Zero Degrees Part 3: Miss Murderess

by Leo Sullivan

  “ Pssst, pssst.” I looked up, it was the old black man that had seen me jump out the car. He was in the next yard leaning up against the fence with a tooth pick in his mouth, baseball hat cucked to the side, old school. He spoke in a raspy thick baritone, “You need some help with that man.” My knees almost buckled. I was almost at the back door.... Then I heard it a voice that sent chills down my body,

  “Hey, you, stop!”

  It was a cop. I froze, afraid to move, afraid to get shot. Then I heard more commotion, the sound of footsteps moving fast. The dogs were going berserk. I stole a glance over my shoulder, the old black man was gone. But the police had the woman hemmed up I could see the bundle of my clothes wrapped up in her hands in something. For a brief moment, she turned and looked at me with a warning glare just as I made it to the back door and stumbled inside. I fell on the floor and crawled over to the window, with my hand shaking badly. I peered out the curtain. What I saw made my stomach do a summersault. The entire back yard was filled with cops coming from everywhere. They had converged on the shed looking for me. The woman was talking to them. Her hands moved animatedly as she gestured, pointing. I stood, frantically looking for a place to hide as shadows moved across the wall, the police walking past the window. Again, I took a chance and peered out the window looking for the woman. That's when I saw the cop headed for the door and I realized it was unlocked. I scurried across the floor on my hands and knees and locked the door.

  Click!

  Just in the nick of time! The police knocked and turned the door knob. Thank God I locked it. I expelled a deep breath and relaxed on the floor when he walked off. My body ached, I was tired.

  The room was barren except for a couch, a few tables and chairs. In the corner, a wide screen television blared. The Game was on BET. I headed up the staircase to my right with the duffle bag in hand. I found a spacious room. A large king sized bed was adorned with satin red sheets and pillows. The room smelled of scented Jasmine.

  Again, directly overhead the sound of a police helicopter blades reverberated like it was about to land on the roof. Then the sound disappeared and all I could do was listen to my heartbeat pounding in my ears. I tossed the heavy duffle bag in the closet and once again peeked out the window. To my relief, I saw the woman walking through the gate. She walked with a black woman’s swag, lilting strides on the balls of her feet, like there was a lot of bounce in her ounce. And she had ass for days. She walked like a man should be happy to see her.

  I was.

  __________

  I ran down stairs and watched through the curtain as she approached the door. I unlocked the door and she walked in, panting like she had run a block or two. Tiny beads of sweat shimmered on her forehead

  “The police had you, how did you get away?” I ask and cautiously peeked out the window.

  She cucked her head to the side and sassed, “Nigga what you mean the police had me?! They almost had your ass if it wasn't for me.”

  “Huh?” I gasped quizzically and stared at her.

  Even with her hair in braids, she was one of the most beautiful women I had ever seen. For the first time, I noticed the piercings in her eyebrow and cheeks. She had a tattoo of the currency version of a dime tattooed on her right shoulder. Meaning, literally, she was a dime. I guessed her age to be anywhere between twenty-five and thirty-five.

  “I took those bloody clothes you had on and dragged them on the ground for two blocks. I had them wrapped in a sheet. I threw them in the bushes and jogged back here.”

  “Damn,” was all I could manage to say.

  “It worked too, because I saw the dogs pick up on the scent. Plus, it didn't hurt none that when they had me in the yard, I told them several different stories about seeing dudes running who matched your description.” I was taken aback by her intelligence. She was hood, but she was smart, her intelligence superseded everything else. That's why it was hard to judge her age.

  She leaned forward and whispered, “now tell me, what did you do with all that money.”

  “It’s upstairs in the bedroom.” She took my hand and led me. I followed like a child. Clung to this woman that that I didn't know who risked her life to rescue me.

  As she walked up the stairs, I couldn't resist watching the sway of her hips and plump round bodacious ass bouncing like jelly.

  When we entered the room, she dropped the bomb on me when she said, “The police wanted to come in and search my house.”

  “W... what did you tell them?” I heard my voice tremble.

  “I know my fuckin' rights; they need a search warrant to come up in this bitch.”

  “That’s what you told them?” I asked petrified.

  “Hell, naw'll nigga! What you think I'm stupid. I told them if I saw anything suspicious I would call them.”

  I expelled a deep sigh of relief that was short lived when she replied.

  “He told me they’re going to do a house to house search of the area and if they don't find you, they'll be coming back here to the housing area-”

  “Whaat!?” I exclaimed.

  “We just gotta find a way to get you outta here.” She said in a sultry voice and reached up, to take the wig off I had on. I had forgotten all about it. I took the dress off and she stared at my muscular chest and six-pack abs. She drawled, “Damn you fine as fuck and you look like a baby too. How old are you?” She flirted, smiling for the first time.

  I tried not to stare at her breast. Tiny nipples like raisins protruded hard through the thin material of her dress.

  I pulled away from her, determined not to be lassoed by the wiles of her charm; determined to find a way out.

  “Twenty two,” I finally said. “My name is Bryce... Thank you for helping me.” I resisted the urge to look out the window. She responded coyly taking a step toward me.

  “My name is Tanya and you can thank me if you make it out this house alive. The police say you’re responsible for killing two cops and critically wounding a security guard. Plus, they took a body out of the getaway car y’all crashed, but you don't look like no killer to me.” She stroked her breast seductively and I couldn't help wondering what the fuck was turning her on so much about me. She added, “The least you can do is tell me your side of the story.”

  Her voice purred like a melody. For some reason, it struck an emotional nerve in me. My mouth opened like a flood gate of words.

  “ I'm not a killah, I was only supposed to drive the getaway car, but Steve backed out at the last minute, so my uncle Ray asked me to take his place and go in the bank with him-” .

  “And you killed two cops?” She interrupted.

  “I didn't kill nobody”. I interjected out of frustration. I ran my fingers through my short cropped nappy hair, as overhead, the sound of helicopters flying by was maddening, driving me crazy as this woman Tanya was. Then something dawned on me, she was too beautiful I thought as I looked at the slight swell of her stomach and wondered again, if she was pregnant.

  “You got a boyfriend?'

  Her entire expression changed, she shifted her feet and responded tersely.

  “I got a nigga I fuck with, but like all men, he ain't shit. Only come around when he wants something. I ain't seen King in weeks-”

  “King?” I asked

  “Yeah, that's his name, but as far as I'm concerned, he can't come back here. That was just three years of my life that was a waste. I waited eighteen months for his bitch ass when he went to jail and he came home and dogged my ass with another bitch. An ugly bad-body bitch at that.” She spat. Her words had taken her on a bad road down memory line.

  I could tell she was still in love with the nigga named King and something I'd said had stirred her anger. I peered out the window and saw a cop walking across the yard. I said honestly once again, appreciating this woman for what she did.

  “Thank you for help-”

  “Will you stop saying that!”

  “Well you did.”

  “What you don't unders
tand is, I have a son in prison-”

  “A son?” I blurted out. She was a lot older than I thought. She continued, “I have a brother in prison, a nephew in prison, my fuckin' dad is in federal prison serving LIFE. So I helped you because it came from my heart, I had to. I’m tired of seeing niggas going to jail, plus you fine as fuck.” She smiled at me.

  “I don't know how I'm going to be able to pay you back for risking your life and all.”

  She snaked her neck, gyrating her hand. “Hello! Duh, monee, greenbacks dollar bills y'all.” She caroled in a sing song voice. “I got mad love for y'all brothas, but love ain't going to pay my rent.”

  Her luscious lips hinted at a smile. Damn she was nice looking, I couldn't help thinking again as I walked over to the closet to retrieve the duffle bag with the money. Her eyes got big as silver dollars when I tossed the bag on the bed and bundles of hundred dollar bills spilled out.

  “Oh, mi-God!!” She exclaimed grabbing her heart and swaying on her feet like she was about to pass out.

  “How much is it?” She finally asked.

  “I dunno, bout a million dollars.”

  “M...m...million.” She stuttered.

  “How much of it do you want?”

  She blushed with ivory teeth and dimples and pushed up on me, her ample breast pressed tight against my chest. I could smell the humid scent of her body.

  “How much do you want to give me?” She cooed with eyes of a seductress. I felt her hand on my belt buckle. Then she bristled in a breathy voice before I could answer, “how about a hundred thousand. With that you get everythang,” her tongue curled. I saw the tongue ring sparkle in her mouth. “I’ll even sneak you outta here past the cops.”

  Tanya was attempting to run game on me. After all, she was older, she was smarter, and she was a hood chick that knew her advantages as well as her disadvantages. I didn't know what lurked in the mind of a woman when there is a million dollars lying on her bed ready for the taking. What she didn't know was that I didn't give a fuck about the million dollars. All I needed was the seventy five thousand dollars to save Sierra.

  “Take the money.” I said. Her jaw dropped in shock as her mouth opened with no words. She quickly recovered and began to jump for joy,

  “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I'ma make sure you get all the head you want, ass you want, you like anal, you can get that too if your dick ain't to big.” She exhorted excitedly and jumped into my arms.

  Til this day, I don't know how she equated sex for the money I was giving her. Sex was the last thing on my mind. She pulled away from me.

  “You gone help me count it?” She asked with gaiety, then gave me a peck on the cheek.

  “I trust you... gone head and count it.” I said, the whole while I was listening for noises, imagining the door being kicked in. I was scared. Just then my cell phone rang in my pocket, startling both of us. I looked at the number.

  “Fuck!”

  “Who is dat, your girl?” Tanya asked.

  “Sorta, it's my old girl.” I responded and answered the phone.

  “Hi Ma!”

  “Lawd-Jesus-God-haf-mercy! Boy what have you done!?” She was crying hysterically. I swallowed the lump in my throat.

  “Ma, I ain't did nothin'-”

  “You telling a damn lie. Have you seen the news?”

  “The news.” I repeated like a parrot and mouthed to Tanya to turn the television on. She did, and searched the stations for the local news. It didn't take her long to find it. There was a rickety video of the bank robbery shoot out, it was taken with a cellphone camera. Then there was a picture of my face captured as I took the mask off.

  “Oh, shit!”

  CHAPTER FIVE: FROM BAD TO WORSE

  “Is that you?” Tanya asked mesmerized as she stared at the screen. She sat down and piles of money fell on the floor.

  “Ma, is they lookin' fo me?” I said in a strained voice. Listening to my mother cry was the most painful feeling in the world. A gale of emotion overwhelmed me and I felt my eyes well with tears.

  “No... not yet” . She cried harder. “But there is only going to be a matter of time before somebody figures out it's you in the picture.”

  “Mama, I'm sorry...” I said sorrowfully and really meant it.

  Tanya turned around from looking at the television and exulted in admiration,

  “Damn!! Y'all niggas gun smoked the shit out the police. Yo young ass a gangsta for real, huh boo?” She grinned.

  I turned my head, walked over towards the closet and tried to whisper.

  “Mama, you at the hospital... how is Sierra doing?” I heard my mama sniffle back tears.

  Tanya turned and blasted me with her anger. “Nigga I just know you ain't askin' bout no bitch in my house, in front of me.”

  That did it. In my eyes, she would forever be an official Hood Rat! I wanted to walk over and slap the shit out of her. But I didn't, instead, I gave her my back.

  “Sierra is in bad shape, she had an allergic reaction to the medication... she keeps askin' about you... Lawd, God, what sho'll doin ta' me.” My mom cried maudlin tears that crushed my heart.

  “Can I speak to her?” I asked. My voice trembled. Tanya turned around and looked at me with envy. Just then, my little girl’s voice came over the phone, she sounded weak. She was only four years old.

  “Hi Daddy, you said you was coming to get me today.”

  I choked up. I walked to the other side of the bed room. I could feel Tanya's eyes following me.

  “Baby, daddy is going to come get you... I promise. You just hang in there and be a big girl for me.”

  “Daddy, I don't feel good. I wanna come home with you and Grandma.”

  “I know baby... I'ma come get you...” A tear slid down my check. “I promise I'ma find a way to come get you.”

  “When? I don't like it herrrre.” She pouted somberly.

  “Just promise Daddy you’re gone be a big girl, I'ma come get you soon. I love you...”

  “I love you too...Daddy.” I could hear her start crying when she passed the phone.

  My mom returned on the phone. “ What are you going to do?” She asked distraughtly.

  “Ma, I'm going to do what I set out to do.” I said with tears in my eyes.

  “Where is your uncle Ray, I bet he has something to do with this.”

  “Mama, I gotta get off the phone... I love you.”

  “I love you too.” She continued to sob.

  I hung up the phone a broken man, a shallow husk of my former self. I didn't want to tell my mother what happened to her brother. She would find out soon enough. I remembered something that Tanya had said. I turned on her with the wrath of my anger bristling.

  “Sierra is my four year old daughter. You gotta fuckin' problem with her?!!”

  Tanya cringed like she had been hit with a body blow.

  “Ohh, I'm so sorry. Seriously, I didn't know, I thought you was trying me.” Then she added. “I know this must be taking a toll on you and her mom dealing with this.”

  “Her mom passed away two years ago from Wilson’s disease which causes cirrhosis of the liver... now my daughter has it, it's hereditary...” Again, I fought the ebb and tide of emotions that threatened to draw me into a sea of pain as I stated, “the doctors say she has less than a thirty percent chance of living.”

  Tanya didn't answer, just looked at me with a blank stare, then cast a long glance down at the floor. As she wrung her hands together she muttered, “baby, I'm truly sorry”.

  “It’s a damn shame, the United States has a system where you have to get on a waiting list. Sierra is one thousand four hundred on the waiting list for a liver donor, regardless of the fact that she's a child.”

  “You’re going to hav'ta pray about it and ask God for help baby.”

  “I’m tired of praying and asking God, and doctors and anybody that would listen for help. That's why I robbed the bank”.

  “For money to save Sierra?” She inquired
.

  “You damn right! I met a doctor at the hospital, a white dude, cool as shit. He told me how I could get help. He even helped me make the arrangements with the people in Venezuela to buy a liver and have the surgery done at the hospital there.”

  “But you don't want to do that and risk your child’s life.” She responded.

  “I damn sure don't want her to wait on that long ass waiting list that will take years; years Sierra does not have.”

  “Humph.” Tanya shook her head like she got it.

  “Rich white folks have been doing it for years. It's cheaper over there and their health record is much better than the United States. People have been getting heart transplants, face lifts, you name it. And, I found a donor. A farmer, his little girl was struck by a car. She is permanently brain dead, she's in a coma. He wants ten thousand dollars for her liver, the blood type is the same as my little girl’s, it would be much cheaper to let her die because it cost money to keep the little girl on the life support system, money the poor famer doesn't have. I told him I would come up with the money in a week. The hospital will perform the surgery for fifty thousand dollars...”

  “That’s only sixty thousand dollars. You said you needed seventy five thousand dollars. What are you going to do with the rest of the fifteen thousand?”

  “I’m takin’ Sierra to Walt Disney World.” I said confidently.

  Tanya got off the bed and sashayed over to me.

  “Wow, you a gangsta fo-reel. A gangsta with a heart. A bitch be liking that wild shit.”

  “Don’t know about that, but I just love my daughter. And now all this happened.”

  “You still got a chance. If you hadn't told me that was a picture of you on TV. I wouldn’t have ever known it.”

  “But my mom noticed it.”

  “That’s your mama boy. I don't think nobody will be able to know that it's you.”

  “For real?” I asked, feeling some solace in her words. Tanya placed a comforting hand on the nape of my neck and began caressing me. “Relax you’re tense, loosen up.” She said.