Stars shine brightly from the cloudless blue skies. The bright full has an orangish glow, signaling that fall is drawing near. Some of the older maple trees have a few yellowing leaves. Another subtle hint of the upcoming change. Granny doesn't care for the humid summer days, but she hates the cold even more.
The two exhausted ladies travel for a distance in silence, trying to make sense of what happened a short while ago.
Passing what looks to be the last of the living, Jackie says, "Can you believe them assholes coming after us the way they did." Granny doesn't respond. Jackie glances over to see her partner trembling in her seat. She's never seen the old lady this upset before, and they've been through some hairy situations, a few of those life-threatening. "Are you alright?"
Wringing her shaky hands, Granny says, "I'll be alright once we are out of this state."
Jackie takes a quick look around. "I hope I never see this place again," she agrees.
Something the man said comes to mind. With a puzzled look on her face, Granny asks, "Do you know him the way he claims?"
"He's a goon from my past." Someone I'd hoped I'd never have to see again.
"What did he mean when he said you had his brother killed and him tossed in jail?"
"It's a long story." One I'd rather not talk about.
Granny points into the dark abyss. "We have nothing but time." Granny pauses, then adds, " I think you owe me after what I went through back there."
"You really wanna know?" Jackie asks, stalling for time as she tries to figure out how she will explain.
"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't. Besides, It's the least you can do after I almost died twice for you tonight."
Jackie sighs. "I suppose you're right." She rehearses her story in her mind one last time.
Granny impatiently taps her foot on the floor. Having waited long enough, Granny says, "I'd like to hear it before Christmas if you don't mind."
Jackie slams her hand against the wheel. "Alright, alright. Geeze. Don't get your granny panties in such a bunch." Jackie is always giving her partner grief about her outdated undergarments.
Granny fires back, "I don't know why you even bother putting that piece of string you call panties on."
Jackie will say, "At least mine doesn't cover my entire body."
Granny replies, "Yours doesn't even cover your twat."
Matilda waits a bit longer and then says, "Well?"
"Fred knew the cops were watching him, but Fred, being Fred, decided he wanted to do one last haul before calling it quits, claiming he wanted it to be the biggest one yet, an FU to the cops. So he sent me out as a decoy to take the heat off him. I was supposed to drive the same type of truck. Only mine is full of boxes of worthless junk. His plan was for me to distract them long enough for him to make the exchange. What Fred didn't realize was that the cops knew his plan. They had eyes and ears in the place. I was about to leave when the swat team came in and took us down."
"Fred said his brother died?"
Tears swell in Jackie's eyes as she relives the night in her mind. "Yeah," she nods, wiping the tears away. She and Jake were an item until his addiction took control of his life. Jackie tried to help him all she could, but he refused to give it up.
"How did that come to be?"
"His brother, Jake, strung out on meth, decides he isn't going down easy. He starts shooting. The cops fire back. Jake's take-down flashes through her mind again and again. Pushing the image aside, Jackie grips the steering wheel with both hands, turns, and says he wasn't the only one who suffered in that mess. I got four years, and my boyfriend Od'd on Fred's shit while I was away."
"Why does he blame you when it wasn't you're fault?"
"Fred thinks I set him up in exchange for less time, but that's not how it went down. I did more time for not helping them out." The more she thinks about it, the madder she gets. She turns toward Granny. With anger in her eyes, she says, " I say we make sure they're dead and then exchange their car for yours since there's probably an APB out on this one."
Turning toward her, Granny says, "I can't give up my baby. I just can't." Seeing the look on Jackie's face, she adds. " I know it doesn't look like much, but it has a lot of sentimental value." She sniffles and adds, It's the only thing of my grandson's I have left."
"What is more important, a keepsake or your freedom."
Granny recalls the frequent road trips she and her grandson used to take. The excursions to the lake, the park, the long Sunday drives. "But I love this car," she protests.
Jackie rolls her eyes. She shakes her head and says, "You won't have it anyway when you're in jail."
Precious memories replay in her mind. Granny's eyes tear up. She sniffles and says, "I feel like I'm losing him again."
Patting her hand, Jackie softly says, "You'll always have the memories."
"It's not the same," Granny cries. Regaining her composure, she looks up, wipes the moisture away, sniffles, and says. "I suppose you're right." Granny sniffles again the says, "You surprise me sometimes."
Jackie glances over with a curious expression on her face. "How do I do that?"
"The way you're always thinking ahead, trying to outsmart the cops."
"I was quite a criminal back in the day."
"Until you got caught."
"Right, but for the record, I wasn't even on their radar until the bust. In fact, I'd gotten out of the business by then, but Fred talked me into covering for him one last time."
"You said you lost your boyfriend when you were in jail?"
Nodding, Jackie wipes a tear from her cheek. "He overdosed in our apartment, and I wasn't there to help him the way I'd done in the past." Sniffling, she wipes the moisture away again. It was the only time she let anyone get close. Something she swore she'd never do again. Then Granny came along and took her under her wing.
"I'm so sorry for your loss."
Jackie nods. "I have to move on, do something good with my life," she says, trying to put on a brave face, but she can still feel the pain, the emptiness lingering in her heart.
"Is that why you volunteered to help?"
"I want to make my mark in the world, do good for a change." She wipes her face again. "You probably think I'm a big baby for blubbering like this."
"Not at all. In fact, I admire you, your bravery." Seeing the shocked look on her partner's face, she continues. "It takes a lot of courage to walk away from it all the way you did."
"You're a pretty awesome lady yourself, despite your large, 17th-century drawers."
Granny chuckles. "I was quite a spitfire back in my day."
"I'd say you still are." Jackie laughs. Switching the headlights to brights, she pulls up to where their attack occurred. A cold, eerie feeling travels down her spine as the car squeaks to a stop. "I don't see any of them, do you?"
"No." Turning her phone's flashlight on, Granny climbs out and looks around. "I found one."
"There's another one over here," Jackie yells back. She finds the third one a few feet away. "They're all dead," she announces.
Walking to her partner, Granny sees tire marks on one of the men's backs. Chuckling, she points and says, "You made sure Fred was dead."
Jackie reaches for her achy throat. " I hope the asshole suffered to the end."
Reaching down, Granny grabs the keys from Fred's pocket. "Let's go.'
Jackie nervously shifts her weight, winces, a,d says, " There's been a change of plans."
Granny glances down the road to find it's completely dark. "What now."
She points to the bodies on the ground. "I'm going to make them our decoy."
"How are you going to do that?"
"If we put them in your car and then set it on fire, the police will assume it's us." She pauses and then adds, "For a little while, anyway."
Granny waves her hands in the air. "Have you lost your freaken mind?"
"But I thought…."
"You want to play arsonist when the cops are on our tail?"
"I'm trying to buy us more time, and setting them on fire will do that." Grabbing a man in a fireman's hold, Jackie drags him a few feet and stops. This is going to be a lot harder than I thought. Wiping the sweat away, she glances at her partner and asks, "So are you going to help or what?"
"Why don't we move the car closer so we won't have to strain so much."
Jackie rolls her eyes. "Why didn't I think of that?"