by India
“Come on!” I said to no one in particular as my cell phone began to ring. I knew by the ring tone that it was Ali, but my hands were tied at the moment. “Come on. Come on!” I rubbed the wires across each other again and was shocked by a spark. “Damn it!” I licked my burned fingertips and reluctantly tried again. I had come too far to turn back. The third time worked like a charm. The car’s engine revved, and I hopped into the driver’s seat without hesitation. “Yes!” I shouted while taking off like a bat out of hell.
On the way to the shop, I drove fast yet cautiously because I didn’t need to get pulled over and I didn’t want to damage the car. I heard things being tossed around inside the trunk, but I paid it no attention. The only thing on my mind was how easy this payoff was going to be.
“That’s a beaut!” Bobby whistled after I pulled into the garage.
“It’s fully loaded.” I stepped from the car with a huge grin on my face. Snatching a Beemer on my first time out was nearly impossible.
“Good job, Jane. Go see J.R. for your payout.” Bobby popped the trunk, and both of our mouths dropped.
Chapter Seventeen
“What the fuck is this?” Lying in the trunk was a woman who had been handcuffed, gagged, and beaten. “Oh, shit!” I was totally caught off guard and pissed my pants a little out of fear. “I swear I didn’t know she was in there.” I shook my head in disbelief.
“J.R., get me some water.” Bobby puffed on a cigar and continued to stare at the body. The woman was so still that I just knew she was dead. What type of nigga would stop at the mall when he has a dead body in the trunk?
After retrieving the water, J.R. was instructed to splash it into the woman’s face. I held my breath for several seconds, and to my relief, she moved slightly, and her eyes popped open. J.R. removed the gag from her mouth but let the handcuffs be. “Who did this to you?” Bobby asked.
“My baby daddy, Jamison.” She coughed. “He’s crazy. I tried to get away from him but he abducted me and my baby from the Greyhound station,” she explained, which jogged my memory about overhearing the man say something about someone taking his son to Texas. “Where is my son? Is he okay?” She appeared frantic, and Bobby looked at me.
“Nobody else was in the car. I’m sorry.” I felt horrible.
“Can someone uncuff me?” She was trying to sit up. “I need to get my son.”
“Sure, baby girl.” Bobby smiled. “We’ll be right back.” He pulled me toward the office. “It looks like we’ve got a situation, Janelle.”
“I swear on my mother that I didn’t know she was back there.” I raised my right hand as if I were under oath.
“I believe you, kid, but this still needs to be handled.” He opened the jacket of his Sean Jean sweat suit and retrieved a 9 mm hand gun. “Head shots are the best.”
“Wait! What?” I backed up.
“You brought her in here. Now you’ve got to take her out.” He blew a smoke ring out into the air.
Instantly, I felt sick to my stomach and weak in the knees. I had only signed up for stealing cars, not killing people.
“It has to be done, kid. If we let her out of here, she becomes a liability, and I won’t be able to sleep at night due to wondering if she’ll call the police or not.”
“Bobby, I’m not a killer.” I shook my head and tried to keep the vomit I felt rising from escaping my mouth.
“Jane, in the underworld it’s kill or be killed, plain and simple.” He was trying to drop me a hint, and I got the message loud and clear. If I didn’t kill her, then I would be killed.
Swallowing hard, I removed the pistol from his palm and approached the vehicle.
“Are you going to uncuff me?” the woman asked with pleading eyes. “I need to find my baby.”
Without a single word, I cocked the gun and lit her body up like a firework display on the Fourth of July. Truthfully, one or two shots would have been sufficient, but I can’t explain how invigorating pulling the trigger was. I walked up to the trunk and took one last look at my victim. Her face and body had been ripped to shreds, blood was everywhere, and so was brain matter. Although I had shot Gudda, it hadn’t been confirmed if he died, so technically I wasn’t a confirmed killer until today. I never thought I was capable of taking a life, but in the years to come, she was the first of many. For it was on that day and at that moment that I learned the importance of cleaning up my own messes.
Chapter Eighteen
“Girl, what in the hell is wrong with you?” Alicia asked one day while we were lounging at the pool. It had been almost a month since I murdered the woman in the trunk and I still couldn’t get right.
“Nothing’s wrong, just missing my parents, that’s all,” I lied. Ali was my bitch until the world blew up, but some things were better left unshared.
“I hear that.” She patted my thigh and walked toward the Jacuzzi. We were still at the Marriott, but Ace was taking us to look for a crib in the next couple of days. Car theft had paid off in a major way, and we were getting paper. Between the two of us, we had stacked close to $10,000. This was considered chump change to the big timers, but everybody had to start somewhere.
“What’s on the agenda tomorrow?” Ali relaxed with her head back.
“I’m thinking we hit Auburn Hills. There’s a Pistons game going on, and you know the parking lot will be hot.” I thumbed through the iPad on my lap.
“Girl, they got that bitch sewn up. It’s impossible to make it out of there in one piece.”
“You’re right. Well, maybe we can try downtown.” I turned the iPad off and put it into its case. “All I know is I need to find some dope shit.” We laughed.
“I feel you on that, but for real we need to be talking about what’s going on between you and Ace.” She stared at me, and I stared back like the cat that had swallowed the canary.
“What are you talking about?”
“You know damn well what I’m talking about. That nigga calls or comes by every single day to check on you. He drops off special gifts for you like you’re his girl, and I see the looks y’all be exchanging when y’all think I ain’t paying attention.”
“It ain’t like that.” I smiled. Truthfully, I had also noticed the flirting exchanged between Ace and me. However, neither of us had acted on it, so it was nothing as far as I was concerned.
“Let me find out y’all fucking.” She laughed.
“Anyway,” I said, changing the subject, “let’s take this conversation back to the money. I know we aren’t supposed to be keeping anything from the cars, but the last two whips had purses in them. I went through them and found three credit cards.” I looked around to make sure we were still the only ones in the pool area.
Alicia’s eyes widened, and she laughed. “Girl, I ain’t even going to lie. Two weeks ago, I snatched a whip at the gas station. The man was trying to spit game to the chick behind the counter. He left the keys and his wallet in the car. I took the car and kept his wallet. I was going to ask you what you thought we should do, but I didn’t want you to get mad at me. I guess great minds think alike.” We busted out laughing.
“Bobby would die if he found out, but I say we seize the opportunity and start another hustle.”
“What would we do with the cards though?” Ali was all ears.
“I say we milk them for all they’re worth. Let’s buy shit and flip it. I’m talking all the hot shit in the stores right now.” I continued to bounce my ideas off of Alicia for about thirty minutes, and she was an eager beaver. We needed to set some things in motion before we jumped out there feet first, but I knew we were on to something big.
“I’ll be back. I need to go get my phone.” I stood from the chair and retrieved my iPad. It was time for my weekly check-in with Gran. I didn’t owe her anything, but out of respect I wanted to assure her that I was alive and well. I also needed to make sure the same could be said about her.
“Okay,” Alicia replied, and I left her soaking in the warm water.
/> Just as I exited the pool area, two things caught my attention: the flashing lights coming from outside, and the two officers standing at the receptionist desk.
“Fuck!” I turned on my heels and headed back to the pool. Prayerfully, the cops weren’t there for me and Alicia, but I wasn’t one for taking chances. “Ali, let’s roll!” I began grabbing her clothes off the chair and tossing them at her.
“What? What’s going on?” She hopped out of the water like the shit was on fire.
“I just spotted two cops at the front desk.”
“Shit!” She slipped the Aeropostle cover-up over her swimming suit. “Are they here for us?”
“I don’t know.” I scanned the room for an exit. Bingo! There was one in the corner. “Come on.” I waved for her to follow.
“What about the money?” She stopped dead in her tracks.
“Fuck that money!” I snapped. Who gives a fuck about money when you could possibly be facing charges? “I’ll send Ace by here later. If the cops ain’t here for us, then the money will still be in the room when we get back.”
“Naw, homie! I worked my ass off for that dough. I gotta go back.” She turned and headed out of the pool room. If my hand could’ve reached across the room, I would’ve slapped the piss out of Alicia. She was too greedy for her own good, and sometimes it burned me up. Didn’t she know that going up there to retrieve some shit they had probably already seized was the dumbest idea she had this year?
I watched my girl fly out of the room, and I shook my head but kept it moving toward the exit. She had made her choice, and I had made mine. I looked at the sign on the door, and my stomach turned. The huge white sign told me that if the door was opened, it would set off an alarm. “Fuck it!” I said and pushed the door open because turning around was no longer an option.
Chapter Nineteen
As soon as I hit the bricks, the alarm starting going crazy, but I didn’t care because I was out of there. Without looking back, I ran like my life depended on it, and before I realized it, I was three blocks away and barefoot. In my haste to flee, I’d totally forgotten to grab my flip-flops from the side of the pool chair.
Onk! Onk! Onk! I heard the police sirens before seeing the squad car roll up on the side of me. “Shit!” I tried my best to appear normal, but being barefoot in a bikini was a dead giveaway that something was up.
“Where are your shoes?” a white officer asked.
“Oh, I got locked out of my apartment,” I lied and kept on walking.
“Where is your apartment? Maybe we can help.” They pulled the car over and parked.
“Really, Officers, I’m cool.” I rolled my eyes.
“It’s not a problem. Protect and serve is what we do.” The black driver pointed to the words that were printed on the side of the car. I wanted to ask these men where all of that protecting and serving was when someone was in a real life-and-death situation, but I played cool.
“Honestly, I’m good. My brother is on the way with my spare keys.” I politely smiled.
“Janelle, the jig is up.” He unfolded a piece of paper and turned it toward me. The photo I’d taken for my school ID was blown up as big as shit. Instantly, my stomach turned, and I almost wet myself. I knew we’d been found out and I was about to go down for grand theft auto. I looked from side to side to see if I had an escape route, but the white cop peeped my game and called me on it.
“Go ahead and run.” He laughed. “I was the star on my track team.” He began to stretch his limbs.
“Look, I ain’t gon’ run. Y’all got me. But first, tell me what I’m being arrested for.” I turned around to face the wall and placed my hands behind my head.
“You’re not under arrest.” One of them laughed. “Somebody reported you as a missing person and led us to the Marriott with reason to believe you’d been shacking up there.”
“Are you for real?” I was relieved yet annoyed. The only person in the world who would report me missing was Gran. I’d checked in with her every week and had even made the mistake of calling her from the hotel phone.
“Come on, girl, let’s ride.” The white cop held the back door open and gestured for me to get in.
Chapter Twenty
“Janelle, I’ve been so worried about you.” Gran put on a show down at 1300 Beaubien. “Thank you, Officers, for finding her.” She smiled.
“No problem, ma’am,” they responded.
“Please remember that Janelle must show up for court on Monday,” the white officer added.
“Court?” I frowned. “What do I have to go to court for if I wasn’t arrested?”
“You have to appear before a judge because you’ve been cited for being a delinquent.”
“I thought this was a warning.” I folded my arms.
“This is a warning, but it has to be documented in case you pull this stunt again. The judge will let know what will occur if you have any more incidents, but if you stay clean, then your record will be expunged on your eighteenth birthday.”
“Thank you, Officers. I don’t think my granddaughter will have time to make any more trouble because she will be on lockdown from this point forward.”
Gran pinched my ear all the way from the police station to the car, which was parked two streets over from the building.
“Why did you call the police?” I asked once we were riding down I-75.
“Because, Janelle, you needed to be taught a lesson! You ain’t grown!” She turned down the gospel music that was playing in the background.
“Gran, I will be seventeen in two months. You can’t lock me down forever.” I rolled my eyes.
“I might not be able to lock you down forever, but I bet for damn sure you’ll be locked down for the next fourteen months.” That was the exact time until my eighteenth birthday. “I made the mistake of giving up on your father too soon, and look how he turned out. I will not watch you walk in his footsteps to hell.”
I rolled my eyes and listened to my grandmother preach all the way back to her apartment. A few times, I contemplated opening the car door and jumping out, but I remained cool. I knew the opportunity for me to get away would present itself again. I just had to wait and be patient. Gran talked a good game and meant every word of it, but it was impossible for her to watch me twenty-four-seven.
Little did I know that from that day forward she would be on me like white on rice. I was once again cooped up in her small apartment, dodging the rats and avoiding the roaches. There was no privacy in her presence. She was like a drill sergeant. Gran told me when to wake up and when to go to sleep. I couldn’t talk on the phone or even take the trash out by myself because she feared I would come up with some escape route. The woman had gone so far as to tell me I couldn’t close the bathroom door when I took a shower or used the restroom. I told her she was delusional if she thought I wasn’t going to close the bathroom door. After all, there was no window in her tiny bathroom, so it’s not like I could’ve fled. She had already confiscated my cell phone, so I couldn’t text anyone.
“Janie, I’m doing this for your own good. One day you’re going to thank me,” she said over the dinner table one night. I played with the soupy slop she’d fixed me while I watched her eat a steak, salad, and baked potato. Her intention was to remind me that this was what my dinner would be in jail. I knew what Gran was trying to do, so I played along.
Although this was the last place I wanted to be, I was content because I had a plan. One day while Gran was in the shower, I grabbed her house phone and called Ali. She was relieved that I was okay, and I was relieved that our hotel room hadn’t been raided and the operation was still going smooth.
“So what are you going to do? Bobby has been asking about you, and I found another wallet with two credit cards.”
“Tell Bobby I’ll be back, but I have court on Monday, so I have to sit tight until then. Tell Ace how much money we’ve got saved and tell him to find us a place to live, pronto. Fuck them hotels.” I stopped mid-convers
ation to hear if Gran was still showering. Once I was satisfied that she wasn’t on her way out of the bathroom, I continued. “Tell Ace to meet me down at the courthouse on Monday. My hearing is at eight thirty, so I should be out of there in at least two hours.”
Chapter Twenty-one
Monday came in no time, and I was thankful. “Janelle, let’s go,” Gran called from her bedroom, failing to realize that I was already dressed and waiting at the front door.
“I’m already ready,” I called back as she entered the living room.
“Why are you so thrilled to be going to court?’ She side-eyed me and grabbed her purse.
“I’m not thrilled, just ready to put this issue to bed,” I responded nonchalantly as we headed down the hallway toward the elevator.
The Jamaican woman across the hall had her door open, and smoke was pouring into the hallway. “Hello der, Ms. Doesher.” She waved to Gran. “Me apologize for da smoke. Me burnt ta curry goat me was preparing for me dinner.”
I wondered why this lady was up cooking dinner this early in the damn morning, but I remained silent.
“That’s okay, Margie.” Gran waved goodbye to her neighbor and pushed the button for the elevator. As we waited, I watched three roaches crawl across the wall, and I rolled my eyes.
“Gran, may I ask you a question?”
“You just did.” She stepped into the elevator when it arrived. Someone had littered chicken bones and a few potato wedges from KFC on the ground. I kicked a few pieces to make myself a path.
“Why don’t you want to move?”
“Because this is all I can afford.” She pressed the ground level button.
“All of those times my father offered to put you in a beautiful home, why did you pass?”
“Because Julius’s money was no good to me.” We reached the lobby, and she stepped off and tried to power walk all the way to the parking lot. I could tell she was getting real annoyed with my line of questioning, but I continued.
