The Circle: Rain's Story (9 page)

             
                                                           ****

Rain
got there extra early at 5 a.m and a mixture of city workers and law enforcement officials were already setting up barricades securing the courthouse perimeters. She was sure to dress appropriately to blend in. As time passed, she hovered in the shadow wells, Roman-Gothic like tall columns of the downtown Baltimore’s U.S. District Court Building.

Blending easily amongst the crowd,
she was completely inconspicuous even to the most guarded law enforcement officers and agent, changing her appearance so drastically that she was positive that her own sisters and brother would not recognize her. Her everyday urban wear— gone, replaced with standard business attire to make her look like a law clerk, secretary, stenographers, or even a young lawyer.

Chanel shades covered
her vigilant, dilating darting eyes that scanned the entire landscape of the surroundings of the courthouse, and no one had the slightest idea of who she was.

*
              *              *

Rain already knew the
time and the number on the bus her sister, Autumn, would be riding on. She was America’s most wanted and was sitting right in the pit of the fire. As she held a cigarette between her fingers, she clutched a large black Gucci bag in her hand. Inpatient and nervous, she was ready to get it over with. There were only two ways that the situation could play out; in glory or gunfire and she was prepared for both.

*
              *              *

Fifteen minutes later,
a cool chill whispered down her back at the sight of the Federal Bureau of Prisons buses. She dropped her gaze, closed her eyes, as her flaring nose took in air. When she opened her eyes, the buses were closer, less than a block away, three of them in a convoy.

The buses slowed to snail
’s pace, as law enforcement officials made efforts to clear the mass of the civilian presence that clogged the middle of the courthouse streets. There was a combination of people with the media milling around, anxiously anticipating the arrival of the Porters for the first photo op of them in custody. Miss Jackie came through for her with flying colors. Plus, to the north of the courthouse, directly behind them, Rain had help. Miss Jackie strategically stood by in a telephone booth with two flash grenades in her purse. Rain needed a minute of mass confusion, to divert law enforcement attention for her primary target. Every extra second could make the difference of success or failure, or life or death.

334, was the nomenclature
stenciled in big bold letters on the top sides of the Department of Prisoners bus that held the female prisoners, Fallon and Autumn. 913 would be the bus that held the males, her brother Dayvid.

When
they got into view, her face turned solemn, when she only saw number 334. Her mouth dropped to the ground when she didn’t see number 913… Where was her brother’s bus? Gnawing on the inside of her mouth to keep from panicking, she wondered if maybe her inside connect had been wrong. It was nothing else she could do but play it by ear. She tossed the cigarette to the ground that she was smoking because of her nerves, clutched the large black Gucci bag she had dangling precariously over her shoulder, and headed towards the pit of the crowd, ready.

Rain moved like a panther through the crowd, with each calculated
step she took as she walked. She was in tunnel vision, and spotted her sister Autumn, in the rear of the bus immediately. She reached in her bag for her cell phone and pressed SEND. She tossed the phone to the ground and paced herself as she positioned herself towards the front of the bus, while reaching back in her bag and pulled out two grenades…………….one smoke grenade and one live.

Rain watched Autumn sit straight up in her seat when she spotted her and locked eyes. Rain noticed the worried look on her sister’s face and nodded her head in reassurance.
How many cops?
she asked in sign language. She was thankful for the little bit that she had learned from their years of doing bank robberies, and proved to have come in handy and she needed it now more than ever. She watched Autumn turn her head to count the guards and then signed back;
three
. With her fingers, Rain lowered her hand and arm, signaling to her to get to the ground. In an instant, Rain saw her sister Autumn grip the neck of the female prisoner that sat handcuffed next to her disappear from her window.

S
econds later, Rain heard two loud explosions behind her. It was perfect timing that was pre-planned and staged exactly sixty seconds after receiving the call. Miss Jackie tossed one flash grenade and a smoke grenade in the middle of the street, causing mass confusion and anarchy, diverting law enforcement officer’s attention away from the buses. Dozens of heavily armed policemen poured in the direction of the blasts, as she watched their backs disappear between the white smokes. It was now or never.

She unclipped the smoke grenade and tossed
it ten feet in front of her into the screaming crowd. Rain then kicked off her heels and with breakneck speed, she raced towards the front of the bus, unclipped the live grenade and tossed it at the undercarriage of the bus. She only had six seconds to run for her life for cover. As soon as she heard the blast she took flight. She backpedaled towards the now smoking bus while clutching the small automatic machine gun she had in her hand, fingering the trigger, hell bent and ready to pop anything in a uniform that stood in her way. She yelled like a banshee, squeezing off shots as she ran towards the burning vehicle when two guards appeared from off the bus. Chaos erupted as bystanders ran for cover and the law enforcement on the scene ran towards the blaze. Only the front of the vehicle had exploded, killing the escorting officers instantly. Inmates ran for their lives as they emerged from the smoking bus, all fleeing as they each took advantage of the blaze in an attempt to escape.

When Rain boarded the bus, she was ready to pop the third guard, but noticed
he was slumped over in his seat, apparently dead from the impact of the first grenade. She suddenly heard a familiar voice call out her name.

“Rain
,” Autumn screamed, from the rear of the bus.

“Bitch get your ass off the bus and let’s go!” Rain barked as her head spun in rapid circular motions, ready to fire on anyone she
saw in a uniform that was coming her direction.

Autumn sprang to her feet and the handcuffed girl that was attached to her
was shaking her head in protest. Autumn gave the girl a swift punch to the throat to let her know she meant business.

Rain heard her sister arguing
. “Get up!” Autumn demanded.

No time for bullshit.
Rain reached into her bag and retrieved a 9 millimeter pistol and handed it off to Autumn.

“Where is Dayvid and Fallon?!” Rain yelled
, as she frantically searched the terrorized faces of the remaining female inmates.

“I don’t know. They separated us right after the arrest,” Autumn screamed over the thunderous roars of her cannon as she shot at the police.

Rain started firing back and yelled, “Let’s go and stay real low.

Off the bus, the girl
chained to Autumn started protesting. “Nah, I’m not getting killed because of y’all.”

Rain turned around
with fire in her eyes and threatened through gritted teeth. “Die with a bullet in your head right here, right now, or take a chance by shutting the fuck up and move your fucking ass!” Rain didn’t wait for an answer and took off running.

The three of them kept low and blended into the crowd, dropping smoke grenades along the way. Finally, she spotted the car that was in its designated place, as she watched
Miss Jackie ahead of them, hop out of the driver’s seat while the car was still running, then blend subversively into the crowd.

Rain hopped into the front seat, Autumn and the other girl dived into the rear of the car.

“Lie down on the floor and don’t sit up.” Rain ordered, as she frantically jumped in the car and drove off in haste. Watching in the rearview mirror as cars, clogged the street behind her, ensuring no one could follow.

Adrenaline
rushing through her veins, Rain smiled cynically and thought,
money well spent.

After a clean getaway, Rain drove west on I-76, towards Ohio. They drove the 250 plus miles and stopped at the borderline of the states that separated the two near Pittsburgh to get a motel room to plan their next move.

The whole five hours, Autumn and the girl, who they come to know as Erin, were stil
l on the floor of the back seat— fought and argued the whole way there. Rain had to bark at them a number of times reminding them that they were on the run and to shut their mouths.

“But, this bitch is fuckin annoying with all this complaining. I’m getting real tired of hearing her mouth, yo. I’m gonna fuck around and choke this bitch, Rain. You better tell her what’s up.” Autumn spat, at the end of her rope.

“What the fuck you expect me to do?” said Erin. “I didn’t ask for this shit. Y’all put my life in danger. Bullets flying over my head, you punch me in my throat, this chick threatening to blow my brains out.” The girl huffed, “I got just as much to lose as y’all if the po-po catches up with us. They are going to shoot first and ask questions later because I saw y’all cut down a couple of their own. You think they really gonna give a fuck about my black, felony ass if I caught a bullet, trying to get at y’all?”

This silence
d both of them as they knew she had a valid point. Autumn couldn’t resist and mocked.

“Well, shit happens. Deal with it!”

Rain offered her relief and said, “Don’t worry. As soon as we get straight, we’ll get the handcuffs off, and you can walk away with twenty thousand dollars for your troubles.”

Erin eyes widen
ed and her head snapped to attention. She couldn’t believe her ears and repeated. “Twenty thousand dollars….you serious?”

“I think you witnessed how serious I am and you still want to question me?” Rain asked calmly.

“Bet!” Erin said with glee.

Autumn sucked her teeth and threatened. “That’s if
I don’t murk your ass first, so keep running your fat mouth.”

“Autumn, chill out. She’s been through enough.” 
Rain assured.

“Nah, don’t worry, sis.” She grinn
ed, talking to Rain. “I’ve been treated a hell of a lot worse, then what this chick could dish out.”

*
              *              *

When Rain finally settled on the right motel to stay the
night, she parked as far away in the motel’s parking lot from foot traffic.

“Aiight
y’all. We’re here. Y’all lay tight and let me check into a room. I’m gonna come back out with some bed sheets and blankets to cover those orange prison jumpers y’all have on.” Both girls nodded.

When Rain emerged from the car and walked towards the office, Autumn could not resist taunting her big sister and whistled
. “Work it bitch.”

Rain
tossed up her middle finger. Autumn grinned with all her teeth, as Rain strutted toward the office. Fifteen minutes later they were all cooped up in the motel room. Back and forth, Rain paced. Every few minutes, she peaked from the curtains to make sure they had not been followed.

*
              *              *

For the better part of the evening, Autumn and Erin t
hrew snipes and shots at each other. Rain busied herself by sitting behind the window, peering out at the parking lot for anything suspicious and plotting her next move in her mind. For safety reasons, Rain opted to stay settled in the motel room instead of going in and out minimizing anyone seeing her, and simply bought purchased snacks and drinks for both girls to munch on.

Rain was resistant to consulting with her sister Autumn in depth about Dayvid and Fallon and their next plan of action in front of an outsider so she kept everything to a minimum.

After a while, Rain became amused at Autumn and the girl Erin insults at each other and started to become silently tickled by it. Happy to hear her sister’s laugh and smile again. Seeing her sister in that jumpsuit was a reminder that Dayvid and Fallon, were still locked away suffering, and just like that, she felt guilty for laughing. She killed her smile and became serious all over again.

In the wee hours of the night
as Autumn and Erin, more than exhausted by today’s event, slept peacefully; Rain sat in front of the window, staring out, and deep in thought. Out of nowhere, her mind shifted back to Smitty and their now ominous and dark past.  

CHAPTER 14

WINTER 2001

Over the course of two short years, Smitty proved to back his words up with actions, gaining a trust like no other the Porter Family had seen outsi
de their own blood, even their Aunt Nanny.