Get A Kick Out Of This: Shadow

Jason pulled his car over and put it in park. He picked up his phone, dialed and waited. The answer came right after the first ring.

"I'm sorry cuz-"

"WHATCHU MEAN CUZ?! YOU SAID THEY LEFT THE HOUSE!" Infuriated, Jason was squeezing the steering wheel.

"Aye man I don't know what happened. I swear to God I saw the car leave."

"BUT GOLDSTEIN WAS HOME!"

"Bruh whatchu want me to do?" The voice was sincere and apologetic. "Stop yelling man, chill." 

"Aight, aight, whatever ... but what's going on now?"

"Hold on, lemme look real quick."

"Aight." Jason tried to compose himself. He relaxed his grip on the steering wheel, taking a deep breath and wiping the sweat from his forehead. The whole plan had fallen to pieces in a matter of minutes. Mr. Goldstein was home and he shot Beck. Dro was on the phone but he hung up. Bumpy was supposed to be at the corner to get picked up, but Jason waited for him for a few minutes and had to leave. Now he was torn between going back to the house to find Dro and leaving altogether. His cousin had been feeding him surveillance information from his window across the street, although at this point his credibility was in question.

"It's bad. Like real bad."

"I know it's bad Ronnie, but what's going on?"

"Man, look ... the white boy is outta there. He's laying on his back with his guts hanging out. He gotta be dead. And the Hispanic dude, Mr. Goldstein got him on his knees with his hands up. He looks like he might shoot him any second. Whatchu gon do?"

Jason shut his eyes tight. Beck and Dro are done. Bumpy's ghost. Now what? Can't just leave em. Not after all this. At least gotta get the stash. He reached under his seat and grabbed a 9mm pistol. He placed it on his lap and put the car in drive.

"Whatchu gon do cuz?" Ronnie asked again. 

"I'ma handle it."

"Huh? Whatchu mean?"

"I'ma handle it."

"Shadow whatchu bout to do man?"

"I'ma handle it Ronnie."

"Jason!"

"You deaf?! I said I got it!" Jason hung the phone up, tossed it on the passenger seat, and sped off. He could feel his blood boiling inside his veins. He blew through a stop sign without even noticing. Approaching another intersection, he slowed down, paused briefly, and turned left. The next intersection caught his attention - the stop sign had what looked like a bullet hole in the middle of the "O". Jason stared at it for a few seconds, remembering the night he was drunk and high standing outside a house party and someone claimed he was lying about carrying a pistol. Uninhibited, he drew it and fired two shots in the air. Then, just for fun, he shot the stop sign from behind. Everyone cleared the street and Dro quickly got him away from the scene. Jason had nearly forgotten about the whole thing until seeing the pierced sign.

As Jason moved forward, his phone rang. He reached for it, but seeing Ronnie's name, he dropped it right back on the passenger seat. He was approaching Red River Lane. He stopped a few feet short of the intersection to finalize his strategy. He cocked the pistol. If I move fast enough, I can shoot the old man. Me and Dro can grab Beck, we can get the jewels, and get gone. Two minutes maximum. We can do this. 

A beep drew his attention to his phone yet again. It was a text from Ronnie. 

Laws outside

Now Jason really had to think. Robbery is obviously a criminal act, and he was no stranger to it. Shooting an old man would up the ante, changing the potential charge to aggravated robbery or even murder. This was beyond what he originally planned, but he wasn't necessarily opposed to it. Still, taking on police officers was a much bigger deal. He had to be fully prepared to go to war. He knew Goldstein had a shotgun and the police would most likely have semi-automatic pistols. He did another mental rundown, adjusting for the new police presence. Satisfied with his conclusion, Jason took his foot off the brake and stepped on the gas pedal.

Instead of turning right to confront Mr. Goldstein and the police, Jason drove straight ahead. After several blocks he was out of the neighborhood and turning onto a main thoroughfare. From there he made his way to the freeway and pushed the Honda Civic to its limit. He didn't slow down and he didn't look back.