Hit and Run

"Can I try one of those?" Tyler Mitchel asked, seated on the other side of her desk in her office.

"What? No." She snapped. "Look I'm dangerously close to losing everything and you're upset about receiving punishment you very well deserved?"

" You're husband punked out, sending that other psycho after us wasn't fair. Lucas didn't even do anything." Tyler complained, shifting uncomfortably in the padded visitor's chair. "Those cops are going to search that motel room and find him, then you're black knight won't be around to protect your virtue anymore."

Kim sat back and observed her bully; the sweat stained crutches, nose splint and swollen eyes, and tried to suppress a smile. "We've both been through a lot already Tyler how much further are you going to drag this? My husband already agreed to pay you off, just take the money before one of us ends up dead."

"You must have forgotten who has the authority here. My threats are real and still valid, your's are hypothetical and evaporating as we speak." Tyler sat up in his chair with an arrogant smirk returning to his face. "First I want you to video chat with your hubby on your cell phone, then I'm going to make him watch me bend you over this desk again and fuck you in that sweet tight ass of yours."

Her loins stirred at the thought of sexual contact but her stomach soured at the prospect of humiliating the man she still loved any further. "I have close to fifteen thousand in cash in my wall safe, it's yours if you just leave."

"Don't think so bitch you need to learn some hard lessons. I took it easy on you before but now I'm really gonna pound on you, might even tape it and post it on the internet." He snarled reaching across the desk and grabbing her slim wrist.

Kim jerked away from him and stood up, pacing back and forth behind her desk. Her mother died faithful and with a heart filled with admiration for her father despite all his shortcomings. The sordid shop keeper the world had corrupted and formed, committed all his crimes for the woman he loved. They were one. Kim learned that early on and adopted the same principals to her own marriage, rejecting all guilt for any laws she broke supporting the man she let rule the kingdom of her heart. If she lost her husband then she lost herself.

"Fuck you get out of my office." Kim said softly with her eyes closed mentally picturing her grinning husband the way she met him on a cruise in Florida.

"Excuse me?" Tyler balked, struggling to get his crutches under his armpits so he could stand and appear more menacing.

"If you're too stupid to end this then I'll do it. Run and go tell on me, see how long you live afterward." She coldly spat at him.

Tyler blinked a few times in confusion before his face turned red with anger. "Fine, see you on the news after getting indicted." He growled, turning and hobbling out of the office.

Kim watched him turn the corner and listened to the clacking of his crutches down the hallway before snatching open the top drawer of her desk. She pulled a small Sig P365 pistol from under a ream of printer paper and racked the slide chambering a round, intent on not allowing her tormentor to carry out his threat. Racing through the lobby with the gun hidden in her purse she stopped in time to see Tyler carefully step off the curb outside, take two steps into the road before a blue Honda CRV clipped him, bouncing him off the hood. The five people waiting in the lobby all gasped but hesitated to run outside and offer assistance. A thin black woman hopped out and pulled a covid mask over her face before slamming through the front doors of Prestige Staffing and leveling a single shot.410 gauge shotgun at Kim.

"C'mon and help me hoe!" She demanded wagging the gun at her.

***

"You're lucky that Sergeant bought that bullshit story I gave him." Kenneth Waters said steering his Challenger through the early evening traffic congesting I 40 west. "Told him my guys mistakenly hit your spot after chasing another bail jumper through that area. Still got to pay some fines but my lawyers should be able to sort me out."

"Shit, still don't know what they were doing there in the first place." Marvin Woodall commented from the passenger seat. "Covering the peep hole like I couldn't just peak through the blinds in the window. I didn't know what they wanted. Saw guns and I made a move."

"I heard, lucky you suck at knife throwing, said it hit Justin's vest at an angle. It sliced right through over half the layers of kevlar but didn't make it through to the skin." Kenneth told him. "Heard about how he took a run at you too, your face tells the story."

"Fuck you Kenny." Marvin laughed it off while rubbing his red still irritated eyes. "That man had some moves but you see who got knocked the fuck out. Why were they there?"

"Told you we heard that kid Lucas' mom reported him missing."

"And you sent your goon squad to scoop me up because I took him." Marvin finished for him. "How stupid you feel now?"

"To be honest I was sure they were gonna find that kid in your room when they searched it." Kenneth nervously shifted. " Glad they didn't but who the fuck else would benefit?"

"Couldn't tell you, I'm still thinking about how you let Daniella drive off in my shit." Marvin said, puling a wad of tissues from his pocket and blowing his runny nose. "Why are you chauffeuring me to your house again?"

"You sick?"

"No that shit your boy hit me with was spicy." He answered, blowing his nose again.

"Had to throw fourteen grand at them. They were pissed, and also the ones who fucked up. All they had to do was knock and say I sent them to check on you." Kenneth complained. "Kim called and said for me and you to meet her at home, and after that bullshit from earlier I'm sticking to you until after your court date."

"Say less." Marvin conceded.

Nearly two hours of heavy traffic later the sun had nearly set as Kenneth Waters pulled his Dodge Challenger into the two car garage attached to his five thousand square foot house.

"You can crash on the couch tonight." He told his passenger, getting out and stretching after a long drive. "You're on your own for supper too."

"Finally taking my advice and spending some horizontal time with Ms. Kim. I respect that." Marvin grinned, zipping his jacket against the cold.

"Yeah." Kenneth reflected. "Been thinking and what choice did she really have? Besides her killing Barbara Koontz was an accident that could have happened to anybody."

"Right." Marvin said, slapping him on the back and gently pushing him toward the garage entrance into the house.

Kenneth was the first to enter the dimly lit living room and froze after turning the corner, his mind not fully comprehending what he was seeing. Kim Waters was seated on the huge sectional couch in the center of the room with her mouth and limbs all duct-taped. She was flanked by Lucas Emmett and Tyler Mitchel bound in a similar fashion.

"Hands up motherfucka!" Shouted a skinny black woman springing from the downstairs bathroom brandishing Kim's pistol. "Tie your friend's black ass up." She hoarsely demanded tossing a roll of duct tape at Kenneth.

Marvin was only ten feet away and thought maybe, but hesitated after seeing the woman's hands visibly shaking and knew he would more than likely get shot if he rushed her.

"Listen to the bitch Kenny." He relented, putting his hands out in front of himself to be taped. "She might shoot us on accident."

Kenneth obediently wrapped the roll of tape several times around Marvin's wrists and ankles before easing him down into an armchair in the corner of the room.

"Good. Now you just stand there and listen." The woman said stepping into the living room and standing behind Kim. "I don't want to hurt nobody but I can't let you people get away with this shit"

"Let's start with your name darling." Kenneth patiently requested. "Then start from the beginning and tell us what you want."

"My names Monique but folks used to call me Mee-mee. What I want is for this bitch to pay for what she did to my brother." Monique Meeks pushed the gun into the back of Kim's head, fighting back tears. "That's all the news or anybody else could talk about was that old white bitch, but what about Dante? I think he probably was trying to save that hoe when he got hit."

"Oh shit." Kenneth softly moaned.

"Soon as the cops here notified me I drove all the way from Cincinnati overnight. Went straight to where the news report said it happened." Monique went on. "That's how I found that fucking goofy right there." She pointed the pistol at Tyler who was still half conscious from the earlier car accident.

"What did you do to him?" Marvin asked, actually concerned.

"Swiped him with my car but only to slow him down." Monique quickly explained. "Like I said I ain't never broke no laws before so that's why this slanty eyed cunt is still breathing."

"Easy, please be careful with that thing." Kenneth put his hands out to mollify the black woman's rage.

"Anyway I just went into that electronics shop to ask questions and I heard that fucker in the back freaking out, I'm guessing from seeing the footage of my brother's death. So after telling him I needed help carrying in a huge desktop computer to get looked at, he went out to my car to take a look."

"Wasn't no computer was it? Got'im." Marvin laughed.

"Right." Monique giggled back. "I told him the car was unlocked and asked to use his restroom. To be fair he was a little hesitant so I had to fart a few times and make up a story about driving from across town. Even told him the wrong car too. I used to work at a Tiger Mart years ago so I knew how to work a DVR. Sure enough he had the footage paused and the monitor turned off."

"So why didn't you go to the police sooner?" Kenneth asked.

"I needed that footage for proof but I didn't have time to copy it before he got back. Besides after watching my brother get sucked under that bitch's front tires I was fucked up. Panicked and just left before that white boy came back." She paused to wipe at her eyes. "And I did tell the detectives running the case but they just blew me off and told me get my black ass back to Ohio."

"Sounds about right." Marvin conceded.

"Guess who showed up later that night? Five dolla sucky, sucky." The black woman mocked. "I knew he wasn't gonna go to the police after that. So I just watched and waited for an opportunity to make a copy."

"Hey lil' mama did you see me there?" Marvin asked.

"Yeah and I loved it." Monique admitted. "Everything was taking too long so I picked up ponytail first after he got out of the hospital." She said pointing at Lucas who just stared blank faced at the wall on the other side of the room. "I just pulled up on him outside the Piggly Wiggly and offered him some head and he damn near jumped through the car window to get in. I saw the first white boy give him a package one day while talking real close to his ear. Just wanted the footage but he said he didn't have it. Then his punk ass got mad when I didn't suck on his tiny ding-a-ling."

"It was a thumb drive that I took from him." Marvin chuckled.

"He told me that after I chloroformed his ass and took him back to the motel I've been staying at. Said some scary black guy probably had it but couldn't really remember. Hit the other white boy with my car figuring he could probably make me a copy. Already checked his DVR, he wiped it. Told me you had a copy maybe so we came here."

Marvin Woodall tapped the cargo pocket of his Lee pants with a grim look on his face. Kenneth noticed and pointed as if asking permission to grab it. The fidgety black woman wiped sweat from her brow before nodding her consent.

"My lap top is in the other room." Kenneth announced after retrieving the zombie green thumb drive. "It's right on the dining room table you can see me from there."

"Careful." Mee-Mee threatened. "How's the saying go?"

"I ain't no killer but don't push me." Marvin provided.

Taking long strides Kenneth quickly grabbed the lap top and set it up on the coffee table facing everyone except Marvin who was in the corner. The room collectively held their breath as the HD footage keyed up. A white Chevy Avalanche with Kim's scowling face behind the wheel, then Barbara Koontz flying through the sky.

"You did it on purpose." Kenneth breathlessly accused, falling to his knees.

"Baby please." Kim Waters squealed after Monique ripped the tape from her mouth. "Baby you don't understand she was going to try and put me in jail."

"Did you fuck her too?" Kenneth bitterly asked as his vision clouded with tears.

"Her son took a loan from me he couldn't repay." Kim explained. "He told me to fuck off before crying to his mama who had just started dating some cop."

"She told me to handle it." Marvin added. "It's one thing to break a street niggas arm, whose he going to complain to? I knew if I laid hands on that old woman I'd be looking over my shoulder for a while."

"I got tired of waiting so I just did it." Kim angrily snapped. "Ran that uppity cunt down. She had it coming for raising a dead beat son who doesn't pay his debts, and for coming to my office to threaten me into letting the debt go."

Kenneth just stared in disbelief as tears raced down his cheeks. "We don't kill people."

"I was about to shoot Tyler before this crazy bitch ran him over and kidnapped me." Kim wearily confessed. "I tried to play by everyone's rules and I learned it never works out. No one can ever just let us live baby. Never satisfied, just taking and taking from us."

"My brother didn't even know you bitch and you left him bleeding out alone in the cold." Monique snarled.

"Maybe he should've known me. Maybe I could have helped him get his shit together and get him off the streets." Kim fired back, turning on the couch. "You left him bleeding out after you ran your funky ass off to Cincinnati, leaving him in the streets."

Monique recoiled as if struck. "You don't know shit about me hoe."

Marvin watched the two women heatedly argue while Kenneth remained knelt by the coffee table dejected, abandoned in a world of confusion. The quick thinking hoodlum fumbled under his jacket and shirt for the second throwing knife he kept zip tied to the front of his belt, making as little movement as he could. Once freed he palmed the smaller three inch blade between his hands as if in prayer, and carefully began to slice through the duct tape around his wrist.

"I begged that hard headed negro to come with me." Monique tearfully said, wiping snot on the back of her sleeve. "Dante looked me dead in the face and told me no. He said leave him because he was good as dead already. That's how bad them drugs had my baby brother hooked."

The black woman's suffrage thawed Kim's icy resolve as the realization of what she had actually done sunk in. She awkwardly reached for her weeping captor with her wrists still bound. "Mee-Mee I didn't realize..."

Her words were cut short as Kenneth Waters finally snapped, viciously launching his lap top at Monique's head catching her full in the face. Before she could recover the aging bondsman found speed and pounced on the smaller black woman.

"Yeah Kenny beat that bitch." Marvin cheered, finally getting his hands free.

"Baby that's enough just grab the gun." Kim Waters instructed.

Marvin Woodall finished cutting himself loose before crossing the room and sawing at Kim's wrists. Kenneth stood over Monique with the Sig handgun pointing at her frightened face, chest heaving from the exertion. "Having a stroke Kenny?"

"I'm good." He gasped. "But what do we do now, how do we explain all this shit to the cops?"

Tyler began to moan and struggle against his bindings hoping to get set free, Lucas remained nearly comatose staring straight ahead hauntingly.

"What did you do to him?" Kim asked attempting to shake Lucas back to reality.

"Nothing. I mean I gave him some of my Ativan though, he's probably just in shock." Monique sniveled, cowering in the corner of the living room.

"Can you do that? Give someone with a traumatic brain injury shit like that?" Kim asked waving her hand in front of his expressionless face. "I mean..."

Once again her words were cut short as a deafening blast followed by a disorienting ringing in the ears filled the room. Kim screamed as she looked back to Lucas who sported a giant bloody hole in the center of his face.

"Found this behind the toilet." Marvin announced before reloading the single shot.410 shotgun and shooting Tyler in the face as well, before he lost the nerve. "You don't know what that took to do that."

"What the fuck?!" Kenneth shouted over the squealing tinnitus, shakily aiming the Sig Handgun at Marvin. "Put that shit down Now!"

"I've done a lot of mean shit but I ain't never killed nobody before." Marvin whispered wondrously, amazed by his own actions.

"Marvin why would you do that?" Kim hysterically cried.

"I saw how you moved throughout this whole situation. You stayed loyal to your family, committing murder and even Sacrificing your dignity." Marvin calmly explained tossing the empty shotgun on the floor. "Kenny let me see that pistol."

"No fucking way." Kenneth said backing up a few steps while still pointing the gun at Marvin.

Hyperventilating in the corner Monique knew her time had come. She ironically picked up the lap top and hurled it at a distracted Kenneth, before scrambling to her feet and sprinting for the front door. Startled by the blow Kenneth panicked and instinctively fired four rounds, striking Monique in the back and killing her just as she got her hands on the doorknob.

"What? No...no,no,no..."Kenneth dropped the still smoking pistol as if it bit him.

Kim Waters wearily put her hands to her head and sunk back into the couch with a sigh, oblivious to the two dead men seated on either side of her.

"Everybody listen." Marvin said taking charge. "Me and Ms. Kim were at the office late. Kenny you came home and found that crazy bitch in your living room right after she shot those two white boys, attempting to frame your wife for murder. You drew down on her and smoked her ass before she could get away."

"That doesn't..." Kenneth struggled to make sense of what he was hearing.

"She already told the cops about the footage and how she thinks your wife killed her brother." Marvin explained further. "You and your wife are model citizens, pillars of the community with one of the premier law firms on retainer. Won't take much to shift the blame onto some grief stricken outsider."

"What made you finally cross the line and kill those boys?" Kim asked hollowly.

"I didn't get it before but I do now." Marvin Woodall humbly lowered his head, embarrassed by his own emotions. "We're family. You kill for family right?"

Kim Waters broke into a smile wiping the mascara from her face. She went to her shaking husband and held him up with her embrace, and her strength. Kenneth sighed with relief into the top of her head as he pulled her closer. "Marvin can you please destroy that thumb drive. I'll also need a ride to the office if you don't mind."

"Yes ma'am Ms. Kim."