends now, kind of. But Bodie came to her rescue and mended, "Nah dawg, I gave her Office left overs. Katie mentioned it ta me the other day, thought it'd be a good business opportunity."

It was true, almost. It had been all the Office left overs, plus a few of Tommy's. But Tommy always gave her his left overs to help her out, get her debt paid off faster. Katie nodded to confirm, but Billy tacked on, "And Tommy's."

Katie froze. Oh god, she couldn't get Tommy in trouble, he was her friend, plus Layla would kill her. Billy cracked a grin though and chuckled, "Ya think Tommy just had left overs? I give him more for ya, kid."

Looking around, she noticed how friendly they all seemed at that moment. Her face scrunched in confusion and Baggie told her, "We know ya didn't want this, we all thought it was a real shitty move yer twin tossed it off on ya. So, we always make a little extra and Tommy gives it to ya. So ya can get some extra cash."

Tommy tossed an arm around her and gave her a half hug, adding on, "Plus, since this is yer job, ya gotta get somethin' from it. Lay mentioned yer parents reward Brendan when he wins, none of us thought it was fair for ya not to have yer own reward for doin' this for 'im."

Katie smiled. Layla was the only one who knew what she was doing. It wasn't like she could hide it. Plus, she needed her friend with her half the time, she was still getting used to balancing the lives, and Layla was a pro. In a way, the two were partners. Layla knew about the parties, who was going, how many people, and she told Katie, who went and sold.

The only part Katie wasn't in on? Layla telling Tommy, who told Billy, who then made sure the appropriate amount of meth was made to give to Tommy, who passed it off to Katie as left overs.

But it wouldn't matter now, she'd thank Layla if she got the chance. Because without the left overs, Katie would be broke. Her only allowance was gas for her car, which had been her birthday present. Of course, Billy had insisted- not that it had been a choice- she take it to Bones' place to get it taken care of, which mean a few empty panels for any massive shipments and the same design as the other cars the gang shared.

But it was a damn nice design if she did say so. She liked it, probably would have gotten it on her own eventually. But, Billy was kind of human, he told her to hide her own shit in the panels Bones had put it, because he wouldn't let Bones' use her on a run, saying she was too young.

Glancing over at Billy as he yelled for a round of shots, she smiled faintly. Few people realized that Billy Darley did indeed have a heart. To those he considered family. And this gang? This gang was his family. Somehow, in the past year, Katie had managed to weave her way into that family.

Billy caught her smiling and asked, "What's so damn funny kid?" He wasn't being mean, he was asking her like she was Bodie, a friend.

Katie smiled back and admitted, "Never thought I'd fit in better here than where I grew up, y'know?"

He chuckled and as the shots were brought over, he raised his and spoke over his boys, "Here's ta Katie. One tough ass kid who was born inta the wrong life, but we were the lucky bastards ta find 'er first!"

The gang roared in agreement, and all took shots, Katie's not being whiskey like theirs, it was a shot of Diet Coke. Sammy, the bartender, always did it for her, since he didn't want to loose his liquor license and so she didn't get in trouble.

Taking a look at her phone, Katie swore and grumbled, "Gotta get home. My ma gave me a curfew since I was late the other day."

Billy nodded, knowing that if he wanted his only direct link to his rich customers to be available and roaming for him, she had to be on her parents good side. Taking another shot, he dismissed her, "Need ya ta pick up payment tomorrow, some punk ass kids. Think they go ta yer school."

Katie nodded but before she could leave, Billy caught her wrist gently as he stood and handed her a stack of green bills. It was way more than her normal cut, but Billy just told her, "I'll text ya the names. Be here tomorrow by ten, y'hear?"

Smiling she nodded and said her goodbyes, before bounding off to her own car, a Torino Shelby. Slipping in, she slipped her earnings into her bag and let the engine start, smooth as ever. It was something she would never get tired of. Gassing it, she sped off, navigating her way through Stokely with ease. Her ride was relatively silent, only the faint music from her stereo playing.

Twenty minutes after leaving, her phone started ringing, and the blond glanced down to see the face of her brother Lucas. Smiling, she tapped 'answer' then speaker and spoke slightly louder than normal, "Hey Lukey, what's up?"

She could hear her brother's music playing in the background and he asked her, "Where are you?"

Glancing out her window, she smirked as she stopped at the light, the street she would be turning into being the one for the gated community she lived in. Grabbing the phone and placing it on her leg, she told him, "Be home in a few minutes, do ya need somethin'?"

There was a pause before he asked suddenly, "Where were you? You sound like Layla when she talks." Katie cussed silently, forgetting about that.

"That's because I was at Layla's you dummy. We had a test to study for." That was believable, because they always had a test.

A slight hum of belief came through as she got a green and turned, and he just told her, "Well, Mom's watching the clock, so hurry up, you got five minutes before you break your curfew, which is pretty dumb. Don't tell mom I said that."

Katie waved at the rent-a-cop as he let her through and she took a moment to pull up in front of her house and chuckled, "Thanks for telling me. My lips are sealed. See you in a second little brother."

She hung up and hopped out of the car, grabbing her bag and sweater and tugging it over her camisole. Her mother would have flipped out if she walked in without it. Something about it being inappropriate or whatever; she hadn't listened, just remembered to always wear a sweater or jacket over the top.

Twisting her key in the lock, she popped the door open and shut it behind her, locking it manually before storing her key back inside her purse. Katie walked to the living room and poked her head in, seeing her mom reading. She stepped in and cleared her throat, catching her mom's attention and told her, "See? Home before curfew. Anyway, I have a test tomorrow, so I'm going to take a shower, then go to sleep."

Her mother smiled and nodded, saying simply, "Alright, goodnight Kaitlin."

Katie winced as her mom used her full name, grumbling under her breath.