“I cannot do that again. We both agreed that we were done with that shit.”
“I know, but we got to do it.”
“No. You gotta do it. I got the money I needed to get us out the shit you started. You got over a hundred thousand already. Ain’t that enough?” Shakita didn’t answer. Latrice’s eyes broadened as she looked at her best friend in disappointment. “You fucking gambled it away, didn’t you?” Shakita was still speechless. “Why, Kita? Why you got to be such a fuck-up? You could’ve done anything you wanted with that money, but you blew it all at some fucking casino. You have a serious fucking problem and you need to get some professional help, bitch,” Latrice scolded, as she pointed her finger in Shakita’s face. “You can’t keep dragging me down in your bullshit. I won’t let you.”
Tears filled Shakita’s eyes. “I’m sorry, Latrice. I promise this will be the last time. I swear it will. I’ll go to therapy if I need to, but this will be my last time. I promise you this will truly be my last time…our last time.” Shakita poured her heart out trying to convince Latrice to come with her on one more robbery. Latrice was furious that she couldn’t say no. The only reason she was going to agree to do the robbery again, Shakita would never leave until she said yes. Clarity was still in her house and Latrice had to get Shakita out of there before it was too late.
“All right, bitch. I’m going to do it, but you best believe, this is the last time. I’m not doing any shit like this ever again. You got that?” Latrice said as her lips quivered. Her body raged with unwanted emotion.
“Yeah. I got it. After this move, I’ll get straight and get my ass in therapy…I promise.” Shakita sounded convincing, but Latrice wasn’t completely sold on her promise. She first had to make a vow of her own, one that could never be broken once it was agreed upon.
“All right, Shakita. I got your promise, but I’m going to tell you this. The day you ask me to do another fucking thing that got shit to do with stealing some mothafucking money, that’s the day we’re no longer friends. You understand?” Latrice said with heated conviction.
Shakita couldn’t believe that Latrice had given her such a brash ultimatum, but she undoubtedly understood why. Shakita had been involving Latrice in her shit for years, and now she had finally had enough. If Shakita was any type of friend, she would respect Latrice’s decision and keep her promise.
Shakita sighed deeply. “I understand.”
“So when do you want to do this?” Latrice asked halfheartedly.
“In two days. We’re going to hit the same van again.”
Latrice was shocked. “Bitch, is you crazy? Why the fuck can’t we rob the van on the Red Line? We can’t rob the same van twice.”
“Yes we can. See that’s the thing. Ain’t nobody going to suspect the same van to get robbed, so all the focus is gonna be on the other lines. They ain’t thinking we’re going to strike the same place twice, and that’s what makes the whole thing more beautiful. Ya dig? That bitch is going to be wide open for the taking. You can believe that.”
“Even if the security is relaxed on the Green Line, don’t you think as soon as somebody sees two bitches with blonde wigs, that our whole shit is going to be blown?”
“I already thought about that and I have an idea.” Latrice was interested in hearing what Shakita had to say. “We’re gonna dress up as men.”
Latrice was confused. “Why the fuck we goin’ do that?”
“Because they already looking for two women. If we go as men, nobody will see the shit coming. Before they know it, those mothafuckas is got. Think about it, girl. That’s the only way we’re going to get close. After they think two men robbed ’em, this time they won’t know what the fuck to believe anymore. They’re going to stop looking for black girls and center their case on some white masterminds. Now who would believe that two bitches would be able to do that? I’m telling you, it’s foolproof.”
Latrice was okay with Shakita’s idea and hoped it worked out as easy as she said it would. She still couldn’t help but think that this shit was getting way too crazy.
Clarity had her ear to the door trying to hear over the loud music what was happening on the other side of the door. She could only hear bits and pieces of their conversation, but it still wasn’t enough to make any sense out of it. All she could presume was that Latrice and her friend were up to something big. Shakita left Latrice’s house with another chance to pull off a big hit. She tried to promise herself that this really was the last time, and she would never gamble again. Latrice couldn’t believe she’d let Shakita talk her into doing some crazy shit again and would really hate herself if they got caught. She would undeniably jeopardize everything she had going on with the label. She only needed to make it one more week, and hopefully, she wouldn’t be going to jail the same time Bay was coming out.
CHAPTER 28
FIVE DAYS UNTIL BAY GETS Out
Latrice sat in the car nervous as hell hoping that everything was going to go as planned. A million butterflies fluttered around in her stomach. Her heart raced at an excessive pace. She had never felt anxiety like this in her life, and she couldn’t stop thinking about what she was about to do. Latrice had on a black-haired men’s wig and was wearing a fake mustache. Latrice could easily have passed for a man with her disguise. Her delusion was all together except for one side of her mustache wouldn’t stay on. She’d used all the adhesive that came in the mustache kit, but it still wasn’t enough to hold it in place. Latrice looked in the mirror and realized the mustache wasn’t going to work. She was beginning to get second thoughts about what she was doing. Her eyes started to mist.
Shakita was getting in position and felt the adrenaline running through her body. She was charged up and couldn’t wait to get this job done and over with. Shakita had their whole line of attack planned out, and it was only a matter of minutes before everything went down exactly the way she wanted it to. “Shakita! Can you hear me!” Latrice said over the walkie-talkie.
“I’m here, Latrice, what’s up?”
“My mustache won’t stay on. I need you to help me fix it.”
“Just put it on the best way you can. It only needs to hold for a few minutes.”
“It won’t hold at all. I need some more glue. I need you to meet me. I got to have this mustache on,” Latrice cried.
Shakita could hear the nervousness in her voice and didn’t want Latrice to panic. “All right, Latrice. Meet me at the recreation center on the Warner Ave side.”
“Okay. I’ll be right there.” Shakita didn’t want to leave her post, but she had to get Latrice back on point before she ruined the whole operation.
When Shakita pulled up by the rec center, she saw Latrice outside leaning up against the car. Shakita rushed over to her so they could hurry up and get back in place. “Okay. Where’s your mustache at? We ain’t got that much time,” Shakita said, looking around in the car for the mustache.
“I’m not going.”
“What did you say?” Shakita asked, wondering if she’d heard her correctly.
“I said I’m not going.”
“You’re fucking with me, right?” Latrice remained silent. “Tell me you’re just fucking with me, Latrice!”
“No, Kita. I’m not. I can’t do this anymore.”
Shakita couldn’t believe what she was hearing and started to lose her mind. “We’re minutes away from hitting this fucking van and you’re backing out on me! You can’t do this shit to me! You promised me you would do it!” Shakita yelled.
“Well, I changed my mind. I got dreams, Kita. Big dreams and I can’t fuck up what I got going on to follow your ass on some fucking wild-ass robbery shit. You can gamble with your life, but I’m not gambling with mine no more. You’re going to have to do this on your own. I’m out.” She pulled her gun out of her waistband and tried to hand it over to Shakita. Shakita looked at the gun and then coldly back up at Latrice.
“Remember when you said that if I ask you to do anything else after
this, that we wouldn’t be friends anymore?”
“Yeah, I remember.”
“So I’m giving you the same option. If I take that gun from you and we don’t do this job, then that’s going to be it for us.” Shakita stared at Latrice, meaning every word.
Shakita was ready to give up twelve years of friendship since Latrice didn’t want to commit a crime with her. Latrice felt that if Shakita couldn’t see that what she was asking of her was wrong, then Shakita’s friendship wasn’t worth having anyway. Latrice wished she would have found out that they weren’t meant to be friends a long time ago. That would have made their departure from each other a lot easier to deal with.
Latrice extended her arm out even more, trying to hand Shakita the gun, further letting her know that she was ready to disband their relationship.
“I guess I’ll see you around,” Shakita said as she took the gun out of Latrice’s hand.
“Maybe, maybe not,” Latrice said seriously with a strained look in her eyes. Without any signal, they both embraced each other and started to shed tears, as the thought of them not being friends began to set in.
“I love you, girl,” Shakita said as she started to sniffle and tears dripped down her chin.
“I love you too,” a watery-eyed Latrice wept.
Neither one of them could handle the emotional moment well. Everything they shared would be forever lost. Their alliance had finally taken its course and it was time for them to go their separate ways. “I got to get going,” Shakita said as she broke their embrace and wiped the tears off her face. She then backed away from her slowly. They shared a stare for a moment, then Shakita turned away. Latrice didn’t make any attempt to stop her from leaving, nor did she try to do anything to get her to stay. Shakita got in her car and looked at her ex-best friend for what could possibly be the last time, then sped off.
Latrice got back behind the wheel and began to sob heavily, reflecting how the whole incident would affect the rest of her life. As much as Latrice wanted to get back on the walkie-talkie and let Shakita know that she was down with her until the end, she couldn’t. Being there for Shakita wasn’t what she wanted in her life anymore. Latrice was becoming a different type of woman and had to relieve herself of any unwanted baggage in order to be successful in her next venture. She was convinced that Shakita wouldn’t be a good fit in her new life. Where Latrice planned on going in the music industry, it wasn’t good business to have problematic friends around that were always trying to bring you down. She had been certain Shakita would never leave the scandalous world she lived in, and that’s why they could not remain friends.
Shakita held her head down in agony. She was frustrated that Latrice had left her high and dry right before they were about to make the hit. Her stress level started to rise as she rushed to think of another plan of attack. She was all alone and couldn’t figure out how she was going to rob the van, force the driver off the main road, then unload the money without being seen. Shakita was about to give up and find someone she could trust to help her at another time. Suddenly, she thought of a plan that could possibly work. It had to be done carefully. She started to believe that she didn’t need anybody but her damn self and was ready to handle her business. The van would be on its way soon, so she had to get herself at the right location before she missed her opportunity.
The driver finished up his route and was rushing to get back to the depot station, so he could drop his load and get on the Beltway before traffic got too heavy. He hated sitting in gridlock traffic for at least two hours trying to get back to his home. The driver was flying down the street and noticed that the car in front of him slammed on its brakes unexpectedly. Without enough time to react, he smashed right into the back of the old Buick sedan. The crash was so severe that it left both vehicles disabled. The driver wasn’t hurt much, but he wanted to see how badly the person in the other car was injured.
When the driver of the van approached the car, he noticed that the driver of the Buick was not moving and appeared to be a young male. He opened the door to see if the driver was still breathing, and that’s when he felt a clank on his wrist. Before he knew it, he found himself handcuffed to the steering wheel with a gun pointed to his head. He was scared as hell.
“If you don’t do anything stupid, I won’t kill your ass. You understand?” Shakita said calmly.
The driver nodded his head in fear, willing to do whatever he was told to prevent from getting shot. “Now I want you to slowly put your other hand on the top of the car and wait for further instruction. You got that?”
The man slowly lifted his hand from his side and placed it on the roof of the car as he was instructed. “Now I want you to turn your body all the way to your left and keep it that way until I tell you otherwise.” The man had to think for a second which side was his left so he didn’t make a mistake. When the man’s right hip was facing her, Shakita removed his gun off his waist and then tossed it on the backseat.
“Now slowly bring your hand back in the car and place it on the steering wheel.” The man did what he was told and then felt the cold steel cuff that was already attached to the wheel being slapped on his other wrist.
Shakita then climbed out of the car from the passenger side and headed for the van with her gun tucked in her waist. She ran to the back of the van and was ready to get the money out. She had to move fast in case someone called the police. Shakita swung the heavy doors open, so she could climb in and pull the canisters out.
Boom!!!
The shotgun blast threw Shakita’s body to the ground as the officer in the back of the van emerged with a smoking barrel.
Shakita’s legs twitched as she gasped for air. The massive hole in her chest was making it hard for her to breathe, as thick blood spewed from her mouth. Shakita’s heart had already stopped beating before she realized what had happened to her. The armed officer jumped out of the van and stood over her dead body. He saw that the man’s mustache was hanging off his face, so he assumed it was a fake, and when he looked at the man even harder, he realized something else about him when he pulled the mustache all the way off.
“You’re just a young girl,” the officer said under his breath.
The officer started to put the pieces together, and figured out that she was probably the same woman that robbed the very same van a week before. He had hoped she wouldn’t try it again, wanting to avoid the tragic event that had currently taken place. If Shakita would have been watching the news lately, she would have known that the BERK van robbery set off a security breach that couldn’t be allowed to happen again. Each van that was transporting money had to have a backup officer on board to add an extra layer of defense. Shakita’s addiction to gambling resulted in more than her simply losing endless amounts of money and her best friend in the world. She lost her life and it was too late to ask her was everything she’d ever done worth it. The officer walked over to the smashed-up Buick to see if his fellow officer was all right as squad cars rushed to the scene.
• • •
Latrice sat on her couch and tuned into the five o’clock news wanting to see if there was anything about another BERK van robbery. Latrice didn’t think Shakita would have the heart to do it by herself, and even if she did attempt it, she would be caught and thrown in jail. She thought that if Shakita had a change of heart and decided not to go through with it, then they could possibly be friends again. Deep down inside, she really couldn’t see not being friends with Shakita again and truly hoped she’d made the right choice. But when Latrice heard the special news report with Shakita’s face posted on the screen, she suddenly broke down crying and screamed from the top of her lungs.
“You’re so stupid! Oh, you’re so fucking stupid, why! Why, Shakita! Why! Why! Why!” she yelled as she hit the floor and cried while banging her fists against the couch. Latrice was so hurt that Shakita had gotten killed and part of her wanted to blame herself. Latrice felt like if she would’ve tried to stop her, she would’ve still been li
ving. She realized if they would have stayed together, both of them would have been dead. Latrice couldn’t help but to cry out in devastation over her fallen sister. It was almost hard to believe that her best friend was gone and never coming back. Ironically, Shakita Marshall was dead at the age of “21.” She always believed it was her luckiest number.
Eric had called Latrice as soon as he heard the news about Shakita. He wondered if she knew what really happened. Eric found out where she lived and rushed over to her apartment. He really wanted to be there in her critical time of need. Shakita was a big part of his life and he, too, would need to be comforted. When Latrice opened the door for Eric, she fell into his arms and sobbed heavily. He tried to get her to calm down, but nothing he did or said worked. Tears started to flow down his face. Being around an emotional Latrice was becoming harder and harder for him to bear. All he could hear was her crying in his ear as he held her up to keep her from falling. Eric realized that Latrice was too traumatized and didn’t expect to get much out of her in the delusional state of mind she was in. All he could do right now was hold her, support her, and prayed that they would both be able to get through this tempestuous time—together.
CHAPTER 29
TWO DAYS UNTIL BAY GETS Out
Everyone had gathered for Shakita’s funeral. Eric paid for all the arrangements so that Shakita would have a proper burial. The viewing of the body and the actual service were done all in the same day, since Shakita didn’t have much family or friends that could attend her untimely death. Shakita’s mother was a homeless drug addict and her father was a man she wouldn’t have known, even if he had been an old customer of hers. Shakita had very few relatives and the ones she did have, Latrice was unable to contact them. Even with the national broadcast of Shakita’s killing, that still didn’t bring out the support of her estranged family members.
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