by Ty Marshall
“We gonna die!” A shook-up China began to sob. “They gonna kill us, Bree! They not gonna stop until they kill us!”
Bree pulled her into his chest, hugging her tight, letting the tears soak into his shirt. “I’m not letting that happen, ma, believe that.” He said the words but barely believed them himself. For the first time, doubt had begun to creep into his mind. He had never been up against such a relentless force. Vicious didn’t begin to describe Cinco or his goons, and his death had only seemed to increase their ferocity. Bree was an island, and no one man could defeat a Mexican cartel as powerful as Cinco’s. Running around Los Angeles like chickens with their heads cut off, Bree felt they were only delaying their inevitable deaths. But if he had to die, he wasn’t gonna make it easy for them. “I think they’re gone. Let’s keep it moving. We don’t have much time to waste. We can hop on a Greyhound. It’s more low-key, not as easy to trace,” he explained, kissing China on her forehead. “I promise you it’ll all be over soon.” Whether they lived or died, Bree was telling the truth.
* * *
The scent of sizzling bacon and eggs permeated the air in the small diner. Bree and China sat inconspicuously at a booth near the back of the dimly lit room that was half empty at that time of the night. The bell over the entrance chimed each time the door opened, causing a skittish China to look up constantly. Her eyes darted back and forth from the door to the clock. The time seemed to be moving at a snail’s pace, each minute feeling like it took longer to pass then the last. They had purchased two tickets to Toronto, but their bus didn’t leave for another hour and a half. Bree decided sitting around the bus station was too great a risk, so they were hiding out in the diner out of plain sight.
China tapped her fingers on the table. She could feel death gaining on them. It weighed on her like heavy loads of sand, and at any moment she expected killers to burst into the diner and shoot up the place. It was the closest she had come to an out-of-body experience. Her mind drifted; coming to terms with her own mortality was difficult. She found herself wondering what death would be like and if it would be painful. China jabbed the fork into her plate, toying with her food. The stress and anxiety had long stolen her appetite, and now even the smell was making her sick.
Bree noticed China had yet to taste the food on her plate, only moving things around, giving the appearance she had. “You gotta eat something, ma,” he said, expressing his concern.
“I can’t,” she replied, dropping the fork into the plate. “Too much on my mind. I was thinking even if we make it to Canada, what are we gonna do for money? The little bit of money we got is only gonna get us so far.”
“We’ll figure that out when we get there,” Bree responded.
“I was thinking…” She bit her lip before continuing. “Maybe I can call my father and ask—”
Bree immediately began shaking his head. “Not happening. You’re my woman. You not about to go crawling to your father asking for his help,” he informed her, killing that idea quick. “But you should try to eat your food. We don’t have a lot of time before our bus come.”
China dropped her head. She longed for her father’s help. The distance between them had become so vast over the past few years, and deep down inside she missed their bond. Like most things wrong in her life, her selfish behavior was the blame and the cause of the rift between them. Her undying devotion to and love of the fast life had distanced China from her family. So much so that her father cut all ties with her, including denying her access to all credit cards and bank accounts, barring her from their home, and forbidding China’s mother from contacting or seeing her. This course of action devastated his wife. She was against her husband’s decision to show their daughter such a harsh form of tough love. She placed the blame on him for China’s absence in their lives. She believed her daughter was just going through a phase of rebellion that all girls go through, but her husband believed otherwise. Their inability to see eye to eye became too much of a strain, and it eventually broke up their marriage. China’s father moved to Arizona, and they hadn’t communicated much since.
“I feel sick,” China said, pushing her plate to the middle of the table in disgust. “I have to use the bathroom,” she announced, sliding out of the booth.
The clanking sound of plates could be heard as soon as China hit the corner. Straight ahead was a swinging door that led into the kitchen. The bathrooms were to the right, but something on the left grabbed her attention. China’s eyes lit up seeing the manager of the diner in his office counting the day’s earnings. She turned on a dime and headed back to the table.
“Bree,” she said in an excited whisper as she sat down, “I gotta lick.”
Bree looked up from his plate of food, slightly amused at her attempt to sound gangster. “What you talkin’ ’bout?”
“How much you think this little spot makes a night?”
“I don’t know. Why?” he asked between bites of food.
“I just seen the manager in his office counting a bunch of money, right on his desk, plain as day. We need that money,” she continued in a hushed tone.
“Hell, yeah,” Bree agreed, using the napkin to wipe his mouth. “Show me where. I’m ’bout to get that,” he said, reaching for his gun.
“Hold on,” she said, stopping him from getting up. “You being real reckless. We can’t stick up the diner. For one, we been sitting here for too long, everybody has seen our faces. For two, it just not smart. We gotta be more discreet,” China said, surprisingly taking control of the situation.
“You got a better idea?” he asked.
“Yeah but…”
“But what?” Bree asked, growing impatient.
“We gonna miss our bus,” she confessed. “But we need the money, bad. I think we should do it.”
She was right, and after a brief moment of thought, Bree agreed.
* * *
The young waitress heard the man calling for her and quickly made her way over to the table. “Yes, sir, how can I help you?” she politely inquired.
“I need to see a manager, right now,” Bree demanded sternly.
“Is there something wrong? Maybe I can help you.”
“This is not good and I would like you to take it back,” China said, pushing her uneaten plate toward the waitress. “My eggs are undercooked and runny—”
“And we would like to see the manager.” Bree cut to the chase.
The young waitress felt extremely intimidated, and wanting nothing more than to defuse the situation, she went to retrieve the manager from his office.
“Mr. Walker,” she called out, sticking her head in his office. “I have a situation out here that needs your attention.”
Mr. Walker looked up from the cash and calculator in front of him and nodded his head. He pushed back from his desk. A burly man, with a receding hairline and glasses, he grunted loudly getting to his feet, then proceeded out of the office.
“What seems to be the problem, folks?” he asked, slightly agitated, standing in front of Bree and China’s booth. He was closing in on the end of a twelve-hour shift and wasn’t in the mood for complaining customers at this time of night.
“These eggs are nasty and extremely undercooked. I want it taken off my bill, and I want my meal comped as well for the inconvenience,” Bree barked.
“I can have her plate sent back and redone, but I can’t comp your meal, sir.”
Before Bree could respond, China leaped from her seat, gagging. She almost knocked the manager over trying to get past him to the bathroom.
“Look, she’s sick as shit and all you can do is recook her plate? What kind of customer service is that?” Bree asked, causing as much of a scene as he could, giving China time to do her thing.
China pushed the bathroom door open but didn’t enter. She let it slam closed, then slipped into the manager’s office undetected and began snatching up all the cash on the desk. Disappointed, she could have sworn there was more money on the desk when she firs
t saw it, but half of it had disappeared. She began searching the office for the rest, pulling out drawers on the desk hoping to locate more cash. Overflowing with desperation, she darted madly around the office, knowing she didn’t have much time. A small smile creased her face when she spotted the safe with the door cracked slightly open. “Jackpot,” she said.
“What are you doing in here?” The voice came out of nowhere, startling her. China looked up and saw a scrawny middle-aged white waitress with stringy, dirty blond hair staring back at her. “Help, somebody help!” the woman screamed, her voice carrying through the diner.
China began to panic, her heart sank into her stomach, her plan foiled. Left with no choice, she bull-rushed the frail woman, knocking her to the ground with ease and jetted out the office.
“Hey! Stop! What’s going on?” Mr. Walker shouted as he looked back, seeing China darting from his office with cash in hand.
But before he could react, Bree landed a jarring blow to his chin, dropping him on the spot. The few customers in the diner screamed in terror, seeing the manager crumple to the floor violently. Bree rushed toward China, and the two of them cut through the kitchen, bolting out the back door of the diner, escaping on foot into a narrow alley that ran alongside the building.
Chapter 5
The couple kept it moving down the pitch-black alley until the voices of the diner employees faded into the far distance. Until all they heard were the sounds of their feet pounding against the pavement, occasionally splashing in puddles of water. They could barely see in front of them as they raced to safety down the darkened path. The deeper they went into the woods, the more they began to hear signs of civilization again, mainly of cars passing by and large trucks’ engines revving. Slowly, a light began to seep into the alley, becoming brighter as they moved toward it. They had reached the end of the alley. Emerging onto the street, they realized the sounds and the lights belonged to a truck stop that appeared like a mirage in the desert. Bree watched the eighteen-wheelers going in and out, studying the movements of each driver. Some had trailers, some had flatbeds with large loads strapped to them. Bree wondered if he could pay one of the truckers to take him and China as far as the load was going. He didn’t particularly care where at this point, as long as it was out of the state.
China could see from the look on his face that he had run out of ideas and was scrambling for a plan. After not getting as much as they thought from the diner and missing the bus, they needed a lucky break, or at least an opportunity to create their own luck. She didn’t think any of the truckers would give them a lift, mainly because of Bree—he had trouble written all over him. While he was busy watching the comings and goings, she was observing something that could help them get the ride they so desperately needed. China had her eyes on the pavement princesses and lot lizards working the truck stop, jumping from sleeper to sleeper. Most drivers were on the road for days at a time crisscrossing the country and couldn’t fight the temptation of the prostitutes prowling the truck stops. China was counting on that as she quickly put a plan together in her head. She had also made up her mind, regardless of what Bree said or felt, that they needed her father’s help. And she intended on seeking it even if it meant going against Bree’s wishes.
“Bree,” she called out to him, breaking his train of thought. “We out here running for our lives in these dark-ass woods with God knows what biting and crawling on us,” she said, frowning up her face, swatting and smacking at her arms and legs for bugs. “We trying to pull every scheme and scam we know to get money, and we don’t have to be.”
“What the fuck are you talkin’ about now, China?”
“We need my father’s help,” she declared emphatically.
“I thought we settled that already.” Bree reacted.
“I know what you said back at the diner, and I understand all of that. But the type of money it’s gonna take to get away and stay away from Cinco’s bloodhounds can’t be made out here nickel-and-diming as we go. My dad is the only logical choice, and you know it.”
“You can go running to your daddy if you want. I ain’t built like that,” Bree fumed as his nostrils flared. “If that’s what you want, cool. I guess this is where we go our separate ways, then.”
“Don’t do this, Bree,” she pleaded with him, grabbing for his arm as he pulled away. “Why must you make this harder than it has to be? You know I’m right. Don’t make me choose, please.”
“It shouldn’t be a choice,” he snapped. “I’m asking you not to do something, and you’re trying to go against the grain, like always. I’m out here putting it all on the line for you,” he reminded her.
“And I’m just trying to do the same for you. You said you needed my two hundred percent. Well, this is me giving you that. You think I wanna go running to my dad for help, putting him all in my business and having to hear his mouth? But I would do it for you, I would do it for us, babe,” she said, caressing his face. “Now I’m asking you to trust me. We in this together. Let me do my part.”
Bree rubbed the side of his face, letting out a deep sigh. He wished he could change her mind, but he had been dealing with her long enough to know he couldn’t. She would still manage to get her way in the end. Going their separate ways was an idle threat. He knew it and so did China. He didn’t want to lose her, he loved her too much. So reluctantly he gave in. “Aight, ma, but if it backfires, it’s on you.”
“It won’t,” she said with false confidence.
* * *
“Hey, baby,” China flirted, twirling her long hair with her finger as she glided through the parking lot of the truck stop. “You going out, Daddy?” she called out to the various men. Moving through the area, she could feel the lustful eyes begin to centralize on her. In a lifestyle where hope seldom outlives despair, her clean look, liveliness, and flawless beauty stood out among the run-down and raunchy veterans of the night. Her newness made her a focal point, fresh meat for the prurient truckers. China was working all of that to her advantage, teasing and toying with each man, trying to spot the perfect mark.
A medium-built black man, who from the salt and pepper in his goatee looked to be in his mid-forties, exited the store, heading for his big rig. He immediately noticed China prowling, her alluring eyes reeling him in as she stared at him seductively. Not one to let an opportunity go to waste, he gave her a lascivious wink, showing his interest.
“Hey, sexy, you trying to have a good time tonight?” China asked, playing her role to perfection.
He smiled and nodded his head. “How much will it cost me?” he asked, knowing he had to pay to play. Clearly he had done this dance a time or two.
China knew she had hooked her fish. By his reply, she could tell he was no stranger to this type of interaction. “It depends on how much fun you trying to have. It’s seventy-five for head and one fifty for more,” she explained.
“Well, what do I get?” he asked. “Give me a sample. Show me what I’m paying for.” He flirted, trying to get a free preview.
“Cash, then ass, daddy. Nobody rides this ride for free.” China kicked it like a veteran, refusing to be gamed. She knew that from her newbie appearance, the man thought she was green and naïve, and he was trying his luck. Her smooth volley put an end to all that, allowing them to get straight down to business.
“Let’s go, pretty lady. My rig is parked a few spots over,” he said, walking toward her, then leading the way. Reaching their destination, he climbed into the truck, then reached over and opened the door for her to enter. China didn’t move, she just looked up into the truck, examining the cabin. “What’s the problem, sweetheart? You don’t like my truck?”
China was having a bit of stage fright as butterflies fluttered in her stomach, causing her to freeze up. It wasn’t uncommon for young women to turn up dead on the side of the highway, victims of crazed truck drivers. China knew she had to be extremely cautious. But she quickly shook off her fear, not wanting to alarm him, and snapped right back into
character. “No, baby, the truck is beautiful, but I like my money before I start,” she informed him, placing one hand on her hip, then sticking the other one out in front of her with her palm facing up.
“Oh, that’s not a problem, sweetheart,” he said, reaching for his wallet and pulling out a wad of money.
China smiled and stepped up into the cabin, taking the money out of his hand. “Where you wanna do this?”
He pulled back the curtain, revealing the sleeping area behind the two front seats. It had an unmade full-size bed and a TV. China was surprised by the size of the space as she walked in and sat down on the bed. She had never seen the inside of a truck before and was truly impressed by how nice it was. She could tell that the man was making some good money and made a mental note to get the rest of what was in his wallet.
The trucker eyed China up and down. He had traveled back and forth across the country many times over and had never stumbled upon a woman as alluring as her. She was even more gorgeous up close. Her attractiveness far exceeded that of his wife’s back home, and he licked his lips at the thought of diving inside of China’s tight young treasure. Approaching her, he traced his finger over her lips, then down to her neck and chest. China spread her legs just enough to entice him, giving him a glimpse of her black lace panties, using her body as bait. She was a natural seductress, a siren of temptation, and he was easily beguiled by her beauty. China reached up, unbuckling his belt, and could see his manhood becoming erect as she unbuttoned his jeans and let down his zipper. The trucker closed his eyes and tilted his head back, preparing for her warm mouth to engulf him. But instead he felt the cold steel of Bree’s gun pressed against the back of his head.
