cold blooded goons.

The comb felt great across his scalp, far better than the bristles of a brush.  He flexed his non-muscles in the mirror, and a small bicep bulged through his skin as he allowed the comb to massage its round ends through his straight hair that shot down past his shoulders.  He’d just gotten soaked in a warm shower when it suddenly went cold, causing him to exit the shower immediately, but because he was feeling overwhelmed with thoughts of the woman he’d fallen head over heels in love with, he took the chill like a man and pretended not to feel it. 

There he stood – butt naked combing his hair while straining to look inside the fog covered mirror – when he noticed there were no towels hanging from the walls. 

“Where are all the towels?” he said under his breath as he leaned over to look underneath the cabinet.  As he searched, he found nothing but an extra roll of toilet tissue.  Frustrated, he stood tall once again, shook off his disappointment, and continued out of the bathroom. 

“Jack!  Don’t just walk outta the bathroom with your whole butt out...”

“Ma!  Ma, move!”  he shouted, dropping his comb on the floor as he tried to hide his private area from full view.  “There are no towels in there, ma,” he complained.  “I wouldn’t have had to come out in the hall if you’d hung the towels up that you washed last night.”

“Move, Jack,” she said pushing him out of the way, causing his body to fall up against the wall as she moved by, cautious enough not to touch the bare butt she used to wipe when he was a child.  “Here,” she continued, opening the hall closet and snatching out a green towel.  “And stop using up all the hot water like I know you did.”

“How the heck is that even possible?” Jack asked, taking the towel from her.  “I pay for water...”

“I pay for water,” his mom corrected him, placing much needed stress on the I.  “You on the other hand need to get a better job, if you still have one, and go off and do more with your life.  That way you can have a family, raise kids...”

“And be just what you want me to be,” he rebutted rebelliously.

His mom looked back before entering the living room.  “Exactly.  Start with looking the part, Jack.  Image is everything.  It gets you where you want to be like I’ve always told you.  Clean yourself up.”

Immediately, he latched onto his long locks after putting the towel around his waist.  Then, he slithered into his room, beginning to feel worse than what he planned for that day.  He was supposed to start preparing for a trip out of the country to Jamaica with his love, Candyce.  They’d been dating for a while, and Jack knew in his heart that she was the one for him after the months they’d spent together. Candyce was his princess, and in order to make his fairytale woman become his royalty legitimately, he needed to make major life changes. 

Candyce came from a rich family.  Her family was one of the richest in the city.  Although Candyce was rooted in wealth, Jack wasn’t intimidated when he identified her while she was out shopping.  That was just how well known her family was.  It happened so fast, and he was really amazed by how down to earth she was.  That was what added to his attraction to this posh stranger at their first meeting.

~

“Name’s Jack...Jack Seedman,” he introduced himself as he walked over to her while she inspected some bracelets that were hanging on the rack.  Her hair was long, just like he liked it, and she was just as beautiful to him as he’d seen on the television as she stood with her family.

The woman he’d eyed from afar glanced down at first, only to look over his shoes, and then she continued to follow him up to his face.  There she saw a man with a cute grin, only because he had all his teeth intact, a passable body, and a nice voice with hair that draped his back.  He was handsome in the face, however, with an edge that Candyce appreciated and needed in her life due to the fact that she came from such rigid formalities and wealth.

“Candyce...just Candyce,” she introduced herself, responding to his greeting. 

“Hi, Just Candyce,” he responded in an attempt to be funny, however, that particular gesture caused Candyce to toss him a side grin and turn back to continue admiring the bracelets. 

Jack, being fairly confident with his looks, charm and smell which always overcompensated for his weak wallet, felt shaken by the way Candyce ignored him after seeming interested for two seconds.  Therefore, he figured his Just Candyce gesture was taken the wrong way.

“So, which bracelet seems to catch your eye, Candyce?” he asked, attempting to breeze over what he thought was a complete fail at getting her to respond.

“Oh, so I’m Candyce now?”

“I’m sorry if I...”

“Did you not know that the word just is an adverb that I placed in front of my name because I didn’t want to give you my last name as you voluntarily gave me yours?”  Then, she looked at him once more, this time from head to toe.  “I tend to not be that giving.”  She turned to lift a bracelet from the rack.

“Maybe not giving but possibly forgiving, I hope.  May I get that for you?” he asked, referring to the bracelet.

“Do you have the money?”  She looked at his shoes that were clearly falling apart in the next hour at the least.

“Oh these?” he said following her eyes down to his scuffed up shoes.  “These have nothing to do with me and what I can get for you.  Believe you me,” he replied, hoping to debunk her views on his less-than-one-hundred-dollars-in-the-bank-every-two-weeks of a lifestyle.  The truth was, some people lived with their parents just to do it.  Others, such as himself, lived with his mother as a year off thirty year old man because he just couldn’t seem to attract a high paying job without screwing it up on one or two levels.  Besides that, however, he was robbed for all his lesser goods two weeks ago, including the last of his cash which he kept in his old apartment.

“Are those your work shoes?”

“As a matter of fact...yep.  Yep, those are my work shoes,” he stated slightly embarrassed at the brown bulldozers that actually looked worse at the sole of the shoe due to a massive hole that decided it was time to accelerate the decision to buy a new pair.  In all actuality, the brown bulldozers weren’t his work shoes.  They were his only shoes until he could get more money for another pair.  Until running into Candyce, he had no reason to rush.

“Where do you work?”

“At the bowling alley,” he stated confidently.

“Oh.”  She gave him a quick smile and returned to her shopping.  “I like this one.  Do you mind?”

Before Jack noticed the type of bracelet it was that she was holding inside her hand, he noticed the price tag that hung from the far too expensive piece of cosmetic jewelry.  The label read two hundred dollars, and when he glanced over at the real jewelry, he was certain that there would be some real gold earrings over there at half the cost.  In order to not look like the no-account man that his shoes already succeeded at doing, he cocked a smile and said, “Are you sure this is the one you want?”

“Don’t I look sure?  I’m gonna skip over to the shoe section...right there,” she pointed.  “If you want me to have this bracelet, that’s where you’ll find me,” she paused, “Jack.”  It was with those words alone that she walked off through the jumble of people that had decided to visit the mall that particular day.  This left Jack standing with a two hundred dollar bracelet in hand, not knowing what to do next. 

Pressure was something that Jack wasn’t too fond of, but he’d always ended up in anxiety ridden situations throughout his life which taught him to think fast and think of a way out that gets all parties involved what they want, if possible.  This was one of those cases. 

As he watched Candyce prance over to the shoe department, he was stricken by the way her hair bounced down her back, and although she wasn’t a girl with much of the curves a man likes, what she had was good enough for him.  Jack took a deep breath, dug inside his pockets, fiddled around and only found fifty cents...in nickels. 

“Dammit,” he whispered while a little girl walked by with her mother.  Immediately, he became apologetic for having used vulgar language near the child.  “Excuse me, my bad...didn’t know...hi, little girl,” he stammered as the child stared up into his face with her hand over her mouth tugging at her mom’s shirt.  The woman scowled at Jack without accepting his apology and continued walking past him with her daughter, stringing her along with the child leash.

Jack simply shook his head and looked back up at Candyce who was already standing in front of the counter with  four single shoes requesting the matching counterparts.  Sweat started to bud upon the back of his neck causing him to wipe underneath all his hair.  For the most part, he liked to remain as dry as he could when he had on cologne because his body chemistry didn’t mix the cologne and natural perspiration too well.  The odor didn’t quite work, and he started to get paranoid about possibly emanating a horrid stench as he knew in his heart of hearts that time was dwindling down for him to prove himself to the woman he wanted in his arms each night and not just in his dreams.  Jack was nervous.  Not only was he nervous, but he knew he had to steal.

It wasn’t like stealing was something new to him.  As a matter of fact, it was when he was in the grocery store with his cousin that he learned the simple rule of thieving – out of sight, out of everybody’s mind.  When he was only seven years old, he would watch his older cousin, Luke, who now goes by Lukewarm, snatch the smallest of the fruit from the counter and pop them in his mouth like it was nothing.  Then, he would grin back at Jack who would be standing there terrified.  Luke would even pass him, purposely smacking louder and louder the closer he got to him.  There was one particular day of Luke’s shenanigans that he walked right up to Jack’s ear and said, “Out of sight, out of mind, and when I get home, out of my behind.”  Then, he popped the strawberry in his mouth.  Jack looked ahead of Luke and saw that Luke’s mother was doing the exact same thing...except she had a banana, fully peeled.  She would then move to the checkout counter to never disclose the fact that she was walking out with a banana that wasn’t paid for...inside her belly.  It was out of sight, and thus, out of mind.

Jack quickly dropped the bracelet by a different rack than it originally came from.  The drop was precise, and as soon as he heard it hit the floor, he walked away from it with the decision to go chat at the jewelry counter with the sales person who was already cleaning the glass to make the shine more exquisite for customers who were ready to spend.  She was a short and stout lady with an aged face, and as Jack got closer, she met him with a courteous smile.

“May I help you today, sir?”

Jack rushed to stand against the counter, remembering that his shoes sold the I’m-broke-but-still-making it story to the highest bidder.  “Yeah, sure, uhmm...yeah.  I need to know what kind of stone a woman likes...the most I mean...outside of a diamond.”

“Oh well, let’s see.  We have some emeralds over here.  They are always nice, and then there are these pearls.  What particular occasion or ...”

“Birthday.  It’s gonna be a birthday ring...for my sister.”

“Well, that’s a wonderful gift, so let me go and pull out some other selections...” the sales person continued as Jack paid her absolutely no attention.  He was watching as Candyce paid for all the shoes requested at the register, and it was at that point that he realized he was out of time.

As the lady dug underneath the cabinet, Jack walked away from the counter whispering, “Out of sight, out of mind.”  His blood pressure had already risen to the point where he literally felt the blood pumping through his veins as he approached the area where he dropped the two hundred dollar fake bracelet. 

The hole in the bottom of his shoe was just big enough where he could place his foot right over it and scoop it up.  He wouldn’t even have to bend over while he pretended to look for another bracelet.  His only hope as he watched Candyce walk toward the exit was that the bracelet slid easily into the hole of his raggedy shoe. 

“Sir? Sir?” he heard the sales lady call behind him, but he continued to walk forward as he answered her.

“I’m just going over here to check out these other pieces of jewelry, ma’am.”

“Okay, sir, take your time.”  She turned back around, slightly irritated with how Jack just walked away from her and shoved the box of jewelry back underneath the cabinet while keeping her rehearsed, yet cordial, demeanor.

As Jack came within five feet of the bracelet, he noticed that same little girl that he incidentally cursed in front of staring at him while still tugging at her mom’s shirt. 

“The hell...” Jack grunted under his breath as he tried to concentrate, preparing his toes for the struggle of sharing the shoe space with a something slightly spiked and man-made.  “Give me a break little girl.  It’s just a freaking word,” he continued underneath his breath as he stepped on top of the desired bracelet, and like it was meant to be there, the bracelet slid right inside the gaping hole in the bottom of his shoe.  Immediately, he fell over into a large rack as he pretended to have hurt his leg when in reality, he was shifting the bracelet further into his shoe as he watched Candyce walk out the door.

Recalling the words of his own mother that appearances were everything, he continued his limping façade all the way out the door, careful not to crush the bracelet under the weight of his foot. 

“Are you okay, sir?” a young, teenage girl came to push the door open for him.  Jack’s face was beginning to turn a full out blushing red, but he would have had no idea of his newfound tint if it weren’t for the statement the teenager said next.  “You look like you’re about to pass out.”

“Pain,” Jack responded.  “My foot.  I have gout.”

“Gout?  What the heck is gout?” she asked, but Jack totally ignored the question.  He had an uncle that suffered from it before he passed away, and the one thing he remembered about his uncle was the way he walked while blaming it on gout.  Truth be told, Jack had no idea what gout was either, and to tell the teen that gout was his uncle’s disease was ignorantly unacceptable, especially when he was pretending to suffer from it.

“Thank you,” he stated as he limped out of the store without looking back at her.  Instead, his eyes were watching as Candyce walked down the sidewalk, which was great because her back was to him. 

As he turned to limp down the sidewalk in order to get out of the full vision of the transparent doors, he was finally able to reach down and slide the bracelet from the hole in his shoe.  “Hell yeah,” he stated as he began to race toward a calm, cool and collected Candyce as she crossed the street.  “Excuse me, Candyce,” he called as he popped the price tag off the piece of what he considered tacky jewelry and tossed it on the street.  He could feel his body calming down as he wanted to recapture the confidence that left him inside the store.  When Candyce turned around at the call of her name, Jack proceeded toward her with his signature cocky grin.

Without one word, he positioned the bracelet in front of her eyes, and Candyce didn’t flinch although impressed by the persistence of his pursuit and his insistence that she have what she wanted.

“I see you got it for me...right before I got into my car and drove off.”  She cut her eyes at the sports car that she proceeded to place her bags atop.  “Well, when you present a gift to a girl, Jack Seedman, the best thing to do is put it on her yourself.”  She held out her wrist.  “Moore,” she stated, revealing her last name.

“I know,” he replied as he secured the bracelet on her arm.  “It’s just as beautiful as you are.”

“Not quite, but thanks.”

Jack shook his head at her sarcasm and snotty responses, and then laughed.  “I just got you a bracelet, the one that you asked me to get for you, and you still won’t give me a break?”

“Wrong.  You snatched it for me.”  She glanced down at the bracelet, and then back at him.  “Admit it.  You stole it.”  When Jack didn’t say anything back because his tongue was caught somewhere in the back of his throat and his lungs, she continued.  “I shop here all the time, and everything has a box.  Everything.”

Those words stung Jack like a bee to the arm, and all he could do was stand there...with that same overly confident grin on his face as if he was a character from a movie on pause.  As he stood there, unable to release a fidget, she placed her bags of shoes in the car, and then peeped back at Jack the-not-so-nimble, causing her to shut the door after eyeing him down again. 

“You can breathe.  I like a man who will go to certain lengths all for me.”  She then waltzed closer to his ear and continued, “Stolen or not.  You got it for me.”

Jack let out a deep breath and from there, they became a couple.

~

After preparing to leave the house, Jack finally left after slopping down some left over baked beans his mom made the night before for dinner.  She was going to be highly upset, however, Jack planned on making it up to her when he brought back some seafood to replace the dinner he basically stole out of laziness and hunger.  He was on his way to meet up with his cousin and the rest of the fellas because they wanted to kick back today as they do any other day.  Half of them were out of work, and the other half never worked a day in their lives...legally.  Either way, they were all boys from childhood, and when the bond is that tight, it’s hard to bust.

Jack walked into the side door that led into a fully air conditioned garage.  The garage door had been sealed off and covered with a fake wall, and the only window in the craftily concocted room was about one foot from the door.  The window was completely bullet proof, and visitors couldn’t see inside but everyone on the inside could see out.  It was perfect for his cousin Lukewarm who was one of the fellas who’d never worked legally a day in his unnaturally born life. 

Lukewarm was a suction baby.  His birth mother used a suction to insert a sperm left on her sheets to get pregnant...from countless men.  Jack’s mother revealed the secret to Jack several years back, and he learned that Lukewarm found out only one year ago.  Previously, Lukewarm thought that his father ran off and left him high, dry and broke with his mom when in reality, it was his mom that dealt herself that lousy hand.  Once he learned that his mom was behaving like a no account woman in the past to even consider not at least trying to give him a better upbringing, he lost quite a bit of respect for her.  In fact, he started to blame her for his every bad action – starting with drug dealing – which was done to make his end meet with whatever other end there was to grab onto.

Besides Lukewarm not knowing exactly who his father was, he was the only person in the family with a permanent tan, leaving everyone clueless as to his race.  It was obvious from his mother that he was half white, but Lukewarm’s father could have easily been a black man from the United States of America to Jamaica or Haiti, Asian, or even Hispanic.  His hair was curly, and he kept it low, sometimes even bald.  When he walked into many places of business, they immediately expected him to understand the other predominant language of Miami – Spanish.  It would really piss him off, and the fact that his mom didn’t know his race or his father, well, it made the situation far worse.

“What’s up, Luke...fellas?”

“Slam that card down, man, and stop acting like a lil cryin’ ass baby that don’t know what to do.  Jack, I’m glad you here.  Come take this man spot right here before I knock his ass off my chair,” yelled Lukewarm frustrated with his Spades partner.  “My man right here take too damn long...get the hell off ...” he continued, shoving the chair opposite him with his foot.  The chair only scooted a little bit because Big Will sat on it, and a chair Big Will sat on, no foot in the world could move.  “Jack, sit down.  I got money on this game right here, and ain’t a soul taking it or it’s both y’all asses.”

“What’s up, fellas?” Jack stated again uneasily, feeling like he’d just stepped into a butt whipping that he could already feel.  The fact was that Jack was no good at playing the card game of Spades, but it was Lukewarm that was the only one that could force him to play like he’d never lost a game in his life.

“Do you see that play on the table?  Does it look like I won that hand?  That means I need you to win it for us.”  He leaned back in his chair so that the chair’s front legs never touched the ground.  “Hit us up.  Got no time for this.  We need some books, man.”

Jack sat down after Big Will gladly stepped from the chair while giving him the hand he was dealt.  Upon first glance, the cards had absolutely no value to what was already played, but Jack wasn’t dumb.  In order to play with Lukewarm, he had to always have a side game which was something he learned growing up with him. 

As soon as Lukewarm issued the threat and Big Will removed himself from the chair, Jack had already scoped out the hand of the other player that sat closest to the door.  It turned out that Big Will had only two low spades in his hand, and the rest were clubs.  The other player still had high diamonds in his hand waiting for some reason, so it was on Jack to make the play for his two for sure.  He was going to take the king and queen right from him so Lukewarm could take the rest.

“I don’t have that one either, Luke,” Jack stated as he played. 

“Man, damn, man!  You know how much money you gonna owe me on this hand.  Throw out,” he said to the guy directly to his left who happened to be a visitor to the group that had no idea what he’d gotten himself into, especially if he caused Lukewarm to lose the game in his own garage.

Just like Jack expected, the player threw out a high diamond, and after that, Lukewarm tossed out a losing diamond.  Right afterwards, Jimmy, who sat with a huge grin on his face, tossed out the lowest card he could while posing like a shot caller toward Jack. 

Jack sat back in his chair, cocked himself to the side and asked, “Well, do you like what the hell you see?  Don’t look at me, Jimmy...look at the cards,” he taunted as he played a six of spade to take the win.

“Man, that’s some bull crap, Lukewarm!  That man cheated.”

“No, your man was cheatin’...’til my cousin worked his magic yet again.”  Lukewarm shot a glance at Jack that made him feel relieved that he’d made the right play.  From there, Lukewarm got exactly what he wanted – the win and the money.  Jimmy ended up completely out of money while Big Will stood there chewing on a Slim Jim, and the new guy got sent out the door.

“Thanks there, young blood.  You always come through,” he stated, while he collected the cards.  Then, Lukewarm stared over at the door.  “Jimmy, lock it up for me.  We have to discuss some business I been thinking about, and we only have today and tomorrow to make it happen.  After that, we split for a long time.”  Suddenly, instead of Jimmy locking the door, Big Will reached over and secured the entrance, causing Lukewarm to have a fit.  “Man, Big Will, I told Jimmy to lock that shit up, not you with your nasty ass spit fingers.  Always got something in your mouth.”  Lukewarm then got up from his seat, grabbed some Lysol that he kept on top of the counter at all times because he hated the thought of picking up someone else’s germs, and then sprayed the door knob with about half the bottle.  “When you’re eating, keep your hands off my stuff.  How many times I have to tell you that?”

“Sorry, man.  I ain’t got nothing.”

“How do I know that, Big Will, tell me that?  You never brought a current medical chart to me and let me read that shit, now have you?  Matter of fact, can you read it?”

Jack, assuming Lukewarm was done playing cards, tossed the stack in the trash and picked up the other ten brand new decks of cards to put them back in the drawer as he continued to listen to them argue over germs.  After that, he grabbed a seat.  No one ever sat in Lukewarm’s seat because he was just that uptight.  As a matter of fact, he kept a permanent marker on him at all times just in case someone acted like they forgot that only he was to sit in his chair.  His name would always be written on his metal chair, and when he was done, he would fold it up and put it in the corner.  He didn’t keep anything in his garage that wasn’t easily wiped down.  He had one of those complexes that tended to get worse with every year.  Jack was used to it all, and so were the others.

As he watched them go back and forth, he picked up the pencil that they used to keep score for the card game and started to draw a picture of Candyce.  Jack would normally sketch all sorts of things, but it was only when he knew he wanted to marry her did he begin sketching how she would look as his wife.  Sure, her image wouldn’t change, but she would be a new woman under his arms.  He just hoped she loved him just as much as he loved her, no matter how broke he was.

“You ain’t hear a thing I said.”

“Huh,” Jack quickly answered, balling up the sketch of Candyce and tossing it into the trash can that was located right behind him.  “Yeah, I did.”

“Well, let’s go then,” Lukewarm responded to Jack with a huge smile.  “We gonna be late.  Jimmy, grab that bag out the back, and let’s ride.”

“Cool,” responded Jack still not clear on where they were headed.  All he knew was that he was going to be with Lukewarm all day anyway as usual when he had nothing else to do Candyce  or work related, so being with his fellas was nothing new or odd.

As Jack grabbed the keys because he was accustomed to being the designated driver, Lukewarm stopped him.  “Not today.  Today, you’re in the back with Big Will.”

Although Jack thought it odd that Lukewarm was doing the driving, he didn’t ask him about it.  Instead, he simply let go of the keys, threw his hands up in the air, caught his hair in a ponytail and followed Big Will outside the garage.  Lukewarm just smiled, and before he went outside with the rest of them, he grabbed a suitcase.  After that, he shoved it in the trunk, hopped inside the navy, four-door Chevrolet, shoved the key in the ignition and drove off. 

“So where we headed again?” Jack asked.

“I thought you knew already, man.”  Jimmy responded, turning around just to showcase his pearly white teeth.  Out of every one of them, it was Jimmy who had the whitest of white of teeth, but the problem was that he knew it.  He also thought he was the sexiest man alive because all the ladies loved what he considered his irresistible chocolate body because he pumped iron every other day. 

“Well, I don’t know, Jimmy, and if you don’t mind, I was talking to Luke.”  Jack felt highly irritated at how everyone around him seemed to be in on something that he had no idea about.  All three of them were either cracking grins or cracking knuckles, and it started to get under Jack’s skin. “Well, Luke.  What’s all the grinning about?”

“Just sit back and relax,” he responded as they pulled onto the highway.  “You got nothing else to do today, right?”

“No, not too much,” Jack stammered, “but I hardly have any money.  You know I was robbed a couple weeks back.”

Lukewarm quickly looked into the back seat at his younger cousin and then back at the highway which was jam packed.  “I got you covered.  We’re just going on a short road trip to take care of our monetary problems...for good.”  Lukewarm then caught Big Will sitting in the back popping chocolate candy into his mouth.  “Cut that shit out!  No eating in my car, man, damn.  Don’t touch my locks either.  Shit!” Lukewarm punched the steering wheel and continued to drive.  “And I forgot my damn wipes.”

“Wherever we’re going, I just hope we’re back by three o’clock.  I told Candyce I would meet her somewhere,” Jack stated, sitting back comfortably in the seat as he leaned his head against the window and shut his eyes.  He was just happy to be able to get a good nap in instead of having to drive wherever they went.  Immediately, his thoughts went back to Candyce.  She was all he could think about.  Every time they were together, it was like he was in a world full of money, but he just couldn’t touch or take it.  That was the sole reason why Lukewarm or any of the fellas couldn’t find out that Candyce was in the fact the Candyce Moore.

As he thought about Candyce while riding down the road, he ended up falling into a deep sleep.  When he woke up, two hours had passed, he was still riding ... and he had to urinate.

––––––––

“What the hell?” Jack sprang up from the seat while taking off his seatbelt and shoving his body forward into the front of the car.  “What the living hell, man?  How long was I asleep, and where the hell are we?”  His bladder was about to explode, and his hair was slicked down to the side of his face from the spit and sweat that gathered at his chin making a nice paste. 

Lukewarm just smiled and kept driving while Jimmy had on his headphones talking to some girl on the phone that he’d probably just met the other day judging by the seductive tone in his voice.  To a regular female from his past, there would be no seducing necessary.  They would typically just collapse into whatever and whoever Jimmy wanted them to be while holding on to what they remembered him as before they found out he was a cave man.

“Look, man, I’m not playin’.  Where are we?  We’re not even in Miami anymore are we?” He looked around as if he was being chased by the police, and then leaned over closer into his cousin’s ear.  “I said where the fuck are we, Luke?  And I have to piss!”

“Sit back and relax,” he responded, cutting a side glance at Jimmy who, when he saw the glance, kept his mouth shut.  “We’re on our way to Orlando.  As a matter of fact, we’re almost there.  Just sit back and chill, Jack.  Stop being so uptight.”

“Or-damn-lando!  When were you gonna tell my ass about it, huh?  You don’t just go driving off to another part of Florida without letting people know that.  Did they know?”  Jack asked, highly irritated at the notion of him being the only one out of the loop.

“Yeah they knew.  Even if they didn’t, they don’t act like some silly, little girl like you do all the time.”  He shrugged his shoulders in an attempt to knock Jack in the chin, but he missed by only centimeters.  “Did you forget your damn pocketbook, man?” he teased and then leaned over, waving his hand at Jimmy.  “Here.  Piss in this.”  It was an open soda can that sat in the passenger’s side cup holder, and Jimmy handed it to him.  Before Lukewarm said another word, Jack knocked the soda can out of Jimmy’s hand, causing the can hit the windshield resulting in whatever was inside of it to splash out all over the dashboard. 

“The hell!” Lukewarm yelled as he lost total control of the car.  There was a big body of crystal clear blue water only about twenty feet away from the road, and all four of them were headed right for it because there was no way Lukewarm was going to touch the steering wheel again. 

“Turn the wheel, turn the wheel!” Jimmy screamed as he dropped his cell phone and grabbed the freely turning steering wheel before they all drowned in the sea.  As he reached across a frozen Lukewarm to jerk the car back onto the road, Jack fell up against Big Will who ended up knocking him back into his seat after realizing a man was lying on top of him.  He’d slept through the whole thing. 

“Get off me!” 

“The hell you hit me for?” Jack asked with his hands in the air, confused and nearly ready to jump out of the moving car.  “We were almost in a wreck because Lukewarm’s phobia ridden...” he paused at a loss for words but when he gathered one, he spoke again, “...ass decided to let go of the wheel when damn soda wasted on the dashboard.”

“Soda!  That ain’t soda!  That’s Jimmy’s piss, man, damn!” Lukewarm shouted.

“Hold this wheel, Lukewarm.  Hold it or let your foot up off the gas,” Jimmy yelled, struggling like a piece of elastic to keep the car in place on the road. 

“Here.  Just here before we die over this stupid ass drive!” Jack yelled, highly annoyed as he took off his shirt and draped it over the steering wheel for Lukewarm which luckily caused him to grab the wheel once again.  “You would rather die...just damn die...than get your hand on some of Jimmy’s high yellow piss.”  Jack was out of breath, and so was everyone else as they watched a stiff as nails Lukewarm drive cautiously to an exit which was thankfully a rest area.

“Did you forget what we had in the trunk or what?  Mess around and get us time in the pen for sure, Luke.  Get yourself together, man,” Jimmy complained.

Jack’s head turned back and forth between both Jimmy and Lukewarm.  It was obvious that he wanted the conversation to continue because he was in the dark about what was actually inside the trunk of the car that would lead them to so much time in the big house, a place that he truly didn’t want to be.  Instead of pushing the issue, he decided to wait until everyone got a chance to wash Jimmy’s piss off of themselves and out of the car.

Angrily, he stared out the window as the car pulled up to the rest area that just happened to be out in the middle of nowhere.  Just because of the fact that his dear cousin thought it hilarious to take him on a trip to Orlando while fully knowing that he was clueless about it made him want to erupt into an all out brawl.  The worst thing about it all was that he couldn’t call Candyce...from any of their phones because they would end up with a way to contact her, thus, finding out who she really was.  Aside from the realization that he wouldn’t be home at all today meant that he was at the mercy of whatever Lukewarm and the rest of them were down for, and he wasn’t prepared to be the lapdog or scapegoat yet again for any of their pranks.

As soon as the car stopped, Jack leaped from the car and headed directly to the men’s room.  He didn’t even look back to see if the rest of them followed behind.  While walking, he dug into all four of his pockets which were completely empty, void of any trace of monetary security for this random road trip.  Once in the restroom, instead of stopping at a urinal, he walked into a stall and slammed the door shut but it ricocheted back and knocked him directly in the center of his forehead and clipped his nose. 

“Dammit!” he yelled, grabbing for his head as he lightly shut the metal door with his other hand and locked it.  Then, he turned to face the toilet and noticed that it hadn’t been flushed in what looked like days.  Still, he went ahead and urinated which seemed to take forever. 

As he used the bathroom, he stared up at the ceiling, ignoring the stench that floated up to his nostrils as his own waste poured atop the other waste that found refuge in the bowl water beneath.  Upset at the fact that he’d gotten himself in yet another unknown fiasco with Lukewarm, his gut pained because he couldn’t do anything about it.  Although his cousin had his issues, and some people would even take him for a pushover, he wasn’t.  Lukewarm didn’t get his street name by accident.  His name came about when people noticed his indifference to everyone around him, including his own mother.  He could love you or he could hate you, but he would still treat you the same way.  If he felt he needed to correct anyone, he would.  Lukewarm was his own gang, and if anyone crossed him, he’d kill...if a beat down didn’t work.  He’d never had a bad dream about the evil he’d done yet, and no one expected him to repent either.  He was just that lukewarm...cold-blooded some may say...but truly lukewarm.

Lifting up his foot to flush the toilet, the lever went straight down with no resistance, thus, it was broken.  Jack just shook his head and left the stall.  As he stood in front of the mirror, he looked at his face and hair.  They both looked a mess, so with the water that he started to run in the sink, he splashed it all over his face and hair.  Continuously, he tried to think of a solution to his problem of being approximately two hours away from home, unable to call Candyce to cancel their meeting while having no money to get back to Miami at all.  When he could think of no solution to his mounting problems, he decided that the only thing he could do was play things cool.  In the back of his mind, he already knew Lukewarm was up to no good along with the others.  The fact that not one of them was speaking up to him about their agendas proved it.  He’d already told himself that he wasn’t going to get caught up with the drama they all used to get caught up in anymore, but it seemed that the fellas were calling his bluff.

He stood there as his face and hair dripped with water, then he took his undershirt and wiped because there were no paper towels.  “Unbelievable,” he complained as he twisted his hair to ring it out.  When he didn’t hear the fellas make it into the bathroom, he assumed that they were all back at the car waiting on him.  Therefore, he sucked in his anger and decided that one more caper with the guys would keep him safer than going against them.  Afterwards, he would never hang out with them again. 

“Just one more time,” he said.  “I don’t care what it is, but this time, it’s gonna work out for me.  Fuck you, Luke.”  At that, he started to work out his own game plan and strategies while he walked out of the bathroom.  When he turned toward the car as he walked down the walkway, he noticed that the fellas weren’t in the car. 

“The hell is going on now?  Dang, Luke,” he complained under his breath.  “Stop playin’ so much.”  He turned a full three hundred sixty degrees, and all that was in his line of vision were trees, bushes and nice plush grass that spread out surrounding the barren parking lot.  “Hey, Luke!” he called, but no one answered.  “Luke, man, hey.  Where are you?”  Still, there was no answer until he heard some faint noises coming from inside the women’s restroom.  The sounds didn’t seem feminine at all. 

Jack hesitated for a moment and then rushed to the other side of the walkway toward the back of the building.  When he looked out, the only people he saw were a little girl and a woman sitting at a picnic table some ways out as they ate from a basket.  Immediately, Jack’s heart began to panic as he looked up at the roof of the rest area.  He was looking for any cameras.  When he didn’t see any, he ducked back into the covered walkway and walked briskly to the other side where he ended up coming to a crashing halt.  There was a camera at the top left of the building, but it had been covered with a shirt...the same black shirt he gave to Lukewarm to guard himself from the urine that splattered across the car.

“Mommy, mommy!  You can’t catch me,” he heard the little girl playing what seemed to be a game of tag, and when he heard the laughter, immediately he got sick at the stomach as he approached the women’s restroom.  Suddenly, he heard the sound again, and he knew he needed to go inside. 

Slowly, he opened the door of the restroom and walked inside.  Three pair of eyes stared directly at him while one unidentified set of eyes stared at the floor.  Lukewarm’s arm had the unidentified man by the throat in a headlock while Jimmy had a pistol in his hand aiming it at Jack.

“Knock first, Jack,” Jimmy stated calmly, and as soon as the words left Jimmy’s mouth, Lukewarm let the man drop to the dirty, smelly bathroom floor.

“Oh shit,” Jack panicked as he dove for the first stall to regurgitate.  His hands gripped the filthy toilet tightly, and his mind began to go into a daze as he replayed the man in slow motion fall from the death grip of Lukewarm.  He recalled the grin Lukewarm had on his face as Big Will held what looked like a wallet full of cash.

“Put that man on the toilet, and let’s go.  All his ass had to do was hand over that money.  Sit him up there right, too.  Pull his damn pants down, stabilize him and shit, and let’s go.  Jack, get your punk ass up, and let’s go.”  Lukewarm continued.  “Wait, grab that man’s shirt, and get some towels and soap so we can clean that piss out my car.”

Jack sunk and his back hit the stall wall as he heard Big Will and Jimmy move the man into the stall right beside him.  The dead man’s shoes became visible and his pants did as well as they dropped his clothing, and then him, onto the toilet.  The water started to run from the sink, causing Jack to shudder, and then he heard a large bang at his stall door. 

“I said get your ass up.  We gotta go,” Lukewarm ordered.  Jack got up from the floor because he knew he couldn’t stay there and wait for anyone to come into the bathroom.  The rule was if one went down, all of them went down...by the word of Lukewarm.  The bottom line was that Lukewarm had so much dirt on all of them that he could sell them out at any moment, and he would possibly be a proud snitch if it meant him walking free at any point.  On the other hand, everything that they had on Lukewarm involved all of them, and he liked to keep it that way. 

Jack sat up from the bathroom floor, opened the stall door, and shoved Lukewarm in the back, causing him to slam into the wall.  Faster than Jack could make his next move, Lukewarm had already pulled a pistol from his waist, and it was aimed right at his cousin’s skull.  Both Jimmy and Big Will backed up.

“I always knew you were tough, cousin, but it looks like you built up a little more strength than I thought, don’t you think?  Ain’t that right, Big Will?  This man right here,” he continued, wiping the soap from his hand onto his shirt, “thinks he can just run up on me and fight...or should I kiss you back with this bullet in this chamber?  Pick one, Jack.”  Then, Lukewarm’s face went from a smile to a seriousness that Jack had never seen before, making him second guess shoving Lukewarm in the first place.  “I need to make a man out of you?” he questioned Jack as he walked closer to him while lowering the pistol with his finger still on the trigger.  “Turn your ass around and look at him.”

Jack stared back into Lukewarm’s eyes like his cousin was the devil himself and didn’t budge.  Jack’s fists were curled so tightly that he could feel the sweat begin to pop from his palms.  His heart was beating at such a speed that if he was to hit Lukewarm in the face, he was sure to knock him out cold.

Suddenly, Jack’s body jolted from Lukewarm grabbing him like he was a ragdoll and shoving him down to the floor.  “I said turn your ass around and look at him,” Lukewarm stated as he squatted down to Jack’s left ear.  “Scoot your ass over there and look at him with his pants down on the toilet.  Who did that, huh?”  Then, Lukewarm started laughing as he watched Jack refuse to look at the dead man who sat straight ahead of him.  Instead, he stared directly above him at the wall, hoping that he would forget the vision he caught from the side of his eye of the dead man’s head leaning as if it was broken on the side of the stall. 

“You don’t know who did that?  Do you want to know how that felt, lil Jack?” Lukewarm taunted.  “Or how about I grab you up like that,” he grunted as he dove over the top of Jack and yanked him up from the ground by his neck in a head lock.  “Look at this, Big Will,” he laughed as Jack struggled to get loose.  “He really thought he could beat me this time.”  Then, once again, his laughter got serious as he let Jack go and spun him around.  Their eyes met, and they both stared each other down.  “Next time, mind your own business unless you want to be the business.  What you doing coming into the women’s restroom anyway?”

“That man has a family!  He has a family out there,” Jack yelled, clearly finished with everything that went on in the bathroom.  He hated that he even walked inside, but there was nothing he could do about it.  What was done was done. 

“For now.  Let’s hope they stay put until we break outta here.”  Lukewarm looked up again at the other two and said, “Let’s go.”

Big Will and Jimmy followed him out of the bathroom door after they gathered the man’s shirt, some towels and some water with soap.  Jack trailed behind because there wasn’t any way he was going to be left at the rest area. Lukewarm wasn’t going to allow that to happen anyway because if someone already died, there couldn’t be any witnesses left behind, including his own cousin.  Jack already knew what would happen, and he wasn’t ready to die.

As soon as Lukewarm walked out of the bathroom, he stopped and stood directly in the middle of the walkway. No one knew why until they piled out of the bathroom behind him.  Everyone then looked in the same direction Lukewarm was expressionlessly staring.  There was the little girl and her mother staring back at Lukewarm while the mother didn’t know what else to do but hold her child’s hand a little bit tighter and try to look as friendly yet as strong as possible.  On the other hand, there wasn’t a friendly bone in Lukewarm’s face as he raised his gun, and as the little girl pointed Lukewarm’s way, he pulled the trigger, shooting the little girl’s mother once.  She fell to the ground with her little girl still holding on to her hand, but this time she wasn’t pointing.  She was screaming and crying for her mom to get up. 

“The fuck!”  Jack rushed past Big Will and Jimmy as they stood there horrified, nearly scared to death at what Lukewarm just did.  Jack, however, jumped in front of the little girl.  “She didn’t see you, Luke!  She doesn’t see you.  Just go to the car,” he continued, panicking and falling over onto the pavement to cover the child’s eyes as she kicked and screamed for her mother who lie there without a chance in the world to protect her daughter from harm.  “Go, and I promise you can kill me if she looks at you.  I promise,” he panted loudly while holding on to the little girl as tightly as he could without hurting her anymore than she was already hurt watching her mom get shot. 

Lukewarm lowered his gun, told Jimmy to replace the shirt that hung in front of the surveillance camera with the one they took from the little girl’s father, and then cracked a smile.  “She better not see me, and if she remembers you, you better not say shit about me.”  He looked around, and the coast was still clear at the rest area, but he knew he had to leave fast.  “Let’s go.  Don’t run.  Just walk back to the car to not look suspicious just in case.  Get your soft ass up,” he stated calmly referring to Jack as he consoled the hysterical little girl.  “You have to drive.”

“Here, here, here... eat your food and wait on the hospital to come.  Your mom is gonna be alright.  It’s just that she’s hurt really bad, so she can’t talk.  Just eat and wait,” Jack said as his voice quivered, feeling sorry for the little girl, but he knew he had to get up.  When he stood to his feet, he made sure the girl’s head stayed faced away from them as he warned her not to turn around.  Then, he rushed off to the car and got inside because he knew he had to drive.  In order for the child to live, he had to drive them far away...to Orlando.

Jack had already driven thirty minutes down the road after they pulled off to wipe down the dashboard, and the whole time, his cousin sat in the passenger’s seat staring at him.  Lukewarm’s eyes didn’t move from Jack as the car hit every single bump on the rough road purposely.  Each time Jack paid attention to his periphery and felt Lukewarm’s eyes burning a hole through his cheek, he found the worst parts of the road and ran over them.  Breaking Lukewarm’s ill concentration was the most immediate thing on Jack’s mind, and he hoped his every effort was succeeding...until Lukewarm spoke.

“Stop hitting them damn holes in the road.”  Lukewarm warned as he finally turned to look out the passenger’s side window.  “What happened to your ass?  You used to be down with me like a damn brother, no matter what, but now...”

“I never was down with half of the shit you did or still do, Luke.  You’re my cousin, and we grew up together...”

“You forgot already, didn’t you?  Your ass used to be just as brutal as me.”

Jack stalled on the talking because he knew exactly what Luke was referring to – a very short time when they both thought and felt just alike.  It was a time that Jack pushed to the back of his head because he didn’t like to think about the trouble he caused one family all in the name of what he and Lukewarm called funning. 

They’d been drinking a little bit, and it was after Lukewarm pulled in cash from his drug deals that wasn’t nearly as much money as what he was used to making.  Therefore, they both went to the back of Luke’s house to concoct a scheme to rob someone.  At first, it was supposed to be a purse grab or maybe even an ATM machine hit, but they ended up getting more savage about their plans when Luke thought about a new family that had just moved in down the road.  His thoughts were that the new family had to have money because of relocating costs, and where there are people moving inside a house, that was where the money was.

Jack was all for the idea that seemed easy enough because the people weren’t from the neighborhood, therefore, there wasn’t any possible way that he nor Lukewarm could be identified easily.  The pistols were already ready, and they were clean, having no prior crimes committed with them.  Just to make sure nothing accidentally deadly would happen, Jack insisted they unload the guns.  They were only to keep the bullets in their pockets just in case the owners kept weapons on them at all times, which was highly unlikely.  They decided within seconds to head down the road, and it happened...just like that.

~

“Put your hands up, and shut that damn door!”  Lukewarm glanced quickly to Jack and then back at the man, woman and terrified child that sat there hugged up to his mother on what looked and smelled like a brand new couch. 

Jack had already moved toward the backdoor that was wide open as Lukewarm had his pistol aimed directly at the biggest threat in the house – the husband.  As soon as Jack shut the door, he turned back to watch as Lukewarm shouted in the husband’s face while his hands were up in the air.  Quickly, Jack got back into position with his pistol on the woman.  In his mind, he was counting to one hundred because that was about how long he wanted them to be in the house, collect what they wanted and then leave. 

“Let’s move, man.  I’m at thirty,” Jack said to Lukewarm, but for some reason Lukewarm didn’t hear him.  Instead, he had a grin on his face that wouldn’t wipe away no matter how many times Jack spoke.  “Hey, man, let’s go!”  Even though Jack expected Lukewarm to take over, he ended up controlling everything that happened in the house. 

Staring at the woman, Jack ordered, “Get up slowly, take off your jewelry and then go get your husband’s off his body.  Leave your son right there.  Do what I say, and you won’t get hurt at all.”  The woman started moving quickly toward her husband as he already removed his ring and watch while Jack continued to talk.  “After you put all that jewelry on the floor in front of that man right there,” he continued referring to Lukewarm, “find his wallet and toss it on the floor.  Don’t go near your purse.  I’ll grab that myself.  Everyone then get on the floor and count to one hundred...because my one hundred is up.”  The woman followed his every order while he rushed over to her purse, only to tuck it underneath his shirt and head for the door.  “Let’s go, man,” he called for Lukewarm, but he didn’t move.  Jack impatiently walked over to him and forcefully grabbed his shoulder.  “Man, I said let’s walk!”

“Look at his ass, man,” Lukewarm started in a slight giggle.  “He can’t so shit but hold his hands up while his wife gives his whole life away.”  Then, he walked over to the man to stand only two feet away from him.  “Is this what you let two men with guns come in here and do to you and your family?  You punk out?”  He started laughing, and Jack suddenly felt like giving everything back and running out of the house. 

“Man, cut it out, and let’s go!” Jack hollered again as the child started crying.

“You a punk like your daddy?  I’m talking to you, boy,” Lukewarm stated, suddenly and for no reason pointing the pistol at the young child who threw his hands over his face and called for his mother.  This caused chaos in a house that Jack had under complete control.  The mother lunged toward her son to protect him from a bullet, and in a split second, the man that Lukewarm considered a punk, dove on top of him, grabbing the gun...that incidentally let out a bullet.

Jack dropped everything that he’d secured inside his hand to the floor, stunned that there was a bullet in Lukewarm’s pistol.  As he watched his cousin struggle with the man of the house, he immediately snapped out of his daze, and struck the man with the back of his gun twice over the head.  He continued to strike the man until he fell to the floor, moaning in agony.

When Jack looked back up, Lukewarm was grabbing all the money and rings that fell to the floor, and when he looked over at the woman and child, he immediately felt sorry.  The only image he could see was the possibility of the boy getting killed.  The bullet coming out of the chamber wasn’t supposed to happen. 

Lukewarm took off out the door and Jack ran behind him.  As his feet hit the pavement, he watched as Lukewarm jumped through the gate while dropping the wallet on the way through.  He rushed to snatch it from the ground while not understanding why Lukewarm was behaving so irrationally, as if they couldn’t get locked up for a long time behind a home invasion, much less shooting a gun in the process that could have killed someone.  It was then and only then that he knew Lukewarm wasn’t dealing with a full deck, and he wanted no parts of his antics anymore.

“Man, what the hell was that?” he shouted at Lukewarm as he watched him fall on the couch along with all the money and jewelry once he entered the house. 

“What the hell was what?” Lukewarm repeated the question that Jack asked him, confused at Jack’s obvious irritation.  “We did that shit, man.  Thanks, blood.  That’s why you my right hand man, though.  I knew you had it in you.”

Jack walked over to him and knocked everything from his hand.  “Man, you aimed a gun at a kid!  And it was fuckin’ loaded!  What’s wrong with you?  I told you to put the bullets in your pocket.  There wasn’t any need for any bullets, and that was obvious with that child in there.  Those wasn’t no gangsters.  That was a real family!”

“Don’t walk up on me like that, Jack.  What’s wrong with you?  You wasn’t thinking about that being a family on your way up there with me, were you?” Lukewarm asked quietly.  “Oh, you forgot that you were in on it just like I was?”

“I said no bullets.”

“You tote how you tote.  I tote like I do.” He sat back down to spread the stolen goods out, picking and choosing which ones to get rid of first.

“You can have that stuff, Luke,” he said. 

“You put in work, and you don’t want none, J?  Nobody got killed.  Everybody won, man.”

Jack only stood there, and for the first time in his life, he saw himself outside of his body.  He looked like a cold-blooded goon, something that he never wanted to be.  He imagined what he looked like to the little boy sitting there afraid, not understanding why they were being attacked in the place where his family was supposed to be safe.  He thought about the man he had to pistol whip in front of the boy, and then he looked at his shaking hands.  He, then, looked back at Luke who was busy smiling over what he considered a big win.  From there, he knew that even though they were family, they were nothing alike, and Lukewarm would always go two steps further than he would in any situation – dangerous or not.      

~

“Leave that alone, Luke,” Jack responded as he changed hands on the steering wheel to lean the left side of his body against the door.  Nobody ever found out about the home invasion, not even Jimmy and Big Will.  “Leave it alone.”

“You had my back way back then, and now you flip on me for some kid and her moms.  No make that her dad.  You don’t even know what that man did to me in that stall, but you blame me for it all.  Ain’t that right, Jimmy?”

Jimmy didn’t respond because he knew the question was rhetorical.  Besides that, he wanted to steer clear of the back and forth chatter because he was concentrating on the road behind them, making sure there were no cops trailing.

“Gonna shove me in my back like I’m a fuckin’ animal, and ain’t even check to see if homey I dealt with deserved it.”

“I know he didn’t!” Jack yelled, punching the dashboard.  “I know you, Luke,” he strained like it hurt him to call his name.  “I know you, and you enjoyed every second of it all,” he groaned.  “I had to piss, and that’s it.”  Then, Jack turned to look Lukewarm directly in the eyes as the car continued to move forward as if it had eyes all its own.

“Man, watch the road,” Big Will chimed in.  Jack paid him no attention.

“You heard what I said to you back then?  I said I had to piss...and the reason I know you enjoyed every fuckin’ second of what you did is because you didn’t have to piss.”  Spit flew from Jack’s mouth each time he said the word piss, and it literally pissed Lukewarm off the second time it hit the tip of his nose and bottom lip.

“Drive!  Stop fuckin’ spittin’ all over me,” he yelled, grabbing a piece of paper from the glove compartment to dap his face off as a result of his inability to separate spit from disease.

“I am driving!” Jack retorted.  “You didn’t have to go to the women’s room, but something made you get out of the car anyway just to end up in that particular bathroom.  How?  How, Luke?  You got some damn vaginal growth you need to tell me about?  Fact is that you needed to do it...all of you...because you’re fuckin’ crazy,” he stated, pointing his finger directly in his cousin’s face.  “You dragged that man inside, covered the camera before you even did anything so you wouldn’t get caught, then you robbed and killed him,” Jack shouted in disbelief.  “You already planned on killing him, didn’t you?”  Then, he looked in the rear view mirror.  “And y’all stupid asses stood by him.  And what now, Jimmy?  Are the cops supposed to come behind us?”  He stared forward at the road, disgusted at all of them.  “Lemme answer that ... yeah.  Yeah, cops are supposed to stop killers in cars, aren’t they?  And that’s why the hell I’m getting my ass out of this sucker.”

“What you doin’?” Lukewarm asked as the car started to pull to the edge of the road suddenly.

“What does it look like I’m doing?  I’m getting my pearly white ass out of this car with you psychopaths, that’s what.  I didn’t take part in shit, so I’m not gonna be in this heap of metal when the cops come.  Hell no,” he sang as he pulled the car to a complete stop.  Unfortunately, that was when he heard the familiar sound of a pistol, and it was aimed right at him as he opened the driver’s side car door. 

“Oh, you’re gonna drive this car, cousin, and you’re gonna drive it all the way to Orlando right after you stop being a pussy.”

“A pussy?”

“You the only cat I see purring around here.  Drive the car.  That man attacked me...like I said.  It was self defense.”  Lukewarm’s eyes glanced at the driver’s side door that was still ajar.  “Shut it.”

“And what about his wife?” Jack cringed at the very sight of Lukewarm, but with that pistol staring him in the face, he knew that all it took was a jump, and cousin or no cousin, Lukewarm was going to kill him.  He knew because he’d seen that same look on his face before, and even though it looked like a genuine smile, it really meant that Lukewarm was about to be a person’s worst nightmare.  Therefore, he slammed the door shut and put the car back in drive. 

“She had to die.  She saw my face.”  He fell silent as the car started to move once again, and then reminded Jack of something he thought was very important.  Lukewarm leaned over into Jack’s ear, and as he spoke, Jack’s hair bounced off of his ear.  “Don’t think I won’t kill your ass... cousin,” he stressed the word cousin so much until it shook with spite against Jack’s ear.  Then he looked back at Jimmy and Big Will with a big grin on his face.  “This man always got a problem with something I do.” He then sat back in his seat, pistol still aimed at Jack.  “Ain’t nothing I do right for that man right there...and calls himself my family.” 

Jack just drove.  As most times in his life, he had no choice.  Instead, as he pretended to be calm about what was going on between him and Lukewarm, he felt himself in another bad position.  This time though, there was no way he was stopping at any rest area, so he withheld the brand new feeling of laying bricks in the toilet until he got to a motel just within the great city of Orlando.

As Jack stepped out of the car, he looked around at the cozy motel building that Lukewarm decided on while he was in Miami.  The place was barely new and draped with age as the signage only had three letters lit, but it was cozy enough for four men to sit in before nightfall while they case the jewelry store that sat across the street, which became news to Jack on the second half of the ride down.  He became nauseated at the thought, but he lived. 

When they checked in and walked to the second floor to enter into the room, it was Jack who wandered off toward the window while the other three joked, laughed and talked about their plans to have the biggest jewelry heist that Orlando had ever seen.  Everyone but Jack had forgotten the deaths by Lukewarm’s hands back at the rest area, and the truth had set in to Jack that he was the only one who cared about the situation. 

As he continued to stare out of the window, he continued to try and concoct a plan.  Having no money and no idea how he could get out of the situation, he thought about Candyce and how he wished he could call her.  With all that was going on, he knew that he couldn’t call at all, not until he got back to Miami.  Any location could be traced from a cell phone, therefore, he thought of a better plan for himself.  If he had to take part in robbing the jewelry store, he was going to do it his way.  It would be a win win for everyone involved, and they would take the fall for what he needed to get.  He swiftly turned from the window to face the rest of the fellas, and to his surprise, they were already staring back at him.

Feeling uneasy, he glanced up at Lukewarm who was tossing a coin up and down into the air.  Jack just stood where he was and watched the coin flip constantly as he waited there for any of them to say something.  When they didn’t, he spoke up.

“What?”  Jack’s eyes floated between them all until Lukewarm finally said something. 

“You want in on this coin toss.  We’re tossing on who goes into the store first making things happen...behind you.”

“Behind me?” Jack stated confused.  “What the hell you mean behind me?  Why not just say what the hell you planned, Lukewarm, because I don’t know anything at all.  Y’all looking at me like I’m the enemy when I just don’t want to be here.”  Jack suddenly fell silent, but then decided to speak up once again after sitting on the bed.  “Since I’m here, I got no choice but to be down for whatever is planned...so count me in.  I want to come out clean, Luke, and I mean clean.”  Jack lowered his head, and then his cousin came over and hugged him at the shoulders. 

“That’s what I’m talkin’ about.  See that...my man!”  He then stood up, and Jack although not as ecstatic about what was going on, stood up as well and gave Lukewarm a fist bump and a smile.  “See this dude right here, Big Will?  This is my flesh and blood.  We argue, but we’re one.  I know for a fact this man has my back.  He’s proved it.  Sometimes he needs a little coaxing that’s all, but I know his word is his bond.”  Lukewarm scooted away from him, and started to discuss the plan.  “Look here what I brought for you, Jack.  Since you look the most innocent of all of us...”

“How’s that?”

“Well,”  Lukewarm looked around at everyone in the room.  “I’m too tan, and Jimmy is definitely too tan while lily white Big Will is too damn big, so he’s a threat automatically.  That leaves you because you’re far less tan than us all and a good size.”

“I’m white and a wimp.  Is that what you’re trying to say?”

“You ain’t no wimp, just in comparison to us.  But look,”  he reached over into the bag and pulled out the only suit that Jack owned.

“The hell you put my suit in the bag for, Luke?”  Jack reached over and yanked the suit from Lukewarm’s hand who’d already fallen on the bed laughing.  “I brought that to your house to hang up after I got robbed because mom’s clothes took up all the damn closets in the house, and I didn’t want my suit smelling like old lady perfume.” 

“We got an iron in the room, man.  Get to work.  It’s your job to look like the man we know you can look like.  Plus I grabbed that fake Rolex, too.”

“You been to my mom’s house?”

“Yeah, I’ve been planning this shit for a minute.  You let me see it, and I went in your room and got it.  It goes good with the look we need.”

“Damn!” Jack complained.

“I love your ass, too,” Lukewarm responded.  “Anyway, you wear that suit with these kicks from my closet, roll up in there and pretend to be a customer.  Do it good, too, and then you’ll signal us by turning all the way around, and using your wallet to hit your chest twice.  Make sure you are facing the door when you do it, and from there you keep making the fake sale.  We come in masked after you.  Try to keep your face off the camera.  We’ll let you sneak out while we handle the rest.  You go back to the car, which won’t be seen, parked around the corner and wait for us.  If we don’t come out after five minutes, I guess you’re free to roll back to Miami because we’re caught.  I want you to have all the doors unlocked and the car running with the easiest route to the interstate.”

“What’s the plan when you guys are in there?” Jack asked.

“Don’t worry about that.  The less you know, the better.  Just know that nobody will die.”

On those words, there was a deep and cold silence.  So deep that it seemed everyone’s thoughts went back to the same scene at the rest area.  Uneasiness filled the room, and for the first time, Jack saw the pressure and fear seeping from their pores.  Jimmy’s swag turned to smut, Big Will’s buff turned to blah, and Lukewarm’s cockiness turned into chicken feed.  Jack broke the silence by turning on the television to investigate what was being reported.  When he saw that nothing was being reported about the dead man and woman nearly two hours away, he went to the bathroom, leaving the others to the tense situation caused by wondering, waiting, and watching.

When he shut the bathroom door, he faced the mirror.  The same happy and confident face he left his mother’s house with that morning had already faded away to be replaced with the face of a thinker.  He could see his eyebrows growing closer together as the skin between them curled up.  He wasn’t even trying to do it.  The stress was just taking over. 

He sat on the seemingly spotless toilet after pulling his pants down, and dropped the first brick since his stomach went into knots on the road post the shooting.  As he listened to another brick drop into the toilet, he watched a trail of ants crawling up the wall in one perfectly straight line.  There was no chaos.  They were all able to work together to accomplish one unknown mission.  He followed them all the way down the wall and onto the floor where they continued to pass by his foot which was next to the bathtub.  From there, Jack’s eyes went back up the wall until he saw the ants make a turn toward the back of the toilet. 

“The hell?”  Jack leaped from the toilet, nearly falling over into the bathtub as he came face to face with an onslaught of ants crawling out from the back of the toilet bowl.  Quickly, he pulled up his pants after snatching the roll off the holder. He wiped, then started to kick the wall like a maniac to kill them all.  The noise caught the attention of the others who came banging on the door.  Jack jumped to unlock the door, and the fellas poured in like a mob, ready to attack. 

“What’s going on in here, Jack?  You hittin’ the wall...”

“Man, do you see this?”  Jack stated, waving his hand across the wall and toilet.  “Ants.  They’re everywhere.  I was taking a dump, and they were trying to get to my ass.  When I came in, it was clean, and the next thing I know, they’re crawling up the walls from the toilet!”

Big Will poured some scolding hot water in the cooler that sat on the counter top, and right after he poured it behind the toilet, ants went everywhere.  He then chimed in.  “We need to get another room, though.”

“Well, we can’t.  Use the public one downstairs because all we need is for those people in the lobby to remember us for the ant infested room.  Keep a low profile.  We’re grown men, so it’s time you boys start acting like it,” Lukewarm stated.

“Boys?” Jimmy repeated.  “I’m not your boy...with your germophobic ass.  Talk to yourself about growing up.”

Lukewarm reached up and grabbed the motel towels from the hanger only to toss them on the floor in order to soak up the water along with the ants.  He then stared in disgust at Jack, Jimmy, and Big Will as they stood there looking back at him.  “At least a damn ant doesn’t make me cave in on what we came here for.” Then, he looked directly into Jimmy’s eyes.  “Germophobe or not.  You bunch of myrmecophobes.”  He walked away from the bathroom.

“What the hell is that?” Jimmy asked, searching everyone’s faces for an answer.  “What is it?”

“How the hell should we know?” answered Big Will who then looked at Jack for the answer.

Jack waved his hands up in the air.  “Well don’t look at me!  How should I know?  Because he’s my cousin?  That’s the biggest damn word I ever heard him say in my whole life.  Now move so I can wash my hands,” he stated, aggravated to the brink of bursting into flames if his blood was gasoline.

He watched them in the mirror exiting the bathroom, continuing their conversation about the word myrmecophobe.  Lukewarm finally answered them and told them it was the fear of ants.  From there, they finally learned something that they never knew – Lukewarm is a cold-blooded goon that reads.  Between him and Jack, they were both honor roll students in high school, but Lukewarm always had the mental edge that he never used outside of school.  Because Big Will and Jimmy went to school in a different district, they never saw Jack or Lukewarm walk across the stage every year receiving the honor roll certificates.  Lukewarm always threw his in the trash, but Jack would keep his to show his mother.  She would tuck them away and only bring them out when she reminisced with her girlfriends every now and again.  

Instead of speaking with them anymore throughout the night, Jack had already set his mind on two things – Candyce and making the best out of the situation at hand.  As he ironed his suit like it may have been his last time wearing one for a very long time, he thought of how he would take advantage of the opportunity that wasn’t of his lifetime.  No, he didn’t set out to rob the jewelry store, but as usual, he needed to make the most of the situation.  After he finished ironing the suit, he sat away from the rest of the guys who nodded in and out of sleep.  He needed to begin working up the nerve to steal something that he couldn’t buy – an engagement ring for Candyce.

To Jack, it was the perfect opportunity, and none of the other guys would even know he took it.  As far as they knew, he was in there so that they could get paid, nothing more and nothing less.  The only thing that Jack resolved to take was an engagement ring, and to him, it was that and only that, that was worth the risk that he was already in.  If he was going to go to prison, he at least thought it was worth all the risk if he was doing it for love.

––––––––

The next morning started out perfectly.  Jack had already gotten dressed in his shimmer and shine with the fake Rolex tucked just underneath his suit sleeve.  The others were dressed in regular clothes, the same ones they woke up in.  The motel room was left spotless, and the check out was seamless. 

There was an alley almost directly in front of the jewelry store where he parked the car.  With there hardly being any traffic out at the time, it was the perfect spot to place the car because it left them with an exit that wouldn’t be immediately in front of the store.  On top of that, Lukewarm brought some binoculars that zoomed his focus directly into the store’s glass doors.  It would probably take them less than five seconds to cross the street with their masks on, hold up the jewelry store and then take off back across the street to head back to Miami before the cops even knew what was up. 

Lukewarm had already taken off the license tag until they got further up the road to put it back on.  As Jack searched for anything that could go wrong, he found nothing that Lukewarm left out of place. 

“I’m gone, fellas.  Give me one minute before you come to the edge of the building, and give me two minutes before you think I’m making the signal.”  Jack immediately got out of the car.  His adrenaline was pumping, but he was in a successful mind frame.  In order for him to look the part of how he was dressed, he was to feel and actually become the success he wanted everyone to see. 

As he walked, he repeated under his breath the words of his mother, “Image is everything, image is everything.”  When he stepped onto the curb and placed his body directly in front of the jewelry store doors, he checked his hair in the reflection. It was long but neat, and after he confirmed that he was as clean as a whistle, he went inside. 

The place was a rich people kind of quiet, where the customers were talking in high pitched, soprano voices and smiling at one another with the fake laughs that spoke nothing but money.  Jack walked by each of them, remaining silent and nodding to those he saw, being sure to look them in the eyes with that all-together-and-making-it-happen, commanding-yet-willing-to-let-you-lead look.  He noticed that all the jewelry was kept in immaculate condition, but even if it wasn’t well kept, he couldn’t tell.  That was what the act was for.

“Are you in search of anything special this afternoon, sir?  We have remarkable new arrivals here and even more remarkable items in the back, if you would tell me how I may be of service to you?”

After his tongue unlocked from his jaw, Jack responded with a flashy smile and calm demeanor, “I’m in love.  What type of ring would you like?”

“Are you asking me?” the jeweler asked, figuring he was full of jokes as she continued to move to the more expensive engagement rings three steps to her right.  Then, she unlocked the thick glass cabinet.

Jack spun around and knocked on the glass three times, looked at his fake Rolex that he got off the corner the week prior, and then glanced back at her.  He noticed how she glanced at the watch for a split second before placing her attention back on the jewels in front of her.

“So you’re a Rolex man I see?”

“Is that a question or a statement?”

“Both.”

“For the most part.”  He then yanked on the bottom of his suit’s sleeve to emphasize the fact that he has one on, no matter how fake.  “So which would you prefer?” he asked, glossing over the rings.

“Of all these,” she answered, picking up a two carat, thirty thousand dollar diamond solitaire, “this diamond is of magnificent quality, and I personally adore it.”  She sat it down atop the glass counter directly in front of her body, and glanced in another direction toward other rings.  “Now we have more two carat rings over there, however, the quality of those diamonds don’t stand to compare to one that’s meant for the love of your life.”

Jack stood there quietly thinking about the thirty thousand dollars that he didn’t have.  He thought about all the things that thirty thousand dollars could buy, and he really didn’t see what was so special about the ring that would make it cost more than most cars.  Then, he figured it out – love.

“Well, quality is everything when it comes to love.  I’ll take it, and I’ll take it right now.” Before the jeweler even answered, he turned around one more time and faced the door.  Then, he retrieved his wallet, held it up to his chest, hit it twice, then turned back around.

“A man who knows what he wants for his lady.  How will you be paying for this, Mr...”

“Walton.  James Walt...”

“Everybody against the back walls, now!”  Three men with masks and guns entered the store shouting, and Jack knew he had to get every move he made perfect or everything for him would go wrong.  “Customers down on the floor, let’s go!”

As the jeweler stood there horror stricken at what she recognized as a heist, she didn’t notice the man she knew as Mr. Walton standing there looking at her calmly as he placed his hand atop the ring and dropping to the floor, the thirty thousand dollar solitaire inside his left palm.  He pretended to be afraid, but not while remaining stagnant on the floor with the others.  Instead, he quickly wiggled his way to the front door beyond the gunmen’s feet with his head tilted away from the other camera, stood up, and ran out the door as he heard Lukewarm cursing everyone out in the store.  He never looked back as he ran across the street like a bullet and jumped into Lukewarm’s blue car that he’d already said he would have stripped down to nothing when he got back to Miami...if they ever got back. 

As Jack sat inside the car, he stared forward into the rear view mirror awaiting the return of Lukewarm, Big Will and Jimmy.  There was no one on the street where he was parked, and that was the best thing for his nerves because if there was anyone lurking around, he knew that upon the arrival of Lukewarm back to the car, they would have to get shot down dead.  That would put another murder on his mind which would be unbearable being that he actually participated in this heist. 

He glanced down at the most expensive thing he ever had in his possession – Candyce’s engagement ring – but as soon as he did that, he noticed motion behind the car.  Therefore, he shoved the ring in his suit jacket and put the car in drive.  It only took five seconds for Lukewarm to jump in the front seat and remove his mask while the others jumped in the back.  The doors weren’t even shut before Jack pulled off.

“Not so fast!  Chill...drive like nothing happened.  Go straight to the interstate like we planned.  Hop on that mug and go south.  Do the speed limit all the way there.”  That was when Lukewarm let out an adrenaline filled holler.  “Well, alright then, fellas!  We did that!  Let that excitement and shit out before we pretend to go to sleep until we get a good ways down the interstate.”

“Sleep?” Jack questioned him, not understanding what the purpose of that was.  He felt that playing sleep was the last thing that should be done after robbing a jewelry store.  “Pretend to sleep for what?”

“Out of sight, out of mind.  Ain’t nobody looking for you, Jack.  They’re looking for three armed men in masks, so that’s why we need to pretend to be asleep...look relaxed while riding so they more than likely won’t stop us.  Good job running out of there like that, cousin.  You alright.”

“Yeah, Jack, you got that one on point right there...didn’t he, Big Will?”

“But look at all this.  We got at least a million dollars worth of jewelry right here.  Ship this over to the islands and make a killing.”

“Don’t worry about that.  I got the hook up, so there won’t be any other drug deals for a long time.  Fellas, we just hit the big leagues.  We gotta get these goods off of us as fast as we got them on us, split the money, and live.  We make up some bullshit, go get yourself a job, Big Will, and you too, Jimmy.  We don’t hang out no more.  Five years at the max.  One get caught, we don’t say shit about anyone else.  Stay off the streets because we need to grow our asses up and get some responsibilities before the law comes down on us.  Don’t buy no flashy shit either.  If we need to get together again, I’ll find you.  Jack,” he continued, “We family, but I’m about to get sick for two weeks and then pretend to fall my ass in love.  You know I don’t work no damn job.  My new woman is my alibi for changing my life around, keeping me off the streets.  Her ass can work for me.”  Lukewarm then scanned everyone. “For all of us, don’t tell anyone anything.  Back at you, Jack...thanks, man.”  On that note, Lukewarm and the others leaned as far back as they could and shut their eyes, leaving Jack with the stress of the whole robbery as he drove all the way back to Miami.  The only stops were at a lone gas station to fill up and then an old abandoned lot to put the tags back on the car inconspicuously.  From there, they were all awake, separating the jewelry into four different bags by type as Jack continued to drive...beyond his neighborhood to the edge of the water at the coast to deliver the goods.

––––––––

“Did you call them to meet?  I mean, are you sure they’re coming?” Jack asked still in distress about everything that had gone down in the last eight hours.  The sun was on its way down, and there still wasn’t any sign of the dealers that Lukewarm supposedly was to meet up with at the water’s edge. 

“Chill out, man.  They’re coming.  We got this.  Y’all strapped?” he asked, checking with Big Will and Jimmy who already had their guns.  As for Jack, Lukewarm didn’t worry about because he already knew that Jack was hesitant to kill at will.  “Jack, you be ready to pull off if you even sense something about to go down...just don’t leave us.”

His words were funny in Jack’s ears as he felt the pocket of his suit jacket which held the one thing that wasn’t getting exchanged for the money – Candyce’s ring.  Then, there was noise the traveled to his ears from afar. 

“Hey,” Jack stated, stepping out of the car.  “You hear that?  Sounds like a motor boat.  Are they supposed to be driving a loud ass motor boat?”

“Man, yeah.  Chill out, okay?  How else do you expect them to get in and get out fast... with a row boat?  Look, stay chill, and nobody will get shot...and I’m talking about them.  I’m not about to die for anybody that owes me.  Right now, these clowns are at my mercy.  Believe that.”

Just then, Jack spotted the boat coming toward them.  There were absolutely no lights on it, but they didn’t want lights either.  It looked to have two men aboard, and they were both at the front of the boat.  Jack started up the car and stared down at the pistol that was used to kill the woman at the rest area.  He froze.  He truly didn’t have a gun to use.  If he had to use that weapon, then it could be tied to the murder further up state.  Quickly, he looked at his cousin Lukewarm and felt he needed to have his back more than ever.  Sure, Lukewarm was a menace, but he was Jack’s menace.  They’d grown up together, and even after all was said and done with the threats they hurled at one another, Jack felt like blood was blood.  There was no way he could allow Lukewarm to stand there without him by his side.  Jack then got out of the car, although he left it running.

“Man, what you doing?”

“Gimme your pistol, Jimmy,” Jack ordered, “And do it fast.  Take my spot at the wheel.”

Without hesitation because there was no time to think, Jimmy gave in and ran back to the car as Jack took position behind his first cousin who stood there like he always would stand – like a man in charge of everything.  After hearing shuffling behind his back, Lukewarm turned to the side and noticed it wasn’t Jimmy any longer behind his back but his own flesh and blood. He tossed up his chin and smiled.  Then, he turned back around to face the men approaching on the motor boat and spoke.

“Just like old times.  I knew you would always have my back, Jack.  That’s why I love you, man.  Now, let’s get this deal done.  You a soldier, a true soldier.”  Then, for a split second he turned his head around and said, “I’m sorry about earlier...” but before he even got the rest of his sentence out, Jack’s ears went deaf at the sight of a gun aimed directly at him, Big Will and the front man, Lukewarm.

“Luke!” Jack screamed as Lukewarm immediately took aim and fired.  Big Will ran forward, dropped to the ground and unloaded as Jack caught Lukewarm before he hit the ground.  There was no time to even speak as Jack hauled Luke with one hand through the sand and fired back at the dealers with the other. 

As the gun fire commenced, Jimmy drove the car forward, leaned over to the passenger’s side and pulled a wounded Lukewarm inside as he was shielded by the car’s door.  Jack dropped to his knees and shoved the rest of Lukewarm’s body inside as his cousin’s moans pierced his ears.  Then, he dove into the backseat, leaving the door open believing that Big Will was coming, but the gun shots stopped.  The boat came blasting onto the shore, straight over Big Will’s body only to crash into the trees. 

As Jimmy backed up the car quickly, Lukewarm shouted, “Get our damn money!”

“Luke, man, you been hit...” Jimmy answered, only to hear retaliation from Lukewarm.

“Get it!  Ain’t nobody living up in there, and they killed Big Will.  Go get the money!”

“Man, Jack, jump outta this car and grab that shit.  Hurry up!” Jimmy cried as all the hardcore hollering they did all day disappeared.  Real life finally hit and killed a long time friend of them all.  The only one still worried about money was an injured Lukewarm.

Jack, hearing no more gunshots and staring at what had to be a dead Big Will on the ground, rushed out with his pistol still in hand while he slid across the sand in the dress shoes he had on from earlier.  When he reached the boat, he noticed both dealers laid on the other side of the boat on the ground, so he leaped inside the wreckage in search of anything remotely similar to money or a money bag.  There was nothing.  The boat was empty. 

Jack quickly jumped out of the boat and scrambled on his knees, looking everywhere he could, but came up with nothing.  His breathing grew even heavier and noticeable now that things were at a standstill, causing him to get the shakes.  Then, he stared back up at Jimmy who was turning the car around. 

“You got it?” he shouted.

“It’s not here.  They didn’t bring any money.”  Then, it finally dawned on him as he ran back to the car and jumped in.  “They didn’t come here for a deal, Luke,” he stated, out of breath and paranoid as he continued to stare around at the darkness.  “They came to kill us, all of us and take the jewelry.  Ain’t a thing over there in that boat.”

“Damn!” Jimmy shouted as he sped off, leaving Big Will on the dirt.

Lukewarm started laughing.  It was the oddest thing that he picked that time to find something funny, even darn near hilarious.  “Did you see them goons come at us with their guns thinking they was gonna kill us and take our stuff without a fight?  Must be crazy, ain’t it, Jack?”

“Crazy?” Jack shouted back.  “Crazy?  This whole thing is fucked up...not just on their end but on our end, too.  Look at yourself, Luke.  You’re shot.  Do you see all this blood?  How are we gonna get you well and ditch this car without going to prison?”

Lukewarm took two deep breaths before answering.  “I’m not gettin’ well, Jack.  Jimmy, drive this car and put me out where it looks good.  Put me up under a nice palm tree, dammit.”

“What’s wrong with you?”

“I’m hit in my stomach, man.  I ain’t going to no hospital or no penitentiary...” he stated, as he turned to look Jack in his eyes.  There was no longer any tension between them, and it was obvious when he stated his next words.  “Unless you and Jimmy wanna come, too.  I owe you this one, Jack.  I always have.  You saved my life, and I’ll do you a solid because you ain’t fit for prison.  Never was...punk ass.”

Tears started to flow from Jack’s eyes as Jimmy drove, looking for a nice spot to pull over.  Luke was right for the first time in his life, and Jack agreed.  He wasn’t built for prison.  Just the thought of being caged up like an animal made him want to vomit.  The other thing Luke was right about was that they needed to pull over.  Even Jack knew that dead weight was to become no weight, a lesson taught to him by the man with the bullet wound.

“Man up and stop crying.  I lived by the sword, so I was bound to die by it.  Ain’t that what the Bible say?  God ain’t never lied.”  He pulled out a cigarette and popped it in his mouth while his breathing became erratic.  “Don’t you tell my momma I’m dead either.  She don’t know where I went, and you don’t either.  Convince her ass not to spend no money on that missing persons shit either.”  Then, Luke pulled out a cell phone that Jack had never seen.  After dialing the number, Luke spoke.  “Hey, Jimmy will bring you the car.  It’s messed up pretty bad, but he got some goods that will pay for that and more.  Don’t ask no questions.  I won’t make it.  Take everything off.  Leave nothing.  The payment is worthwhile.  Mouths closed.  I’m leaving town.  Remember, it’s Jimmy with the drop.”  He hung up the phone.  “Toss this phone in the water on the way out.  Pull over.”

Jimmy swerved the car over into a small cut away from the road as Jack leaned back into the seat, knowing what Luke was gonna do next.  “I love you, man.”

“I know that, Jack.  Shoot...” he started laughing through the pain.  “I didn’t finish my sentence back there.  I’m sorry for all the crap I gave you.  Deep inside, I always wanted to be you in a lot of ways.  God didn’t give me that card, and my dumb ass took the devil’s hand instead of that Man’s hand grandma used to tell us about.  Jesus, you know...remember that?”  Then, he went quiet.  “She told me this shit was gonna happen.”

Jack nodded, emotionally drained from watching Lukewarm fade away through the misery he tried to conceal.

“Too damn late now though.  Keep your heart on you, and don’t do the shit I pulled you into.  Now do me a favor, wipe your eyes and lift me outta this car.  I don’t wanna die laying in no metal.  Remember this though, if you don’t ever say anything about this, you won’t get caught.”

Silently, Jack got out of the car and did as Lukewarm asked of him and Jimmy.  No one spoke a word, not even the verbally unchallenged Luke, and that was because he was losing too much strength.  His face started turning paler than usual due to the blood loss, and the only thing he said after they placed him under a palm tree was, “Give me my pistol.”  Jimmy started going for it, but Luke stopped him with a swift kick to the ankle.  Then, he pointed at Jack.  Slowly and full of sadness, Jack walked to the car and retrieved Luke’s gun.  Then, he walked it back over to where Luke slumped.  A weak grin came across his face, and he ended up saying something else under his breath as Jack leaned in to hug him. 

“Forget all I taught you, or you will end up like me.  This ain’t nothing to have to do to yourself.  Keep quiet.  Oh, and I know about that girl you datin’, that rich girl Candyce Moore.”  At those words, Jack fell back in a slight smile through his tears, but Luke continued.  “I ain’t that cold-blooded or I would have hit her for all her money a long time ago.”  He took a deep breath, but his laugh wouldn’t come out in between the heaves. 

“Luke,” Jack stated, hoping it wasn’t the end of him yet.  He fell back onto his hands as he watched Luke lift the pistol to his head.  Tears began to flow down his eyes as he shut them and covered his ears while Jimmy ran back into the car and placed his head on the steering wheel, trying to block out what was about to happen.  However, after fifteen seconds went by, nothing happened.  Jack slowly opened his eyes as he sat directly in front of his first cousin, and when he looked up, the pistol had fallen from his hand.  Lukewarm was dead.  From there, things went according to Lukewarm’s plans.  The car was stripped, the mechanics were paid in jewelry, Jack and Jimmy never spoke again, and Jack let him keep all the hot merchandise they stole. 

When Jack got home, it was in the middle of the night.  Instead of calling Candyce, he texted her, told her he loved her and wasn’t able to meet her because someone he loved dearly had passed away.  He explained to her days later that it was someone who lived in another state, but their bond was tighter than distance.  She understood, and some time later, they took that trip to Jamaica.

––––––––

“It’s nice out here, huh?  Reminds me of perfection,” Candyce stated as she leaned over and gave Jack a passionate kiss on his lips.  Jack returned the kiss graciously.  Since the loss of his cousin and friend, he felt much closer to Candyce and wanted to live right, just like Lukewarm ordered him to do before he died. 

The engagement ring was the only right thing that came from the heist, and he planned on using it the right way – proposing to the woman he loves, starting a family and moving far away.  As he looked at Candyce lounging under the sun, her skin was absurdly beautiful to him.  She appeared almost dreamlike in comparison to the other women walking on the Jamaican beach.  His heart skipped beats when he reached down into his pocket to unpin the attached engagement ring.  His concentration was interrupted by her sudden words.

Candyce flipped around and grabbed both his hands, pulling the hand that was in his pocket out.  He took a deep breath, thankful that he didn’t detach the ring yet. 

“I didn’t tell you everything, Jack, and I don’t want you to be mad,” she stated as a light wind caused her hair to dance in its breeze.

“It would take a lot for me to get mad at you, baby.  What’s up?” Jack asked, caressing her delicate hands and becoming convinced of anything her curvy lips and cunning tongue had to say while looking into her stunning eyes.

“I know this was supposed to be a vacation, but...” she paused to reach into her bikini and pull out a plastic bag filled with white powder.  “I have a job to do, and I need your help to get the rest of it back to Miami.”

At her words, Jack’s emotions took a nose dive causing him to fall back onto the sand in complete disbelief.  He pounded his fists in the dirt, and the first thing from his mouth since Candyce’s big, illegal revelation was, “Not another jacked up situation.”

––––––––

THE END

Cold Blooded Goons is the untold back story of the character named Jack from the pages of the novel First Degree Sins.