Inside the garage, Willie’s eyes went wide. He was stunned with the organization and appointments of the garage. The floor was painted with a shiny gray acrylic paint and the space was totally systematized. Expensive tools and yard equipment hung neatly on large peg boards that were attached to the side walls. Ceiling-high metal cabinets for storage lined the wall to the left, and shorter metal cabinets topped by a metal counter lined the wall on the right. He noticed the shiny scooter his mom had told him about parked just below a very large tool box. He must have a fortune in tools, he thought as he made his way past the shiny Mercedes to the backdoor. The large meticulously organized garage with metal cabinetry and expensive tools was much different from the garages that Willie was used to seeing. He was captivated by the sense of affluence that the garage exuded.
He arrived at the backdoor and after a quick turn of the knob, the door fell open. He walked into the mudroom and looked around. Just as Joe had promised, a gallon of paint, a roller pan and brush, and a plastic tarp were laying in the corner of the entry area. The doctor had told Willie that his first project would be to paint the mudroom, which was still pretty scuffed up from when the movers banged through the area a couple of years ago.
Willie wasn’t ready to paint just yet. He wanted to mosey on into the house and take a quick look around. When he stepped out of the mudroom into the kitchen area, he was captivated by the beautifully decorated home. The home literally oozed of money. He gazed down at the beautiful tile floors in the kitchen area that led him toward the stunning hardwood floors in the dining room. He glanced up at the gray granite counter tops and gorgeous white cabinets in the kitchen. They were way beyond anything Willie Harris had ever seen. The large leather furnishings, stunning floral arrangements, lustrous wooden bookshelves, marble statues of various Greek gods and crystal chandeliers in the main living area dazzled the eyes of this poor boy from rural Florida.
The scent of freshly picked flowers in a tall glass vase on the center of the glass table next to Willie permeated the kitchen, adding to the absorbing ambience. Willie’s eyes did a double take when he noticed a checkbook with an Edward Jones Money Market sticker on it laying on the kitchen table next to a notepad and pen. The notepad had a few numbers scribbled on it. It appeared that Dr. Stone had talked with his Jones advisor recently and made a few notes. He was surprised that Dr. Joe left the checkbook laying on the table knowing that Willie would be coming over to the house. A sly grin appeared on Willie’s face. “This man is way too trusting,” he mumbled.
A little nervous about getting caught while snooping around, Willie turned and looked out through the large dining room window to see what Pedro and his friend were doing outside. He saw Pedro whiz past on the mower a few seconds later and he could hear a trimmer buzzing in the front yard. Satisfied that no one could see him, he quickly grabbed the Jones checkbook off the table and whipped it open. He clumsily thumbed through the pages trying to find the current balance. His eyes bugged open when he got to the most recent entry. After a recent deposit of $1,000, the balance in the account was over $110,000. Even an unsophisticated lout like Willie knew that checking accounts were paying almost no interest now-a-days, so for the doctor to carry such a staggering balance in a basically non-interest bearing account meant that he had a ton of money. Willie was ecstatic, “I’m in the right place,” he whispered, “but I have to play my cards right.” Thinking that the doctor might be testing him by leaving the checkbook in such an obvious place, Willie positioned it back exactly where it was before he picked it up. The tension and the silence in the room was suddenly broken by the ring of Willie’s cell phone. He looked at the screen to see who it was--it was his nemesis, Tubs.
“What do you want, I’m busy.”
“I never thought you would be too busy to talk to your ole’ buddy Tubs, sleaze ball.”
“I got a job to do, so get to the point.”
“A job? Willie has a job?” Tubs groaned sarcastically. “I hope it pays well, turd ball, because I’m going to need that twenty-five hundred a little sooner than expected.”
Willie was stunned. It was going to be hard enough to come up with that kind of cash by the end of the month, let alone sooner. His legs got weak. “Hey, we had a deal man, end of the month!” Willie shouted.
The phone went quiet, “You’re amazing, you know that. If you ever shout at me like that again, I will hunt you down and make you a cripple! Do you understand me?”
Angry, but remembering the recent beating from Tubs, Willie took a deep breath and exhaled. “Go ahead.”
“Some things have come up and I will need the money sooner. I will need it by the end of next week--no later than Friday. Here’s the plan, dirt ball. We will meet in the parking lot of your favorite topless joint Friday at 4:00 and you will give me the money--all of it.” Tubs spoke calmly, not mincing any words.
Willie stared into space. Arrogant and not used to taking orders from anyone, he didn’t want to answer, but he had to or he would be taking a chance on inflaming an already angry Tubs. Not wanting to say it, he almost whispered into the phone, “Okay, next Friday.”
“What? I didn’t hear you, scum bag. Speak up.”
“I said okay, four at Tabu.”
“You probably know, Willie, that I don’t trust you worth a shit, so let me put it to you this way--you be there with the money or you will spend the next several weeks in the hospital. Got it?”
“I will be there.”
“One more thing, moron. The cops have been snooping around the Legion in Leesburg recently and asking a lot of questions. They’re not giving up. They said they are looking for two guys who were in a green Honda that night.”
Willie suddenly felt warm, “What are you talking about, a green Honda? I thought they gave up weeks ago.”
“Maybe they got a tip or something. Maybe somebody knows something they shouldn’t. What do you think?”
“I never told a soul, not one person.” Beads of perspiration popped out on Willie’s face. “That was the deal, right? That neither of us would ever tell anyone.”
“Yea, we made other deals that you weaseled out on. Maybe you weaseled out on this one. It wouldn’t surprise me.”
“Listen Tubs, if they pin this on us, we’re both going to prison for a long, long, time.”
“I hope not, because we wouldn’t be in this mess if you hadn’t decided to run over that poor bastard in the first place. It’s all your fault, scum bag.”
Willie began pacing back and forth. His mind was racing. If he got arrested and tried for the robbery, he would go to prison for the rest of his life. He felt sick inside. The Leesburg newspaper had run an article over a month ago, announcing that there were no leads and the investigation was at a standstill. Willie was frantic. He wanted to snort a line of coke and bury his painful thoughts in a drug-induced stupor, but that wasn’t possible right now, he had work to do. “What are we going to do, Tubs? What the hell are we gonna do?”
Tubs laughed hysterically, “Lighten up, sleaze ball.”
“What do you mean lighten up? This is big time!”
“You’re probably the luckiest shithead in the world.”
“Lucky?”
“Yea, you just got the break of your life.
“Break?”
“Yes, some hilljack from over around Lady Lake confessed to the crime early last week. Said he ran over the guy and took the money and the whole nine yards. The police did an investigation and said that his car had damage on the front fender consistent with the hit and run that night. I don’t know if the guy wanted to make a name for himself or what, but they did an investigation and closed the case. We’re in the clear. It was on the news last night. If you weren’t so busy snorting coke, you would know what the hell is going on in the world.” Tubs grunted out a couple of crude chuckles.
Willie’s heart rate slowed dramatically, his breathing started to return to normal. As he calmed, his fear turned to rage at Tubs. Tubs had made a fool of him. He had been playing with him for no reason. Tubs had the upper hand right now and Willie knew it. He gritted his teeth and replied quietly, “You really had me going there for a second.”
“I know, that’s because you’re basically a chicken shit Willie, a mean ole nasty chicken shit. Have the money next Friday.” Tubs hung up.
Still shaking, Willie glared at his silent cell phone and mumbled, “Bastard.” He stepped into the mudroom and found the time sheet right where Dr. Stone had left it. He jotted down 9:00 a.m. as his starting time, even though it was almost 9:45. He kneeled down next to the paint supplies to begin his first day of work. After the shocking call from Tubs, he would have to convince Dr. Stone to loan him the $2,500 before the end of next week. He glanced over at the Jones checkbook laying on the table, “I’ve got to get my hands on some of that cash and pronto.” he mumbled.