She realized that E.P. wasn’t the head of the organization, but more like the Human Resources director. E.P. only did the recruiting, and he did his job very well, and she imagined that he got paid handsomely for his part.
There was a Commission she had to impress. Who was this Commission? She didn’t know. But now she had to focus on getting her crew on board with the job. They wanted a team of women, and Cristal felt her crew was right for this favorable opportunity. How was she going to pitch it to them?
Cristal took a few pulls from the cancer stick between her lips and gazed out at Brooklyn. From where she stood on the gravel rooftop, twelve stories up, Brooklyn was a metropolitan beauty. She could hear the life of Brooklyn below, but on the rooftop, it felt like she was a world above everything.
Cristal heard the steel door open from behind her, disturbing her solitude. She heard shoes crunching against the graveled ground and voices. She turned to see Lisa, Mona, Sharon and Tamar coming outside to join their friend under the canopy of a falling day and rising evening.
“Damn bitch, you tryin’ to leave us? Don’t jump!” Mona shouted jokingly, laughing.
“I was just up here thinking,” Cristal said.
“Who you thinkin’ about? E.P.?” Tamar asked. “So tell us, what was it like to live like Cinderella for three days?”
“It was fun . . . really fun,” Cristal replied with joy in her tone.
“I bet it was, cuz you was too busy to answer my damn calls or call a bitch back,” Tamar said.
“Damn, he must have eaten that pussy up like it was dessert,” Mona interjected.
Enough jokes, Tamar wanted to hear details. Cristal didn’t mind giving her friends a play-by-play rundown of what went on in E.P.’s private suite. She told them about the sex they had from the balcony to the bedroom. She told them how big his dick was and how he worked that piece of hard steel inside of her. She told them about the breakfast she had every morning and dining in a five-star restaurant. She told them about the designer clothes and Vinny, the gay stylist, and the money he had. Her friends listened intently, and each one of them wished it was them who’d had that type of experience, especially Tamar.
“Bitch, you get pregnant by him yet?” Tamar joked around.
“It ain’t even that type of party, Tamar,” replied Cristal.
“It would be my type of party. Get that nigga to put a baby inside of me—shit, twins if you’re lucky—and I would be paid for life,” Tamar said.
“Well, I might have another way for us all to get paid for life,” Cristal commented.
She took another pull from the Newport and puffed out smoke. Her friends were lingering on her last statement.
“What you mean, Cristal?” Sharon asked.
“I was given the opportunity to be a part of something really big,” she said.
“And what is this?” Lisa asked.
Cristal didn’t want to tell them what it was. She was told to keep everything a secret—only to just recruit a few of her friends to come along and jump on the smoking train that was headed to success. She was giving them a chance to have gainful employment and make some serious cash—probably more cash than they had ever seen in their lives. But the jobs weren’t guaranteed, though. She had already vouched for them with E.P. and had done the initial interview. But overall, there were steps to be taken and three interviews in total for each woman to endure, and once they all got the job—hypothetically, they would work in groups. It was the way the Commission wanted it.
The Commission. Cristal felt like they were the Illuminati—too secretive and too powerful. Nevertheless, she wanted a piece of that power for herself. It was enticing and exhilarating to know something like that was within her reach.
Her crew had so many questions.
“How much we gonna get paid?” Tamar asked.
“What kind of job is it?” Mona asked.
“Where is it?” Lisa asked.
The only person who didn’t show any interest in the employment was Sharon. She seemed standoffish about everything Cristal was saying to them while everyone else seemed like they were ready to sell their soul to the devil.
The only thing Cristal was allowed to speak on were the prerequisites for the job—how they couldn’t have ever gotten their fingerprints taken, especially recently. None of them had any current arrests. Their only arrests happened when they all were minors and now, being young adults, they all had their criminal records sealed. Each girl had a clean slate with the law.
Cristal went on to say to them that they had to be able to leave town for ninety days for training without anyone reporting them missing or asking too many questions. They couldn’t have any children and they couldn’t have a significant other, like a husband, or be in any type of long-term relationship.
“What is it, fuckin’ boot camp?” Tamar blurted out.
“So many rules,” Lisa pointed out.
“But it will be worth it,” Cristal stated.
She then went on to tell everyone that they would be paid handsomely for their ninety days of training, whether they got the job or not.
“Sounds like good news to me,” Mona uttered.
“This is all too good to be true,” Sharon said. “I’m not leaving for something I didn’t apply for. We don’t even know what job this is.”
“First off, we don’t have the job yet. And second, what else do we have goin’ for us, Sharon? Huh? Look at us, barely making it out here, getting by, by the skin of our teeth. I’m sick and tired of living like this,” Cristal exclaimed. “And besides, we have to leave. I already told E.P. about y’all, and the meeting is mandatory.”
“Last time I checked, we were living in a free country, and I don’t have to do shit but stay black and die,” Sharon spat back with a fierce attitude.
“Why are you being so damn stubborn, Sharon?” Cristal hollered.
“Because, this all sounds suspect! You stay away with E.P. for days at a time and now you come back wanting us to work for him, no questions asked? Unbelievable,” she uttered. “And I’m not leaving Pike.”
“Pike? Are you fuckin’ serious, Sharon?” Cristal exclaimed.
“Yes, I’m serious, Cristal. You seem to have found the man of your dreams, so can’t the rest of us find him too?”
“Sharon, I swear, you’s a stupid-ass bitch,” Tamar reprimanded.
“Fuck you, Tamar!” Sharon cursed heatedly.
“No, fuck you!” Tamar shouted.
“Okay, enough!” Cristal screamed out. “I came to y’all for a good reason, not for us to fight and bicker on this roof.”
“You really ready to stay for a dog like Pike, Sharon?” Mona asked.
Sharon nodded.
“Stupid,” Tamar muttered.
Sharon cut her eyes at Tamar, and if she called her stupid one more time, she was ready to throw her friend off the roof. She was far from stupid, and she felt her friends were the stupid ones, in particular for leaving ninety days for a job that was a mystery. And furthermore, Sharon had waited too long for Pike. Even though she wasn’t his woman yet, she wasn’t going to jeopardize things by leaving him for ninety days, allowing Mesha to easily come back into his life. Pike may have been many things, including a horny asshole and jerk, but Sharon saw something sweet inside of him. She felt they were meant to be.
“Sharon, you gonna be a broke-ass bitch chasing behind a wack-ass nigga,” Tamar continued with her insult.
“I remember not too long ago you was chasing behind the same wack nigga, Tamar,” Sharon countered.
“And you know what, this bitch woke up and realized he ain’t even worth my time,” Tamar replied. “I’m ready to get paid.”
Sharon sighed.
Regardless of receiving an earful for being so stupid, she wasn’t going, and her mind was made up. Brooklyn was always goi
ng to be her home, no matter what.
“Listen, what I’m offering y’all is a major opportunity, and either we wit’ it or not,” Cristal interjected.
“Cristal, you know I’m wit’ it,” Tamar said.
“And you, Mona?” Cristal asked.
“Fuck it, I’m down,” Mona said.
Cristal and the others stared at Lisa, who seemed somewhat uncertain about leaving for the job in a few days. “How about you Lisa, you in or are you out?”
Lisa stood quietly for a moment. It was a difficult decision to make, especially with vague information told about their unexpected employment. She looked at each of her friends with this ambivalent feeling, and then she gazed at Sharon for a moment. Lisa was the supporter of the group, wherever Cristal or Tamar went or whatever they did, she was right behind them. It was always hard to let her friends down.
Faintly, she answered, “I’m down.”
Cristal smiled. She then looked at Sharon again for a change in her answer, but Sharon wasn’t having any parts of it. She was alone in her defiance.
“I’m not going,” Sharon reiterated sternly.
“It’s your choice, but when we come back from training, making that serious paper and pushing our nice whips, don’t come crying to us for help then, Sharon,” said Cristal.
“I won’t. I’m cool with my decision. I feel it is y’all that is making the mistake,” she retorted.
“Whatever,” uttered Tamar.
“I’m goin’ back inside. It’s getting chilly out here, and I need to get high,” Mona said.
Lisa and Sharon followed behind her, but Cristal and Tamar lingered on the rooftop. When the girls were out of sight, Tamar pivoted toward her friend and asked, “Now that they’re gone, let’s you and I talk.”
“About what?” Cristal asked.
“This job opportunity. I know you weren’t wit’ E.P. for half a week and you only come back with half the information. So what gives?”
“I can’t speak on that at the moment, Tamar.”
“And why not? We’ve been best friends since grade school, and we always shared everything. We never kept anything from each other, Cristal,” Tamar replied with emotion.
“I know, but this is different.”
“What’s different about it?”
“It’s just different, Tamar,” Cristal repeated.
“I see. You get wit’ E.P. and all of a sudden you wanna act CIA and shit, right?”
From Cristal’s understanding, it seemed like they were about to get into some CIA shit. The Commission, the secrets, the killings; yeah, Cristal felt she was about to be thrust into a James Bond movie. Cristal was well-versed: E.P. had steadfastly instructed her that information would be released in stages while they were in training camp, and that she must not, under any circumstances, reveal to anyone that the real employment was to carry out the murders of people so high up that the Commission didn’t want to get their hands dirty. The targets would range from Wall Street players, investment bankers, husbands who were cheating and wanted their wives out of the way once and for all, employees with grudges against their bosses, and good old-fashioned drug dealers who wanted to wipe out the competition without drawing any heat toward themselves.
The Commission’s client list was broad and limitless.
Tamar was persistent. “I’m goin’ in this thing blind, Cristal, because I trust you wit’ my life and wit’ secrets. You don’t trust me? You let this nigga E.P. come in between us and separate us after our years of friendship,” Tamar stated with conviction. “I told you things about myself that I never told anyone else. I feel I should get the same respect.”
Cristal sighed heavily.
The two best friends locked eyes. Tamar’s yearning to know the real truth started to bother Cristal. She hated lying to her friend.
Cristal lit another cigarette and took a long drag. Tamar was waiting to hear something. Cristal gazed out at Brooklyn for a moment, and then pivoted toward her friend, taking a deep breath. She fixed her eyes at Tamar without reserve and confessed, “We gonna kill people.”
“Huh?” Tamar was befuddled.
“It’s this powerful organization that does murders for hire, and they’re willing to train us and pay us as long as we do what they say and stay loyal to them,” Cristal informed.
It was weighty news to hear, but Tamar remained emotionless. “Whoa,” Tamar muttered. “That’s some heavy shit.”
“I know,” Cristal nodded her head in agreement. “But I promise it’ll be worth it.”
“We could get killed.”
“True.”
“We could get knocked.”
“That’s true too.”
“Did you ever stop to think about all of this while you were gettin’ dicked down? Did you stop to think about the proposition you were bringing to ya homegirls? Fuck it, I mean to your sisters?!”
“I have, Tamar, and I swear I can’t do this without you. If you think this is a bad deal just say the word and I’ll walk away. I’m only going if you down. Without you there is no me.” Cristal didn’t mean a word she’d just said. She was going regardless, but she realized that Tamar wanted to be begged and have her ass kissed a little.
Tamar took a couple moments to reply. “Fuck it, I’m down.”
Cristal smiled. She knew her best friend would be.
Part
Two
Day One
It felt like a new day for the four girls on their way to Ronkonkoma, Long Island via the Long Island Rail Road. It was early in the morning when the girls took the subway to Jamaica station in Queens, and then transferred to the LIRR. When they stepped out of the subway and walked toward the LIRR, dawn was just about breaking in the sky.
It was a chilly summer morning, and rush hour was an hour away. The girls had an hour-long ride ahead of them into Ronkonkoma, Long Island, where they were to follow further instructions once they arrived.
The four friends packed light, overnight as Cristal advised them to do. They all were dressed in jeans, sneakers, and long-sleeved shirts, with hair styled into ponytails—looking like plain Janes.
The next train leaving for their destination was at 6am. The girls had about an hour wait. Their stomachs growled from hunger. They decided to get something to eat at a local diner around the corner. Over pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon, Cristal guaranteed to her friends once again that they were making the right choice. Their lives couldn’t keep passing by like a plane in the sky without them getting a piece of the pie.
“Y’all ready for this?” Cristal asked.
“I’m down, Cristal. I ain’t got nuthin’ else to lose. My life’s been fucked up for a long time now and if this is my chance to make it better, than I’m goin’ for it,” Mona declared.
“You don’t even have to ask me,” Tamar blurted out.
“We trust you, Cristal,” Mona added.
Lisa sat at the table quietly. She ate away at her breakfast meal bit by bit and felt somewhat apprehensive about the entire plan. Cristal noticed her friend’s distance from the table conversation and wondered what was bothering her. She assumed Lisa was having second thoughts about leaving.
“You okay, Lisa?” Cristal asked.
“I’m fine,” Lisa replied.
“You sure?” responded Cristal.
Lisa nodded.
Cristal knew her friend wasn’t fine. The look in Lisa’s eyes showed uncertainty. And she and her friends had come too far for anyone to turn back now. It was the old saying, Now or never. Cristal didn’t have the time or patience to deal with the never. She looked at the uncertainty in Lisa’s eyes and coolly said to her, “We’re in this thing together, Lisa, right?”
Lisa faintly nodded.
Cristal continued with, “Lisa, you trust me?”
“I do, Cristal,”
she responded.
“No, do you really trust me, and believe that I would never let anything happen to you? You’re my friend and I love you like a sister. We came up together and we gonna succeed together, and we either go into this thing together and wholeheartedly, or we don’t do this at all,” Cristal asserted heartily.
Lisa smiled. “I’m in this thing wit’ you, Cristal. I’m ready, too. I want something different in my life.”
“What did you tell your parents?” Cristal asked.
“That I’m moving in wit’ my new boyfriend and he live in the Bronx,” she replied.
Cristal chuckled.
“Yeah, they nearly had a heart attack. We got into a heated argument, so I packed my things and just left. It explains my absence for ninety days,” Lisa said.
“So we gonna do this and do it right.”
“It would definitely feel better if Sharon was here,” Mona said.
“Fuck her!” Tamar cursed. “She made her fuckin’ choice and so did we.”
Cristal agreed.
The girls finished off their breakfast and left the diner feeling a lot better. They had fifteen minutes until their train departed for Ronkonkoma. In their eyes, they might as well been leaving for Germany. They didn’t know shit about Long Island or anywhere else. Brooklyn and Harlem were the only two places they had ever known in life.
The ride on the LIRR to Ronkonkoma was relaxing and stress-free. The seats were comfortable, and the ever-changing scenery as they passed through town after town was soothing. Finally, their destination was almost the last stop on the line. When they stepped out of the major railroad station on Lakeland Street, it felt like they were in Mayberry and were waiting to see Andy Griffith come greet them.
Ronkonkoma was a hamlet near the tip of Long Island, in the town of Islip, Suffolk County, New York. White people were everywhere, smiling, looking jolly like Santa Claus and hurrying to their purpose of the day. The four girls felt like fish out of water; everything was strange and new to them. The instructions given to Cristal once they arrived in town were to go to a Baptist Church located five miles away from the railroad station. There wasn’t any pick-up service for them. They had to find their own way to the church.
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