Mike didn't get drunk much. He and Cindy would go out on the town maybe a handful of times a year. Tonight they went out with the Peterson's -- Tom and Tara -- to celebrate the 30
th
anniversary of their successful local business, DSP, an electrical contractor.
So when Cindy realized they had forgotten the pictures of their son's college graduation at home, she had to go get them. Mike was way too drunk for the errand. He and Tom had been matching each other drink for drink and Mike was about 30 minutes from being sloppy drunk. At the moment he was only feeling-no-pain drunk, but certainly in no shape to drive. And Tom was no better.
Cindy had had a few Cap'n & Cokes and was probably legally over the 0.08 limit but was confident about driving.
"Oh, Cindy!" said Tara. "You don't need to go get them now. We can look at them another time."
"No, no. I really wanted to bring them tonight. Stupid of me to forget. You guys stay here. I'll be back literally in 10 minutes."
"Then let me come with you!"
"Tara, you stay right here and keep an eye on these two," Cindy said. "I think they'll need all the help they can get."
Mike and Cindy Stanton both worked at DSP. Mike was a sales account manager and a big part of DSP's success. Cindy worked in the office. They had been friends with Tom and Tara Peterson for over 20 years. Tom personally hired both of them and never regretted it. Their families were very close.
As Cindy walked out of the bar, every man in the place watched her leave. Cindy was 45 but had the body of a much, much younger woman. On this summer night she was wearing a snug-fitting white button down shirt -- the kind with no collar -- and a short, tight black skirt. It wasn't gaudy-slutty short but it was less than halfway down her very nice looking tanned thighs. Her slender legs sat atop 3" black heels that she totally rocked. Cindy worked out regularly and lots of men in town were glad for it.
With her blonde hair and pretty face, she drew a lot of attention. When she left, the guys at the bar just shook their heads and muttered something to the guy standing next to them.
"She didn't need to leave for those pictures," Tara said to Mike & Tom.
"Oh heck!" Mike said. "Let her go! She'll be back before you know it. Tom! Let's have another!"
Cindy and Mike had a very nice home in a nice quiet neighborhood on the south edge of town. It wasn't a
huge
home but it was very nice with nice things in it.
It was those nice things that Curtis, Trent and Shake were intending to take with them as they walked in the darkness through the Stanton's backyard toward the back patio door. Shake's cousin, Tonya, worked in the office at DSP and had once overheard Cindy mention that they kept a spare door key under a planter by the shed.
"Fuck yeah, I got it," Trent whispered holding the key to the back door.
"OK, let's be real quiet and get in there," Curtis said as they approached the patio door. "The jail don't need 3 more niggas in it. I can't do that again, man."
Once they got inside, they all froze. Tonya said she knew nothing about a security system or a dog or anyone being home. Mike and Cindy's kids both lived in another city. They felt confident the coast should be clear but guys a lot more sure than them had ended up doing a couple of years for something like this.
"Alright, I'm gonna go to the front door and look for a box on the wall," Curtis said moving fast. "If they have a security system, there will be a box on the wall by the front door."
"Man, keep it down," Trent said.
"We're in now, nigga!" Curtis said after checking out the front door. "We ain't gotta be quiet now. Just don't go turnin' on the stereo and blasting it. Shake, you watch the driveway and give us a shout if anybody comes."
"Yeah, OK man," Shake said as he walked past Curtis.
Shake was kind of a dweeby guy. Not tall, kind of skinny, plain looking with a weird demeanor. Something about the guy just didn't attract friends. Or women. But Curtis and Trent had known him since they were small and had stuck with him all the way through school.
"Alright, Curtis," said Trent, "let's get moving. Don't waste time. Laptops, cameras, any electronics we can fit into our bags. If you see cash, grab it."
"Don't be pointing the flashlights at the windows!" Shake said.
The house wasn't totally dark. There was a light on in the kitchen which spilled light into the dining room where they were standing. They could see well enough but flashlights were necessary to see really well.
Trent and Curtis went into action. Trent went upstairs, Curtis stayed on the main level, going through each room. He made a brief visit to the lower level but found nothing they could easily carry out. Shake busied himself looking around the entry way, hoping he'd find something he could pocket himself. Not being the smartest guy in the world, he let himself stray too far from the window and missed the black SUV as it pulled in the driveway.
It was the sound of what Trent thought was a vehicle door shutting that got his attention. He almost didn't say anything because after all, Shake was watching the driveway. Trent paused a second and walked to the top of stairs as he slid a laptop into his bag.
"Shake!" he said. "Was that—" and he stopped as he heard the sound of the front door opening. "Fuckin'
Shake
," he muttered as he retreated into the bedroom he just came out of. "Fuck, fuck, FUCK." He hoped that Curtis heard the same thing and knew enough to hide. Shake, well, he wasn't so sure about Shake.
Trent heard heels walk across the marble floor in the dining room, adjacent to the patio door through which they'd entered. He was hoping to hear the front door shut, a vehicle door shut and a vehicle start in about 60 seconds.
No such luck.
"What the fu—?" is what he heard next followed by the scream of a woman -- Cindy.
"Shake," Trent said to himself. "He fucked up. Again."
"How'd she get in here?" he heard Shake say.
Another scream from the woman.
Trent didn't know what to do. Should he stay hidden? That would leave Shake to deal with what was going on downstairs. He took the bandana from his pocket -- the same one they all had and were
sure
they wouldn't need -- and tied it so that it covered his face up over his nose. Then he heard what was Curtis making his way down the hallway toward the kitchen.
"Dude!" Curtis yelled, careful not to use Shake's name. "What the fuck!"
"Who are you? What are you doing?" Cindy said as Trent made his way down the stairs.
Through the semi-darkness he could make out a woman.
"Geezuz," Trent said to Shake. "We gave you one thing, the easiest thing..."
"I know, man, I know. I don't know.... Aw, fuck man."
"Guys..." Trent said pointing to his face. Quickly, both Shake and Curtis got out their bandanas and put them over their faces.
"What do you want?" Cindy said. "Take what you have and leave. Get out!"
"Well, look what we have here," Curtis said, approaching Cindy as she stood next to the China cabinet.
"Guys...." Shake said. "Let's just
go
, man."
"No, no, no," Curtis said. "Hold on. No reason to be in hurry. Look at this..." He put his hand on Cindy's left shoulder as she took a step away from him and put her arms up in front of her.
"Damn, this is nice," Trent said approaching her from her right side. He motioned to Shake, "Go on over to the front door and make sure there ain't nobody else out there. And lock the door."
"Man, let's hit this, boys," Curtis said.
Curtis was hard core. He had done time in prison and came out hard. At 6'-5" and well over 200 pounds, he cut an imposing figure. He was no gentle giant. Curtis knew how to intimidate and was not afraid to be the aggressor in any situation.
"You guys need to get out now!" Cindy said in a shaking voice, her arms still in front of her.
What Curtis didn't like was being told what to do. And he really disliked being told what to do by someone who couldn't back it up physically.
"You gonna make us get out? Huh? That what you gonna do?" he said as he walked toward her.
He had closed the distance down to about two feet and Cindy had backed herself literally into a corner of the China cabinet and the wall.
Less confidently than before, Cindy asked what they wanted.
"You appear to be all by your lonesome self, don't you?" Curtis asked. "What's your name?"
"I'm not telling you any—" Cindy said before Curtis cut her off.
He moved right up to her face and said, "I'm going to be nice as long as you are. Things are not going to go the way you thought they would when you woke up today, I'll give you that. But they can go a whole lot worse if you don't cut out with the bitch act. You got me?"
Cindy just stood there looking at him with her arms in front of her.
"I said, do... you... got... me?"
Cindy nodded meekly.
Shake moved behind him and muttered a "Guys..."
Trent's response was, "Whatever we do, we gotta get movin', man."
"Yeah, yeah," Curtis said. "I get it. I get it. Now, one more time, little lady. What's your name?"
"I'm C- C- Cindy."
"Well then Cindy... I'd love for us to stay around for a while and get to know each other, forgive me if we don't introduce ourselves, but we do have something to run off to in just a bit. Me and my boys here, we are going to have a little fun before we go. Do you know what I'm talking about, Cindy?"
"Just
go
," was all she said as she backed even further into her corner and pulled her arms closer to her body. "Please."
"No, no," Curtis said. "I asked you a question. Me and my friends are going to have some fun with you. Do you know what I mean?"
"I... I don't know... I guess so... Please... don't hurt me."
"How old are you, Cindy?" Curtis asked. "She is one fine looking woman, isn't she, boys? I mean, damn. How old you think she is?" he said gesturing to Trent.
"Man, I dunno... I'd say thirty," Trent said.
"I'd guess... thirty-five!" said Shake.
"Don't leave us in suspense now, Cindy," Curtis said. "Tell us how old you are."
"Fifty. I'm fifty." She decided to lie in an attempt to make herself sound less attractive, more helpless.
"Fifty... wow," said Curtis. "Boys, we got us an experienced one. Are you a
cougar
, Cindy? A
MILF
?"
"No... I just— please..."
"OK, OK," Curtis said. "Enough of the small talk. I was downstairs there in your little fun room with the pool table, couches and TV before you interrupted our business. What do you say we take this party down there, Cindy? What do you say? Will that work? Huh?"
Curtis took a hold of her left forearm and directed her to the stairs to the rec room.
"C'mon, boys, let's go," he said. "Now when we get down there, Cindy, I want your cooperation."
He paused at the top of the stairs and looked at her with a face that said he meant business. Cindy felt the seriousness of the look and knew he meant what he said.
"If you want us out of here, then cooperate. If there's gonna be crying, protesting, negotiating... any of that bullshit, then this is going to be far more unpleasant than it needs to. Understood, Cindy?"
"Ye- yes. I understand."
Trent and Shake followed them down the stairs to the recently remodeled room. There was a pool table, weight bench, full bar, what appeared to be about a 48" TV on the wall and a big sectional couch.
Cindy knew what they were coming down here for. She was terrified and knew there was nothing she could do to stop them. She only wanted to get out of it without being badly hurt.
"Now," Curtis said, "just do what we say and things will go just fine. If you try to be the strong, resistant woman, then it's going to go a lot worse. We'll still have our fun, don't you doubt that. But it'll go a lot worse for you. Now, you take your pick. What do you say, Cindy?"
