The New Union

We drove through the night, making sure to stay under the speed limit. For most people that wasn't a problem, but my friend Tyrone tends to have a bit of a led foot. Craig and Lita were guarding our human cargo, making sure to send them back into dream land if any of them regained consciousness. Craig and Lita were more than capable of the job at hand. Lita was my fiancee's sister, and has beaten every man her sister has been involved with to a bloody pulp, including myself. I guess I was just persistent enough to be considered worthy by her. Craig was a physical specimen that was beyond compare. He was a Samoan, roughly six foot three and a head like a rock. I've seen a man hit him with a hammer in the head, and he didn't even flinch. His hands were the size of two industrial sized cans of tomato soup, and his legs were thicker than most trees in existence.

I heard one of the rednecks try to mumble something, and Lita kicked him so hard in the mouth, he didn't dare make another sound. We were almost home when I seen the blues and white flashing behind us. Fuck, Tyrone just couldn't keep it under the speed limit. I knew I should have driven. Craig, immediately took action, and knocked out the trash in the back seat, making sure they wouldn't speak up. He pushed them towards the side of the van, and threw the blankets we had stashed over them. The cop was now exiting his car, and my heart started beating a little faster.

"Damn it Tyrone! We fucking kidnap some people and your ass just can't keep it under the speed limit!" I scolded.

"Don't worry man, I got this," Tyrone calmly replied. The officer approached the window, and Tyrone already had his license and proof of insurance ready. I could only hope this was one of those forgiving cops, that would maybe give us a ticket, and let us be on our way. If he was one of those, "step out of the car please" types, we were as good as fucked.

"I stopped you because I noticed you were speeding, and I didn't see you wearing your seat belt," the cop informed us.

"Oh I had my seat belt on officer, I'm very adamant about the seat belt law," Tyrone answered, flaunting the fact that he was wearing a seat belt.

"Well, be that as it may, you were still speeding. I'll need your license and proof of insurance. You guys haven't been drinking tonight have you?"

"No sir, we're on our way back from a church function. We were helping them clean up, and it ran a little late," Tyrone told him.

The cop didn't respond verbally, he just kind of shot Tyrone a look that said, "I know you're full of shit," and went back to his squad car.

"I swear to God Tyrone, if I get caught because of your bull shit," Lita said.

"You're not going to. Calm down, this motherfucker is cool, I can tell," Tyrone replied. We all waited in silence until the cop came back. We were all doing our best to hide how scared we really were. If the cop sensed something was wrong, he would have called for back up by now, so from the looks of things, we were all right. Things could change in the blink of an eye though, and we all knew that. These were the types of scenarios we had been preparing for. The cop made his way back to the window, and handed Tyrone his information back.

"Its your lucky night tonight, I'm going to let you off with a warning. You're lucky I just got a call about a teen party that's getting out of hand. You keep it under the speed limit, or you'll be seeing me again."

"I'm sorry officer, we were all just a little tired tonight. I wanted to get us all home as quick as I could," Tyrone lied out of his ass.

"Be that as it may, you want to get there safe," the cop said as he started to walk away. "By the way, I'm not buying your bull shit church story, and your lucky I'm in a hurry."

The cop got back in his car, and Tyrone put the van back into gear. We all finally exhaled as we started back down the road and I lit up a victory cigarette. The cop followed us for about a mile or so, before passing us like we were standing still.

"Tyrone pull the fuck into somewhere, I'm driving the rest of the way," I said. I wasn't about to let something like that happen again. You would think something like that would keep Tyrone from speeding again, and if was anyone else, I'd say you were right. I've known Tyrone too long to know that he was not that type of person.

"Man, fuck that. We won't get caught again," Tyrone replied.

"Tyrone, pull the fuck into some place and let Virgil drive!" Lita shouted.

"Fuck all of ya'll... Fine, whatever, I'll pull over," Tyrone said as pulled into a McDonald's parking lot. We all got out of the van to stretch our legs, and I decided I to pick up a Big Mac while I was here. I walked into the McDonald's and immediately drew the stares of every employee there. I guess that happens when you walk into a McDonald's minutes before they're about to close. I approached the counter, and the girl reluctantly greeted me. I ordered my food and began my staring contest with the girl working the register.

"You look like you've had a rough night," she finally managed to tell me.

"You really have no idea," I answered, realizing my face was probably a bit swollen by now. The girl just rolled her eyes, and handed me my bag. I walked back out to the van where everyone was waiting, and took a bite of my sandwich. I could taste the spit mixed in with the lettuce, and I was so hungry, I didn't even care. I hopped into the driver's seat and we continued down the road. Tyrone turned the radio back up, and bobbed his head to every song that came on. Other than that, the ride back was fairly quiet.

Another half hour, and we pulled into the driveway of our house. That's right, our house. We all lived there, we all payed for it, it was our house. It further cemented the fact that we were all in this together. I wasn't even halfway down the gravel driveway, and Marta was already out of the house waiting. As soon as my feet touched the ground, she had her tongue halfway down my throat.

"I missed you," she said.

"I was only gone a few hours," I replied.

"And I missed you more every minute."

Tyrone gave a mocking awe as he hobbled out of the van. He was always a little bit slower getting in and out of things ever since the injury. Before it, he was an all star athlete, full of potential. You would never know it though, as slow as he moved now. He could hurry when he had to, but on average, he was in too much pain to move fast. Marta flicked him off and he just laughed. Craig started carrying our cargo inside, one on each shoulder, and Lita just went back into the house, not saying a word.

"Everything went okay?" Marta asked before she took a look at my face. "Oh my God! Are you okay!?"

"I'm fine baby, just got a little roughed up is all. It looks worse than it is."

"Well it looks awful!"

"You worry too much, just go to bed okay? You have to be up early tomorrow to make it to work on time. Don't let us keep you up. Everything is fine, I'll be up before you know it."

Marta and I kissed one last time, and she dragged me by the hand into the house. She made her way up the stairs, and I watched every step she took until she made it into the bedroom. Craig carried the last two downstairs, and I lit up a cigarette. I sat in the dark and smoked the entire thing, going over in my head exactly what I was going to have to say and do in just a few minutes. Tyrone, Lita, and Craig walked in and I knew it was time.

"Is everything ready?" I asked.

"You know it is," Tyrone answered.

"Well, let's get this over with."

We walked down the stairs, and into the basement hallway. Lita and Craig went into the room where we were keeping the other three, and Tyrone and I entered the room with confederate flag hat boy. I was pleasantly surprised to see him. I didn't even request him, I just left it up to my colleagues to pick who the lucky victim was. God works in mysterious ways sometimes. At least that's what I would say if I believed in Him. I smiled and lit up another cigarette, Tyrone grabbed the bucket of water laying next to me and threw it on the unconscious bastard tied to a chair in front of me. Hat boy woke up in a daze, and I took a huge drag of my cigarette, finishing it off.

"Well good morning, let's have a little chat shall we?" I asked, putting my cigarette out on the floor. Phase two was now under way.