A Girl From Flint

by Treasure Hernandez

  “Why did you come to Flint?”

  Joe sat back in his chair. “A business venture.”

  Tasha shook her head and sipped on the wine. She was nervous. She hadn’t been around Joe in months, and it felt different. “So, you plan on staying here?”

  “Nah. When the money runs out, I’m gone.”

  Tasha reached across the table and grabbed Joe’s hands. “I missed you.”

  Joe was quiet for a moment. “I missed you too. I thought about you a lot after you left.”

  Tasha put her head down and instantly felt a streak of guilt. “I thought about you too. It’s like I’ve been counting the days until I can come home.”

  Joe looked her in the eye. “What’s stopping you?”

  Tasha froze for a moment, not knowing how to answer his question. In her mind, she was saying, I have to help set you up. “Business.”

  Joe laughed. “Business, huh?”

  Tasha smiled. “What? You the only person who got stuff to handle?”

  Joe shook his head and didn’t reply.

  After Tasha stopped thinking about setting Joe up, she relaxed, and they had a good time. They talked and caught up on old times. Everything he did reminded her of why she was so infatuated with him. The way he walked, talked, dressed . . . just everything about him had her hooked. Joe told her about what was happening back home, and she listened closely. She missed the sound of his voice.

  They sat in the club for a couple hours, but when it got too crowded. they decided to leave. Joe took Tasha back to his hotel. She walked into the room and sat down on the bed. She smiled to herself as she watched Joe walk over to her. She loved his brown complexion and his strong jawbone.

  Out of the blue, Tasha asked, “When I come back home, will you still be waiting for me?”

  Joe sat down next to her. “I ain’t gon’ lie to you. I have been with other women since you left. It doesn’t mean shit though. I don’t know . . . it’s something about you. Them other bitches don’t mean shit to me. They can’t compare to you.”

  Tasha’s heart dropped when Joe said that he had been with other women, even though she didn’t really expect him to wait.

  Joe saw the look of disappointment spread across her face. “When you get back, it’s me and you.”

  Tasha smiled and kissed him on his cheek. “I love you, Joe.”

  Joe lightly wiped away the tear that slid down Tasha’s face. He lay down on his back. Tasha lay beside him and put her head against his chest. She could hear his heart beating, and the rhythmic thud soothed her as she snuggled close to his body. He put his arm around her body and held her.

  “We should go back home,” Tasha whispered.

  “I got business here. I can’t just up and leave right now, ma.” He kissed the top of her head, and Tasha closed her eyes and sighed deeply.

  They lay together in silence, enjoying the time they were spending together. Hours passed, and they didn’t speak. All they did was hold each other. Tasha held onto Joe as if her life depended on it. It felt good to be near him. It was the first time she felt safe since leaving Flint.

  “I love you,” she said.

  When Joe didn’t respond, Tasha sat up and looked at him. He was knocked out and looked too peaceful to wake. She kissed him softly on the lips, and then got up and took a cab back to Tammy’s house.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The sound of the alarm beeped loudly, and Joe hit the snooze button. He looked over at the clock. It said 10 a.m. He stood up slowly and wiped the sleep out of his eyes. He sat back down as if in a daze. He thought about going back to sleep, but the vibrations of his phone made him think otherwise. He picked it up off the nightstand and looked at the number. He shook his head and said in a groggy voice, “Another day, another dollar.”

  Joe walked into the hotel’s bathroom wearing nothing but his Calvin Klein boxers. He looked in the mirror and splashed warm water on his face. He put his hands on the side of the sink and leaned forward, holding his head down. Today is my last day on the grind. I can’t do this shit no more. I’m taking my money and getting out of the game. I made a quarter-mil before I turned twenty-five. Fuck that! I’ve seen greed send niggas straight to the pen. I’m out! As he brushed his teeth, he thought about the exchange he had to make later that day. He was going to make this the last transaction and return to New York.

  Joe got fully dressed and put on his leather coat. He reached in the pocket and pulled out a Tiffany’s jewelry box. He opened it up, and the 18-karat diamond ring glistened in the sunlight streaming through the window. I’m gonna ask Tasha tonight. He had never met a woman as beautiful and intelligent as Tasha. He loved her, and wasn’t going to let her slip out of his grasp.

  “I overheard him talking to someone on the phone last night. He is supposed to make a drop-off tonight at . . .” Tasha felt a tear stream down her cheek, and her heart began to pound harder and harder. I can’t do this. I should just warn Joe, or make him leave home with me. We could leave tonight. Tasha was looking for an escape, a way to leave the madness behind and get away with Joe. She took the phone away from her ear, her lips quivering uncontrollably as she realized she was about to snitch on Joe, the only man she ever loved.

  Troy yelled through the phone, “Hello? Hello?”

  Tasha put the phone back to her ear. “I’m here.”

  “Where, Tasha? Finish telling me where.”

  She took a deep breath. “Tonight at eleven o’clock, he is supposed to . . .” She stopped. I can’t!

  Troy quickly grew frustrated, “Tell me! Tonight at eleven . . . where, Tasha? Say it!”

  Tasha couldn’t speak. The only thing she could think about was how kind and gentle Joe was to her, how much he loved her, and how well he always treated her. It tore her up inside that she was being forced to do this.

  “He is supposed to be dropping off a couple kilos to a dude named Benny at the old steel factory down by the river.”

  A big smile spread across Troy’s face. “That’s a good girl!”

  Tasha hung up the phone and slumped onto the floor crying. She slammed her hands against her face, regretting that she’d let the words out of her mouth. She whispered, “I’m sorry. Baby, I’m so sorry!”

  Honey stood in Tasha’s doorway watching her cry to herself. She had overheard her whole conversation. “Fuck that nigga, Tasha!”

  Tasha wiped her eyes and looked back at Honey with a confused expression.

  “That nigga would not go to jail for you, Tasha. You need to get your shit together.”

  Tasha got up off the floor and softly said, “Bitch, get out of my room!”

  Honey put her hands on her hips. “Bitch, this is my auntie’s house. I ain’t got to go nowhere.”

  Tasha rolled her eyes and stormed out of the room, bumping past Honey. “I don’t have time for this shit.” I’m getting the fuck out of here. After this shit is over, I’m on the first flight back to New York. She picked up her cell phone and dialed Amra’s number.

  Amra sat in the doctor’s office when her phone rang. The caller ID displayed Tasha’s name. “Hello?”

  “Amra, we’re leaving. This ain’t for us. I’m trying to be out of town by tomorrow night.”

  “I know. I been thinking the same thing. I’m ready to go back home. I need to be home with my momma right now.”

  “I’m going to get the tickets now.”

  Amra saw the nurse motion for her. “Tasha, I love you. You are my sister, and I love you more than anything. Always remember that.”

  Tasha had to laugh. “Damn, girl! You act like we ain’t gon’ see each other no more. Quit tripping. Anyway, we are leaving ASAP, so when you get back to Tammy’s, pack your stuff.”

  “I love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  Tasha stood outside Tammy’s house and called a cab. She wanted to get to the airport and buy their tickets. Honey and Tasha didn’t see eye to eye on the Troy situation, and Tasha was getting real tired of
Honey and her attitudes. She sat on the curb waiting for the taxi to come. Feeling so alone and so afraid, she couldn’t help but cry. She didn’t know what was going to happen to Joe.

  The next thing she knew, a car pulled up in front of her. “Get in,” she heard someone say.

  Tasha popped her head up and was startled to see Joe. She quickly wiped her face and got into his car.

  He kissed her softly on the lips. “Are you alright?”

  Tasha shook her head. “No, and I don’t want to talk about it.”

  Even though Joe wanted to know what was bothering her, he just held her hand with his right hand and pulled off, his left hand on the steering wheel. “Tonight I have something planned for us.”

  Tasha tried one last time to convince him to leave. “Let’s just leave, Joe, me and you. Let’s go back home right now.”

  Joe rubbed his smooth face. “I feel you. I’m ready to leave too, but not tonight. I have to handle one last thing. Tomorrow we can be on the first flight out of here.”

  Tasha realized she couldn’t stop Joe from making that transaction she had tipped Troy off about. Joe reached over and held her hand while he drove, and his touch made tears form in her eyes. She closed her eyes, trying to make them go away. I’m sorry, baby! I’m so sorry!

  Joe looked over at her. “I love you, Tasha.”

  His words only broke her heart even more. She opened her eyes and looked him dead in his. “I love you too.” Tasha held on tight to his hand as she watched the street signs pass her by.

  Joe pulled up to a hotel and parked the car. Tasha followed him to his room and reluctantly walked inside. She looked at the clock that sat beside the bed and knew it wouldn’t be long before Troy put him in handcuffs.

  “Baby, let’s go. Let’s go far away from here, just me and you.”

  “Tasha, that sounds good, but I have to handle this one thing. I told you, we’re on the first flight out tomorrow.” Joe walked over to the closet and grabbed a briefcase. “Now, I want you to wait here for me, and when I get back, we celebrate.” Joe kissed her softly on the cheek before walking out the door.

  Tasha wanted to say something so badly. Everything inside of her wanted to stop him from walking out that door. Her heart told her to stop him, but her mind was thinking of her freedom and the freedom of all her friends. She dropped her chin to her chest and felt her heart beat fast. It felt like a baboon was on the inside of her, fighting to get out.

  Just as Joe was about to close the door, she called out to him, “Joe!” Don’t go!” The words echoed in her head, but, “I love you!” slipped out of her mouth.

  Joe smirked. “Tasha, I love you too. After this, it’s over. Our life together will begin soon.”

  His words made what she was going through all the more difficult to bear. As soon as he closed the door, she dropped to her knees and cried uncontrollably, realizing there was nothing left to do. She balled up her fists and beat the floor, trying to take her anger out on something. Her heart was filled with guilt; she loved Joe, and he loved her. She yearned to be with him, to take back everything she’d done wrong in her life and be with him. She stared around the room hopelessly. She lay down on the floor and balled up into a fetal position.

  She felt her cell phone vibrate on her hip, and quickly reached for it. She looked at the caller ID and saw Troy’s name flashing across the screen. The sight of his name enraged her, and she began to tear up the room. She threw the lamp against the wall, breaking it into pieces. “Aghhhhh!” she screamed. “I hate you!” She tipped the TV off the stand onto the floor.

  Panting, she stood in the middle of the hotel room, trying to catch her breath. Tears flowed down her face as she realized that she had made the biggest mistake of her life. “Joe!” she screamed at the top of her lungs. Tasha raced out the room at full speed, heading toward the spot she had tipped Troy off about.

  Joe drove his car ten blocks up from the hotel he had just left. It was dark outside, and only the moonlight illuminated the abandoned warehouse. He parked his Mercedes in the back, turned off his cell phone, grabbed the briefcase, and cocked his gun before putting it in his waistline. One more time . . . one more time, and I’m finished. I can’t wait to get back to Tasha and ask her to be my wife.

  Joe exited his car and slowly walked to the back entrance. He opened the door and noticed that he was the first to arrive. He looked at his watch and cursed softly to himself. “Damn! Where he at?”

  Tasha was running full speed, sprinting down the street. She only had a few minutes to reach her destination. She dialed Joe’s number as she ran, but got no answer. I have to stop him from making the drop-off.

  The ten blocks from the hotel to the warehouse seemed more like a million. Tasha felt her legs tightening with each stride, and a cramp forming in her stomach. She thought she would pass out, but she didn’t stop. Her lungs were on fire, and as fast as she tried to run, it seemed to be taking her forever.

  Troy was waiting around the block from the warehouse in a gray unmarked van with surveillance monitors and tape recorders. He had set up hidden cameras and bugs to view and hear all that was happening inside the warehouse, and the only thing he had to do was wait. He also had a ground team waiting to rush in and arrest Joe.

  He had a big smile on his face, knowing he had a conviction sitting in the palm of his hand. He grabbed his walkie-talkie and said to his team, “Don’t make any moves until the transaction is made. We need to catch him red-handed.”

  Mimi sat in her living room, high as a kite and without a care in the world. She was smoking a fat blunt and rolling another one that she was gonna fire up as soon as she finished the one she was on. She wondered where everybody else was. Her love for weed had grown, but she was low on cash, and her supply would be running out soon. She picked up her cell phone and called Manolo.

  “Hello?”

  Mimi hadn’t spoken to him in months. “Hey, Manolo,” she said sweetly.

  Manolo recognized her voice but didn’t reply.

  “Manolo, you got a job for me? I need some cash.”

  Manolo laughed quietly. “Yeah, baby, I got a job for you. I’m on some new shit now though. I got this escort service I’m starting. You wit’ it?”

  Mimi frowned. “Escort? You pimping now?”

  “I’m making money. I’m expanding and taking the Manolo Mamis to another level. You called me. If you ain’t with it—”

  Desperate for money and attention, Mimi quickly interjected, “Nah, Nolo. You know I’m with it.”

  Mimi had no idea what she was getting herself into. She had just officially become Manolo’s first ho in what would be a very profitable prostitution ring.

  Honey threw the clothes into her bag. “Stupid-ass bitch!” she mumbled to herself, referring to Tasha. “I’m not going down for this shit.” She was already anticipating that Tasha wouldn’t go through with the plan. She grabbed the money that she kept under her bed and packed that into the bag too. She hadn’t heard from Tasha all day, and didn’t know if she had gone through with it or not. She wasn’t waiting around to find out though.

  Honey stuffed the rest of her clothes into the black gym bag and sat down on her bed. I am not taking the fall for Keys’ murder. Fuck that! I’m gonna get out of this, no matter what. I don’t give a damn about nobody but me. She took the money from the shoebox that she and Tasha had stored their savings in, close to fifty thousand which was supposed to be for a salon, and stuffed it in her Louis Vuitton purse, not caring that half of it belonged to Tasha.

  Tasha’s desperation was growing as she ran down the brightly-lit streets of Flint. She was running so fast that the soles of her feet hurt as they hit the concrete, and her heart felt like it was going to burst. She saw the warehouse a block ahead. All she had to do was make it there.

  When she reached the fence that surrounded the building, she looked around cautiously, praying that Troy Smith had not beaten her there. She didn’t see him, or anybody else for that matter, so
she crawled through the hole in the fence. She saw Joe’s car near the back of the building and ran past it, trying to find an entrance to the building.

  Tasha found the front door, opened it, and slowly walked inside the dimly-lit warehouse. She wanted to turn back around, but it was too late now. She had come too far. I have to find him. She yelled, “Joe!” as she made her way to the back of the warehouse. She walked around the corner and saw the silhouette of two people. “Joe! Joe! No, it’s a setup!”

  Joe said almost in a whisper, “Tasha?”

  The man that Joe was doing business with put his hand on his gun and frowned. “What the fuck is going on?” He stepped back slowly.

  Joe put his hands up. “Hold up, hold up.” He turned to Tasha and asked, “What the hell are you doing?”

  Tasha ran over to him, still out of breath from her ten-block run. “It’s a setup. The police are on their way.”

  Joe looked at Tasha in confusion, and in the midst of the chaos, the man announced, “I’m out of here.”

  Tasha began to cry hysterically. “I’m sorry, baby. I’m so sorry. I never wanted you to go to jail.”

  “What do you mean, you don’t want me to go to jail? What are you talking about?” Joe grabbed her by the shoulders, trying to get her to stop crying and tell him what was going on.

  Tasha looked up at Joe and said, “I told him. I told the detective about the drop-off. I-I didn’t want to. Baby, he made me. He was blackmailing me!”

  Joe wasn’t sure he had heard her correctly. “What?”

  Before she could respond, he heard the police sirens. He dropped his bag and stared Tasha in the eyes in total disappointment. He couldn’t believe what he’d just heard. His eyes watered, but he didn’t let one tear fall. “Why? Why the fuck would you do this? I love you. It was me and you against the world.”