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It's several days since the original plan was hatched: ask the junkie down the hall for a contact re: Vigor. Find a dealer. Work their way up the supply chain.
It'd taken longer than expected to find a time when Malcolm would be home, and then finding him at home proved more difficult than Jessica had thought, or at least, getting him to answer the door.
Jessica opens he door to her apartment and glances behind her shoulder. "I've been thinking of moving Alias elsewhere," she mutters as she spies the label on her door. There's a pause as she states back to Remy, "We should probably lock it. Or something." She never locks her door. She's trying to get better at that.
In her hand she carries a single brown bag with a bottle — a peace offering that Jessica discovered in one of her high up cupboards; a way to, hopefully encourage Malcolm to talk.
She leads the way to apartment 2D where she bangs on the door. "Malcolm — " her voice echoes loudly. "It's Jones. From down the hall," her tone flattens. She is not warm.
*
Remy reaches behind himself just as he's pulling the door shut to flip the lock before it closes. "Bien sur, chou. Hopin' you got yo'self a key." He saunters behind her, eventually sliding his hands into his pockets as he waits behind her at the door. He leans against the far wall facing the door, bringing a foot up to brace himself and lolling his head back as he looks through the bottom of his eyes towards Malcolm's place.
*
Bringing alcohol is certainly helpful. The dark-skinned man opens his door a little bit, revealing a messy head of hair, bags under his eyes, and a white tank top stained with something orange. He looks blearily at Jessica, then to the man lurking behind her, then back to her. Finally he lets the door creep open, revealing a messy room beyond, /dark/, with a tv that's turned off, and all the windows shades opened so that the light from the city speckles in. He leans in the doorframe. "You've got a friend tonight. He's not a cop, right?"
*
"I have lots of friends," Jessica lies. Malcolm knows better. Aside from Trish, her visitors have mostly been few and far between. She glances back at Remy and then back to Malcolm. "Does he look like a cop?" There's a pregnant pause that follows and her expression steels. "No. Not a cop. Probably the opposite of cop." Her chin lifts and her lips twitch.
*
"Ah torture cops," Remy says as he kicks himself off the edge of the wall towards Jess and stands there looking at Malcolm. "Hopin' y'all might b'able t'help us out, mon ami."
*
Malcolm seems a little taken aback at the mention of torture. He straightens himself and rubs his pale palm along his jawline. "Its Malcolm." Not so great with French, apparently. "What do you wanna know?" He turns around after he asks the question into the cave apartment, leaving the door open as an invitation.
*
Jessica hesitates a moment at the door. She slowly shuffles into the apartment, and holds out the paper bag and the bottle inside — which she sets on the nearest surface. "You hear about this drug — this Vigor?" Trust Jessica to get to the point. "We need a supplier. And information if you've got it." She nods her head towards the bottle. "Tell us something and it's yours."
*
"A smoke fo' free, if y'allow it in your dwellin,'" Remy asks, already having one between his teeth, unlit. He reaches his hand out towards Malcolm with a soft pack. From there, however, he stays quiet, letting Jess do the talking.
*
Malcolm reaches out a long arm to take one of Remy's smokes, and eyes the bottle, then back to Jessica. "Vigor. I've heard about it. I heard about Donny. He took it, ended up losing two fingers when he started spitting acid. That's what I heard. I don't do that though. Its too expensive. Itd be great to be invisible, though, right?" He chuckles in a soft, warm tone. He looks at the unlit smoke and then runs the pads of his fingers along it like he's pondering saving it for later, or smoking it now. "Maybe I already have that power." He pauses and then looks at Jessica. "I've been watching you. So…if I tell you the dealer I know…are you gonna end up taking it…or destroying it?" And he honestly has a pretty good poker face for which of those answers he'd prefer.
*
Like Malcolm, Jessica has a good poker face. "We're not cops," her eyebrows lift expectantly as Malcolm's fingers roam the smoke. "We just want information," her lips thin into a narrow line. "We think it relates to a case. Bunch of kids been going missing from Hell's Kitchen High School." She shrugs. "Don't know if they're using or something else, but the timelines match. We need more to go on." She finally reaches for the brown paper bag she'd left on a nearby countertop. She peels the paper from the bottle. And for a moment, the longing in her eyes becomes too apparent. The amber fluid inside, with its royal colour and perfect acidity warrants a vague warming of her gaze. And her fingers tighten around the bottle's neck. From one addict to another. She emits an audible breath. "Give us something to go on and it's all yours."
*
Remy looks to Jessica knowingly, but says nothing and doesn't flinch. Instead he shrugs at Malcolm, "You can take two iffen ya wanna." He holds his lighter up about to light, "You dun mind if I?"
*
"Kids, huh?" Malcom comes closer to Jessica. "Ok. But…don't take it. Cuz I hadn't seen Donny now in two weeks." He reaches up and tucks the smoke behind his ear, mostly because Jessica's bottle looks more inviting. "I heard him called 'Ramsden'. He's a white guy…mustache, balding a little bit. He works in that store that sells binoculars and telescopes and stuff." He does take a second smoke…behind the other ear and gestures that he definitely doesn't care if Remy smokes in here.
*
"No intonation of taking it," she offers in return. Jessica chews on her thumbnail and nods knowingly. "But I know the store. Two blocks form here," she mutters as her jaw tightens. She leaves the bottle in its place on the counter again. It's Malcolm's now. Better than the sink. "Good. I'll get what we need," her tone takes on a cool edge. There's a long pause as she studies him and finally says, "Glad you didn't try it. Seems to get folks hooked qick."
*
Remy lights his cigarette, takes a few puffs and exhales a bluish grey cloud out through his nose. "Ramsden. Dun know 'im." Another drag from the cigarette as he thinks. "You hear any'tin' else 'bout dis, mon ami? Could save a life. Might e'en save two."
*
Malcolm just stares at her. Then he stares at Remy. He has this big, beautiful, brown eyes, like the eyes of a spaniel. "I did hear one more thing." But he pauses for effect. "I heard a couple of gang guys talking about taking it. So…Maybe you'll save more than two."
*
Jessica's gaze deadens. "Shit," and that definitely wasn't something she'd considered. "Taking it… to commit a crime?" Her jaw tightens and her head shakes slightly. There's nothing warm in her expression, nothing approachable her posture.
*
Remy steps forward. What Malcolm has said has gained his interest. The cigarette is forgotten and his eyes are trained on the junkie, waiting on his next word. "What'd dey say, Malcolm?"
*
Malcolm shrugs his lack of knowledge in what the criminals intended to do, exactly. "Probably not be a hero. They were just walking by me on the street." He lowers his eyes and shuffles forwards to grab the bottle of amber liquid, but he still doesn't open it. There's an odd sense of waiting, about him.
*
Jessica's lips purse. She swallows around a growing lump in her throat. Her hands drop to her sides and she takes a single step backwards. Her chin drops; it's almost a nod. "Malcolm, if you hear anything else," she turns her head to look towards her apartment at the end of the hall, "come see me." Her eyes virtually roll and she adds, "I'll make you dinner or something."
*
Remy takes a deep inhale of smokeless air and inspects Malcolm for an uncomfortable moment before he relents during Jessica's comments. He takes another drag and nods to the man, "T'anks fo' y'help. W'always got smokes, too. And, trus' me. Leave de cookin' to ole Remy."
*
Ohhhh she's gonna make him dinner, all right. He's just waiting for her and the new beau to leave so he can go sneak into her fridge. Malcolm follows them to the door, and watches if they go back into the Alias apartment, or somewhere else. "Yeah…uh…no problem, right?" He flashes a grin that is just one more muscle tug away from being beautiful.
*
Jessica issues Malcolm a skeptical look before finally stepping out of the apartment. A heavy stare is cast towards Remy before Jessica turns on her heel back towards the stairs, giving a slight tick of her head as indication that he can follow if he wants. Her hands retreat into her pockets and her paces become heavier. She intends to try to talk to Ramadan. Sooner than later, if possible.
*
Remy gives Malcolm a final nod before following Jess out the door. He joins her side as they walk down the hallway to the steps. "Prolly a bad time t'mention dat I'm proud o'ya for givin' dat liquor up, girl." He flicks the cigarette out in front of them before his foot lands on it in stride.