One Way To Heaven

by J. M. Benjamin

  Shell instantly froze, despite the pain the kick had caused.

  “Pick her ass up,” the voice commanded another.

  The next thing Shell knew she was being roughly lifted up off the ground by a second person in the barn. By now, she had regained both her senses and vision. She could now see the person who had kicked her standing in front of her brandishing a gun. She realized she had not fallen off the ladder but rather snatched off. The gunman that stood before her looked familiar to Shell but she could not place from where.

  “Yo, go up and see what else they got stashed up there,” the gunman instructed his partner.

  “Got’chu.”

  Shell watched as the second man raced up the ladder in record breaking speed. He had also looked familiar to her but her mind was racing a million miles a minute and she could not collect her thoughts properly.

  “Toss me that fuckin’ cell phone.” The gunman pointed his gun towards Shell’s hip.

  “Slow,” he added.

  Shell did as she was told. She removed her phone from its’ clip and tossed it in front of her.

  Just as the gunman was about to retrieve the phone, he was distracted by the sound of his partner’s voice at the top of the ladder.

  “Whoo-hoo, we hit the fuckin’ jackpot dawg!” he cheered. He climbed back onto the ladder and made it back down just as quickly as he had up. “I don’t know how much she got in there, but it’s at least another 25 more keys up in a chest.”

  His discovery caused Shell to remember the additional bricks of coke they had stashed up there last week.

  The gunman’s eyes grew wide. This is what the fuck we been waiting for he thought to himself.

  “Why you didn’t bring ‘em down,” he asked his partner the obvious question.

  “I couldn’t find nothin’ to put ‘em in.”

  “I’ma go check the car, you watch her,” the gunman said.

  “You ain’t gotta do that,” his partner informed. “Give me this shit!” He yanked the duffle bags’ strap from over Shell’s head and around her shoulder, but fell short. Seeing that it had gotten caught under Shell’s arm, the robber moved in to free the duffle bag’s strap.

  “Agh!” the sound echoed through the barn surprising and alarming the other gunman of a situation. That was all the leverage Shell had needed. All in one motion, as the man moved in closer, Shell sprang into action, spitting her razor out just enough while clenching down on the back of it with her teeth, she was able to slit the robber’s throat from ear to ear. The gunman was oblivious to what had happened until he saw his partner tumble to the ground holding his neck. The few seconds it took for him to witness his partner go down was all Shell needed. By the time he looked back up, Shell was within a foot away from his face swinging her blade. Before he knew what had hit him, blood was dripping down into his left eye. The gunman managed to let off a wild shot out of reflex as he felt the blade make contact with his face for a second time. The pain from the cut caused the gunman to drop his weapon. He was now bleeding profusely. The rapid loss of blood had him light headed and sent him down to one knee. He couldn’t believe how the tables had turned for the worse. He braced himself for the next blow he was sure the woman would deliver to put him out of his misery. It never came. Instead, there was a dead silence in the air. The gunman managed to open his right eye and gain a clear enough vision to see. A psychotic smile appeared across his face at the sight of the woman lying stretched out on the ground. The gunman removed the shirt he was wearing and wiped the blood away from his eye. Then with all the strength he had, he reached for his gun and stood to his feet. He saw that the wild shot he had manage to get off found a resting place on the side of the woman’s head as he made his way over to his partner.

  “Peedie?” He shook his partner, who was still laying there with his hands clasp around his throat.

  “Peedie?” John-John repeated. He was almost to the point of tears. “Dawg, don’t die on me,” he pleaded. “We still got alota shit to do, you hear me. Don’t fuckin’ die on me.” He rested his head on his partner’s head. It was low, but loud enough for John-John to hear. Peedie had mumbled the letter “J”.

  “Don’t worry. I got you my nigga!” John-John told him.

  Hearing his partner’s voice was the second wind John-John needed to make it up out of their present situation. He rose up and headed towards the car. John-John drove his Impala into the barn and pulled up on the side of Peedie. He tossed the duffle bag in the back seat and then struggled to put Peedie on the passenger side. He found another bag in his trunk then made his way up the ladder to retrieve the drugs from the top of the barn.

  “Don’t worry Peedie, I’ma get you up outta here,” he assured his partner.

  John-John then threw his car in reverse and backed out of the barn, leaving the woman who had come close to taking him and his partner’s life in a pool of her own blood…

  Chapter Fourteen

  Detective Saleski floated down the New Jersey Turnpike south bound in the wee hours of the night in deep thought as WBLS played some of his favorite classic R & B tunes. The GPS had estimated his trip to be a little over a nine-hour drive from his Franklin home. After stopping at Dunkin Donuts, a large cup of regular Joe and three donuts later, he was entering the highway off the exit 9 ramp. Saleski preferred to travel late at night. He felt the time was the best when the roads were nearly empty. He hated traffic and was guilty of having road rage. To avoid the highway headaches he always traveled during this time. As he passed exit 7 A, Saleski couldn’t help but think about how long it had been since he had last taken a trip anywhere. Exit 7A was once an exit that had always put a smile on his face. It was the exit he had the most fun with both of his ex’s during his marriages. Ironically, they had both loved frequenting the Great Adventure’s amusement park. Saleski was sure he had been to the theme park over a hundred times during both marriages. The memory saddened him. He hadn’t been past the exit let alone the amusement park since he had been divorced from his second wife. Seeing the exit now caused Saleski to reminisce. Police work was what Saleski lived for; it was his life. He knew it was also what had cost him his two marriages.

  His first wife Elaine had been his high school sweetheart. The first few years of their marriage had been glorious ones. They were a happy couple. Although she could have gone to the school of her choice, Elaine opted to attend Rutgers University to stay close to Saleski. She was proud of him. He had made his childhood dreams come true. But as time started to pass and Saleski began working a lot of overtime, constantly running the streets, chasing after the bad guys, her feelings started to change. Elaine began to worry about him, and couldn’t sleep whenever he had to work overtime out of fear of losing him. They both wanted a child to complete their family, but Elaine wanted one under different living conditions. Saleski was working sixty to seventy hours a week. He was hardly ever home, which created conflict. The arguments got worse. Six years into their marriage and no baby later, Elaine asked for a divorce. Saleski loved her too much to hold her back, so he set her free. He felt she deserved a man that would constantly be by her side and love her how she wanted and needed to be.

  Saleski was still heartbroken though. He really threw himself into his work. He dated occasionally, when the need really arose. Then Caroline Saunders casually strolled into Saleski’s life. They instantly connected and began dating. They dated for two full years before Saleski got down on one knee and proposed. A year and a half later, she popped up pregnant and gave birth to Saleski’s only daughter Raven. Three years later things started going downhill. Caroline demanded that Saleski start spending more time at home with her and their daughter. Like his first wife, she too always worried about Saleski and couldn’t sleep until he came home and laid next to her. Saleski had made promises that he couldn’t keep and eventually Caroline couldn’t take anymore. After seven years, rather than divorce they separated. Throughout the years they had tried to get back together, knowing the love wa
s still there. Just as things started to go back to normal, something happened. Saleski got shot. It was too much for Caroline. Thereafter, Saleski was served with divorce papers. He never stopped loving her and spent as much time as he could with his daughter, until Caroline suddenly up and moved to Tennessee. The bright lights and the monstrous horn from the big rig behind him brought Saleski back to the present. He didn’t realize he was doing under the speed limit. Saleski wiped his face and shook off the emotions that had surfaced from reminiscing then reached for his coffee and took a swig.

  “I guess I’ll be married to you forever,” he said aloud in reference to his job before increasing the volume of the radio and putting the pedal to the metal…

  Chapter Fifteen

  Have you heard from her yet?” Sonya asked as she fought her way through the darkness of the back road.

  “No. Nothing. And her phone keeps going straight to voicemail.” Heaven hated having to answer. Her phone was on speaker as they all sat around at the table. They were all worried about Shell.

  “This is not like her, I know something’s wrong.” Sonya shook her head.

  “We don’t know that yet, but how far are you from the spot?”

  “I can’t see shit but I know I’m almost there. A few miles away, but come on, you know she should’ve been back by now.”

  “Yeah, but before we jump to conclusions let’s see if she’s been to where she was supposed to go first,” Heaven stated. “We won’t know what to think until we find that out.”

  “Okay. Fuck!” A startled Sonya yelled.

  “What’s wrong?” Heaven leaned in. Her heart nearly skipped a beat from her friend’s tone.

  Everybody in the room became alarmed by Sonya’s sudden outburst.

  “Nothing,” she assured them. “Some country mutha’ fucka just came out of nowhere with these bright ass high beams and almost blinded the shit out of me.”

  “Girl, don’t be scaring us like that,” Anita was the first to say.

  Mia was just about to follow up with a similar comment until her attention was drawn to her phone. The sound of the familiar personal text tone she had set for the texter caused her to digress. A small grin appeared across her face from the sound. Mia excused herself from the table and made her way over to the couch where her phone was located. She sat down, scooped it up and punched in her pass code.

  “Can u talk?” The message read.

  “Not now wassup tho?” Mia texted back.

  “Need 2 c u.”

  “U good?”

  “Yeah, but I gotta tell u somethin’…Can’t text it…Don’t wanna text it.”

  Instantly Mia became alarmed behind the text. Judging by the words and the texter she could only think the worse. She knew something wasn’t right.

  “What’s it about?” she texted back hoping she could draw the texter in enough to give her something to go off.

  “About ur peoples…That’s all I’m goin’ to say!”

  The text frustrated and angered Mia at the same time but she knew she had to keep her composure. As she texted, something made her look up. She noticed Anita was eyeing her from afar. She rolled her eyes and frowned then resumed what she was doing.

  “My peoples who?”

  “U know who.”

  It wasn’t much but it was enough. How ironic thought Mia.

  “Aight, meet u @ our spot.”

  “K.”

  Mia made her way back over to the table.

  “I gotta make a run,” Mia directed her words to Heaven.

  “What’s up?” Heaven wanted to know.

  “I have to go take care of something important right quick.”

  “At a time like this, what’s so important?” Anita questioned.

  Mia shot daggers at her and ignored the question.

  “Anita, stay in your lane.” Heaven checked her. “Mi, can’t it wait until we know what’s good with Shell?”

  “Really it can’t big sis. If it could it would. I promise you, I’ll be right back.”

  Heaven studied her. She sensed something wasn’t right but didn’t have the time to figure out what, and it was evident Mia wasn’t going to tell her. Her main focus at that moment was the whereabouts and safety of one of her missing crew members. She trusted Mia almost just as much as she had trusted Earth and accepted the fact that Mia felt she had to leave out.

  “Sonya how far are you now?” she spoke into her phone as she waved Mia off.

  Mia knew Heaven disapproved but there was no time to explain. She just gotta trust me on this one she thought to herself as she made a bee-line for the door. Anita watched suspiciously as Mia headed out. Mia heard Sonya say she was pulling up to the barn just before she had exited the house…

  Chapter Sixteen

  John-John whipped the charcoaled colored Chevy Impala wildly into the driveway of the darkened house that sat just outside of the city of Hartsville and pulled towards the back.

  He killed the lights then roughly shoved the car into park and shut off the engine. He wiped some of the blood that had oozed down his face and trickled into his eye from his left brow as he grabbed hold of the rearview mirror to update himself on the damage control. He knew the gash he had moments ago endured back at the barn needed stitches, but that was nothing compared to the staples he knew he would need and the permanent scar the cut he suffered from to the face would leave. He clenched his teeth in disgust on how something so simple had turned out so complicated and took a turn for the worse. Everything was going so smooth he thought. From going un-noticed as they followed the girl to her and her crew’s stash spot to getting the jump on her, down to carrying out their mission. They had been thorough with each move they had made John-John thought to himself over and over, but there was no way they could have ever foreseen or predicted the attack the gangster chick had launched on them he reasoned. John-John back tracked his steps mentally for the second time, wondering could he or Peedie had done something differently to prevent what had happened to them and had come up with the same answer. He was sure they had done what any other stick up men or robbers would have. They had relieved her of her gun and searched her for any other surprises so they thought. Never in a million years would John-John have thought to check her mouth. It was a valuable lesson learned for both he and Peedie. John-John peered over at Peedie. He shook his head and cursed. By now, the tee shirt he had wrapped tightly around his friend’s neck was soaked with blood. He noticed how Peedie sweated profusely. John-John wasn’t sure if his partner was going to make it or not but he didn’t want to think about the possibility. He shook the thought out of his mind. He was glad he had managed to kill the woman responsible for Peedie’s condition.

  “Just hold on partner.” He patted Peedie’s shoulder. “Corey will know what to do.”

  John-John hopped out of the Impala and snatched the duffle bags up from out of the backseat then made his way over to the passenger side. When he opened the car door, he noticed Peedie’s head had dropped down onto his chest.

  “Peedie?” John-John shook his partner.

  “Peedie?” he repeated.

  John-John grabbed hold of the sides of his head with both hands in a panic state. As tough as he was perceived to be, he was a nervous wreck. He leaned in closer towards Peedie and placed his finger up under his nose. It was light but he had felt the warm air brushed up against his index finger. With that, he carefully placed one hand up under Peedie and the other around his neck then scooped him up.

  “Don’t worry bruh, I got you. You ain’t goin’ out like this,” John-John assured his friend.

  John-John rapidly made his way towards the entrance on the side of the house.

  “What the fuck happened?” An angry voice met him at the side door.

  “Dawg, shit got fucked up. One of them bitches got the drop on us,” an out of breath John-John managed to reply.

  “Shit!” Corey cursed as he held the screen door open for his two friends.

  “Her
e take these.”

  Corey relieved John-John of the bags as he made his way inside the house.

  He peered out of the door down the driveway and did a quick check out of force of habit. Luckily, his closest neighbor was a half of a mile down the road, one of the things he loved about living in the country. Corey closed the door behind him. He couldn’t help but shake his head. He braced himself for what he could only imagine he was about to hear as he made his way into his living room. He had a funny feeling that whatever happened was only the beginning…

  Chapter Seventeen

  “Are you sure?” Mia asked for the second time.

  “I’m positive,” the girl replied. “I know that voice anywhere. He thought I was asleep when he answered the phone. I could hear them goin’ off on him. Like I said, I could only hear bits and pieces, but I told you all I knew.”

  “And why you felt the need to tell me now if you been knew?” Mia questioned.

  “Because that’s some grimy shit and I realized I was feelin’ you more than I knew and I didn’t wanna see anything happen to you. I know how he get down. E’erybody do. I just wanted to make sure you were safe.”

  “Hmm. And these are the addresses where he be?”

  “Yes, he’s either at the one in Florence or his house in Timmonsville. He mostly in T-Ville though.”

  Mia just stood there nodding as she took it all in.

  The girl leaned into Mia and wrapped her arms around her waist. The four inches Mia had over the girl gave her head perfect resting access on Mia’s chest.

  “Please be careful,” she mumbled.

  “Who else did you tell this to?” Mia asked not bothering to respond to the girl’s statement.

  “Only you,” the girl replied squeezing Mia even tighter. She was sure she had earned brownie points for the information and killed two birds with one stone at the same time.

  Mia began caressing the back of the girl’s hair.

  “That’s good, you did good,” Mia told her.