Off the Wagon (Users #2) Read Free Page A

the paranoia that comes with having survived multiple assassination attempts recently, or waking up one morning to the world’s most dangerous man sitting on the end of his bed only a few short months ago, but either way, Carter wanted the damn door locked.
    “Hey, man. I thought I told you to lock this door when I left,” Carter said as he slammed the door to a close behind him.
    “Sorry, I forgot,” Barber said, but the damn kid didn’t even bother looking up from his video game to acknowledge Carter as he spoke the words.
    “How was school?” Carter asked.
    “Fine.” Again Barber kept his eyes peeled on the television screen.
    Carter dropped his keys on the counter and stepped into the kitchen to grab a drink of water. Carter could practically see his reflection in the shine that came off the brand new faucet. It was a stark difference to the dingy sink with the leaky faucet he was used to. The whole apartment was far beyond anything he had previously occupied. From the drug dens with the blacked out windows covered in cardboard to keep the light from shining on the sunken in faces of his junkie companions. To the run down one bedroom apartment with the smoke stained walls he had shared with his ex-girlfriend. None of them came close to the plush digs Carter had secured last minute, knowing he had a fat payday just around the corner.
    The job with the bank, testing their vault’s security, paid more in a few weeks than Carter could make in a year working a nine to five. Sure he had to give away trade secrets, but he was one of the good guys. And if some User scumbags, who used their powers for nothing better than to knock off a bank got caught in the process, that was just a job well done as far as he was concerned.
    “Did you finish your homework yet?” Carter asked.
    “I’ll do it later,” Barber answered. “I’m about to beat the boss on level three.”
    This kid and the video games. He practically hadn’t stopped playing since they unpacked the damn box it came from yesterday. Granted they had literally just moved into the joint. Walt was kind enough to float Carter the money for the down payment and the deposit, on the condition that he would pay it back as soon as he got paid. Carter’s previous apartment had been shot up, blown up, and probably condemned on account of the assassins Fox sent after him that had trashed the place.
    “Do you wanna go get some dinner? There’s a Chinese place down the street that makes a mean sweet and sour pork,” Carter said.
    “No, I had a bag of chips earlier,” Barber said.
    “Then go get your homework done,” Carter said doing the best impression of an authority figure he could come up with. He didn’t have a lot of experience in that arena. If his father wasn’t beating him, he was off drinking and drugging, and his mother was practically catatonic for most of his childhood. Neither of his parents left Carter with much of an example that he could set for Barber. He was going to have to play it by ear.
    Christ, how was this kid even alive, let alone playing video games. With the shit he eats, he should be dead. Barber just stared at the television screen as if Carter hadn’t said a word.
    “Hey man, did you hear me? I said get your homework done,” Carter repeated himself, but Barber just stared blankly at the television screen. There was a glassy look in the boy’s eyes. It was a vacant stare that told Carter that no one was home. “Come here a second.”
    “What? Why?” Barber slid across the couch as Carter approached.
    “Let me see your eyes for a second,” Carter said. “You on something?”
    “God!” Barber slammed the controller down on the coffee table and stormed off to his room, slamming the door behind him.
    Carter stood stunned, unable to believe what he had gotten himself into. The young man had been loyal to a fault when it came to Walt, but he apparently wasn’t the ray of fucking sunshine that Carter assumed he was. Carter