20
Marcus had barely managed to make it to the Ford and pull off before the police and paramedics arrived. His head throbbed sharply from the damage DeVante had done, and his lip was split and swollen from being elbowed. He coughed and spit blood out of the window. He’d thought about staying and waiting for the police, but realized the stupidity of that move when he thought about the ticket and what was at stake. So before anyone arrived, he hobbled away from Joe’s lifeless body and the hotel and moved as fast as his body would allow to the car.
Joe, Sheila and Nydia were out of the running. All he had to do now was catch up to DeVante and Lisa. They had about a ten-minute head start, but he had to wait until there were no more cops around before he could speed up. He drove at the speed limit while several black-and-whites sped past him. When he was certain that there wouldn’t be any more company, he accelerated the car.
21
I saw the Ford coming in the rearview mirror just before it hit us. Lisa screamed as I worked to keep control of the car. Marcus rammed into us again. I hit the gas, taking the car to fifty-five on the thirty-five-mile-an-hour road. Because it was nearing seven, the lonely streets were slowly becoming littered with cars and pedestrians.
I struggled to avoid the obstacles as my mind raced, trying to figure out a way to get rid of Marcus. I needed distance. When the next side street came up, I didn’t hesitate to take the turn. My hope was that because of his speed, Marcus wouldn’t be able to follow. My hopes were deflated when he made the turn behind me and barreled into me again. Lisa screamed again as we scraped a parked car. I turned the wheel, determined to keep us on the road, and pressed my foot all the way down on the gas pedal.
I took another turn, my mind working, Lisa screaming. Cars blew their horns as I cut them off, pedestrians yelled and hurried to jump out of our way. I made another sudden left. Like a scene straight out of a movie, Marcus sped alongside of us, causing cars to swerve away from him. His window down, he screamed, “I’m going to kill you, DeVante, and then I’m taking my money!” Then he plowed into me.
Lisa screamed out as we barreled close to another parked car, so close that her side mirror was knocked off. Without hesitating, I pulled my wheel to the left, taking my car into Marcus’s. Then, with the little bit of room I’d created, I took the next right turn, not realizing or caring that it was a one-way street. Thankfully, Marcus wasn’t able to follow suit and had to jam on his brakes and turn his car around. I sped down the street as cars came toward me.
When I was halfway down the block, I looked in my rearview and saw that Marcus had just made the turn and was following. I pounded on my horn for cars to get out of my way. Horns blared back at me and obscenities were yelled. I ignored them, and when the next available left came, I took it. Then I took the next right. I weaved my way around moving cars in an effort to put more distance between my smaller Nissan and Marcus’s SUV. I had about twenty seconds on him.
“He’s still behind us!” Lisa yelled. “What are we going to do?”
I didn’t answer her as I tightened my grip on the wheel. I took another right and found myself on a familiar straightaway. Two blocks ahead would be the entrance to the tunnel, and past the tunnel would be the main bridge into the city. I had been driving without a plan up until that point.
I sped down the road, made the necessary left to the tunnel, sped through, and headed to the bridge.
22
Marcus cursed under his breath as he pressed down on the gas pedal. DeVante had gained distance on him, but he knew where he was headed. Without regard to the other drivers or pedestrians, he followed DeVante to the tunnel and then to the bridge. DeVante had a few feet on him, but he knew that he could make that up easily. He was sure DeVante knew it, too.
As he closed the distance, he felt perspiration trickle down his forehead. He was excited; he could feel, smell, and taste the money he planned to claim. He took the car to ninety as he passed a few motorists.
“That’s my money,” he whispered to himself. “My money.”
23
Marcus was gaining on me. By the time we reached the end of the bridge, I knew he would be upon me. I also knew that there would only be a few more hits Lisa’s Nissan would be able to take. I removed the ticket from my pocket and stared at it. One hundred and eighty million dollars; one hundred and eighty million dreams to be fulfilled. I kissed the ticket, slammed on the gas, taking the car to the brink, and when I had enough room, made a sudden screeching U-turn and, without stopping, bulleted towards Marcus.
“Oh my God! DeVante, what are you doing?” Lisa screamed, pulling at my arm.
“We have to get rid of him, Lisa,” I said firmly.
“Get rid of him how? By killing us? DeVante, turn around! DeVante!”
I clenched my jaws and didn’t respond to her. I was in a zone. My heart raced, my adrenaline was through the roof. I didn’t see anything but Marcus in the SUV. We weren’t even driving on the bridge. We were alone, driving on air, two rams dueling for the sweet prize called money.
“DeVante, please,” Lisa begged. “You’re going to get us killed! You’re going to kill the baby!”
Baby. Hearing that broke me from the trance of suicide I’d fallen into. I glanced at Lisa, glanced at her stomach. I looked back to Marcus. He was coming straight for me. That’s when it dawned on me: I was playing chicken with a man who’d murdered without remorse, a man whose mind was lost.
Just before we collided, I veered off to the right, all but avoiding Marcus, save for his front end clipping my rear and sending Lisa and I fishtailing towards the side railing. Lisa’s screaming grew in intensity as we spun around, while various cars swerved to avoid colliding with us. We finally came to a stop, banging against the side rail. I looked at Lisa.
“Are you okay?”
She nodded her head but didn’t speak. She was in shock and I couldn’t blame her. Had we been spinning any faster, I’m sure the guardrail wouldn’t have kept us from falling toward the ocean. I closed my eyes slowly and whispered a thank-you for still being alive. Then it dawned on me.
Marcus.
A piercing scream suddenly erupted into the air. I looked over just in time to see Marcus still in the SUV, teetering on the edge of the bridge. The guardrail hadn’t been so kind to him. He and I locked eyes for a moment. I’d won, and we both knew it. Just before the Ford fell to the waters below, Marcus smiled. I started the car and drove away before the cops arrived, thinking the trouble was behind me.
I was wrong.
I’m sitting in a jail cell.
No ticket. No money. I’m not on the beach in the Caribbean somewhere relaxing while the day goes slowly by. Nope. I’m in a cell accused of murder. Two counts, to be exact. One count for Sheila, one for Joe. I can’t believe I’m in this predicament when just days ago I was a million-dollar winner.
And then all hell broke loose.
Now five people are dead. I’m in jail. And the woman who I thought I could have lived happily ever after with has betrayed me.
I’ve had too much time to think about how everything went down. And as I’ve rationalized each and every action, I’ve come to accept and understand that this all happened because of my greed. The only thing I don’t understand is how a woman who claimed to have feelings for me could have betrayed me the way she did.
After driving away from the bridge, Lisa and I ditched her car and caught a cab. Before going to the lottery ticket claim center, we stopped at a Target, bought new shirts to change into, and tried to fix ourselves up as best as we could. My nose was still swollen, but at least the blood flow had stopped. When we finished, we caught another cab to the center. Lisa still wasn’t talking, and I wasn’t saying much, either. My mind was replaying the events that took place with Marcus over and over again. I still couldn’t believe he had flipped the way he did. He killed four people without a care, all for the love of money.
With twenty minutes to kill before the center opened, the cab
dropped us off. There was already a crowd gathered, waiting to cash in on their winnings. I prayed they weren’t there for any part of my money. I looked at Lisa. Since we had a couple of minutes, I decided to talk to her about my idea for what we should do after we collected the money.
“Lisa, after we cash the ticket, I think we should head straight for the airport and catch a plane to the islands somewhere.”
Lisa turned and looked at me. “The islands?”
“Yeah.”
“After all that’s happened, how can you even suggest that?”
“What do you mean, how can I suggest it? What other option do we have?”
“DeVante, people are dead. Innocent people have been killed for the money we’re about to claim.”
“And your point?”
“Don’t you have a conscience? Don’t you even care about those people? Or is the money that important to you?”
“Lisa, of course I care. Joe was my best friend. Do you think I’m not hurting over his death?”
Lisa crossed her arms and curled her lips. “Are you, DeVante?”
“What do you mean, am I?”
“I mean that after his death, the only thing you were concerned about was getting here to cash in on this ticket. I haven’t seen you show any remorse yet.”
“Damn, Lisa! We were running for our lives, remember? I didn’t have time to mourn Joe yet. Why are you tripping over me like this?”
“I’m tripping because all you seem to care about is this damn money. Money that has so much blood on it, I don’t know if I want to have anything to do with it anymore.”
“Come on, Lisa, why are you talking this way? Now, I’m upset about what went down, but fact is fact, we didn’t kill anybody.”
“Didn’t we? Didn’t you?”
“What do you mean by that?” I asked, glaring at her.
Lisa pointed a slender finger at me. “If you would have just split the money in the first place, none of this would have happened. Nobody would be dead.”
“Lisa, look, I admit, trying to keep the money was wrong, but I didn’t kill anyone.” Even as I said that I knew it was a lie. I continued with my denial. “Marcus is the one who really flipped and lost his fucking mind. Not me. I was the one who made sure you and Joe wouldn’t be without, remember?”
“Whatever,” she said, crossing her arms across her chest.
I gritted my teeth and looked at my watch. We had only ten minutes before the center opened. As far as I was concerned, it wasn’t the time or the place. “Look, arguing at this point is not going to do us any good. I say we just take the money and then get out of the country. Go somewhere where we can put this all behind us.”
“DeVante, I don’t know if I can put this behind me. I don’t know if I ever can.”
“So what do you want to do, Lisa? Tell me.”
“I don’t know, damn it. But there’s got to be something, somebody we can try and explain this situation to.”
I threw my hands in the air. “Are you for real? Please tell me you’re not.”
“DeVante, we’re accessories to murder. We—”
“We aren’t accessories to anything! We didn’t do shit. Marcus did!”
“Still…I don’t know if I can just take this money like that without telling somebody what happened.”
“Lisa, we’re about to go and cash in a lottery ticket worth one hundred and eighty million dollars. Do you understand what that means? I have a rap sheet. You’re a minority and a female. If we talk to anyone about what happened, we’re screwed. We’d get no money, we’d get no new life. Hell, we’d be lucky if we didn’t get jail time. I’ve lived the hard life and I’ve served my time. Lisa, I’m not going back. I’m taking that money and going somewhere where I can live in peace. I suggest you follow me with your half.”
“Follow you? How do you expect me to do that? I have family and friends here.”
“Send them postcards and e-mails.”
“Go to hell, DeVante!” Lisa snapped, taking me by surprise. “I’m not leaving my friends and family like that. I can’t do that.”
“So what do you want to do, Lisa?” I asked again.
Lisa sucked her teeth and turned her back to me. I threw my hands in the air and looked to the entrance of the center, where a wiry man with iron-gray hair was unlocking the door. When he moved away from the door, the crowd rushed inside. I turned back to Lisa and took her hand.
“Lisa, look, last night was a disaster, but it doesn’t have to end on a negative note. We’re rich, baby. We don’t have to worry about another thing in this world. Ever. Why don’t we go get our money and then talk about what we can do.” I watched her intensely. I’d tried to keep my voice calm and relaxed. I looked back to the center. The crowd was getting thicker by the second. “Come on, Lisa,” I begged softly.
She looked at me. I could see tears brimming in her eyes, threatening to fall.
“I don’t want any more blood on my hands, DeVante,” she said quietly.
I nodded. “I know. I promise there’ll be no more.”
Without saying another word, I took her hand.
What happened next is almost surreal.
As we walked inside, Lisa said, “I’m nervous. Let me go use the bathroom.”
I nodded, and since she wasn’t the only one who was excited, I decided to relieve myself, too. When I was done, I stood in front of the mirror with the ticket in my hand. I looked at myself and smiled. In a few minutes, I would be a new man, a rich man. People would no longer look down on me because I would have power. That’s what money was, and I was looking forward to its benefits. I kissed the ticket, and said a prayer for Joe. I would make sure to keep the promise I’d made to him before he died.
Unfortunately, I would never get the chance, because when I left the bathroom, I was immediately rushed by two undercover police officers and placed in handcuffs.
“DeVante Smith, you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be appointed to you…”
I didn’t hear the rest of the Miranda rights being recited to me because I was too busy staring down in horror at the ground, where the ticket, which had slipped from my hand, had fallen. The officers hadn’t noticed, and neither had any of the bystanders who stood around watching silently as I was escorted away.
I found out that after the police discovered Joe’s body, they did what I thought they would and called Shantal, who apparently knew all about us winning the lottery. Obviously, Joe had lied about the things he’d discussed with her. After she told them how Joe and I planned to cash in on the ticket, the police visited my apartment, where they found Sheila’s body, and then sent two undercover officers to the claim center to wait for me just in case I showed up. They only had my picture. Shantal never mentioned Lisa, which meant that Joe hadn’t, either. I gave Lisa’s name and talked about her involvement in what went down. I wasn’t trying to rat her out, but she was the only person who could help clear my name. Unfortunately, Lisa seems to have disappeared.
And, oh yeah, I found out that the one-hundred-eighty-million-dollar prize was claimed.
24
You’re all probably wondering what happened to me and how I could have disappeared. Well, the truth of the matter is that I am fine and I did disappear. I disappeared right after I cashed in on the lottery ticket. I was just opening the door to walk out of the bathroom when I saw the police approach DeVante. That’s when I backed up and watched with the door slightly open as everything went down.
At first, I was going to come to his aid and say something in his defense, but then I saw the ticket fall from his hand. I don’t know what came over me, but when I saw that, and I realized no one else had, I froze. Stayed right where I was until the police and DeVante were gone. Then I walked out and very casually went to the ticket and picked it up. I had meant what I said to DeVante about not wanting to have
anything to do with the money. It was dirty money. Blood money. Up until I held that ticket, I was going to tell DeVante I wanted nothing to do with it. I went into the bathroom, not to use it, but to have a long talk with myself, and God. I wanted to do the right thing for me. Taking that money wasn’t the right thing.
But when I held that ticket…something happened. I can’t explain the feeling that came over me, but it was almost like being pricked through my fingertips with tiny needles laced with electricity. All of a sudden, whatever feelings I’d had about not wanting that money were forgotten, and for the first time I understood what strange magic had come over DeVante and Marcus and had caused them to do the things they’d done. One hundred and eighty million dollars. The ticket whispered that to me over and over, like a chant, and before I even realized what had happened, I was cashing in on the ticket, heading to the airport with my winnings, and then catching a plane to the Bahamas.
I know it seems cruel that I would betray DeVante the way I did. After all, he is my baby’s father. But let’s face it, without the money did I really have a future with him? And do I really want my child to grow up with him as a role model? Besides, he betrayed me first. He was going to keep that money, and had Joe never taken me with him, I would probably never have seen him again. I kept the promise DeVante made to Joe, and mailed a check for thirty million dollars to Shantal. I couldn’t betray Joe, because he didn’t betray me when he could have. As for the others, I never cared too much for them, so their families got nothing. As for my family, I did as DeVante had suggested. I mailed postcards and sent e-mails.
The following is a sample chapter from
A Dollar and A Dream Page 20