There was a lot of thinking I had to do on my part. Telling a guy he had one month left to live isn't the best talk to have. I still wasn't sure I believed it considering how I felt physically. Still, those symptoms he told me about, I couldn't lie about them. I had some, so it was a cause for concern.

I knew One-Eyed Joe was crazy, but maybe he is better now. He can't be too much better though considering what he suggested. Never would have thought of it myself that's for sure.

As for my appointment, I kind of missed that. The whole, 'you're dying' part really threw me off my game and the conversation went longer than I expected. Hopefully, she wasn't too worried or upset about it.

Kind of wish I had a Coke about now.

"Hey," I said after the call finally connected. I almost hung up because she didn't answer on the first four rings.

"Raven? What's up?" Kiki's sleepy voice sounded from the other end. It was early in the morning, but not that early. Then again, this was Kiki, she was probably messing around with one of her boy toys all night.

"Just checking in, how are you holding up?"

"Fine," She stifled through a yawn. "And here I was thinking you'd finally ask me out on that date you promised me."

"That was in seventh grade Kiki, don't you think the time's expired on that one?"

"No, I'm sure you'll make time now that you're back. Or, are you leaving soon?"

Actually, I wasn't sure on this point. I told Buttons I was going to leave after the funeral was done and over with. That happened, but here I am still walking the streets of New Dawn City. I extended my stay to meet up with some old friends at her school, but then Charlie showed up and cut that short. All the people I was expecting to reconnect with weren't around at that time, or I just never bumped into them.

Now, I had to get this gem extracted before it killed me. I had one month, no, less than a month to pull this off. After that, I'm driving out of this city and never looking back.

"Soon," I told her.

"I guess nothing can make you stay huh?" She asked me. I found the question to be odd as there was nothing in this place that warranted a stay. Well, maybe one reason but that was it.

"Not this time. I still have business to take care of in New Vegas."

"You're talking about your dad right?"

"Yeah." Finding out who killed him was still at the top of my to-do list, and the longer I stayed in the boundaries of this place the colder the trail would get.

Honestly, I should have stayed put to hear what the streets had to say, but I couldn't let my mom come back here by herself. Although I wasn't as connected to New Vegas as I was to New Dawn City, I still had a few sources I could contact. The payment required might drain me, but it'd all be worth it to get the answers I wanted.

Not like my dad was shady. The guy was as clean as a whistle, he should not have any beef with anyone. Let alone someone that would want him dead. His death might have been a mistake, but something told me it wasn't.

There was silence on the other end of the phone call, and I wondered if I got disconnected or something. Nope, we were still connected, so why wasn't she saying anything? I figured she didn't know what to say about the subject so I changed it. "Anyway, I wanted to know if you know how Geroge and Adam are doing?"

"They're fine last I heard, why?"

"I wanted to talk to them about something."

"Hmm," She sounded as if she were thinking. "I'm not sure they'd be interested in whatever you have going on Raven."

"This have anything to do with what you told me before?"

Asking that question made me realize I never did get around to seeing what was on the usb I received that day. I made a mental note to check it out as soon as I returned home.

"Yeah, it has everything to do with that. Adam's cool, but that incident made him rethink life so he just wanted out. As for Geroge, he left due to his mom's condition." She told me.

Geroge's mom had late-stage cancer and was always sick. The treatment costs were out of this world which is why he even ran with us in the first place. The thing was that it just never seemed like enough. You'd think with how advanced medical treatment has come cancer would be a sinch to cure. Nah, not even close.

"Think a friendly face might do him some good."

"Well, they haven't changed their numbers if you are trying to reach out. What are you up to, maybe I can help?" She offered, but I didn't want her to get involved.

"Nothing major, some have a minor issue to take care of. Thanks for the offer, but I think I'm good on this one."

"Alright, just hit me up if you need anything."

The call ended after a few more minutes of talking. I still did have both their contacts saved in my phone, but just like Buttons, I never contacted either of them after I left. Man, things were about to get awkward. Just pray and hope things would work out. That's all I could do.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

★★★

The walk to the store should have only taken me fifteen minutes at best, but it didn't. It wasn't a major supermarket, just your local grocery store that supplied the neighborhood with whatever people needed. A bit more expensive than supermarkets, but a lot closer. The parking lot was large but the amount of cars parked made it look empty.

Even the dollar store attached to the building next to the store looked dead. There was one minivan parked out front with an older man inside keeping the engine running. The O in the dollar sign was still missing, guess that meant they would never replace it. Shouldn't shock me as the large billboard behind the building still had bullet holes in it.

I walked towards the grocery store to get what I needed and saw someone squatting down next to the entrance. They were smoking with an open can of Ludstar the energy drink next to them. I had to do a double-take to make sure I wasn't seeing things.

"Adam?" I called out his name as I was unsure if this was actually him.

He looked up.

"Holy shit, the rumors were true," He said as we made eye contact. His large size made him seem scarier than what he was, but that was fine by him considering he was not that much of a people person. I was just surprised to see him wearing a shirt with the name of the store printed on it along with a badge and nametape.

"Yeah, guess so," I said wondering what rumors he was talking about. "You work here now?"

He laughed as he stood up. He was tall as an oak tree and built like the Hulk, but this outfit of his was not doing him any justice. "Yeah, staying out of sight out of mind."

"You always did like your solitude," I commented.

He nodded his head as we shook hands. "Yeah, only way to stay alive it seems. Mind your own business, and leave others alone."

"I hear that," I told him. Man, he didn't look any different from when I left here.

"Sorry about your pops, I would have gone to the funeral but the manager has been riding my ass all month. Think she just likes fucking with me."

"No worries, you would have been there if you could. I know that."

Adam seemed relieved to hear that. Taking a closer look at him, he did have bags under his eyes. Maybe his boss was working him hard.

"So, what have you been up to?" I asked him.

He pointed his thumb to the building behind him. "Been working odd jobs here and there, just trying to stay afloat you know?"

"Yeah, and Cameron? You two still a thing?"

"Fuck no! Don't even get me started on her."

I couldn't help but laugh a little at his reaction. "What? Man, I thought you liked them crazy?"

Adam had this thing for women with 'issues' he said it spiced things up in the bedroom. I just saw it as a giant red flag, but hey, if this man is out here going after women with problems then maybe it was meant to be.

"Not that crazy! That chica was all loony, son. Talking about having someone shoot up my place because she thought I was cheating."

I looked at him and he put his hands in the air as if he were surrendering. "Nah man, not this time. I stayed faithful. She was just on some other shit. Her profile said daddy issues, motherfucker like me can't even take a piss without her thinking something was up. Trust issue is more like it."

Adam finished his cigarette before putting it out against the brick wall. He reached into his pants for another one but found that his pack was empty.

"So, what about you? Still with Alisha?"

"Nah, we split up after I left the city," I told him.

He clicked his tongue. "Damn man, she was a good one." He told me before he grinned and bumped his shoulder against mines. "So this means what I think it means? You and Buttons finally getting together?"

What's with people thinking that? I mean, she was single but that didn't mean we were going to be an item.

"We're friends man, friends."

"Yeah ok." Adam made quotation marks with his fingers as he mouthed the word 'friends'. "You two have more sexual tension than anyone else I know. Don't know why yall just haven't fucked already and got it out yall system. But hey, a brother's just trying to see one relationship flourish."

I laughed a bit at that. "I was meaning to give you a call later though, so I guess it isn't a bad thing that I ran into you here."

He raised his eyebrow at that. "You wanted to catch up on old times and shit?" He asked me.

"Not exactly, I wanted your help with a job."

Adam crossed his arms and looked at me with suspicion. "You back with Blackout then?"

"No."

He nodded his head at that in relief. "Okay, cool. They on some other shit."

His reply caught me off guard. "What do you mean by that?"

Shaking his head he replied, "Nothing, don't worry about it. So, what's this job you have lined up?"

Although I did not have the folder containing all the information One-Eyed Joe gave me, I did have the name of the company he suggested. It was one I was familiar with but had never actually been to. I did not take the folder because I did not want other people to know what was going on with me.

"I need some intel on the company Sunrise."

Adam made a clicking sound with his tongue before giving me that look that said, 'Are you being serious'. Seeing as how I said nothing and just waited on him he knew I was really asking for this.

"Man, that company is no joke. What kind of job involves them?"

I grinned, "You really want to know?"

"Nah, I'm good. So, what's my cut?" He asked.

"Sorry man, I can't pay you for this one."

"Oh come on!" He cried out.

"Was hoping to cash in on that favor you owe me from that job you pulled with Cobra."

"That one doesn't even compare to this, but I can do it."

Adam was always in need of some extra funds, and he never told us for what. He went off on his own once to do some shady job with this guy we dubbed Cobra because the guy was as slick as they came. Things went sideways real quick, and I was around to bail Adam out without much trouble.

"Thanks, but you got to admit those were some fun times."

"Safe to say when you're not the one being shot at," Adam commented. He was the guy behind the desk that everyone wanted to have. A major asset to keep in your pocket because he could tell you what you had to get, where it was, and how to avoid detection if needed. A bitch to be against if you were on the other side since he'd run laps around you before you even knew the race began.

However, the guy couldn't shoot for shit.

"But yeah man, I'll do it, just keep Geroge out of it." He said.

Not sure how he knew I was going to invite Geroge, but if he didn't know before my facial expression right then told him.

"That bad?" I asked.

"Yeah, his mom's condition has taken a turn for the worse. Just counting the days now before it's all over."

"She'd need a miracle to turn everything around."

"Pft, more like a miracle drug." He corrected me.

It got me thinking that me and Geroge had a lot more in common than I originally assumed. If he found out what I was after then he'd be on board to join me. While Midzamazim wouldn't cure her cancer, it sure as hell would let her live out her remaining days as a normal person. Kind of funny that the miracle drug that was advertised to bring people back from death couldn't stop cancer. Still, this would allow them to spend their final days together wherever they wanted doing whatever they wanted. Beats being glued to a hospital bed biding your time.