by E. N. Joy
Junie had been pretty calm. Just going with the flow.
"Cross that bridge when we get to it? Is that what you said?" Saved asked in disbelief. "Now I need to know are you for real," she spat at Puddin', "because, uh, hello...hear that sound? Dang it, we're at the freakin' bridge already," Saved said, using the sound of the road as the symbolism of a bridge that had to get them to the other side; from the woods to the free world.
Puddin' paid no mind to Saved's little rant and kept it moving through the woods.
Saved shook her head and looked to Junie who simply shot her a shrug in return. "Hey, I'm just along for the ride." He walked pass Saved to catch up with Puddin'.
"What ride?" Saved said sarcastically. "There is no ride." She slumped her shoulders and followed her peers.
The threesome finally reached the end of the wooded area and was greeted by the road.
"Looks like we're at the bridge now," Junie stated, using the same symbolism Saved had used in reference to the road being the bridge Puddin' had said they'd cross when they got to it. He looked to Puddin'. "So how do we plan on crossin' it?"
"Yeah," Saved agreed, a little annoyed that she hadn't bothered to get the full blue print on this voyage to Columbus before deciding to go AWOL from juvie. "Now what?"
Puddin' looked around and noticed that right across the way was a mini strip mall. Smaller specialty shops played second fiddle to a major grocery store that was positioned in the center of the retailers. Puddin' thought for a minute as she stared into the parking lot filled with cars. Both Junie and Saved followed her eyes and stared along side her.
Out of nowhere, a smile covered Puddin's mouth as if a light bulb had just gone off in her head. "Come on, you two. Our ride to Columbus awaits us."
"Oh, hecky naw," Saved snapped. "I ain't about to steal no car or jack nobody for their car. I've got a calling on my life; an evangelistic calling. I'm anointed to give to God's people; not take from them."
Junie started laughing.
Annoyed and upset at his reaction to her words, Saved turned to him and asked, "And just what is so funny about that? I'm dead serious."
"I know," Junie laughed even harder, barely able to control himself. "That's what's so funny about it."
Puddin' looked from Saved to Junie, then shook her head.
"I can't believe you done let, Pastor, Preacher, Deacon, Doctor Doo Little Doug who works for the juvie agency feed you that line of crap." Junie got his laughter under control. He looked to Puddin' to explain who he was talking about. "There's this preacher dude that comes and visits all the juvie kids. He be peddling that same mess to everybody about them having a calling on their life. Let him tell it; God has a pastoral calling on my life. I have the gift to preach the word of God." Junie raised his arms to the heaven, as if imitating the juevie preacher. He then dropped them to his side, and with a serious look on his face, turned to Saved. "Now do I look like somebody God would use to deliver His people from hell?" Junie raised his arms above his head and turned around, giving the girls an opportunity to check him out.
Both Puddin' and Saved observed the all-American-looking white boy. His two carat fake diamond earring that he'd copped at a hair supply store owned by Asians blinged in the sun's light.
Saved gave Junie the once over. "God can use anybody," Saved concluded. "Anyway," she turned her attention back to Puddin', "Like I said, I ain't jackin' no car."
"You ain't heard me say nothing about jackin' no car. Besides, even if we did, wouldn't that God you serve forgive you? Didn't Jesus already die on the cross for the sins He knew you were going to commit?"
Saved stood their speechless. She'd learned when not to battle the non-believers with words. That would take time and right now she didn't have that kind of time. Oh, but she would definitely make a mental note to revisit the subject mater with Puddin' when time permitted.
"Anyway," Puddin' stated, "are you with me or not? Because if not, you can go back the same way you came." She then looked at Junie. "And you can go with her. If the guards see you two coming out of the woods together, the worse thing they are going to think is that you two were in there fooling around. So what's it going to be? It's not too late for you to turn back and for me to enjoy a life of complete freedom without you."
Saved looked at Junie, trying to read his expression on what he wanted to do. He simply gave her a shrug that stated, "Whatever...why not? We've come this far."
Saved's attention was now back on Puddin'. "Why do you want us tagging along with you anyway? We're just a couple of juvie runaways. You're practically grown? So what would you want some kids around for anyway?" Saved didn't give Puddin' time to answer before she continued. "Maybe this is a trap; a set up. I've heard about that sex slave thing that's real popular."
"Yeah, that human trafficking business," Junie added. He then shot Puddin' a peculiar look. "You don't plan on getting me to Columbus, forcing me to live in a basement tied up while you have your way with me whenever you want, do you?" Junie asked. "Because if that's the case..." A huge grin covered his face as he went and stood by Puddin', placing his arm around her shoulders. "...I'm most definitely going with you."
Saved rolled her eyes up in her head at Junie's clowning around.
"No, this isn't a set up," Puddin' stated while politely removing Junie's arm from around her shoulders. "I just felt sorry for this one here." She nodded toward Saved. "And you," she said to Junie, "did we really have a choice as to not let you come with us?"
Puddin' sounded sincere, but Saved wasn't buying it; well, she wasn't paying full price for it anyway. "Are you sure that's the only reason you invited me to come along?"
Puddin's eyes cast downward to the ground. It looked as though she wanted to be transparent with Saved, but couldn't. It looked as though any minute she wanted to blurt out how scared she was of the big bad world and how she didn't want to be alone and how misery loved company, and that right now she was beyond miserable. But instead she lied and said, "Yep, I'm sure."
Realizing she wasn't going to get Puddin' to open up to her, not right now anyway, Saved stopped pressing and just simply stated, "Then lead the way," with every intent on making sure that was yet another subject matter the two would revisit soon. And it would be sooner than Saved could have imagined.
Chapter Seven
Puddin' did just what Saved had instructed; she began leading the group across the four lanes of traffic that was coming in both directions. Once across the street, Saved and Junie followed Puddin' right into the grocery store.
"I'm still confused," Saved whispered to Puddin'. "How is our ride to Columbus in a grocery store?"
"You'll see," Puddin' replied. "Just follow my lead. Grab a hand basket and let's pretend to shop. Sooner or later we'll find our mark."
And it was sooner than later that the three did just that; find their mark. Their mark came in the form of a woman chatting away on her cell phone gossiping, while at the same time trying to price cereals. While she did this, her cart, with her purse sitting in the front of the basket where toddlers could sit, was about three feet from her.
"Umm, hmm," the woman chatted away. "And she calls herself a Christian. You should have seen the way she was dancing up in that club," the woman said before pausing so that the person she was gossiping with could get a word in edgewise. "Huh? What? Uh," she began to stammer. "Never mind what I was doing up in DJ's. At least I wasn't dancing like a stripper and acting a fool," the woman stated in her own defense.
Eventually, the woman returned to her cart, finished her shopping and went to the check out line. When she went to pay for her items is when she realized something was missing. Her purse was no longer in her cart. Puddin', Saved and Junie were long gone with the woman's Coach purse that had a matching Coach wallet tucked inside.
"Serves her right," Saved had said once the three made it back outside. "She shouldn't have been gossiping and she shouldn't have been in that sin hole either," Saved added, using the term s
he'd once heard an old school church mother use in reference to a bar.
"Whatever with all that church stuff," Junie said with an irritated tone, waving a hand at Saved. But when he turned his attention to Puddin' and spoke, there was nothing but pure excitement in his voice. "Man, that was slick," he stated as the three walked down a side road about a half hour later. The adrenaline rush was still fresh in his system. He hadn't done anything that daring since the act that landed him in juvie in the first place.
About two years ago a buddy of his had convinced him to attend a college block party.
"Come on, June, man. Stop being a square," his friend Clayton had pressured him.
"I ain't being a square," Junie retaliated. "It's just that you know they be drinking and stuff at them parties. I don't get down like that. My pops would kill me if he smelled liquor on my breath."
"Yeah, right. Like your pops would care," Clayton said sarcastically. Junie shot him an evil glare so Clayton tried to clean it up. "Aw, man, you know what I mean. But come on. Live a little. Your pops always beating that butt anyway. You might as well give him a real reason to get at you." Clayton shrugged. It made good sense to him and should have made good enough sense to Junie too. But Clayton could see his friend still needed a little bit more convincing.
"And besides, there are going to be college chicks there." Clayton wrapped his arm around Junie's neck with a huge grin on his face. "You know how you like the older chicks. Remember how in fourth grade you used to bring Ms. Swisherland an apple almost every day? Hoping one day she'd take you back to the coat room and give you a little whiff of that?" Clayton laughed.
Junie pulled away from his friend, visibly upset. "Man, go on somewhere with that. She was just a nice teacher, that's all."
"Man, please. You was like how the Little Rascals were with Miss Crabtree," Clayton laughed.
Junie finally laughed too.
"See, man, you know I'm right."
"Yeah, yeah, okay, you're right," Junie gave in. "Ms. Swisherland was fine. I had it bad for her until I found out the gym teacher was hittin' that." Junie frowned.
"And even that wouldn't have been so bad if that gym teacher wasn't a chick." Clayton laughed again. "Guess you wasn't Ms. Swisherland's type.
"Guess not," Junie shrugged.
"So anyway, you gon' roll with me to this party tonight or what?" Clayton asked, and within seconds, Junie confirmed with a head nod. "Bet. I'ma meet you outside your house at like ten. Is that cool?"
"Yeah, my pops should be good and inebriated by then. I might not even have to sneak out of my bedroom window. Will probably be able to walk right passed him. He'll be so out if it he won't even notice."
"Cool then. Ten o'clock outside your house. Don't be late." Clayton walked off, looking like a thief who had just talked his best friend into robbing a bank with him. Little did Junie know at the time, but that's practically exactly what Clayton had done. But it only took a few blocks for him to explain to Junie his master plan.
"Dude, have you lost your freakin' mind?" Junie shouted after hearing his friend explain his real reason for wanting to go to the party. Junie had listened intensely as he and Clayton walked from his house heading toward the party. It was 10:15 p.m. and the two had been walking since 10:00 p.m. just as planned. "I ain't about to try to jack nobody for nothing."
"Quit being a punk," Clayton replied to Junie's response of having just found out Clayton's true intentions for wanting to go to that party, and he certainly had no intentions of partying. "Let's just go there, hang out and chill for a minute. Sooner or later we'll catch those unsuspected, half drunk, underage drinking college kids off guard. Then we'll snatch any jewels off of them that they might have been wearing around their neck or wrist and be out. Or even snatch a couple of purses and wallets. They won't even know what hit 'em. We'll be long gone with hundreds of dollars worth of stuff. You know just last week you were saying how you wanted that new video game system."
"I would have had it, too, if my pops hadn't gotten in my stash I'd been saving for months and drank up my money." Anger fumed in Junie at just the thought. People thought that alcoholism was minor compared to being addicted to crack. He begged to differ.
"You could go out and buy that baby tomorrow if we hit the jackpot tonight."
How Clayton had made it all sound so easy and so rewarding was a mystery. But by the time they arrived at the party, Junie was game. And it was only a matter of time before Junie had found his unsuspecting mark.
"There you go right there, man," Clayton had said and pointed.
Junie followed his friend's eyes and finger to a blond hair and blue eyed girl. She looked to be about a size four; a skinny lightweight who couldn't hold her liquor. She had a stumble to her walk, letting Junie know that she was, indeed, the perfect girl for him.
"Hey you; what's up?" Junie had asked the girl. Slightly nervous, he made small talk with her. That's what Clayton had instructed him to do during his brief five minute training session. Although his friend had been hitting the campus up for the last three weekends in a row, unbeknownst to Junie, this was Junie's first try at a jack-n-run.
"Just flirt with the chicks," his friend had instructed him. "It throws them off every time."
Even though the girl appeared to be all of a senior in college, not some dumb naïve girl who would fall for a few flattering lines, Junie stuck with the plan. "A, yo, you really lookin' good in those jeans," he complimented her. She ate the compliments up like Reese's Pieces. Here he was, someone who wasn't even in college making a college girl blush. What a cougar, he'd thought; just like he'd always liked them.
Everything was going according to plan. When the drunken college student reached in her purse to find a pen and paper to pass on her phone number to Junie; that's when he went for it. He went for her purse, grabbing it and putting a death grip on it with both his hands. But all of a sudden this little scrawny drunk girl got the strength of a grown man and put a death grip of her own on it.
"Hit her, man! Hit her and let's go," Clayton had coached him.
"I...I can't hit a girl," Junie said over his shoulder while still tussling with the young female.
"It's either that, or deal with them." Clayton pointed as he started backing up. That's when Junie saw a couple of guys that were taking notice of what was going on.
Junie could either let go of the purse, run and have the night be a bust, or deck the chick and keep it moving with purse in hand. He decided to let go of the purse. That's when the girl flew backward and slammed into a tree. She hit the tree so hard that it knocked her out and her frail body slid down it like a caterpillar. Junie was stunned; too stunned to run. He just stood there as he watched the girl's body, with her being slightly unconscious, sliver down the tree.
Before Junie knew it, he'd been rushed to the ground and held there with his face in the dirt. With a knee in his back and an arm around his throat, he prayed for the cops to show up. And they did; after all, it was just Junie's luck that the young woman he'd tried to jack was an undercover cop. That night had been her first time doing undercover work. Looks like she and Junie had something in common; both their cherries had been popped in their own certain way that night.
Needless to say, Junie's life went downhill from there. The judge didn't care that this had been his first offense. All the judge saw was that he'd committed a crime against a cop. Junie couldn't even defend himself, and neither of his parents were there to do it for him. His mother, he'd heard, was living in Florida with some man she'd left him and his father for. His father had been somewhere in a drunkin' stupor; the same one he'd been in ever since Junie's mother had left him. It took two weeks for Junie's father to even realize his son had been locked up. But by then, it was too late for anyone to do anything about it.
Clayton had run off during Junie's tussle with the cops so he didn't get in any trouble. Of course, Junie didn't rat him out either. What for? It wouldn't have made his punishment any better. The entire
ordeal of Junie being arrested and sent off to juvie did end up scaring Clayton straight though. A once thug who skipped school and engaged in petty thefts, Junie heard that his friend was now a straight A student on honor roll about to go off to college on a full scholarship. In a way, Junie felt like what had happened to him hadn't completely been in vain. There was a part of him, though, that longed to be as free as his friend was able to remain. Well, now that day had come; and he had new friends to be free with.
Saved, Puddin' and Junie had already stopped off behind a building to check the contents of their grocery store victim's purse. They'd lucked up on two hundred and sixty-two dollars in cash and three credit cards.
"Who taught you that little trick anyway?" Junie asked Puddin'
"Nobody," Puddin' answered. "I just remembered all those times I'd go grocery shopping and see women walking away from their carts with their purses still in it. I used to always say to myself, 'One day somebody is going to jack them for their purse.' Who knew that someday that somebody would be me?" Puddin' smiled. "Anyway, here's your cut." She handed both Junie and Saved their share of the take.
"But we didn't do anything," Saved said as she held her money in her hand.
"Neither did TT in the movie Set it Off, but she still got a cut," Puddin' reasoned. The three of them laughed as they walked another mile or so. "So where is the bus station here in Cleveland anyway? That's pretty much our only option to get to Columbus with the little bit of cash we got."
"You got three credit cards," Junie reminded Puddin'. "Let's go to the airport, get us some airplane tickets and fly first class." He had a far away dreamy look in his eyes, as if envisioning flying in the friendly skies.
