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and saw them. He walked into the room and pumped three more shots into the fat man’s body for a confirmation of his death, then made an attempt to close the door to the room. The fat white man’s legs prevented him from doing so. He kneeled down and grabbed the dead man by his pudgy left foot, which was blocking the doorway. He held his breath to minimize the stench from the bowel movement the dead man had released upon meeting his Maker. He slammed the door shut, then turned back toward Jewels.
    She had just regained some of her senses.
    â€œYo, we gotta bounce,” Rome informed her. The sudden chain of events had somewhat sobered him up.
    Before she could agree or oppose him, he had already grabbed her by the hand, and together they fled the scene. He stopped by his room, quickly snatched up the most important item there: the duffel bag containing the fifteen keys of coke he had just received. As luck would have it, the elevator arrived and opened three seconds after Rome pressed the elevator button. He pulled Jewels in the elevator, put his back against the wall, and glanced over at her.
    She looked a hot mess. Her makeup was practically smeared all over her face. It had dried up and had mixed with the dried blood from her nose and mouth. The two top buttons of her blouse had popped off, and there was that big-ass rip on the back, and her skirt was wrinkled and had shifted.
    â€œYo, you gotta tighten up, baby,” he told her. “You gonna get us knocked,” he added. Rome shook his head in disgust.
    Why the fuck did I get involved in that shit? he asked himself and cursed silently. He watched as Jewels tried to fix herself up. She was still somewhat in shock.
    â€œHere. Put this on.” He took his fitted off and handed it to her. The last thing they needed was for someone to see her face looking the way it did and to get suspicious. He was all too ready to get out of the elevator and the hotel. He peered up at the numbers as they counted down.
    Jewels eyed him. Her mind was racing all over the place at a million miles a minute. She couldn’t believe she had just witnessed a violent crime and had become an accessory to a murder. This has to be a fucking nightmare or a practical joke, she thought. If it weren’t for bad luck, she wouldn’t have any at all, she believed. Why me, God? she questioned. It was just days before her birthday, and now she was in a predicament that could possibly have her spending it in jail. The thought of that caused Jewels’s stomach to tighten. The dinging sound of the elevator caused her to jump and snap out of her daze.
    When they exited the elevator, Rome put his arm around Jewels’s waist and gripped it tightly. She flinched. Her nostrils tingled from the weed and the alcohol that Rome reeked of.
    â€œKeep cool,” he whispered. He kept his arm wrapped around her and pulled her close to prevent someone from seeing the rip in her shirt.
    Jewels nodded.
    No one paid them any mind. They blended in with the other patrons as Rome navigated her through the lobby and into the parking garage. Flashing lights could be seen as he hit the alarm on his keychain.
    â€œGet in!” he ordered Jewels as he jumped in the driver’s side of his white Denali truck.
    Minutes later, Rome was weaving in and out of the downtown traffic. He didn’t slow down until he had gotten outside city limits.
    Jewels sat across from him, still trying to process what had just taken place back at the hotel. Bits and pieces flashed through her mind. From the moment the trick named Jim opened the door, she had had a bad feeling about the evening. She knew she should have canceled when she got the feeling. She had always followed her gut, but this time she had let greed supersede what she trusted, and now she was in an SUV with someone who she believed was a stoned cold-blooded killer. There was no doubt in Jewels’s mind that he had killed before and that he