Soft: Cocaine Love Stories

by Styles, T.

  Upstairs, Lisa lay across Styles’ chest as the two watched an episode of The Wire. “You sure we can trust them?” she asked out the blue.

  “We have to,” Styles replied. “They the only ones who can help us pull this off.”

  “Abel and Monica seem cool,” Lisa said, “but I don’t trust Kane. It’s just something about him.”

  “Don’t worry about him. This plan is so good that not even he can ruin it,” Styles said with confidence. “There is no way this plan can go wrong. Simply no way!”

  Time to Get Paid

  Abel heard a noise and his eyes quickly shot open. He looked over at Monica and saw that she was still asleep. Abel flicked his arm and looked down at his watch. It was 6:20 A.M. Seconds later, he saw Kane walk through the basement door.

  “Where the fuck you been?”

  “Calm down,” Kane said nonchalantly. “I was just out having a few drinks.”

  “For two days?” Abel said. “For a second I thought you was going to miss the job.”

  “And miss out on my big payday?” Kane said, looking over at Abel like he was crazy. “You must be smoking.”

  Seconds later, Styles appeared at the top of the basement steps, wearing all black. “Glad you finally decided to come back and join us,” he said as he descended the stairs. “You ready to go?” he asked as he and Kane stood face to face.

  “I’m ready,” Kane replied.

  “Here, put these on over your regular clothes,” Styles said, handing each person a blue mechanic jump suit.

  Seconds later, Lisa joined the rest of the crew in the basement, wearing her police uniform. “Everybody set and ready to go?”

  “Yeah, we ready,” Abel answered quickly.

  “Here,” Styles said, laying a bunch of guns out on the table. “Pick whichever one y’all want,” he said as he grabbed the M16. Kane followed his lead and also grabbed an M16.

  “Damn, I always wanted to shoot one of these joints,” he said, admiring the assault rifle.

  “Well, keep hoping,” Styles said quickly. “With a plan like this, won’t no gunfire be necessary.”

  Abel grabbed two 9s off the table and handed one to Monica.

  “What’s this for?” she asked. “I don’t need that. All I’m doing is driving.”

  “Just take it anyway. I’ll feel more comfortable knowing you have it,” Abel told her.

  “Okay, baby,” Monica said, taking the gun from Abel’s hand and sticking it down in the pocket of her jump suit. All Monica could think about were the sunny beaches down in Hawaii. She kept telling herself over and over again that everything was going to be all right.

  “This is what we will be wearing on the job,” Styles said, removing four evil-looking clown masks from a bag. “Try ’em on,” he said and then watched the trio try on their masks.

  “Damn, it’s hard to breathe with this shit on,” Monica complained.

  “Don’t worry about it.” Styles smiled. “You won’t have to wear it for long. Five minutes and you’ll never have to see me or that mask ever again.”

  “Amen to that,” Kane said loudly.

  “Here’s where we going after the job,” Styles said, handing everyone a small piece of paper with an address scribbled on it. “That’s the warehouse where we going. It’s three cars already gassed up and ready to go there.” Styles paused. “We going to go there, split up the money, then we can each go our separate ways,” Styles said, shaking everyone’s hands.

  “I love you, daddy,” Lisa said as she kissed Styles on the lips and walked out the front door.

  “In two hours, all of our lives will be changed for the better,” Styles said with a smile. “Everything is going to go smoothly. But,” he said, looking at Kane, “if one of them guards try to be a hero, you know what to do.”

  Twenty minutes later, Styles walked out to the stolen van that sat parked in his driveway. “I hope y’all ready,” he said as he hopped in the back seat along with Kane. Abel took the passenger seat, and Monica got behind the wheel.

  “Y’all ready?” Monica asked as butterflies began to form in her stomach.

  “Let’s do it,” Styles said with confidence.

  With that being said, Monica quickly backed out of the driveway and headed toward the bank.

  What the fuck did I just sign up for? Monica thought as she cruised down the highway. The closer she got to the bank, the more nervous she became, and the more she wanted to back out of the deal.

  “You a’ight?” Styles asked, noticing the nervous look on Monica’s face from the rearview mirror.

  “I’m fine,” Monica replied, winking at Styles through the rearview mirror.

  “Everything is going to be fine,” Styles assured her. He knew she was nervous, and she had a good reason to be. If they got caught, she would definitely spend the rest of her life in prison, so Styles totally understood her mind frame.

  Abel sat up front in the passenger seat, sweating bullets. He, too, was a little nervous, but he knew it was too late to turn back now.

  Fifteen minutes later, Monica pulled up a block away from the bank. “What you want me to do?”

  Styles looked down at his watch that read 8:09 A.M.. “Just chill right here until I tell you to move this motherfucker,” said Styles, his voice all business. He quickly slid his clown mask down on his face. “It’s almost showtime,” he said as he pulled out his M16 and made sure everything was locked and loaded.

  Abel pulled out his 9 mm and said a quick prayer before sliding his clown mask down over his face.

  “What we waiting for?” Kane said, tossing his mask over his face, clutching his M16.

  Styles didn’t reply. He just looked at his watch that read 8:11 A.M. He looked out the window and saw Lisa’s squad car parked over in the cut at the beginning of the block. He gave her a head nod, and she quickly nodded back.

  Two minutes later, Styles looked down at his watch again. “Time to go get paid,” Styles announced as he tapped on the back of Monica’s seat.

  Monica slid her mask over her face and stepped on the gas. There was a screech of brakes as the van jerked to a halt in front of the bank. The side door on the van slid open, and Styles and Kane quickly jumped out and entered the bank. Abel gave Monica one last look as he hopped out of the van and joined Styles and his brother inside the bank.

  Styles walked straight up to the guard, who was getting ready to reach for his weapon. “Don’t even think about it!” Styles yelled, getting the attention of everyone in the bank. The guard slowly placed his weapon on the floor and lay face down.

  “Back the fuck away from the counters!” Kane yelled, jumping over the counter and forcing everyone on the floor. “Move and I’ll blow your fucking head off!” he yelled as he violently shoved a white man with Coke bottle glasses down to the floor.

  Once Abel got inside, he tied the front door with a thin rope. When he finished that, he walked over to where Styles had his M16 trained on the guard.

  “Tie this motherfucker up!” he ordered as he ran and jumped up on top of the counter. “Everybody listen up!” Styles yelled, pacing back and forth on the counter. “Everybody follow directions, and nobody will get hurt. We’re not taking your money, we’re taking the bank’s money!” he told them.

  “You, get up!” Styles said, aiming his gun at the bank manager.

  “This the manager?” Kane asked, roughly grabbing the man by the back of his neck and forcing him over to the vault. “You got fifteen seconds to open this motherfucker up!”

  As Styles walked back and forth on top of the counter, he secretly nodded at the people he had working on the inside. He was a man of his word, and he planned on giving them their proper cut for their participation.

  When the bank manager finally got the vault open, Kane violently shoved him down to the floor and then rushed inside the vault.

  Once Kane stepped inside, he couldn’t believe his eyes. He had never seen so much money in his life. Kane removed the three big duffle
bags from around his neck and quickly began to fill them all up.

  Styles looked down at his watch and yelled out, “Two minutes!” as he continued to pace back and forth. Styles looked over at Abel and gave him a head nod, informing him he was doing good.

  Monica sat outside in the getaway van with a nervous look on her face under her mask. This was the longest five minutes of her life. She kept looking around for any signs of police. She looked out her side mirror and saw Lisa sitting parked a block away. “Hurry the fuck up,” she thought out loud.

  Kane piled as much money in each bag as he possibly could. Once all the bags were full, he began stuffing money down his drawers and in his pockets. “Fuck that. I ain’t gon’ never be broke again,” Kane said to himself as he heard Styles yell, “Forty seconds!”

  Kane stuffed a few more stacks of money down in his drawers as he stood up and dragged all three of the bags out of the vault.

  Styles smiled under his mask once he saw Kane come out of the vault with the three big duffle bags. “Come on. Let’s go!” he said as he jumped down off the counter and slid a duffle bag across the floor over to Abel.

  Kane picked up one bag and tossed the strap to the duffle bag around his neck, and Styles did the same thing.

  “Didn’t I tell you this shit was going to be a piece of cake?” Styles said as he and Kane walked backward to the front door. “Everybody stay calm!” Styles said as they got closer to the front door.

  Abel quickly jogged over to the front door and untied the rope that held the doors shut. “Come on!” he said in a high-pitched voice.

  As soon as Kane reached the front door, he quickly raised his M16 to the back of Styles’ head and squeezed the trigger, blowing his head clean off.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” Abel screamed once he saw Styles’ lifeless body hit the floor.

  “More money for us,” Kane huffed as he struggled to carry two duffle bags and his M16.

  When the bank manager heard the gunshots go off, he quickly crawled over toward the counter and hit the silent alarm button.

  “Come on, man, we gotta go!” Abel hurried him.

  Lisa sat parked in her squad car when she heard the shots go off. “What the fuck?” she said out loud. She just prayed that nothing had gone wrong and those shot were just warning shots.

  Seconds later, Lisa heard on her police radio that the silent alarm had just been pulled. Immediately, Lisa knew something wasn’t right. She stepped on the gas as she turned on her siren and called for backup.

  “Yes, I’m downtown on Fourteenth Street. We have a bank robbery in progress. Backup requested,” Lisa said into her police radio.

  Seconds later, she saw only two men exit the bank. Styles was the taller man out of the three. When she didn’t see him walk out of the bank, she immediately knew that Kane and Abel had set up her man.

  Lisa quickly sprang out of her car and sent shots in the direction of the two men.

  “Come on. We gotta go!” Abel said as he hurried out of the bank. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Lisa standing with her gun trained on him. Seconds later, he heard a series of loud shots, followed by two hard blows that hit his chest. The next thing he knew, he was on the ground, looking up at the sky.

  Kane looked down and saw his little brother laid out on the floor, and he just snapped. He dropped the two bags, aimed his M16 at Lisa, and squeezed the trigger, waking up the morning streets with rapid gunfire. Kane held on to the trigger as he continued firing shots.

  He walked over toward the squad, watching Lisa’s body jerk and dangle like she was a puppet on a string, until he finally ran out of bullets. Kane quickly reloaded his weapon as he saw two more cop cars pulling up. Kane didn’t waste any time as he opened fire on the two cop cars.

  When Monica saw Abel hit the ground, she quickly hopped out of the van, ran to him, and kneeled down by his side. “Oh my God, baby, are you okay?” she cried as she snatched off his mask so he could breathe better.

  “I’m okay, baby. Grab that bag,” Abel whispered, pointing to the bag of money.

  “Fuck that money!” Monica yelled as she struggled to get Abel on his feet and help him inside the back of the van.

  Once Kane was sure that both cops were dead, he quickly reloaded his M16 and ran back to the front of the bank. He grabbed the two duffle bags and tossed them in the back of the van. He then quickly ran over and grabbed Abel’s duffle as well. Kane tossed the last bag in the van and then quickly hopped behind the wheel and sped off.

  Kane weaved in and out of traffic at a fast speed. He didn’t want to admit it, but he knew he had fucked up big time. But it was too late to turn back. Kane zoomed down the street, taking all the back roads, trying not to get caught.

  “Please drive this motherfucker!” Monica yelled from the back seat as she held Abel’s head in her lap.

  “Is it bad?” Abel asked, looking up into her eyes.

  Monica looked out the window as she replied. “It’s not that bad. You going to be fine,” she lied.

  Abel’s whole blue mechanic jump suit was now red from the amount of blood he spilled. “Please drive faster. We have to get him to the hospital,” Monica yelled as she saw Abel’s eyes start to roll in the back of his head.

  “A hospital?” Kane echoed as he snatched his clown mask off of his face as he zipped through highway lanes like a NASCAR driver. “We can’t take him to a hospital,” he told Monica while looking at her through the rearview mirror like she was crazy.

  “If we don’t get him to a hospital, he’s going to die!” Monica yelled. “He’s your brother, for God’s sake!”

  Monica knew if she wanted to get Abel to the hospital, she was going to have to make a move. She quickly reached down in her mechanic jump suit and removed her 9 mm. “Take me to the hospital right motherfucking now!” she demanded as she pressed the barrel to the side of Kane’s head. She had heard stories of how grimy and low-down Kane was, but right now she was witnessing it firsthand.

  “Bitch, you gon’ pull a gun out on me?” Kane growled as he quickly stomped on the brakes, causing Monica to come crashing to the front of the vehicle. Immediately, Kane grabbed the gun, trying to pry it from Monica’s hand.

  As the two fought for the gun, it accidentally discharged. POW! Kane violently elbowed Monica in her face as he snatched the gun from her hand.

  “Dumb-ass bitch!” he huffed then opened the door and kicked Monica out of the truck. He pulled off, leaving her lying there bleeding on the concrete.

  Monica fell out of the van and rolled on the concrete for about seven seconds before finally coming to a stop. She immediately reached for her arm. The bullet had managed to graze her.

  Instantly, a crowd began to form. Monica hurried to her feet as she jogged over to the subway and trotted down the subway steps.

  When Monica made it down the steps, she pulled a paper out of her pocket. It was the one Styles had given her, with the address to where they were supposed to meet.

  Monica quickly removed her mechanic suit and walked all the way to the other side of the platform. She nervously waited on the platform until the train finally came.

  “Stupid-ass bitch!” Kane barked as he pulled over to a quiet block and slid out of the driver’s seat of the van.

  Kane never meant for his brother to get shot on the job. He had fucked up, and he knew it was all his fault. Kane quickly slid out of his mechanic jump suit and kicked it underneath the van. He slid the van door open and saw Abel looking dead at him.

  “Help me, please,” Abel begged, holding on to his chest.

  “I can’t,” Kane said, trying his hardest not to make eye contact with his brother. He knew it was all his fault that Abel was lying there with two bullets sunk in his chest. The plan went just as it was supposed to, until Kane’s greediness fucked it all up.

  “Please,” Abel whispered. “Don’t leave me here like this.”

  “You’ll only slow me down,” Kane said as he struggled with all
three duffle bags. Kane knew what he was doing was wrong, but the only thing on his mind was getting away before the cops caught him. He planned on leaving town and never showing his face ever again.

  “Don’t do me like this, please,” Abel begged.

  Kane looked down at his younger brother, lying in the van with two holes in his chest because of him. Kane slid the van door shut and power-walked two blocks, where he flagged down a cab.

  Kane hopped in the cab and quickly slid down in his seat as he gave the cab driver the address that was scribbled down on the piece of paper that Styles had given him. Kane knew that at least a getaway car would be there for him to hop into, and then he could ride off into the sunset.

  As Kane sat in the back of the cab, he thought about Abel. He hated to have to leave him for dead like that, but he told himself he had to do what he had to do.

  Kane pulled out the .45 that he had tucked in his waistband. He made sure he had a full clip before sticking it back in his waistband. “Stupid motherfuckers,” Kane laughed as he watched cop cars flying past in the opposite direction.

  “The only person I can depend on is me,” Kane told himself when the cab pulled up in front of the warehouse. “Good looking,” he said, slipping the cab driver a hundred-dollar bill.

  He slid out the back of the cab with his three duffle bags. Kane struggled with the duffle bags until he entered the warehouse. Inside, Kane saw three cars parked, just like Styles had promised. A bright smile spread across Kane’s face as he began thinking about how he was going to spend the money.

  He quickly popped the trunk on the Acura and dropped the three duffle bags inside, then slammed the trunk shut. Kane looked over and saw a few bottles of champagne resting on a table. He guessed that was for them all to celebrate once the job was done. Kane popped open a bottle and turned it up.

  Before he could put the bottle down, he heard the door to the warehouse open. Kane quickly spun toward the door with his .45 already in hand.