The Take by Mike Dennis Read Free Book Online

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 be lieve 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 be lieve 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

 
    C hannelview 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