Deep

by C. N. Phillips

  She stared into her father’s warm face and noticed that he must have gotten his brush cut lined up and his beard trimmed while they were out handling business earlier that day. He was looking debonair and sophisticated even in his clean night clothes. It didn’t bother her that he primped himself while they were out putting in work; it pleased her that he wasn’t worried about them. It showed the faith that he had in their skills. What bothered her was that he’d kept the contents of what they were stealing a secret.

  “In two days,” Quinton told her, clasping his hands together. “The drop happens at one o’clock on Friday. In Miami.”

  “Miami!” Rhonnie exclaimed. “That drive is like twenty-four hours!”

  “Twenty-three,” Quinton corrected her. “And that’s the reason why we need to rest up, because we are leaving first thing in the morning.”

  Ahli wanted the drugs gone, but she didn’t say that she wanted to move it that soon. The two girls would barely have enough time to recuperate from the job they had just done before they would be on another one. Still, she knew better than to argue with her father. She had more respect for him than that. Rhonnie, on the other hand, just couldn’t seem to contain her thoughts.

  “Tomorrow? How does Uncle Lance even know these people are good for their word?” Rhonnie asked skeptically.

  “Because your Uncle Lance has never steered me wrong. Ever.” Quinton winked at Rhonnie. “Now shut up and listen.”

  Both Rhonnie and Ahli got quiet, knowing that their father was about to brief them on how things would go the next day. He usually didn’t go on jobs, but he felt like he had no choice but to be present for the one at hand. He explained to them that they would take two cars and leave thirty minutes apart. He told them that the drugs would be hidden in the car with them, just to stay on the safe side of things. Quinton knew he had eyes on him because he wasn’t supposed to leave the state; however, he knew his parole officer, Beverly, would let him slide. Still, the last thing he needed was to get pulled over with two bags of bricks in his vehicle.

  Risky as it seemed he knew, as long as Ahli drove, the girls would be all right. He already booked them separate rooms at the Hilton. When they got there they were to park in the back of the hotel and check in like normal, but leave the duffle bags of drugs in the car. Afterward, they were to shower and stay in their room until he called them.

  “Sounds easy enough,” Ahli said, nodding, seemingly pleased with the plan.

  “They always seem easy,” Rhonnie said, standing and stretching her arms wide. “But are they ever easy? No. I’m going to bed since we have to be back up in like six hours. Night, y’all.” She didn’t wait for them to say it back before she made her exit.

  Quinton sighed and shook his head. “That girl doesn’t know how badly I want to ring her neck sometimes,” he said aloud and mostly to himself.

  “She’s just young, Daddy,” Ahli said. “She loves the money, but sometimes I think she had to grow up too fast.”

  “Yeah.” He sighed, rubbing his hands together. “I never wanted this for you girls. It just seemed like the only way back then.”

  “I know, Daddy.” Ahli shrugged her shoulders. “But it’s just what we have to do for now. Nobody knew Mommy was going to die or that we would have to struggle the way that we were. That’s not your fault and I understand why you brought us into your world. And until you get right, I don’t mind going in your place.”

  Quinton smiled at his oldest daughter. She was a compelling young woman, just like her mother had been. He admired the fact that she wasn’t scared to get her hands dirty to feed her family. When it came to Rhonnie or him, she turned into an untamed beast. He’d seen firsthand what her aim could do to the opposition. She was a natural when it came to gunplay, and she was an asset to his little team of thieves.

  “I know you understand the game, LaLa, but try to tell all that to your sister.”

  “She’s still a kid living the life of an adult,” Ahli told him. “She wants to enjoy her youth, and it seems like time is winding down. I keep telling her just a couple more jobs and we won’t have to do this anymore. Give her a couple of days. Once she sees all that money she’ll be all right.”

  She stood up and planted a kiss on Quinton’s forehead before she too bounded up the stairs, leaving him lost in his thoughts.

  * * *

  “Sister, wake up.” An impatient voice invaded Rhonnie’s dreams.

  She groaned, trying to roll over and bury her body deeper into her lavender fleece cover. It literally felt like she had just closed her eyes and that sleep hadn’t even found her yet. All she wanted was to stay lost behind her eyelids and forget about what needed to be done once she opened them. “Fihh muh minutes,” she mumbled into her soft pillow.

  “No!” she heard a stern voice say; and then she felt the covers being yanked off of her. “It’s already five thirty in the morning. Get up! I’m trying to get this shit done and over with.”

  “Ahli!” Rhonnie yelled as the gust of cold air hit her bare legs. Her eyes popped open and sure enough there was her big sister standing in front of her, wide awake. Ahli was fully dressed in a form-fitting T-shirt and a pair of Levi skinny jeans that hugged her hips and made her thighs look extra thick. Rhonnie was forced to squint her eyes because the light was too bright in the room. “What is wrong with you? I’m sleepy, sister!”

  “Sleep in the car,” Ahli responded and threw some clothes at her little sister.

  Thursday morning had come faster than Rhonnie had anticipated, and getting out of her comfortable bed felt like torture. Rhonnie looked up at her sister again and took in her appearance. Her kinky, long, curly hair was pulled back into a neat ponytail, her mocha skin was clear and smooth, and her eyelashes were long and smooth as if she had put mascara on them. It was apparent that her sister had been up for a while.

  “Fuck,” she mumbled to herself and sat up, stretching her arms out. Her eyelids were still heavy but she knew with Ahli hovering over her there would be no going back to sleep. The smell of food cooking invaded her nostrils and her mouth instantly began to water. “Is Daddy up?”

  “Yeah, he’s downstairs,” Ahli said. “He made breakfast for us and he said he has one more thing to tell us before we leave. I already packed your bag so don’t worry about it. Fucking with you we wouldn’t leave until noon.”

  Rhonnie grinned sheepishly before she stood up from her bed and stumbled slightly. Using her knuckles she wiped her eyes, trying to force herself to wake up. “Okay. I’ll meet you downstairs. Let me get in the shower.”

  “I’m giving you twenty minutes tops.” Ahli gave her little sister a knowing look. “If I have to come back up here and get you, it’s problems.”

  “Okay, Mother.”

  When Ahli left the room Rhonnie grabbed the clothes that were thrown at her: a simple pair of jeans, a cotton Ralph Lauren T-shirt, a pair of boy-short panties with the purchase tag still attached, and a pair of socks. Rhonnie smiled to herself. Although Ahli was only two years older she had really stepped up to the motherly role when their mother died. Ahli was so busy being strong for everybody else that Rhonnie knew that it would be messed up to ever give her a hard time about anything. So most times she listened to her sister because her judgment was usually right. Rhonnie couldn’t count on one hand anymore how many bullets should have entered her body if it weren’t for her big sister looking out for her.

  She made her way to the bathroom in her bedroom so she could prepare for the day. For ten minutes she stood in the shower, relishing the feeling of the hot water smacking her body. Once she was done she dried off, applied her favorite lotion, and then attempted to do something with her long, thick hair. When all else failed she ended up simply mimicking the ponytail that her sister was wearing, but swooping her edges more neatly than Ahli had. Once finished she studied herself in the mirror until she was satisfied with her appearance.

  “I’m cute as hell,” she said, realizing how vain she sounded
; but she didn’t care. She was the perfect blend of her mother and her father. She had her mother’s doe-like chestnut brown eyes, sharp cheekbones, and smooth caramel skin. From her father she got his curly grade of hair, full lips, and his smile.

  Knowing that she was about to go over the time limit that Ahli had given her, she hurried out of her room and down the stairs toward the kitchen. She heard her dad going over the events of the next day with Ahli once more, and when he saw her enter the kitchen he motioned for her to take a seat next to her sister. There was already a plate in front of the chair he was directing her to. Noticing that their plates were scraped clean she knew they must have eaten while she was still getting ready; she didn’t care, though. She was just happy her food was still hot. Honestly, even if it were cold she would still eat it. Her dad threw down in the kitchen.

  “Good morning, Daddy,” Rhonnie said, kissing him on his forehead. She smirked at his comfortable travel outfit. Even though he was dressed down in a Nike jogging suit with all-white Nike Roshes, he was fly. She still was upset at him for what he had done, but after a good night’s sleep she realized that the damage was already in the wind.

  “When we leaving?” she asked after she was seated.

  “Right after you eat.”

  “Okay,” she said, stuffing her mouth with food. She chewed and swallowed a big bite before turning to her sister. “Why were you up so early? I was tired as hell after last night.”

  “I know, Big Hungry,” Ahli said, reaching out and brushing a bacon crumb from her lip. “That’s why I took the initiative to get up and dump that Impala we were in last night.”

  Rhonnie grinned before dousing her scrambled eggs with Louisiana hot sauce and taking a big bite. “Thanks, sister.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  Quinton waited patiently for Rhonnie to finish her food before he took the two slightly weighted black boxes from his lap and placed them on the wooden kitchen table. He saw their eyes light up the way they always did when he bought them gifts, and he slid a box in front of each of them. “Go ahead, open them.”

  Ahli and Rhonnie snatched the tops off of their boxes at the same time. When they saw the contents of the boxes they didn’t know whether to be excited or skeptical. Rhonnie took hers out and eyed the black Ruger LC9 in her hand. Ahli did the same with her Ruger SR45 and they both looked back up at their father in wonder after a few moments.

  “It was time that you got new ones,” was all he said before he stood up and grabbed their empty plates. “Since you two always want to wear those tight-ass jeans, those are compact enough to fit in your purses. Brand new as well; no bodies can be connected to them.”

  “No bodies can be connected to any of my guns,” Rhonnie said matter-of-factly.

  Ahli snickered before she glanced at the clock on the wall. Seeing that it was time to handle business, she stood and waved for Rhonnie to follow. “Come on, NaNa.” She motioned to her sister. “It’s time to get this show on the road.”

  Rhonnie was still eyeing her new toy and she shook her head incredulously. “Great. We’re traveling across the world with drugs and guns. Just great.”

  Chapter 2

  Somebody real is hard to find

  Somebody worth all your time

  Somebody who can tell you the truth

  Someone who loves you for you.

  Tink’s voice blessed the inside of the 2015 Chevy Camaro with a beautiful melody. The fact that she would be in a car literally all day didn’t sit well with Ahli, but having good music to keep her time occupied made it better. She also thought about all of the money that they would be bringing home and that eased her mind a little bit. Although she was only twenty-one years old she had grown accustomed to her life by now.

  After their mother died when she was thirteen and Rhonnie was eleven she watched her father suffer the worst depression ever in front of them. He tried to hide it, but she read through all of his fake smiles. He struggled to find a job simply because nobody wanted to hire a convicted felon and there were times that he didn’t have enough money to feed them all, so he would go without a meal for days. It was hard for Ahli to watch that, but whenever she would try and force him to eat some of her food he would refuse. “Everything I do, I do it for you girls. To put and keep food in your mouths. I made a promise to your mother and I plan on keeping it. As long as I am able to do that, I am fed.” He would say that over and over until eventually Ahli acquired that mindset as well.

  At age thirteen Ahli understood things that other kids her age didn’t. Their mother was gone and that meant her money was, too. She learned that since her parents had never been legally wed her father had no claim to whatever money she had in her accounts. Technically the money should have gone to her children, but it never did. Quinton tried to hire a lawyer to fight for the money and assets but eventually he just gave up. He was spending too much money and time jumping through hoops for a prize that wasn’t even guaranteed. They were used to living in a house and riding in nice vehicles, and went to suddenly living in a one-bedroom apartment and repeating clothes in the same week.

  Ahli mourned their mother for a long time. She wasn’t the same kid after. She and Rhebecca had been very close so it was hard to come to terms with the fact that she would never see her again. Although Ahli wanted to sit around and mope she knew she couldn’t. One day she would be the woman Rhonnie would have to look up to so she figured she’d step into those shoes early. Any sadness she felt from their mother’s death she began to keep hidden. To her the little bit of money that her father got she felt shouldn’t have to go to food because she wanted him to focus on bills and she would focus on the meals. She was too young to get a job so she didn’t have a choice; she had to steal it.

  Anything to keep food in Rhonnie’s mouth, she always told herself before she went into any grocery store. She would wear baggy clothes so that she could carry her trophies out without them falling to the ground. She would often go around the first week of the month since she knew it would be packed full of people using their welfare checks. There must have been a special kind of angel watching over her because, over the years, before they started really getting money, she never got caught once. Just as she started reflecting on the day that truly started their reign, Rhonnie interrupted her thoughts.

  “Do you think everything will be okay?”

  Ahli was quiet at first. The question her sister had just asked was one she’d been playing over and over inside of her own head since the moment they pulled away from the house. She pursed her lips to stop herself from being too blunt. She knew that her sister always based her own emotions off of her big sister. Which was why Ahli couldn’t let on that she was feeling skeptical.

  “I don’t think Uncle Lance would put us into a harmful situation,” she finally answered.

  “But Daddy doesn’t even know these people. A couple of phone calls doesn’t mean anything.”

  “Daddy trusts the situation. We will be fine.”

  “Daddy bought us new guns, LaLa. He don’t trust shit.”

  To that Ahli had no response, simply because she had been thinking the same thing.

  “Thanks for making me feel better about it,” Rhonnie said sarcastically when her sister had no rebuttal. “Thanks so much.”

  Ahli smirked over at her sister who sat in the tan leather passenger’s seat of the gold 2015 Camaro she’d just purchased herself. Rhonnie sighed deeply and folded her arms across her chest like a big baby.

  “You scared?” Ahli teased.

  “Sike!” Rhonnie scoffed.

  “So what you acting like that for then? You act like this is the first job that you’ve ever been on.”

  “I didn’t say that . . . but this is the last one.”

  “What?” Ahli took her eyes off of the road one more time to look at the serious expression on Rhonnie’s face. Her jaw line was visible and it was apparent that she was clenching her teeth together.

  “You heard me,” Rhonnie said, lo
oking straight ahead. “I’m done after this. I’m tired of it all. I want to enjoy my youth. I want to be normal.”

  “Well, newsflash, little bitch, you’re not normal. We’re not normal. You can’t be normal with your body count.”

  “That’s part of the job. I killed them because I had to.”

  “And why did you have to?”

  “Because they were trying to kill me first!”

  “Exactly,” Ahli said, grabbing her smartphone and changing the song playing through the aux cord. “How many normal people do you know who have people trying to kill them?”

  It was Rhonnie’s turn to be silent. Instead she pulled over her head the hood of the red Nebraska hoodie that she’d thrown on before she’d left. She reached and changed the song, not wanting to hear any soft lyrics any longer. Slouching down in her seat she placed her forehead on the cold window and allowed herself to get lost in Don Trip’s voice and lyrics.

  * * *

  Quinton drove five miles behind his daughters with no doubt in his mind that they would be all right. Hearing about the obstacles they had to overcome to get the product they were driving with would have scared any other father, but not him. He was proud. It proved to him that his daughters could handle anything and it also proved that he had trained them right.

  Sometimes he felt guilty for introducing them to the lifestyle, but he knew that they had no other choice that was better. After Rhebecca died he was flat broke. Even the money that they had gotten together was in her bank account and he had no claim to it since the two were never legally married. Being a convicted felon for armed burglary, it was impossible for him to get a job that would take care of the three of them. With the girls being so young at the time he didn’t want to risk going to jail again and getting locked away forever, so for a while he just sucked it up. He worked odd jobs, pretty much anything to keep a roof over their heads. But the girls were getting older, their needs were becoming more expensive, and he could barely keep up. At that point in time he felt like less of a man, but his girls always seemed to make him feel as though he was a superhero. He drove, rubbing his facial hair, and reflected on the day that changed their lives.