“Fuck,” he yelled, pounding his fist on the dashboard.
“What is it, baby?” Now Secret had fear in her voice.
“I need you to get off at the next exit.” He pointed to the exit that was coming up in just a few feet.
“Why, baby? That isn’t the way to—”
“Please, Secret,” he yelled. “Just take the fuckin’ exit,” he shot off, nervous she would miss it if she didn’t hurry up and do as he said.
Secret quickly whipped the car across two lanes, ignoring the horns beeping at her. She managed to make the exit. With eyes full of fear she asked, “Where am I going? What’s going on?”
“Just follow my directions. Please don’t ask me any questions. Just be quiet and drive,” Lucky pleaded.
“Okay,” was all Secret said as she stared ahead, following Lucky’s instructions as if he were a GPS, navigating her to their destination. Just as Lucky had asked, she remained silent. The true test of just how silent she could remain, and for how long, was about to confront her face to face.
“I’m sorry about all this,” Lucky said as he got back in the vehicle after stopping off at a house in a neighborhood Secret wasn’t familiar with.
“It’s okay,” Secret said, the first words she’d spoken in the past fifteen minutes. As bad as she wanted to question Lucky about the huge duffle bag he’d just thrown in her trunk, she didn’t. She just prepared herself to follow his next set of instructions.
Not five minutes after pulling off, Secret looked through her rearview mirror to see a set of flashing lights atop a police car. “Look, Lucky, the police.”
Lucky snapped around so quick to look behind him, it was a surprise his head hadn’t spun right off his shoulders. “Oh shit. You have got to be fucking kidding me,” he said, then turned back around to face ahead. “They must have been watching. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” With each expletive, Lucky’s fist pounded the dashboard.
“Baby, please calm down,” Secret begged. “Don’t worry. I’ll pay for the ticket if I get one. He might not even give me a ticket. He just may warn me or something for whatever I did. But I didn’t do anything.” Secret’s nervousness was reflected on each word she spoke and the speed at which she spoke them. Secret began to look for a place to pull over.
Lucky looked over to the driver side and grabbed the wheel on instinct as if he was trying to keep her from pulling over.
“What are you doing?” Secret asked.
What was he doing was the million dollar question Lucky wanted to ask himself. Secret was a down-ass chick, but she was no Bonnie to his Clyde. His instinct was to snatch that wheel and tell her to keep driving, to outrun the police, but he knew she wasn’t that type of chick. Had that been Kat in the driver seat, the chase would have been on. But it wasn’t Kat. It was a seven-month pregnant chick who didn’t have the street smarts to get out of a jaywalking ticket.
“Nothing, nothing. Just pull over,” Lucky told her.
As Secret pulled over to the side of the road Lucky thought about the fact that as long as Secret kept cool, everything would be just fine. She was young, innocent, and none the wiser of what was actually in her trunk besides a spare tire. She wouldn’t draw any suspicion and they’d be on their way.
After a couple of minutes the officer approached the driver side of Secret’s car. She rolled the window down and greeted him.
“Hi, Officer. Was I speeding?” Secret asked.
“No, ma’am, not at all,” the officer replied. “License and registration please.”
“Oh, yes, certainly.” Secret dug down in her purse for her license and retrieved the registration out of her glove box. All the while the officer eyeballed Lucky.
“Don’t I know you from somewhere?” the officer asked Lucky, who hadn’t looked up at the officer at all.
“Oh, Officer, please, you’re actually going to try to hit on me in front of my girl?” Lucky joked. Believe it or not, he did manage to pull a laugh out of the officer.
“Here you go, Officer.” Secret interrupted the little joke fest by handing the officer the requested documents.
The officer looked over the documents. “See here lies the problem.” He waved the registration. “The name on the registration, which is you of course, doesn’t match up to the name when I run these plates.”
“Oh shit!” Lucky said under his breath and started shaking his head. This drew both Secret’s and the officer’s attention.
“What is it?” Secret asked Lucky.
“Babe, when we got the car put in your name, I forgot to put your new tags on,” Lucky said, still shaking his head, wishing he could kick himself for making such a stupid mistake. Giving the police any reason to pull over a vehicle he was in was a stupid mistake.
“Where are they?” Secret asked.
Lucky nodded backward. “In the trunk. I can switch them out as soon as we get home.”
Secret turned and looked at the officer. “I’m sorry, Officer. The name the plates are running back to is my boyfriend.” She nodded over to Lucky. “When he first bought me the car it was in his name. I didn’t have my license yet, only a permit. Once I got my license we put it in my name. Just forgot to change out the tags.”
“You say it’s in your boyfriend’s name?” the officer said, eyeing Lucky again, as if he was really trying to figure out where he knew him from.
“Yes.” Secret nodded.
The officer leaned down. “Sir, can I see your ID please?”
Lucky just sat there as if he hadn’t heard the officer’s request.
“Lucky.” Secret nudged him. “The officer wants to see your ID.”
After a five-second delay, Lucky dug into his pocket and pulled his wallet out. He removed his ID, then handed it to Secret.
“Here you go, Officer,” Secret said, handing Lucky’s ID to the officer.
After taking the ID, the officer examined it. He looked at Lucky, then back at the ID again. Now armed with both Secret’s and Lucky’s ID as well as the registration, the officer excused himself, instructing Secret to wait a moment while he headed back to his car.
“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” Lucky spat off again once the officer was back at his car. “I can’t believe I fucked up and forgot to change out those tags.” Lucky kept shaking his head, tightening his lips, and balling his fist.
“It’s okay, baby. He seemed like he was understanding. At the very least, we’ll just get a ticket. I don’t think they will tow the car or anything. I already told you I’ll pay for anything that—”
“It’s not that, Secret!” Lucky snapped, cutting her off. Realizing he’d frightened her when she jumped, he toned it down a little bit. “I’m sorry, it’s just that . . .” Lucky knew it was in his best interest not to say anything.
“What? What is it?” Secret felt as if Lucky knew something that she didn’t, but that she should.
Lucky looked over at Secret and just stared at her. His eyes said, “Are you really that naïve? Are you really?”
“Ma’am, I’m going to ask you to step out of the car,” the officer said upon his return, “and open the trunk and we can get those plates out and I can help you switch out the plates.” He held up a couple tools and wore a friendly smile. “You did say the correct tags were in the trunk, right?”
“Yes.” Secret looked to Lucky for confirmation. He didn’t say anything. She turned back to the officer. “Yes. That would be nice.” Secret went to open the door.
“Thank you, but no, thank you,” Lucky chimed in. “I can do it when we get home, Officer.”
“But if you have them in there now, we might as well go ahead and change them out,” the officer reasoned. “The next officer to pull you over might not be as nice as me.” He winked.
“He’s got a point, Lucky,” Secret said. Lucky didn’t respond. Secret went to open the door and this time Lucky let her go. What excuse could he come up with to stop her now? The girl just didn’t get it.
Secret got out of the car and escorted the
officer to the trunk. “Lucky, pop the trunk,” Secret called out to him. A couple seconds later, the trunk popped open.
Upon opening the trunk, Secret realized the plates were not in plain sight. She shifted the few things that were in the trunk around and couldn’t find them. “Oh, no, maybe they’re not in here after all,” Secret fretted. She paused and thought.
“Maybe they’re in there.” The officer pointed to the duffle bag.
Just then Secret and the officer turned and looked behind them upon hearing the sounds of gravel popping under tires. It was another cop car pulling up behind the one who had pulled them over. Both the officer and Secret stood and waited as they saw the officer driving the car get out. After getting out of the car, the arriving officer opened the back passenger door. He then headed toward Secret and the first officer.
Secret’s eyes bucked once she saw the second police officer wasn’t alone. He had a dog with him. She did not care for dogs at all.
“How’s it going?” the officer with the dog greeted them. “I was just driving by and thought I’d stop and offer my assistance. Besides”—he looked down at his dog—“Booser here needs to get out to do his business.” He looked up at his fellow officer and smiled.
“I’m just helping the lady here switch out her plates,” the first officer on the scene replied. He then turned and faced Secret. “If we can find them.”
Secret smiled, but it wasn’t a real smile. She was starting to get a funny feeling about this other cop just happening upon the scene.
“Well, maybe I can help you guys find them,” the second officer said. He then looked at Secret. “Ma’am, do I have permission to look in your trunk?”
Secret hesitated, but couldn’t think of any reason why she should tell the officer no. Either they’d find the plates or they wouldn’t. “Sure,” Secret agreed.
The second officer split between Secret and the first officer. He began to shift some things around just as Secret had done. “Do you mind if I take this out?” the officer said to Secret, pointing at the duffle bag.
“No, not at all.” Secret’s stomach began to do flips. She wasn’t sure if it was the baby or her nerves, but something just didn’t feel right.
The officer took the duffle bag and threw it on the ground.
“There they are!” Secret excitedly pointed. The plates had been under the duffle bag. Good. Now they could just get those plates switched out and keep it moving.
Before the officer could pick up the plates, the dog he’d brought with him started barking and going crazy, gnawing at the duffle bag.
“Booser!” the officer shouted in an attempt to calm his dog, but that didn’t work. The dog just kept going crazy, barking and trying to get inside the bag.
Both officers shot each other a look. The second officer then looked at Secret.
“Ma’am, I’m Officer Hawkins with the K-9 unit. Booser here is a dog trained to sniff out drugs. We have reason to believe drugs might be in that bag. Do we have your permission to check out the content?”
Secret felt cornered as both officers glared at her. Talk about feeling trapped between a rock and a hard place. She felt she had no other choice but to give them permission. What if she said no and out of anger they let their dog loose on her?
“Ye . . . yes . . .” Secret started.
“No!”
Lucky’s loud voice came booming from around the corner. Before Secret could blink an eye, the officer’s had drawn their guns and had them pointed directly at her baby daddy. While her stomach did flips and her heart practically beat out of her chest, all she could ask herself was, What the hell is going on?
Chapter Thirty
“Put your hands on your head,” the first officer on the scene shouted to Lucky as he pointed his gun at him. Lucky slowly obliged. Just as slowly as Lucky had placed his hands on his head the officer crept over to him. Once the officer was in Lucky’s face, he began moving like a ninja, quickly pulling Lucky’s hands down from over his head and pulling them behind his back.
The second officer kept his gun aimed at Lucky while Secret stood frozen watching it all go down. Secret watched the officer slam Lucky against the car while he handcuffed him.
“What’s got you all excited, fella?” the officer asked Lucky as he tightened the metal bracelets around Lucky’s wrists.
Lucky remained silent. There wasn’t much he could say for what he knew was about to go down.
“Looks like somebody doesn’t want us looking in that duffle bag,” the first officer said to the other one who placed his gun back in his holster, all the while never losing control of the dog.
“Well, it doesn’t matter,” the second officer said. “The lady here gave us permission to do so.”
“And it is her car,” the first officer stated. He placed his lips a centimeter from Lucky’s ear and whispered, “That is, if you’re still sticking with that story.”
Lucky just rolled his eyes and remained silent.
Not even asking Secret a second time for permission to search the bag, operating off her initial approval, the officer with the K-9 unzipped the bag while the other kept Lucky detained up against the car.
“Well, well, well, now I see what’s got your boyfriend here panties in a bunch,” the officer said to Secret, as once again his dog started barking wildly.
It still didn’t register to Secret exactly what was going on, not even staring down at that duffle bag full of white stuff.
“Good boy.” The officer pet his dog, took something out of his pocket, and fed it to the dog. The dog lost interest in the duffle bag and began devouring the snack. “Look what we have here.” He held up a plastic bag full of white stuff to his partner.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” the first officer on the scene said. “Who would have thought a simple case of improper tags would lead to a drug bust?”
“Drugs?” Finally Secret realized what was going on. “What are you talking about?” she asked the officer. Then she questioned the person she really wanted answers from. “What’s he talking about?” Her eyes pleaded with Lucky for an answer.
Lucky put his head down as if he couldn’t even bear to look at Secret.
“I’m talking about enough ounces of cocaine to keep a Hollywood starlet’s party going strong for a week,” the officer said. He then turned to Lucky. “Don’t tell me you planned on using all this for personal use,” he sarcastically said to Lucky.
“No,” Lucky finally spoke. “’Cause it ain’t mine.”
The little smirk on the officer’s face disappeared. He looked over at his fellow officer with worry, then turned his attention back to Lucky. “Wha . . . what did you say?”
Lucky took a deep breath, tightened his lips, then seethed. “You heard me, mutherfucker. I said it ain’t mine.”
Now it was Secret who didn’t speak. It wasn’t because she didn’t want to, but because she didn’t know what to say. She was starting to catch on now. She realized that there were only two people in the car: her and Lucky. If Lucky was claiming that the drugs weren’t his, that only left one other person to whom the drugs could belong: her!
The officer turned beet red as he used all of his body weight to smash Lucky into the car. “Look, you black-ass piece of shit,” he said into Lucky’s ear, spittle soaking the side of Lucky’s face. “I know you’re a low-life son of a bitch, but I know you ain’t so fucking low that you’re going to allow your pregnant girlfriend to take the rap on this one.” He yanked Lucky to face Secret. “You really want your child born in jail?”
Secret locked eyes with Lucky. Inside she was wishing the officer had asked him something else. Maybe if that really had been Lucky’s blood growing inside of her it would have made a difference. But it wasn’t his baby. Lucky knew that and so did she.
Lucky dropped his head.
“Oh, no, you don’t,” the officer shouted, grabbing Lucky by the chin and making him look at Secret.
Secret stood there trembling as her
mind began to foresee just exactly how things were possibly going to go down. “Lucky,” she whispered, pleaded, and cried. Her heart rate sped up as she anticipated Lucky’s next move.
“Yeah, Lucky,” the officer continued to taunt. “You’re not going to sit here and tell us that all those drugs belong to your pregnant girlfriend are you? Because unless you tell us the drugs are yours, well . . .” He shrugged. “The car is in her name. The bag was in her car. As far as we’re concerned, the drugs are hers then. So either you man up or we handcuff your girlfriend and haul her and your unborn baby off to jail.”
There was silence as the ball bounced in Lucky’s court.
“Come on, man, really?” the cop with K-9 said. “What kind of man are you? Even if she was the biggest drug lord to ever walk this earth, even if you were a choir boy and never touched drugs a day in your life, as a man, wouldn’t the right thing to do be to say the drugs are yours? Save the damsel from doing at least a ten bid in the joint?”
Again, there was silence.
The officer who had Lucky apprehended just shook his head. “Well, it looks like you better book her,” the officer said to his partner.
The officer exhaled. “Come on, Booser,” he said to his dog. “Looks like we’re gonna have company.” He gathered the dog and took him back to the car. This time he placed him in the front passenger seat.
Secret stood there the entire time immobile. This was not happening. It could not be happening to her.
“So these drugs don’t belong to you?” the officer kept pressuring Lucky as they waited for the other officer to return.
“I said they ain’t mine,” Lucky replied.
“Then you’re saying they are hers?” He nodded toward Secret.
Lucky stared into her pleading eyes once again. “I said they ain’t mine.”
“Then I guess they’re hers.” The officer shrugged.
“Lucky, please . . .” Secret begged as her bottom lip began to tremble. “Lucky. They’re not mine. What are you doing?” Secret’s shoulders began to heave as Lucky seemed unmoved by her pleas to him.
“Well, did the owner of the dope fess up?” the second officer said, returning without the dog.
Keeping Secrets Page 17
