The Mark

by Kiki Swinson

  No one said a word. “So, that’s the motherfucker that got away, huh?” Matt’s voice boomed.

  “Juice told me that he thought he hit ’em,” Kanan said.

  Juice looked at Kanan like he lost his fucking mind but he didn’t utter one word.

  “Well, he didn’t. And now that nigga is running his fucking mouth on TV, making my fucking spot hot and got the police looking for his homeboy and Ms. Chantel right here,” Matt said, and then he pointed at me. “You sure know how to fuck my shit up. You got the whole police department looking for you and that other young boy and they don’t even know your real name. And because of all that bullshit you threw in the mix, now my niggas can’t go back to my spot and reopen shop. Do you know how much money I’m gonna lose behind this shit?” Matt continued while he stared directly at me.

  “It ain’t like you ain’t gonna get it back once I do this next score for you,” I mentioned.

  “Yeah speaking of that, I take back the ten percent. Because you and your little young boys made me lose my spot, let’s just say that after you make this move for me, we’re gonna call it even,” he said.

  I fucking knew it, I screamed in my head. I knew this asshole was going to renege on the ten percent. It was okay because I planned to take matters into my own hands. If I was gonna risk my life and freedom behind this nigga, I would be compensated for it. “Look, Matt, all I care about is getting my son back. That’s it. You can have everything else,” I finally said, even though I wasn’t telling him the whole truth. I figured it would be best to reveal that to him at a later date.

  A few minutes later, I saw Preech look down at his watch. “Yo, I think it’s about that time,” he said, thankfully, because it seemed like Matt was about to go into one of his rants again.

  * * *

  On our way out the door Matt gave us one final pep talk. “Once you get to the bank let Lauren take the lead. She’s a pro at this,” Matt told them.

  “We got it,” Preech and Juice said in unison.

  “Juice, you drive that motherfucker straight back here as soon as my money get in that car, understood?” Matt said.

  Juice smiled. “You know I’m on it, boss!” Juice assured him.

  Matt walked us to the car and right before I got inside he pulled me backward a couple of steps. It alarmed the hell out of me. “Oww, you scared me!” I told him.

  He leaned over to my ear and said, “Don’t try anything stupid. Remember, I got your fucking son in that house and I will kill him this time if you don’t bring me all my money back.”

  “I’m not risking my baby’s life for anything. You can bet’cha life on that,” I told him, and then I broke away from his grip.

  Immediately after I got in the passenger seat of the Dodge Charger, I looked back at the house and saw Lisa peering out the bedroom window at me. I whispered the words thank you, even though I knew she couldn’t hear me. But I knew she knew how to read lips. She nodded her head, and then she walked away from the window. By the time Matt had realized what I had done, he looked back at the house but Lisa had already gone. He looked back at me with a weird expression, but he didn’t move his lips. He just watched us until the car drove out of sight.

  19

  THE FINAL SCORE

  The drive away from the house became intense by the second. I couldn’t fucking believe that I was on my way to rob a bank. I sat in the front seat while Preech sat in the back and made sure our guns were locked and loaded. I looked back at him. He smiled back at me as he held the gun up in the air. “This one right here is going to be yours. But Matt told me not to give it to you until after we walk into the bank,” Preech told me.

  Juice looked back at the gun through the rearview window. “You think she can handle that big motherfucker?” he commented.

  “It ain’t nothing but a Glock. She can handle it,” Preech replied as he looked the gun over.

  “Don’t worry about me. I can handle my own,” I chimed in after I looked Juice head-on.

  “Do you hear her popping that shit?” Juice asked Preech.

  “Yeah, I hear her. Matt said she was a rider,” Preech commented.

  “Yeah, I sure am,” I mumbled to myself. These guys had no idea that I was planning to take them out. It didn’t matter if I was handed the gun during the bank robbery, I was going to figure a way out of this madness once and for all.

  * * *

  Preech and Juice listened to Lil Wayne’s mixtape the entire drive to the bank. They even talked about how they were going to spend their portion of the bank money. “I’m gonna buy me a diamond watch and a big-ass diamond chain,” Juice said.

  “Yeah, I’ma get me a nice-ass diamond chain too, but I gotta cop me one of them nice-ass Audemars Piguet watches that Jay Z be talking about in his raps,” Preech said.

  “Oh yeah, I heard those watches was hot as fuck!” Juice commented.

  “Yeah, all the niggas around the way be talking about they’re gonna get them one and ain’t nobody got shit!” Preech added. “So I guess I’m gonna be the first one around the way with one,” Preech continued.

  “Don’t floss too hard. You know niggas will start talking and have the heat on us real quick,” Juice warned Preech.

  “Man, fuck them niggas out Huntersville. They wished they could be like me,” Preech replied.

  Juice and Preech went back and forth about what they were going to do with their cut from the robbery. But I knew goodness well that Matt wasn’t going to give them shit. Matt was a grimy nigga. These guys would be lucky to get ten dollars and a pack of bubblegum after we made this score. They obviously had no idea what type of man Matt was. But I’ll tell you what, after today they would.

  * * *

  Juice finally pulled up alongside the bank. My heart started beating uncontrollably. It felt like my head had begun to spin around. It seemed like my brain just wouldn’t catch up to my actions. I couldn’t afford to let myself slip into shock, I had to keep myself focused. My son’s life depended on it. My life depended on it. I had to go into survival mode because that was who I really was inside. Fighting for my life had been an ongoing thing almost all my life. So I couldn’t stop today. You can do it, Lauren. Little Derek is depending on you. I gave myself a pep talk over and over under my breath. Finally, it sunk it.

  “Let’s get this show on the road,” Preech insisted as he checked our guns one last time.

  “Remember, Matt said y’all should only be in there no more than three minutes,” Juice told us.

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. We got everything under control. You just make sure your ass don’t leave us,” Preech replied.

  “Trust me, I ain’t going nowhere. Y’all gon’ have the golden tickets,” Juice joked.

  Preech cracked a smile. “Make sure you keep that in mind if you see bullets flying at my head while I’m running out of the bank.”

  “I gotcha, son. Don’t even worry about it,” Juice assured him.

  I got out of the car first and waited on the sidewalk for Preech to join me. Once we were standing side by side, he instructed me to walk alongside him until we got into the bank. So I did. Immediately after we entered into the lobby, he handed me my gun. I looked at it for a few seconds and thought of putting the barrel of it up to Preech’s head and blowing the shit to smithereens. But I knew that wouldn’t be a good idea. I’d be in jail on murder charges before I could even see my son again. Couldn’t let that happen.

  “You ready?” he asked me as he handed me one of the backpacks.

  “As ready as I’ll ever be,” I told him while I threw it over my shoulders.

  “Let’s do it then,” he told me, and then he moved to the side and allowed me to walk ahead of him like Matt had instructed us to do.

  I held on to the gun while it was inside my pants pocket. I walked toward the bank manager, who was a white woman dressed in a dark blue pantsuit. She looked every bit of forty years old. She also looked confident. Not your typical run-of-the-mill around-th
e-way girl. Her looks didn’t intimidate me, though. I was on a mission and unfortunately she would be in the middle of it. “Is there anything I can help you with?” she asked me as I approached her.

  I smiled. “Yes, I would like to open an account,” I lied.

  “Sure, I can take care of that for you,” she told me, and then she extended her hand for me to shake it. “Your name?”

  “Sarah Moss,” I lied once more as I shook her hand.

  “Nice to meet you, Sarah. I’m Peggy the bank manager, so have a seat right here,” she said as she pointed to a chair placed in front of her desk, which was only a few feet away from a row of five bank tellers sitting behind a countertop. There were four women and one male. The male teller was a gentleman who was probably in his early twenties, but looked like he was fresh out of high school. I knew at first sight that he wouldn’t be a problem once the shit hit the fan.

  After I took a seat, I looked back to see what Preech was doing. I had to admit that he was on cue. He was standing at the help desk area acting like he was filling out a deposit slip. He glanced at me for a second and then he resumed what it was he was doing.

  Before I turned my attention back toward the bank manager, I scanned the entire lobby and noticed that there were only two customers being serviced. So as soon as they took flight, it would be game time.

  “Do you have your ID so I can key your information into the computer?” she asked me after she sat down in her chair.

  “Yes, I do,” I lied again, and started patting my pockets like I was really looking for the ID. “Wait,” I said, and then I fell silent, trying to stall for time as I continued to pat and search my pockets.

  “What’s the matter?” she asked me.

  “I think I left my ID in my car,” I told her, and then I stood. I made sure I did not touch the arms of the chair from the time I sat down to the time I stood back up.

  “Do you wanna run outside to get it?” Peggy wanted to know.

  “Wait, let me check my back pockets because I could’ve sworn that I just had it.”

  While I continued to act like I was looking for my ID, I noticed both customers turn to leave the bank. I looked back at Preech one more time and then I turned back to face Peggy. “You know what, I think I did leave it in the car,” I said.

  She stood up and said, “Well, run out there and fetch it and I’ll wait right here for you.”

  “I sure will,” I replied, and then I turned around like I was about to leave. By now Preech had followed the last two customers to the door and locked it behind them. It was funny how no one saw it but me. The freaking security cop was talking to the one teller at the end of the counter so he wasn’t paying attention to anything but that bitch he was running his mouth with. Preech snuck up behind him and stuck his gun in his side. And from there everything went in slow motion.

  I turned back around and faced the bank manager. “Excuse me, do you guys have a restroom?” I asked.

  “Yes, sure, it’s on the other side of the lobby near the exit door,” she said as she pointed in that direction.

  “Where again?” I asked as I approached her.

  But she became mum. And I knew it was because she saw Preech with his body pressed next to the security guard. She took a couple steps backward like she was trying to get behind her desk but I stopped her in her tracks. I took my gun from my pocket and rushed her. “Don’t even fucking try it!” I hissed as I pointed the gun toward her stomach. “Just do as you’re told and you will not get hurt,” I warned her.

  She stood still like she was frozen. “Please don’t hurt me!” she whimpered.

  “I’m not, so don’t cause no scene because if you do, it’s gonna get really ugly in here,” I told her.

  Two seconds later, I watched as Preech took the security guard’s handgun and instructed him to lie face down on the floor. Then he jumped on the counter and ordered all the tellers to move back from their quarters. “I want all y’all motherfuckers to put your hands up. And if any of y’all move, I’m gonna put a bullet in your skull and your family ain’t going to be able to identify your body when I’m done with you,” he threatened them.

  “Let’s get this paper, Bonnie,” Preech yelled over to me.

  “I’m on it,” I told him. “Show me where the safe is,” I demanded.

  The woman didn’t budge. She looked like she was frozen solid. So I walked up closer to her and nudged the gun in her abdomen. “Take me to the fucking safe now,” I was forced to repeat.

  She jumped and started walking toward the vault. I walked closely behind her while Preech made his announcement. “If anyone of y’all move or try to be a fucking hero, then shit is gonna end very badly for you. So, do you and me both a favor and stay where you are. We came in here to rob the bank, not you. So as soon as we get what we came in here for, we will be out of here. Got it?”

  All the bank tellers nodded their heads simultaneously while the bank manager and I slipped to the back. The vault was only a few feet away. The nerves in my stomach started rumbling. “Let’s make this quick,” I told the bank manager as we stood before the vault. She was very nervous. She pushed a bank key inside of a keyhole, punched in a numeric code on the keypad, and then she laid her right hand down on a hand scan. It took several seconds for the hand panel to beep. Once it did, the door unlocked and she was able to push it open.

  I pushed the door open wide to reveal the contents of the safe. My eyes lit up like a kid at Christmas when I saw all the cash inside stacked up on metal pallets. I felt flushed being exposed to that amount of money. Money was the root of all evil, and trust me, all kinds of thoughts were running through my head at that moment. One thought in particular was me taking as much money out of there and starting my life all over again. From where I was standing, it looked like there was at least $5 million in that pile. I could buy myself a brand new Range Rover, every colored Chanel bag with different pairs of Giuseppe Zanotti to match them. I swore, my life would be so freaking plush. I wouldn’t have my hubby, Derek, to share the riches with, but I would have our precious son alongside me.

  “Fill up this bag,” I instructed the bank manager after I handed her the backpack. One by one she grabbed stacks of $10,000 bundles while I kept my gun pointed at her. I watched her every fucking move.

  “Hand me one of those stacks,” I told her.

  She nervously handed me a stack of money. I grabbed it from her hands and then I held it up to my nose and inhaled deeply. The smell of the money was intoxicating, to say the least. It was the smell of freedom. I was in a stupor. I felt nostalgic holding that money. It was like old times again when I had my own money.

  Instead of giving the money back to her to put in the backpack, I stuffed it down inside my panties. “Give me another one,” I demanded. So she handed me a stack of $100 bills. I stuffed it down inside my panties beside the other stack. There wasn’t any more room down there so I figured I’d be able to stuff a few stacks in my pockets with no problems at all. I ended up being able to stuff $60,000 on my body without it being noticeable.

  “Come on, we gotta go,” I heard Preech scream from the lobby.

  “I’m coming,” I yelled back. And then I handed the other backpack to the bank manager. “Hurry up and fill this one up too,” I instructed the woman.

  Once again she filled up the bag one stack at a time. There was something overwhelmingly powerful about being in possession of a backpack filled with stacks of cash. So much so that I felt dizzy at first. God knows I wanted to take the fucking money, go get my baby, and get the fuck out of Dodge. But I knew it wouldn’t be that easy. Or would it? In the back of my mind, I knew I could do anything I put my mind to, and leaving this state for good this time, with some of this money and my son in tow, would be the ultimate blessing. I needed to do this for my son and me.

  It took Peggy a minute and a half to fill up the second bag. Immediately after she handed me the backpack, I instructed her to turn around. “Please don’t kill
me!” she begged as she turned around slowly.

  “I’m not gonna kill you,” I told her, and then I hit her in the head with the butt of my gun. She fell onto the floor unconscious. At that moment I made a run for the lobby. Preech saw me coming around the corner. “Let’s get out of here,” I yelled as I proceeded toward the front door.

  I heard Preech yell obscenities at the security guard. “Get down on the fucking floor!” he demanded. I looked over my shoulder and saw the guy crawl down onto the floor. “You’re taking too fucking long!” Preech spat, and kicked the security guard’s ass. The man fell face-first to the floor. Preech laughed at him and made a run for it. The sight of Preech made me sick to my stomach so I waited by the front door of the bank. As soon as he got within three feet of me, I lifted my gun, placed my pointer finger in the trigger guard, and pulled back the trigger. The gun erupted like a cannon in my hand. BOOM! BOOM! I shot him twice. Preech tried to fire his gun back at me but his body wouldn’t give him the strength to do it. He jumped. I watched as his body fell back and slumped to the floor. Blood was running out of a hole from his stomach.

  “That was for my husband, you bitch-ass nigga! So die, you motherfucker!” I hissed. I wanted to spit on him but I couldn’t afford to leave any DNA behind, so I unlocked the door and rushed out of the bank.

  The outside breeze hit me in the face. I inhaled and exhaled. I don’t know why but I felt free for some odd reason. That all went out the window as soon as I approached the car.

  20

  ONE DOWN—TWO TO GO

  Juice looked a nervous wreck when I opened the passenger-side door and Preech was nowhere in sight. “Where is Preech?” he didn’t hesitate to ask.

  I hopped inside with both backpacks filled with the bank’s money. “The security guard got ’em. So let’s get out of here,” I expressed my lie with urgency.