Chapter 44: Opportunity in the Night

Marcus Risen was a young black man, trying to survive in the city’s ghetto district. Life was hard. He worked for Darnel, one of the guys who ran the different “businesses” in the hood. Everyone worked for someone here. Marcus had been teamed up with Jimi, and the two of them specialized in home robberies. They were good at finding empty homes, getting in and stealing valuables. They were quick to leave, too, which is probably why they were so successful. City homes had jewelry. Country homes had guns.

On this night, they were in a newer subdivision on the other side of the city. They cruised around, found a home with no lights on at 7:30 PM. A large pond was behind the house. They parked the stolen minivan, crept across near the pond and went up by the house. Marcus stared inside, finally getting a view of the front entrance. “I don’t see any alarm pad by the door,” he said. Jimi tried the window. It slid open a little. He paused. No alarm. He slid it open more. Not a sound. The place seemed empty. They first crept through the downstairs looking for occupants. If they found any, they’d leave quick. But this place was empty. Upstairs, empty too. They started looting the bedrooms, stuffing things into pillow cases. They went down the stairs, then the doorbell rang. Both men froze.

Stephanie Lockwood was a Senior Girl Scout at the age of fifteen. She was supposed to meet her friend Susan at 7:45 to go teach painting to some junior girl scouts. She got to their door at 7:45 PM, noticing the lights were all off in front. They must be in the back. She rang the doorbell. It made these loud ding-dong sounds, like a chapel or something. She waited, then waited some more. She was about to ring the church bells again when the door suddenly opened. No one was there, but a man in the shadows to one side said, “Come on in, they’re in back.” A little unsure, Stephanie gingerly stepped in. She’d been here many times before, so she started to go down the hallway, which was totally dark. She stopped, waiting for someone to turn on a light.

Marcus and Jimi had looked out the side windows and seen the little white girl. Who she was, they had no idea. But she didn’t live here if she rang the bell. She was alone. Jimi said, “Come on, why not? We’ve only been here ten minutes. What’s ten more minutes?”

Marcus, acting on 19-year-old impulse, said, “Fuck it. Ok, you go first, I’ll check the downstairs. Then my turn. Go on, just open it. Stay out of sight...”

Jimi opened the door, staying behind it. Marcus stood on the other side, out of sight. He said, all friendly-like, “Come on in! They’re in the back.” The girl stepped in slowly, took a few steps, the stopped. She was maybe 4’ 10” tall. Thin, long, straight brown hair. She had these nice titties, he wasn’t sure how big, but she looked young in the darkness. Jimi closed the door behind her. She turned, then Jimi grabbed her, covering her mouth and dragging her quickly upstairs. It took some effort; she was struggling quite a bit. Jimi kept saying angrily, “Move it, bitch! Move it! Move your sweet little ass, girl! Move!” He kept yanking her, keeping her off balance. Marcus saw he was handling her well enough, so he began searching the downstairs. He could hear the girl trying to scream, all the commotion upstairs. He heard Jimi punch her a few times. She quieted down to some muffled crying. Jimi was always yelling at her.