I wanted to laugh at how silly boys acted when they did things that some would consider illegal. They always seem to puff up their chests and show off their small muscles. If only they’d seen what I had seen in the past, they’d know what a real man looked like.
There I went again, thinking about people I swore I’d never think about again. Like a splinter stuck in my mind, I always felt the need to pick at it. Some people were like that, too. You thought you’d managed to forget about them, but they always came back, and usually it was harder to forget them the second time.
I heard their voices echo in the darkness—another thing boys liked to do when trying to sound tough. They always like to speak loud and with deep voices. I smacked my head against the wall to stop thinking about it, and that just gave me a headache.
“Jimmy, what the hell are you doin’ here?” I heard from the tallest of the bunch. “You shoulda been here a while back. You’re late.”
“I…er…got your stuff,” he said. “I know it’s late, but I thought you might be able to make an exception this time?”
I could hear the trepidation in his voice. His cool exterior had already melted, and he was back to being the timid guy I knew.
“Yeah? Then where is it?” replied the man with a sigh.
“It’s nearby,” Jimmy replied with a cracked voice. “I wanted to see the money first.”
The tall man cracked his knuckles and stared at Jimmy for a second, but then he walked back inside. The silence was almost too much to bear for the few moments the man was gone, but then his footsteps echoed into the night again as he strode back onto the dock. I could barely make out a small envelope in his hand.
“Where’s my stuff?” he asked again.
Jimmy smiled and motioned for me to come and join him, so I took a deep breath to center myself. I could feel my heart beating in my ears as I stepped out from behind the corner.
“Show them, Celia,” Jimmy said.
I reached into my purse and pulled out the bag he’d given me earlier and held it up. One of the brutes waddled over to me and grabbed the parcel, taking it to the man in charge.
I could make out the man’s face a little better now. I didn’t recognize it, but he looked chiseled and eastern European. The man in charge turned to me and smiled. It felt like he was eyeing me up. I didn’t like it in the slightest.
He held out the envelope, and the same brute from before took it and handed it to me.
I stayed silent as Jimmy took the envelope out of my hand and started counting the money. After a second, he turned to me and nodded.
“Let me give you guys a ride, wherever you want to go,” said the rich stranger.
“Whatever you say, Mr. Novak,” Jimmy said, hastily stuffing the envelope in his jacket pocket.
Mr. Novak turned to his phone and said something I couldn’t make out. Then a car pulled down the alley toward the dock, but it wasn’t any car. It was a police car.
I started hyperventilating, worried that I was about to end up in jail. Mr. Novak didn’t look worried in the slightest; Jimmy looked about as confident as I did.
Mr. Novak started laughing.
“Don’t worry about them; they’re your ride.”
The two officers stepped from the car, one of them holding a phone that looked similar to Mr. Novak’s. Nothing they could say would have removed my worry completely, but I sighed to give myself a little bit of relief. Mr. Novak must have been worth a lot of money to be able to buy off the police.
Jimmy and I walked hastily over to the police that were already opening up the back doors. I ducked my head down and leaned in. It was not the first time I had been in the back of a police car, and I really hoped it would be my last.
Jimmy pulled out the envelope and stuffed it into my purse. I looked at him quizzically, and in response he shushed me.
“Where to?” the cops asked.
“Fourth and Jefferson,” Jimmy replied.
The driver nodded, and we started to drive. It wasn’t a far destination, and it was decently close to home, and I needed a shower and some sleep to calm my nerves.
The police continued to drive. I watched out the window as we drove straight past the destination. My heart started beating hard again.
“Hey, you just passed it,” I said.
They didn’t respond. We just kept driving. Before long, we were out of the city and heading upstate. I was hoping they’d stop, but I knew they wouldn’t.
Almost an hour later they pulled over. The only thing I could see were trees and a single stretch of highway. I had a really bad feeling about this.
They cracked open the back door, guns drawn.
“Out,” they said.
I wanted to run, but there was nowhere to go. I followed their instructions but kept my eye out for an escape.
“Jimmy, you were a week late again. Mr. Novak doesn’t like dealing with people who aren’t on time with deliveries. Since he can’t just fire you, he is doing the next best thing.”
We marched through the forest for a few minutes before finding a hastily dug hole in the forest.