"Mickey, I've got a little business proposition for you. Interested?" Dexter asked with a smile. Knowing Mickey's personality—not fundamentally evil, but not capable of too much good either—Dexter wasn't bothered by his attitude.
Mickey immediately changed direction. He walked straight toward Dexter and asked, "You know me?"
Dexter nodded. "Not only do I know you, but we're pretty tight."
Mickey stopped in front of him. "Well, I've never seen your sorry ass before!"
"That's not important. What is important is, are you interested in this gig I mentioned?" Dexter pressed.
Mickey narrowed his eyes, acting all tough, and sized Dexter up. "What kind of business? Lay it on me."
"Say I have a batch of some 'Mary Jane.' Think you can find someone to move it? We split the cash, fifty-fifty," Dexter said.
Mickey raised an eyebrow, clearly a little intrigued. "How big a batch?"
"At street value, it's probably worth about a hundred thousand bucks," Dexter estimated, not really sure of the exact value of the green stuff.
A hundred thousand dollars is a serious amount of money.
Mickey thought for a second, a little suspicious. "Are you a cop?"
"Do I look like the kind of guy who'd be a cop?" Dexter countered.
"Nah, I guess not. So why are you coming to me?"
"I just got here, and I don't know anyone else who can handle this kind of thing," Dexter guessed what Mickey was worried about. "I don't mind telling you, it's not my stuff. I just stumbled into it."
Mickey got it. He grinned, losing his caution. "Alright, bring the goods. I'll take care of it for you. Fifty-fifty split."
"Deal. I'll get the stuff in a few days. I need the cash that same day, so you have to move the whole batch at once. Can you do that?"
Mickey shook his head decisively. "No problem."
"Cool. I'll see you around then," Dexter said with a smile, turning to walk away, his mind already spinning.
He hadn't had high hopes when he came to Mickey, just thought he'd try his luck.
Now that Mickey was on board...
He needed to plan the next moves carefully.
Above all, he needed to be able to defend himself in case Mickey decided to play the "rip-off" game—a classic double-cross.
He was pretty sure Mickey was capable of it, especially since the guy was basically a professional shoplifter now.
Thinking about that, Dexter glanced up at the sky. "Come on, let it get dark already!"
He planned to go after Frank tonight, if possible, and rack up some good deeds (merit)!
Too bad it was still early.
Dexter kept wandering.
As he was strolling, he suddenly spotted that idiot, Philip Gallagher, in the distance.
Philip was walking fast.
Following Philip's direction, Dexter saw Karen's house and knew exactly what spicy drama was about to unfold.
Thinking about the scene where Karen gets under the kitchen table to "service" Philip...
Dexter couldn't help but chuckle. At the same time, he felt genuinely bad for Karen's dad, Eddie.
In the world of Shameless, Eddie was actually a decent guy—worked hard, tried to provide—but he got stuck with a wife like Sheila and a daughter like Karen... He ended up being driven to jump in the river. Truly tragic.
"Can normal people even survive in the Shameless world?"
Dexter mused, a few new ideas forming in his head.
---
Time flies, and finally, it was dark.
Having been out in the winter cold all day, Dexter was freezing. He went back to the hotel, took a hot shower to warm up, and then grabbed his ski mask and the bag holding the baseball bat before heading out.
During his walk that afternoon, he had scouted several spots, checking the surveillance cameras, and finally decided to hide the bat in the trash pile under the elevated train tracks near Karen's place.
It was a junk-filled spot with no cameras, perfect for an ambush on Frank.
Once the bat was safely hidden, and he was sure nobody had seen him, Dexter headed straight for The Alibi Room bar.
Walking into the bar, Dexter immediately spotted Frank, sitting at the bar, running his mouth, spewing his nonsensical garbage.
He had a deep dislike for that scumbag.
So, he didn't even look twice. He walked over and sat down on a stool far away from Frank, flagging down Kevin. "Gimme a beer."
"Coming right up," Kevin replied, quickly placing a beer in front of Dexter.
Dexter isn't much of a drinker, so he nursed the beer slowly, just killing time until Frank left.
He waited for hours.
Before he knew it, it was almost midnight.
Frank was finally drunk enough. He stood up and yelled across the bar to the other drunks, "Alright, that's enough for tonight. We'll pick this up tomorrow!"
Nobody replied.
Frank stumbled and swayed his way out the door.
Dexter deliberately waited two or three minutes before settling up. "How much is it?"
"Twenty-five bucks," Kevin said.
Dexter put a hundred-dollar bill on the bar. "Keep the change. Nice meeting you."
Kevin is a pretty cool guy in the show. Dexter liked him.
Kevin looked surprised. "Whoa, buddy, you're buying! Thanks a lot. What's your name?"
"Dexter," he said, already on his feet.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Kevin. Come back anytime," Kevin said, offering his hand with a smile.
Dexter shook his hand. "I will. I just moved into the neighborhood. I'll drop by when I can. Gotta run."
"You got it," Kevin was genuinely happy about that big tip.
Dexter didn't waste any more time and walked out of The Alibi Room.
It was late, almost deserted.
Frank, staggering his way home, was easy to spot.
Dexter kept his eyes on Frank and followed him from a distance.
After about twenty minutes, he saw they were getting close to where he'd hidden the bat. Dexter sped up, took a detour, got to his stash, confirmed he was alone, and pulled out the baseball bat.
Then, he quickly hid behind one of the concrete pillars, pulled the ski mask over his head, put his jacket on backward, and waited quietly.
One minute, two minutes.
Frank, humming a tune and feeling pretty good, was getting closer and closer.
Dexter took a deep breath, feeling a rush of excitement.
He'd been a good citizen for 28 years, and now, after transmigrating, he was doing this...
Thrilling!
A moment later, Frank walked past the pillar, blissfully unaware, still stumbling happily forward.
'It's time!'
Dexter thought, wasting no time. He sprinted up behind Frank and, before Frank could hear the footsteps and turn around, he swung the baseball bat and smashed it down hard on Frank's right leg!
With that one hit:
"AH!!" Frank immediately fell to the ground, screaming in pain.
At the same time:
[Merit +9.]
Dexter saw the notification and felt a surge of adrenaline.
Holy smokes! That much?!
What was he waiting for?
Dexter swung the bat again!
One hit, two hits, three hits!
[Merit +12, +15, +18.]
The Merit points poured in instantly.
Frank's screams grew louder, turning into curses. "Who the hell are you?! Why are you hitting me?! My leg, you son of a btch..."
Hearing that, Dexter didn't hesitate and hit him one more time.
Then, not daring to stick around, he quickly turned and ran away from under the elevated tracks.
[Merit +21.]
"Jackpot."
"That's enough for a few regular lucky draws."
As he made his escape, Dexter completely ignored Frank's wails and insults behind him, feeling excited and happy.
"The luck of the draw better be with me. I need to pull some skills."