Outside the house a taxi pulled up to the curb and let four women out.
“Stop shoving me,” Little Esther said.
“Then get moving,” Pearl replied as she pushed her way out. “Somebody pay the man, cuss I ain’t,” she said as she slung her purse over her shoulder. “What’s wrong with their lights? Don’t people pay the electric company in this part of town?”
“It is mighty dark up there,” Little Esther said.
“Calm down, ladies,” Jolene said as she paid the cab fare. “Just go on up.”
“Lovely walkway,” Big Esther said as she led the women to the door. “Could be a little wider, though.” Little Esther got to the door first and rang the bell.
The sound of the doorbell made Max jump up and whine in Bennett’s lap. Bennett held the struggling dog in place.
“You,” El Barquero motioned to Jackie, “come over here. You,” he pointed his gun at Polly, “see who it is and get rid of them.” El Barquero grabbed Jackie’s blonde hair with one hand and pointed his gun at her temple with the other. “Come with me.” He began pulling her into the kitchen. “No one does anything stupid, or all of you are dead,” he whispered to Kip and Bennett as he dragged Jackie away. The doorbell rang again. Polly nervously walked toward the front door. El Barquero watched the front of the house from the darkened kitchen doorway while still holding Jackie at gunpoint. Polly tentatively opened the door.
“What’s the deal with your bust-ass lights?” Pearl asked.
“Non…non…nothing,” Polly stammered.
“Aren’t going to invite us in?” The little black woman tapped her foot impatiently.
“Not tonight,” Polly whispered. “We’re going to bed.”
“What about dessert?” Little Esther asked dejectedly.
“We… we already ate.”
“What?” Big Esther asked.
“We… we went out for sushi.”
“Sushi?” Pearl spat. “Woman, have you done lost your cotton-picking mind? You can’t even eat a steak without it being cooked until it’s like shoe leather. And you think I’m the one with issues.”
“I’m sorry.”
“So does this mean we don’t have to do any of that stupid meditation hocus pocus tomorrow?” Pearl asked.
“No. Intervention is cancelled.”
“Praise Jesus!” Pearl said, wringing her hands.
“Heavens, why not?” Jolene asked.
“I… I have to do my hair.”
“At the parlor?” Big Esther asked. “We don’t have an appointment. At least I didn’t think we had an appointment. Do we have an appointment?”
“No, I’m doing it here. Please, just leave. I have to go now,” Polly said as she closed the door.
“Indian giver!” Pearl shouted at the closed door. “And fix your damn makeup! You look white as a bed sheet. Rats.” She stomped her foot down on the front porch. “I sure wanted some dessert.”
“Well, that was a waste of time,” Big Esther said as she turned to leave.
“Hold on, ladies,” Jolene said as she looked around the front of the house. “Something is going on. Pearl would never eat raw fish.”
“And no one in this house goes to bed this early,” Little Esther added.
“And she would never do her own hair,” Big Esther said. “It’s so strange the way she acted.”
“You old fools are paranoid,” Pearl said. “Come on. Let’s go get some ice cream.”
“Pearl, this just isn’t right,” Jolene said. “I think we should check it out.”
“Check what out?” Pearl asked.
“Something,” Jolene replied. “Anything. If there’s a problem and we just walk away, I could never forgive myself. Let’s go around back and look around. Just to be certain.”
“All right, then,” Pearl relented as she pulled a small .38 Special special snub-nosed revolver from her purse.
“Good Lord, Pearl,” Big Esther said when she saw the gun.
“I thought the judge said you couldn’t have a gun anymore,” Little Esther added.
“He said I couldn’t have a gun. He didn’t say anything about a backup gun. This is my backup. Girls, meet Judy.”
“Judy?” Big Esther asked.
“That’s her name.”
“Why Judy?” Jolene asked.
“Because she packs a punch. Come on now,” Pearl said as she opened the revolver’s cylinder to check her ammunition before spinning the cylinder with a whirl and snapping it back in place with a flick of her skinny wrist. “Follow me.”
“Here,” Little Esther said as she pulled one of her knitting needles out of her bag and gave it to Big Esther.
“What do I do with this?”
“Hold it like this,” Little Esther said, wielding her other needle like a knife.
“What about me?” Jolene asked.
“Just stay behind us and don’t make a sound, if you can manage, you old loudmouth cradle-robbing hussy,” Pearl said. Jolene frowned. The girls sneaked their way around the right-hand side of the dark house to the kitchen. When they reached the back door, the ladies all placed their ears to the door and listened.
“What are we listening for?” Little Esther asked.
“Movement, voices, anything,” Pearl replied.
“I don’t hear anything,” Big Esther said.
“If you can’t hear anything with those big ears, they must be asleep,” Pearl quipped. “Let’s go.”
“Go?” Jolene said. “We have to be sure nothing is wrong.”
“That’s what I meant.” She raised her pistol and reached for the doorknob. “Inside, but real quiet-like. Take off your shoes first. Those heels make a racket.” The girls complied. Pearl opened the door and the girls slipped inside on their tippy toes. Pearl motioned with her pistol toward the door to the main part of the house. “You go that way, I’ll check the back,” she whispered. Sneaking down the hallway, Pearl found nothing out of the ordinary. Turning around, the hallway was empty behind her. “Girls?” she hissed. “Where are you?” Getting no response, she crept down the hall. Peeking around the corner into the main part of the house, she spotted a group of huddled figures standing in the dark. Pointing her pistol in front of her, Pearl inched her way into the room. Suddenly, something smashed down on her arm, causing her to drop her pistol. In front of her stood the strongest-looking man she had ever seen.
“Over with the rest,” Barquero growled as he picked up the gun and stuck it in his waistband. “Now!”
“Boy, I’m going to break my foot off in your backside if you don’t give me little Judy back.”
“Shut up,” Barquero said, pushing the tiny woman across the room as he pointed his pistol at the group.
“Please, don’t kill us,” Polly begged.
“At least we got baptized recently,” the trembling Little Ester said.
“That damn Mr. Wu,” Pearl said. “If he’d taught me some of that Bruce Lee stuff like I wanted, I’d rearrange this sucker’s face.”
“Quiet!” Barquero yelled.
“I’ve seen your face, boy. I’m your worst nightmare!”
“Be silent,” Barquero quietly commanded as he pointed his gun right between Pearl’s eyes. Miss Pearl just crossed her arms and scowled. One by one, Barquero used zip ties to bind his hostages’ hands and feet before tearing strips of duct tape to cover their mouths. Max received the same treatment. Bennett struggled the most. He received a pistol butt to the back of his head for his efforts.
“That should be it right there,” the police escort said to Agent Diaz as they pulled up in front of the columned white house.
“The one with no lights?” Maria asked.
“Yeah. That’s the one,” the officer answered as he shut off the police cruiser’s engine.