True To The Game III

Big Pimpin’

Gena had planned her day very carefully. It took much planning, and a little help from her family, to make things work. She just hoped that Brianna had planted the car in the right spot, and that Bria had handled her part. If they had, then things would go smoothly, or at least that’s what she was praying for.

Gena parked her car and strolled into the mall hoping that whoever her pursuers were, they would see her and wait in the parking lot for her to come out. Her plan depended on it.

Gena rushed through the shopping mall and into the department store where Bria worked. She made her way through the store to the junior miss department, which was her cousin’s department. Gena spied Bria behind the counter helping a customer. She made eye contact, and then stopped and pretended to be browsing through some dresses. Gena tried her damndest, but couldn’t tell one way or the other if she had been followed into the Gallery or not.

Bria finished up with her customer, then grabbed a dress and some shoes that she had held behind the counter. She also grabbed a large straw sun hat, a large handbag, and some sunglasses, and headed for the women’s changing area. Gena continued to browse through the department’s offerings until Bria returned to her counter and gave her a nod. Gena turned and headed for the dressing area.

Inside the dressing area, Gena walked from stall to stall, opening each door until she found the clothing that Bria had left for her. Once she found the right stall, she stepped inside, locked the door, and changed clothes.

The clothing change took less than four minutes. She turned and examined herself in the mirror. She looked completely different. It was perfect. Now, she just needed the last touch. She headed out of the dressing room, through the department store, and out into the mall. Bria had removed all the security tags for her, so she made it safely through the store’s theft detectors.

Inside the mall, Gena headed to her second stop, a large wig and beauty supply store. She knew exactly which wig she was looking for. It was the one with long braids. She was going for the How Stella Got Her Groove Back look.

Gena paid for the wig, walked to the mirror, placed it on her head, and adjusted it until it was just right. Once she was satisfied, she placed her large straw hat on her head and adjusted that too. Next came the sunglasses. Her entire getup was perfect. No one could possibly recognize her. Shit, I can’t even recognize myself.

Gena headed for a mall exit opposite to the entrance that she had come in. She strolled through the parking lot to a designated parking spot. The car was there, just like they planned; Brianna was on her job. A beige Ford Taurus that Brianna had rented just the day before was sitting in the parking space, with the doors unlocked. Gena climbed inside, lifted the floor mat, and found the key. She stuck the key in the ignition and started the car.

“You muthafuckas ain’t the only ones who can pull some 007 shit!” Gena said with a smile. “Shit, fuckin’ dead-ass Quadir following me around, like he’s fucking crazy. We’ll see who’s crazy, though. We’ll see.” She backed the car out of the parking space and headed for her first destination, checking her rearview mirror the entire way. Her plan had worked perfectly; no one had followed her.

Gena’s first stop was the Sovereign Bank on Twentieth and Market streets in downtown Center City. This was where she had gotten the safety deposit box and stashed half a million in jewelry. She waited patiently for about twenty minutes before a representative was able to help her. Finally, she was led in through a doorway to the back of the bank. She was seated in a tiny room where her safety deposit box was waiting for her.

“You do have your key?” asked the woman who had assisted her.

“Oh, yeah, it’s right here.”

Gena waited for the lady to close the door and she slowly unlocked and opened the safety deposit box. It was all there: the ten-karat diamond engagement ring Quadir had proposed to her with; the cluster diamond ring; the birthday charm bracelet that Quadir had given her on the night he threw her party; her diamond initial G pin that Rik and Lita had given her; two Rolexes; one Ebel; one Omega; one Cartier; two gold Gucci watches; one stainless steel and eighteen-karat gold Movado; four tennis bracelets; two-carat diamond earrings; fifteen pairs of gold earrings; and a slew of gold necklaces and bracelets. She removed all of her jewelry and carefully placed each piece side by side as she examined it all carefully. Out of everything in the safety deposit box, there was only one thing she wanted: her ten-karat diamond engagement ring. She slipped the ring on her finger and placed everything else back in the safety deposit box. She closed the lid and locked it.

Her next stop was the Thirtieth Street Station. She pulled up in front of the train station, parking her car at the Market Street side entrance. She took out two suitcases from her trunk and walked through the doors of the train station. She took the escalator down to a lower level where the lockers were located. She looked around and peered back up the escalator just to be sure no one was following her. The coast was clear.

Gena strolled down the row of lockers until she came to hers-405. She inserted the key, opened the door, and looked inside. Her small bundle was sitting just as she had left it. She opened the suitcase, pulled the bag from the locker, and neatly placed it in the suitcase. Lockers 405, 406, 407, 408 all held her secret stash, which totaled a little under $17 million. Once she was done removing the money from each of the lockers and placing it in the suitcases, she walked back down the hall, back up the escalator, and out the side door, carrying with her some $17 million in cold hard cash.

“Whew, that was crazy,” she said, once she was in the safety of her car. She looked around as she pulled out of her parking space, careful that she wasn’t being followed. This was the most dangerous part of all. For the first time since she had found it, the money was all going to be in one place again.

Her final destination was 4-U-Self Storage, where she could safely count the money she needed for Rik and the money she needed for her great escape, then tuck the rest away in a secure hiding place. She pulled up in front of the storage unit and used her key to open the lock on the unit. Inside were the contents of her house, which she had placed in storage once Viola threw her out into the street. She looked around at all her old furnishings and thought of the life she had once shared with Quadir. She went outside to the car and got the suitcases out of the trunk. She brought them inside the storage unit and closed the door behind her. She looked at the bags of money staring at her and thought of all the trouble the money had caused. It’s not worth it; you’re not worth it. She quickly counted out the money that she needed, the five hundred thousand she planned on giving to Rik. Then she counted out the money that she would take with her. This is my new-start-at-life money. Her plan was simple: She would take only what she would need to relocate herself. She had decided that the rest of the money would be safer here, tucked away in the storage unit, than with her.