Z and her three helpers were working side-by-side in the prison laundry on Monday morning. The blackmailed guard had come through for them. Juanita had called her gang contact and verified that the cars were loaded and ready. The laundry truck had just pulled up and the driver went over to talk to the guard. The two of them looked around and ducked into the restroom. Lynn had noticed this before and suspected the driver was delivering drugs. Now was the time!
Shakira pushed a full laundry cart over to the truck loading bay and scurried around the truck to the driver’s door. She climbed into the cab and laid on the floor to inspect the wiring, then pulled a bundle of wires out from behind the steering column. “Damn. It’s too dark under here. I can’t see the wire colors.” Another minute went by while she hand checked each wire, trying to feel which one came from the ignition switch. With sweat running into her eyes she narrowed it down to two possibilities. “I’ll try connecting them to the battery lead one at a time. If I’m lucky I’ll hear the engine start. If I’m unlucky the horn will probably blow. Here goes . . . the engine turned over. As soon as Z and the other two heard the engine come to life they scrambled into the back of the truck and shut the door. That was Shakira’s signal to pull out of the bay and head for the nearby gate. The man in the guard house looked at the truck and glanced at Shakira. “He’s going to stop me, Z! What do I do?”
“Stay calm, look straight ahead, and be ready to floor it.”
She breathed a sigh of relief when he pushed the button to open the gate, then had to wait 20 agonizing seconds until it opened fully. She drove through the gate and onto the highway at a slow pace, even though her fear told her to speed up. She watched in the rear view mirror as the gate closed behind her and headed toward Chowchilla. When the others saw the prison fading in the rear window the cheered and hugged each other.
They pulled into the warehouse in Chowchilla and watched the garage doors close behind them. Two of Juanita’s gang friends had all four cars ready with the trunks open so Z could make sure everything was there, including a set of street clothes for each of them. Z stripped down to her bra and panties right there and started dressing. The others were a little bashful about doing that in front of the two male gang members and went into the office to change. One of the gang members made the mistake of whistling at Z and strolling over to her. He reached out to touch her and said “Honey, you got one sexy body there. Got time for a quickie before you leave?” Z’s hand shot out at lightning speed and smashed the guy’s nose, while with her other hand she bent his fingers back until they cracked. The other guy started moving toward her but was stopped cold by the fierce look in Z’s eyes.
“If you pull a gun you’ll be dead before you can aim it at me. The only reason this guy is still alive is because you helped us out.” The guy raised his hands in the air and backed away.
Just then the other three women came out of the office with their street clothes on. Juanita saw her gang friend laying on the floor sobbing. “What did you do to him, Z?”
“He got fresh with me.” Juanita knelt down beside him. “Oh baby. I’m so sorry she busted you up. Come on, let’s get you cleaned up.”
Z spoke in a menacing voice, “Nita, leave him alone. We’re going to get into our cars and get out of here – now!”
“But I can’t just leave him here, Z”
“If you don’t leave with us, you’ll get caught. And if you get caught, you will get the rest of us caught. So you can leave now, or I’ll kill you both. Your choice. Either way it makes no difference to me.”
Juanita knew she meant it, so she bent over, kissed him on the forehead, and headed for the cars. Forty minutes later they hit Fresno and set off in different directions. Z knew exactly where she wanted to go, so when she stopped for gas two hours later she bought a road atlas. Later, at a rest stop, she traced her route to West Virginia with a pen.