by Kiki Swinson
“What do you mean the security guard got ’em?” Juice wanted clarity. He didn’t budge.
“Listen, a fucking cop came from out of nowhere and shot Preech in the back twice. When he fell down on the floor, his gun fell out of his hand,” I continued to lie. I had to make this story sound believable. It was do or die.
“Where the fuck was you at?” Juice grilled me as we sat there in the car like sitting ducks. I had to look around a couple of times just to make sure I hadn’t been followed or the police were close by.
“I was running ahead of him. I told him to come on and right when he was trying to get out of the front door a cop came from out of nowhere and started busting shots at us. Preech was behind me so he was the one that took the hits,” I explained.
“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” Juice roared as he punched the steering wheel of our getaway car.
“Look, Juice, we gotta go. I know the cops is on the way,” I yelled, while I started looking around the surrounding area. I figured if this asshole didn’t leave in the next couple of seconds, we were both gonna be somebody’s bitch in jail. “Do you wanna go to fucking jail?” I yelled once more. I was getting aggravated with this idiot.
“Fuck no!” he spat.
“Well, let’s get the fuck out of here then,” I roared, and then I turned around in my seat to get a look through the back window just to make sure no one was coming.
Juice finally snapped out of it and sped off in the car. I looked through the back window to see if someone had come out of the bank looking for me, but after driving down two blocks I realized that we were in the clear. But Juice wasn’t too happy about the turn of events. “We gotta call Matt and tell him we lost Preech,” he suggested through clenched teeth. He was livid that Preech hadn’t made it out of the bank. At one point, I thought he was going to suspect that I had something to do with it when he said, “I can’t believe Preech got hit and you didn’t.”
I could tell that he was testing me.
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” I hissed.
“I’m just saying that ain’t like him because he’s always on guard.”
“Listen, nigga, I took all the fucking risks. I was the one in the fucking vault getting all the money so of course I’m gonna be the first one to leave the bank. I told you he was right behind me when that fucking cop started busting his burner at us,” I replied sarcastically. I gave Juice the evil eye to make my story believable.
He looked at me and then he looked back at the road ahead of us. “Man, fuck this, I’m calling Kanan,” he said as he pulled his cell phone from his pocket.
I knew I couldn’t let Juice get Kanan on the phone. If he did, then this whole heist wasn’t going to end well. It might even cost me my life, so I knew I needed to think of something quick. But what could I say? Then it came to me. “You may wanna wait until we get back to the house to talk to the guys,” I said.
“Why the fuck would I wanna do that?”
“Because we just committed a fucking robbery and the cops are all over Preech right about now. So you know they got his phone and since everybody’s fucking number is in it, it ain’t gonna be hard to track us down with the cell phone towers all around us,” I told him. I searched his face to see if I was getting into his head. I could tell he was thinking about what I was saying. “All they have to do is take your number and get the cell phone company to run data on your GPS to see if you were in the area where the robbery took place. And when they find out that you were, you’re gonna be fucked. And while I’m thinking, you might wanna turn it off and get rid of it.”
“Nah, fuck that, I’m keeping my phone,” he protested.
“Well, so be it. But don’t say anything to me when Matt jumps down your throat for not taking precautions. Believe me, he knows all about the cell phone towers being able to track down cell phones through their GPS systems. And if the cops get a track on you and you bring the cops back to that house, I know Matt will kill you for sure,” I scolded him.
Juice thought for a few more seconds and then he said, “Ugh! Fuck!” And then he took his phone back into his pants pockets. “I can’t believe this shit! Fuck!” he growled, and then he tossed his phone from the window.
“Smart move,” I commented, hoping he’d think that I was concerned with his well-being. He didn’t go for it, though.
“You think what I just did was a smart move?” I knew he was being sarcastic but I let it roll off my back.
“You fucking right I do.”
“Well, it wasn’t. The smart move would’ve been leaving out of that motherfucking bank with my homeboy Preech. And now that nigga is hurt all up and getting ready to go before a motherfucking judge. Dem crackers ain’t gonna ever let my boy out. He’s fucked!” Juice roared, and then he started punching the steering wheel again with his fists. “I can’t believe they got him. This shit ain’t right, man. I knew Kanan should’ve come with us, then Preech would probably be with us right now.”
“You got this money, right?” I said, and pointed to the backpacks on my lap.
“Yeah.”
“Well, use your part to get him a decent-ass lawyer. Trust me, he’ll be all right if you did that,” I suggested.
“Yeah, that’s what I’m gon’ do. I’m gon’ get him one of those high-powered lawyers that be buying the judges and shit. He’d be good then,” Juice said. He was beginning to feel optimistic. I guess my pep talk was doing the job after all. Fucking sucker!
* * *
Juice took the highway and put the pedal to the metal. By the speed at which he was driving I knew that we’d be back at Matt’s hideaway in the middle of the cornfield in the next fifteen minutes or maybe sooner. So I had to think quickly. How was I going to get rid of Juice before we got back to the house? I knew getting him to make a detour would be out of the question, so I thought of the next best thing.
“Hey, Juice, get off on this next exit.”
“Bitch, are you fucking crazy? I ain’t stopping this car,” Juice huffed.
“Listen, you fucking asshole! I’m gonna need you to pull over to the next gas station you see so I can check to make sure ain’t no sensors on this fucking money in these backpacks,” I explained to him.
“Why the fuck can’t you do it while I’m driving?”
“Because there might be ink bombs in here. And you don’t want that shit exploding in this fucking car, do you?”
Juice thought for a second, and then he said, “Look, as soon as I pull over you better hurry up and check that shit so we can get back on the road. I know them niggas is waiting on us to bring this dough back to them.”
“All right,” I said, knowing goodness well that I had another plan for this dumb motherfucker!
Juice took the next exit off I-64. The exit was Deep Creek Boulevard. The next major intersection was Military Highway, so I told Juice to pull over on the street before we got to Military Highway. The name of the street was Yadkin Road and on that street was a Baptist church. The facility was closed, thank God, so I told him to pull in the back of the building. As he drove around back, I looked around the parking lot to make sure that there weren’t any surveillance cameras visible. When I noticed that there weren’t any, I told Juice to stop the car. Immediately after he stopped the car, I grabbed both backpacks and got out. I dropped both bags on the ground while the door was ajar. “What the fuck are you doing?” he questioned me suspiciously.
“Nothing. Just give me a minute. I wanna check the bags out just to make sure that there aren’t any tracking devices between the stacks of money,” I told him. That was the only logical reason I could come up with that would make sense. So while I reached down on the ground and unzipped the first backpack slowly, Juice sat back and continued to eye me shadily. I immediately felt like a child being chastised. Anger welled up inside of me like a pot about to boil over. I wanted to ask him why the hell was he watching me like that, but I left well enough alone.
Once the bag was opened, I sift
ed through it with my hands, pretending to be careful but at the same time knowing that there wasn’t anything in the bag that could’ve harmed either one of us. “Is that one good?” Juice didn’t waste any time asking me.
I let out a long sigh. “Yeah, that one is clean,” I told him as I zipped the backpack back up. Then I reached over to the other bag and unzipped that one carefully too. Once again, Juice watched my every move. I sifted through the bag with my hand slowly and when I completed the search, I looked up at him and told him that we were good.
“Well, come on and let’s get out of here,” he said anxiously.
While I was zipping up the second backpack, I looked over his shoulder, indicating that I saw something. My actions triggered him to turn around and look back. Immediately after he turned his head, I pulled the gun Preech gave me from my pocket and pointed directly at Juice. And as soon as he turned back around he looked at me. “Yo, what the fuck y . . .” Juice started, his mouth curled like he was about to say the word you. BOOM! I didn’t give him a chance to say another word. His words were cut short after the shot rang out. One singular shot had landed in his head. It was finally over. I flinched when the gun had erupted in my hand. It was more of a physical reaction, rather than an emotional or mental one. When I saw all of the blood and brain matter gushing from his head, I didn’t cringe or barely move, much less scream. I was extremely numb. Numb from all of the mental anguish I’d endured from the hands of his boss.
After his lifeless body slumped over the steering wheel, I felt the powerful reverberation from the gunshot. I sat just there, staring. The sight of him brought joy to my heart. Now he wasn’t able to cause me any harm. Next up was Kanan and then Matt. I hadn’t thought about what I was going to do with Lisa yet. But I was quite sure I would think of something. I couldn’t have her around messing my chances of leaving, or going to the cops for that matter. I guessed I’d cross that bridge when I got there.
21
TIME TO GO TO PLAN B
I threw the gun onto the passenger seat and scurried around the car to the driver’s side. As soon as I opened the driver’s side door Juice’s body fell out onto the ground, headfirst. I heard a loud thud.
Blood was everywhere. I had no idea how I was going to drive this freaking car with all the blood and brain matter all over the place. “Ugh! Why didn’t I lure him out of the fucking car?” I asked myself.
Frustrated, I went to the trunk of the car and searched it for something to clean off the front windshield and the fucking steering wheel. Luckily, I found some old wash towels and an old wool blanket. I tried with all my might to clean off as much of Juice’s blood and body tissue with the towels. After much wiping, most of it came up. There was a lot of blood smears, but it was better than how it was before I started wiping the car down. Once I was done, I threw the wool blanket across the driver’s seat, grabbed Juice’s gun from his pocket while he was still lying dead on the ground, and hopped inside the car. Thank God I had on gloves or else I wouldn’t have been able to drive that car anywhere with the residue of Juice’s blood smeared all over.
I sped out of the church parking lot and headed straight back to the house Matt, Kanan, and Lisa were hiding out in. I took my time driving back to the destination so I could figure out how I was going to make the trade-off with Matt and make it out alive. I knew he was going to have a lot of questions, especially since I was returning without Juice and Preech. And once he saw all the blood left in the car, I knew he wasn’t going to be too happy about the mess I made. I worried this might even send him and Kanan over the edge.
“Come on, Lauren, you gotta think this thing out straight,” I said out loud to give myself a pep talk. “You gotta do this thing right. You can’t make any wrong moves. No mistakes,” I continued while I tried to figure out a master plan.
I looked at the money on the passenger seat and thought about what I could do with it if I was able to get away with it. I would be set for life. And I wouldn’t make any slip-ups this time around. No one from this area would ever be able to find me again, especially with all this money. I was talking about living completely under the radar. People with money who don’t want to be found do it all the time. So I guessed I’d be added to that list.
Five minutes into the drive, it finally hit me. Since I didn’t have a phone to call Matt or Kanan, I decided that I’d pull up to the house and beep the horn. When Kanan and Matt came outside, I’d gun both of their asses down in cold blood and then I’d run into the house and get my baby. If Lisa wanted to play hero, then she’d get a bullet too.
“You can do it, Lauren. You can do it.” I pumped myself up as I drove the car down the highway.
Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! I screamed in my mind after I saw an unmarked cop car parked on the side of the road about one mile from the house where Matt was. There was only one person in the car, from what I could see. I was driving up behind him so I only saw the back of his head. My first instinct was to step on the brakes, turn this fucking car around, and go in the opposite direction. I couldn’t let him stop me from getting back to my son. This was my last chance to get my baby. But then I realized that I had on a disguise and I was wearing sunshades so the cop wouldn’t be able to see who I was even if he wanted to.
I slowed down a bit so the cop couldn’t get me for speeding. I kept my head straight, looking at the road in front of me. My heart was beating like crazy. My stomach was twisted in knots too. But I knew I had to remain calm. My freedom depended on it.
As I drove by the cop car, through my peripheral vision I saw him move. It was a sudden move and it caused me to look in his direction; something I was trying not to do. When I peered into his car, I noticed that he looked flushed in the face. He even looked like he saw a fucking ghost. He looked like he was just as surprised to see me as I was to see him. Three seconds after I began searching his face for a reason as to why he was parked on the side of the road, I saw more movement from behind him. I turned my head slightly to the right of him and out popped a chick who looked like a bona fide prostitute. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and then she smiled at me. I knew what that meant. She was giving that cop some head. I looked back at him and smiled, letting him know that I was cool with whatever he was doing, especially since he had another agenda. I let out a sigh of relief and continued on toward the house so I could deal with Matt.
22
THE FINAL EXCHANGE
Even though I wanted to get my son and leave, I dreaded driving back up to this freaking house. Going back to the house meant that I was putting my life on the line, as well as my son’s. In the back of my mind, something told me that Matt wasn’t going to let me go free after I gave him this money. To him, the issue was deeper than money. He was upset that I’d left him and started my life over with someone else. So I knew he wasn’t going to let bygones be bygones. He wasn’t that type of guy. He was a fucking rebel with no heart. So how was I going to beat him? I knew that whatever plan my mind came up with had to be solid.
With Preech and Juice out of the way, all I needed to take care of was Kanan. But how was I going to do that? He was at the house with Matt and Lisa. There was no way I’d be able to fight all of them by myself. No way. Then it came to me. I needed to lure Kanan out of the house. Then and only then would I be able to eliminate his ass from the equation.
I started down the long dirt road that led to the house. It seemed like the closer I got, the more my stomach turned. Even the hair on my arm stood up. Something told me that this wasn’t going to be as easy as I wanted it to be. Someone was going to fuck up the rhythm. I just knew it.
I finally reached the house. I parked the car about one hundred feet away. I also left the engine running while I blew the horn. I wanted to get everyone’s attention in the house. I was hoping that I could make the trade and leave.
Kanan peered out the window on the side of the house in the den area. Seconds later, Matt appeared at the back door. Lisa didn’t show her face at all.
“Whatcha blowing for? Come on in the house,” Matt said.
“Nah, send Lisa out here with my son and then we can make the exchange,” I instructed him.
He wasn’t too happy with my response. He totally disregarded my request. “Where is Preech and Juice?” Matt wanted to know.
“The cops got them. I was the only one that got away,” I lied as I yelled from the driver’s-side window.
“That’s bullshit! How the fuck did you get away?” Matt yelled from the back door.
“All of us went inside the bank. . . .” I began to say, but Matt cut me off.
“That wasn’t how it was supposed to go down. Bring your ass in this motherfucking house now!” Matt’s voice boomed.
“Look, Matt, I just came back to give you this money. I don’t want no problems. Just send Lisa out here so I can make the trade with her,” I asked respectfully.
Being respectful didn’t matter to Matt. When he wanted things to go his way that was how it was going to be. “Bitch, bring your motherfucking ass in this fucking house before I snap your fucking son’s neck!” he hissed through clenched teeth. I could tell that his blood was boiling.
A few moments later, Kanan came outside by himself. “Get me my money. And bring that bitch in this fucking house,” I heard Matt say to Kanan.
“I don’t want no problems.” I yelled out toward Kanan and Matt both. I was nervous as fuck because I knew that as soon as Kanan got close to the car, he was going to notice all the blood and blow my cover.
“It ain’t gonna be no problems,” Kanan said while he was walking toward the car. I noticed that he was empty-handed, which was baffling because Matt always required his boys to stay strapped at all times. I figured he was trying to fake me out or something.
The closer he came toward me the more he concentrated on my movement. He knew I was strapped with a gun so he wanted to be very careful. “Come on, Lauren, let’s do the right thing. Give me the money and let’s go inside,” Kanan said the moment he got within three feet of me. But before I could respond, his facial expression changed. He stopped in his tracks and that’s when I knew he noticed blood on the front windshield and dashboard. “What the fuck!” he said. Then he turned and looked back at the house. “Yo, Matt, there’s blood in the car,” he yelled.
