The Lexus

The Lexus

Friday:

“Okay sir, just sign here and here and this pretty baby is yours!”

“Here ya' go” says a self-assured Gilbert as he hands the car dealer a black briefcase full of money. A lot of money!

“Thank you sir, my associates need to count it. Just give us a couple of minutes.”

“Go for it.”

“Just wait out in front of the building and I will drive it up.”

It took six years for this moment, starting right before college. He would work at his uncle's restaurant in East LA and survive off of $100 every two weeks and put the rest into savings while still living with his parents.

The dealer brings him his new silver Lexus IS F08, it was a glorious sight.

“Here are your keys sir, enjoy and congratulations!”

It was like his fifteenth birthday all over again, that was a great birthday, but that is another story. Anyways, Gilbert climbs in his brand new toy and speeds off heading down Santa Monica Boulevard on his way home.

He arrives at his condo in the Hollywood Hills with a great big smile on his face.

“Dude...Wow! What did you do with the Neon?” asks his neighbor Jack, an aspiring actor.

“I sold it and bought this baby cash!”

“Righteous dude, it’s beautiful. When are we going to pick up some chicks?"

“Later dude, later.”

Quickly he goes in to his condo and immediately calls his family who live in East Los Angeles.

“Gina, is mom home? What...Hey…What...Listen, I’ll be there in a little bit. Tell mom I have a surprise…What...no don’t tell dad.”

He hangs up the phone and immediately the doorbell rings. It is Stacy, the love of his life. He opens the door. Her striking green eyes and long blond hair radiate his vision, this always hypnotizes Gilbert. He stands there for a few seconds, which seems like an hour to him.

“Hi…well, are you going to let me in?

“Oh…yeah…I…um…”

“Whose car is that Gil?” she asks.

“Um…mine.”

“No, really…who’s car?” she asks again with disbelief.

“I bought it Babe.”

“No way…where did you come up with that kind of money?” she demanded.

“I was saving babe, it took me…”

“I can’t believe you were hiding money from me, don’t you love me…I thought we didn’t keep secrets from each other!”

“Baby you know I love you but you know this has always been my dream car!”

She stares at him with skepticism, but deep down inside she knows that she will look great in this car and finally be accepted in Kim’s clique.

“Well… let’s go for a drive!”

“Stacy…honey…I promised my folks I would stop by tonight…I have to…”

“Gilbert…” she says with a seductive tone. “…if you take me for a ride and let me drive, I will definitely show you the stars, the moon, and a real ride!”

Now sex is not a regular thing for Gilbert. He is not ugly but is not very attractive either. He has to get it whenever he can and Stacy is offering. “I’ll see my family tomorrow”, he thinks in his mind.

Stacy is with Gilbert because he is her meal ticket. There is no love from her just sex and spending his money. She left Russia when she was 12 and now is trying to be a member of the LA “In” crowd. She made it perfectly clear in her mind that she would never be poor again. And she would do what needed to be done to achieve this goal. On the other hand, Gilbert adores her and kisses the ground she walks on. Damn, he really loves her, poor bastard!

“I’ll get my keys baby…let’s go!”

“Can we stop and eat at the Dakota?”

“Yes, baby…anything for you!”

“Oh Gilbert, I love you!” she says. A lie, poor bastard.


Saturday:


Gilbert awakens to a crack of sunlight gleaming through his broken window blinds. Last night was a very good night. A fabulous drive with his girl, a stop at a fancy restaurant, and some good sex, well you can’t beat that, life is good!

After a quick morning shower he stares at Stacy’s naked body enthralled on what occurred last night. He pinches himself to really see if it wasn’t a dream. Hey shit like this only happens to Tom Cruise.


“Stacy…I’m going to see my family…Do you want to come with me?”

She hears him but acts like she is sleeping.

“Okay baby, I’ll be back…I love you!” a gesture falling upon deaf ears.

She thinks to herself, “Why in the hell do I want to be around a bunch of greasy Mexicans…Hell no…and where did this fool get fifty-five thousand dollars?” the thoughts of a classic gold-digger…bitch!

Gilbert is very proud of his new vehicle that he walks around it a couple of times staring at the bodywork before he jumps in. He puts the keys in the ignition and he is off.

Twenty-five minutes later he arrives in East LA, a different part of town, a different community, shit, a different country! He honks his horn two times and out comes his sister Gina.

“Damn, carnal this is firme!” exclaims Gina. “When are you going to let me borrow it?”

“Chale, you wish” he fires back. As you can see Gilbert’s vocabulary has a twist to it.

“Jefe, jefita check it out!” yells Gina for her parents.

The screen door opens and out comes his parents. His mother, a short attractive lady in her late fifties with a big rear end and his father, a skinny bald man with a toothpick in his mouth still in his work clothes.

“Ay mijo, what the hell did you do? This isn’t stolden is it?” his mother asks in Spanglish.

“Hi mom”, as he gives her a kiss and a hug and ignores her question. “Good to see you!”

“It’s about time you came by cabron…I see the queen finally let you have some freedom!”

“Como estas, jefe”, he gestures to his father.

“So you came by to see us…what has it been three months…where did you get this?” asks his father very sternly. “Are you selling mota?” (marijuana)

“No sir, just saving and working”, answers Gilbert.

“They pay you that much for working with stiffs?” asks his father.

Gilbert has been working as a forensic assistant helping pathologist with autopsies and solving crimes, mainly homicides at West LA’s VA Heathcare Center off of Wilshire. He brings home a yearly salary of $65,000 a year, not bad for a 25 year old. It caught Stacy’s attention.

“I’ve been saving dad…saving for a long time” explains Gilbert.

“Well with all that money at least you can come by and tell your jefita that she still has a son!”

“Pop…I didn’t come here to fight with you…”

“Ya…enough”, interrupts his mother. “…he’s here now Ernesto…let’s go inside.

As they walk towards the house Gilbert notices the poor condition his parents home has become. Cracks in the walls, the roof is old, just in bad shape. By safety standards it needs to be demolished. He has offered to move his family to a brand new subdivision in Pasadena but his father, a very hardworking stubborn man with a lot of pride, will not budge.

Upon entering the house his older brother Flaco, a well-known gang member in the area, is folding up his blanket after a night on the couch.

“Hey homes it’s about time you came by…I thought you forgot about us…want a beer?”

“Que beer…pick up your shit pendejo so we can sit down…and go take a chower!” yells his mother.

“Damn, jefita…it’s too early to be yelling in my face” snaps Flaco.

“Good to see you carnal”, answers Gilbert.

“So you got a Lexus…so now you think your shit don’t stink!” yaps Flaco as he peeks out the window.

“Been saving homes…”

“Yeah he’s here to show off his car… to remind us that we are poor!” barks his father.

“Damn that’s a nice ride vato”, declares Flaco. “If I were you I wouldn’t bring it to this place anymore, entiendes, Mendez?”

“Oh shut up Flaco!” yells Gina. “He still has to let me take it for a test drive!”

“Are you hungry, mijo?” asks his mother.

“Okay, did you make menudo?” asks Gilbert.

“No…huevos con chorizo and tortillas!”
“
That’ll work!” Nothing like mom’s home cooking, especially homemade tortillas!

Gilbert spends the day and most of the afternoon with his family before heading back to his condo. While away, Stacy is having sex with his wanna- be -actor neighbor on the same sheets they used last night. What a nasty ho!

“Make sure you visit more often” demands Gina. “It was good seeing you brother.”
“I love you Sis, take care and here give some to jefe”, he pulls out a wad of 20 dollar bills and hands them to her. “Make sure they get what they need. Don’t tell jefe I gave it to you…and don’t tell Flaco!”

Every time he visits he gives Gina money for his family because his father is very proud and will not accept it. They have always called him a tightwad, because he never spent money on foolish things like, beer, drugs, and women; until Stacy captivated his love interest.

Before arriving home at his condo in the Hollywood Hills, he stops by the neighborhood grocery store to get something to eat. He also buys Stacy some flowers.

As he is leaving the store, he notices two skinny white guys with multiple piercings, staring at him, while leaning up on an old beat up Delta 88.

“Nice car, dude…are you a doctor or something?” asks the short one in a smart-ass tone.

Gilbert looks at them and ignores their comments as he enters the car.

Did you hear me Spic…I asked you a fuckin’ question!”

The two immediately surround the car and very quickly Gilbert puts the keys in the ignition and speeds away almost running the short one over.

“Let’s follow him!” yells the tall one, as they jump in their car and give chase.

Gilbert arrives home, as his neighbor sneeks out the back door, and calls for Stacy.

“STACY” he yells happily. “I brought Chinese!”

“Thanks Gil…I’m not hungry...I have to go…Kim is waiting for me…these are nice…put them in some water…I’ll be back later!” and quickly she slams the door leaving a rejected Gilbert holding a dozen roses.

He peeks out the window and notices Stacy getting into the Delta 88 with the two guys that were bothering him earlier.

“What the hell, what is she doing?” he says out loud.

Immediately he gets on his cell phone and calls her.

“Stacy, who are those guys you are with?”

“A couple of friends” she says defensively.

“Well those two were giving me shit a little while ago.”

“Oh stop being paranoid, Gilbert. Mike and Steve are harmless!”

“Yeah, Mike and Steve are harmless!” they repeat as Gilbert hears them in the background.

“I’ll talk to you later”, she says in an irritated tone and hangs up.

This infuriates Gilbert but he only manages to say “Damn it!” and goes to the kitchen for a soda.

Looks like a lonely night.

Sunday:

Gilbert is woken up by the loud sound of a car’s engine.
“It must be a nice car”, he thinks “…it sounds just like mine, Oh shit…”

Immediately he gets out of bed and looks out the window only to see the traces of a shiny Silver Lexus leaving the horizon. His keys are missing.

“SON OF A BITCH!” he yells frantically.

He gets on his cell phone and calls Stacy, no answer. Then he calls Kim.

“Hello”

“Kim is Stacy with you?”

“No, who’s this?”

“Gilbert…Kim have you seen Stacy?

“Why are you calling me so early , loser…I haven’t seen Stacy in three days…I don’t know what she sees in you…you are so out of her league.”

“Kim…can you please call if you hear from her?” he begs.

“As if…just quit already, you know she is too good for you loser!”

Gilbert ignores the hasty remarks left by Kim. He immediately calls home.

“Gina, let me talk to Flaco!”

“He’s not here”

“Well tell him to call me on my cell phone!”

“Okay, is everything alright?” she asks.

“Just tell Flaco to call me!”

Gilbert goes into his living room sits on his sofa and begins to weep like a pussy. He stays in this position for about two hours before the phone rings.

“Hey asshole”, a man with a deep graveled voice speaks on the other line. “If you want your car back, you need to come up with 100 gees…”

“WHERE IS MY CAR MOTHER FUCKER?”

“SHUT UP BITCH!” screams the man. “If you want to get this car back you will do what I say!”

“Alright, chill out…is Stacy with you?” Gilbert asks.

“Maybe”, answers the graveled voice slowly… and the phone hangs up.

Gilbert is furious, he needs to find out where his car is. Does Stacy have something to do with this mess? Is she hurt? Will she be okay? All these thoughts are racing through his confused mind.

He goes over to Jack’s house to see if he can get a ride to East LA, but Jack is not home and it is starting to rain.

“DAMN IT!”

His phone rings.

“Gilbert, que paso homes?” asks Flaco.

“Hey carnal someone stole my car!” says Gilbert in a wavering tone.

“Are you crying, puto?” asks a surprised Flaco.

“Nooo”

“You better not be!” threatens Flaco. “Wait there, I’ll be over.”

Gilbert knows Flaco is not coming alone. He is worried because Flaco is capable of doing something illegal and that can bring all kinds of problems to his very structured life.

It is now three o’clock in the afternoon, the police left 10 minutes ago after being called early this morning and his insurance company is notified with a voice message. Yes this Chicano has car insurance! Anyways, Stacy’s cell is turned off because she is not answering any calls and Kim does not know where to locate her.

All of a sudden he feels the ground start to shake but it is not an earthquake, it’s the bass coming from a brand new stolen car stereo system. It’s Flaco and his homeboys: Sir Sleepy, Negro, Chongo, and Kevin. Yeah, a Chicano named Kevin, go figure.

“Orale homes, turn that shit down before my neighbors call the cops!” exclaims Gilbert.

“Be cool, you don’t have to get all excited, bro, it’s firme!” answers Flaco.

Flaco turns off the car and all the guys get out. As the doors open you can see a big cloud of smoke exiting the vehicle and all the homies are smiling and feeling carefree.

You want a hit, vato?” asks Negro showing Gilbert a marijuana cigarette.

“Put that out!” yells Gilbert. “Don’t be bringing that stuff up here!”

“Okay, carnal lets go inside, stop thinking your shit don’t stink ese, we are here because you called us”, say Flaco in a rather calm voice.

“What did I get myself into?” asks Gilbert in his mind.

They go inside the house and discuss who might have taken the car. Flaco is convinced that Stacy has some part in it. However, Gilbert thinks it was the two thugs and they kidnapped Stacy.

“Orale, this is what we are going to do”, says Flaco. “Your car is famous in this part of town because it is brand new, so we are going to ride around until we find it.”

“Okay, Flaco…and you just figured that plan out all by yourself?” asks Gilbert sarcastically.

“Simon, ese”, answers Flaco very proudly. “We’ll be back…vamanos homeboys!”

“That’s it”, asks Gilbert with surprise. “Aren’t we going to call the police and see if they have found anything out?”

“Chale, homes, I’m on probation”, snaps Negro.

“Yeah me too”, joins Sir Sleepy.

“No you are not going to call the police again!” exclaims Kevin. “You did the report and now you have to sit and wait…the cops really don’t do shit.”

At that moment the phone rings. It's the man with the graveled voice on the other line. Gilbert answers the phone.

"Hey, pussy! If you want your car back meet us at the big palm tree on Fairfax Avenue with the money"

Gilbert agrees. He tells Flaco about the call.

“Don’t worry carnal, we will get your car…and we will take care of everything!” says Flaco very peacefully. “What do you want me to do if Stacy is involved with this shit?”

“She’s not!” snaps Gilbert with disagreement.

“Whatever, bro…when we find the car and Stacy is around she better be religious!”

Okay that did not sound good. Gilbert knows what Flaco is capable of. He has a very bad temper and is known for shooting people in the back of the head for making him angry over little things. Gilbert remembers witnessing Flaco shooting a guy in broad daylight because he bumped into him during an outdoor concert. It made headline news but he was never charged for fear of retaliation. That’s how it works.

“Leave Stacy out of this”, demands Gilbert.

“Okay”, consents Flaco as he smiles. “We won’t do anything!”

They leave.

Gilbert grabs his wallet and some change and heads for the nearest bus stop. It has started to rain. Good now it won’t be so hot. He has to find Kim because if he can find Kim he will be able to find Stacy and when he finds Stacy his car will be nearby. Riding the bus sucks!

Flaco is cruising down Melrose Avenue with his homeboys, blasting the car stereo and smoking marijuana, again.

“Yeah homes, my mom works as a nurse and shit and she says that this chick came in after her car got hit by a big ass truck and shit and fucked up all her face and shit”, explains Chongo.

“Damn, that’s fucked up homes”, says a high Negro.

“The nurses saw how fucked up her face was and they all quit because she was so fucking ugly and shit”

They all start to laugh.

“Shut up pendejo”, says Flaco. “You make up some stupid shit!”

“Serio, homes” says Negro.

“Whatever…hey check it out…Orale, it’s Creesmas time” says Flaco in a Spanish accent.

They see a Silver Lexus with two guys and a girl inside turning down Fairfax Avenue.

Gilbert knows deep down inside his heart that Stacy has something to do with his precious car, but is in the uttermost denial. The night they went for the drive all she talked about was how much the car was worth. She even wanted to take it by her friend Alan so he could give her an appraisal estimate, but he wasn’t home. What a bitch! His phone rings, it’s Flaco.

“Orale carnal, I have a surprise for you.”

“What?” asks Gilbert.

“I have your car and I have the people responsible for it.” He says very coldly.

“Who did it Flaco?” asks a worried Gilbert. Does he really want to know?

“Nevermind, let’s just say you owe me”, say Flaco. “I’m have some shit to do then I’ll bring you the car, I’ll be at your house in two hours.”

“Okay, wait…Flaco…”

Flaco hangs up. Gilbert know this is bad, very bad. Whoever stole the car will not be alive tomorrow. That’s how Flaco operates.

Gilbert is very nervous. He gets off the bus and walks up to his condo. He sees Jack.

“Hey dude, where is your girlfriend…she was suppose to pay me some money today.”

“I don’t know”, says a distraught Gilbert. He opens the door and goes inside his house.

All he can think about is what happened to Stacy. Was she involved?

Two hours have passed and Gilbert hears the wonderful sound of his Lexus and he immediately jumps up and runs outside to meet Flaco. He notices Flaco’s t-shirt is covered with blood.

“Hey homes, keep your car inside the garage until I come back tomorrow to clean it up…Don’t ask me any questions…you got your car back…now give me five hundred dollars!” he demands.

Gilbert nods his head and goes inside and returns with an envelope.
“Thanks!” he says timidly.

“Now remember what I said, put the car in the garage…don’t drive it until I get it cleaned!”

Gilbert agrees, he locks up the car in the garage and goes inside. He has his car back. He tries again unsuccessfully to call Stacy again. Where is she at?

Monday:

At 2:00 am his cell phone rings. It’s work.

“Hello”, answers a startled Gilbert.

“Gilbert, sorry to wake you, but I need you to come in right away. Bill called in and I can’t handle the work load, I promise to get you outta here before nine”, say his boss Harry.

“Okay, I’m on my way.”

Very sluggishly Gilbert climbs out of his bed and slowly gets dressed. He grabs his keys and locks his door. He opens up the garage and starts his car.

While making a left turn to Wilshire Boulevard, Officer Paletti notices a silver Lexus with a broken tail light. He pulls the car over.

“Sir, let me have your registration, drivers license and proof of insurance.”

“What’s the problem officer?” asks a puzzled Gilbert.

“Did you know that your right sided tail lights are out. They are flickering. You might have something inside your trunk that is causing this”, says the polite policeman.

“Okay let me check”

Gilbert opens the trunk, inside is his beloved Stacy all tied up and gagged. She’s dead.