Get It Girls (7 page)

Cookie removed the knife from Vonda’s nose and surveyed all four helpless girls. It seemed the more fear they showed, the more powerful she became. Cookie nudged her friend with her elbow and asked, “Yo, Denise, what the fuck you think we should we do with these bitches?”

Denise, who had a knife pressed up against Jessica’s throat answered sadistically, “Let’s cut one of their faces off and send a message to these other hoes.”

Lynn squealed involuntarily.

Cookie folded her arm, tapped the blade against her head, and then smiled wickedly. “No, I got a better idea.” She chuckled and looked down at Lynn with lust in her eyes then turned to her friends and stated, “Yo, remember what we made those bitches from the Eastside do?”

A sickening smile came over all their faces as they nodded their heads knowingly. Cookie turned her attention back to Vonda, Jessica, Lynn, and Tiny. Her eyes fell upon Lynn again and she demanded, “Get on ya knees and start sucking this pussy.”

Lynn began crying louder at the thought of it.

Denise began to rub her pelvis up against Jessica, then placed her hand across her breasts and said, “Oh, Cookie, I want this one. She’s the baddest one out of all of them,” as she examined Jessica up and down.

“Not me,” Cookie replied. “I like my bitches thick. Take that bitch into the corner.”

Nikki grabbed Lynn by her arm and shoulders and tossed her down to the ground in the corner. Lynn called out to Vonda and Jessica for help, but they were powerless. There was simply nothing they could do at that moment with the knives at their throats.

Cookie told Tay-Tay to watch Tiny and walked over to Lynn, who had started to cry out of control. Nikki returned to Vonda, grabbed her from behind, and held the kinfe in place just millimeters from her throat.

“Shut the fuck up!” Cookie undid the zipper of her jeans and approached Lynn, who was on her knees pleading for her not to do that. “Start licking this pussy, bitch!”

“Please, don’t. I’m begging you,” Lynn tearfully pleaded.

Cookie suddenly unleashed a vicious slap to her face and threatened, “If I have to ask you one more time what to do, I’m gonna cut your fucking titties off!” Cookie grabbed a handful of Lynn’s hair and buried her face into her crotch.

Jessica and Vonda squeezed their eyes closed, feeling totally helpless.

Moments later you could hear Cookie moaning. “Oh, shit, this bitch got it going on. Ooh, lick that shit, bitch. Lick it!” After few more minutes, she shifted her attention toward Tiny and ordered Tay-Tay, “Put her on her fuckin’ knees too.”

“No!” Tiny screamed in panic.

Tay-Tay attempted to grab her and force her to her knees, but Tiny’s nimble body and small frame allowed her to slip free. Tiny quickly kicked off her heels and made a run for it out the building’s front door with Tay-Tay chasing behind her. The diversion gave Vonda and Jessica enough time to catch their assailants off guard and make a grab for their knives. Vonda fought Cookie and Nikki at same time, proving to be too much for the both of them as she kicked and punched them as if her life depended on it. Jessica and Denise fought viciously for control of the knife. Jessica held on to the Denise’s hand, refusing to let it go. As they fought, Jessica suddenly lost her balance from the high heels and they both fell backwards awkwardly to the ground with the Denise landing on top of her. The struggle came to an abrupt halt followed by a blood-curdling scream. It was so loud that it caused Vonda, Nikki, and Cookie to stop in their tracks and stare at the two girls on the floor. Denise slowly began rising to her feet. Jessica remained still as her face and white prom dress were saturated with blood.

Vonda immediately broke free of Nikki, went into panic mode, and rushed over to her friend’s side. “Jessica!” Vonda screamed. “Oh my God, Jessica, tell me where she stabbed you at?”

Jessica said nothing and only stared back. Vonda continued to check her fallen friend’s bodily injuries and that’s when she spotted Jessica gripping a bloody knife tightly in her hand.

Everyone’s attention fell upon Denise. It was then that she slowly turned around, holding her neck region. They watched in dread as Denise gasped for a breath with an overflow of blood spewing from her fingers like a water pump. The girl’s eyes pleaded for help as she stepped drearily toward her partners in crime, but they were too shocked to offer her any assistance. It was obvious by the amount of blood streaming from her neck that her jugular had been severed. It appeared she wanted to speak, but the only sound that came out was sickening, gurgling sound as blood began to fill her throat and lungs. She stumbled to the ground and made a feeble attempt back to her feet, but lost her balance again and fell headfirst into a wall before finally collapsing into Lynn’s arms.

Lynn screamed in sheer terror and panic from all the blood that began seeping on her. She pushed Denise’s body away, backed into a nearby corner, and screamed as if she were losing her mind. Nobody moved or reacted, still too shocked to comprehend what was happening. They watched the fallen girl twitch violently before her body became deathly still.

Cookie and Nikki immediately retreated out of the building, leaving their fallen friend behind. As Vonda was helping Jessica to her feet, suddenly a door to one of the apartments opened and an elderly man yelled, “What’s going on out here?”

Jessica and Vonda were still too shocked to respond, and the elderly man’s eyes grew even wider when he surveyed the grisly hallway, with smeared in blood all over floor and walls. But, when he saw the bloodied, lifeless body sprawled across his hallway floor his mouth dropped. He turned to look in the other girls’ direction and saw Jessica, with a bloodied face and clothing, holding a knife. He slammed the door immediately, locking it behind him and the girls heard him yell from behind the door, “Clara, call the police!”

The building’s front door suddenly flew open, startling Jessica, Vonda, and Lynn. It was Tiny, who came back with a broken-off beer bottle in her hand. Tiny approached them cautiously, and it was then that she noticed the blood filled crime scene and body lying on the floor. Tiny dropped the jagged weapon as her hands flew over her mouth and she began to throw up violently.

When the police finally arrived they did a full investigation of the crime scene and spoke to all the tenants who lived in the building, including the 911 callers. As a squadron of uniformed police and detectives did their investigation, the coroner hauled the body of twenty-year old Denise Jackson to the city morgue. The detectives took pictures and blood samples from Jessica, Vonda, and Lynn’s clothing for evidence to build a case against the four other girls being sought.

Soon after the police arrived, the four girls were taken the station to give their statements and go through mug shots. The girls were allowed to call their parents, who came down to the precinct immediately. Once the parents arrived, the police started taking their statements since they were all underage. They questioned the girls for several hours before they were finally released to the custody of their parents under the strict contingent they not leave town and would be available for more questioning as the need arose.

**********

Jessica’s mother and father consoled her in the days following the incident and could never imagine how traumatizing the event must have been on her. Jessica was torn to pieces knowing she took the life of an individual no matter if it was an accident or not. She explained to them everything that led up to the event, only leaving out the part about the hotel.

Vonda, Jessica, Tiny, and Lynn talked on the phone daily and agreed to stay consistent with the story to protect themselves from their parents finding out they had sex in a hotel. They vowed that whatever happened, they would not tell the authorities or anyone else about it.

Several days later they were informed that the ring leader, Cookie, had finally been arrested and refused to give the authorities a statement about the two other suspects.

**********

Exactly one week after that fateful night, Vonda, Jessica, Lynn, and Tiny attended graduation and received their diplomas. After the ceremony, they were outside taking pictures with their now former classmates and families when they were approached by the two New York City detectives who had originally taken their statements the night of the murder, along with two uniformed officers, who informed them that they were all being arrested for the murder of Denise Jackson.

The girls were at loss for words as the detectives produced their handcuffs to arrest them in front of their family, classmates, and onlookers. Each girl’s family member grew alarmed and confused at what was going down and refused to allow the detectives to touch their loved ones, especially Jessica’s father.

“My name is Mr. Jones. What do want with my daughter? She didn’t do anything,” he protested and moved in front of her.

“Sir,” responded the tall white detective, “we have a warrant issued for the arrest of . . .” He paused and read the names on the arrest warrant. “. . . Claresse Maynard, Lynise Davis, Vonda Williams, and Jessica Jones.”

Mr. Jones pleaded, “No, there’s got to be some kind of mistake. My daughter did nothing wrong. She—”

The detective rudely cut him off before he finished. In his experience, it was better to make a quick arrest and let them deal with the court system. “Sir, what you need to do is step to the side before you are arrested for obstruction.” He pushed Mr. Jones aside with a forearm, and the people in the crowd expressed their displeasure toward his callous behavior.

As the officers approached the remaining girls, Vonda’s mother immediately cursed them loudly. “Don’t even think about putting you fucking hands on my daughter, motherfucker!”

A loud cheer erupted from the crowd. The situation grew even tenser when the officers saw Vonda’s three huge brothers surround their baby sister, ready to challenge the officers by any means necessary.

One uniformed officer had the good sense to radio in for assistance. The second detective, black and in his late forties, decided to play peacemaker to circumvent his partner’s insensitive behavior. “We are only doing our job. If you want to be heard, you will have to see the judge at this point and all will be straightened out if they are innocent like you say. Trust me, you don’t want to do this.” He turned his attention to Vonda’s mother and assured her, “I’ll ensure that they are taken care of before their arraignment. The best thing you can do right now is get them a lawyer and arrange bail, and she will be out sooner than you think.”

Mr. Jones searched his eyes and had no choice but to believe him. He nodded and hugged his daughter and told her she would be ok and he would get her out soon. The other officers then stepped in to handcuff them, but the black detective waved him off and, for the sake of their parents, simply escorted them to the cruisers.

Reality set in when Jessica, Vonda, Tiny, and Lynn were taken to the precinct and booked, photographed, fingerprinted, and thrown into a holding cell. Each girl cried and pleaded to the police officers that there must be some mistake and they hadn’t done anything wrong. But their pleas fell on deaf ears as the robotic officers only told them to “Tell it to the judge.”

After being processed, they were taken by van to central booking. It was if they were dreaming when they arrived handcuffed inside the huge ominous and decaying processing center. When they entered the bowels of the hub, it was then that they heard the deafening sound of screaming and threats from other women prisoners because they looked like easy victims.

Finally, they reached the end of the corridor and were thrown inside a solitary, dimly lit, primitive jail cell. As a promise to their parents, the detective arranged for them to have their own cell, away from the other women. Everything looked dirty and smelled horrible inside the tiny space, and the girls were horrified when they saw large rats roam freely in and out of their cell. For the first two hours inside the filthy cell, the girls refused to even sit on the dirty and dusty benches, but after several painstaking hours, they not only found themselves sitting on the uncomfortable benches, but they found themselves lying on the filthy floors as they took turns standing watch in case a rat approached.

Finally, after nearly nineteen hour straight hours, the girls’ names were called.

“Claresse Maynard, Vonda Williams, Lynise Davis, and Jessica Jones!” bellowed the burly female officer.

The girls hurriedly stood to their feet in complete happiness and answered, “Here!”

An officer opened the cell door and escorted them through a maze of underground tunnels that seemed to go on forever. They were placed in yet another holding cell and were met by their lawyers a half hour later.

Vonda, Lynn, and Tiny had public defender, Isaac William defending them, while Jessica was seen by a private attorney, Donovan Butler, hired by her family. As courtesy, the two lawyers took notes together with all four girls present to ensure that they would all have the same strategy anticipating bail, then spoke to their clients separately at the end. They decided that they had a greater chance of painting a clearer picture if the girls were tried together instead of separately.

The lawyers explained their charges and court procedures to them. The girls anxiously told the attorneys their side of the story, that they didn’t start it and they were only defending themselves. They felt they were the victims. The attorneys wrote down everything they were saying and assured them everything would be ok. They were told that their names were already on the docket and it wouldn’t be long before they saw the judge.

As promised, the four girls were led inside the court room only minutes later. The girls’ terror-filled eyes darted and scanned the court room when they finally entered, looking for the familiar faces of their loved ones.

Ten minutes after entering the courtroom they were led in front of the judge. Standing before the judge with their lawyers standing beside them, the girls were trembling as they waited for the judge to finish reading the dockets. Finally he addressed them.