When Duke returned from the airport with my friends he had put on a happy generous face and treated everyone to a night of partying but I could tell that it was only on the surface and that I would still have to deal with his wrath. I felt confident he would not do it in front of my friends as he was also very concerned about what people thought of him so he would not play the asshole in front of anyone else. The next day Duke said he was returning to Amsterdam to take care of the business but would be back in a week with the other partner Eric. This was great news as Coach, Ricky and I took the place over and had a non-stop party for the whole week. Lena tried to act like she was in charge but we would just laugh at her when she would bark orders about what to do. She was a frustrated, uptight wreck and I loved every minute of it. Although I knew it would probably come back to haunt me once Duke returned. I would worry about that when the time came but for now I was having a blast and felt like a king. Katja’s friend from Madrid had put us in touch with a weed grower who lived out in the countryside and would deliver weed to the villa. I had an initial troubling thought about it but Duke re-assured me that it was only until we got our grow system up and running. We stocked up with about a pound of various different strains and they were all very good. The price and quality were better than most coffee-shops in Amsterdam and I had control of it all. Before we had left Amsterdam, Duke and I had made an agreement about what my compensation would be for the job. We agreed that I would get 500 euros and 100 grams of weed a month for managing the place, growing the weed then selling it to the guests and generally making sure they have a good time. I wasn’t blown away by the amount of pay I would get but since it was a new start-up I didn’t try to negotiate more and decided it was fair. Lena was in charge of the website and getting the guests to the place and after 2 weeks we had not had even one reservation, only a few inquiries and a bunch of comments about what a great idea it was. Part of the problem was her inability to market the place properly but I had a growing suspicion that the financial crisis that was all over the news was going to be a big problem for our new venture.
Duke and Eric returned on the final day of Coach and Ricky’s stay and I was pleasantly surprised when Duke told us he was taking everyone out for dinner. I was relieved to see that the week back in Amsterdam had mellowed him out and hopefully I would not hear anymore about not helping him clean with Lena. We had a great final evening and Duke shocked Coach and Ricky by giving back the money they had payed and telling them that their stay had been for free. The night finished with Coach and Ricky buying drinks for all in a cave that had been turned into a dance club. In the morning we said our good-byes and Duke took the boys to the airport for their journey back to the Dam. When he returned his whole demeanor had changed and he was short and stern when he told me that Lena, Eric and him needed to talk to me. I had been wrong in thinking that Duke had let my perceived insubordination go and was now going to suffer for it. They sat me down and told me that I would not be managing the place as Lena would be doing that from Amsterdam. I would additionally not be growing the weed as we would get our supply from the guy who Katja had introduced. To add insult to injury, Lena had drawn up a comprehensive list of my duties at the place and every one of them was for cleaning. I felt anger welling within me but also felt ambushed, I was so mad that I couldn’t even speak. I wanted to blow up and tell them what I thought of their betrayal but with 3 on 1 I felt it better to hold my tongue and accept it. They would all be leaving soon and would have little say from Amsterdam so I said okay. I wondered how much it had to do with me refusing to clean the day Lena arrived and how much the now very serious financial crisis had to do with my adjusted duties. Either way I was once again a cleaner, the very reason I left Amsterdam in the first place and now I was in a place with no friends and a limited ability to communicate with the people.
The website had been up for a few weeks and while we had not gotten any reservations we did have a fair amount of interest from all over the world. There were also a couple of local dudes that had been in touch. One was a young English kid who had a seed distribution business going and was doing very well with it. His name was Adam and he had become a regular visitor to the villa even staying over night on many occasions. I found I could tolerate him but felt he was a bit of a parasite. The other guy was from Ireland and was from a very wealthy family. He lived in a 20 million dollar mansion up the coast in Marbella. His name was Stu and he was a very cool cat who would visit regularly to play some pool and smoke up. I liked Stu and thought we were destined to become good friends. Eric left back to Amsterdam and I was now stuck with Duke and Lena for another couple of weeks, I was beginning to think that they were going to stay for good as it was now into November. They spent their time equally split between fighting, fucking, and treating me like their personal butler. My animosity towards them was growing with each day and the tension between us was very uneasy. The straw that broke the camels back came a few days before they were to leave back to the Dam when Duke once again tells me that we need to talk. he tells me that since my attitude has been shitty I would not be getting 100 grams of bud per month but instead only 25. I snapped telling him that I would not accept that and I would continue to take 100 as we agreed. He tried to fudge on our original agreement saying that it was not agreed on by all parties when we discussed it in Amsterdam and therefore it was now changed to this. He also went on to say that if I didn’t like it then I could quit and go back to Amsterdam. Since I had given up my place to live in Amsterdam and continuing a job with these people there was probably a no go, going back was not an option. I told him that I was not going back and I was not leaving and if he wanted me out then he would have to call the police and have me taken out that way. It was a big risk on my part but I felt confident that with over a pound of weed in the place along with a scale, baggies, and a variety of smoking equipment around, that he would not choose that option. I was right and he shrugged his shoulders and walked off, later I could hear him and Lena arguing about it. She was screaming about how she would not be threatened and black-mailed by me and he was telling her that he saw no other option and that calling the police was out of the question. Eventually they stopped arguing and Duke returned with a look of resignation in his eyes and told me that I could have what we originally agreed upon. It felt like a hollow victory as it had put an end to what I had once thought of as a great friendship with Duke, but since he had gotten together with that horrible bitch, things had been on the decline. I just wished I had noticed it back in the Dam, looking back it all seemed so clear and I found myself regretting leaving the best city I had ever known.
A Continuing Story About Life On The Run