Chapter 4: Mile High Roller
It had been almost about several days since the shootout with Nunez had happened, Geraldine sits by her desk, waiting for Martinez to give her and Reggie their assignment for the day. Reggie called about half an hour ago, she's going too be fifteen minutes late. Geraldine looks at her phone, 9:37 a.m., she hated it when her partner was late. Being a bounty hunter meant being on time, but for someone like Reggie she always used it as an excuse to sleep in more. She always had a reason for being late 'I saw this pimped out looking ride speeding down the highway. Some cholos were giving me shit, so I had to defend myself. I ran into an ex of mine and you know we just ended up playing to much. This crazy ass fool tried to steal from my t.v. so I ended up whupping his ass'. Whatever the excuse was, she always late.
Reggie finally comes through the front door "Damn, what the hell took you so long?" Geraldine scolded her "Sorry girl, the police was sweatin' me. It's that guy from before, the one that was giving you shit" she pants "Fuck, are you serious?" Reggie simply nods. "Man, they're mad as hell" Reggie says as she sits on the edge of the desk; both friends sigh, life couldn't be more complicated as it is. "So Martinez give us a bounty yet?" she asked "Nah, I'm still waiting" Geraldine's been waiting since she got to the office early in the morning, it was Martinez's way of messing with her. Just then the very person she didn't want to see appeared.
"Well look who it is, Geraldine and Reggie" Frank quipped, Geraldine rolled her eyes; why is he here of all times? "What the hell do you want?" she growled, he gave that cocky smile again "Now is that any way to greet a friend?" he asked, Geraldine's blood already started to boil. She stared him down. "I hear that the cops are really pissed at you guys, this is why you should take some pointers from me" "On what? Being a fucking asshole like you?" Geraldine sneered, Reggie eyed her friend, the last thing she wanted was Geraldine to lose her temper. Frank chuckles "See there's that attitude of yours," their's that smile again "maybe if you just lightened up a bit you could be a really success story" Geraldine exhaled and rapidly rose from her seat "What did you just to me? Lighten up?! I'll lighten my foot up your ass!" she yelled as Reggie quickly got between the two, she could see the anger in her friend's eyes, that's the last thing she wanted to see.
"What the hell is going on out there?" Martinez pops out of his office, Geraldine breathes in and out as her anger subsides; Frank grins like a shark and shakes his head. "Sorry boss, just giving Geraldine some advice" he lied to his boss, Geraldine balls up her fist. She swore up and down that one day she was going to knock out that smile off of his face. "Frank, go wait in my office, I need to talk too these two" Frank walks towards the bosses office but before he went, he stops next to Geraldine's left shoulder and his mouth nears her ear "Remember...just lighten up a bit" with that he goes to the office. I'll remember that bitch Geraldine bit her lip. When that day comes, he'll get his.
Martinez looks at the both of them, this is the last thing he want's to see "I assume you two are done with that?" the chubby and balding boss asked "Man, whatever, just give us the bounty" Geraldine demanded "Martinez, Gerry didn't mean anything by that" Reggie made the best excuse for her friend. "She better not because the both of you are already on thin ice with me" he threatened, Geraldine turned around with a fake smile on her face "Sorry, I'll try to keep myself in line" Reggie wanted to laugh when she heard that. "So you gonna give us our bounty or what?" Geraldine impatiently asked. Martinez had enough problems as when it came to these two, his blood pressure had now already gone up; the doctor him told to keep it down and too think happy thoughts, it never seemed to work though.
"So," he exhaled with a sigh "I have something for the both of you" Geraldine looked over at Reggie, both seemed unamused by his tone. He hands them a folder. She opens it and there's a mugshot of scrawny looking Hispanic man in his mid 20's, he had dark circles under his eyes, a large Vagos tattoo covering his whole throat and had a half shaved head. Too anybody the guy looked like any other cholo on street. "Guys name is Eddie Villanueva, out on bail for battery and possession of a controlled substance charge" Geraldine studies the man's face, she's seen worse "How much?" "20 grand" Geraldine scoffs "Yeah, I'm not fucking interested" Reggie nudges her for not considering the bounty. "If you let me finish I'll tell you the rest," Geraldine put her feet up on the table "now this guy isn't that important, it's the collateral that he put up is what's important" he looked at the both of them, carefully making sure that they don't screw this up. Martinez pull's out the picture of the item that was put for collateral. A customized crimson red and black Bati 801RR. Both Geraldine and Reggie mouths dropped open.
"He took out collateral on this. Now even of you don't catch this asshole his bike is something we need to take, alright?" Martinez could see the twinkle in their eyes, they taken collateral before but nothing this expensive. "How the fuck could he afford something like?" Reggie wondered "I'm glad you asked that" Martinez pulls out another picture, this one of a mixed martial artist. Geraldine had seen this face before "That's Billy Villanueva" "That's right," Martinez responded "he's this assholes little brother" she laughed a bit, who would've thought something like this could happen. "Now like I said, this guy isn't important but if you two can catch him and that bike then their's a bonus for the both of you" the partners looked at each other bewildered, a bonus is worth a lot more than everything in the world. Geraldine signals Reggie to go outside and wait for her.
Geraldine gets up from her seat, Martinez grabs her arm "Before you go I'm gonna give you a warning, don't fuck this up like you did with Nunez, got me?" he threatened, she yanks her arm away from him and looks directly into his eyes "I gonna do my thing because it's my motherfucking job" her anger slowly rose back up "and don't you forget that" she whispered. Geraldine exit's the office, fuming but eager to get that bonus. Oh, how she hated this job.
...
Reggie's phone receives a text from Martinez. The address on where Villanueva was staying at. 'Orchardville Avenue, Cypress Flats, East Los Santos'. "Man, we going to East L.S." she tells Geraldine as she curses openly. "I swear this is fucking ridiculous!" she swears as the Cavalcade hits the freeway, they speed past the other cars. "Hey girl, I know this none of my business but what the fuck is it with you and Frank?" Geraldine seemed perplexed by that question "What do you mean? I don't trust that fucker let alone like him" her answer is full of venom and suspicion, Reggie snickers "Is that it? He's just tryin' to help us out" "Look you wanna trust him, fine, but their something about him I don't trust. He's slimy as hell" Geraldine tries to focus on the road but she's having a difficult time doing that.
"Reg, why are you standing up for that fool?" Geraldine questioned her friend "I'm not standing up for him, I'm just saying that you gotta chill the fuck out once in a while" Reggie shot a look at Geraldine, she knew that she never liked Frank but she was taking it to a certain level. Their almost off the freeway, Geraldine pulls out a cigarette and lights it "You talk like you and him are going out, it's not like you and him are foolin' around or some shit like that", their's an awkward silence when she mentions that and then she starts too realize something "Wait...you and him...?", Reggie stammers a bit before she can give an answer "Aw shit! Reggie! Oh my god!" Geraldine exclaimed as she goes off the ramp "Well, girl...it was just one time, I mean we work a lot and I don't get any downtime, it get's really fucking lonely" Geraldine wanted to throw up, she heard lots of crazy thing before but this may have been the craziest. "Man, you nasty as hell! Fuck! Of all of the people-!" "It was one time and wasn't anything serious! It just fucking happened...!" Reggie started to laugh a little but Geraldine wasn't laughing as she felt more sicker than usual from what her best friend just told her. "What the fuck am I going to do with you? I swear to god sometimes" she muttered to herself as the sick feeling in her stomach slowly started to fade.
They exit the freeway. Villanueva's was at least fifteen minutes away, if everything went well that bonus would be their's; the thing about taking out collateral on something is that some people won't give up their possessions and some times things could get messy in matter of seconds. People couldn't let go of their stuff. Both partners have had their fair share of violent incidents from bricks and bottles being thrown at them, too somebody attempting to firebomb them and they even had bullets whizzing past their heads. People really wanted to keep their collateral.
The Cavalcade slowly pulls up on the block; they reach the house. Geraldine looks at the front yard, there's no garage in the means there must an alleyway around the back. She drives down the block and turns left. Geraldine parks the SUV across the alley. "Alright, so this is how it's gonna go" Geraldine tosses out her cigarette as she readies the plan "We're gonna sneak through the alley, hopefully this fool ain't at home" Reggie hands Geraldine her handgun, as she exits Geraldine pulls her back in. "Listen," Geraldine carefully explains "don't try any shit like before, I mean it okay?" she ordered "You still mad about that?" her friend chuckled "Yeah Bitch! I'm still mad! I almost got killed for some bud!" Geraldine exclaimed. "Alright, alright! I won't do any stupid shit" Reggie promised, they both exit the SUV, their guns holstered at the side.
An alley has two entrances, one to the left and one to the right. Both ways lead back to the street. Their was a problem though, an alley can be a way in but too anybody else it can easily be turned into a death trap. Block one way and block the other, that's' all it would take. Geraldine always hated taking collateral, she was surprised on how people were so possessive of their things. If Reggie doesn't do screw things up they'll get their bonus.
The partners walk through the alley carefully trying not to attract any attention. Villanueva's file said that he was in the Vagos, Geraldine sighs; things may get complicated after all. The alley smelled like moldy trash and there was this strange smell, what was that? It smelled like week old piss and cat crap. "Oh shit, look" Reggie saw a drunk homeless man wandering their way, he staggered and wobbled, drunkingly cursing at them; he stops, he retches and then pukes. The alleyway smelled a lot a better than the vomit. "Man, that's disgusting. Let's get this bike and get the fuck out of here" Geraldine complained, the stench of the homeless man's vomit made her want to hurry and leave while she can. They approach the garage "Fuck, finally!" Reggie sounded relieved.
Her relief was looks at the lower right part of the garage, a padlock. "Shit...you bring any tools?" she asked Reggie "Nah, how we gonna do this?" she wondered, Geraldine looked around for a minute or so; she needed something hard, a rock or a pipe, it had too be hard enough to break the lock. "There" Geraldine spots a brick, it was hard enough to break the lock. She picked it up, Reggie hold's the lock "On three," she held her breath as Geraldine steadied the brick "1...2...3" she bashed the lock; the first time didn't work, she tries a second time and it works. Reggie looks around to make sure that aren't any gang members in the area, the last thing they need is a bunch of pissed off cholos coming after them. Geraldine takes the broken lock off, with both of her hands she slowly and carefully raises the garage door; they saw their prize, their bonus was standing right in front them. Geraldine takes off the tarp; the both of them were speechless.
Everything from the picture was true. It was crimson red on the top and on the front; the sides and the rear were all black. The black presented a rather sheen of sorts when the sunlight hits the surface. "Damn girl, Martinez wasn't foolin' around. That's a bad-ass looking bike" Reggie whispered, Geraldine goes to the seat. She sits on it, it felt so nice to be sitting on something so incredibly sleek. Reggie saw that big smile on her partners face, she never saw anything quite like it. "Hey Gerry...?" her eyes focused on her "Yeah?" "How we gonna take this bike? We didn't bring a truck" Geraldine looked at Reggie "Shit" she cursed. "See if there's any keys here" the friends start looking everywhere, the work bench was the obvious choice but nothing was there, a refridgerator was in the corner, they opened it but nothing was inside except bottles of beer. Their was an old coffee container, Geraldine searches it and sure enough the key was there. "Alright," the smiled reappeared on Geraldine's face "let's get the fuck out of here" just as she goes to the Bati, Villanueva and two other gang members show up. Both friends were caught in the headlights.
"What the fuck?!" he exclaimed with anger "Hey these bitches are trying to take your bike!" one gang member iterated "Hey listen! Motherfucker took out a collateral claim on this thing!" Geraldine explained "Nah! You fucking putas are trying to steal from me!" Villanueva reaches for the back of his waistband and tries to pull his weapon out. Reggie quickly pulls out her Glock "Is that how you wanna play it, ese?" she points at him, Geraldine quickly tries to calm everybody down "Reggie calm down! Listen all we want is the bike, okay? Just back the fuck-!" before she can finish one of the bangers attempts to make a move. Bang! Bang! Two shots hit the thug in the chest, now things have become a lot more complicated. "Shit! Reggie! Goddamn it!" Geraldine yelled "They shot Jose! Man kill these bitches!" he ordered, Geraldine pulls out her Beretta as the sound of cars are descending down the alley.
"Damn it Reggie! You just had to shoot him didn't you?!" "Motherfucker was gonna try something, I wasn't gonna take no chances!" she explained, Geraldine is angry at her but like before it can wait until then "Let's just deal with these fools and leave with the bike!" "I'm with you girl!" both go to the edge of the entrance "I'll take the left and you take the right!" she commanded, this dingy and dirty alley was going to turn into a combat zone.
Geraldine and Reggie go to their positions, the layout of the alley was crude but simple; both ends were blocked, so they had to shoot their way out. The good thing was that their were dumpsters to cover behind, the problem however everything's was going too be pretty tight which meant they had to pick their targets carefully. Geraldine see's a set of thugs on her end, they fire their .44's and Tec-9's at her, nearly hitting her; she aims to hit and destroy. She squeezes the Beretta. Bang! Bang! Two rounds strike's a thug in the shoulder and chest; a couple more shoot at her, they must've watched a lot cowboy movies because their aim was terrible. Aiming, she see's both of her targets. Bang! Bang! Bang! Three bullets hit's the thug on the right, he's down and he isn't planning on getting back up. Bang! Bang! The one on the left gets hit in the leg and stomach, the pained look on his face said it all. There's one more, he tries to act brave and tough but it won't work for him. Bang! The nine millimeter strikes him in the sternum, he twitches as he falls against the low-rider doing a sort of crazy dance before dying.
Reggie's aim wasn't as thorough and precise as her partners but it was just as good. Villanueva takes cover behind a telephone pole, he screams out orders to the gang members as they return fire. All of this for bike.
Geraldine comes up from behind and positions herself above Reggie and provides suppressing fire. The two fire their guns, the cholos are persistent as they don't want to give up; the bullets hit the sides of the low-rider, they take cover to protect themselves as best they can. The partners put a pair of fresh magazines into their guns, just then Geraldine gets an idea "Reggie, aim for the gas tank! Light these fools up!", they aim and unload onto the tank. The bullets hit the end of the low-rider, Villanueva realizes what they're trying to do and runs to avoid what happens next. Boom! The low-rider and three of the gang members are caught in the fiery explosion, their bodies covered in car debris and are now burning.
"Damn we fucked them up" Reggie whispered "Come on, let's get Eddie while we can" Geraldine runs down the alleyway, she see's Villanueva limping away, their's blood trailing down his right leg, a piece of debris must've caught him, he groans and curses as he tries to get away. Villanueva hobbles to a dumpster, he pulls a .38 and see's that the bounty hunters are coming at him. He's not going down that easily. He turns and tries to shoot off his gun. A barrage of bullets tear into his body, he slumps against the dumpster, dead. "Fuck! Fuck!" Geraldine curses echo through the alley, there goes their bounty and bonus. "Man let's get out of here!" Reggie goes back to the garage "I'm taking the bike, meet me at Burger Shot" Geraldine orders "Why you takin' the bike?" Reggie wanted to ride that bike so badly "Because I said so!" she gave an angry look at her friend. Geraldine gave her the car keys as she went back to the garage. She hops onto the Bati and starts it, it comes to life; she grabs the handle and turns it, it vroomed perfectly.
She slowly exits the garage and turns left, she passes the shot-up low-rider and it's former passengers. Hitting the throttle, Geraldine speeds down the alley; she takes a right and heads for the freeway, she speeds off as fast as she can and disappears into the distance.
...
The Bati speeds through traffic like a bolt of lightning, passing past cars and trucks. The bike was the fastest thing that she had ever ridden, it was customized to be pushed too the limit, Geraldine smiles as the wind rushes to her face. Her heart beats faster than before, it felt like she was riding a rocket at maximum speed; she was almost afraid of pushing it too far.
She pulls into the parking of Burger Shot, Reggie's arrives behind her fifteen minutes later. Remembering on why today's assignment went bad Geraldine gets off the bike and goes straight to her friend. Reggie can already feel her sting "Listen, I know what you're gonna say but it wasn't my fault" "Oh?" Geraldine raised her eyebrow "That fucker was trying to make a move and I stopped him" she explained, Geraldine put her hands on her shoulders "Yeah, but Eddie's dead and we can't collect from a dead person!" she yelled, Reggie sighs "Shit, it couldn't be helped but at least we got the bike" that didn't make Geraldine feel better "Yeah but what the fuck are we gonna to say too Martinez?" she asked, Reggie was dumbfounded as she forgot about Martinez. "Well," she pondered "let's say that the motherfucker's dead but" she added "we couldn't get the bike because he sold it too someone and we don't know where it is" Geraldine stood there, she couldn't believe what her friend just suggested.
"You want me to lie?" she was stunned at her friends suggestion "I mean, why give this to Martinez? Why don't we just keep it for ourselves?" Geraldine didn't know whether to laugh or smack her friend in the face. Her phone suddenly rings, Martinez is probably wondering what's taking so long. Geraldine puts it on speaker "Yeah?" she tried not to give anything away "Did you get Eddie?" he asked, it took a few seconds before she say anything "He's dead" "What?! What you mean dead?!" he screamed over the line "Don't fucking blame me it's all Reggie's fault" Reggie was annoyed as Geraldine puts the blame on her "Well did you at least get the bike?" Geraldine looked at Reggie wondering if she lie and the keep the bike "Well?!" he shouted, she sighs "He sold it to some asshole, I don't where it is" Reggie breathes a sigh of relief and gives Geraldine a thumbs up for not saying anything "Goddamn it! I gave you two a simple job and you couldn't even do that! You stupid-!" Geraldine hangs up before he could finish. Reggie almost wanted to laugh.
"Damn girl you bad as hell, I don't like you snitchin' on me but you bad" Reggie complemented her but Geraldine gave her a scornful look "Man shut the fuck up" "What? Girl I really mean it" she said, Geraldine slowly walked towards her "I just lied for your stupid ass and I feel stupid myself for doing that" Reggie chuckles a bit "Come on girl he ain't gonna find out about about we did" she assures her friend, Geraldine shakes her head unsure if they can get away with this. Reggie reaches into the SUV and pulls a backpack "Look I gonna take the bike and head home" "Hold up," Geraldine stops her "what's in the bag?" she asked "Nothing, just some of my stuff" she implored "Funny because I don't remember you taking that bag with you this morning" Reggie started to stammer "What's in the bag?" Geraldine grabs one of the straps "Nothing, I swear!" she pleads "Open the bag if you got nothing too hide!" they both start to pull "Come on girl! You're actin' paranoid!" she complained "Regina!" Geraldine calls Reggie by full name, she finally lets go. The backpack felt heavy, Geraldine started too have an inkling on what was inside as she carefully unzips it "This better not be what I think it is".
What she finds doesn't seem to surprise her, Geraldine sighs and goes to the back of the SUV. She opens the back door and lays out what was in the backpack. Five bags of Xanax, four bags of Crystal Meth and one bag of Pain pills. Geraldine gives Reggie a hard and upsetting look. It's exactly what it looks like.
"Where did you get this shit?" she asked "It was from that car that you shot up" Reggie eyes were looking down, she felt like a kid whose hand got caught in the cookie jar. "You stole? Are you fucking crazy? These are cholos, motherfuckers in that hood know each other" Geraldine exclaimed "Well, I was gonna sell them" she finally looked up at her friend "To who?" "Remember those guys that I know?" Geraldine cocks her head when Reggie mentions those peculiar people; of all of the people, why them?
"Don't tell me you're still doing jobs for those fools?" Reggie tries with the proper words "Here and there, nothing fuckin' serious" Geraldine grunts in anger "I told you before not to hang out with those fools anymore!" Reggie rolls her eyes "You said you wanted to make serious money,right?" she just had to remind her of that "Yeah I do! But I don't wanna get my ass shot up!" Reggie puts her hands on Geraldine's shoulders "Come on, don't you trust me?" she looks into her eyes, their full of desperation "I do trust you but not these motherfuckers, they would kill you and me to get some street cred" Geraldine knew the people that Reggie was hanging out with, a shady bunch that would likely kill their own mothers to make a quick buck. "Look, I'll ask them and see how they gonna give us. It'll take a while but their could be a lot in it for us" Reggie starts to put the bags back in the backpack, Geraldine felt uncomfortable doing this "Fine but if shit goes down it's on your ass" she reminded her, she gets on the Bati and starts it up.
"Don't worry, I got this" she reassured her friend "Man shut up and get that stuff out of here" Geraldine ordered "Frank's right, you gotta lighten up" "Don't bring him up! I'm sick as it is!" she was already sicken by Reggie's dirty little affair and by the bad luck of these narcotics.
Reggie rides off and disappears around the corner. Geraldine kicks the side of her SUV, she didn't like the idea of her and Reggie working for those people gave her an uneasy feeling; the thing about stealing from someone is that sooner or later they're bound to find whoever stole from them and make them pay. The results were usually bad. Trusting your friend is one thing but for Geraldine it was a lot more complex. The last job they took from those people involved an unknown package, a group of angry bikers and members of a South African drug gang, a crazy shootout and a shit load of dead bodies. That's the last thing she wanted, to be mixed up in any of that stuff again. Making money was one thing but she wanted too be alive to reap those rewards. Geraldine didn't feel like going back to the office she didn't want to hear it from Martinez, she's at Burger Shot she may as well stay.
She sighs, nothing is ever easy.
A day later
Geraldine stares from the pier looking at the boats and yachts sailing on the water, her phone rings; Reggie's name was on the screen. "Tell me you sold that shit?" she curiously asked "This takes time, so just chill, okay?" Reggie's advice seemed to annoy her "I'm gonna leave the bike at your place" "Why my place?" she asked "I can't keep at my place, I don't want Martinez gettin' suspicious" Geraldine shakes her head "Fine, just open the garage and leave it there" Reggie hangs up, why are things are always so complicated?
Geraldine arrives at her house, she managed to speed through traffic without getting a ticket. She opens the garage door, there was the Bati under a black tarp. She looked around making sure no one saw what was in her garage. Geraldine carefully took off the tarp, she was surprised that Reggie managed to bring the Bati in one piece, there wasn't a scratch on it. She was tempted to take it for a spin, remembering how the wind blew on her face, on the way it turned the curbs and the constant adrenaline rush that flowed through her veins. But she relented at the last minute, Geraldine didn't want Martinez to find that she and Reggie kept the bike for themselves.
Another time she told herself. Geraldine was eager to get rid of those drugs, if everything played out right they'd get their money. But knowing Reggie and the way things play out with them theirs a likely chance that shots are going to be fired.
Maybe she could get that money and make her dreams come true after all.
She quickly closes the garage and goes into her house. Geraldine closes the curtains, she turns the kitchen light on; heading to her bedroom, she opens the closet. She pulls out a rifle case and a cleaning kit. Heading back to the kitchen Geraldine puts both cases on the table; she unzips the rifle case, there lies an M-16. She disassembles it piece by piece. She lubes the bolt, next using the rag she carefully rubs the oil on the firing pin. Slowly Geraldine puts it back together, she puts an empty magazine in the chamber; aiming at the wall she squeezes the trigger. Click! If there was a situation that that needed this much stopping power, the M-16 was that one weapon.
Geraldine takes out the magazine and put's the rifle back in the case. She puts it back in her closet, hopefully she would never have to use that weapon but with everything that was going on it was only of time.
Geraldine sits on her bed and thought about what Reggie had done. Trust is usually a two way street but something's put that in doubt. This was Reggie, her best friend, a person who always had her back, somebody who was always there for her; the things that she would involve herself would make Geraldine question if they should still be friends. Reggie always claimed that she knew what she was doing, however on every occasion something bad would happen. She pulls out a cigarette and lights it, taking a quick puff Geraldine blows the smoke from her mouth; she always planned to quit smoking but it never materialized.
Sitting in the half lit room Geraldine wonders how long can she bounty hunting. Taking another puff she stares at the ceiling; how much more can she take?
Which was worse? The crappy pay? Or the cheap bounties that always went wrong? Nothing made sense anymore, she puts out the cigarette and calmly ponders what the next move is. Something formed in the pit of stomach, an uneasy feeling that she got. What was this? She thought; somethings are easy but somethings aren't. That's how things were in the hood, crazy beyond any god given reason.
Chapter 5 is coming soon. Rate and Review.