Someone Else

Chapter 43 (Junior)

The waitress had not shown up for her shift, but it didn't matter. During breakfast, Key had sent Marcus' phone a text telling him Jeff, the waitress, and the bag of money were in Wendover.

Junior sank deep into the vinyl booth. "Why would they go to that shithole?"

"Dude's trying to win even more cash," Tommy surmised, immediately starting to fidget. "We gotta get out there and get that money."

Junior contemplated a course of action. Getting my hands on that money would only be fair. He'd kept Ben's ass safe for years, but the second shit went bad, Ben had thrown him under the bus, setting the wolves loose to hunt him down. Well, now it's my turn to attack. "We gotta stop by West Valley first—pick up a couple of my cousins. Whether we get that money or not, Key's going down."

The snowplows had already been out, so the trip down the canyon went without a hitch. Junior slumped in his seat, his head lolling against the headrest, half-listening to Tommy blabber on about finding the money. He directed the chatterbox to his cousin Sione's house, an actual blood relative. The other two "cousins" who were coming along with them, JayJay and Teo, had been as close as brothers when they were in school, but were actually just friends from the community.

All three had spent time in both juvie and jail, JayJay, gregarious and wild, for robbery; Teo, sullen and menacing, for assault; Sione, soft-spoken and witty, for shoplifting offenses. None had ever scored a gig as profitable as Junior's job with Ben. With his chromed out Charger and steady paycheck, Junior was the envy of the entire community and often used as an example of what boys could aspire to by mothers who didn't understand how he "earned" his money.

His status among his peers meant that when he rolled back home with a job involving the retrieval of a bag filled with half a million dollars, Sione, JayJay, and Teo signed on without a second thought, despite the fact their big cousin sported three fresh gunshot wounds. Because of that fact. Taking out some California asshole was reason enough to join the excursion. Something they'd enjoy. The money would be icing on the cake. "Dude who did this to you," Sione said, as he solemnly inspected Junior's gunshot wounds before they were dressed, "he gonna die."

They stashed Tommy's truck behind Auntie Akela's bungalow and crammed into Sione's Nissan Maxima. The four hulking Polynesians filled the space like sausage in its casing, shoving the pocket-sized grip into the back middle seat, the hips and elbows of JayJay and Teo pressing against Tommy's ribs, as if slowly trying to squeeze the life out of him.

In the front passenger seat, Junior closed his eyes, thinking about all that had happened in the past twenty-four hours, his thoughts gravitating toward his mama. She must have convinced God to give me a second chance. That's the only way I survived three gunshot wounds. He couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that she was no longer on this earth. That she would never again pick up the phone when he called. Her distinctive voice with its slow, yet melodic cadence would no longer be heard. His boyhood home, the only real home he'd ever had, had lost its soul. Returning to Hawaii, even with bank, no longer held the same allure.

Somewhere, lost in his thoughts, he had fallen asleep, so it startled him when Sione gently nudged his arm as the car approached the Nevada border. "Hey Cuz, where you wanna go?"

JayJay wasn't so polite waking Tommy, roughly elbowing him in the shoulder. "We're heeeeerrrrre!" he screeched in a high-pitched whine.

"Do you even get that reference?" Tommy asked, rubbing his shoulder.

"Run to the light, little Carol Ann," JayJay continued, patting Tommy's long blond hair. "It's time to earn your money."

Junior, still weak from the loss of blood, felt disoriented. "Okay," he said, as the fog in his brain dissipated, which meant the pain in his back and leg began to seep back, solidifying his desire for revenge. "I'll text the bastard to tell him Marcus is here. We'll lure him out to the desert and then take his ass out!"

"Yuh, yeeah," JayJay agreed. Teo simply snarled.

"Let's, uh, not forget about the money," Tommy interjected. "We're here for the money, right?"

Junior knew Tommy didn't want to be around when he and his cousins clashed with Key. The collateral damage from the collision of forces would undoubtedly cut a wide swath. Anyone could get cut down in the crossfire.

"I wouldn't mind a piece of that bankroll," Sione chimed in.

I haven't forgot about the money," Junior said, as he finished typing. "I just wanna see what Key tells Marcus to do and we'll go from there." He hit send and the message whooshed off.

Marcus' phone lit up almost immediately with a response, which Junior read aloud. What took your ass so long to get here?

"That's it?" Tommy asked, almost as though he felt sorry for Marcus.

The phone lit up with another message. I'm searching the Montego Bay. You start at the other end of town and call me the second you spot the thief. Do NOT engage until I get there!

"I say we go take his ass now," JayJay offered with a nasty glint in his eye.

"Hold up, Double J." Tommy tried to sound like one of the crew. "Why start that shit now? If Jeff's anywhere but the Montego, the money's ours! After that, you guys can go do what you gotta do."

Junior rolled Tommy's proposal around for a moment before speaking, weighinghis hunger for revenge against his desire for a piece of the cheddar. "Tommy'sright," he conceded. "Let's go get that money!"