Miriam picked up the roll of gauze and placed it gently into the basket over her arm. She roved her wide grey eyes around the store, searching. Her lips barely pursed in anxiety. Her contact would be there soon, although she wasn't sure she actually wanted to see him. Mostly because it was a him. She stepped down aisle four, feigning interest as she scanned the bottles of rubbing alcohol and iodine, the Johnson and Johnson Band-Aids, the cotton swabs...all fading effortlessly into gleaming baby bottles, softly folded piles of cloth diapers, straight tins of baby powder, pacifiers, rattles...she stopped and stared at the display, her hand unconsciously rubbing her stomach. Her thin fingers traced unknowingly over the roughly stitched scar on her stomach that hid beneath the cheaply rustling taffeta of her dress.

The presence of a woman reaching for the shelf snapped Miriam out of her reverie and made her sidestep quickly, throwing a small smile to the floor. The woman had a stroller with her, and was busy gathering various items from the shelves. She glanced over to see the younger redhaired woman with her hand still resting absently on her stomach and smiled warmly.

"When are you due?"

"Wh-what?" Miriam looked like a hounded grey-eyed deer as she stared at the woman.

"I...I just wanted to know...when are you due?"

Miriam lowered her gaze to the floor and shuffled a step away.

"I...lost it a month ago."

"Oh...God, God, I'm so sorry."

"Thanks..."

Miriam fled the woman, taking the long way around the aisle to stare instead at several cheerfully wrapped cans of peaches. With a shuddering breath, she slowly remembered that she was supposed to be meeting a man here soon. She shook her head and glanced about, searching for the man she would need to hand off her purse stuffed with cash in exchange for another bag filled with bottles of whiskey.

Dressed in a dark grey suit and a black raincoat, Nujabes kept his left hand in his coat pocket, clutched around a Walther PPK in an anxious fret; Even though he had done deals before, he had never dealt with a stranger - the only thing keeping him in relative ease being that it was a female dealer. Dangerous, possibly, but somehow, in his own mind, less frightening. Nonetheless, he held on to his gun as if it was part of him. Looking at his right hand which was slightly shaking, he leaned against the grocery store's outer walls as he took a deep breath listened to his thoughts.



"Got the sweats.. hands are trembling.. I just need a little. I just need some to get me through.. the vial's in my pocket.." he reasoned to himself.



"No.", another voice inside of him rang out.

Closing his eyes momentarily while taking a deep breath, he moved his right hand out of his jacket pocket, empty and poised himself. Taking another breath, he eased his left hand off of his Walther, taking a full breath before opening the grocery store door and scanning the aisles.


"Aisle 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.. wait, five!" He thought to himself, heading back to five and spotting his contact. A reddish brown, slightly skiddish woman who gave him an alarming look - if only for a second. Spotting her polka dotted dress, he approached the woman, who took several steps back in a not so coy manner, to speak with her. Waving his hands down in an "easy" manner, he quietly spoke to her.

"You're my contact - You reached me through Cath?"

Looking into his green eyes in a cautious glare, she slowly nodded before letting her guard down slightly, loosening the clutch on her purse ever so slightly.

"Okay, I have your product a block from here. Police presence is heavy in this area, and I can't be seen within a mile of alcohol or my entire operation will be over with. I saw a few bills inside of your purse, so I.."

He paused for a moment, trying to drown out the internal ringing in his ears.

"..I figure you're good for business. Shall we go?"

"I...why do I have to leave here?"

She didn't like the idea of leaving with a strange man to an indeterminate location. She glanced around the bright shelves for a moment, feeling a small tremor in her stomach as she thought of leaving the safety of a public place. But she slowly looked the man back in the eyes and shrugged gently, the threat of policemen weighing heavily on her mind.

"I...I guess...yes, let's go. I have to go to the checkout first, though. Have to make this visit look like it had a purpose."

She glanced down to the basket hanging on her thin arm, pressing uncomfortably into the faint bruise covered up by a thin layer of foundation. Inside the basket was the gauze, a bottle of Pepto-Bismol, a box of cornstarch, and three bananas. She flashed the man a quick, nervous smile before stepping down the aisle once more. As she set the items on the counter and made small talk with the cashier, she noticed a policeman peering closely into the front glass of the shop. He seemed to be focusing on her and the man lingering behind her. Her eyelashes flicked down over her slate-colored eyes quickly before she turned back to the cashier, handing him two dollars for the miscellaneous goods before quickly gathering the bag and hurrying toward the door, eager to get away.

Watching the policeman sway back and forth, his thoughts rapidly turned into evasive seconds of cognizance. Rapidly darting his eyes to anything in the store that might give him an idea, he eyed his contact; briskly approaching her as she picked up her items from the cashier, he took her by the arm, to an immediately surprised look on her face, while whispering somewhat loudly in her ear.


"This is just as awkward as it is for me. My thoughts are hazy right now - what is your name again?"

Her eyes, which likely expanded to their maximum possible size, widened before she gave a choppy answer.

"Mi.. Miriam. My name is Miriam."


He thought for a moment before replying.


"Okay, we're going to walk together like a couple until we reach our marker. Don't look at anybody, don't talk to anybody, and keep your head down, and we should be there soon."


Heading out of the exit to the grocery, they made their way down the sidewalk before crossing one - two, three streets before heading into a small alley. He hadn't checked if anyone had followed them, his thoughts in a rut and him trying to keep a focus on keeping the trembling hands to a minimum. After a few corners cut and squeezing through another back alley, they had reached their destination. Letting go of her, he unraveled a medium sized duffel bag that contained several small bottles of rich, dark amber liquid, glimmering across a small patch of sunlight that had broken through, contrasting the rain that had been pouring throughout the day.


"Okay, here's your product. The payment?" He asked, holding the duffel bag full of whiskey.

"Sure.. I.. here."

No sooner had she handed him the purse before the loud crash of a trash can being tipped over rang through their ears. Instinctively drawing his gun, he hugged the wall with his back before aiming the gun in the direction the sound originated in. Making a small motion to Miriam to leave or hide, he stayed, motionless, before continuing to speak as if nothing had happened.


"That's a hundred dollars short.. You know how hard it is to produce this stuff when there's prohibition, lady?!"

Giving her the urgent look to play along, her eyes had once again emerged enormous before replying in a rather nervous voice.

"Look.. that's all I have! You can either take it or leave it!"


Pausing before replying, he continued to hold his gun towards the entrance to the corner before replying.

"You can either pay up, or I'll have you, your cheating scum friends and your entire operation shut down and you won't get a damn thing. This is your last warning."

Before she had a chance to reply, the loud sounds of boots hitting against puddles came closer, along with the sounds of clinking metal - a police officer. Before he had the chance to even attempt to yell freeze, he had a gun pointed to him.


"Think very carefully about pointing that at an officer!" The policeman said, raising both hands in the air, attempting the diplomacy he most likely trained for in the academy.

"There's already another officer on the way, and the entire block will be sealed off without any room to escape. If you come in with me, you can at least risk not spending a lifetime in jail - or the chair."

He continued holding the gun at the officer before trying to catch on to one of his escaping thoughts, concluding to himself there was only one way out of this.

"I don't think so.. Miriam, keep an eye on the alley."

Turning his eyes back to the officer, Nujabes noticed his vision had blurred the officer into three figures.. Blinking his eyes rapidly before attempting to focus on the middle, his arm strength began to give. His left hand trembling while his right attempted to just hold the gun in the general direction of his officer before noticing the trembling attempting to spread to his jaw, as he felt a warm trickle running down his nose. Dark crimson.. Losing a noticeable amount of blood from his nosebleed, Nujabes tried to, once again, string together a coherent thought.

"I have to take some.. I can't.. I won't make it past this if I don't. I had the vial - where the hell was it?"

Feeling his right hand slowly lose its strength, he attempted to use what little control he had of his left hand before frantically feeling around in all of his pockets, desperate to find the tiny blue vial.. checking his right jacket pocket, he felt the outline of a long glass vial. Desperately getting into the slip of the pocket, he quickly pulled it out before removing the small cork, putting the vial to the less bloody nostril and insufflating the entire vial, being greeted immediately by a return of senses and a headrush, along with the horrible feeling of blood being pushed back from where it came from. Noticing that the officer had lowered his hands slightly and had moved closer than where he was, Nujabes had a split second to decide before pulling the trigger - a loud bang and a look of horror on the officer's face, before his lifeless body had hit the ground.

"I.. we.. We have to leave, Miriam, NOW!"

Miriam, peering around the corners of the alleyway entrance, saw in the distance a dark blue speck moving quickly through the crowd. The man hadn't been shitting about another cop on his way. She turned around, shocked, as her ears rung with the echoes of Nujabes's shot. She glanced back around and saw the officer running even faster. She turned frantically to Nujabes.

"We can't leave through here--there's a cop moving fast. Come on, I know a way."

Quickly grabbing the duffel bag and her groceries, Miriam hurried down the alley, jumping nimbly over the policeman's body before scurrying around a dark corner. She heard her contact's footsteps falling surprisingly lightly behind hers, following her movements. The pair hurried behind a row of businesses, carefully dodging trash cans and trying not to breath in the fetid stench of old grease and stale vomit. There was a high wooden fence on their right, so old and worm-eaten that it was crumbling away in places. She stopped suddenly, pushing against one of the boards until, with a loud creak and snap, it broke off. She grabbed it quickly and set it down before squeezing through the fence and beckoning to her companion from the other side. With one of her wide eyes visible, she whispered to him.

"Come on. If you'll boost me up into this window, I'll let you in through the door. We can hide here for a while--I know the people who live here, and not only are they gone for a week, but they wouldn't mind in the least if I stayed here."

Skeptical at first thought, Nujabes reasoned to himself that it was probably best if he complied, considering he had likely killed an officer in pursuit. Giving a brief shrug, he kneeled by the window, cupping his two hands together in readiness for a boost.


"Alright, get up there - quick."

With her response being an anxious "Okay", she walked up to his cupped hands and put her left foot inside of them. Wrangling her way up to the window and pushing it open, Nujabes gave her a slight push, sending her over the edge to a loud thud.

"Jesus!" Her voice rang out through the window and caught him by surprise; he had felt slightly remorseful for getting her into this precarious position in the first place. Catching his train of thought, Nujabes replied.


"S..Sorry, Miriam. Can you get me through the door?"

"Y-Yeah!"

Miriam rose to her feet quickly, straightening her skirt as she glanced down to the anxiously waiting Nujabes. She hurried downstairs, dodging quickly around the furniture and unlocking the back door. Flinging it open and pushing her head out of the door, she beckoned her companion in hastily, closing the door quickly behind him and locking it with a firm clank. The two stared at one another breathlessly for a moment, letting the relative security of the house sink into their minds. Miriam suddenly rushed up the stairs, peering cautiously through a thick peony-patterned curtain. The policeman was running down the alleyway behind the house, cursing as he realized they were nowhere in sight. Seeing the cracked board in the fence, he scaled the rotting structure and ran right past the house, searching for them in some other dark corner of New York's streets. Miriam breathed a soft sigh of relief. She turned around to see Nujabes entering the room. She gave him a small smile and motioned downstairs.

"So, I guess we just need to lie low for a while. They've got a small library, and a radio, and...well, they should have a bit of food in the icebox if you're hungry."

He cautiously followed her downstairs, closing the door behind him while shaking his hands for warmth. Walking down the wooden stairs, he noticed a small den that reminded him astonishingly of his grandfather's taste in decor. Taking a glance at the various paintings and family portraits that riddled the wall, he took a seat on the couch before querying Miriam.



"So, Miriam, who're the people that are out of town? Is there anything decent in the cupboard you're hovering over?"

"Friends. An old couple that used to board me."

A peek into the breadbox revealed a small amount of bread, which the woman took out and placed on the counter. Miriam rooted through the refrigerator, managing to find some ham and cheese. She made a face at the ham, but shrugged and set it carefully down next to the rest of the food, making sure it didn't touch any of it. After washing her hands, Miriam stood in the doorway and shrugged.

"Well, it looks like there's some stuff for ham sandwiches...I only eat kosher, so you're welcome to all of it. What do you want on your sandwich?"