by Kiki Swinson
Mario drove down this long, dark road. There were no streetlights in sight to navigate us down this dirt road. I figured the road had to be at least four miles in distance before ending at the main road. That alone was scary. And by the time we reached the raggedy old house, we noticed that it looked deserted. The white paint on it was chipped away and two of the windows were boarded up. A withered cornfield surrounded the old house.
“I’m gonna park right here,” Mario said, as he pulled onto the grass near the beginning of the dirt road. He turned the car completely around so he could dash out of there if he had to. We sat there in the dark with the headlights on and waited for Maceo to appear with Carmen. My heart raced out of control and I couldn’t contain it. “Where is he?” I wondered aloud. “I thought he was going to be here!”
“I don’t know. But he should be here any minute now,” Mario assured me, though his voice sounded a little doubtful.
“Look, I know that I’m coming out of left field with this, but I’m going to need you to be honest with me,” I said.
“What is it?”
“Remember the other morning when I got back into bed after I fixed you that seafood omelet?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“Okay, and do you remember me getting in your bed to take a nap right after we got out of the shower?”
“Yes . . . ?”
“Okay, well, while I was in the bed I overheard you talking on the phone about meeting someone concerning something you wanted to get from them, but you weren’t too happy about where he wanted to meet you. And then I heard you say something to the effect that when he wants to do business the right way, give you a call. So, I was wondering what that was all about. Were you trying to buy drugs from the guy on the phone? Or are you into something else? Because the way I took that conversation, you were getting ready to get into something illegal.”
Mario took one long look at me, like he was trying to think of a lie, so I said, “Do you have to think about it?”
“No.”
“Well, answer my question. I need you to clarify this thing for me just in case something happens to me tonight.”
“Nothing is going to happen to you. Stop talking like that.”
“Mario, please answer the question. What are you into? Because I know now that those businesses you have are a front. If we come out of this and stay together, then I don’t want to be in the dark about what’s going on with you.”
He hesitated for a second and then he said, “To answer your question, no, I am not into selling drugs. I used to be in that lifestyle but now I’m strictly trying to do business the right way so I don’t have to be looking over my shoulder every time I turn around. Now, as far as that conversation is concerned, I was talking about tires and rims. I’ve got this guy who works for the company I get my merchandise from and every now and then he’d come across some inventory that the company overstocked. And what he would do is rig up a fake invoice and call with a location of where to meet me. Sometimes we’ll meet up in the back of an alley and other times we’ll meet up in the back of my stores. It’s been kind of hot lately with the police roaming around the Park Place area, which is around the corner from where my store is, so I don’t want to arouse anyone’s suspicion and have them tear me off behind some stolen goods. No sir, I would rather wait when the time is good than take a chance and end up in jail behind being stupid.”
“Do you have to do that?”
“No, I don’t. But let me say that when I do get that extra inventory from that guy, it brings me an extra ten grand a week in sales profits. And that’s money I can put in my pocket.”
“Would it hurt you if you stopped?”
“No.”
“Well, has it ever crossed your mind to stop? I mean, you’ve got so much to lose and I would hate for you to lose it behind something so frivolous.”
“It’s funny that you asked me that because just this morning I told the guy that I wanted to chill out for a while.”
“That’s good. I am proud of you.”
He smiled and said, “When all of this is over, you and I are going to have a serious talk about our future together.”
“I thought we already did that back at the hotel.”
“No, we didn’t talk about everything.”
“What did we leave out?”
“We’ll get into that later. Right now, we need to be more concerned about me getting you and me out of here alive. My brother probably has a lot of shit up his sleeves, so we need to be focused on him. You feel me?”
I nodded my head and then I sat back in the seat and said a silent prayer. I knew there had been a lapse in time since I last talked to God, but I needed him. He was the only one I knew who could bring me out of this mess alive. Mario talked a good game on the way here but I sensed fear in his heart. Yeah, he was older than Maceo and bigger in stature, but the underlying issue was that Maceo was a mental case and Mario knew it. When Mario told me how Maceo spent time in a psychiatric institution for his mental illness, I was completely blown away. Why he was still on the street and not in a padded room with a straitjacket strapped to him was beyond me. Let Mario tell it, he can handle Maceo, but his actions showed me something different. So, as we continued to wait, an uneasy feeling came over me. It felt like we were being watched. My peripheral vision was working overtime and I grew restless looking over my shoulder. My nerves were so rattled I probably would’ve jumped out of my skin if somebody came behind me and said boo!
During the next ten minutes, Mario kept looking at his Rolex watch. He saw how the time kept slipping by while Maceo was a no-show. But before he got restless to the point of backing out of this meeting, a car started driving down the dirt road toward us. My heart started racing uncontrollably as I watched the car travel in our direction. I could see four heads in the car from where I was sitting, and Mario made mention of it. “That nigga lied and said he was only bringing one nigga with him. It looks like he’s got two bodies in there along with your cousin.”
“Oh, my God, Mario, what are we going to do?” I panicked.
He grabbed hold of my hand. “Calm down. I’m not gonna let anything happen to you.”
I laid my hand over top of his and squeezed it tightly. “You promise?”
He looked me in my eyes. “Yes, I promise. Ain’t shit gonna happen to you,” he assured me, and then he released my hand to grab his gun. He’d driven with it on his lap. He placed his hand around the handle of the semiautomatic pistol and pulled back on the slide. “You ready?” he asked me.
I took a deep breath and then I exhaled. “Yes,” I finally answered him.
“Well, remember not to get out the car until I open the door,” he instructed me.
“I got it.”
Two seconds later he got out of the car and walked around to my side and grabbed a hold of the door handle. My heart stopped beating that instant. Crazy thoughts of me getting shot up behind this dried-up cornfield intruded on my brain. This was not the way I planned my life to end. But then I figured at least I didn’t die in the hands of Sheldon and his Haitian henchmen.
“What’s the holdup? Get your ass out that car!” I heard Maceo yell. He stood beside his car, which was parked only twenty feet away.
“I’ll let her out as soon as you let her cousin out.”
“Don’t try any funny shit!” Maceo warned Mario.
“How the fuck I’m gonna try some funny shit when you got two of your boys with you?”
Maceo ignored Mario’s question and signaled the guy in the backseat to bring Carmen out of the car. I watched closely as the guy climbed out the backseat and walked around to the other side. He pulled on the door handle to open up the door and then leaned into the car to grab her. My eyes were fixated on every move he made, so when he looked like he was struggling to remove her from the car, I got a bit nervous. I sat up in the seat to zoom in a little closer.
“What’s the holdup?” Mario yelled from where he was standi
ng.
“Shut the fuck up, nigga! He got her!” Maceo roared.
My heart started beating once again after I heard the thunder in Maceo’s voice. I knew he was there for the purpose of killing me, so it was only a matter of time before he would unleash his venom on me. I couldn’t see his eyes because of how dark it was in these backwoods, but I could see his facial expression and it wasn’t a pretty sight.
“Yeah, a’ight! Well, tell him to hurry up then,” Mario stated, his voice as stern as Maceo’s. From the outside, it appeared that Mario tried to stand his ground with his brother because he didn’t want to seem like he was afraid. But, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to see that he was on the brink of running out on me, so he could save his own life. Shit! That’s what I would’ve done. He had not been messing with me long enough to put his life on the line for me. In my eyes, I was just another piece of pussy; that came a dime a dozen. So, I could’ve been replaced on the spot. I knew any other man would’ve done that in a heartbeat.
Finally the guy who struggled to bring Carmen from the car managed to get her out. But when I looked at his body language a little closer, I noticed that something was not right. I tried to get a zoom in on her but the headlights from Maceo’s car prevented me from doing it. But as soon as he stood straight up and threw Carmen’s body down on the ground, I realized that her face was covered with a pillowcase and that she was either unconscious or dead.
“What’s wrong with her? Why the fuck she ain’t moving?” Mario yelled.
“Cause she’s dead, nigga!”
Maceo’s words hit me like a ton of bricks. My heart pounded so rapidly in my chest cavity, I thought it was going to burst out. Carmen’s body just lay there lifeless on the ground and my heart couldn’t take it. Tears poured from my eyes as I grabbed the door and pushed it open.
“You killed my fucking cousin!” I screamed as loud as I could. The rage in my voice commanded some attention and I got it. The force of my weight on the door pushed Mario out of the way, so he staggered a bit. He was caught off guard by my reaction and tried to regain control of the situation. But it was too late. Because as soon as I stepped out of the car, Maceo and his other two men pulled out their arsenal of machinery and started firing away. Bullets were flying everywhere. Maceo and his men were shooting at us and Mario was shooting back. When I saw Mario get hit in the arm, I panicked. I knew it was time for me to run for my life. I jumped right back into the passenger side of the car and crawled over to the driver side. Thank God Mario left the key in the ignition with the car running because I didn’t have a lot of time to get out of there.
Right before I put the car in gear I looked back at Mario as he ran for cover in the cornfield. I had to protect myself as well, especially after the windshield was shot out. Without giving it a second thought, I pressed down on the accelerator and bailed out of there. My heart was racing as I tried to dodge the load of ammunition that came my way. I couldn’t look back to see what Mario was doing because my head was buried directly below the steering wheel. I couldn’t even see in front of me, but somehow I managed to force my way by them. Bullet holes mangled the passenger side doors and all the windows were shattered to pieces. Maceo wanted me dead and he tried everything within his power to do it.
“Get her! She’s getting away,” I heard him yell, while shots were still fired.
Driving uncontrollably down the dirt road, the noise from the shots became less intense, so I knew I had passed them. And when I thought I was in the clear, I raised my head and then the back window came crashing down. “Ooooowwwww!” I screamed, and then I ducked my head back down. At that very moment I lost control of the wheel, and before I knew it, I ran into a nearby tree. BOOM!!!!!
Thank God I wasn’t knocked unconscious, but I was banged up a bit from the airbag erupting in my face. I shook my head and immediately pushed the white plastic airbag away from my face and forced the driver side door open. I crawled out onto the ground but I couldn’t stand on my feet because the impact from the car hitting the tree head-on damaged my ankle. The only choice I had at this point was to hop on my other foot or crawl. I decided the best thing to do would be crawl, since I was only a few feet from a cornfield. I heard Maceo’s voice trailing down behind me, so I needed to make a getaway.
“You can run all you want to, bitch! But I got your ass now!” I heard him yell. He was running in my direction fast, so I knew it wouldn’t be long before he and I would be face to face. I said another silent prayer, but this time I poured my heart into it. I had to let God know that if he got me out of this, I would return back to Miami to turn myself in, so I could deal with that situation. And in addition to that, I promised that I would turn my life around and start serving him. I was tired of being on the run and I was tired of running to protect my life. So many of my loved ones had been murdered because of me, and my heart couldn’t take it anymore. More importantly, my heart was missing my mother. It took all this shit to happen to me for me to realize that I needed her in spite of all the bullshit I went through with her from my childhood. I also knew that she needed me as well, so I had to make a change.
I continued to crawl until my hands and knees couldn’t take the hard sticks and the gravel that punctured me every time I pressed over top of it. I stopped for a second so I could hear how far away Maceo was from me. But I couldn’t hear anything. He must’ve stopped moving, too, so he could hear or see my movement. At one point, I held my breath so he wouldn’t hear me breathing. “Oh, my God! What am I going to do?” I said to myself. I was in the middle of nowhere. And it was pitch dark outside. The only light I saw was what came from the headlights of the car Maceo had driven. “Come out of there, bitch! You ain’t got nowhere to run,” he said, chuckling.
I didn’t respond and remained still.
“I know you hear me! You better bring your ass out from there before I really lose my mind,” he threatened.
I still remained quiet and I didn’t make a move. After about five straight minutes of him trying to coerce me into turning my life over to his hands, he grew frustrated and started toward me. He had no idea where I was, but he made up his mind that he didn’t have any more time to waste so he had to go after me. My heart started jumping around when I heard his footsteps coming in my direction. I wanted so desperately to move but I knew if I did, the corn stalks would move for sure and he would be able to locate me with no problem.
“You better say your prayers, bitch, because you are about to meet your maker!” he threatened me once more.
The closer he came to me, the louder his voice became, and I got more and more nervous. I wanted to move just a couple of feet to my right but, again, I didn’t want him to see the corn stalks moving because that way he would definitely find out where I was.
Angry and frustrated by my disappearing act, Maceo continued to storm in my direction and then he fired a gunshot in the air. I jumped back and accidently pressed my hand against a sharp object. I couldn’t tell what it was until I picked it up in my hand. I had no lights to see with, so I zoomed in on it and strained my eyes to see what it was. It didn’t take long to figure out that I was holding a bear trap in my hands. The device had sharp iron jaws and was so heavy, I had to put it back down. The surface of it was rusty too. I could tell just by rubbing my hands across it that it had been out in the field for a very long time, but I could also tell that it still worked.
My mind started running sixty-five miles a second. I knew that Maceo would eventually find me because he wasn’t too far from me now. But it was impossible for him to see what was before him, so I knew that when he did find me, it would only be because he walked into me. I immediately placed the trap on my lap so I could figure out how to set it. The bear trap could be my safeguard device to slow that maniac down in his tracks.
“Come on, please work,” I whispered softly as I adjusted a few of the locks and switches. Finally, after about three consecutive minutes of messing around with the thing, I managed to set it
. I laid it down next to me and waited patiently for that bastard to bring his ass my way. I was tired and wanted all this shit to go away. Maceo had to be stopped. He’d caused enough pain in people’s lives and tonight he and his mental health issues had to be put to rest. Seeing Carmen’s limp body lying there on the ground gave me enough courage to stop this maniac from terrorizing anyone else. Aunt Sandra and Carmen were both gone and it was all because of me, so it was time for me to seek some revenge.
“I know you’re out here. I smell your sweet perfume, you bitch!” I heard him utter.
The crackling noises from him stepping on sticks and dried-up leaves told me that he was only a few feet away. So, I turned on my stomach and lay completely flat on the ground. The anticipation of when he would finally run into me was about to drive me crazy. I really wanted this shit to be over right then.
“Come out from there, you fucking whore! I can make this a little less painful for you,” he bargained.
When I lay down on my stomach, I was on top of a stick that was piercing the hell out my side. The pain was tearing through me like a sharp needle, so I moved just a little bit to my right so I could avoid touching the bear trap. That was a bad move. Because when I moved, my hand accidently hit the trap and the thing snapped back and almost took my hand off. I screamed to the top of my voice and fell back on my side.
Maceo heard me bellow out the scream and ran right in my direction. “I got you now, bitch!” he yelled.
My heart flipped over and took off running. I didn’t know if I was coming or going. But I did know that I had just fucked-up and Maceo knew exactly where I was, so my life span was about to run out if I didn’t do anything to prevent it. At that moment, I knew I had less than ten seconds to do something and since the bear trap was my only source of weaponry, I scrambled back up and grabbed a hold of the trap. I tugged at the switches a few times and then I locked it. “Yes,” I stated when I realized it was set. I set it down and as soon as I did, Maceo appeared before me. My heart stopped the moment I saw his face. He had his gun drawn and pointed directly at me, so I sat completely up without saying a word. He took another step toward me and said, “I gotcha now, bitch! And you ain’t got nowhere to run.”