Episode 3 "Getting clean In The Dirty"

The sign said "Welcome We're Glad Georgia's On Your Mind" as the Mercedes cruised down Interstate 85 towards Atlanta. Andre and Kareem took turns driving through the night, while Carlos slept off and on in the back seat. Not much talking, but a lot of good jazz music was playing on the stereo, courtesy of Andre's huge Mp3 collection. Andre was at the wheel now and saw the sign through the early morning fog. Georgia wasn't on his mind, but Carlos was-specifically why he was in jail. He looked in the rear-view mirror and saw that Carlos was awake, and taking notes again. Carlos looked up and saw Andre watching him through the mirror.




"What's on your mind, bro," asked Carlos. Andre felt the need to know right now.


"So...how did it all go down? Just curious," said Andre. Carlos laughed to himself, wondering why it took thirteen hours to question him about his imprisonment. Thirteen...must be my lucky number, thought Carlos.


"Being young, stupid, and greedy...a bad combination. Eighteen years old, I thought I knew it all. So did my partners. We set out a plan to knock off as many banks as we could in a 24-hour period. We got up to three before we got-before I got caught. The other two got away with it...money and all." Carlos left it at that. Andre was waiting for more.


"Well? How'd you get caught, and not your partners?" Andre turned the music down to hear Carlos better, but he wasn't saying anything at the moment. The only sound was Kareem's soft snoring. "How did they escape, and not you?"


"Put two and two together. They were the ones who held most of the money, and I was left alone literally holding the bag. Two plus two equals a set up," explained Carlos.


"Really? I mean why-" Andre started.


"You heard me. I was set up. I was the fall guy, the lone sucker. I was the distraction they needed to get away with the riches. They knew if there was one arrest in the bank robberies, the authorities would slack off on catching the others." Carlos was pretty much done with the touchy subject.


"So you took it up the ass, and did all those years basically because you didn't turn in your partners. Why in the world would you do time for them? You should have turned-" Andre was interrupted again.


"I don't rat on my peeps, you dig?" Carlos was definitely done with it.


"Yeah, but...but," started Andre, but the look on Carlos's face told him to drop it.


The road took them to the outskirts of Atlanta a couple of hours later. They stopped in Marietta for breakfast, then headed towards the ATL. Carlos fell back to sleep after a big meal. Andre quietly told Kareem what Carlos had told him about the bank robberies, with reservations. Kareem was noncommittal.


"Why would he lie about that? I mean, damn, he's confessing that he got his ass caught. What's the problem," asked Kareem.


"The problem is this: I don't believe what he said about the money. I believe he got something out of the robberies. Why would he serve thirteen years in prison so willingly, instead of plea bargaining? And not give up names? It just doesn't jive with me. I sure would like to know how much was stolen," Andre pondered. A minute late, the screen to Kareem's iPhone was in Andre's face, showing a headline from the browser. "August 12th, 1997...Bank Robbers Take $750,000 In Robbing Spree". Kareem then searched for more information on the robberies.


"Says here that the money was never recovered. That is a lot of money to just disappear," said Kareem. He and Andre looked at each other. Without words, they nodded in agreement, acknowledging the fact that the money was out there for them to find, and knew where to start looking.
The two continued to whisper back and forth as they sat in traffic, finally getting into metro Atlanta. Andre and Kareem were unaware that Carlos was awake, and heard everything. A trick he learned in prison: always sleep with one eye and one ear opened. He would hear other inmate's schemes, and see their actions, when they thought he was asleep. When the time came, he was two steps ahead of them. He was now listening to his two brothers plotting against him, and saw the headlines on the iPhone screen as Kareem showed Andre. Ten minutes later he "woke up", yawning and sitting up to see where they were.


"You see that Days Inn on your left? Pull in there." They checked in and got settled. Carlos took a room for himself, while the brothers shared a room. A half hour later they were on their way to the Underground. Andre's suspicions grew more, wondering where Carlos was coming up with the money for the hotel and now shopping?


The brothers spent a good portion of the day shopping for clothes at Unica's and Skillz, buying hundreds of dollars worth of new clothes. Then they stopped in Legends Barbershop for a fresh cut and a shave. Kareem had his dreadlocks touched up, looking pristine once again.


"You brothas start first thing in the morning. I'll show you around, and tell you what your job consists of," said Carlos from the barber's chair. "In the meantime, the smell from the Cajun Grill is making me hungry. We'll eat, then rest up. Tomorrow we put on the new threads, and step clean. I promise, these next three weeks are gonna change your lives." Carlos was cheesing in the mirror, seeing Andre and Kareem giving each other "the look" again.