A Girl From Flint (17 page)

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Authors: Treasure Hernandez

BOOK: A Girl From Flint
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She saw Tasha sitting across from her, waiting for the same plane that she herself would soon board. She didn't look too long though, not wanting to make any contact with any of her girls until they landed safely and undetected in Florida. Mimi was scared, and it seemed like her senses were working overtime. She was aware of everything around her. Her heart was pounding and she couldn't stop her face from showing how nervous she was.
Just get through this. Please, God, just get us through this!
Amra was in the restroom of the airport, her heart pounding. She was sick to her stomach, and she felt weak, as if she would pass out. She gripped the sink for support and turned on the cold water. She splashed the water onto her face and stared at her reflection.
We're not going to get away with this. It's too hot. This is way out of our league.
She looked at the gray sweatshirt and jeans that she had on and prayed that no one could tell that she had something taped to her chest.
Please let me get away with this.
Amra walked out to the terminal and sat down in front of the boarding gate. She bit at her nails and tried to focus her mind on something else, but no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop thinking about getting caught.
Honey sat across from Mimi as if she had never seen her before. She wore a black business suit, and at her feet sat a black briefcase worth more than gold.
I wonder how much money Manolo is making from this lick.
She tapped her foot against the ground. She looked at her watch and saw that it was almost time for them to board their plane.
Honey was shaken. She knew that if they got caught, they would do a lot of time, but she didn't intend on getting caught. She tried to keep her nervousness hidden, but she couldn't hide the butterflies floating around in her stomach.
She stood up and grabbed the briefcase when she heard them announce the boarding of their flight. With each step she took toward the gate, her nervousness grew. She felt her mouth getting dry and felt her stomach tie in knots when she made it to the security checkpoint.
Okay, make it through here, and I'm good.
“Hi,” an airline worker said. “Can you place your briefcase on the conveyor belt, please?”
Honey placed the briefcase on the belt and crossed her fingers. She had wrapped a towel around the dope. She prayed that it was the only thing they saw on the x-ray. She walked through the metal detector, and it didn't make a sound.
Another airline worker handed her the briefcase. “Thank you. Have a nice flight.”
Honey had held her breath through the entire thing, and finally released a long sigh of relief.
Hell yeah!
She looked back at the line and winked at Amra as she stepped up next to be searched.
Amra stepped up and walked through with no problem. She continued walking to the plane.
Mimi, up next, stepped up and walked through with no problem. Even though she had gotten through, her heart was still racing. She didn't look back as Tasha stepped up.
Please let this be easy.
Tasha could hear her heartbeat in her ears and she felt sick. She slowly walked through the detector, and her eyes grew wide when the alarm sounded loudly.
“Miss, please walk through again.”
Tasha shook her head and walked through the metal detector a second time.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
“Do you have any metal objects on you?”
Tasha felt the lump in her throat. “No, I don't have anything.”
The woman motioned for a male guard to come over. “Take her.” She pointed to Tasha.
Tasha felt the tears forming behind her glasses as the security guard put his hand on the small of her back and escorted her into a small office. A tear slid down her cheek. The guard came over to her and ran a small device up and down her clothes. Tasha couldn't stop the tears from coming. The guard put the device to her face, and it beeped loudly. “It was your glasses,” he said in a calm voice. “The metal frame made the detector go off.”
Tasha looked at the guard and breathed deep. “Can I go now?”
“Yeah, you can go.” He looked at her wiping tears from her face. “Are you okay to fly, Miss? You know you shouldn't be more than seven months pregnant when flying.”
Tasha laughed to herself. “I'm fine. My ankles are just swollen and sore. They get to me sometimes.” She walked out of the security room, and quickly boarded the plane and sat in her seat. She looked across the aisle at Honey and read her lips.
“What took you so long?”
“You don't want to know,” Tasha whispered. She sat back and took five deep breaths.
Thank you, God!
She had never been so afraid in her life.
The planed landed in Florida at five p.m. The girls quickly exited the plane, and they all headed to the bathroom, where they all yelled at Tasha, “What the fuck took you so long to get on the plane?”
Tasha walked over to the sink and splashed water onto her face. “My glasses set off the metal detector. I thought I was caught.” Tasha couldn't believe how lucky they had all been.
Honey looked in the mirror and fixed her hair. “Okay, let's go find Manolo's cousin.”
They walked outside of the airport, and a tall dark-skinned man with a huge gap in his teeth approached them. Honey led the way toward the man. The man didn't say anything to them. He just turned around, and they followed him to a black Escalade that sat near the curb. They got into the truck, and he drove off.
“Y'all look shook. It's cool. Y'all got the dope?”
Honey opened the briefcase she had carried through the airport and showed him the drugs. She asked, “You got the money?”
He nodded. “We'll make the trade at the hotel.”
He drove them to the Marriott Hotel. When he got out of the car, he grabbed two briefcases from the back. Then he checked them in and led the way to their room.
As soon as they got into the room, Tasha started peeling the duct tape off her skin. “Damn! This shit hurts! I'm about to take off a nipple!”
Mimi slowly peeled the sticky tape off her chest.
The girls put the dope in a duffel bag that Manolo's cousin had sitting on the bed.
“Here's the money and the tickets. “Y'all know what to do next?”
“Yeah, we know what to do,” Tasha replied.
Manolo's cousin didn't linger around to chat. He zipped the duffel bag full of drugs and quickly left the room.
As soon as he left, Amra ran over to the bed and opened the two briefcases full of money. “Damn!” she yelled, pulling stacks of money out.
Mimi went over to the bed and flipped through one of the stacks. “These are all hundreds!”
Honey looked at the suitcases and thought to herself,
It's got to be at least a couple hundred thousand in there.
Tasha got on the phone and called Manolo. As soon as he answered the phone, she said, “We got the money.”
Manolo smiled to himself. “Good. See you tomorrow.”
Tasha sat down in the chair. She looked around at the plush room they had for the night. “I am glad that this shit is done.”
Mimi looked at her and busted out laughing. “Yeah, me too. But for real, Tasha, I was cracking up when your ass finally got on the plane. It looked like you was about to piss on yourself.”
Amra and Honey started cracking up.
Tasha laughed. “I know I was looking crazy, because I was scared as hell. When they pulled me to the side, I started to dip out on they ass.”
Her friends were laughing so hard, their eyes started to water.
Honey got serious again. “We ain't done yet. We still got to get this money back home.”
The girls calmed down for the rest of the day. Tasha was busy thinking about Joe. She couldn't wait to get home to him. They all kept to themselves for the rest of the night, anticipating going back through the airport.
The next morning, they woke up and took a shuttle bus to the airport. They didn't have to dress up in ridiculous clothes, because taking money through the airport wasn't as hot as moving dope.
The girls sat together and waited for their flight. Honey had one of the suitcases, and Tasha had the other. Their flight didn't leave until nine o'clock, but they had arrived an hour early. All of them seemed to be more relaxed this time, knowing that it wasn't such a big risk.
The loud intercom sounded throughout the entire airport. “
Excuse me, passengers, the nine o'clock flight to Flint has been delayed. There is approximately a three-hour wait time. If you have any questions, please come to the front desk
.”
Amra shouted, “That's some bullshit! I'm not trying to wait here for three more hours!”
“It looks like we gon' be here for a while.” Mimi layed down across the seats.
Amra smacked her lips then looked at Tasha. “Is there a different flight we could take?”
Tasha said, “Let's go check the flight listing.”
Honey shrugged her shoulders and walked with Tasha. Tasha looked up at the flight schedule. “Nope. That was the only flight to Flint. We're just going to have to wait.”
Honey studied the flight schedule, and a smirk spread across her face. “It's a flight leaving at nine, but it ain't headed to Flint.”
Tasha looked back at the schedule to see what Honey was talking about. “The only other flight leaving at nine is for New York.”
Honey said, “You thinking what I'm thinking?”
Tasha shook her head. She already knew what Honey was thinking. “I'm just trying to get this money back to Manolo so I can be done with this. I'm not trying to get into no more hot shit.” She walked back and sat down, patiently waiting for their flight.
Three hours later, the girls boarded a plane home.
Tasha looked around at her friends, and instantly felt a knot in her stomach. She knew the stuff that they'd been doing was wrong, and prayed that their actions wouldn't catch up to them, that karma wouldn't come back to haunt her.
What goes around comes around,
she thought to herself.
Chapter Sixteen
“B
itch, you tried to rob me!” Keys screamed as he pinned Tasha up against his bedroom wall.
Tasha wanted to respond, wanted to lie and say she hadn't done it, but he was holding her neck so tight, she couldn't speak. She clawed at his hands, trying to get him to release her. She choked and gasped as Keys' fingers wrapped around her windpipe. “Stop!” she yelled between gasps. Her eyes felt like they were on fire, as if they would pop out of her head.
Keys banged her hard against the wall, and she felt her neck snap repeatedly as he shook her. “Bitch, you tried to rob me?”
Tasha could feel her lungs sizzle as she struggled to breathe in air. Keys was killing her, choking the life out of her, and no matter how much she struggled, she couldn't stop him.
Her eyes searched the room for something she could defend herself with, but there was nothing. She heard footsteps run into the room, and she watched as someone swung a metal candleholder hard against Keys' head. Keys let go of Tasha's neck, and she fell to the floor gasping for air. Then he fell next to her and stared at her as blood drained from his head onto the carpet. Tasha stared in bewilderment as she watched him die.
She sat up to see who had come to her rescue, and she looked into her own eyes and saw herself holding the candleholder, blood all over her hands.
Tasha woke up sweating, screaming, “No, I didn't do this! I didn't do this!” She looked at the clock that sat next to her bed. It said 3 a.m. She rubbed her neck, remembering how Keys had choked her in her dream. She breathed in deeply and got up and walked to the bathroom. She looked in the mirror and started to cry.
“I'm sorry,” she said to herself as she sat down on the toilet. Something inside of her was making her weak. Ever since they had killed Keys, her conscience had been fucking with her.
I just want to go home. I want to be with Joe.
She remembered how safe she felt in his arms.
She heard someone knock on the door and quickly wiped her eyes before opening the door.
Mimi looked at Tasha. “Hey. Are you alright?”
“Yeah, I'm good. I'll talk to you in the morning.”
Mimi shook her head and walked past Tasha into the bathroom.
The next morning, Tasha woke up to the ringing of her cell phone. She looked at the caller ID, and cut off Manolo's call.
I'm not fucking with Manolo any more. We gave him his money. He needs to stop calling.
Tasha sat up in bed as Amra walked into the room.
“Hey, Tasha,” she said, walking over to her dresser.
“Hey, has Manolo been calling you?” Tasha asked.
“Yeah, he been calling, but I haven't answered the phone. I ain't fucking with him like that no more. Besides, I can find my own niggas to hustle. I don't need him pimping me.”
Tasha frowned at the word “pimping”. She'd never thought about it like that, but that was in fact what Manolo had been doing. She felt even more disgusted with herself.
The day went by slowly for Tasha. She and her friends were all chilling together. It had been a long time since they had just hung out and not talked about what group of dudes they were trying to hustle.
“I think I might go back home,” Tasha said. “I don't know. I just think I need to be there. After that shit with Keys, I'm not really feeling Flint like that.”
Mimi pulled her candy jar from underneath her bed. “Why are you tripping? It's over with. It's been almost a month, and ain't nobody said shit about it since then. The police don't know who did it. They probably think he was killed over some drug beef or something.”
Honey added, “Yeah, Tasha, you got to calm down. If that's why you want to go back to the D, then you're worrying for nothing.”
Tasha watched Mimi roll up a blunt and begin to smoke it. Tasha had her reasons for wanting to go back home. She didn't feel right about what she'd done to Keys.
These bitches acting like that shit is cool, like we in the clear just because they haven't heard anything about it
.
“Let's go out tonight,” Amra said. “I'm tired of sitting in the house stressing over whether we going to get caught or not.”
Honey jumped up. “I got the bathroom first.” She ran out of the room and into the bathroom before anyone could protest.
Tasha got up and walked into the bedroom. She locked the door behind her so Amra wouldn't come in and interrupt her. She reached underneath her bed and pulled out a shoebox that she kept her money in. She opened it and pulled out the money she had managed to save since coming to Flint. When she was done counting, she thought,
Fifteen grand . . . enough to get me back to New York and have me on my feet for at least a couple months.
Tasha was already making plans to go back home. No matter what her girls said, she knew it was only a matter of time before all the shit they'd been doing came back around to bite them in the ass. She put the money back in the box and put it under her bed, then picked up her cell phone and dialed the number to the hospital where Ms. Pat was being treated.
“Grace Sinai, Cancer Ward,” a friendly voice said. “How can I help you?”
“Hi. Can you connect me to Patricia Rodgers' room?”
The receptionist connected her, and Ms. Pat answered the phone. “Hello?”
Tasha was bothered at the fact that she sounded so weak. “Hi, Ms. Pat. It's Tasha. How are you feeling?”
Ms. Pat slowly responded, “I'm fine. The doctors say the surgery went well.”
Tasha could hear the pain in Ms. Pat's voice. “That's good. I told you everything would be okay,” she said, trying to sound optimistic. She knew Ms. Pat was in a lot of pain right now, and she was just trying to be supportive. “I just wanted to let you know that I love you.”
Just then, Amra knocked on the bedroom door, and Tasha got up and opened it. “I'm going to let you talk to Amra now, but after that, I want you to get as much rest as you can.” She handed Amra the phone, and then walked out of the room, to give her some privacy.
Tasha waited for Amra to get off the phone before she went back into the room. Amra was sitting on the bed with a worried look on her face when Tasha re-entered the room.
“Are you okay?” Tasha asked her.
Amra shook her head from left to right. “She doesn't sound good.”
Tasha quickly replied, “She just had surgery. It's going to take her some time to regain her strength. That's it. She'll be fine.” Tasha didn't want Amra to worry about her mother.
“Let's get dressed before Honey and Mimi leave us.”
Tasha put on a silver spaghetti strap Dolce & Gabbana top and black jeans that folded at the bottom, and silver Manolo Blahnik shoes that strapped at the back of her ankles. She looked in the mirror and put on her Tiffany jewelry, and then applied her makeup. By the time she was finished getting dressed, all of her friends were sitting on her bed waiting.
Honey wore an earth green Dior dress, Amra had on pink Roberto Cavalli pants with a white bra top, and Mimi was wearing a brown-and-cream chinchilla jacket and tight Prada jeans.
When the girls arrived at the club, there was a line around the block. They never waited in line though. Tasha walked up to the front of the line. The bouncer was so busy looking at her ass that he didn't charge her or her girls to get into the club.
Tasha led the way through the crowded club and found a table. Mimi immediately took off the chinchilla jacket and made her way out onto the dance floor. Tasha watched as dudes immediately turned their heads when Mimi walked past them. She started to laugh because she knew Mimi was enjoying every bit of the attention. Amra got up and joined Mimi in the middle of a circle of dudes who were watching them dance. Tasha was chilling, enjoying the hip-hop music that vibrated through the club.
“You want a drink?” Honey asked.
Tasha looked toward the bar and saw that it wasn't that crowded. She got up and followed Honey to the bar. Men's heads turned when Honey and Tasha walked past them. They were showstoppers, and the other girls in the club quickly grew jealous.
Tasha sat down at the bar. Before she got a chance to order a drink, a good looking brown-skinned brother sat next to her. “Can I buy you a drink?” She looked at the man with cornrows sitting next to her and smiled. “Sure, an iced tea,” she replied.
The man ordered her a Long Island iced tea.
Honey tapped on Tasha's shoulder and whispered in her ear, “I'm going to the bathroom.”
Tasha stood up and offered her hand to the man that bought her drink. “Tasha,” she said, introducing herself.
The man looked her in her eyes, intrigued by her beauty. He shook her hand softly. “Troy.”
“Thanks for the drink.” Tasha got up and began to follow Honey to the bathroom. When the girls went into the bathroom, Honey said, “Damn, girl! Who was that? He is fine.”
Tasha laughed and waved her hand in dismissal. “He's alright.” She wiped the sweat from her neckline and waited for Honey to come out of the stall. Honey touched up her makeup, and they went back to their table.
Tasha saw that the dance floor was packed, so she got up and joined Amra and Mimi on the floor. She danced sexily, shaking her ass to the Southern beats of T-Pain. “Buy U a Drank” was blaring throughout the club. She knew she had an audience, and was fine with that as long as they looked but didn't touch.
Tasha looked over at Amra and noticed that she was stumbling.
Damn! She's drunk already.
It was hot in the club, and Amra was sweating. A dude picked her up, and she straddled him and started grinding on the dance floor. They were practically fucking on the dance floor. Tasha could tell that Amra wasn't in her right mind. The dude started feeling on Amra's body. He untied the bra top she had on and began feeling on her bare breasts.
Tasha marched over to her friend and pulled her away from the guy. “What are you doing? Amra, let's go.”
The dude grabbed Amra's arm and pushed Tasha out of his way.
“Don't fucking touch me!” Tasha yelled as she snatched Amra's arm away from him. “You better get the fuck back! What you think, I'm about to let you just take advantage of my girl? You need to find another ho, 'cuz it ain't happening over here.” Tasha got in the guy's face.
Honey saw the scene and quickly made her way over to Tasha's side.
The man mumbled, “Bitch!”
Honey stepped up. “Who the fuck do you think you talking to?”
The man waved his hand when he noticed that he was causing a scene, and then walked away.
Amra could barely stand on her own, and Tasha had her arm around her, holding her up.
“What the fuck is wrong with her?” Honey asked.
Tasha looked at Amra. “What did you drink?”
“Nothing. I haven't had anything to drink.”
Tasha looked at Honey in confusion.
“Come on,” Honey said, leading the way to the bathroom. The air in there was cooler than the musty, humid air on the dance floor.
As Amra went in, she immediately collapsed over the toilet, throwing up.
“Mimi, what did she drink?” Tasha yelled.
Mimi shook her head. “I didn't see her drink nothing, unless it was from somebody else's cup. We've been dancing since we got here. Shit, I'm not ready to go yet, so I hope she feels better when she's done hurling.”
Tasha walked into the stall and rubbed Amra's back as she threw up into the toilet. “She needs to go home. I'll go with her. B, you stay here with Mimi.”
Honey agreed, because she really didn't want to leave anyway. “Call me on my cell when you make it home,” she told Tasha.
Tasha nodded her head and helped Amra up. She wet a paper towel and wiped some of the sweat off Amra's body. “Come on, sweetie.” Tasha let Amra lean on her.

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