The group of four sat around the rented motel room counting their stacks of money in silence. The only sounds resonating around the cramped space were the swoosh, swoosh, swoosh of air passing through paper as it hit surface and the rickety air conditioner that sat in the motel window. The room was dark with leaks of light pouring through the tattered curtains and the tension in the room was rising slowly before finally Chasity broke the silence.
"I can't believe we did that," she gasped out as she finished counting the four stacks of money sitting before her on the small round table in the corner.
At the sound of her voice three heads shot up and Santana cursed. "Fuck I lost my count," she mumbled much to everyone else's amusement.
"We did it," Mercedes said looking at her cousin, Chasity. "We did it for PJ."
Licking her lips, Veronica ran her fingers through her hair as she nodded, her jaw clenched slightly. "Yeah for PJ… but we still don't have enough," she told them knowingly. The amount they stole wasn't even an appleseed in measurement to PJ's accumulating medical bills. "I count three thousand… that alone leaves us needing 47 thousand and we're all getting a damn cut of the money…" she said shaking her head. Santana glared over at Veronica stacking up her money. "Then we go get more. Shit we did it once… we can do it again," Santana said to them looking around the room. "Nothing is stopping us."
Chasity sat at the table gnawing on her lip as she thought about her son, dropping her head into her hands and scrubbing her face. "I love my baby so much… but I don't know… what've already done is bad enough. You know how people get caught? They get greedy. They try their luck over and over again," she said as she lifted her head. Mercedes stood up and walked over to Chasity, kneeling before her. Grabbing Chasity by the back of her neck, Mercedes rested their foreheads together.
"Listen to me," Mercedes said to Chasity. "I have to do this, okay." Searching Chasity's eyes, Mercedes continued. "We will not get caught okay. We're going to be smart about this. You have my word… but we have to keep going. This isn't for us… this is for your little boy. PJ doesn't deserve to die at five," she said to her cousin and Chasity closed her eyes, nodding slowly as she rested her hand on Mercedes' arm.
"For PJ," Chasity breathed out before there was a knock on the door and everyone jumped, whipping their head towards the door.
For a moment time stood still. The laws of motions were invalid and every ounce of oxygen was sucked out the air as four pairs of eyes burned holes through the door. Then suddenly they were scrambling like rats, hiding the money and rustling around the room trying to stay as calm and as quiet as possible.
Shoving the green under the mattress and into bags, even their cleavage, the women were frantic before finally Veronica moved to the door, looking around at everyone making sure the coast was clear before she opened it, slowly, poking her head out. "How may I help you?" she asked.
Samuel stood at the door, hands shoved into his bank security pants pocket as he gazed at the brown skinned woman. "I'm looking for 'Cedes…" the blonde breathed out and Veronica's breath hitched, her voice cracking. "Just a second," she said before she pulled her head back into the door and slammed the door, turning to the other woman. ""Cedes… there's a tall blonde bank security guard looking for you," she said her voice and hands shaking. Mercedes eyes went wide and she swallowed hard before it hit her. "Samuel…" she said quickly as she rushed to explain. "Oh!" she explained looking around at them. "He's going to help us… he rotates with the banks… he has insight… and he's willing…" she said to them.
Santana stood up. "Oh uh-uh! What the fuck are you thinking Mercedes? How do you know he's not going to rat us out?" she asked looking around at everyone with her hands thrown into the air. "Do you see any fucking police cars outside?" she asked the Latina with a grunt back. "If we're going to keep at this shit… we need help!" she said looking around at them. "He is our best bet at getting around the system… so we can take a damn chance… and trust him… or… we can risk getting caught," she said to them all.
There it was again. Dead silence as everyone weight out the options and Chasity stood up, speaking first. "If he's willing to help… I'm willing to trust him… this is for my baby…" she said looking at Santana and Veronica. "We have to try," she said with pleading eyes.
Squinting, Santana looked over at Veronica who was staring at Mercedes. "Fine…" Santana said dropping her hands, flipping her jet black locks over her shoulder. Veronica stood silently for a moment before finally she nodded. "I swear to God… if he rats us out… I'm going to jail for robbery and murder," she breathed.
Chasity licked her lips as she walked over to the window, peaking out the curtains. "Oh him…" she mumbled before she looked back around the room. "He won't rat us out… he has a thing for Mercedes," she informed and Mercedes rolled her eyes. "Can we just let the damn man inside!" she stressed.
Turning around, Veronica slowly opened the door back up, eyeing the blonde up and down. "Hurry up," she snarled at him and Samuel eyed her for a moment before he stepped into the dark motel room with the four women. "Let's get to work…" he said pulling a map out his pocket of the next bank location, walking over to the table and spreading it out.
