“Come on, man, Shantal knows we hang. Just tell her we were too drunk to drive home.”
“Both of you?”
“Why not?”
“Come on, DeVante. You know that’s not gonna fly.”
“Well, make it fly, man, shit. Say whatever you have to say, just make it happen. Because I have a bad feeling that the longer we stay here, the more likely we are to run into Marcus and the others.”
I looked at Joe long and hard. We needed to get out of here and crash until the morning, and his was the only place I could think of. Joe shook his head and rose from his stool. “Man, Shantal’s not gonna go for this.”
“Just try, Joe,” I said.
“Whatever, man,” Joe said, reluctantly giving in to me. “Let me at least call her and let her know we’re coming. Lisa, let me borrow your phone.”
Lisa reached in her purse, grabbed her phone, and handed it to him. Joe mumbled a thank-you and then walked away to make his call in private, leaving Lisa and I alone while Jimmy watched intently.
“Somethin’ wrong, Jimmy?” I asked. His judgmental gaze was getting on my nerves.
Jimmy smirked. “Nothin’ wrong with me. But it look like y’all got problems.”
“Nah. Everything’s cool on our end.”
“Not what it seem like to me.”
“Well, I tell you what, Jimmy, why don’t you forget about what our business seems like to you and get me another drink.” I gave Jimmy a hard glare. As cool as I was with him, I was in no mood for any of his comments. Jimmy obviously didn’t care about what I was or wasn’t in the mood for. He looked away from me and stared at Lisa.
“How ’bout you, girl? Everything cool on your end?”
Lisa nodded. “Everything’s fine, and my name is not girl.”
“You sure about that?” Jimmy badgered.
I’d had enough and slammed my hand down on the bar. “Listen, Jimmy, I already told you things was cool. Now why don’t you stop asking questions and get my fucking drink.”
Jimmy looked at me with a blank stare, making it impossible for me to read his reaction to my outburst. Things got quiet around us as everyone watched eagerly to see what Jimmy would do. No one ever spoke to him that way. After a few seconds of blank staring, Jimmy grabbed a shot glass, filled it with vodka, placed it down in front of me, and smiled. I didn’t smile back.
“Listen here, you drunk-ass motherfucker,” Jimmy growled quietly, leaning toward me with the smile still planted on his face. “This here is my fuckin’ place of establishment. I don’t like for no shit to go down here. Now when I see that somethin’ may go down, I make it my business to get in whoever’s business I need to get in to make sure that their shit stays on the outside.
“I don’t know what the fuck you involved in, and I don’t care, either. But when I hear talk about needing to get out before Marcus comes, that tells me that you involved in somethin’ I don’t want.
“Now I suggest you down this here drink quickly. Because after this one, there ain’t gon’ be no more. Ever. Swallow that drink down, and then you and your friends get the fuck out of my place and don’t come back. I didn’t kill you for talkin’ to me that way ’cause I’m figurin’ it’s the alcohol that got you crazy. Talk to me that way again and ain’t nobody gon’ be able to identify your body after I’m through with you.” Jimmy’s smile never wavered the whole time, and to the average person it might have seemed like we were having a friendly conversation. No one in Jimmy’s was average, though.
Never averting my gaze from his, I reached for the glass, grabbed it, and gulped down the liquid fire. As I finished, Joe appeared from the back.
“We got problems, man,” he said, sitting back down beside me. “Shantal just told me that Marcus just called my place looking for us.”
“What did she say?” Lisa asked, while I stayed silent, looking at Jimmy.
“She told him the truth…that she had no idea where we were. I had to hang up on Shantal when she started asking questions about where I was and why Marcus was calling at this time of the night. I’m not in the mood for this drama, y’all. I’m starting to think that trying to keep this money is a bad idea. We need to rethink this, for real. DeVante, you listening to me? DeVante?”
I nodded slowly as Jimmy and I continued with our stare-down. “Let’s get out of here,” was my answer to Joe.
“What kind of answer is that, man?”
“It’s a good one,” Jimmy said, glaring at me. “A damn good one.”
Joe, noticing the tension, said, “What the hell is going on here?”
“Ain’t nothin’ gon’ on here. Just do like DeVante said and get the fuck on out.”
“What the—” Joe started.
I cut him off as I got up from my stool. “Let’s go, Joe. Now. Come on, Lisa.” Joe looked from Jimmy to me and then shook his head and walked past me. Lisa and I followed. As we walked away, Jimmy called out, “Hey, girl!”
Lisa stopped walking, despite my attempt to keep her moving, and turned around. “I told you—” she started, until Jimmy cut her off.
“I don’t give a fuck what you told me. This here’s my place. If I want to call you a girl, then you a fuckin’ girl. If I want to call you a bitch, then you a broke-down bitch. I make the rules and I don’t follow anyone else’s. Now get your narrow ass out, and if I was you, I’d get away from DeVante. He ain’t about shit.”
Lisa sucked her teeth and turned and looked at me. I shrugged my shoulders. What did she expect me to do? She sucked her teeth again and stormed past me. Ignoring the stares and comments from the people around me, I followed her out. As soon as the door closed behind me, Lisa said, “How could you let him talk to me like that, DeVante? He disrespected me in front of everyone.”
“Just be glad that’s all he did,” I said.
“Excuse me?” Lisa asked, her hands planted firmly on her hips.
“Lisa, Jimmy may not be the biggest man, but he is not to be taken lightly. He has killed men for less than what went on in there. The last thing I’m gonna do is try to set him straight, especially in his place.”
Joe cleared his throat. “Can someone tell me what the hell just happened in there? Jimmy ain’t never had beef with us before, and everything was cool before I left to use the phone. All of a sudden, I come back and we have to leave to avoid being killed. What went down in there, man? What did you do?”
“Jimmy overheard us talking about Marcus. He didn’t want any problems.”
Joe nodded. “So what now?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know,” I said, looking up and down the dark street. I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were being watched. And I didn’t mean by the crackheads in the condemned building beside Jimmy’s, or the prostitute whose head kept rising periodically in the front seat of a Mercedes Benz. Although I couldn’t see anyone, I was sure someone was there. Marcus and the others immediately came to mind. But if it were them, wouldn’t they have confronted us right then and there?
“We need to get out of here now,” Joe said.
“What about a motel?” Lisa suggested.
“I don’t have the money for that,” I answered.
“Same here,” Joe said.
“I have money.”
“Let’s get going then,” I said, looking up and down the streets again.
“Oh, Lisa,” Joe said, reaching in his pocket. “I forgot I had to use a pay phone to make my call. Your battery is dead.” He handed Lisa her phone.
“Damn,” Lisa said, slipping it into her pocket. “My charger is at my house.”
“We’ll worry about that later,” I said. “Where’d you park?”
“In the alley around the corner. We parked the car behind a Dumpster,” Joe said.
“Let’s move,” I said, taking another glance up and down the street. Lisa noticed and asked, “What’s wrong, DeVante?”
I looked at her and smirked. “I have a ticket worth one hundred and eighty million dol
lars in my pocket.”
13
Marcus had been sitting quietly in the front seat of the Ford Expedition he’d recently acquired while he watched DeVante, Joe, and Lisa outside of Jimmy G’s. Marcus used to be a regular at Jimmy’s, searching for his ultimate high like everyone else. But then one night, while he was tucked away in a darkened corner, he saw DeVante walk inside and head to the bar. Too eager to drown away his misery, DeVante never noticed when the high school counselor slipped out. After finding out from Joe’s wife that they weren’t at Joe’s house, Marcus had no doubt in his mind that his initial hunch had been right, and that DeVante and the others would be at Jimmy’s.
He looked to the backseat where Nydia’s body lay facedown. If she had gone along with him, she would have been able to see DeVante and the others, too. But after getting rid of Sheila and then killing the owner of the Expedition, Nydia had become uncooperative and Marcus had no choice but to kill her, too. Never in his life did he think he would be associated with the word killer. But here he was, with the blood of three people on his hands and the likelihood of more deaths to come.
He’d always thought that taking another person’s life would be an impossible act for him to commit. He never understood the hows and whys of murder. But after hitting Sheila with the paperweight, Marcus understood, because he felt something he’d never experienced before—true power. Without hesitation, without remorse, just like the Grim Reaper, he’d been responsible for deciding when a person’s time amongst the living was up. And that was by far the most awesome sensation he’d ever experienced. Bumps rose on his skin, his hands tingled, his heart raced, his penis became erect—all with one act. Sheila was supposed to be his only victim, but with the pull of the money growing even stronger, Marcus realized that he would do whatever it took to get the ticket. That’s why he killed the teenager and took the Expedition.
He decided to steal the car while he and Nydia were walking the dark streets towards Jimmy’s. With his car at Lisa’s, they were losing valuable time. He needed a ride and he needed one fast. So when he saw the white teenage boy bopping his head to the sounds of Eminem while waiting for the red light to change to green, Marcus decided to help himself to the Ford.
He told Nydia of his idea, and because she was still having trouble dealing with Sheila’s death, she wanted no part of the ’jacking. He didn’t intend on killing the youth, but after nearly strangling Nydia to death and forcing her to distract the kid by asking for help, he was so wound up that when the teen tried to fight him off, he snapped. Lost all composure, and without hesitating, put him in a headlock and broke his neck. Because they were in a city where screams were as common as police sirens, Marcus never had to worry about anyone hearing Nydia’s cries. He didn’t even attempt to quiet her down. He threw the dead teen’s body to the side, jumped into the idling SUV, revved the engine, slid the gear into drive, and mowed Nydia down like a piece of debris in the middle of the road. Twisted and bleeding, Nydia lay on the hard, cold concrete, gasping, fighting a losing battle to stay alive.
Charged with electricity and excitement, Marcus got out of the car, stood over Nydia, and gazed into her eyes as though she were his lover, until her last breath sighed from her lips. Marcus stared at the dead bodies for a few minutes, marveling at the high he’d once again achieved. The power, charge, and thrill of murder. He’d lost himself over and over in a futile attempt to duplicate the first-time high from the cocaine, but had never been successful. As he shoved the bodies in the car, he wished that he had turned to murder a lot sooner.
Marcus smiled and turned around in time to see DeVante and the others walking away from Jimmy’s. Without turning on the lights, he turned the ignition and waited. He wanted the ticket, but he no longer wanted only his share of the money. As Lisa’s car appeared from around the corner, Marcus decided that he now wanted the entire jackpot. He flexed his fingers around the steering wheel. Before the morning came, he planned on using them again to help him accomplish his goal.
14
After the front desk clerk gave us the key to our room, Joe and I went outside while Lisa took the spare key and went upstairs. I still couldn’t shake the feeling that we had company. Even during the drive, I felt like we were being followed. I knew that unless I took a look around outside, I wouldn’t be able to sleep in peace. Of course, as anxious and excited as I was for the next morning, I knew that sleeping was going to be the last thing I would be able to do.
“Let’s split up,” I said as Joe and I got outside. The crackheads and prostitutes lingering close by kept the hotel from being an average five-story resting place.
“You really think we were followed here?” Joe asked, looking around. I know he longed for the comfort and cleanliness of his bed.
I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know. But I do know that I won’t be able to relax until we check around and make sure everything’s cool.”
“Nydia drives a Maxima, right?”
“Yeah,” I answered, nodding. “And Sheila drives a Corolla, and Marcus, a Volvo.”
“What do we do if we see them here?”
I shrugged again. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it, I guess.”
“If they’re here, they’re going to want their share. You really willing to cut them out like this?”
I looked at Joe. “Man, at first I had some second thoughts about it because I figured we all need the money. Besides, thirty million a-piece was more than enough.”
“So what changed your mind?”
I looked up to the black, starless sky. “You know, I’ve lived in this miserable city all my life, and I’ve seen everything it has to offer. And because I’ve had my highs and my lows, I’ve seen and been a part of all the good, the bad, the ugly, and everything in between the cracks and crevices that this city has to offer. But with everything I’ve seen, done, and come across, there is one thing I’ve missed out on.”
I paused and took a quick glance at Joe, who looked back at me, wondering where the hell I was going with my rambling. I looked back to the sky.
“Stars, Joe. I’ve never seen the stars in real life. And I’m not talking about one or two. I mean the clusters that you see in the movies and on TV. The kind that the people who live in the suburbs away from the smog and confusion get to see.”
“Is there some sort of significance or moral to what you’re telling me?” Joe asked.
“Man, when you were staring down at me on that fire escape, I was going to change my mind. But when Marcus came out with his better-than-thou attitude and started going off on me, calling me names and shit, I said to myself right then and there, fuck it. I didn’t owe Marcus, Sheila, or Nydia anything.”
“What about Lisa? You were going to keep her share, too.”
“I think deep down, when I let you know where I would be, I was hoping she would be with you. But you’re right, I was going to keep her share.”
“What are you going to do about the baby she’s carrying? You two gonna stay together?”
“Joe, I love her.”
“I know, man.”
“She deserves better.”
“As far as I can tell, she chose you.”
“I know,” I said.
“What was up with the stars?”
I smiled. “I’m gonna cash this ticket in, and then I’m going to take Lisa and the baby somewhere where our past is far behind us and there’s nothing but stars in our sights.”
“Sounds like a good plan.”
“What are you going to do with your money?” I asked.
“I’m going to take Shantal and the kids and move down South where the weather’s warm and the food is right. Then, after I make sure each one of my kids is taken care of, I’m gonna go after my dream of being a writer.”
“Sounds like you have a good plan, too.”
“Thanks for keeping things real between us, man,” Joe said sincerely.
I looked at him and nodded. “We’re bonded by our demons,
man.”
“Ain’t that the truth. I’ll go to the right and check around the back,” Joe said.
“Cool. I’ll check the left side and the front. We’ll meet back in the lobby in about ten minutes.”
15
Marcus watched from his ducked-down position behind the steering wheel as Joe and DeVante split up and began their search. Marcus smiled and then quietly got out of the car, which reeked of blood and death. He pocketed the .45 he had found locked in the car’s glove compartment. He’d been looking for napkins to wipe his hands with when he found it. With his teammates gone, the Ford in his possession, the gun in hand, and the ticket in sight, his night was only getting better. He never doubted that he would get the ticket or the money.
Moving away from the car, he stayed low and kept himself concealed in the shadows as he followed Joe from across the street. He kept his distance, making sure not to make a sound. He imagined himself a panther, sneaking up on its prey. Marcus waited patiently for the right moment. He would only get one shot and he didn’t want to alert anyone, especially not DeVante. As Joe rounded the darkened corner and headed towards the back of the building, Marcus pulled the gun from his pocket. The time had come. He hurried across the street, turned the corner, and made his move.
“You find DeVante and that ticket yet,” he said, quickly rushing behind Joe and shoving the gun into the small of his back.
Joe didn’t move and barely breathed. “Marcus?” he asked cautiously after a few seconds.
“Disappointed?” Marcus asked. “Did I ruin the three-way split for you, Lisa and DeVante?”
“Marcus,” Joe started, before Marcus cut him off.
“Shut the fuck up, Joe. Now let’s go and find DeVante.”
16
After I finished checking my side of the hotel, I went back to the lobby to wait for Joe. I finally allowed myself to relax a notch when I didn’t see any signs of Marcus or the others around. I glanced at my watch. In four hours we would be able to cash in on the ticket and live like kings and queens.
A Dollar and A Dream Page 18