The Jook

"Hey," Da

The gun went off again. He was shooting around, hoping to hit me. Obviously he still wasn't seeing good. I moved as fast as I could. The dude was blinking, trying to hear which way I was coming. His gun swung up, left, right, then dead on me. His eyes were looking better. Blood was ru

"Black bastard," he yelled, beating at me with his fist and trying to pull my mask off.

I guess my weight did it 'cause the truck went over the roadway, sliding down the hill. I held on, my arms pulled so tight I was afraid I'd dislocate my shoulders. It was only a few seconds but it seemed a lot longer. The truck stopped, wedged against some rocks and shit poking out of the hill. How long it would stay there I had no idea.

The breath was knocked out of me. I was laying all up in the cab, my arms barely able to move. But I had to keep pushing myself, I had to win. There would be no rematch after today.

The shooter was wailing in pain. The steering wheel and dash had collapsed on him. Using my feet I couldn't make a fist and my arms couldn't swing I knocked the shit out of the fool with whatever I had left. Suddenly dust clouds came up around us. The truck was starting to slide again.

"Zelmont," Wilma said from up on the road.

I was so goddamn worn out I was go

"Zelmont," she screamed.

"Get your ass down here and help me. This rig is about to slide down the mountain with our money." The fool pi

"Nap's hurt," she said. "Da

I stuck my head out the window as the truck wobbled some more. "Wilma, didn't you hear me? You gotta get down this hill now."

The sirens could barely be heard under our voices. We stared hard at each other. I started easing out of the broken window, but the truck was teetering and tottering so I stopped.

Da

"Come down here and get this cash," I shouted at Da

The young buck was looking back, then at Wilma, then at me. Panic was as plain as zits on the boy's face. "Come on, you and Wilma gotta do it." She looked at me as I pointed at her. "Yeah, miss thing, you gotta get dirty like the rest of us peasants."

Wilma was go

"Da

"Where's the money hidden?" Wilma asked.

"In the back, you gotta dive in."

The disgust on her face was enough to make me laugh, but I held off. "Here," I said, holding up the headpiece with its built-in gas mask. I'd snatched it off the driver.

"But"

"Hurry up, Wilma," I ordered her.

She scooted down to where I was. She put on the mask, giving me the evil eye with her beautiful browns. I pointed to the rear. "Get busy."

The truck creaked, and I was sure I was a goner. If that wasn't enough, the sirens were getting closer. But the truck settled, and Wilma got to work.

Calling up reserves from who knows where, I got myself loose and crawled over to the rear doors. The shift of weight made the goddamn thing move again. When it stopped I kept going to the back of the truck. Luck was with us and both of the doors had been thrown open in the crash.

I had to hand it to Wilma, she was getting the job done. I guess greed is a great motivator. She hauled out the wire bundles, dollar bills peeking from the edges of the brown paper they were wrapped in. She handed them to me and I passed them up to Da

"I think that's it," she said, taking off her mask. Garbage and stink came off her in waves. I sure hoped the cops didn't stop her. "Good thing there was a large bin along one wall underneath the garbage that the bundles were packed in."

I wanted to smile but I was having back spasms. Together with the hip I could barely move. "Help me up to the road," I said to her, sinking to one knee. Whatever I'd been ru

When I raised my eyes I saw Wilma standing over me. Despite the stains on her clothes and junk hanging off her she managed to look superior.

"The great Zelmont Raines," she snarled, hands on her hips.

She looked up at Da

"Fu

"Isn't it, though?" Wilma stared down at me.

Da

"Get Zelmont out of there." Nap had managed to half stand up, but he was damn near out on his feet too. "Do it." He spoke in the tone he had used so many times to get us fired up in the fourth quarter.

"Sure, Nap, that's what I was going to do." Wilma grabbed the front of my overalls and got me to my feet. As she did, the truck crashed down onto the hill, kicking up all kinds of dust and rocks. Me and Wilma just looked at each other.

"If we take Napoleon out of here we're bound to be spotted. The cops are probably going to be stopping all vehicles in this area, and four black people in one is going to attract attention."

I didn't like where she was going, but it did make sense. "Then you better leave me and Nap since we're both busted up and that will make the pigs suspect."

She shook her head up and down, excited-like.

"And the money."

The head shaking stopped awfully quick.

"If you're stopped you're go

"Man, fuck all that," Da

''Be cool, Da

"He's gotta have a doctor," Da

"What can we do?" Wilma said, a closed-in look twisting her face into different shapes. "We have to wait until things settle down."

"Settle down like hell." Da

"That's the second time you've called me that." Wilma pointed at him. "Don't make it a third."

I was impressed. Wilma was one fly lady. "Hey you two, I got an idea. You want to listen or should we have a falling out now and fuck everything up?"

I don't know how but they bought my plan. They left me and Nap with the ten neat, nice packages of money in the sewer pipe I'd been standing on earlier; Wilma said it was a storm drain. The lock on the grate was rusted, and a blast from the shotgun got the whole thing loose. Maybe the cops would find me and maybe they wouldn't. I was so beat up I didn't even care. Soon I heard cars screeching all over the place and people shouting. A helicopter was up there in the sky too. Nap had passed out, holding onto his side. I fell asleep from exhaustion.