The Mike Black Saga; MOB (10 page)

“He’s my nephew, but I don’t give him any money, and I don’t allow him or Natalie to come in my house. I had to learn that the hard way, ’cause they will steal everything they think they can take to the pawn shop,” Juanita preached while she carried a plate with the ham she had sliced, along with a plate of chicken, and put them on the dining room table. She came back in the kitchen still preaching. “I don’t know why Miranda still lets him in here.”

“I just don’t let him out of my sight,” Miranda said as she pulled the baked macaroni and cheese from the oven. “He’s still family, but I ain’t stupid. But hold up, wait a minute. Ain’t you the one who always says that people like that need our prayers?”

“Yes, I am,” Juanita said. “And I pray for Bruce and Natalie, and I especially pray for poor Brandy. She’s the one that needs all of our help and prayers and understanding. Having two junkies for parents has to be hard on her. I only wish I could have gotten custody of her, but that Natalie’s a smart one. She knew how to clean herself up and get her a job just long enough to have the judge let her stay with them.”

“I wish you had too,” Me’shelle said. “I try to spend as much time with her as I can, but I know it’s not enough. She’s fifteen now, going on twenty-two, and looking like it too. I think she’s a little young to be hangin’ out all night, but they let her do what she wants to. And did you know she started smoking cigarettes?”

“No, but I’m not surprised,” Miranda said. “Next thing she’ll be smokin that stuff with them and they’ll have her out selling herself so they can get high just like her mother.”

“You know, Aunt Miranda, it’s just the three of us. Why do you cook enough food to feed an army? I have to go on a diet, starve myself and exercise so I won’t get fat.”

The doorbell rang and Juanita went to answer it. “Are you expecting somebody, Miranda?”

“No, not that I know of. Maybe Me’shelle talked up some guests for dinner,” Miranda replied.

Juanita opened the door and there stood Bruce, Natalie, and Brandy. “What are you doing here?” Juanita asked, blocking the door.

“What? I ain’t invited to Sunday dinner no more?” Bruce asked.

Miranda rushed to the door. “Of course you are. He is family, Juanita. Get out of the way and let them in.”

“That’s right, Aunt Juanita. We still a part of this family whether you like it or not,” Bruce said as he walked by Juanita. Natalie followed him. Brandy just stood there looking at Juanita.

“Hi, Aunt Juanita. Can I come in?”

“Of course you can, child. Come give your aunt a hug. You look more and more like your grandmother, rest her soul, every day.”

Miranda and Me’shelle came to welcome Brandy with hugs and kisses. “Yes, she does,” Miranda said. “How are you doing, Brandy?”

“I’m doin’ great, Aunt Miranda. What’s up, Me’shelle?” Brandy hugged her aunt.

Bruce and Natalie didn’t get the same reception. Their presence in the house was met with cold stares and a general feeling of tension. Juanita watched them closely while the rest of the food was set out on the table. She never took her eyes off of them while Me’shelle and Brandy brought out the silverware and set the table. Now that dinner was ready, they all gathered around the table and bowed their heads in prayer.

After dinner, Bruce stepped up to Me’shelle. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Sure, Bruce. What do you want to talk about?”

“Let’s talk outside.” Once they were outside, Bruce said, “Me’shelle, I need two thousand dollars by Friday.”

“No, Bruce. I told you last night I’m not gonna give you any more money. I can’t keep doing this. And besides, where would I get two thousand dollars?”

“From them,” Bruce said, pointing at the house. “Get it from your aunts. They’ll give it to you with no questions asked. Tell them you need to get your car fixed or you’re behind on your rent. It doesn’t matter what you tell them. Please, Me’shelle, just get me the money.”

“No, Bruce, I’m not gonna do that. I’ll take you and Natalie to a treatment program to get yourselves together. Brandy can stay with me until you two got it together, but I won’t ask them for any money so you can get high.”

“You don’t understand me, Me’shelle. They’re gonna kill me if I don’t have it by Friday. Please, Me’shelle, you’re the only one I can come to.”

“Bruce, if somebody’s gonna kill you, the best thing for you to do is leave Brandy with me, and you and Natalie get out of town. I’ll buy you two bus tickets to anywhere you want to go.”

“Thanks for nothing, sis,” Bruce said as he turned to go back in the house. Then he stopped and faced Me’shelle. “But how you gonna live with yourself when I’m dead?”

Travis lay in bed and concentrated all of his mental energy on the situation that he found himself in. There were things happening all around him that told Travis it was time to get out of this robbery game and focus his energy on more positive things. Foremost on his mind was the fact that Freeze had every intention of killing Ronnie if he fucked up one more time. Although Ronnie had promised to tighten up and stick to the plan, Travis knew Ronnie all too well. If some little thing happened that he hadn’t planned for and it caused them to get caught, Freeze might take matters into his own hands.

No, getting out now before anything else happened was the only option that Travis saw available. However, there was still the issue of money. When he started out, he had set out very specific financial goals that he wanted to accomplish. The plan was to have a half-million dollars in his numbered account in the Cayman Islands, his house in Connecticut and the timeshare in Freeport paid for, as well as his mother’s house in Fort Myers.

He had never intended for this to become a way of life, but here he was two years later, still caught up in the game. He had been sidetracked from achieving his financial goals by giving into his passions. Travis liked to travel, so he’d been to Los Angeles, Vegas, Atlantic City, Miami, and the islands. He would fly to the islands at the drop of a dime. He also knew that hanging out with Ronnie and Jackie at Cynt’s and places like that took a chunk of his money.

Travis glanced over at Mystique as he tried to focus on a solution. She was out like a light. The solution was simple: Make as much money as he could, as quickly as he could, with minimal risk. He had to become more disciplined about the way he spent his money. The words Jackie had spoken to Ronnie now had resonance for him.
You need to stop your bullshit and stick to the plan. No deviation, just do what the plan calls for.

Travis glanced over at Mystique again. She was becoming an expensive habit too. It wasn’t like she was charging a straight fee for her services, and her skills at providing those services were formidable, but she was getting very “needy.”
Travis, I need this. Travis, I saw that. Travis, wouldn’t that like look nice on me?
She was smoking up all the weed, and of course, he had to pay her to dance for him whenever he went to Cynt’s.
She got to go too,
Travis thought, but her neediness and formidable skills aside, he was really starting to like Mystique. He had grown accustomed to having her around.
I don’t care. She gotta go.

And what about Me’shelle Lawrence? What was the deal with that? He saw the disappointed look on her face when he didn’t press her for her phone number. Women like to be pursued, to be made to feel desirable, and he simply walked away like she was of no more importance to him than the next woman who passed his way. That definitely wasn’t the case. All of her beauty and physical attributes aside, he found her to be quite thoughtful and intelligent.
How does she fit into your plan?
 

There was no time to think about that now. Travis would make time to see her and establish some type of relationship with her when he solidified his financial position.

He picked up the phone and called Ronnie and Jackie, asking them to meet him at his house at 2:00 that afternoon. Then he woke Mystique and told her that when Ronnie and Jackie arrived, she would have to leave so they could talk business. “I understand,” she said and headed for the shower. Although Travis never told Mystique what it was they did, and she never asked, she knew they were involved with Freeze. That was more than enough information for her.

When Ronnie and Jackie got to the house, Mystique politely excused herself and they proceeded to the business at hand. Travis started the conversation by talking about his desire to get out.

“When we got into this thing, I never planned on us still being at it two years later. I had a plan—we all did—a plan for what we were gonna do to set ourselves up so we could live comfortable for the rest of our lives. But all of us have gotten caught up in this lifestyle. Not that we’ve been flashy or no dumb shit like that, but we have been blowin’ this cash.”

With that said, he explained why he wanted to run a job so soon after the last one. “Last time we went out, we didn’t come away with the amount of money that we expected to. Don’t get me wrong, Ronnie. I’m not trying to call you out for the loss of money; I’m just stating a fact. What I’ve done is select a target that may present more of a risk than we’re usually willing to take, but it will bring us the dollar amounts that we need to get done with this lifestyle.”

Travis proceeded to lay out his plan to rob the armored truck outside the grocery store he’d been surveying while waiting to see Me’shelle. He had given some thought to the possibility that Me’shelle might be at the store during their robbery. He concluded that she was just there on Saturday night, so the possibility was slim.

“You want to rob a grocery store in the hood?” Jackie asked. “I don’t know, Travis. I shop there.”

“I do too, Travis. Isn’t that more risk than we wanna take?” Ronnie asked.

“No. We’re not going to rob the store or try to take the armored truck. This is basically a grab and run. Listen, at approximately 8:45 on Monday mornings, the armored truck arrives to pick up the cash from the weekend.”

“How much money?” Ronnie asked.

“I don’t know. But when the guy comes out he always has four bags full, two in each hand. So, his hands will be occupied. Police response time to the store is approximately three minutes.

“Now, this is going to be a two vehicle operation. Jackie, you’ll be in the lead vehicle, and it will be abandoned at the conclusion of the operation. Ronnie and I will be in the second vehicle, and that one will be used for the escape. The armored truck will have two occupants—one driver and the bagman. I’ve developed a profile on them, and I don’t believe they’ll take any actions that would jeopardize their lives.

“The bagman enters the store and approximately twenty minutes later, he will emerge with the bags.  The truck is equipped with a cellular radio system that the driver will use to call for assistance in the event of a robbery attempt. We have to disable this system first.”

Travis opened the box that was sitting on the table and removed the device it contained. “This is a C-Guard Cellular Firewall. It’s a cellular jamming device made by an Israeli-based company, but I picked it up from my tech guy for a grand. The device is relatively simple. It broadcasts a junk signal that floods the cellular frequency or sets up fake signals. Either way, the system loses its signal and is out of range. The device transmits low power radio signals, which cut off communications between cellular handsets and the cellular base station.”

 Travis placed a diagram of the front of the store on the table. “Jackie, approximately fifteen minutes prior to the armored truck’s arrival, you will position the vehicle adjacent to the front of the store. When the armored truck arrives and the bagman has exited the vehicle, you will activate the device and set up a fake signal so it appears to the driver that his communications are still active.

“Ronnie and I will position the second vehicle adjacent to the front of the store with a direct angle to the back of the truck. When the bagman emerges from the store, Jackie will exit her vehicle and move into position to cover the driver to prevent him from exiting the truck. Ronnie and I will exit our vehicle and make a rapid approach to the rear of the truck to confront the bagman. Ronnie will assume a cover position where he will be able to cover both me and Jackie. When both driver and bagman are covered, I will disarm the bagman and relieve him of the objective.

“Once the objective has been secured, Jackie and I will move to the escape vehicle, and we will drive by and pickup Ronnie. The whole operation should take less than a minute.”

Travis took out a map of the area surrounding the store and handed it to Jackie. “What’s this for?” Jackie asked.

“It a map of the area,” Travis replied and sat down next to Jackie.

“I know that. What you giving this to me for, is what I’m asking.”

“I’ve decided to delegate parts of the operational control of all future jobs to the two of you. You may be able to see or better anticipate issues than I can. But all of the contingency planning that results from that delegation are subject to my review and approval, and I will integrate them into the larger plan.”

“I think that’s a good idea, Travis,” Ronnie said. “What part of the job am I responsible for?”

“You primary responsibility is the safety of the participants. From your cover position, you are in the best place to see and anticipate issues that arise during the operation, like customers attempting to enter and exit the store, police involvement, stuff like that.”