Wreckless (4 page)

“
Oh God, please have
mercy!” she screamed.

Even though she knew it was every person’s
own decision to make, she couldn’t help but scream out for her
friend’s soul to be at peace. Saundra lay out on her back. Now she
could feel the pain in her feet and legs. With her arms stretched
out wide, she talked to God.

“
Heavenly Father, I want
to give thanks to You for this day. It has been the worst I have
experienced, but I am still thankful. If it is Your will, Lord,
please send backup to come and help me out. Your humble servant,
Saundra. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Saundra wiped her face and got back to her
feet. She headed towards the BP, but now she was limping. Thinking
she never should’ve stopped, Saundra increased her speed, making
the pain increase as she tried desperately not to feel sorry for
herself.

Feeling all over the place, she ran with the
wind lashing at her tear-stained face. Headlights shone in the
distance. Saundra gasped and looked back. They were getting closer.
Fear fell over her. She did just ask for help, but she had to make
sure first. She dropped to the ground again, this time trying to
hide behind the tall grass. The car slowed and the lights
brightened. Saundra didn’t make a sound. The car passed her, almost
coming to a stop. It crept along and Saundra looked up to see if it
was Jasmine. Sure enough, her worst fears were certain. Jasmine
kept going down the road. Saundra thought about turning around. She
was literally stuck between a rock and a hard place. On one hand,
if she turned around, the only thing she could do was run to the
same gas station she had just fled from. Surely there was someone
inside since they managed to occupy Jasmine’s attention while she
made her escape. However, she was just about halfway to the BP.

Saundra watched the car continue down the
road. When she felt at a safe distance, she sprinted in the
direction she had just come from. Never had her legs move so fast.
Her heart beat rapidly and Saundra saw more headlights coming her
way. She waved her arms in the air frantically. With her legs
moving at turbo speed, she ran out of the gravel onto the paved
road, making sure the car didn’t miss her. As the truck got closer,
the driver took notice of her and slowed down. Saundra was
ecstatic.

“
Yes, yes, yes! Thank You,
Jesus!” she shouted.

The trucked pulled up beside her and Saundra
got a good look at the driver.

“
Maurice!” she
yelled.

Saundra couldn’t be happier. Not only was
this someone she knew, but someone she could trust. God always came
through. No doubt about it. Maurice rolled down his window.

“
What are you doing?” he
asked.

Without hesitation, Saundra ran around to
the passenger side door and got in. Maurice took a good look at
her. She looked a mess.

****

Down the road, Jasmine took a look around.
From what she saw, Saundra was nowhere in sight.

“
Where is she?” Jasmine
muttered.

Irritation was an understatement. Jasmine
couldn’t believe she’d let this girl get away. This would be the
end of her life if Saundra got to the authorities. Driving back the
way she came, Jasmine continued to look for Saundra.
She
couldn’t have gotten far
, she thought. Reaching for her phone,
she dialed Maurice’s number. The phone rang six times before going
to voicemail. He was pissing her off. It was like he was playing
games with her. He knew he needed to be next to his phone, and yet,
he was not answering again.

Jasmine noticed a truck sitting to the side
of the road. The headlights were on and the truck was obviously
idle. Now she was paranoid. She redialed Maurice, not taking her
eyes off the truck. There was movement inside as her eyes connected
with Maurice. She hit the brakes hard, her tires squealing and
coughing up dust.

Putting the car in park, Jasmine jumped out
and ran to the driver’s side. Maurice rolled down the window.

“
Why aren’t you answering
your phone?” she yelled. “Do you know what I’m going through? Do
you think this is a game? I . . . ”

Her words trailed off when a trembling
Saundra came into view in the passenger seat. She reached in and
slapped Maurice across his arm.

“
You got her! Why didn’t
you just say so? Open the door!”

Jasmine went around to the passenger side
and reached for the door, but Saundra hit the lock button to keep
Jasmine out.

“
She’s crazy!” Saundra
yelled at Maurice.

In a tough situation, Maurice tried to
figure out whether to see this thing through.

“
Wait,” Saundra said, an
eerie feeling forming in the pit of her stomach. “What does she
mean? Why didn’t you tell her you had me?”

“
Maurice, unlock the
door!” Jasmine yelled.

He sighed heavily and unlocked the door.
Jasmine yanked the door open, reached in, and grabbed for
Saundra.

Saundra kicked and swung at Jasmine,
desperate to keep her away. Jasmine grabbed one of her legs,
pulling her out of the car. Saundra hit the ground with a hard
thud.

“
Ouch!” she
screamed.

“
More than that will be
hurting if you don’t stop fighting me,” Jasmine threatened.
“There’s no use.”

Saundra screamed and kicked. She would never
give up. Maurice jumped out of the car and hurried to the passenger
side.

“
Get away from me!”
Saundra screamed at him.

“
Calm down . . . calm
down!” he repeated.

“
No! Nooo!” Saundra
yelled, kicking and swinging.

Maurice helped Jasmine get Saundra off the
ground. He held her tightly while Jasmine tied her hands with the
same duct tape she’d escaped from earlier. Jasmine ran to the car
and popped her trunk.

“
Throw her in the back,”
she ordered Maurice.

Saundra shook her head no and begged.

“
Please . . . please don’t
put me in that trunk. I’ll be on my best behavior, I promise!” she
yelled.

Jasmine tore a long piece of duct tape off,
placing it over Saundra’s mouth.

“
Someone’s coming,”
Maurice said, gesturing to the car coming down the road.

He picked Saundra up and carried her to the
driver’s side of his truck, where she would be hidden from view.
Jasmine quickly closed the trunk of her car. The last thing she
needed was someone seeing Teresa’s corpse. The car stopped and the
window rolled down. A Caucasian male with a long beard leaned
out.

“
You need help, pretty
lady?” he asked, his thick country accent evident.

Jasmine smiled brightly. “No, I’m good. But
thanks.”

“
You sure you don’t need
any help? I’ve got just about anything you might need in the
trunk.”

“
Oh no. My friend over
here helped me.”

He sized Maurice up. “I guess. Well, take it
easy.”

Jasmine and Maurice watched as the car made
its way down the road. Jasmine then went to the driver’s side of
Maurice’s GMC Sierra.

“
Put her in the trunk of
your truck,” she said.

“
I’ll put her in the back
seat,” Maurice countered.

“
You need to put her in
the trunk. What if a car pulls alongside of you and sees a female
tied up in the backseat?”

She did have a point. Still, he couldn’t see
putting Saundra in his trunk. The drive across town was not long
enough for him to figure out what he would do once he got here.
Now, he might be in a possible situation he couldn’t get out of.
Maurice looked down at Saundra. Tears were flowing out of her eyes
and she shuddered. Maurice swallowed rigorously. Who was he? How
had he come to this?

“
Jasmine, maybe we should
let her go.”

Jasmine’s eyebrows rose with surprise. “Why
would we do that?” she asked.

“
Look at us; look at you.
Are you this person?”

Jasmine huffed and sighed exasperated. “Of
course not! I let my madness get the best of me and killed Teresa
by accident.”

“
Accident?” Maurice asked
skeptically.

“
Yes, accident, I wasn’t
trying to kill her -- just beat the brakes off of her. What can I
say? She knew I was in love with you, but she had sex with you
anyway. She always did stuff like that and she got what was coming
to her!”

Saundra listened as Jasmine ranted. Maurice
felt sorry for Jasmine. He never knew Jasmine had strong feelings
for him. If he did, he would’ve told Teresa to come to his house.
He wasn’t the type of guy to stir up drama.

“
Now, it’s too late to let
her go. She knows too much. Do you want to go to jail -- or better
yet, prison for the rest of your life?”

Maurice definitely didn’t want to go to
prison, but he didn’t want to keep up this charade, either.

“
That’s what I thought,”
Jasmine said, taking Maurice silence for his answer. “Now, put her
in the trunk.”

Part 4

One hour later . . .

In the parking lot of a Super 8 motel,
Maurice took in everything that just happened. When he woke up this
morning, he had no idea he would be in this mess by the day’s end.
His parents didn’t raise him this way. He grew up in church and
even sang in the choir. He was taught to love people and honor and
obey God, so what was he doing? He watched as Jasmine parked and
went into the motel. She wanted to go into the wooded area to find
a place to bury Teresa and Saundra, but Maurice talked her out of
it. He still needed time to get his mind right. Realistically,
there was no way he could go through with this. Telling her to get
a room so they could just calm down and be alone for a while seemed
to peak Jasmine’s interest. Using people was not his forte, but
Jasmine gave him no other choice. She was dead set on getting rid
of the girls. On the other hand, Maurice was no longer feeling it.
Sure, he had partied, been with different girls at different times,
but killing and burying people was for someone with no soul. He
condemned himself for not pulling off with Saundra when he had the
chance. Even though he was a man, peer pressure was a beast. Now he
would have to figure out a way to get Saundra out of this.

The thought of going to prison resounded
through his mind. Maurice tried to shake it off, but to no
avail.

You don’t want to go to jail or prison,
do you?
Jasmine’s words kept repeating.

She was right, but so was he. This road was
particularly dark. There were three cars in the parking lot. The
last sign of life was on the last exit. It was like Jasmine knew
her way around this area. He wondered if she had done something
like this before. It sent chills down his spine wondering about it.
She was so cold. To think Jasmine did all this because she was ‘in
love’ with him was insane. He felt sorry for her future husband,
whoever he would be.

There were two streetlights next to the
hotel at the entrance, just enough light to be seen coming into the
office. The rest of it was in complete darkness. Maurice checked
his glove compartment. The three-eighty his dad bought him for
Christmas last year had a chrome barrel. He only fired it on the
range and Maurice didn’t want to use it tonight. Usually, his glove
compartment would stay locked so no one could steal it, but
tonight, he would leave it unlocked just in case.

“
Jesus, please forgive me.
I know I have done wrong by You. I don’t know what I was thinking.
Sometimes we can be so selfish, you know? I never meant to hurt
anybody. I’ll never do anything like this again. Please help me get
Saundra out of this alive.”

He looked up and Jasmine was standing at his
door. He flinched and rolled his window down.

“
You could’ve tapped on
the door or said something instead of standing there looking
crazy.”

“
Well, excuse me. I
thought you saw me. What are you doing in there -- falling
asleep?”

“
Not quite,” he
said.

“
Room 223. It’s around the
back.”

“
I’ll follow you,” he
said.

Maurice followed Jasmine around the back to
the room. He managed to convince her not to put Saundra in the
trunk. So she was laid out on the floor in Jasmine’s back seat. He
backed into a parking spot, parked, and jumped out. Jasmine walked
in front of him and smiled. She handed him the key card.

“
After you,” she
said.

“
Aren’t you going to get
her out of the car?” he asked.