by Sweet, Dell
Rochester New York
Friday afternoon
"It's the right straight ahead," April said. "She looked back down at the directions she had written down.
They were on Lyell Avenue in Rochester New York looking for a street that would take them away from downtown. The used car lot they were looking for would be right on the corner.
"Take the next right... That was the right, right behind us. The car lot must be close to here," April told him. She twisted and looked back shaking her head.
Billy made the next corner and then the next right again to take them back to the avenue.
They both looked from the corner, but saw nothing.
"I don't know, but there's one down that way," Billy said. He pointed further down the street to where there were two used car lots right across the street from each other.
April sighed in exasperation. "Might as well, I guess this guy doesn't care enough about our money to give us good directions." April had spent ten minutes talking to the guy on the phone already. She picked up the prepaid cell phone they were using, one of half a dozen: The clerk had looked at them like they were crazy. She turned it on and called up the recent-calls readout.
Billy continued down the street and pulled into one of the car lots. Bob's Easy Auto, the sign over a small trailer office said.
"We're on Lexington Avenue," April was saying. "Bobs Easy Auto... All there are..." She twisted around and looked back toward Lyell Avenue. "All I see is signs, no cars, nothing. No place to park even... Across from the corner... You said on the corner... I thought you said on the corner," she said.
An old guy walked over from the trailer and knocked on Billy's window.
"Help you kids?" he asked. He smiled the kind of perfect, white square-toothed smile his grandmother had always smiled with her plastic dentures.
"We're looking for 'Denny's Auto Body,'" Billy told him. "A Jeep Cherokee they have for sale."
The guy nodded. "Well it's good for you that you stopped here instead. That old bastard buys wrecks, fixes them up, doesn't even tell you. You could be buying anything." He stared at Billy.
Billy heard April in the background.
"Has that car ever been wrecked," she asked into the cell phone.
"Sure, honey, ask him," The old guy said, "Junk: Pure and simple.”
"It hasn't?" April asked into the phone.
The old guy scoffed. "Tell him you want a body-man to take a look at it," he said wisely and winked at April.
"Would you care if we came and picked it up and let a body guy look it over?" April asked. She listened for a few minutes and then simply closed the phone.
"He had a few choice words for you," April said. "You must be Bob?" she asked.
"Robert Robello," the old guy said. "At your service."
"Might as well pull in, honey," April said smiling.
"Might as well," the old guy said and nodded at Billy.
Billy pulled in, parked his truck, got out and stretched his legs. It was early afternoon; they had just driven three hours straight. This was the first time out of the truck.
"Miss...?" Robert Robello asked her.
"April Evans," April said.
"Well, April, and...?' He looked at Billy.
"Billy," Billy told him. They were supposed to be playing it like they were husband and wife. She should have said Jingo.
"So it was a Jeep Cherokee... Late model? Anything else that might come close?" the old guy asked.
"We had called on the price," April said. "And then we went and got the money from the bank... We're kind of on a tight budget," she said and smiled.
"I'm used to working with budgets..." He paused and waited for April to tell him the amount, but she remained silent.
"You'll be trading in the pickup?" he asked.
"No... I need the truck for work," Billy told him.
"So a Sport-Ute... Does it have to be a Jeep? I ask because I got this really nice blazer and a low mileage Nissan... Wanna take a look at them? I do have a one owner Commander with low mileage... Big V8 though, kind of hard on gas the way things are," he apologized. He was walking as he talked and they followed along behind him a few spaces. Billy did not want to get too far from the truck. Finally, he turned back and walked back to the truck. Started it and pulled up close to the building and then locked it up before he came back to them.
"He really likes that truck," April said to Robert's raised eyebrows.
"I can see. Well, loyalty is good... I could give him a good price for it though... Help you folks out. Pickup trucks are in demand. Even though it's rough," he told her. He had pegged her as the head of the relationship: The one who made the decisions.
"He'd never let it go," she said. "It was his dad's," she decided spur of the moment.
Billy walked back over. "Sorry," he said, “it's just that..." April cut him off.
"I told him it used to be your dad's, honey," she said.
"Huh," Billy said. He focused on Robello. “Yeah.” He spread his palms out in front of his body pointed at the ground. “He's passed on.”
"I understand the deal," Robello said and nodded solemnly.
They ended up choosing the commander. It was really the same thing as the Cherokee they had been interested in when it came to space, only this one had the benefit of the big V8 motor.
"So it was Billy and April Evans?" Robello asked.
They both nodded as Robello pulled out the paperwork. I can send my guy for the plates if you can get proof of insurance," he looked at his watch. "There's time." He looked at them.
"I didn't think about the insurance. I thought we'd drive it home and worry about it tomorrow," Billy said.
"We just moved down here from up north. I don't even know an insurance agent here," April added.
"I got a guy a lot of my customers use," Robello said. "Cash up front for three months fee and you're on your way... I can call him, get his guy to bring around the insurance cards," Robello told them. "Say the word and I'll call him."
A few minutes later and it was done, another $1100 which someone was there to pick up in just a few minutes. Shortly after that his man was off to the DMV office.
Billy and April stood and watched the traffic go by while they waited. They drank cokes from the machine outside of the dealership.
"We're not far from Lake Avenue," April said.
"Ben Neo... Sounds like a fake name, doesn't it?" Billy asked.
She nodded. "But it's what I put down for the address for the registration and insurance."
"I don't know if it's smart to go by there," Billy said. "Who knows? Maybe he's got a girl... A wife... Kids... Dogs: Maybe the cops are there already too," he said.
"Maybe, maybe not," April said. "Wouldn't hurt to look, would it?" she asked.
Billy looked at her. "We have all the money we could ever use: Too much... And the drugs and pot to get rid of too: Why do you wanna go?"
"Just to see how a dude that makes deals like that lives, I guess," April said.
"I guess we could drive by... See how it looks," Billy agreed at last. "But no stopping unless it looks really good... Even then I don't know."
"I just wanna see how it looks," April said.
Robello walked out of the office as his guy, a skinny pimple-faced kid got back and pulled onto the lot. He handed the kid a screwdriver so he could put the plates on the Commander.
A few minutes later Billy was following April as she made her way through the late afternoon traffic and onto Lake Avenue.
~
The house was nondescript and set back from the street on its own. The driveways on both sides of it were empty. They drove by twice before April pulled into the driveway. Billy had no choice but to follow her in. He locked the truck and got out. She met him coming from the Jeep. "Nobody's here," she said.
"This is crazy, April. What do you mean nobody's here? You can't see inside! Could be a dog, wife, girlfriend: Could be that some dude across the street
looks after his place while he's gone," Billy said.
"There's a dude across the street watching the place?" April asked. She looked comically across the street, hiding behind his arm, looking frightful. She smiled. "It's a city. Nobody cares who does what or who they do it too. There's nobody here. Let's just go in for a few minutes... Just to see," she said.
"I must be nuts," Billy said.
"It would probably help to be with me," April said. "Well?" she asked.
"Maybe the key won't fit," Billy said.
"Maybe," April agreed. She walked right over to the front door and rang the doorbell. The chimes sounded loudly somewhere inside. She waited and tried again before she pulled the brass key from her pocket and slipped it into the lock. It slid in easily and April turned it unlocking the door.
"I don't like this," Billy said.
"Oh don't be a baby," April said. "Come on. Anybody asks we're friends who stopped by to water his plants." She boldly stepped inside and Billy closed and locked the door behind them.
Across the street
Marion
Marion Winters leaned back away from her window across the street as her husband Fred walked in from the kitchen his first drink of the afternoon in his hand.
"What are you watching now, Marion?" he asked as he sat down in his recliner and clicked on the television.
"The drug dealers place," she answered. "Very interesting."
Fred sighed. "Okay, what's so interesting, Marion?" he asked.
"Well, Freddy, I could tell you that if you really wanted to know, but maybe you think I'm a little buggy or something," she looked away from the window at him.
He sighed again: Accepted the fact that Sports Center would have to wait for a little longer and focused his attention on her. "I don't think you're buggy. I've never said that, Marion. Nosy, yes! Buggy, no: At least not yet," Fred said.
"Well if you're gonna be like that," she said. She flipped her blue tinted hair away from her eyes and turned back to the window.
"I'm sorry, honey. I know you're not looking to be nosy. I don't think your buggy. And I know you're just looking out for the neighborhood. I'm sorry, Marion... Okay?" he asked.
She looked at him again and then turned back to the window before she spoke once more. "He's gone and there are strangers going into his house," she said and nodded her head. “Well at least one stranger... I don't know about the girl.”
"Well, Marion how can you tell they're strangers. I mean they may be his friends, except the girl of course, who may or may not be a friend. And how do you know that he's not home. He could be." Fred said, glancing at Sports Center, hoping she'd get to the point quickly.
"He left yesterday morning at about 8:15 AM. He's not come back since, I'd know," Marion said. “His girlfriend left last week... Didn't come back.”
Of course you would know, you nosy bitch, Fred thought to himself. Jesus. He was missing Sports Center. "Well, honey what do you plan to do... I thought he was a drug dealer? I thought you didn't like him," Fred said. “But here you are looking out for his house for him.”
"He is. I don't, but you have to keep track of things like this. Don't you watch TV at all?" she asked.
"Sometimes,” Fred answered, his eyes slid once more to the television.
"I know, Freddie. I know what you think," she said and nodded.
"I don't think anything," Fred said. He sipped at his drink and wished he had made it a double. "Marion, honey, how do you know they're not friends of his?" Fred asked.
"Well, Freddy do friends knock on the door and then use a key? No. Friends that have a key just put it in the lock and go in, don't they, Freddy?" she asked.
"I would knock, Marion. Especially since my friend's a drug dealer. Maybe he's come back early, see? Maybe if I just walk in and he's all hyped up on those drugs he sells-they always use it themselves, see I watch TV too, Marion-But let's say he's all hyped up and shoots me even though he's a friend: You can't trust a junkie," Fred said solemnly.
"You think he's a Junkie?" Marion asked seriously.
Fred sipped at his drink. "Of course; all those drug dealers are. Did you not see that movie with what's-his-name? We watched it. He was a cop and he got hooked... Nearly ruined his life! It's the way it goes. You got to taste that stuff to make sure you don't get ripped off, right? Bang! You're hooked: Monkey on your back and all that stuff, Marion. They're all junkies eventually," Fred said. “Plus the girl could be the girlfriend come back.”
"I never thought of it like that," she said. "I guess I'd knock too, but he's not usually gone this long that he would give someone the key," she said. “And the girl doesn't look quite right...” She turned and squinted out the window. “Not dressed right.” She sighed. “It's too far away to tell.”
"Sure, but if you're going for a while you don't want people to know it. You don't want the mail or the papers to pile up, see? Then the other junkies will probably stop by to rob you. So, you have your girlfriend stop by. Pick up the mail, feed the dog."
"He doesn't have a dog, Freddie," Marion said.
"Okay, water the plants... Whatever... You just want to keep the other junkies away. I mean they'll know and come around and rob him. And then probably take over his spot," Fred said.
"You think he has a spot?" Marion asked.
"Honey, Marion, they all do. They all have a spot. Usually one they took from someone else. It's how they sell. They take their stuff there. The other drug users and junkies know about it. They come to buy... They call it copping... I thought you knew all of this from TV, Marion?" Fred asked.
"I do. I do," Marion said. "I just didn't realize all of that was going on over there. Maybe I should call the police," She said.
"And say what?" Freddie asked. "I think this? I think that? No, better to let it take care of itself; it always does, Marion."
"You think?" she asked.
"I think so... Now why don't you come over here and we'll sit and watch the Sports Center for a while... OK? You know I like to hear all the college scores from yesterday," Freddy said.
Marion took one last look out the window and then came over and sat down next to her husband.
Ben Neo's House
Billy Jingo
April went through each room opening doors as she went.
"Fingerprints," Billy said. "You know they will come here."
"Should have bought gloves," April said.
"I didn't know we'd be doing a B and E," Billy said.
"We had a key," April said. "That's not a B and E."
"Dead people can't give permission," Billy said.
"Ben wouldn't have minded," April said and tried a smile on her face.
"Famous last words spoken too," Billy said. "What are we looking for?"
They had come into a bedroom and April chose a pair of socks from a drawer and slipped them on her hands. Billy did the same.
"This will work?" Billy asked.
She nodded. "I saw it in a movie. Remind me to wipe down those door knobs." She searched through the drawers and came up with two guns and another $15,000 in cash in a thick white envelope. "See?" she said.
Billy went back and checked the other rooms, wiping the doorknobs as he went. They met back in the kitchen and searched it together. Billy opened the refrigerator and then quickly slammed the door.
"What?" April asked. She walked over to him.
"Fuck... It's a body... One that just happens to be missing a head and hands," Billy said.
He wiped off the handle of the refrigerator. They both stopped. She looked at him.
"What?" he asked.
"What else was in there?" she asked.
"A fuckin' body! Christ, isn't that enough?" Billy asked.
"We should check it is all," April said.
"For what? To make sure it's the same dude? Make sure he's missing..."
"Don't say it," April said. … "Is he missing it?"
"I didn't see," Billy said.
"You're going t
o have to," April said. "... Money: Guns... Drugs; I don't know, but we have to check," she said after a pause.
"Yeah? It's your turn, you know. And don't say it isn't," Billy said.
"Yeah? Well just so you know looking at dead guys with missing parts might just put me right off sex for a while," April said.
Billy stared at her, his mouth open. "Fuck! Fuck, Fuck, Fuck!" He said loudly. He crossed back to the refrigerator and pulled the door open a little too fast, rocking the refrigerator. The door flew open and the body that had been wedged into it fell out onto the floor with a stiff clunk.
April stifled a scream. "Look at what you did," she managed at last.
"Well I didn't mean to," Billy answered. He made himself look into the refrigerator. All the shelves had been removed so that the body would fit. There was a puddle of blood in the bottom of the fridge but nothing else. "All that and there's nothing in here in all," Billy said.
"He has a wallet," April said, pointing.
Billy looked. A light colored leather bulge that protruded from his back pocket. He reached down carefully and pulled free the wallet which was gummed together with blood. "Jesus, April," Billy complained. "Why do we have to look inside everything?" he complained.
"You never know," she said.
"Never know what?" Billy asked. "What is it you never know?"
"See," April said. "You don't know because you never took the time to find out. See what I mean? You'll never know."