Blessings of the Curse

Untitled Part 1

CHAPTER ONE

            "Joey, move it!  They're right behind us!"

            Joey looked in his rearview mirror.  Sticks was right, the cops were moving up fast.

            Damn!  Everything had gone wrong with this bank job!  He swerved left to pass a van, went through a red light and smacked into a Dodge Ram truck, clipping its front end and

smashing his own headlight on the Beretta.  It slowed him but he tramped on the gas and was back up to 65 in no time.

            While they were moving, they knew the police wouldn't shoot for fear of hitting civilians.  They, however, did not have such moral hinderances.

            "Lay down some cover, Al!" Joey shouted over the roar of the engine and following sirens.  Sticks was in the backseat freaking out, rubbing his hands over his shaved pimply head and repeating, "Oh, man, we're goin' 'ta jail, man!  I didn't sign on for this!"

            "None of this would've happened if it hadn't been for you, dickhead, so grab your piece and start shooting, or I throw your lousy ass out the rear window!!"

            Sticks didn't want to get into it with Al, so he did as he was told and leaned out the back window and started shooting at random, with no aim whatsoever.  Al turned around in the passenger seat and smacked Sticks in the back of the head, "Watch it, ya' damn fool, we don't have much ammo, make 'em count!"  They had to be careful with the remaining rounds for their pistols, and Al had only five in the shotgun.

            Joey glared at Sticks, why did he take that asshole on this damn job!  He knew better.  The kid was as green as newborn baby shit when it came to bank jobs.  But their usual third man was still in stir and Joey had to be the hot doging fool to try one more hit before the month was up.  They'd already robbed two banks successfully and he was still reeling from the high, but Benny got busted for trying to jack a 'vette in front of the police station.  Now that dumbass was still waiting to be arraigned and they sure wouldn't pay the bond for his stupidity.  Al had vouched for Sticks; said he had pulled off some small-time stuff and was ready to sink his teeth into something real.

            This was the last time he took Al's word.  They were fine until "trigger-happy" got all jittery and shot the security guard, who must have been about eighty, for having a heart attack.  He was ready to put a bullet in Sticks then, but they had to get out.  Now with a dead cop being their "Albatross," the noose was tightening around their necks.

            This new turn of events melted away the framework of Joey's confidence.  He hadn't planned on a car chase.  He didn't know what he was doing, but he knew he had to keep

driving until something came to him.  He tried to think of every movie he'd ever seen with a car chase for reference.

            He dodged and swerved, never once touching the brakes.  But now things changed from bad to worse as they were getting into road construction territory.  The two-lane road narrowed to one and he thought he could use it to his advantage.  He jumped into the lane with signs saying, "Do Not Enter," crushing orange traffic cones in his path.  But the terrain was getting really rough.  There were huge holes everywhere and the pavement was so chewed up that it made the car bounce like its wheels were made of flubber.

            Dumb move number one.

            He thought he might be forced to stop, but just then, Al nailed a tire on the lead car with the shotgun.  The cruiser spun out of control, flipped twice, bounced off a parked beetle, and landed upside down in the street, taking out two more police cars and blocking the road from pursuit.  Joey turned and watched as the skidding vehicle sent sparks that ignited the gas and the black and white burst into bright orange flames.  Two officers were still inside.