Ransom Gone Wrong

This week’s prompt:

Tell a story that begins with a ransom note.

My response after the jump.

“Give us $10,000 in unmarked bills or the Jack gets it.”

“Think he’ll know it was us?” I asked with a giggle in my voice as I slipped the note under the windshield wiper.

“Maybe,” replied Erika.

“We should have asked for more money,” said Ernie.

“Hurry up guys! What if the security guard catches us?” warned Ruben.

***

Knowing the effects of alcohol first-hand coupled with two left feet pretty much meant that Friday and Saturday weekend activities in Juarez were off limits for me. It was the thing to do, but I didn’t really like conforming to the status quo. Plus, around that time was when the disappearances began happening in Juarez.

So my weekend activities consisted of working, going to the movies, and hanging out with my two friends Ruben and Erika. Ernie, even though we’d hang out with him at school all of the time, could never hang out with us because he was either working or with his old (she was like 20 something) girlfriend.

One night, Ernie rewarded us with his presence, so the four of us decided to hit up the dollar movie theater. When we pulled into the parking lot, we saw my brother’s unmistakable white GMC pickup and decided we should pull some kind of prank on him. Often times, we did this to our friends at football games. We’d take their antenna or leave a note a stupid note.

This time, we decided to take the Jack in the Box head Jorge put on the long antenna on the roof of the cabin and leave a ransom note. Since the movie we wanted to see was later, we left the premises so he wouldn’t think it was us.

Getting home, I was eager to see my brother’s response. I thought he would probably laugh at us for being such dorks.

“So, did you see a note on your truck?”

“Yes. That wasn’t funny. With the situation how it is right now, it really wasn’t funny.”

“Sorry,” I said sheepishly and headed to my room.

The “situation” wasn’t Mike from Jersey Shore, but an equally disgusting being: Tracie. They’d been dating a couple of years, and it seemed like her goal in life was to make him miserable. She and I didn’t get along. I tried, really, I did. I always saw my siblings’ mates as an addition to the family not a threat like the rest of my family. But this girl, well, she was something else.

Boy, do I have my share of Tracie tales! Perhaps one day soon I’ll write them here.