She couldn’t believe it, she stared at the number again. The number on the paper read $500,000. They had 500,000 dollars in their bag for exchange for what she had in her “bag.” This was huge, this was bigger than huge, this was stupid. Were they cops? Were they thugs? Were they serious? $500,000 was a perfect amount. She wanted to remain calm, she wanted to show no emotion, but how do you contain fear, the kind of fear that leaves you paralyzed and out of breath, excitement, the kind that causes you to flush and grin from ear to ear like a fool on ecstasy, and the eye rolling doubt. You do nothing, but blink your eyes, take a silent deep breath, and don’t speak until you are 100% sure your voice won’t crack. And that’s what she did. She waited until he spoke first.
“Does the number not satisfy?” His voice took her out of her paralysis.
“No, it’s sufficient,” she spoke with confidence.
She was not a calm person by nature and being still was a supposed issue for her. So much that none of her friends believed her when she insisted she knew when to shut-up. They were so insistent that she would at times almost agree, but moments like this would happen, and inner calm would surface, and her performance was of a brilliant nature. Trouble was she was always alone.
They were either what she feared or not, but there was nothing she could do. She sat there alone to suffer or to celebrate. She slid over a key, “Nothing fancy,” she said as she looked out the window of the diner and nodded towards the boring, beige, American model sedan.
He finished his eggs over-easy, wheat toast, hash-browns well done, coffee, and was up and headed out the door in no time. Before it closed behind him he grinned, “Next time, maybe something with a bit more,” and then he was gone.
She watched him drive away. She looked down at her half eaten french toast as the waitress put down the bill.
“Left you with it.”
“Brother, it was his birthday meal.”
“I see you have quite a fondness for him,” she laughed as she looked around the joint in all it’s shabby glory. She picked up the his plates, “You done honey?’
“Not yet.” She figured she’d sit here a bit longer. Just in case they were waiting for her outside. She’d prolonged it, and besides her appetite just resurfaced and cold french toast wasn’t horrible.
“Your brother forgot his bag,” she pointed with her elbow as her hands were loaded down with dishes.
“Thanks,” and she switched side to finish up. A twenty went down as she got up. The bag and her were out the door and there had been no sudden explosion of undercover law enforcement. She pulled out a phone, hooked on the earphones and dialed a number. “I’m ready,” and in a matter of moments a slightly beat up blue truck appeared and in the cab she hopped, shutting the door with some care, as if the loud sound of the slam would wake up the undesirable.
“How’d it go,” he asked.
She sat for a moment, not saying anything. He kept driving, turning out of the parking lot, and onto the empty Sunday morning street. She opened the bag and smiled. She quickly shuffled through, and her smile got even larger. She had not been duped. She had not been arrested. She had not duped. She could breathe life back into her body once more. “Oh, about 500,000 and a possibility of doing it again well.”
He let out a hoot, and banged his fist on the steering wheel, “You continue to amaze me with the things you get away with.”
She let out a sigh.
“I hope that’s in relief.”
“A bit, a bit, but now I have to launder it, and that’s a a whole different felony.” The silence went between them and lingered for a bit. He handed her an already packed pipe. “I can’t smoke that. I’ll wait until we’re home. Besides I feel already high. My head is spinning with all the possibilities of all the outcomes I’ve created with this decision. Good or bad.” She burst into tears, put the seat down and covered her eyes. Looking out the window suspecting every car as the one to bring down her fall was too overwhelming.
She road the 30 minutes it took to get to the safety of her road with her eyes and ears shut, batting away the wondering hand that every once in awhile found it’s way up her thigh.
“Don’t slap me away. I can’t help myself. I’m so horny for you right now.”
“Oh, I’m going to need sometime before we fuck. My head is about to explode.”
“Fine, but too much longer.”
“I know, I know,” She waived him off once more. As she lay there feeling the pavement beneath her, and the farther she got away from the scene the more she began to relax. If she hadn’t been busted yet, she didn’t think she would. They couldn’t have possibly wanted to follow her to any other destination. It couldn’t have gotten any bigger then what just went down. $500,000 was in her lap, and she had yet to fuck-up, and when she flet the truck hit dirt and gravel it was then she sat straight up, took the pipe from it’s hiding place, hit it hard, and proclaimed victory, as she figured the hardest part was now behind her. She had arrived. Her destiny had begun. There was nothing she couldn’t do.