Robbie spent the afternoon doing laundry and cleaning his apartment. In the process he found Klay's keys in a coat pocket. He tossed them on the table and got back to cleaning. While doing the dishes, he thought about what he should do with the keys. That gave him an idea. Then he thought about what he could do with the keys. With all his chores done for the weekend he started planning his evening entertainment.
He took out an old backpack and made sure it was empty. Then he added two flashlights and some latex gloves. He also threw in duct tape just in case. He changed into all dark clothing, but opted not to wear the black stocking cap. Too cliche, he thought. As soon as it started getting dark, he drove over to Klay's apartment and parked where he could observe the front door and windows. He didn't know if Klay had a roommate, but thought he lived alone. Robbie had never been inside the apartment; he just knew where it was. There were no lights on and the apartment still looked vacant. He got out of the car, put on the backpack, and headed for the door moving like he belonged here. He thought about using the key without knocking; but decided against it. He didn't want to surprise anyone. Instead, he knocked on the door and waited. There was no answer, so he knocked harder and louder. He was just about to use the key when the door across the hall opened.
"He's not home, got arrested," the nosey neighbor said.
"O really?" Robbie said, playing dumb.
"Yea, and good riddance. Too bad it wasn't last month; I would have stayed," she said, "His music and parties kept everyone up all night. I gave my notice and I'm moving out in a few days," she said.
"That's too bad, they should have made him move out," Robbie said in support.
"You would think," she said, "anyway after the yard sale tomorrow I'll be done with this place," she said, looking at the peeling paint. She lit up a cigarette and blew smoke at the ceiling.
Robbie didn't know what to say, but she kept right on talking.
"You should come back tomorrow for the yard sale, it's gonna be huge. The manager is letting me use that big cement area to display all my stuff. That way people aren't traipsing through my bedroom all day," she said.
"O that makes sense," Robbie said.
"I got ads in the paper and signs out on the street. I hope I sell everything, I sure could use the money," she said, blowing more smoke.
That gave Robbie another idea.
"Would you mind if I brought out some stuff I wanted to sell?" he asked.
She looked like she was considering it so he decided to sweeten the pot.
"I could probably give you some money, since you took care of all the advertising and stuff," he added quickly.
"How much?" she asked.
"Twenty-five bucks?" he offered.
"Make it fifty and you got a deal," she said.
"Deal!"
"My names Polly," she said, putting out her hand, "if you say one word about a cracker, I'll spit in your eye."
"Thanks for the warning. My name is Robbie, nice to meet you,"
"I won't babysit your stuff, you gotta stand out there with me. I might have an extra chair for you though," Polly said.
They confirmed a few more details and Robbie said he would be back in the morning. As soon as Polly went back inside and shut the door, he unlocked Klay's door and slipped inside. He shut the door softly and locked it behind him. He opened the backpack and put on the rubber gloves, then used his sleeve to wipe the door lock and handle. He stood by the door and counted to sixty in his head while he listened for any sounds or movement. Hearing nothing, he turned on the lights.
The apartment was a mess, with garbage and shit all over the place. Must be the maid's week off. Robbie went room to room, turning on all the lights and having a quick look around. Only one bedroom, and only one bed, so it looked like Klay lived alone. With the quick sweep done, Robbie took off the backpack and got to work. He started his search in the bedroom, being as thorough as he wanted. Originally, he was only going to search for money, but now he was looking for anything of value. Turns out he was having a yard sale tomorrow.
He tore apart the bedroom first, finding a few things of note. Next, he tackled the small bathroom, and was thankful he brought latex gloves. The bathroom was fucking disgusting. Klay didn't deserve to get his cleaning deposit back. The living room was next, and went quickly due to lack of furniture and hiding spaces. The dining room only had a table and two chairs, and no hiding spots. The washer and dryer were tucked away behind accordion doors, and were also searched. Lastly was the kitchen, with its hundreds of tiny hiding spaces. It still took three hours to search the apartment, and pile up all the valuables on the table.
He found eighty bucks cash laying on a dresser in the bedroom. In a drawer he found dozens of photos of assorted naked women. Next to the pictures he found an old-fashioned video recorder and a shoebox full of 8mm tapes. None of the tapes had labels on them. He found a handgun in the fake fireplace, and more pills in a waterproof container in the dishwasher. He got lucky and found the hidden cash in the refrigerator by mistake. The fridge had two water bottles, one can of Pepsi, and over twenty cans of beer. Robbie wanted a bottle of water and had to move the Pepsi out of the way. It was super light and tipped over as soon as it was bumped. The top screwed off to expose the hidden safe inside, and the roll of money.
The cash, the can of Pepsi, the gun, the pictures, the video camera, and the 8mm tapes all went into the backpack. The drugs he stuffed under the mattress in the bedroom. There was no way he wanted those things back at his apartment. He turned off all the lights, and made his way back to the door. The hallway was clear as he stepped outside and quietly locked the door. He found a cigarette butt on the ground and propped it up against the corner of the door out of sight. If anyone opened the door between now and tomorrow morning, he should be able to tell.
Back home, Robbie went through the pictures one by one. A few of them were hot, but most of them were the sad kind of dirty. Only two of them were of Noel, and he spent some time looking at them. He thought about keeping them, but realized this was part of her dark past. Robbie had his own pictures of her now anyway. He burnt all the pictures on his small grill on the balcony. Later he watched exactly ten seconds of 8mm tape before ejecting it and burning all the tapes as well. He didn't know who the girl was, but he was pretty sure she wanted the tape burnt as well.
It was late, but Robbie texted his brother anyway. He needed some help tomorrow and knew he could trust his brother. Stevie texted back in just a few minutes.
Robbie - you up?
Stevie - yea, sup?
Robbie - need some backup tomorrow, waist deep shit.
Stevie - cool, where and when?
Robbie - my place, 7am, thanks bro.
Stevie - 7am, like in the morning?
Robbie - donut bribe unlocked
Stevie - fine
Robbie took all the money out of the Pepsi can and counted it. There was a total of $660, all in 20's. He tossed this into the lettuce crisper with the other money. The hollow safe disguised as a Pepsi can was also put in his own fridge. He put the gun in a Ziplock bag and hid it under the coals of his grill on the deck. The camcorder would be going back tomorrow for the yard sale. He only needed it to playback the videos from earlier. He set his alarm for 6am, and headed off to bed. He needed to get up early and buy donuts.
His brother didn't show up until 720, but that was considered close enough for Stevie. Robbie had his backpack, the camcorder, and a box of donuts ready and waiting. They got into the car and headed towards Klay's apartment.
"What the op?" Stevie asked as soon as the car was moving.
"You want deets or plausible deniability? You can have one, but you can't have both," Robbie said.
"Fuck it, let's go deets," Stevie said.
"I got Klay arrested, then fucked Noel. Today I'm going to sell his shit in a garage sale and then disappear like David Copperfield," Robbie said.
Stevie looked at his brother for a few seconds and then stared straight ahead.
"Nice. Now give me a jelly donut," Stevie said.
Polly had already carried most of her stuff set outside, but Robbie and Stevie offered to help with the heavy stuff. She was grateful for the help, and even more so for the donut. That seemed to cement their friendship.
The brothers made a few trips and got most of the valuables downstairs and laid out on blankets. Camera, video recorder, stereo, tv, DVD player, guitar, Xbox, and DVD's. Robbie went to work putting prices on stuff with a roll of tape, while Stevie ransacked the apartment and carried out everything he could. Chairs, tables, dishes, pillows, tools, and sports equipment. The crowd hit hard early and Robbie was doing a hell of a business. He accepted nearly every lowball offer and took cash as fast as he could stuff it in his pockets. Lots of neighbors came out and bought stuff too. They carried away Klay's belongings into a hundred different apartments. The foot traffic didn't slow down until eleven and Stevie was constantly running back up to the apartment because they were running out of stuff. Polly made her way over to where Robbie was standing and held out her hand.
"Make it a hundred bucks," she said, cigarette dangling from her lips.
Robbie pulled out some cash and counted out five twenties. She made them disappear into her bra like she had never heard of a purse.
"I know you don't live in that apartment, ain't never seen you before yesterday," she said.
Robbie just nodded.
"None of my business, as long as you're sticking it to that guy who kept me up all those nights," Polly said.
"Yea, I'm sticking it to him," Robbie said smiling.
By two o'clock the apartment was nearly empty. Nothing much left but the bed, some clothing, and the trash. Stevie kept bringing out shit that Robbie said would never sell. Then they laughed like crazy when it sold ten minutes later. They sold pots and pans, glasses, the toaster, a Keurig, and the vacuum. They sold a clock off the wall, and the mirror from the bathroom. They sold six pairs of boots and shoes, and an empty hamper that stank like feet. There was a dead plant in a cracked pot that sold for five bucks. People are strange.
At four pm Polly voted to shut it down. Robbie and Stevie helped her carry two of her big items back upstairs, and she gave them both a hug when they were done. It only took two trips to get the leftovers back into Klay's apartment, most of it rolled up in blankets. Robbie just dumped the bundle in the empty dining room. He took a butter knife from the kitchen and used it to remove the screws from the front door knob. He took the door handle with him when he left. On the ride back to his apartment, his brother was all smiles.
"This was fun, let's do it again," Stevie said.
When they got back to his apartment, Robbie emptied his pockets and they counted all the money. $877. Robbie took $400 of it and handed it over to his brother.
"Thanks for the help today, and for having my back," Robbie said.
