“Ronnie’s phone!” Natice says, pointing to a bedazzled iPhone lying on the ground, a few feet away from her.
Cracker grabs the iPhone and stuffs it and the gold necklace down her pants.
“No one says a word about Tonya!” Lori points a shaking finger at all of us. “Nothing about the text or necklace. We don’t know shit!”
And that’s when we hear an ambulance’s siren.
Seconds later, a team of medics jumps out of an ambulance and quickly goes to work on Ronnie. She barely looks alive. Her normally tan arms are ashen and limp. Her hand is ghostly white, her fingers like pieces of chalk. They stop the bleeding and place her on a gurney. We have to restrain Lori while they lift Ronnie’s unconscious body into the ambulance.
“Ronnie! Be careful with her!” Lori screams.
Three cop cars have also arrived as a handful of uniformed police officers swarm the scene. One of the cops is Moreno, Thoms’s Latino partner. He tries to speak to Natice, but she is hysterical.
“We don’t fuckin’ know who shot her! We found her like this!”
Moreno starts asking Lori questions. I vaguely hear what they are. “What were you doing?”
“Do you know who did this?”
“Did you see anyone?”
I keep my distance from Moreno, telling my account of what happened to another officer. “She was walking through to meet us. There were gunshots. That’s all I know.”
“We don’t fucking know!” Cracker keeps shouting.
Finally, Lori pulls away from the officer who is questioning her. “This is bullshit. I’m going to the fucking hospital! You can question me there!” She runs off.
“Fuck it!” Cracker says as she, Natice, and I quickly follow after Lori.
The cops don’t chase after us. They know where we will be.
When we arrive at the hospital’s emergency room, we are told Ronnie is still alive but in critical condition. We sit and wait, and I hate every second being in this hospital. “She’s gonna be all right. Ronnie’s tough,” Natice says.
It isn’t long before Ronnie’s parents show up at the hospital. Her mother, who served us lunch a few hours earlier, is hysterical. “Where’s my daughter!” she yells in Spanish. “Where’s my baby!”
Ronnie’s father has his arm around her, trying to calm her down, despite that fact that his eyes frantically search the hall, and he grabs at his neck as if trying to help it swallow. A nurse tries to talks to them, but Ronnie’s mother keeps asking in Spanish, “Where is my daughter? I want to see her!”
Lori walks over to them, and Ronnie’s mother grabs Lori, crying and begging to know what happened. I think about Ronnie’s baby girl. I think about her younger brother and sister. I think about the intense pain they all will feel if Ronnie does not make it. I need to get out of this hospital. I can’t breathe.
An elevator door opens, and Detective Thoms and Moreno step out. Thoms spots Lori at the front desk, talking to Ronnie’s parents, and immediately heads toward them. I stand up and abruptly walk away.
Cracker yells after me. “What the hell, Cheerleader! She’s fucking dying!”
Natice doesn’t say a word. She simply watches me walk away.
I get to the elevators and press the down button. I hit it several times as if forcing it to go faster. Thoms is less than twenty feet away. He stands in front of Ronnie’s parents, asking Lori questions. Finally, Lori walks away from him.
“Lori!” Thoms turns and calls after her.
He looks directly at me. It is brief, but our eyes lock right before the elevator door opens, and I disappear inside. I hit the lobby button with a heavy thumb, back up hard against the elevator, and watch the door close, willing it to move faster.
I run to my car and hop in. My hand shakes as I insert the key into the ignition. It takes me a few times of hitting the gas pedal before the engine starts up, and I am able to speed away. I’m barely out of the hospital’s parking lot when my phone rings. It’s Natice. I can hardly understand a word she is saying. She’s screaming and crying hysterically and not making any sense. Finally I hear, “Ronnie is dead! She’s fucking dead!”
The impact of this hits me, and I break into tears. I picture the doctor leaving the emergency room. I picture him telling Ronnie’s parents their daughter is dead. I hear Mrs. Rodriguez’s horrific scream. I picture Ronnie’s daughter without a mother. I can’t believe Ronnie is dead. I hang up the phone and speed through a red light.
I explode into the motel room and collect my belongings. I need to get out of Cantor. I need to go home. I reach for my duffel bag, but my strength gives out. I collapse to my knees and press my hands into my face. I scream to God, who I am certain hates me. “Please, God! Help me!” I sit on the floor, wondering how all of this happened. How Ronnie is dead. How I came to be living in this motel room. Then I remember why I am there and what I still need to know. I leave my bag behind and sprint out the door.
Chapter 48
Mark’s Mustang is in the driveway when I pull up to the front of his house. I bang on the door like a maniac. A minute later, it opens. Mark stands in the doorway, looking concerned. My face is streaked with tears.
“What’s wrong?”
“Ronnie is dead.”
“Oh shit.”
Mark leads me into the kitchen and sits me down in a chair. “What happened?” He looks at me in shock.
“She went to the school to sell drugs, and then we heard gunshots…”
“I told Ronnie she needed to quit selling that shit!” Mark says angrily.
“It was Tonya.”
Mark’s expression changes. “Fuck!” He walks around the kitchen then stops and looks at me. “Do the cops know?”
I shake my head. “No.” I force back tears.
Mark pauses then, in an unsteady voice, says, “Ally, Lori’s gonna go after Tonya. Get out of this shit now while you can.”
“I can’t.”
“Yes, you can. Just go home!”
“I can’t go home!”
“Why not? Just get on a plane and leave!”
I stand and face him. “Tell me the worst lie you’ve ever told, Mark!”
“What? What’a you talkin’ about?”
“This won’t be the first time Lori’s killed someone, will it? She killed a girl before. She was fifteen years old. They said they were here that night. But they weren’t, were they?”
“Who told you that?”
“Is it true?”
“Who told you that?”
“Did she kill her?” I scream in Mark’s face.
“I don’t know, Ally! And I don’t want to know! They were here that night. And then they weren’t. Anything in between isn’t my business. And it sure as fuck isn’t yours!”
I hold his eyes and look at him as if he is pathetic. “You’re so weak. You’re so fucking weak!”
I turn to leave, and Mark grabs my arm. “She’s my sister, Ally! My sister! What the hell would you do?” Then he looks down at my hand and sees my iPhone. On the screen is an icon of a tape recorder. “What’s that?”
“Tell me the worst lie you ever told, Mark. Did Lori kill my sister?”
Mark looks at me in shock. “Oh my God,” he says as it registers who I am. “You need to go home. Please. Just leave.”
“I can’t.”
I walk out of his house, leaving Mark staring after me, knowing full well I’m the sister of the girl who was shot and killed in that convenience store robbery.
I know I should drive back to Middletown right then, but I don’t. Natice calls me and begs me to come over to her house. “Ally, I don’t want to be alone! I’m afraid of what I’ll do! Please!”
When I arrive at Natice’s house, she is a mess. She is high and drunk and out of her mind. “Fuck, Ally!” She paces back and forth across her bedroom car
pet. “I can’t believe Ronnie’s dead! I can’t believe it!” Then Natice’s eyes land on the photo of her, Lori, Cracker, and Ronnie. She crumbles into tears, and I stand there watching her, too numb to do anything else.
Chapter 49
Ronnie’s funeral is excruciatingly painful. I watch helplessly from the back of the room as Mrs. Rodriguez cries hysterically, begging Ronnie’s lifeless body to wake up from the casket, while Mr. Rodriguez keeps her from collapsing onto it. She yells as if her heart is being ripped from her chest and she cannot breathe. I know the feeling well. Crying right along with Mrs. Rodriguez are Ronnie’s younger brother and sister. Family members try to console them, but it is useless. Then I notice Ronnie’s little girl, Keisha, being held in the arms of a weeping aunt. Even Keisha looks sad, as if aware her mother is dead and she will never see her again.
Despite Ronnie’s illegal activities, which most people have no idea about, Ronnie was well loved. Along with the tons of relatives who pack the room, there are numerous high school friends and beauty school classmates who show up to pay their respects. Even some of Ronnie’s schoolteachers are present. Everyone cries, me included.
“We play for Ronnie today,” Lori says, finishing off a forty before leading Natice, Cracker, and me onto the basketball court. It’s Sunday and only a day after the funeral. Lori thought it would be a good idea if we played in Ronnie’s honor, challenging another team in a game of four vs. four. But we play sloppily, and by the time the second half arrives, I have no idea what the score is other than we are getting our asses kicked.
I’m thankful when the game finally comes to an end. None of us says a word as we gather our stuff and head toward my car. I’m lagging behind when I hear a voice yell after me.
“Yo, Number 15! Number 15!”
I turn and see Glendon walking toward me, excited.
“Yeah. I know you! I know you!”
I freeze, hoping no one else heard.
Glendon quickly approaches me. “I knew it was you. You threw that elbow and bam! Number 15. Down by two!”
He spots Natice up ahead. “Yo, Natty! Natty, you know who this is?”
Natice glances back at us but keeps walking.
“Natty!” Glendon yells after her.
I take hold of Glendon’s arm. “For sixty, we could be best friends.” I pull out all the cash I have and slap it into the palm of his sweaty hand.
Glendon smiles greedily. “Yeah. Number 15.” He crumbles the cash into a ball and runs off, eager to fill his addiction. I relax slightly, watching him go, until Cracker appears behind me.
“What was that about?” She is staring after Glendon.
I hadn’t seen Cracker walk back to get her bag.
“What are you talkin’ about?”
“Number fifteen? Why’s he saying that? Your shirt says Number 2.”
“Maybe the crackhead’s number blind. Who gives a shit?” I walk away, but I feel Cracker’s eyes on my back. I know right then my time is running out.
As I drive us back to Lori’s house, I begin to have second thoughts about remaining with the girls, especially now since Cracker’s suspicions are dangerously high. I see her studying me in the rearview mirror. Not to mention Mark. I still haven’t heard from him since I tried to record a confession. I know I’m crazy to be showing up at his home with his sister, but if he hasn’t told Lori who I am by now, then why not? Maybe he’s carrying his own guilt and trying to decide what to do? Or he believes Lori would make sure I’m planted in the ground next to Ronnie if she knew my true identity. I hope that’s it, and he’s keeping quiet to protect me. At least I know he didn’t lie about Tonya. Lori has every intention of getting even with her. While the cops think it was a drug deal gone bad, we know different, and now, Lori wants to give Tonya the kind of beating Tonya gave Ronnie. I’m the designated driver because I’m a Black Diamond. If only I could give back my membership.
“Where the fuck is he?” Lori checks her phone for the third time.
“When’s Vince supposed to call?” Natice asks.
“After he finds out where Tonya’s gonna be tonight. Bitch knows I’m gonna fuck her shit up. She’s hiding.”
“I can’t wait,” Cracker says.
“Yeah well, as long as that’s all we’re gonna do is hurt her,” Natice says. “No guns?”
“Yeah, Natty, it is! Don’t fuckin’ worry,” Lori says. “I jus’ need Vince to set it up.”
I take it as a blessing that Mark isn’t home when I pull into the driveway.
We gather in the kitchen and wait for Vince to call. It isn’t long before Lori’s cell phone rings, and she steps outside to talk in private. I sit down at the kitchen table, and Cracker takes the seat opposite me. She’s making me nervous, more so when she pulls her revolver out from her sweatshirt pocket and puts it on the table. She spins the gun, making it go fast.
I try to pretend it doesn’t bother me.
“Will you put that fucking thing away?” Natice yells.
Cracker stops the gun from spinning, and the barrel is aimed directly at me. She holds my stare for a moment then picks up the gun and tucks it into her sweatshirt pocket.
Lori walks back into the kitchen. “It’s going down tonight. Vince is gonna stop by Tonya’s place around nine o’clock. Dickhead’s still been seeing her, so she ain’t gonna think any different when he jus’ shows up. After like fifteen minutes, Tray’s gonna call him and say they need him at the warehouse. Vince’ll ask Tonya to go with him, and when she does, we’ll be waiting in the dark for that bitch.”
“We’re only beating on her, right Lori?” Natice asks.
“Yes, Natice! I already told you! I ain’t gonna fuckin’ kill her! A’right? I’m just gonna make sure she wishes I did!” Lori reveals the one weapon she will be bringing: a pair of brass knuckles, what Tonya wore when she beat Ronnie’s face beyond recognition.
Lori tosses the brass knuckles on the table and opens a cabinet door. Her eyes grow wet as she stares inside. “Ronnie was right. Never shit to eat.” She slams the cabinet door.
Chapter 50
It’s almost nine o’clock when Lori, Natice, Cracker, and I pack into the Olds. I’m about to reverse out of the driveway when Mark’s Mustang pulls in behind me, blocking us in.
“What the fuck is he doing?” Lori says, looking back.
Mark gets out of the Mustang and walks up to our car. I start to panic.
“Move your car, Mark!” Lori screams.
Mark appears at her window. “I need to talk to you.” He slurs his words, obviously drunk.
“I’ll talk to you later!” Lori shouts.
“It’s important.”
“I don’t care! Move!” She swipes an angry fist at the air.
Mark looks in at me with a drunken stare.
My eyes beg him not to say another word.
“Mark, move your fucking car! Now!” Lori demands.
But he doesn’t move. He stands beside her door, perhaps thinking about what to say.
“You got two fuckin’ seconds!
“Or else what? You’ll shoot me?” he says, almost laughing. He glances at all of us in the car, takes us in as one big group. He shakes his head in disbelief, looking as if he may actually cry. “Whatever.” He walks off.
My heart settles back into my chest as I watch him get back in his car and speed away.
“What the hell…” Cracker stares after him.
“Shit, I’ve never seen Romeo so torn up over anyone. He really loved Ronnie,” Natice says.
I’m not so sure. I have a feeling it’s me as much as Ronnie.
I throw the car into reverse and back out of the driveway, grateful Mark didn’t give me up. His weird behavior, though, has affected all of us and made Lori even angrier. She pulls out a vial of cocaine and snorts a blast.
�
�When someone takes out your girl, you gotta do her justice. Ain’t that right, Ally?”
“Exactly,” I say, wishing that she were dead—not my sister, not Ronnie.
We reach the warehouse buildings, and Lori tells me to take the Olds around to the back. I splash the car through water-filled potholes and past deserted loading docks until I reach the very last building.
“Park over there.” Lori points to an industrial-sized dumpster. I back up behind the dumpster, turn off the engine, and we sit in the dark. Waiting.
Around ten o’clock, Vince’s Mercedes shows up. I see Tonya riding shotgun as Vince parks facing a loading dock. He keeps the headlights on and the engine running. Nothing happens for a few minutes. Then Tonya climbs into Vince’s lap. He adjusts himself, and within seconds, Tonya’s body is moving up and down against the window. Her arm braces her with each violent thrust Vince makes.
Lori stoically watches, along with the rest of us, as they fuck for what seems like forever. Finally, the driver’s-side door pops open, and Vince steps out of the car and takes a piss alongside the dock.
“Tonya, come here,” Vince yells.
Tonya steps out of the car, her pants collected at her ankles. She laughs, trying to pull them up.
“Suck my dick,” Vince says. Tonya ignores her pants and drops to her knees with a smile. Vince backs away from her and zips up his fly, revealing Lori wearing the brass knuckles.
“What up, ho?” Lori says.
Tonya tries to stand, but Lori’s foot is on her pants.
“No, keep that shit down.” Lori winds up like a prizefighter and delivers the brass knuckles savagely across Tonya’s face, shifting her nose to the left with a sickening crunch. Blood pours out of twisted cartilage, and Tonya crumples to the ground, where she is kicked, punched, and stomped mercilessly by Lori, Cracker, and Natice. No one seems to notice me as I stand off to the side. Another car arrives, and Tray and another boy exit the vehicle. Vince lights up a cigarette and watches the attack on Tonya as if he were sitting in a cinema.
Even though I loved Ronnie and hate Tonya for murdering her, it’s hard to witness a beating like this. I can’t take it anymore, and afraid that Tonya may be killed, I yell, “That’s enough!”
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