by Kiki Swinson
“Mind if I sit on the arm of the sofa?”
“Sure, honey.”
Taking directions from Mrs. Mabel, I sat on the arm of her sofa, giving it just a small amount of pressure; then I pulled back the blinds on the right side of the window. Once again, I couldn’t see the front door of my apartment, but I got an eyeful of traffic patrolling the sidewalk and grass that led to my apartment. I didn’t see Agent Sims or the other detective, but I saw a team of forensic investigators and two uniformed policemen. I saw them looking around their surroundings. I saw one of them look at the window I was looking out of. I pulled the blinds closed a little to prevent either one of them from seeing me. You can never be too careful.
Mrs. Mabel sat on the couch and began watching TV. She asked me a few questions while I peered out of her window. “Have you wondered what they could be looking for? They’re over there going all over your personal things. I know if they were going through my stuff, I would go over there and put a stop to it.”
“See, that’s what they want me to do. But I won’t give them the satisfaction,” I reasoned. I had no other choice but to come up with that lame-ass rebuttal. I just hoped that Mrs. Mabel bought it.
“The police officer that said her name was Belle was the one that stopped by here before, asking me when was the last time I seen my ex-boyfriend?”
“Oh, so that was who you were talking about?”
“Yep, that was her,” she confirmed.
Hearing Mrs. Mabel confirm that Detective Belle was one of the cops that talked to her about Terrell put a big perspective on what was going on at my apartment. I now knew the reason why they were in my place. They just found out that they did have the remains of Terrell’s body, so now they needed to trace his DNA to something or someone. But guess what? If they did, I could argue the fact that he and I used to date. And even after we broke up, he still came around. The only way they’d be able to link him to me was if Tedo’s homegirl April stepped up to the plate. Otherwise, I was good.
I sat at that window for at least two hours and watched the cops and the forensic team sift inside and around my building. I even saw local cops talking to a few of my neighbors. I noticed a couple of them creating dialogues with them, but the rest of my neighbors weren’t that interested. That made me feel safe and secure.
After fishing around my apartment for almost three hours, those cops finally left. It was a weight lifted when I saw them leave, but it also gave me a feeling of anxiety. Being in the dark about things concerning you can be torture. The only thing good that came from the knock at Mrs. Mabel’s door was that I finally found out that Agent Sims was not shot when we were in the underground garage of the hospital. I was now left to wonder what happened to Agent Taylor. I mean, I was not concerned for that traitor. But I am curious to hear if he was shot or killed. I was sure that information would come in due time.
9
TAKING NO PRISONERS
I sat around on the couch and watched a few TV shows, but I wouldn’t be able to tell you anything about them. Mrs. Mabel hopped in the shower and changed clothes. When she reappeared in the living room, she asked me if I wanted to take a shower too. “I need a change of clothes,” I told her.
“Well, I’m too big for you to wear my clothes.”
“I see that.”
“Why don’t you go over to your place,” she suggested.
“I was just thinking that. But what if one of those detectives is watching my apartment?”
“What’s the worst thing that could happen?”
I wanted to tell her that if I was caught, I’d be locked up on sight. I also wanted to tell her the reason why they would lock my ass up was because I’m a person of interest concerning Terrell’s murder, and I was a government informant for the DEA. But let’s not forget that I’m also supposed to testify against several members of a mafia family. But I knew she would freak out if I had, so I left well enough alone. Instead, I said, “I just don’t like them harassing me is all. But what I will do is when it gets dark, I’ll sneak over there and get some things then.”
“Okay, well, I got a doctor’s appointment, so I’m gonna head on out. If you need something, call me.”
“You don’t mind leaving me here in your place by myself?” I asked her. It was shocking to see how trusting she was of me.
“What are you going to do? Rob me of my millions of dollars?” she joked.
“Oh, stop it, Mrs. Mabel. You’re being funny now.”
“No, you’re being funny!” She smiled. “Remember, if you need anything, give me a call,” she continued.
“I will,” I assured her.
I watched Mrs. Mabel as she headed out her front door. I even watched her as she headed down the walkway toward her car. After she got into her car, she sped away. Seeing her go made me begin to miss her, even though she had only been gone for a second. It felt good to have her stick by my side. This time yesterday, I left the hospital and had no idea where I was going. Now I’m here in the comfort of my neighbor’s house, with access to views of my apartment that I would not have had if she hadn’t opened her doors for me.
I sat there at the window and gazed out into the neighborhood and watched everybody come and go as they pleased. It’s funny how we take the small things for granted. I would love to leave here and take a stroll down the road and take in some of this fresh air. But since I can’t, staring out this window will have to do.
Unexpectedly, an unmarked car pulled up and the driver parked it alongside the street directly across from this apartment complex. My heart began to race uncontrollably. Not knowing who was in the driver’s seat concerned me, especially since all the windows were up and tinted. Being that I couldn’t get a look into the car, I stepped back a few inches from the window, just in case whoever was in the car had binoculars and was able to see me from that distance. While anxiety filled my entire body, I wondered how long those people in that car planned to be there. Damn! It sure sucks being a wanted woman. Just think, a month ago, I was happy to go to work, enjoyed talking to the customers, and relished the fact that one day I was going to be a pharmacist. The head pharmacist, at best.
But no, I ruined those chances by getting caught up in the illegal prescription-drug ring. How stupid was that? Now I sit here taking the repercussions like a boxer would take a jab to the face. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t know how to fight back. And that’s why I was in this situation.
While I sat there and watched the car, I noticed the similarities of this car and Agent Sims’s car, and that’s when I realized that this was the same car. Agent Sims had to be somewhere inside of it. Knowing this, I got an eerie feeling in my body. My stomach and my head were so screwed up, I needed some antidepressants to calm me down and put me to sleep. In the back of my head, I could hear Agent Sims saying, “Misty, you gotta be straight up with me. And if I find out that you’re doing anything different, I’m gonna lock you up and you will never see daylight again.”
He always found a way to threaten me, so I could service him with all his needs, which included being an informant. He didn’t care about me. All he cared about was a victory in court and locking everyone up that I testified against. That’s it. That’s all he wanted. Which is why I believed he was sitting in that car. He was sitting there, and hoping that I would come back to the area, so he could take me back into his care. But I couldn’t let him do that. Not today. Not tomorrow. I’m gonna need to be on my own so I could figure all of this stuff out.
* * *
After sitting there for over two hours, the unmarked car finally drove away. But I knew he was coming back. I couldn’t say when, but I knew for a fact that he was. I was his meal ticket for a promotion, so he was going to pull out all the stops, so he could stuff me right back into his back pocket.
I stood up from the arm of the chair and headed into Mrs. Mabel’s kitchen. I hadn’t worked up an appetite from my surveillance duties, but I was thirsty. I poured myself a glass of juice an
d tried to enjoy every ounce of it. And when I was done, I rinsed the glass out and placed it in the dish rack. Right when I was leaving the kitchen, it hit me that right now would be the perfect time to sneak into my apartment. The agents had left and might not come back until later on. Come on, Misty, you can do it. I began to give myself a silent pep talk. If you go there right now, it will only take you three minutes at the most to grab a few things to get out of there. I continued to encourage myself.
While I began to mull over whether or not I was going to go into my apartment, I looked back out the window, just to make sure the car hadn’t circled back around. When I noticed that it hadn’t, I raced over to the sofa, grabbed my shoes, and placed them on my feet. Then I grabbed my house keys from my purse. Unsure as to whether or not I planned to go into my apartment, I raced back over to the window and gave it another look. Once again, the car hadn’t circled back around, so I felt like I was good. If I’m gonna do it, I need to do it now.
Come on, Misty, you can do it. Is gonna only take you less than three minutes.
I raced for the front door and snatched it open. To my surprise, someone was already standing at the front door. “Hi, ma’am, would you like to buy a chocolate bar?” a little boy asked me while he held out a box of different kinds of candy bars.
Unsure as to how to answer this cute little boy, I paused and then asked him how much it cost. His answer was one dollar. I hurried over to the couch, where my purse was, grabbed one dollar from my wallet, and then I raced back to the door and handed it to him.
“Which one do you want?” he asked me.
“It doesn’t matter. Just give me one,” I told him.
After he handed me the candy bar, he thanked me and then walked away. I watched him as he headed to my front door, so I stopped him. “No one is there,” I told him.
“How you know that?” he asked me.
“Because I live there.”
“If you live there, then what are you doing over here?”
“Because I’m visiting my neighbor.”
“What is all that black stuff on the door?”
“Just some black dust. It can be wiped off,” I assured him.
“Cool,” he said, and then he walked away.
I watched the little guy as he headed to another neighbor’s apartment. I smiled at him because he was learning the hustle at a young age. He couldn’t be older than eleven years old. Seeing him get his hustle on put a huge smile on my face. Boy, what would I give to be his age right now? He had no worries. No bills. No girlfriend problems. Nothing. And here I was with the world on my shoulders while everyone died around me. How fucked up was that? Hopefully, one day I’d have that same measure of peace that little boy had. Wishful thinking, huh?
“Hey, you better watch out where you’re going!” I heard someone yell. I couldn’t see who said it, but it brought me back to reality.
My main focus was to get into my place, grab a few pieces of clothes, and get the hell out of there. Time was of the essence, and I had to make it count. “Let’s get it,” I said, and then I rushed over to my front door, grabbed the doorknob with the bottom of my shirt, and then I used my other hand to unlock the door. Within seconds I had opened my door. I pushed it open just a tad bit to scope out my living room. When I felt like the coast was clear, I looked back at the street, to make sure no one was watching. When that checked out, I pushed the front door in, even farther, and scrambled inside.
As I got farther and farther into my apartment, I saw how those fucking cops had ransacked it. How dare they have all my stuff out of place like this? Are they freaking crazy? Just look at the pillow cushions from the sofa on the floor, black dust all over my doors and doorknobs. Who they think is going to clean this shit up? Ugh!
As the anger built up inside of me, the more my blood started boiling inside my veins. And as bad as I wanted to clean up the mess they made, I knew that I couldn’t. I only came in here to get a couple of outfits, so that’s what I was about to do.
I made my way into my bedroom and grabbed one of my overnight bags from my walk-in closet. After I tossed it on my bed, I grabbed one of my perfume bottles from my vanity, my deodorant, a couple pairs of jeans, shirts, panties, bras, and socks. Whatever I could grab, that’s what I did. Once my bag was filled to the rim, I picked it up from the bed, turned around, and headed toward my front door. Three steps in, I heard a voice coming from outside my apartment, so I stopped in my tracks. While my heart rate tripled in speed per minute, an overwhelming amount of anxiety consumed me. “Stay calm, Misty,” I whispered to myself while I stood there, wondering what was going to happen next.
“I’m sure that I left it here,” I heard a woman’s voice say. And then I heard the sound of someone turning the doorknob from outside. That’s when I knew that person was coming in here.
Oh my God! Whoever it is, they’re coming into my apartment. Shit! What am I gonna do? I panicked. Without hesitation, I turned around and ran back into my bedroom. Afraid to hide in my walk-in closet, I got down on the floor of my bedroom and pushed my overnight bag underneath my bed. As quietly as I could, I slid underneath my bed as well.
“I think I left the warrant documents in the kitchen,” I heard the woman say. And that’s when it hit me that she was on a call with her cell phone.
I heard her walk into the kitchen and then she stopped moving. “It’s not in here,” she told the caller. “Let me check the bedroom. It might be in there,” she continued while her footsteps alerted me that she was coming in my direction. Boy, I was a nervous wreck.
Immediately after she entered into my bedroom, I was able to get a look at her shoes and that’s when I realized that the woman behind that voice was Detective Belle. She was right inside my bedroom. And the documents she was looking for had to be the search warrant and my arrest warrant. That had allowed the forensic team to go through my apartment and fuck it up. On a different day, I wouldn’t be hiding underneath my bed. Instead, I would be cursing her ass out and showing her to the front door. But since I was a wanted lady, my desire to fuss her could only be a thought in my head, and that was as far as it would go.
“I got it,” she told the caller. “It was lying on top of our suspect’s dresser,” she continued, and then she fell silent. A couple of seconds later, she said, “She was a person of interest, but now we have his remains, she’s a suspect. Finding her before she tries to leave town takes precedence,” she continued as she walked back out of my bedroom. She didn’t utter another word until she got into the living area of my apartment. “If those stupid fucking agents hadn’t let her get away, she would be in my custody right now. Speaking of which, we just learned that the mother was kidnapped forty-eight hours ago, so the DEA agents and my office assembled a team to try to locate her mother, since we just found out that she’s still alive.”
She made her way out of my apartment, and the next thing I heard was the front door closing. When I heard her locking the door from the outside of my apartment, I slid back from underneath my bed and then rushed over to my bedroom window. I peeped through my window blinds and watched Detective Belle as she walked back to her vehicle. “Lord, please let her get into the car and pull off. I can’t afford to be arrested right now. I’ve got a lot of stuff I need to do, so please help me, God!” I prayed out loud.
I noticed that I always prayed to God when I fell into a trap. But it’s not like I’m trying to use Him; it’s just that I can’t do these things on my own. And besides, if I get Him to handle it, things would end well.
After waiting for what seemed like forever, Detective Belle got back into her vehicle and drove away. Boy, was I happy to see that. Without any incident, I grabbed my bag and raced toward the front door of my apartment. On my way there, I passed by my lamp table and was sidetracked when my eyes glanced at two photos of my family in the picture frames. One of the pictures was of my mother and me when I was five years old. We were attending my preschool graduation. My mother really looked so
ber and proud of me. I swear, I would give anything to revisit that time in my life. It was a simple and drama-free life.
The next picture was of me, my mother, and my dad. This picture was taken while we were out together on one of our weekly family nights. We all looked happy too. I would pay anything to relive those days, but I can’t. I will just be grateful that my mother was still alive, and maybe this situation would bring us closer, once we see each other again. Well, at least I hoped so.
Immediately after I realized that I couldn’t go back in time, I once again snapped back into reality. “Come on, Misty, it’s time to go,” I said underneath my breath, and before I took another, I grabbed both pictures, tucked them underneath my right arm, and then I made my way back out of my apartment.
10
MY TO-DO LIST
It took me less time to get out of my apartment and return to Mrs. Mabel’s apartment than it did when I left Mrs. Mabel’s apartment to get into mine. Talk about speed. The moment after I closed and locked Mrs. Mabel’s front door, I walked over to her couch and collapsed down on it, and then turned on her TV. “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! That bitch said I’m now a freaking suspect in Terrell’s murder! What the hell am I going to do now?” I began to sob. “When they catch me, they’re going to lock my ass up without bond. And what will I do then?
“Why couldn’t Terrell just leave me the hell alone? I told him on many occasions to go on with his life, but he wouldn’t do it. So now I’m gonna have to go to jail because of him? This shit is unfair.” I continued complaining while I sobbed. I swear, I wished that I had enforced my restraining order against that guy by calling the cops every time he reached out to me, then I wouldn’t be in this jam. Fuck!
While I lay back on the couch, a news bulletin started broadcasting: “This just in, the Virginia Beach Police have released the name of the person whose dismembered remains were found two days ago inside the Webbers’ Funeral Home. We’re told that the body belonged to twenty-seven-year-old Terrell Mason. We understand that he lived in Virginia Beach and was the owner of a janitor business, which was thriving.”
