by M. T. Pope
“Right, now go get us something to drink and snack on while I check some of these sites for any leads.”
He got up and made his way into the kitchen. I did as I said I was going to do and sat down in my original spot. My phone began to vibrate on the cushion next to me. I picked it up and looked at it. It was a text from an unknown number. It read: Meet me at Grandview Ave and Holiday Rd if you want to see your sister alive again. Come alone. If we suspect any setup going on she will die. Again, come alone.
Every hair on my arms and legs stood up. I was in disbelief of what I was reading. Everything in me was telling me to have someone follow me. But I didn’t know if this was serious. I had watched too many television shows and movies with this type of setup and the person given the instructions deviated from the instructions and someone ended up dead. I didn’t know what to do. They didn’t ask for money or any type of ransom. Only for me to show up alone.
I got up out of the chair and headed for the front door. As I got there my mother came down the steps.
“Ashley, where are you going?” she asked with a little panic in her voice. I wanted to tell her everything, but I couldn’t take a chance on my sister’s life. I had to go alone.
“I’m going to the store real quick. You want something?” I lied with a bright smile on my face. My mother looked a hot mess and I didn’t want to stress her out even more.
“No, but take your brother with you.” She looked toward the kitchen as Li’l Shawn came out with a few things in his hands.
“Take me where?” he asked as he walked up on us.
“She’s going to the store and I don’t want her to go alone. Get your jacket so you can go with her,” my mother instructed him. He did as ordered.
“No. I want to be alone for a minute. Ma, I promise that I will be careful. I want to be alone right now. I need some time to think outside with some fresh air,” I pleaded.
“You sure?” Li’l Shawn asked as he looked at me and then at my mother.
“Yes, please, y’all. I’m going to be fine,” I assured them.
“Well, okay.” She reached out and pulled me in for a hug. It was a tight and warm hug. One that I needed. I was getting ready to go into the unknown. I prayed that this was the real thing and not a game. I didn’t have time for games. My pressure was up as it was and I was liable to do anything at the moment.
I gave Li’l Shawn a hug and then made my way out of the door and into my car. I pulled off and looked into the rearview mirror as my childhood home faded into the distance.
Fifteen minutes later I was at the location that was designated in the text. My mind raced as I thought about the possibilities of this situation. Was my sister alive? Was this a trick? Who texted me? Why did they snatch my sister?
It was nightfall now and I was getting scared. Ten minutes had passed and I was still sitting in the car waiting on whomever texted me to show up with my sister. The neighborhood I was in was a really quiet one. It was close to a body of water. It looked like a manmade lake or something. I had never been to this part of town before.
My phone vibrated in the passenger seat. I picked it up. It was another text. It read: We know that you have arrived and that you are alone. Good job. Someone is going to walk by with a black hood for your head. Put it on and pull the string at the bottom to make sure it is secure. Unlock your door. Make any type of noise and your body will end up in the lake nearby along with your sister’s.
I began to shake uncontrollably at the thought of being thrown in a lake, or dying, period. I didn’t like this situation at all. I had come too close before and here I was again. What was I supposed to do? Pull off and leave my sister’s fate in the hands of some crazy person? I couldn’t do it.
It didn’t take long for the person to come alongside the car, tap on the window, and hand me the hood. I couldn’t see if it was a man or a woman because they had on a hoodie that hid most of their face. I placed the hood on my head and pulled the string at the bottom. Almost immediately the door to my car was opened and I was pulled out of the car and placed in what I could only imagine to be the trunk of a car.
I didn’t know how long I was in the trunk of the car but it seemed like forever. But soon the car came to a halt and then I heard the trunk being opened. I squirmed a little in defiance and the person reached to take me out of the trunk. They stood me up; they had my hands and legs bound so that I had depend on them to hold me up. My heart raced as I felt the hood being lifted from my head. The bright light in the room caused me to shudder and my eyes closed. The next thing I felt was a wet cloth being placed over my mouth and me getting weak.
Chapter 30
Alex
Ride Along
I called Ashley earlier today, to check in on the status of my still missing sister, Diana. There still were no leads. Ashley was over my parents’ house posted up like she had her own private task force base set up. She was going hard for my sister and I wanted to be there with her but I definitely had to take care of this situation while Wallace was in town.
“So you are sure you want to be here while this happens?” Wallace looked over at me in the driver’s seat of my car. A few years ago it was the opposite and I was in the passenger side asking questions.
“Yeah, man, I want to see this situation get handled.” I nodded my head.
“Seriously, Alex. This is some stuff that is highly illegal and immoral that is about to go down. Shit that is going to stay with you forever.”
He looked at me intently as if I was going to change my mind. I had seen some things, unnatural things, so whatever was going down tonight probably would be nothing.
“Wallace, man, I’m grown. I can handle my own. You know this already, so save me the speech and let’s get this shit done so I can move on and focus back on my missing sister.”
“Cool. I’m giving you a choice. Remember there is no turning back after this,” he said as we pulled onto a quiet residential street. It was very close to midnight. There were a few cars parked on the street along with a dark-colored van. There was no noise being made except for nature.
“See that truck up there? That belongs to a friend of mine. He and his buddy owed me a favor from back in the day. They in there now rounding up your client’s blackmailer,” he said as he pointed in the direction of the house.
“A buddy of mine retrieved the address of the blackmailer from his Internet provider. The guy I knew who helped me with all of that tried to break all of that down to me over the phone but I didn’t really care about it. He said it was a very complicated process and he had to dig deep because the little blackmailer was a “smart li’l fucker.”
Anyway, Wallace and I sat in the car for a few more moments before we saw two dudes, masked up and in all black, carry what looked like a body out of a house and into the van and then quickly pull off. Wallace signaled me to do the same.
My adrenaline was racing as we followed this van for about twenty-five more minutes. When we finally did stop it was in a desolate part of town that I had not been to before. I was amazed at all the places that you could do unsavory things at in Baltimore. We watched the dudes carry the body out of the van and into a building that looked like an abandoned auto mechanic shop.
We waited a few minutes before Wallace instructed me to follow him. “Come on man, let’s go inside.” He exited the car and I did the same. As soon as we got to the entrance of the building he stopped.
“What’s wrong?” I looked at him, wondering why we had stopped at the door.
“You sure about this? You can stay in the car if you want. No one will think any less of you.” He looked sincere in his approach as always. It made me think more respectfully of him than I did before.
“No, I’m all in. Let’s go.”
He didn’t say anything else as he opened the door and I followed him inside. The place smelled of rusted metal and car fluids. As soon as we went into the main part of the defunct shop we saw the two guys standing over the limp
body on the ground. The two guys still had their masks on. They threw a black book bag at Wallace without a single word said. He reached inside and pulled out two masks identical to those the other two guys had on. He handed one to me and I placed it over my head as did he.
At this very moment I knew what it felt like to be a thug or to at least resemble one.
“Stand back there and watch these dudes do their business,” Wallace instructed me. The big, brawny guys moved in silence as they pulled out a camera and various other things. They left the shop and returned with another large bag that looked like another body. Anticipation and discomfort both enveloped me like a flickering light switch.
Pretty soon they had a scene set up that was out of this world. It made me look at the underworld of violence, crime, and illicit activities very differently.
I watched as they undressed the guy who was blackmailing Lance and then they stuffed some type of pill down his throat while he was still unconscious. On the mattress they had the black bag spread out across it. They unzipped it and sure enough it was a white naked man with his manhood tied to appear like he had an erection. I gagged a few times at the sight and the smell was strong, making me think that this guy was freshly killed. I couldn’t believe I was watching this take place. Wallace had backed up to the position that I was standing at as well. He was focused on the situation at hand.
Soon they laid the extortionist next to the body. All of this happened in a matter of twenty minutes. Not long after they laid him on the mattress the extortionist began to show signs of movement.
Then all of a sudden he began to stand up and move around like he was a zombie of some type. It was weird because he was walking around with no place to go.
“What the hell did they give him?” I peered over and asked Wallace.
“It’s a strong hallucinogen that makes the person taking it very manageable. He will do anything that is told of him.”
“Wow,” was all that I could say as I watched one of the guys whisper into the blackmailer’s ear and then all of a sudden he went over to the dead person and positioned himself over the body and began to have intercourse with the body. His moans of pleasure filled the room. I was flabbergasted at what I was seeing. All of this was being recorded for retaliation purposes. The guy was riding the corpse as if it was a real live person. He moaned and gyrated with abandon. I turned away several times though and heaved until I threw up the contents of my lunch and dinner.
“This is some wild shit,” I said as I leaned over in Wallace’s direction.
“I gave you the choice to not to come,” he said back. I didn’t say anything back.
One of the bulky guys signaled to the other guy to cut the recording. Which he did. I was relieved that it was over.
“I’m so glad that’s over,” I whispered as I leaned over into Wallace’s direction once more.
“It’s not over. Keep watching.”
All I could think was what more could they do?
Then one of the guys came in our direction. I flinched a little because he looked like he was coming in my direction, but he walked right past me and out of the door. A few short moments later he walked back in with huge-ass dog with a muzzle on his face. The muzzle didn’t keep me from being fearful of him getting loose. I wasn’t a dog lover. I didn’t hate them but they weren’t on my list of things to interact with or have.
Anyway, pretty soon they removed the dead body and then whispered into the guy’s ear again; this time he got down on all fours and they placed the dog behind him. The dog hopped on the guy and I bolted for the door. That was my breaking point. Wallace joined me as well.
“I can’t believe what is going on in there is actually going on in there,” I said as I shook my head in shock. I should have stayed in the car like he instructed me to do when we got there. Even though I didn’t see it all, I still knew about it and that was something that you couldn’t forget no matter how much you tried.
“Again, I told you to stay in the car, but your nosey ass had to be in the mix of things.” Wallace laughed a little. I did as well. Not at the situation but the truth about my nosiness. They say curiosity killed the cat.
About fifteen minutes later, one of the two guys came out of the vacant establishment and walked over to the car we were in while it ran idle. The guy walked to the passenger side of the car and handed Wallace the recorder and then walked away. No words were exchanged.
I pulled off headed back toward my house. As I drove all I could think about was if this was really worth clearing up Lance’s mess and getting him out of the hot seat. I was party to a very crazy scene back there. Wallace didn’t lie when he said that it would be immoral and unethical. That mess was something I didn’t want to ever do or see again. He didn’t say anything else during the ride and neither did I.
We pulled up in front of my home and I turned off the car and sat there for a moment.
“You all right, dude?” he asked as I looked straight out of the window into the distance.
“Yeah, I will be.” I tried to smile but I couldn’t. I thought about my missing sister and broke down crying in the car.
“Lex, dude, the guy had it coming to him. No need to cry about it, man. Move past it.” He tried to comfort me with words.
“I’m not crying about that.” I sniffed back some tears and wiped my face with the back of my wrist. “Man, my sister is missing and that scene back there could have been my sister. Man, somebody could be doing some wild shit to my sister right now.”
“Lex, your sister is going to be all right. She will be back in your parents’ home safe and sound in no time. Believe me. Don’t give up, Lex. Your hope keeps her alive.”
“Wallace, this life shit is hard. It’s some messed up people in this world and they will try to mold you into one of them if you don’t watch your back.”
“Alex, you are right. I have seen some crazy things and done some even crazier things as well, but I ask God for forgiveness and I move forward. I’m not an angel and never proclaim to be one. I like people to be treated fairly. I go about it differently than most and for the most part this was my last action of a vigilante. No more save a Negro antics for me. I’m too old for this shit. A brother ready to go to bed now.” He laughed and so did I.
We both got out of the car and entered my building. We both showered and lay down for a good night’s sleep.
Chapter 31
Jasmine
White Walls
Here I was driving on I-695 getting ready to take the exit that led to Spring Grove Mental Hospital. I had taken half of the day off today to take care of this situation. I was sweating profusely through my hands. So much so that my hand had slipped from the wheel as I made a turn. I hadn’t seen my mother in close to ten years. She had been housed in this facility for a long time. I had made this trip on several occasions only to turn around as I neared the entrance. Today would be different. I was going to get to the front door and inside to see her. This was a monumental moment in life for me and even though she may not have even known me or remembered me, I was going to do as Ashley had suggested and tell her the good news.
I pulled into the designated parking area, turned off the car, and breathed out an aggravated breath of air. She was my mother so why was I having all of this anxiety right now? I grabbed my pocketbook off of the passenger seat and exited the car. I took small steps as I headed across the parking lot that led to the facility. I watched a few people exit and enter the facility. I wondered if they were patients or visitors. The closer I got to the building the more my heart raced.
I entered the building; a whoosh of cold air hit me in the face. It caused chill bumps to rise on my arms. I had made an appointment to see her a few days ago as they requested so they could prep the patient for the visitor.
“How are you doing today?” I asked the front desk attendant. “I have an appointment today to see my mother.”
“Name please?” she asked plainly.
“Ja
smine Richards,” I answered. She typed a few keystrokes into the computer and then looked at me.
“We have no Jasmine Richards in our system.”
“Oh, you meant the patient’s name.” I laughed a little. She didn’t. “Her name is Rachel Richards.”
“Thank you,” she replied while entering a few keystrokes into the computer. “Go to the door on the left. Wait for the buzz and then open and proceed to the security checkpoint,” she instructed.
I did as I was instructed and proceeded through the door and in a few short steps I was at a security station that was equipped with two guards and a metal detector. I proceeded to unload my things onto the conveyor belt and then walked through the metal structure. I was relieved that the alarm didn’t go off. I retrieved my personal belongings and was instructed to go in a waiting area at the end of the hallway.
I entered the medium-sized room that had several tables spread apart. Everything in the facility was white. There were three attendants in the room for security purposes. There were also a few other visitors sitting across from patients having conversations. Some of the patients looked a little disturbing. It unnerved me a bit to be in the presence of some possible unstable but medicated people.
It didn’t take long for two attendants to bring my mother in and sit her in front of me. She looked a little worn in the face. Her graying hair was long and in a neat ponytail. She was still pretty like I remembered her to be. The nervousness subsided in me some as I stared at her face and body.
“Hey, Jazz, baby.” She smiled as she spoke. “I’m so glad you came to see me today. I thought you would never come to see me after all that went down. I loved your father.” She looked away from me briefly and then returned her eyes toward me.
“I didn’t come here to talk about that, Rachel,” I said with plenty of attitude.