by Ws Greer
“Come on, let’s go get you something pretty,” I tell Reina as she smiles and gets up to follow me.
“You sure do have a way with people,” she says, grinning from ear to ear. I can tell she likes it when I put people in their place. I’m starting to think this girl is twisted. I like that.
“Yeah, I’m a people person,” I reply.
“Yeah you are,” she replies with a smile before turning around and yelling to the guys in front of KFC. “Enjoy your meal.”
I let out a loud chuckle that echoes down the hall, and I even exaggerate it just to make them feel even more like the cowards they are, before leading Reina away. I grab her hand as we walk, and it’s the first time I’ve ever held her hand in mine for this long. You’d think it’d feel strange or foreign, but you’d be mistaken. It feels like it was always meant to be this way. It feels like Reina belongs to me, so when she doesn’t let go as we leave the food court area and walk into a jewelry store, neither do I.
“Ooh, look at all the diamonds in this place,” Reina says, smiling like the happiest woman on earth as she skips from one glass case of jewelry to the next. The two blonde women behind the glass cases wearing gray pantsuits don’t look like they’re happy to see us in here, but if they knew the two of us at all, they’d know that neither of us cares what they think.
I let Reina hop around like a kid in a toy store until she finds something that catches her eye. I stand behind her with my arms folded as she bends over to look at something in the case furthest from me. One of the blonde-haired sales reps slowly makes her way over to Reina and asks if there’s something she’d like to look at, and I hear Reina dismiss her.
“No, it’s okay. I’m just looking. But this is really pretty,” she says. The saleswoman looks annoyed that Reina is window shopping and not making a purchase. That’s my cue.
“What’s really pretty?” I ask as I approach her. The saleswoman looks me up and down in the way that tells me she doesn’t think I can afford anything in this store.
“Look at this bracelet,” Reina says. “This one with the black and silver links. I like the black on it. It’s dark, yet elegant. Like us.” Something about the way she says it puts a smile on my face. There’s an us.
I let my eyes glaze over the pieces of jewelry in the case until the one Reina likes catches my attention. She’s right, it does look nice, and even though I like it, I think I like it even more because I know she likes it.
“We’ll take that one,” I say to the blonde rep, and her eyes bulge. Is it really so hard to believe that someone like me would be able to afford a piece of jewelry like that? Jesus McChrist, everyday it gets harder to deal with people!
“Sir, that bracelet is eleven-hundred dollars,” the blonde replies.
I let out an exaggerated gasp and throw my hand over my mouth in fake shock. “Eleven-hundred? Oh no! Whatever am I to do?”
“Solomon, what are you doing?” Reina asks with a giggle as I reach into my pocket and pull out a wad of cash clasped together in a silver money clip.
“Eleven-hundred you say? Maybe I should buy two,” I snip at the glorified cashier as I count out eleven-hundred dollars in cash. “Now. Open the case, before I break it.” I smile at the blonde just to make sure she doesn’t feel too uncomfortable, and she responds by snatching the case open and quickly pulling out the black and silver bracelet like she can’t get us out of the store fast enough.
“Solomon,” Reina says as the blonde rings us up and puts the present in a white box. “You don’t have to buy me this.”
“Sshhh,” is my only reply. I politely snatch the bag out of the cashiers hand after I pay, then hand it over to Reina as we walk away. I glare at the cashier over my shoulder as I lead Reina out of the jewelry store.
Once we’re back in the hall, I let Reina open the bag and jewelry box before taking the bracelet from her and clasping it to her left arm. It fits perfectly, and I instantly feel glad that I got it for her.
“It’s beautiful, Solomon. Thank you.”
“My pleasure,” I reply with a smile. “I’ve got something to talk to you about, too.”
“Oh yeah? What’s that?” she asks as she keeps her eyes glued to the bracelet, twisting her arm back and forth to make it glisten in the light.
“The bracelet really is beautiful, isn’t it?”
“It really is.”
“Yeah. What if you could have a few of those? For free.”
Reina looks over at me as we strut pass the food court. The two guys are still sitting there, but they don’t dare look at us.
“What do you mean?” she inquires.
“I mean Nix and I are planning something. Something that could be a whole lot of fun, and quite lucrative.”
“You mean the one you’re planning for next week?”
“No, no. That’s gonna be easy—candy from a baby. No, this one’s new, still a concept, but if we can pull it off, it’ll be huge. I’m talking monumental. It’s big, and I want you to help us with it. What do you think about that?”
As if she’s known all along how important her answer is, Reina replies, “I don’t think anything about it. There’s nothing to think. If you’re in, I’m in.”
Her words put a giant smile on my face, and for the second time today, my excited laughter echoes through the halls of Foreman Mills Mall.
“THIS ONE NEEDS to be tighter, Solomon. We gotta stick to the plan. We need to be in and out in sixty seconds.”
“Oooh, Nix! You make me so excited! Listen to you, sounding like a professional bank robber. In and out in sixty seconds!”
“I’m serious, Solomon,” Nix jabs at me, laughing but serious at the same time. I’ve gotta give the man credit, he’s been on top of his game since we knocked off Cash N Check, and he doesn’t miss a beat. Now that we’re getting used to our new found jobs, Nix has become my criminal mastermind.
It’s been two months since Cash N Check, and today is the day we take on our biggest challenge yet. We gave ourselves a little warmup a few weeks back when we knocked off a bar on the edge of Point Breeze, and we’re feeling like we’ve got this thing down. Nix and I ran inside, knocked the bartender out while he was putting money in the register for the day, took the money from the register and safe he was using to fill it, and got the hell out of there without being seen by a single person. Boom! Just like that—another ten grand to split between us! Just like I told my Reina in the mall that day, it was candy from a baby.
Today is a new day, though. Today we step into the big leagues. Julia’s Jewels is like heaven on earth. After this is said and done, we won’t be small time with a few grand here and there. We’ll be on to baller status. There’s a security guard on watch at all times, and the take from this place is unknown to us, but we know it’ll be worth the trouble—or fun, depending on who you ask.
This time, however, we have an extra person with us. Reina has joined Nix and me, and I’d be lying like a politician if I said I wasn’t thrilled about it. She fits right in with her blonde hair, sexy blue eyes and bad girl attitude. She’s really come into her own these past few months since I found her fighting off those two assholes in the alley behind Aaron’s. If I ever saw either of the two guys who tried to rob her, I swear I’d kill them as slowly as possible.
Reina is just as much a part of me as Nix is, and the fact that she’s down to join in on this is bigger to me than either her or Nix realizes. She still has a chance to back out, but the day’s fun activities are just getting underway.
“Julia’s is in South Philly, about twenty-five minutes away. The store’s bigger than the last two places we hit, so both of us will need to be in there,” Nix says, speaking his thoughts out loud. “There may be more than one security guard, but definitely several workers, so we’ll need Reina outside in the car.” Nix looks at Reina, his scruffy beard covering his jaw, and determination in his eyes. He’s ready for this. “Reina, you’ll need to be the lookout and honk the horn if you see or hear
cops coming. And make sure you’re ready to take off as soon as we run from the building. You know how to drive, right?”
Reina nods. “I know enough. As long as it’s not a stick.”
“Okay, we can take care of that,” Nix replies. “You got that, Solomon?”
“Oh I got it,” I answer, grinning as the excitement of the day grows on me. “Alright, ladies and gentlemen, let’s get this show on the road. There’s money to be made.”
The three of us wrap up our conversation, feeling confident in what we have to do, and head out of Nix’s room, each of us holding a duffel bag. Inside the bags are our ingredients that we need to make the perfect robbery happen: Barack Obama and John McCain Halloween masks, two balaclavas, two handguns, and two sets of black gloves that match our black sweat suits. After leaving Nix’s house as quietly as possible, careful not to disturb his sleeping parents, we walk the streets of Strawberry Mansion in total silence. Each step is used to build our confidence.
I don’t know what Nix is thinking, but I’m doing my best to stay focused—going over the plan over and over again in my head as we step, side by side by side. I think about how Nix and I have already done this twice, and each time was a success, and I know how important it is to my future that we continue that success. I’m just a few “jobs” away from being able to completely break off from Whitney and her habit. If anyone ever needed motivation to succeed, all they’d need to do is look at Whitney and then put themselves in my shoes. If you could empathize at all, you’d know there’s no going back. Failure is not an option. I’ve been broke, and I have money now, so I’ve been on both sides of the fence, and I’m telling you right now, I will never go back to being broke.
Nix walks on my right with his chin tucked into his chest. I can sense the focus emanating off of him as he keeps his eyes glued to the cold, cracking concrete in front of us. He’s in the same boat as me, and he knows that our success or failure will dictate whether or not he can take his mother out of the living hell she’s in with Moe. Nix can change everything. He has the power to do it, and I know he won’t let the chance slip through his meaty fingers.
On my left is the one I’m the most interested in. I know Nix won’t drop the ball, and I know I won’t, but what will Reina do? She’s been so amazing since we started hanging out, and our feelings are growing into something real, as strange as it is for me to admit that. But, is she cut out for this? Is Reina really a criminal at heart? After all, she lives in Center City, and she has a ton of rich-people-problems of her own to deal with. Who the hell leaves Center City to commit armed robbery in Strawberry Mansion? It’s insane, and she’d have to be insane to do it. But when I look at her and take in her profile, I sense the same thing coming from her that I sense in Nix—focus. She’s walking, but she’s not thinking about the decrepit houses we’re bypassing, or the homeless man who’s lying on the corner with a shopping cart filled with soda cans next to him. She’s not concerned with the group of young gangsters standing in a five-man huddle passing around weed and a bottle of Hennessy between them in front of a liquor store. She’s not thinking about her bitch of a mother who’s been treating her like crap all her life, or the arranged marriage she seems destined to fall into thanks to her billionaire parents. She’s not distracted by any of it. She’s in the moment. She knows what we’re about to do, and she looks ready. But time will tell if she really is. Each cold step brings us closer, and once we’re there, there’s no going back. If she goes through with it, Reina Wilde won’t ever be the same. Is she ready to be forever changed?
After a few blocks of walking in nearly complete silence, the three of us find a little Ford Focus left all by itself. People never learn do they? This is Strawberry Mansion. You don’t just leave stuff unattended in front of an abandoned house unless you want someone like me to hop in and hot wire it.
After a brief discussion debating taking it with Nix, I slide into the unlocked car’s front seat and hot wire it, no problem. Lucky for us, there’s just over half a tank of gas left in this little piece of crap, so we won’t have any trouble making the short trip to South Philly where Julia’s Jewels waits for us to slide in and screw her brains out.
The trip is quick, and I can sense the anxiety and excitement building inside the car. Nix and I are used to this, but Reina must be screaming in her head. I’m sure she’s nervous and wondering what she’s doing and if we’ll get caught. That’s all fine. The real question is, will she back out? Is she ready to be a part of this with me? Is she capable of being with me? The answers are drawing nearer.
I look in the rearview mirror and see her staring out the window as we drive, and let my eyes bounce back and forth between the road in front of me and her pretty face behind me. She still doesn’t look nervous, just focused like she was on the street. After a few minutes of obvious thinking, she finally looks in the mirror and sees me glaring at her.
“You ready for this?” I ask her, and she replies confidently with one nod of her head.
“I’m ready.”
I smile at her answer, then pull the Focus into an alley and open my door. “Alright, we’re gonna stop here. Reina, you’ll drive the rest of the way.”
She nods at me again after a deep breath, and the two of us switch places. While she drives, Nix and I don our work uniforms. Balaclavas go on first, followed by the Halloween masks and gloves. There’s a saying I read somewhere once; if you do what you always did, you’ll get what you always got . . . or some shit like that. Nix and I take that to heart, so we make sure to do everything exactly the same as we did the last two times. We’re two for two with our new jobs, so now’s not the time to start making changes. As we approach Julia’s, we slide down in the back seat so we’re not seen wearing our masks as we drive up to the door of the jewelry store.
“Don’t forget, be ready to leave,” I remind Reina as we pull within only a few feet from the entrance of Julia’s. “Don’t move for anyone. Don’t get distracted, and make sure you alert us if you see cops coming. You have my number, or you can honk. Reina, I’m counting on you.”
She takes another deep breath, grips the steering wheel, and nods her head. She’s as focused as a sniper, and I love the look in her eye. She’s my ride or die, and I can see it in her. I absolutely love it. She puts on her black, designer, oversized glasses and pulls the fur-lined hood of her jacket over her head to cover herself up, and that’s it. The preparation is complete. This is it.
Now let’s go steal some money!
Before Reina can even stop the car completely, Nix and I open our doors and jump out. Like it’s just a normal day in South Philly, we close the doors to the Focus, and stroll over the sidewalk, pulling open the heavy glass doors to Julia’s in unison with each other. Once we’re inside, Nix clicks a button on his stopwatch to start our sixty-second countdown, and I begin our nice little adventure by pulling out my black nine millimeter and slamming its handle into the back of the security guard’s head. The old guy’s graying hair goes flopping all over the place as he buckles from the impact and crumbles to the floor like a sack of dry leaves. From the looks of this guy’s wrinkled skin and gaunt body, he’s got to be at least mid-fifties. The old guy never stood a chance.
“Well that was easy!” I say aloud, looking down at the old security guard as Nix runs into the bright store and forces the six employees to put their hands up and move to the back corner of the store, just like he planned. It all happens so fast, I barely have time to register what I’m seeing.
The store is rectangular, with glass cases running along the outside walls and a couple of smaller cases set in the middle. The gold chandelier hangs low in the middle of the room, surrounded by inset lights that shine bright as hell to make all of the jewelry twinkle with every step a customer takes. The guard is out cold, there’s six workers being forced to move with their hands up—four women and two men, all no older than forty, all wearing silver tops and black bottoms. Some of them have looks of terror on their faces, o
thers are just confused and unsure of what to do. We’re not sure if there’s some little sneaky button for these people to push, so Nix figured if there’s one place there isn’t a button, it’s in that back corner so he forces them to huddle up and keep their hands in the air. Once the employees are settled, we get to work.
“Ladies and gentlemen!” I announce from the middle of the store, waving my gun around while Nix hops over one of the glass counters and starts pulling out every piece of jewelry he can get his hands on and stuffing it into his bag. “The next forty-five seconds of your life can either be extremely easy or extremely difficult. You get to choose. All you have to do is stand still. Don’t move, and you won’t get hurt. Now, I need the manager to step forward. Now.” I aim my gun at the group of them, and not even a second goes by before the manager is actually pushed to the front of the crowd by someone behind her. See how nice people are when they’re afraid? No one cares about anyone else when their life is on the line.
I look at the manager’s face, and she looks frightened. She’s maybe in her late thirties, with freckles and jet black hair that’s obviously dyed. Her silver button-up is pressed nice and flat, and she looks very professional, but also terrified. She recoils at the sound of my voice.
“I know you’re probably sad that your friends just pushed you out into the open where a madman is standing waving a gun around, but I need you to focus. Open the register, and then open the safe that’s under it.”
The manager who’s not wearing a nametag looks shocked that I know about the safe under the register—where they keep the real money for the big time ballers who come in here and spend tons of cash on these jewels—but Nix and I don’t miss anything. When we decided on knocking this place off, Nix immediately found out about the safe. I mean, come on Manager Lady, we’ve been planning this for a month!
“Thirty seconds!” Nix shouts while he continues to snatch up jewelry, quickly moving from one glass counter to the next.