Got any bleach?
— Mr. I.D.K.
My lifters in L.A. were gone, and I still had one house left to hit. I decided to do it myself, like the old days.
I wanted eyes outside while I searched for the mark's Bitcoin seed words, and I didn't want to work with a stranger. So, I called on somebody I knew through the Boxtan Inn. Nono's brother Jojo.
Jojo left Gary under less than optimal circumstances back when I was working at the Boxtan. He tried to join Foke's crew, but Nono said, "NO." I guess Nono didn't want his brother in the business.
Jojo left for California, looking for greener pastures. He said if I was ever in L.A., I should look him up.
And there I was. And so I did.
I shouldn't have.
Jojo was nothing like his older brother, Nono. He was maybe five inches shorter and a hundred pounds lighter, which still made him larger than the average guy, but he was no beast. I thought that might make him more covert.
Nope.
Jojo showed up dressed in black from head to toe, with a baseball bat, because that doesn't look suspicious at all.
Still, it should have been fine.
And to make matters worse, he followed me into the house.
I said, "Jojo! What are you doing?"
"Yo, I'm branchin' out. Time for me to learn from a pro. Foke says you got mad skills."
"You told him you're working with me?"
"Foke's the man. Wanted his OK, just in case. Don't you worry. He said he ain't tellin' Nono. We good. Let's do this!"
"You're my lookout. I need you outside!"
"No worries. They ain't comin' back anytime soon."
I should have bailed. Instead, like an idiot, I stood there, arguing with an idiot. When I heard a car drive by, I realized I was wasting time.
Everything in the house was sparse. It should have been easy to search.
I told Jojo to at least keep watch by the front door, but he followed me from room to room, like an overgrown puppy, furry ears, wagging tail and all.
I couldn't find the mark's Bitcoin seed words. I was about to give up when a vehicle pulled into the driveway. Its doors opened, then slammed shut. One. Then another.
I yelled at Jojo. "Dammit! Somebody's here! This is why you were supposed to be outside! Keeping watch!"
We were standing in a long hallway with two arched openings halfway down. One led to a stairway, heading to the basement. The other led to an office. At the far end of the hall was a kitchen with a side door. It was the only other way out of the house.
Jojo just stood there, like he was waiting for me to tell him what to do.
"Fuckin' A, Jojo! RUN!!!"
I could hear somebody fumbling with keys in the front door.
As it opened, a voice said, "What the... Did you leave the place unlocked?"
Another voice said, "No way."
I always lock the door when I enter somebody's home. I must have forgot when Jojo followed me in.
As I watched him go lumbering down the stairs, I turned to run, but I went the wrong way. I meant to head for the kitchen, but I went straight into the office instead. It had a desk and a bookshelf, but nothing big enough to hide behind. There was an open window with curtains, but it was blocked by a screen that wouldn't budge. I dove into the closet and pulled the door closed as quietly as I could. It was a small space, but I'd be fine as long as nobody searched. I'd be fucked if they did.
I could hear voices inside the house.
A man said, "Is somebody here?"
Another said, "Did you hear that?"
I heard it too. It was Jojo, in the basement, probably looking for a place to hide.
This wasn't my first time getting stuck in a home when the mark returned, but this was different. These men knew they weren't alone, and I was running out of options. Hiding in a closet didn't seem like it'd be enough, so I did what I had to do.
Sorry, Jojo.
Right beside the closet I was hiding in, there was a desk with a coffee mug being used as a pencil holder. I opened the closet door and reached for the mug to grab everything in it. I flung it all as far as I could, out of the office and across the hall. Pencils and pens hit a wall before pinging and bouncing down the stairs. A man came running from the living room, following the noise, down to the basement. TROMP! Tromp! TROMP!
The other man shouted, "What's going on down there?" Then he went thundering down the stairs too. Tromp! TROMP! Tromp!
I couldn't risk leaving the office until I knew I had a clear shot to the kitchen, to escape out the side door. I gently closed the closet again, hiding myself inside, as the voices downstairs started to scream.
"Look out! He's got a bat!"
"Get him! Get him!"
...then I heard a gunshot, followed by more screaming.
...there was another gunshot.
...then silence.
...then, I heard a guttural sound, and a deep oafish shriek, followed by another gunshot.
...then a thud.
...then more silence.
It could only mean one thing. Jojo was down.
A third man shouted, "Jesus Christ! Are you guys OK?" and a pair of tromping feet came from somewhere, heading down the stairs.
Then I heard mumbling.
I pulled down some coats and covered myself as I cowered into as little space as possible, at the bottom of the closet. I wanted to run, but I had no way of knowing if there was a fourth man, still upstairs. I had no choice but to wait it out.
I heard the men dragging what had to be Jojo's dead body up the stairs.
"Who the fuck is he?" a man said.
"I don't know."
"What do we do with him?"
"I don't know. Throw him in the truck. We'll dump him. Got anything to cover him up?"
"Yeah."
A third voice said, "Was he alone?"
"I don't know. Get him in the truck, but wait for me. Got it?"
"Yeah."
As footsteps approached where I was hiding, I realized Mr. I Don't Know was searching the house.
All I could do was wait, and hope Mr. I Don't Know wouldn't check the closet I was hiding inside. But he did.
The door opened, but nothing happened. The moment of nothingness felt like a year that lasted a lifetime.
I could hear a man breathing.
I wondered, "Why is he just standing there?"
My heart was pounding.
I heard him sniff. And sniff again. But why?
I was hiding under a pile of coats. Coats, in Los Angeles? All I could do was wonder, "Who the hell are these guys?"
I held my breath.
A voice said, "So, he was alone?"
Mr. I.D.K. said,"I don't know. I didn't find anybody. Got any bleach?"
"You wanna do that first?"
"Fuck it. Let's get rid of him. We'll clean it up when we get back."
Then, the closet door closed. The footsteps walked away, and I exhaled.
Moments later, I heard the sound of a truck peeling out.
I waited until I could convince myself everyone was gone. Then, I crept out of the closet to find a trail of blood leading from the stairs to the front door.
I couldn't face that. Not even to pass through, not even for a way out. And I didn't trust that the coast was clear on the other side.
I snuck out the side door and vanished.
I'm a ghost.