Page 135 of My Heart Still Beats
Is he armed? Probably. He told me to come unarmed. Which I didn’t, of course.
I look him straight in the eye. “Did you ever think of putting all that pent-up energy to use doing something good instead of something criminal?”
“That ship sailed a long time ago, Black. For both of us.”
I shake my head, stepping toward him. “That’s where you’re wrong. That ship didn’t sail. You fucking killed a man, Dirk.You. Not me. Not Carlos. Not Jerry. Maybe we’re accessories, but the actual murder? That’s on you.”
“Don’t forget whose idea the whole thing was in the first place,” he reminds me.
As if I could. But I don’t say this. Instead—
“I haven’t forgotten. It wasyouridea.”
“The fuck are you talking about, Black? I didn’t evenknowabout that warehouse.”
“And Idid?”
I’m playing a dangerous game, and I know it. Indeed, itwasmy idea to rob the warehouse, only because I knew there was a stash of cash there. Someone else apparently knew as well and got there first.
To his detriment. The poor fucker got killed by Dirk. Got his teeth yanked out by Jerry.
Wrapped up in my tarp.
After we stashed the body in the Boston Bay, I went back to the warehouse early in the morning and I scrubbed away every drop of blood I could find.
I was ready to put my share of the money back, but ultimately I decided not to. Why the hell should Jerry, Carlos, and Dirk get paid out and not me?
Dirk knows none of this. After that night, I told those three never to speak to me again.
They never did.
“It was self-defense,” Dirk says.
“He didn’t pull a gun on you.”
“Maybe he did.”
“You’re a fucking moron, Dirk. Don’t pull that shit with me. I know the truth. It was all your idea, and you needed me to come because I had a truck.”
He curls his hands into fists. “Fuck you, Black. It was my idea to hold up the convenience store. The warehouse wasyouridea.”
I shake my head. “You’re wrong. Why are you lying?”
“Why areyoulying?”
Easy. I’m lying because Carlos is in Mexico and Jerry’s in prison, so the only people who can corroborate Dirk’s story are a convict and a guy who’s not in the country.
I’m using my brain, which is what I should have done fifteen years ago. But I was being a dickhead back then. A fucking spoiled little rebel who didn’t want to pull his share of the weight in the household.
I was being a prick and a stupid ass. If I could take it all back, I would.
But I can’t. So I’ve got to get Dirk the hell off my back. Problem is? Sounds like he doesn’t have anything to lose.
He doesn’t mind going to prison and dragging me down with him.
I have great attorneys. There’s no body. There’s the tooth around Dirk’s neck, but I’ve got people who can make quick work of that.
No, it’s only my word against Dirk’s. And without a body, no charges will be filed against either one of us.
