by Sweet, Dell
Billy stared at her for a few minutes. "I have no clue what the fuck you just said it was all about even," he said.
"Exactly," April said.
Billy shook his head, pried the wallet open to look inside. Money, ID, a few credit cards, all of it stuck together with blood. He showed her.
"It washes off," April said.
He stared at her, "You're serious?"
She came, took the wallet, pulled out the ID and money, searching through the rest of the stuff. She walked to the sink, turned on the water and began to rinse the two credit cards and driver's license: When she finished she rinsed off the money too. Billy watched the pink water run down the drain. He walked over and picked up a driver's license. It was the head from the duffel bag. "This is him," Billy said. "Carlos Sanchez," he read from the license.
"Yeah, he looked a little better when his head wasn't in a duffel bag," April said.
"You're so cold," Billy said.
"I'm not cold; just truthful. What else can I say? He looks better without a body? His neck was too long anyway? It's a shame, he just lost his head? He's in no shape to critique me anyway that's for sure," she said.
"Can we go now?" Billy asked.
"You gotta put him back into the fridge," April said. "We have another twelve hundred bucks by the way."
"How much does that make?" Billy asked.
"I don't know, we haven't counted it all yet, remember?" April asked. "Like a gazillion or so, I guess."
Billy bent, picked up the body, and carried it back to the fridge, but no matter how he twisted and shoved it he couldn't get it back in. "You'll have to help me," he told her.
"If I do I'll get blood all over me like you," April said.
"Well, blood washes off," Billy said.
"Smart ass," April said. "I'll take his legs stick them in and then the rest should be easy," she said. She grabbed his legs and swung them into the bottom of the refrigerator, then helped as Billy shoved the rest of the body in and slammed the door.
They were both smeared with blood.
"We have to get this blood cleaned up off the floor," April said. "I'm going up to get cleaned up. You clean it up and then get yourself cleaned up... He has clothes upstairs that will fit you," April said. She was slightly out of breath.
"This was a bad idea," Billy said.
"Not really," April said.
"No, it really was, April. What did we accomplish?" Billy asked.
"We know who the dead guy is... We know nobody else is here... We got another twelve hundred bucks... Billy, I gotta get this shit off me... It's creeping me out," she said. The pleading was in her voice.
"Okay... Go on... I'll clean this up, bag it all, and then I'll be up," Billy said.
FIVE
Marion
"Ha," Marion said.
Fred knew the Ha was designed to get him to ask what. Even knowing that he asked anyway.
"What?" Fred asked.
"They're leaving," Marion said. "But they changed clothes. She has on a man's clothes... Like a bad girl... Looks like a thug girl. Like you see on those videos our grand kids watch. You know?"
"Honey: She's a drug dealer's girlfriend, if it is her, and it probably is... She probably is one of those thug girls. Let me see," Fred got up and came to the window. He tilted his edge of the blinds and peeked out. "Oh yeah: She's a thug... I see them all the time. They dress that way," Fred told her.
"Yeah?" Marion asked.
"No doubt: She was probably dressed that way when she went in; you probably didn't notice," Fred said.
"I noticed. I'm sure she wasn't... They bought out garbage bags... Probably drugs," Marion said switching gears.
"Probably," Fred agreed... "It's a shame how they just do what they want to do in broad daylight."
"Yes it is," Marion agreed. "Well there they go. That's that. Nothing we can do now," Marion said. She sighed deeply as she moved away from the window and let the blind fall shut.
Fred followed her back to the television. "Cheer up," he said. "I'm sure someone will stop by later on. Give you something to do."
"You think I've become a busybody?" she accused.
"No, I don't. I think you're bored is all," Fred told her.
"Well... Sometimes... How you feeling?" she asked. She came over next to him and then rested one hand on his thigh. He looked up to see a smile playing across her lips.
Watertown
Sammy and Don
"Oh yeah, it's a match," Don said. He showed Sammy the two thumbprints.
"But I thought we wouldn't know until Monday afternoon at the earliest?" Sammy said.
"Technically, officially we won't. I just suspected it was the kid. He did time so I pulled his card. The prints match, but I'm not a qualified expert, so we have to wait officially until they give us the word on Monday," Don said.
"So we still can't do anything this weekend?" Sammy said.
"Might give us a little leverage," Don said. He walked across the garage and returned the fingerprint to a tech.
"Got our guy?" the tech asked.
"A strong possibility," Don said. "Very strong. I'd like you to keep that between us... Chain of custody... Don't wanna fuck with that shit," Don said.
"Hell no," the tech said. "That would be my ass." He walked away and then came back. "Same print on the trunk lid too... Glad it helped... It did help, right?" he asked.
"It did," Don said in a low voice. "And thanks."
"So now we know why he needed the keys, to check the trunk," Sammy said.
Don nodded... "Want to go rattle his cage a little?" he asked.
"I do. And I'm wondering why our witness didn't see him do it?" Sammy said.
"Easy," Don said. "The car was out of sight at the back of the trailer."
"Probably," Sammy agreed. "But I want to hear her say that. What was her name anyway, Ali... Amy... Something like that."
"April," Don supplied before Sammy could look it up in his notebook. "Yeah, April like the month. Why does someone name their daughter something like that? Or Brandy, or Misty, you just know every guy in school is gonna be banging her," Don said.
"Banging the shit right out of her," Sammy agreed. They both laughed.
"Let's go," Don said. They headed out of the garage into the late afternoon sunlight. It was early fall and even with the strong sunlight there wasn't a lot of warmth in the air.
“I fucking hate this weather,” Sammy said.
“Be fall soon," Don said. He unlocked the car: Leaned across to unlock the passenger side; started the car and pulled out of the lot.
Rochester New York
Billy Jingo
They drove over to the West side of the city. April followed as Billy searched for an abandoned piece of property. The problem wasn't finding one, the problem was finding one that wasn't already being used by drug dealers or that had a place to pull behind it. He found one by an abandoned apartment house on a side street and pulled behind it. April pulled in behind him.
"This makes the trailer park looked like high class," she said.
"We better hurry before we attract a crowd," Billy said. They transferred everything to the Jeep in just a few minutes, and then Billy used a screwdriver to take the plates off the truck. He emptied the glove box and behind the seat, then used a hammer to smash one corner out of the windshield and a pair of pliers along with a screwdriver to remove the VIN plate.
He had no doubt the truck would be gone ten minutes after they were gone, but once it did turn up, if it ever did, it would be hard to trace without the VIN plate. There were other areas, motor, frame, but usually no tow yard was going to go through the trouble of checking. They'd tow it in and store it in the yard and eventually auction it off. Even then it would probably go for parts so there would be no need to find the VIN and run it through DMV.
Most likely one of the several pairs of eye's watching them would steal it and keep it for themselves. He left the key in the switch: As they were leavin
g three guys were walking down the block toward the house. Or at least it seemed that way to Billy. They stopped and flipped off the Jeep as they rode by them, then they ran down to the house: Before they had turned off the block Billy saw the nose of the truck poke out of the driveway.
"Better get us away quicker, April. Make a few fast turns. Those guys might chase us with our own truck," Billy said.
April took the next left then a right and another quick left and they popped out on Genesee Street. Billy looked, but he didn't see his truck anywhere.
"Looks good," he managed before something hit them from behind. He nearly broke his neck getting turned around only to see it was his own truck with the three guys driving.
"Can you drive this hard?" Billy asked. "If not we're going to have to find a way to switch."
April dropped the drive letter into low and floored the Jeep. She shot around a line of traffic swerving out into the oncoming lanes, then skidded into a hard left and shot down a side street. Instead of slowing she kept the Commander floored and ran the next several blocks flat out: Checking in her mirrors as she left the truck behind.
She slowed just enough to make a slight curve and then sped up again. She locked up the brakes halfway down the block to make a fast right. She drove hard for the next three blocks, and then made a left. The truck was nowhere in sight, but she made another fast right before she slowed down.
She cursed under her breath. It was a dead end street, mostly abandoned properties. She got the Jeep turned around and headed back. Halfway down the block Billy's truck shot across the mouth of the street, and she could hear the tires scream as the driver locked up the brakes. She made the next intersection and headed back the way they had come.
She floored the truck again and blew by a half dozen two way stop sign intersections that bisected the street they were traveling on. She finally locked up the brakes again and slid the Jeep into a left and they were coming up on Genesee Street once more.
April skirted a small line of cars waiting at the red light and slid out into the street, tires smoking.
She punched the gas hard and got the Jeep two streets down before she turned again and shot up two blocks and then made a right onto a side street.
"Christ," Billy said as she flew by a stopped dump truck and he heard something scrape down the entire passenger side of the Jeep. "You're gonna get us killed!"
"Those guys are gonna get us killed," she said as behind her the pickup truck swung out around the dump truck and then sideswiped a car parked nearby before the driver got it straightened out again.
They were driving into one of the more run down areas and she made a quick left and then another quick left trying to lose them on the short, narrow streets. Billy reached forward and pulled one of the flat black 9 MM guns from the glove box, flipped off the safety and laid it on the seat top. He looked at April who snatched it up and dropped it into her lap.
Billy took a second gun out and got it ready.
"Fuck," April said. "Dead end! … Dead end again!"
"Fuck it, get it turned around," Billy yelled.
April floored it, jumped the curb and tore up the front yard of the house before turning around. She came back down onto the street, slammed the gearshift into park and jumped out of the Jeep.
"What the fuck are you doing?" Billy Screamed. He jumped out of the truck. He could hear his own truck, engine screaming as it came. April stopped and then raised the pistol. Billy stared at her incredulously for second and then lifted his own gun.
The truck came screaming down the other street, the driver saw them and locked up the brakes. April opened up, and Billy fell in with her. The driver got the truck turned toward them, floored it and then the windshield blew apart.
One of the guys on the passenger side leaned out with a pistol and opened up on them, but he was shooting wild. Billy was surprised at his own calm as he turned, took careful aim and then fired at the side of the truck. The pistol fell from the guy's hand and then both of them had to jump out of the way to miss the truck as it roared by them and cannoned down the street.
The truck continued a half block before it jumped the curb and plowed into a house. April and Billy were up and scrambling for the Jeep even as flames begin to shoot up from the house and the wreckage of the truck.
Billy ran for the truck only to find a young guy sprinting for the Jeep. He saw Billy and April and let his pistol drop to the ground.
Don't... Don't... Don't shoot me," the kid yelled. He stood a frightened look in his eyes as blood dripped down one side of his face. His breath came in ragged gasps.
Billy ignored him, jumped into the truck just behind April and slammed the door.
April gunned the engine and ran hard for about ten blocks, then slowed, working her way to the outskirts of the city on the back streets, finally pulling into a huge mall parking lot and parking in the first spot she found.
"That was fucking crazy," Billy said. He was still breathing hard.
April nodded and then burst into tears.
Billy leaned over and pulled her to him. She curled into him and cried harder: After a few minutes she pulled away.
"It's over," Billy said.
She nodded and set up straighter on the seat. She looked at him again. "I've never been so scared," she said, her voice hitching. "Kiss me, Billy. Kiss me."
Billy kissed her and she leaned hard into him. He could feel her trembling under his hands as her own hands roamed his body... "I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she breathed.
"For what?" Billy asked, out of breath.
"We have to get somewhere... I need clothes too. I shouldn't be starting something right here. Right now," she said. She straightened up and tilted the rear view mirror towards her face. "Jesus," She moaned. She took out a brush and went to work on her hair. A few minutes later they left the Jeep and went into the mall. They split up going their separate ways.
Two hours later, just as the sun was sinking, they met back at the food court and ate. She seemed to be much better. They ate their food and talked quietly and then they wandered back through the mall toward the exit they needed to get back to the parking lot.
“Billy, look,” April said. She looked over at an old photo booth, Four pictures for Five bucks, the sign advertised.
“Probably doesn't work,” Billy said. April cut her eyes at his and frowned slightly, just enough to make him immediately wish he had said something else. “But we could try it,” he amended quickly. He dug a five from his pocket and showed it to her.
She smiled as she took the five from his hand. “I wouldn't make you... But I'm going to.” She handed her packages to Billy and walked away.
Billy nodded nervously at a young guy that walked by a few moments later as he waited and smiled. She seemed to be taking forever. He had actually decided to go to the booth and check to see if something was wrong when she stepped out, drew the curtain back across the entrance and walked back to him.
“Didn't work,” he asked.
She smiled and handed him a row of four pictures.
“Hey...” April's face appeared in four frames making faces or laughing. “That is kind of cool, I...” he stopped as she pulled another strip from her pocket.
“These you keep in your wallet. In case you forget,” she told him.
He looked at the pictures and his face began to color. She laughed.
“Your wallet... Stop drooling!” She laughed once more as Billy tucked the pictures away in his wallet and began to follow her from the mall. He followed her to the Jeep, but before he could climb into the passenger side she stopped him.
"You drive, Billy. Let's go somewhere for the night, Okay? Let's call it a day."
Billy nodded, climbing into the driver's side after helping her load her bags in the back.
They drove slowly out of the parking lot and then turned onto the expressway once Billy caught an exit. A few minutes after that Billy took another exit and pulled into a motel. "The last stop for the day
," he said.
April smiled and followed him inside.
Friday night
Billy Jingo
The lights were off in the room: The TV dead; curtains parted just enough to allow some light from the sodium arc lights in the parking lot to spill into the room. It was late, but Billy had lost track of time, he had no idea how late it was, only that it was late.
They had made love for a long time. It had really started in the shower; from there they had eventually made it back to the bed.
He had never made love to anyone like her. Not that there was a long list, there wasn't, three counting her. So maybe he just hadn't had the right experience, but he didn't think it was that simple. He thought it was her: Who she was, how she was. She was resting her head on his shoulder. They were both still breathing heavy. He could feel the heaviness of her breasts resting against him. One was pressed into his side, the other resting against his rib cage. Her hand was playing with the small hairs that framed his belly button. Something about that was erotic. Maybe it was just the feel of her hand, her breasts pressed against him, but he was hard all over again.
His hand dropped down and caressed her hip, then traveled down into her dark curls and her legs parted like magic. A minute later he was kissing his way across her breasts and downward.
Later
More time slipped by; he opened his eyes once more and found himself in the same position, holding her as she curled into his side. Her head was resting against his shoulder.
"Tell me something you never told anyone else," she said.
"I don't like to fight. I only do it because if I don't other guys might get stupid, think I'm stupid... Think I'm soft, won't stick up for myself. I'd rather just get along with people, you know?" he asked.
"Yeah… The shit the world makes you do... I like that. You didn’t seem like the kind of guy to want that kind of life... But you did time though... Right?" she asked.
"Yeah... County jail time," Billy admitted.
"It could have made you mean. I'm glad it didn't," April said. Her voice was soft, her breath light against his side as she spoke.
"County's not so bad. You're mostly hanging around the same guys you hang around with on the street. State prison is where it gets tough... Things happen there," Billy said. "Tell me something about you that nobody else knows."