11.

  Johnny was smoking a cigarette as he waited outside sitting on his doorstep at six A.M. Tabby was spending the night at Erica’s thank god, it’s best she had no idea what he was about to do tonight. Three pounds of marijuana, a felony offense if he was caught. If a sister were ever going to tattle on her older brother, this would the most convenient time for her to do it. He needed at least three other drivers if he was going to do this right. The plan was so simple in its complexity, and the theory behind it was sound. It would be enough weed to supply the cartel for the rest of the school year. It would be bought at a margin that could give him enough money to pay for two years in a dorm at UCLA. Tristian was the first to arrive. He had a beat-up Chevy. It was perfect. With him was another at-risk youth that he knew from the hood. For a five-hundred-dollar payday with almost no risk, Tristian’s friend was more than willing to help them out. Danny showed up, his younger brother with him. He was fourteen, and the promised five hundred dollar payday was more than enough to get him motivated. After all, that was enough for a PlayStation elite and at least three games. Next was Eddy, he had been one of the best drivers in school for over a year, and Johnny knew he had to use a wheelman that good. The three other drivers gathered around Johnny, the passengers standing outside of the circle as the plans were made.

  “Okay, so here’s how this is going down,” Johnny said. “We are going to take different routes on the way to my contact in Colorado. He says he can get us three pounds of product for the price of eight thousand dollars, now if someone were caught with this amount of marijuana, it would be a felony offense. That is why I will be transporting the product myself, all of it. It’s also why I need all of you to help me.”

  “What’s the plan?” Tristian asked.

  “First, we all go to my contacts house, in Colorado, he lives near the border with Nevada, so it’s a seven-hour drive two ways, so we’re going to be driving for a very long time. I got us some five-hour energies so we can get through it. This is a marathon, not a sprint. What we’re doing is big, but I want you all to know I’m the only one in any real danger here.” Johnny looked over his band of misfits, “If everything goes right, we can knock this out and be home before Sunday. I assume you’ve all told your parents you’ll be at a party tonight and you’re going to be responsible and not drive after said party, correct?”

  Eddy raised his hand, “My parents don’t give a shit where I am.”

  “You never cease to stop proving to me how crucial you are to my operation Eddy,” Johnny said, patting Eddy on the shoulder.

  “Yeah, I got a good cover too, and him,” Tristian said as he pointed at his friend.

  Johnny continued, “We will all take separate but equidistant routes to the contacts house, all arriving sometime around one o’clock. Now none of us will have any contraband in our cars for this first trip, right?” Johnny said looking at everyone, “We will not be high, we will not be drunk, we will just be kids visiting a friend a for the weekend, and on the way there, we will give the cops no reason to detain us and keep us from that goal.”

  Everyone nodded.

  “Now, once we are at the contacts house and the purchase is made, and the deal is fulfilled, the product will be loaded into my car, and only my car. Then we will leave to make our way back to L.A.,” Johnny said, “I will be the only car with the product in it. While it is usually unwise to put all your eggs in one basket, we are going to be smart about it. This is where all of your roles come in,” Johnny looked over the group of drivers. “We will leave the contacts House spaced six minutes apart. Eddy will be diving the first car, and his job is to be a lookout. He will keep his eyes peeled for any speed traps, checkpoints, or any other cop chicanery. Eddy will warn the rest of the convoy with these,” Johnny reached into the satchel sitting on his porch and pulled out a set of four walkie-talkies he had purchased from Home Depot after school, before the meeting. “If Eddy Sees something that is threatening,” Johnny pointed to Tristian and his Friend, “That’s where you two come in, you’re going to be playing the part of a reckless driver, swerving between lanes, not using signals, definitely drunk and maybe high, one blinker on even though you’re on the high way, and yes, being two black teenagers driving down the highway. You will do everything you can to draw the attention of the boys in blue. Of course, you will be stone sober, and if they ask to search your car, you let them. Reason one, it will distract at least one car for at least half an hour, because with your complexion, they are going to do a thorough search. Searching until they are quite disappointed because nothing is going to be in there. If Eddy sees a cop car that might be a problem you will distract him and get him to leave his post long enough to give you, at worst, a ticket that I will reimburse you for if it happens. If you are hit by a cop car, we will all pull into the nearest rest station and get some vanilla wafers and mountain dew from the vending machines while you deal with some racist cops who will find nothing but wasted time after searching you. After which, we get back in contact on our radios and rebuild the convoy” Johnny said, “I will be in the third car, carrying the entirety of the supply that my contact is giving us. I will be following both of you and passing right by the checkpoints that Eddy will warn me about, and you will distract for me, now Danny, you will be behind me, leaving just a bit after the rest of us do. The space between us will give you room to speed to catch up to us. With you speeding, you will catch any cops that happen to be behind us. And again, if you are pinched, we will stop at a rest area waiting for you. And if you do get a ticket, I will reimburse you, of course.” Johnny said as he started to hand out the walkie talkies to other drivers. “I’ll be on channel four, all of you need to turn your radios to that, and we will keep in touch on the drive.”

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Our appointment is at one o’clock, so we need to leave soon,” Johnny said, “In exchange for helping me with this, you will get a better margin than the members of the cartel that either couldn’t get a weekend free or are too chicken shit to go after a payday this big. If you’re having any reservations about this, remember, I’m the only one who will be doing something illegal. All the risk is on me, none of you have anything to worry about. So, knowing that, who’s in?”

  All three of the prospective drivers raised their hands.

  “Good to know,” Johnny said, “Now, let’s go traffic drugs across state lines.”

  Johnny passed out the address for his contact to the other drivers and watched as they left his house’s driveway to start the long ride to Colorado. He took a deep breath and got into his blue mustang and turned his key so he could begin to make the journey. When he turned his car his radio on started to play Convoy by C.W. McCall.

  Johnny turned the radio up and backed out of his driveway so he could start to make his way to Colorado.

  ***

  No one was pulled over on their way to Colorado, and with the impeccable schedule Johnny made for them, the entire convoy arrived at the contacts house at the same time. As they all got out of their cars, the contact came out to greet them. He instantly walked up to Tristian.

  “What’s up brother,” he said taking Tristan’s hand and pulling him into a black guy handshake embrace, “You Johnny right, get in here,” he said pulling Tristian to him.

  “No, I’m Johnny,” Johnny said as he got out, Danny, Danny’s brother, and Eddy followed him.

  “Oh shit, I didn’t mean to call him the N-word as much as I have,” the contact said to Tristan.

  “Are we doing this or not,” Johnny asked.

  “Oh shit, this cracker all business,” the contact said.

  “Yeah, he is,” Tristan said, “And he’s right. Are we doing this or not?” he asked.

  “Yeah, why you bring so many people though?” he asked.

  “He’s got some plan,” Tristan said, “Multiple cars, in a line, we’re here to distract cops,” he grinned.

  “You going to get shot,” the contact said.

  “It’s okay,” Johnny said, “I’m the only one who’s going to have shit with them, it’s all going in my car,” he said.

  “All right come on in,” the contact said.

  Johnny followed the contact into his house. Sitting on his kitchen table, was three pounds of the best weed one could get from a marijuana farm that failed the state government’s regulatory checks.

  “This is good shit, right?” Johnny asked.

  “Just as good as any other shit I’ve sent you,” the contact said, “You got the money,” he asked.

  “Yeah, I got the money,” Johnny said, pulling out an envelope filled with cash he had been stockpiling since his little enterprise started. He handed it to the contact.

  The contact took it, and flipped it open, looking at it, “You sure you can sell this much shit?” he asked.

  Johnny looked at the bricks of product, “Oh yeah, I’m very sure I can,” he said.

  Johnny loaded the product in the trunk of his Mustang. He hid it in the empty compartment that should have been holding his spare tire and then said a quick prayer that he wouldn’t have a blow out on his way back to L.A. As he loaded the product into his car. The contact gave Tristan one more handshake/embrace before the rest of the convoy got into their vehicles. They left in the order that Johnny had prescribed, leaving in six-minute bursts. Eddy, Tristan and his friend, Then Johnny, then Danny and his brother following right up behind him.