Blacktop Wasteland(26)

“Alright then. Like I said, I’m gonna go check out the place tomorrow. Ronnie, can you talk to your girl and find out if she knows the alarm code and the combination to the safe? Once I scope the place out, we can go talk to my boy about getting strapped. The two of you should be able to come up with five bills for the pieces,” Beauregard said.

“Sure, sure, I can talk to her. You need the address of the store, though,” Ronnie said. He dug around in his pocket for a piece a paper. He pulled out an old receipt and grabbed a pen off the coffee table. Beauregard shook his head.

“Don’t write nothing down. You said the store is in Cutter County. I think I can find it. We’ll meet again in a week to get the guns. That will give me enough time to get some wheels and make some modifications. We’ll only use burners from here on out. Keep your mouth shut and your head down,” he said.

“What we do with the pieces after we done?” Quan said.

Beauregard tilted his head toward him. “If you don’t have to use them, you can keep ’em. If you do, we break ’em down and toss them,” he said.

Quan rolled his eyes. “Five hundred down the drain,” he said.

“What, you want to make it a family heirloom?” Ronnie asked.

“Just a waste of money. That’s all I’m saying,” Quan said.

“I don’t think you get what’s going on here. Armed robbery in the state of Virginia is a Class 5 felony with a mandatory minimum of three years with a maximum of life. That’s if no one gets hurt. The guns are just tools. Tools break. Tools get lost. Don’t get attached to them,” Beauregard said.

“Sound like you talking about people,” Ronnie said.

“Same difference,” Beauregard said. He stood. “I think that’s all we gotta talk about right now.”

“What kind of car you gonna get?” Ronnie asked.

“What difference do it make?” Beauregard said.

“It don’t. I was just curious,” Ronnie said.

“Can you get a BMW like in that movie with the motherfucker from England? The Transformer,” Quan said. Beauregard closed his eyes.

“It won’t be a BMW,” he said. He ground his teeth together. “I’m out.” Beauregard turned and headed for the door. He opened it and was just about to step out when he stopped. “You wanna see me after the job, that’s fine. But if I see you coming and you ain’t smiling and friendly, it ain’t going to go well,” he said.

He stepped through the door and into the night. A few moments passed, and they heard his truck start. The trailer was silent save for the shuddering AC and the slight hum of the overhead light fixture.

“Hey, man, he takes this shit seriously. I don’t think he was trying to disrespect you,” Ronnie said finally.

“Man, give me my fucking gun,” Quan said.



* * *



Beauregard parked his truck next to Kia’s car and got out. The air was still stifling hot. The house was dark save for the porch light. Beauregard unlocked the door and made his way through the shadowy interior toward the bedroom.

Kia was spread across the bed like a Botticelli painting. A thin white T-shirt and zebra-striped panties were her only accoutrements. Beauregard took off his boots and let his pants fall to the floor. He pulled his shirt up over his head and let it fall to the floor as well. He eased his body down to the bed, snaked his arm over Kia’s stomach.

“That night you came home with that bullet wound, I asked you how much more of this we was supposed to take. You said the juice was worth the squeeze. Do you remember what I said?” she asked.

“You said that was the dumbest shit you had ever heard,” Beauregard said. Kia grabbed his hand and pulled his arm tighter around her body. He could feel the warmth from the small of her back against the bottom of his belly.

“But you was right. It was worth it. We got the house. We got the garage. We got out, baby. We got out. And now you wanna go back, and I’m telling you this time the juice ain’t worth it,” she said. Her voice hitched a few times and Beauregard knew she was crying.

“If there was any other way, I would do it differently,” he said. He spoke directly into her ear.

“Sell the garage. Take a job at the tire plant over in Parker County. Start selling vacuum cleaners,” she said.

He moved closer to her and squeezed her tight. “It’s gonna be alright. I promise,” he said.

She squirmed against him and rolled over onto her back. “I shouldn’t have said that about your Daddy. I’m sorry. But that’s something he would tell your Mama. You can’t promise that it’s gonna be okay. You don’t know that. What if it ain’t? Then I have to tell your sons stories about you the way people told you stories about your Daddy. Because memories fade, Bug,” she said.

Beauregard ran his index finger down the length of her face and under her chin. He tilted her head up and kissed her cheeks. The salt from her tears lingered in his mouth. He had no rebuttal to her argument. Things might go south. The job might fall apart. Anyone who was in the Life knew that was a possibility, but he didn’t dwell on those kinds of thoughts. He had survived this long because he never envisioned himself behind bars. He refused to see that as an option. Five years in juvenile detention had given him focus. Sharpened his mind to a deadly edge. He would never be at the mercy of anyone who controlled his freedom again.