Armadillos Page 18

  Freak’s eyes widened. ‘You didn’t say anything about weed.’

  ‘I shouldn’t have to. Little girls should just do as they’re told.’

  ‘Hey, Marjorie,’ I said, quietly. ‘Doing as they’re told sometimes gets little girls into trouble.’

  She looked at me kind of surprised I had a tongue, but she didn’t argue.

  ‘Come on,’ I said. ‘She didn’t know.’

  ‘I would never hurt him, Marjorie,’ Freak said. ‘I care about Ade.’

  ‘I care about him, too,’ Marjorie growled. ‘And I know him best.’

  ‘Yeah, I think you do,’ Freak said, her voice little more than a whisper. Her eyes filled with tears. She dipped her head to hide but she wasn’t fooling anyone. Marjorie looked embarrassed for her.

  ‘We’ve got a problem, Marjorie,’ I said. ‘A different problem.’ And I explained about Mr Dee and the money.

  ‘Aint anything to do with me.’ Marjorie shrugged when I’d finished.

  ‘You think these guys are going to let Ade walk away when they learn what he’s done with their money?’ I asked.

  ‘Way I see it, it’s Freak who’s let them down. Not Ade,’ Marjorie said, though she didn’t sound too convinced.

  I shook my head. ‘They don’t care. They want their money is all. Ade’s in it now. We need to get that money back before they come looking.’

  ‘Do they know anything about Ade?’ Marjorie looked at Freak, just daring her to say yes.

  ‘Course not,’ said Freak, offended. ‘They don’t even know where I live.’

  ‘Yet,’ I said, frowning at her. ‘And once they find out Ade’s in charge here…’

  ‘Huh, yeah sure he is,’ Marjorie half laughed. She shrugged. ‘Like I said, not my problem. They don’t know where you live, no problem so far as I can see. Now look, missy,’ she said to Freak. ‘You and him can play hook up, okay? Let him fuck your tiny mind out for all I care. But if I hear you’ve let him come near so much as a sniff of weed, I will turn you over to this Mr fucking Dee myself. Do you hear me?’

  Freak broke down at that point. She dipped her head, her shoulders shaking.

  ‘Please don’t, Marjorie. I swear I won’t. I didn’t even know weed could do that. Don’t turn me over to him, please.’

  Marjorie raised her eyebrows at me in surprise. Freak never rolled over like that for anyone. She was suspicious, but I thought it was genuine. Whether it was Ade’s breakdown, or if it really was the idea of getting caught by Mr Dee – Freak was far from her usual self. I began to feel guilty for adding to her woes the previous night, but then I remembered Duke’s hands on me and my fire came back. I tried to push away any sympathy I might feel. Most likely, she was just trying to get us onside.

  Marjorie turned to me. ‘I’m moving some things over to Ma’s later. You got anything you want me to take?’

  We had to raise our voices to hear each other over the noise of Freak’s sniffling.

  ‘You know what, Marj – I aint got it together yet. But thanks.’

  She nodded. ‘You just let me know, okay? We’ll be ready to leave in a couple of days or so. Just got to collect some cash from a couple of places.’

  Freak’s head shot up at the mention of cash. Somehow through her broken-hearted routine she’d been keeping tabs on the conversation.

  ‘Not for you, Freak-face. Me and Aggie are making a business trip.’

  Marjorie went to her room, leaving me and Freak alone together, more pathetic than the two last stalks in a hay field.

  ‘What business trip, Aggie? Can’t I come?’

  ‘Jeez, Freak. Aint no flies on you, huh?’

  ‘I aint got no one, Aggie,’ she said, her head hanging. ‘I’m up against it and I aint got a single soul.’

  ‘Sure you do, Freak.’

  ‘Who?’

  I searched for anyone but the obvious and came up with nothing. It was grudged, but at least I said it.

  ‘You got me. And you got Ade, when he’s playing with more than half a deck.’

  She laughed at that and sniffed, exposing a railway track of white scars as she wiped her face with her forearm.

  ‘About Duke, Aggie – he aint all he seems.’

  ‘How so?’

  ‘He’s got a mean streak to him.’

  ‘I don’t need telling.’

  She looked like she wanted to say more, but the last thing I wanted was to get caught in a heart-to-heart.

  ‘Come on,’ I said.

  ‘Come on where?’

  ‘That money aint coming back here on its own now, is it?’ I said. ‘Besides, I took in some cash yesterday. Even if that guy’s spent some of it by now it might still be okay.’

  I’d counted it up. I’d earned a hundred and thirty-five bucks when I’d swiped those wallets.

  She pulled herself up like she had weights stitched into all those scars.

  ‘It’s a lost cause, Aggie,’ she sighed. ‘We aint seeing that money again.’

  ‘Well, if that’s the case, there’s plenty more where that came from. Come on.’

  Rand was a black guy who dressed like a teenage basketball player, even though he had to be on the far side of forty. The crotch of his pants dangled between his knees, chains slung around his neck like lassos. He wore three tank tops that I could see, all layered over each other. The top one was black and had the number thirty-three written on it in red. He wore a back-to-front baseball cap, which was pretty dumb because it meant he had to squint into the sun. When he squinted, his lips pulled back to show off huge front teeth just like Bugs Bunny, only not as cute.

  Rand spent his days in front of the JFK museum on Dealey, trying to sell tourists all manner of shit to do with the assassination. He laid all his magazines and newspapers out along a wall and then stood back, invisible under a tree, waiting like a spider for a fly to land on his web. When a tourist made the mistake of stopping to check out the spread of stuff, he’d pounce. Surprising to me how many people shook him off. I’d always found most people easy enough to get along with, or con, I guess, if you’re being specific. There were definite advantages to being young, white and female. After a while, it came clear poor old Rand worked hard for a living.

  ‘Go now,’ I said to Freak. We’d been watching from the grassy knoll. She wasn’t sure he’d remember who she was.

  She was nervous, a whole new Freak. ‘Come with me,’ she said, and I did.

  As we approached, Rand managed to get a woman to stop. Out of politeness, we hung back, waiting for him to finish his schtick. Unfortunately for us, the woman was interested in what Rand had to say.

  ‘That window up there, that’s where the shots are supposed to have come from. Now down here…’ He led the way and the woman followed him down the hill into the middle of the road. His voice carried back. ‘The car was right here when the first bullet hit…’

  ‘Just our luck,’ I sighed, and lay back in the grass.

  ‘Let’s go,’ she replied. ‘He aint gonna give the money back.’

  ‘You don’t know if you don’t try. Jesus, Freak. Would you rather Mr Dee came after you?’

  She squirmed and shrugged. ‘Maybe it would just be Duke,’ she said, unconvincingly. ‘I’ve handled Duke before.’

  ‘Maybe you’ve not seen him the way I saw him yesterday.’ And like that, the tension was back between us.

  Rand and his tourist lady were getting on well. He gave her one of his newspapers, and she gave him a handful of ten dollar bills before moving on into the museum. We seized our chance.

  ‘Nice work if you can get it,’ I called out. He turned round and looked at us, blank.

  ‘Huh?’ he said. ‘Can I help you?’

  ‘Hey, Rand,’ said Freak.

  ‘Do I know you?’ he said.

  ‘Sure. The other day, remember? I was down here with Ade?’

  ‘Oh, sure. I remember you. S’up?’

  ‘Uh…’ Freak looked at me for help.

  ‘The
money he gave you, mister. Wasn’t his to give,’ I said.

  The transformation was something to see. His face shut down completely. ‘Don’t know nothing about no money.’ He turned away from us and made to cross the road.

  ‘Not leaving all your business stuff here, are you, mister?’

  I was closer to his belongings than he was. He turned back to face us, his eyes drawn to his newspapers all lined up in a row along the wall and held down by big stones, the corners fluttering in a hot breeze.

  ‘Anything happen to my merchandise, all it means is you’ll be looking for more money than you need right now. Now why don’t y’all run along before you land yourselves with a debt too big to pay. Or maybe you’ve done that already. Either way it aint no concern of mine.’

  He ambled over to the shade of a tree where another guy was waiting. His back-up, I guessed. Rand kept his back turned but the other guy watched us the whole time. I thought about just lifting all the magazines and newspapers to sell myself, but this was the only spot in town I could hope to shift them. Here, they were a piece of history and worth something. Take them away from Dealey Plaza and all you’d be left with was tea-stained bullshit.

  ‘Told you there was no point.’ That was Freak, smug in victory, even if it meant she was screwed. She spun on her heel and walked away.

  ‘You can’t just quit,’ I said, chasing after her. ‘There must be something we can do.’

  She shook me off and walked on, casting nervous glances about her, as though Duke might appear from any direction.

  ‘Let’s go shopping,’ I suggested. ‘We’ll sell it on.’

  ‘Who we gonna sell it on to? Duke?’

  ‘There must be someone else,’ I said, half running alongside her.

  She stopped and turned to face me. ‘If there was someone else, don’t you think I might have mentioned it already? Duke knows too many people. Shit, I shouldn’t even be out here.’

  She darted down an alley and stood with her back flat against the red brick wall, as though a dozen sniper rifles might be trained on her.

  ‘Shit, Freak. Come on out,’ I called from the street. ‘Aint nobody here. Aint nothing no one can do in broad daylight, is there?’

  She shook her head, her body rigid. I sighed and walked down to stand on the other side of her.

  ‘You can’t stay here all day, can you? Won’t solve nothing.’

  She was looking at something beyond me, towards the end of the alley. When I turned to see what was so interesting, she pushed past me.

  ‘No frikkin way,’ she said, walking further down to where it opened up into a square. ‘Remember this place?’

  I followed her and slowly it dawned on me. This was where we first met. The rain and scaffolding was gone but the yellow dumpster remained. ‘It’s a sign!’ she said, suddenly happy. Freak liked to take messages from the universe and this one, whatever it was, was a good one.

  I laughed as Freak danced up and down just like she had on the night we met. It seemed so long ago. Freak scaled the dumpster for old time’s sake. Perhaps she thought the universe had left her some gold bullion in there, I don’t know. I’d only seen this place in the dark before. I looked up at the offices surrounding the yard, seeing them properly for the first time. Offices meant people, people meant money. I scanned ground level, looking for a way in. Every single door was a fire exit that only opened from the inside. Naturally they were all closed.

  ‘Jack shit in here,’ Freak called from inside the dumpster. She popped her head up and there behind her, six feet above, was the fire escape. I was in the dumpster in a flash. Freak made a basket with her hands and I stepped into it. She hoisted me up high as she could. I grabbed the ladder and pulled it down.

  ‘I should do it,’ said Freak as I climbed the steps.

  ‘No offense,’ I replied, ‘but you aint firing on all cylinders these days. Reckon you better just keep watch. You think you can do that?’

  ‘Sure, Aggie. Thanks. Be careful.’

  The door on the first level was locked so I kept going. On the fourth floor I got an open door. I looked down and gave Freak a thumbs up, though I didn’t think it looked too promising. It was a small corridor, six doors in total, with a doorway at the end that must have led in to the rest of the building. I set my hopes on the six doors I could see.

  Shadows moved through the opaque glass on the first couple of doors. I ducked down and crept by. A phone rang out in the next room, and the room after that was locked. Only two doors left. I tried the handle and it swung open to reveal a kitchen. I slipped in, closing the door behind me. At the end of the room beside a cracked window was a small table with three chairs. On the back of one chair was a ladies suit jacket. I ran through the pockets but only turned out a crumpled tissue. Damn it. I thought of Freak waiting for me outside, the fear I’d seen in her. I sure didn’t want to return empty handed. I went through the pockets again and again, and I’d probably still be there today if a toilet hadn’t flushed.

  I snapped my head round trying to figure where the noise came from, when a door at the side opened and a woman tottered out, looking down as she straightened her skirt with one hand. Looped over her other arm was a little blue purse that I just knew would have a wallet in it, if only I could will my legs to move. She took a few steps before she realized I was there. She stopped, her mouth in a perfect little O of surprise.

  Before she could yell I dived round the table to give her an almighty shove. She flew backwards. ‘Oh, m’am. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,’ I said. I snatched her bag and I ran. I made it back to the fire escape and had clambered halfway back down the ladder before the screaming had even started.

  We ran for a block before turning the corner and forcing ourselves to walk, heads down, bag tight under my arm. We ducked into McDonald’s, ordered a Happy Meal to share, only opening the bag once we were sitting down. My hands were shaking but my breathing was getting steadier.

  Inside was a set of car keys. Freak wanted to go back to find the car, but I told her she was crazy and she dropped the subject. A book: Confidence at Work: Get It, Feel It, Keep It. I put it to one side, feeling guilty I’d sabotaged the author’s efforts. I rummaged through the rest of the contents: tissues, make-up, notebook, tampons. No fucking wallet.

  ‘I don’t frikkin believe it,’ I said, double-checking everything.

  ‘Give me that,’ said Freak. She ran her hand all round the inside. ‘Here it is,’ she said. She’d found a small zip and pulled it back. Inside was a card with a piece of paper wrapped around it. It couldn’t be, could it? I pushed my rising excitement back down. She unfolded the paper and turned it over. There, on lined paper, written in blue ink, were the beautiful magic numbers. Freak looked at me, eyes bright as stars. ‘How long does it take to cancel a bank card?’

  We found an ATM inside of a minute. The card glided in and Freak punched the numbers. It worked. We walked away with the daily limit. Five hundred dollars and a hellish urge to squeal.

  On a different day we would have celebrated by tossing the money at nickel slots or going to a movie, but this money had to count. Freak was electric with the buzz. She wanted to hit another place but I was jangled. There’s a big difference between quietly picking someone’s pocket and pushing them head-on so you can take their bag. ‘No one ever thinks of the thief,’ I said. She thought it was funny, but I was done for the day so we took the bus home.

  ‘Aggie,’ Freak said, and from the way she said it, I knew my answer was no even before I knew what the question was. The driver watched us in his mirror and I wished we’d chosen a different seat. I kept an eye on the traffic outside, half expecting a police car to pull alongside us, siren blaring, red and blue lights flashing.

  ‘What say we cut town and head to Austin?’ she said.

  ‘What the fuck, Freak? I already told you no.’

  ‘I know, but I got a cousin there can set us up.’

  I shook my head in disbelief. There was always something
more with her. She took my silence as encouragement.

  ‘Think about it,’ she said. ‘We just aint gonna get this money together. It was a good today, sure – but we need another four or five days like that before I can go see Mr Dee. Duke’ll find me before then. I just know it.’

  My head was beginning to ache. I squeezed the bridge of my nose.

  ‘Austin kicks this city’s butt, Aggie. People like us? We’d fit straight in. They got all types of folk there. You’d love it.’

  ‘I can’t do it, Freak. I promised Marjorie I’d help sell her stuff. She needs me. I’d feel mean running out on her now.’

  Truth was I liked the selling and I was good at it, too. Marj said I could most likely sell socks to a snake, if I put my mind to it.

  Freak pouted. ‘Can’t believe you’re putting Beast Woman ahead of me.’

  ‘That’s a good one coming from you. Screwed anyone else lately?’ It was cruel but it flew out my mouth before I knew it was coming. I waited for her to flip but she just got quiet. She turned away, leaned her forehead on the window and gazed out. When I thought about how she was when I first met her, I wished I hadn’t said it. She used to be dynamite.

  22

  The first thing Marjorie said when we told her about the ATM was, ‘Did you cover your faces?’

  ‘And look like a couple of bandits?’ said Freak. ‘Shit, no. That’s the dumbest thing I’ve heard in a long while, Marjorie. Reckon we’d be arrested for sure if we did that.’

  Marjorie smiled one of those smiles that don’t reach the eyes. ‘Dumb or not, it’s just that most ATM places got cameras. Security, you know.’

  ‘I didn’t see a camera,’ I said.

  ‘Were you looking for one?’ Marjorie asked, one bushy eyebrow raised. I shook my head no, even though she already knew the answer full well.

  ‘And you knocked a lady over to get the bag?

  I nodded, feeling sick.

  ‘So that’s your physical assault right there. Makes it serious. Reckon they’re gonna come looking for y’all.’