The Circle: Autumn

by Keisha Ervin

  “Shhh…what are you talking about?” Loe asked, his hands up in front of him trying to make out what his crazy sister was ranting about. He was already annoyed with Naja for her ghetto behavior that he thought was stupid in the first place. Loe knew that Quinton was right about his sister being a hound for the streets and wanting to show her ass in public, but Loe couldn’t let Quinton know how he really felt. After all, Naja was still his sister.

  “Look! The third girl of these Porters that the feds are looking for is the girl who stabbed me at Quinton’s house. Do you fucking hear me? The bitch is a fugitive! They said she escaped from a prison bus in Baltimore and her and her sister shot up a bunch of C.O.s and cops or some shit,” Naja said all hyped up, sure she was right. Loe twisted his lips and raised his eyebrows as he turned his attention to the television. This couldn’t be right? Loe thought.

  “Why would a girl who is a fugitive be with Quinton? Or why the fuck would Quinton help a fugitive and bring heat buzzing around my fucking businesses,” Loe gritted to himself. Now he was glued to the television as well. Loe was in a race to find Autumn before the feds did.

  “Autumn Porter,” Loe read the headline that was flashing Autumn’s name. He didn’t even like the way her name taste on his tongue. With his insides burning with anger and his jaw rocking feverishly, Loe picked up his phone to call his goons that he had sent to find Autumn, but he didn’t get an answer.

  “They better fucking find her before the feds do,” Loe mumbled, not knowing it was already too late.

  Two hours later, Loe got word that his cousin Tito and his other two workers were found murdered in the dirty motel outside of St. Louis. When Loe spoke to his connection at OnStar, he found out that was where she had sent the men after locating the Escalade there with the system locator. In Loe’s assessment, that could only mean one thing…Autumn was responsible for his cousin and his worker’s murders. Loe couldn’t control the anger welling up inside of him. His heart was racing and cold sweat broke out on his head. Loe called in the best henchmen in his crew and had an emergency meeting. It was the type of meeting he called when a rival drug boss tried to move in on his territory or had killed one of his men. Loe was planning on treating Autumn just like she was a rival. She had now made herself his sworn enemy…even worse than before.

  “I want this bitch in front of me! She has crossed a line with me! Nobody does this to my family and gets away with it! I don’t care who the news claims her family is!” Loe barked, his face turning deep red. “I want her fucking head on a spick hanging in my fucking yard for what she has done to my family!”

  Loe had done his research between what the news was reporting and what his street reporters told him, Loe found out that he was up against one of the infamous Porters. This time he wasn’t sending any of his flunkies to do his dirty work. Loe planned on hitting the road with his crew to find Autumn himself. He could picture him making her scream in pain while he tortured her, then he was going to let his sister torture her some more and his cousin Tito’s wife do the rest.

  “I hope I find her with her entire family so I can kill them all,” Loe told his driver as they hit the road with two carloads of goons behind him. “Who the fuck are the Porters anyway? I’m not fucking impressed with a bunch of thieves who don’t have the heart to work for their own money,” Loe growled, cracking his knuckles in preparation for what was to come.

  Loe wasn’t the only one searching for Autumn though because as soon as Loe turned his back, Naja called FBI tip line and told them what she knew. Now, Autumn not only had the entire state of Maryland law enforcement, the U.S. Marshall’s Fugitive Task Force, and the FBI after her, she also had Loe and his band of crazy killers hoping to find her first.

  Chapter 6 On The Run

  Autumn’s hands shook fiercely as she tried to grip the steering wheel of the Escalade. Murder was something she didn’t like to do, but would in a minute to protect herself or her siblings. Sweat dripped down her back and her stomach was knotted in cramps. She had killed three men and she knew by now, in addition to the U.S. Marshall’s fugitive task force, even more police were probably looking for her. “This shit is for the birds,” Autumn said, referring to how badly her nerves were shot from seeing those men lose their lives. Autumn would’ve left the Escalade behind, but it was her only way to get out of dodge after she picked off the goons that had attacked her.

  Every few seconds Autumn heard a chirping sound coming from some place inside of the Escalade. With her nerves so raggedy right now, she couldn’t stand the sound…it was driving her crazy. It seemed to get louder and more frequent the further she drove. She had to make it stop.

  “What the fuck is that?” she finally mumbled, pulling over to find out. Autumn looked around the car, down at the dashboard, in the glove box, between the seats. Finally she looked up and saw a little red dot flashing on the little panel on the roof of the SUV right near the rearview mirror where the sunroof controls were located. Autumn furrowed her brow and touched the blue OnStar button that was there. The noise went from a slow steady chirp to an all-out ringing sound.

  “Ok this is where the noise is coming from but what the hell is wrong with this shit?” Autumn said, pressing the button. The sound didn’t stop, so she banged it.

  “Locating. Locating. Locating,” a computerized voice filtered through the car. “Fire and police. Locating,” the voice continued.

  “Shit! This thing is acting like I’m in a stolen car. It’s probably sending the fucking cops right to me. Somebody must’ve told those bastards that tried to kill me that I had the Escalade with the OnStar in it. That’s how they fucking found me, now they’re sending the cops!” Autumn realized, feeling paranoid. She quickly grabbed her things and scrambled out of the vehicle. She hailed a cab and rushed into the backseat.

  “Take me to the nearest rental car place!” Autumn yelled at the driver. Her nerves were shot to hell. She relaxed against the seat and tried to calm down, but Autumn kept feeling like someone was watching her. Paranoid, she opened her eyes. Sure enough as they drove, every few minutes she could see the cab driver peering at her suspiciously through the mirror. He would squint and look down at the empty passenger seat and then back in the mirror at her. Autumn craned her neck and saw the edge of a newspaper sitting in the driver’s empty passenger seat up front. Autumn knew he had probably seen her face splashed across the newspaper. Not again with this bullshit. Every fucking body wants to be a hero these days. Autumn closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She knew she was going to have to do something about this nosey ass cab driver seeing her. She watched him for a few minutes as they slowed to a light. He was slyly dialing something on his cell phone. Now this nigga probably calling the fucking cops too. I just can’t fucking win. Autumn told herself it was now or never and as soon as the driver began slowly lifting his foot off the brakes, Autumn frantically opened the car door and jumped out of the moving car. She began running like her life depended on it and it certainly did. Behind her she heard the car tires screeching and squealing against the street as the cab driver tried to come after her.

  “Ay! Ay!” the driver called out frantically, but Autumn was too fast for him. By the time he got his car turned around and able to follow her, she was gone. Nanny and Smitty had always told Autumn that one day her long legs would come in handy. Autumn always wanted to be a track star too. She raced into a mall and dipped inside of a department store. Malls were her element and she immediately felt a comfort come over her. Once she was in the store she slipped into the dressing room and into one of the stalls and closed the door. There was no way the cab driver would find her in that big ass mall. There were probably a hundred stores and at least four big department stores. With her chest heaving up and down, Autumn sat on the small seat inside and gathered her thoughts. What would Rain do? What would Fallon do? What would Dayvid do? She thought. Each of the answers that popped into mind were all different. Rain would’ve shot her way out of there and to her next
destination. Fallon would have fucked her way out of there and to her next destination. Dayvid would’ve gamed his way out of there or used all of his wide reaching connections to make it out of there. Autumn was the only one that didn’t have her own set way of doing things. She was a little bit of all of her siblings mixed up, but if she had to do any of those things to get back to her brother and sisters, she would do it with the smarts, class and strength of a Porter.

  Autumn reassessed her current situation. She still had one fake ID with a matching credit card, but she had foolishly let her stupid nervousness cause her to leave behind the bag Quinton had given her with the money, which was also mixed with the money Rain had given her. Out of money, aside from a burned out credit card from Rain and a few hundred dollars that was put into her wallet with the last fake ID, Autumn closed her eyes to think. There was a hundred ways she could get some fast cash, but she had to be smart and choose the way that wouldn’t lead to her getting caught.

  “A rental car. That’s what I need right now,” Autumn told herself. Transportation was the only thing that would help her on this tough journey to meet up with her siblings. After hearing about Fallon killing some dude on an Amtrak train, Autumn decided against any form of public transportation. So a car was at the top of her list of priorities. Autumn decided she also needed a new outfit and a hat that she could pull low to cover her face and hair to disguise her even further. That cab driver could be lurking anywhere she told herself.

  Using the burned out credit card, Autumn brought a new disguise. With a new oversized men’s denim shirt, some black leggings, a Truk Fit trucker’s hat, and grey contacts this time, Autumn was ready to go. She had spent quite a few dollars on the burned out credit card and could only pray she will still be able to get a rental by the time she found a rental car place. Autumn went to the opposite side of the mall and took one of the cabs that was waiting out front to an Enterprise rental car spot. Autumn went to pay the cab driver.

  “Oh shit!” she cursed and began whirling around frantically. “Sheesh, I thought I lost my fucking wallet!” Autumn hissed. The exhaustion was starting to take over her brain. She finally located the wallet and flipped through it so she could pay for the cab ride. Autumn couldn’t control her shaking hands worth a damn. Autumn sifted through the bills she had left and counted four hundred dollars. That’s it! I’m fucking broke and real far from where I need to be! Her mind raced with possibilities on how she was going to get her hands on some fast cash on the way to the border. There was no way that little bit of cash would suffice even for gas. Autumn wanted to badly call one of her siblings that it was killing her inside. Even calling Quinton had entered her mind a few times during this struggle.

  Autumn was pissed at herself now for letting Quinton convince her to get rid of the burner phone Rain had given her. “Even burners can be traced off of tower pings,” Quinton had told Autumn, convincing her that he would be there for her the entire ride and she didn’t need to have the phone. It was a plan that seemed fool proof, until that dumb bitch Naja showed up and started acting foolish. It wasn’t all her fault though. Autumn scolded herself for making some amateur mistakes that she would’ve never made had she had the guidance from Rain and Dayvid. Autumn realized she was stupid in love and that she had left a lot behind for Quinton, her heart included.

  Autumn paid the cab driver, but her insides were churning now. Autumn felt a wave of tears coming on that she didn’t think she would be able to control. These emotional mood swings were killing her. One minute she felt strong enough to kill three goons, the next minute she felt like laying down on the ground in a fetal position and telling someone to call the cops to come get her.

  Although she was hard in a lot of ways, Autumn was the most sensitive of her siblings. She cried when shit didn’t go her way and she also cried when she was happy…it was her thing…but it didn’t mean she was weak.

  “I should’ve just listened to Rain,” Autumn murmured, feeling the pressures of the world like she had never felt in her life. For the first time she had no one but herself to depend on and it was a feeling that she didn’t know how to handle. “Snap the fuck out of it Autumn. You have to do shit on your own right now so man the fuck up!” Autumn played some of Fallon’s old words over in her head to motivate her. It was true, she was going to have to man up and fight her way to Mexico.

  Autumn knew that there was no way she could make it to the border with that little bit of cash though. She still had the credit card so she was good to rent the car, but she was going to hatch a plan for the next leg of her trip. Autumn went into the Enterprise rental car place and walked up to the counter. The girl behind the counter greeted her with a smile and began her transaction. The girl was a little too chatty for Autumn’s liking. Autumn wanted so badly to tell the young chick to shut the fuck up and hurry the fuck up with her business so she could leave. As the girl punched in the information Autumn heard the door chimes ring as someone came into the rental car place. Autumn let out a long exasperated sigh as the girl behind the counter stopped typing so she could be nosey about who was coming in the door.

  Autumn didn’t turn around to see who it was, but the girl behind the counter looked up and smiled from ear to ear. Next, Autumn heard the fuzzy sound of a police handheld radio sounding off with the voice of a police dispatcher. A hot feeling engulfed Autumn’s entire body and suddenly she had to pee real bad.

  “Hi Officer Lundy,” the girl behind the counter greeted. “I haven’t seen you all week. Vacation? Or just didn’t stop by to see me,” the girl chimed playfully. Autumn wanted so badly to snatch that girl by her collar, but she knew better. With the police officer looming behind her, Autumn kept her head down. She was praying silently that he wasn’t there for her, although she knew God probably had written her off at that point.

  “I’ve been on a short vacation. You know how it is…gotta get out of town every now and then. How about with you? Nothing going on today?” the officer said in a friendly tone, approaching the counter right next to Autumn. “No fugitives running in here renting getaway cars today? Nothing exciting for me,” the officer joked. The girl behind the counter busted out laughing like she was at a comedy show or something. Autumn’s ears suddenly began ringing and sweat raced down her face, her back, and down the sides of her face. One part of her mind was telling her to run, but the other logical part was telling her to stand there and act like she was just a regular old customer and don’t bring the officer’s attention to her.

  “Nothing going on here. Same ol’ same ol. No fugitives to make my life more exciting, but there’s sure a lot of them on the news this week…heard about them sisters from Baltimore?” the counter girl said and asked all in one breath. “Them girls are crazy killers. How exciting to finally see women doing what men usually do though,” the girl commented. Autumn felt faint when the girl mentioned her and her sisters. Autumn had to get the hell out of there. She let out an impatient breath. The girl shot her a look as if to say you will just have to wait.

  “Yeah, heard about them, but no chance I’ll be seeing any of them in this boring ass town. Ha! Imagine how fast I’d get a promotion if I caught one of them killer Porter girls,” Officer Lundy joked. Again, the counter girl laughed like she had heard the funniest joke in years. Autumn’s jaw rocked feverishly and more sweat danced down the side of her face. She wanted to snatch the bitch behind the counter up and tell her to give her the fucking keys, but Autumn just fought the urge and kept her cool.

  “Well, I’m going to use your restroom and get out of your hair so you can get back to this nice young lady here,” Officer Lundy said, then he walked to the back of the place. Autumn felt numb all over her body and she could hardly breathe. Being that close to a cop wasn’t her idea of a good time.

  “You alright, Miss Champlain?” the girl asked, finally turning her attention back to Autumn. Autumn kept her head low.

  “Um...ye…yes, I am just really in a rush,” Autumn managed, her voice
quivering and her words getting jammed up in her mouth.

  “Well, I’m all done. Here are your keys,” the girl said, dangling the rental car keys in front of her. Autumn damn near snatched the girl’s hand off trying to get the keys. She felt relieved that she was almost out of there. As soon as Autumn was about to exit the place, she heard the words she thought would kill her.

  “Excuse me…ma’am? Ma’am?” It was Officer Lundy calling out to her. Autumn swallowed hard and froze. Her heart banged so hard in her chest she felt like it would explode. Autumn’s legs felt weak and she couldn’t move. She hadn’t felt like this since she had to walk up to Nanny’s casket at her funeral. Autumn contemplated doing something bold, like running or even turning her gun on the officer, but her fear just had her frozen in place.

  “Yes sir?” Autumn said through her teeth without turning around. Her brain had finally sent a message to her tongue. Her better judgment also prevailed and told her to play it cool.

  “Be careful pulling out of here. That construction is pretty bad around here. They’ve got debris all over the roads…lot of people getting messed up with that,” the officer warned in a cheerful and helpful voice. Autumn let her shoulders fall with relief as she took inhaled a windstorm of air. She closed her eyes for a few seconds and mouthed the words, Thank God, before she proceeded to move. Things just continued to line up for her, but Autumn knew sooner or later her luck would run out.

  “Thanks for the heads up,” Autumn called back to the officer. She rushed through the doors. She heard the counter girl call her weird as she made it out of the doors. Autumn quickly located her rental car and hopped inside.

  Once she was inside the Chevy Malibu Autumn finally broke down. Everything that she had been through thus far all came crashing down on her like a bag of bricks thrown off of a skyscraper. Her heart was racing, her head was pounding and the tears finally broke like a busted water dam.