The Take Read online

  “Felina, you’re blowing this way, way out of proportion. You’re his woman. He wouldn’t hurt you.”

  Acid crept into her voice. “Yeah, I’m his woman, all right. He’s fucking three other bitches that I know of right now. Probably more. Are they his women, too? Tell me, Eddie. Are those bitches his women, too?” The sweet lilt was gone from her accent, elbowed out by this feverish anger.

  Eddie didn’t want to get into any of this.

  “Felina, I don’t know what he does in his spare time. I —“

  “Listen. What I know could put him right in the death house. As long as I’m alive, I’m a threat to him. He thinks I could give him to the cops. Or worse yet, to Salazar.”

  “Shit, you wouldn’t do that.” It was more of a question. But by now he wasn’t sure what she would do.

  “No, but he thinks I would. He thinks I’d rat him out. Last night after you left, he warned me not to try it.”

  “Well, I think he knows you well enough to —”

  “Eddie, wait. You don’t understand.” She put a hand up to silence him. “I’m like, a witness, you know? For a million dollars, he’s not gonna leave any witnesses.” Then she said softly, “You, Eddie. You’re a witness, too.”

  His head moved forward a little, in sync with the slight dropping of his jaw. He didn’t say anything for a few seconds. Then, “What the hell are you talking about?”

  Her tone ratcheted downward, becoming steely. “He’s gonna kill you. Today, in Denny’s parking lot when you go to meet that loan shark. He’s gonna be laying for you.”

  He grabbed her arms, then jostled her a little. She yielded, turning rubbery in his grip. “What do you mean, he’s gonna kill me? Why’re you saying this?”

  “`Cause it’s true!” Her eyes flared, as she shook loose from him. “He told me he was gonna take care of you today and grab your share of the money. He knew you’d have it with you.”

  She was right. He wouldn’t leave it anywhere, especially now that he knew Salazar had survived. His only choice was to skip town, pronto. Val knew it, too. Val also knew that before Eddie went anywhere, he had to get straight with Raymond Cannetta. “He told you he was gonna do that?” His voice was ice.

  “This morning. As soon as he found out about Salazar. He said he was gonna go to Denny’s and ‘take care of a few things’ was what he said. Eddie, don’t you see? The prick wants it all. He fucking wants it all. And with the both of us out of the way, he’ll get it!”

  He believed her. Shit, he wanted to believe her. Her quick eyes and hard manner belied her childlike face. It was an innocent face, one that veiled the fiery woman he wanted. And when he looked at that face, his fantasies took him straight into the swamp.

  Just one look, that’s all it took.

  “Why’re you telling me this? Why’d you come here?”

  “He treats me like shit,” she exclaimed. “He fucks those other women whenever he wants to, and then he comes home and slaps me around. He hurts me bad, Eddie.”

  His heart sank at this thought. How could she ever put up with it? Was Val’s sway over women that powerful? “H-he hurts you?”

  Turning on the sofa to face away from him, she undid the first couple of buttons of her gray cotton blouse. She pulled it down over her shoulders to reveal wide red welts and healing scratches across her back. Eddie gasped for real. Then she looked back at him.

  “From his belt. And his buckle, too. When I wouldn’t give him head the other night.”

  He gathered her in his arms, then stroked her bare brown shoulders, easing his fingertips over the raised welts. She felt good. Better than good. Better than he’d ever imagined, and he had imagined this moment many times.

  She whimpered a little, as if she were about to cry, so he held her just a little tighter to guard against it.

  “It’ll be all right, baby,” he said. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  “Eddie, we’ve gotta do something. He plans to kill us both.”

  He continued caressing her shoulders, pulling her blouse down just a little further. She didn’t stop him.

  “I’ll get there early and wait for him,” he said. “I’m packin’ heat, so if he tries anything, I’ll just plug him right there.”

  Felina sat up straight. She pulled her blouse back in order.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” she said.

  “Whaddya mean? Why not?”

  “Because. You don’t want to turn Denny’s parking lot into the OK Corral. The cops’d be swarming all over the place in no time. You might not get away. There would be witnesses for sure and somebody’d probably get your license number. Besides, he might get you before you got him.”

  “You got any better ideas?”

  “Well …” Her arms tightened around him; she buried her head in his chest.

  “What?”

  “He can’t hurt us if we’re not here, can he?” she murmured into his shirt.

  “N-not here?”

  She let out a single giggle. Then she pulled away to face him, as a trace of a smile cracked open. “Not here. As in gone.”

  “You mean. … you mean, leave town? Together?”

  “We’re in this together, Eddie. We both need to get away. If we leave together right now, he’ll never find us. It’s a big country.”

  “But he’ll come after us for sure. Especially if he knows I’ve got you and the money. And then there’s Salazar. Shit, he’ll never stop lookin’ for us.”

  “Salazar? Where’s he gonna look? He’s never gonna know where we are. Think about it. How’s he even gonna know who we are?” She was now referring to them as a unit: we. It sounded good. He was growing to like it.

  “Where we gonna go?”

  As he started to think about it, he became distracted. She moved just a little closer to him. He searched the deepest part of her eyes and found what he was looking for. At long last!

  “Far away,” she breathed. Her lips moved next to his, then her eyes began to close. “But … oh Eddie, right now, right this minute, just promise me you won’t let anything happen to me. Ever. Promise me. Please …”

  His mind reeled. He whispered, “I promise, nothing will ever happen to you, darlin’. I’ll never let —”

  She shushed his lips with her slender index finger. “Please protect me, Eddie. Please don’t let him get us.”

  She kissed him long and wet. He reached for the top button on her blouse. Her hand came up to hold his.

  “No Eddie.” Her voice was so soft now, so feathery. He could’ve sat right there and listened to it forever. “Not here. Not now. We’ve got to get out of here.”

  Eddie kept fiddling with the button, more quickly now, but just couldn’t get it undone. She pulled his hand away.

  “No Eddie, please. We can’t. Please.” She slipped from his grip, but still held his eyes. “I’ll make it all up to you, Eddie. I promise. I promise you …”

  She melted into his chest for another urgent kiss. Finally, all he had ever hungered for in a woman was right here in his arms, her writhing chest pressed against his, wanting him … only him.

  6

  Eddie punched up the numbers on his cell phone.

  “Raymond? This’s Eddie. Listen, I got your money, Raymond. All of it … yeah. Yeah, but I can’t meet you at our usual place today. I just can’t, man … No, no, I’m in a spot, Raymond. I’ve — I’ve gotta … No. You can’t come here. I gotta lay low for awhile. I know, I know what I promised. This isn’t an excuse, Raymond. I got all your money — the whole load. Right. Vig and all. Maybe I can send it to you — you know, registered mail or something? Shit, I know you don’t do business that way, but I’m in a jam, Raymond. No, I wanna pay you back, I swear, I got it all right here. It doesn’t matter where I got it, I just got it. All of it. Raymond, I’m not trying to … Raymond?” Click. “Raymond? Raymond?”

  Hanging up, he faced Felina. “We’ve gotta get out of here. Now.”

  “Why
can’t you meet him somewhere else?” she asked.

  “Val knows I might not want to meet him at Denny’s if I’m carrying all this money around. He might figure I’d make the drop in a more private place. He’s not gonna take any chances, so he might be tailing Raymond this morning. That’s probably why he sent you out to Channelview, so he could take care of me while you’re gone. Now, let’s move.”

  ≈≈≈

  Raymond Cannetta slowly replaced the receiver on the hook following Eddie’s frantic call. He sipped his morning coffee as he studied the newspaper in front of him:

  Police speculate robbery was the motive. Salazar’s passport was found on his person … believed he was carrying a large amount of cash … no suspects at this time.

  Calmly, he lifted his phone receiver off the hook and punched in a number.

  “Artie? You up? Well, get dressed. We’ve got a collection to make. Meet me at …” He thumbed through his address book, stopping at Eddie’s name.

  ≈≈≈

  Eddie grabbed the old leather suitcase, then started for the door.

  “Is that … is that …” Felina stammered, pointing at the suitcase.

  He nodded. They knew it might as well be loaded with TNT, as they warily headed down the stairs.

  Before stepping outside, Eddie opened the door a crack to survey the street. His car still sat right in front with a ticket on the windshield. Nobody lingering where they shouldn’t be. Everything normal.

  “Okay, let’s go,” he said. “And remember, we’re just another couple loading our car for a weekend trip.”

  They walked out casually. After placing the suitcase in the trunk, they climbed into the car. He drove around the block to see if anyone followed. When no one did, he aimed the Toyota for the freeway.

  “You said your mother lives in Channelview?” he asked, as they rode the ramp onto the East Freeway. She nodded, then he said, “Let’s go there. Just like you were supposed to. You got any clothes over there?”

  “A few things. But if we go there, Val might be waiting.”

  “He won’t be waiting. More than likely, he’s on his way over to Raymond’s right now to see where he goes for his meeting with me. He’s probably planning to take care of you later.” He accelerated up to about sixty-five, then cruised. “Can you believe that son of a bitch? I trusted him. I been trusting him all this time. We been friends for years. Shit, he got me my bettors for my first football pool back when we was in eighth grade. And now this. Can you believe this shit?”

  Felina remained silent while they headed out of Houston. Eddie ran it all over again in his mind. He let Val talk him into this crazy heist, which was bad enough. That right there could’ve got him killed, you know?

  But then, the betrayal. He would’ve been shot dead today in Denny’s parking lot, right in broad daylight, without even knowing what happened! Without even knowing. Val was just going to let him have it, probably in the back.

  Son of a bitch was gonna do me in. Yeah, with me outa the way, he’d be in the clear. Right in the clear … and with all the goddam money. Son of a bitch!

  7

  Channelview was a short drive out the East Freeway. Felina’s mother lived in a tumbledown trailer park a minute or so from the exit.

  They motored to a unit near the south edge of the park, bordering on a vacant lot. As Eddie pulled up, he saw the aging trailer listing a little to one side, although it really looked no worse than any of the others in the drab collection.

  Dark-skinned kids ran around everywhere, while clothes hung from makeshift lines. A few dogs moved listlessly here and there. Heavy vegetation around the perimeter of the park helped keep the air still. He noticed the trash hadn’t been picked up in at least a couple of days. The odor didn’t travel well in the high Texas heat.

  “Give me a minute,” Felina said. “Just let me run in.”

  Eddie shut the motor off. As Felina skipped up the narrow steps to the door, he reached into the clutter of the back seat and fished out a week-old newspaper. Luckily, it was the sports section.

  Felina put her face up to the aluminum screen door. She looked into the trailer’s compact interior and from back in the bedroom, she heard the TV.

  “¡Mami!” she called. “¡Mami!”

  “Ay!” came the response. “Felina.” Her mother came quickly. “¿Qué pasa, querida? Todo va bien?” There was motherly worry in her voice.

  “Yes, Mami, everything is all right. But I can only stay a minute.”

  Her mother unlocked the door and Felina greeted her with a big hug. The trailer was the same as she had left it on her last visit a couple of weeks ago. It had always been the same her whole life, spare and clean, except for the new couch her mother bought about three years ago. A loveseat, actually. The place was too small for a full-sized couch, but the loveseat fit perfectly.

  Her mother had saved for a long time to buy it and she was thrilled the day it arrived, delivered and everything, straight from the outlet store. Felina had made a special trip out there that day because she knew her mother wanted her to witness the arrival. Since that great day, it had held up pretty well. Before anyone sat on it, her mother always placed towels on the cushions to keep them as free from wear as possible.

  Felina hugged her and kissed each cheek, wishing there were something like that she could do to protect her mother’s once-flawless face from the onset of aging.

  She knew her mother was at least forty, or maybe older, and the woman’s classic Latin beauty was being slowly devoured by time. The first etchings of lines were just now attacking her around the eyes and cheeks. Her satiny skin had grown thicker and dryer, surrendering the resilience Felina had always felt when she touched it. It no longer emanated that honeyed glow, and while she was still a lovely woman, she had relinquished her youth forever.

  Upon seeing this, Felina recoiled slightly. With a touch of horror, she saw herself twenty years from now, and heard the ticking of a clock for the first time in her life.

  Ticking second by second, downward to zero.

  Even though she was now only twenty-four, she realized these same forces were right now planning out their attack on her own radiant skin and sleek figure, patiently waiting for the first moment when they would decide to show themselves. When they did expose those first tiny signs, Felina realized, the floodgates of aging would be flung wide open, and she would be helpless to resist, able only to kneel and surrender, as her dear mother was doing now.

  Suddenly aware of this time limit, she knew she had to do something with her life before the zero hour arrived.

  As they broke from the hug, their eyes met. Smiles leaped off their faces and Felina embraced her mother once more for good measure.

  They exchanged loving phrases in rapid Spanish, and her mother went to the bedroom to retrieve her can of Dr Pepper. When they finally sat on the toweled loveseat, Felina asked, “How is everything?”

  “Oh honey, it couldn’t be better. I have picked up two more houses to clean. One is for a city councilman of Pasadena. That’s a very good one. Four days a week.”

  “Mami, that’s wonderful.”

  ”And with the extra money, I now have cable TV.”

  “Cable TV?” Felina knew the breakthrough that represented. Even with the taped-together rabbit ears, her tiny, antiquated TV could barely pick up the Houston stations out here.

  “Yes honey. I now get Univisión. The all-Spanish channel. I can watch all my telenovelas, and even Don Francisco every Saturday night.”

  “I’m so happy for you, Mami. But I don’t want you to overwork yourself.”

  “I’m not,” she replied as she finished off her Dr Pepper. “Even with the new jobs, I’m only working about fifty hours a week.” She got up and went to the kitchen area, depositing the empty can in the trash. “Speaking of work, how’s your job at the cleaners?”

  “Well … that’s why I came here today, Mami. I won’t be working there any longer.”

  “No?
Do you have a better job? Modeling maybe, like you always wanted?”

  “No, Mami. Not modeling.” Her mother’s jaw sagged just a tiny bit. Felina picked up on the disappointment. “In fact, I — I — well, I won’t be working for a while. I’m —”

  “Won’t be working? Not working? Why not? That boy Val, is he making you quit? Is that it?”

  “No, no Mami. It’s not Val. In fact, I’m not with Val anymore. He’s …” She sighed while she tried to think of how to explain it. “I’m with someone else,” she said, gesturing over toward the window.

  With a little effort, her mother looked out over the sill to where the dented orange Toyota was parked, Eddie inside reading his paper.

  “Who is this?” she asked, ready to add another male name to an ever-lengthening list.

  Felina took her mother’s hands in her own. “Mami, I’m leaving Houston.”

  “¡Ay! ¡Diós mío! What is happening? What is wrong? Why are you —”

  “Everything is all right, Mami.” Felina squeezed her mother’s hands. “I promise you, nothing is wrong. Eddie — that fellow — and I are just going away for a while. Just a short while until …”

  Her mother’s voice escalated to more frantic levels. “My darling, my darling Felina! You are leaving? Why? Where are you going? Wh-what is all this?”

  “Please, Mami. Please. It is all right. I will be all right.”

  “Where are you going?”

  ”I’m … I’m not sure yet, but I will call you soon. In a few days. I promise.”

  ”You are leaving Houston? And you don’t know where you are going? How long will you be gone?”

  Felina hugged her to calm her down. It did, but only a little.

  “Mami, Mami, listen to me. I’m not leaving for good. Just for a little while, like I said.” She turned her mother’s head so their eyes locked, then said, “All of our problems will soon be over. I swear to you. But you must wait for a little while.”