Prelude
Boom!
Boom!
The pounding on the door sent a deafening vibration throughout the townhouse.
“What the fuck?” Melvin yelled. His frame lay resting on the living room couch when he heard the banging. Melvin jumped up and ran into the bathroom to flush the bags of rock cocaine in his pants pocket. He knew this day would eventually come and had prepared for it years before. Melvin never kept any significant amount of weight in the place where he and his family rested their heads. As Melvin flushed the toilet, he remembered his son, Prince, was in the house with him.
“Prince, run to your bedroom, little man, and stay there. Run, Prince, run!”
There was urgency in his voice that startled his son. Something in his father's words told the ten-year-old that his life would never be the same.
Prince was in the kitchen, planted in front of the open refrigerator. He heard the banging followed by his father's orders for him to run to his room. Unfortunately, his body would not move. Determined not to give the police reason to pump holes in him, he stood frozen. With the refrigerator door in one hand and a pitcher of red Kool-Aid in the other, Prince began shaking uncontrollably.
Boom!
“Police!”
“Freeze!”
“Daddy, where are you? Daddy!”
He knew his father would protect him. Prince's heart pumped so hard he thought it would jump right out of his chest.
“Get down! Now,” Roberts demanded. This bust was going to catapult his career. Taking down the man known as Legend on the streets was certain to get the police Commisioner's attention. A promotion was sure to be in the near future. “Get down and don't move or I'll put lead in you.”
“Daddy!”
“My son is here. Do
not
hurt him.” Melvin caught sight of the narc with a gun pointed to his head. For a split second, Melvin wanted to spit in the crooked cop's face, but the thought of his son being hurt stopped him. “Prince, it will be okay, son, just stay where you are.”
“Shut the hell up,” commanded a young white officer.
The cop's words pissed Melvin off and it took all he had inside not to haul off and backhand the rookie. “Go straight to hell, man, and y'all better not hurt my son,” Melvin responded.
“It doesn't look like you're in much of a position to be giving orders. This is the end of the road for you, McGee. Time's up.” Roberts and a few uniformed officers laughed.
“Man, fuck you! What, you think you got something on me? You think I'm not smart enough to have a protective shield of my own? Man, suck my dick, Officer Bitch Ass,” barked Melvin.
Discovering that his new drug connection was an undercover cop infuriated Melvin. His instincts had told him from the beginning that the man was untrustworthy. The only reason Melvin dealt with Roberts was because a loyal worker had vouched for the narc. After a year of drug deals between the two men, Roberts had power over his target and all was well in his world. Melvin realized he had thrown his last brick at prison walls. Melvin knew the situation could only end in one of two ways: life in prison or six feet under. He was going to take the narc Roberts down with him one way or another.
“Does the department know about your little habit? They know what you snorting up your nose, Detective? Do the higher-ups at the precinct know about the dope you dealing? Do they know about your five hundred-thousand dollar house out in the suburbs?”
As Melvin put his business out on Front Street for his peers to hear, Roberts made a split-second decision that would change his life forever.
“Shut the fuck up, I said,” Roberts barked through clenched teeth. He punched Melvin in his stomach. “Don't make me say it again!”
Melvin doubled over in pain as he spat more obscenities at the men invading his family home.
Within minutes, the apartment was flooded with officers yelling commands and turning over furniture. Tears began to stream down Prince's pecan-shaded cheeks. As he stood trembling, a SWAT officer grabbed the young boy by his left arm, snatching him away from the open refrigerator. Prince immediately dropped the pitcher of Kool-Aid he was holding and screamed out in pain. His shoulder popped out of its socket and the pain was unbearable.
Despite multiple guns being pointed at him, Melvin rushed to protect his son.
“Leave my son alone. Let him go!”
Melvin ran toward the officer holding on to his eldest son.
“Freeze,” various voices yelled.
Melvin ignored the command. His son needed him.
Blast!
The shot came out of nowhere. Melvin saw the flame before he felt the pain sear through his chest. The loud thud caused everyone to pause and take notice of the man sprawled out on the tiled floor.
“Daddy! No, no, no, Daddy, get up! Please, Daddy, please
get up!
” Prince broke free from the rookie's hold. The officer was green and just as shocked as some of the others in the room, so he offered no resistance when the young boy pulled away from his grip. He looked on as Prince rushed to his father's side and kneeled over his father's still body.
Melvin lay whispering and moaning as the sounds of men running in different directions became fainter with each passing second. Melvin struggled against the urge to give up his time here on this earth. Prince's cries made him fight for each breath.
“Daddy, be strong. Be strong like you always tell me to be,” Prince begged.
One tear escaped Melvin's eye. Melvin struggled to whisper his last words to Prince as he continued to fight, knowing he would die. “I love you, Prince, and I'll always be with you, son.”
The last thing Melvin heard was his son crying for him not to go. Police officers stood frozen at the sight before them. Not one of the spectators attempted to save the life of their now victim. Rigor mortis would soon find the body of a man deemed a menace to society by law enforcement but stood larger than life to his family.
Still in physical pain from his dislocated shoulder, Prince fell on top of his father's body as screams from deep inside escaped his heart. Prince looked up at the officer who fired the fatal shot and asked, “Why y'all have to take my daddy from me like that? He didn't do anything for you to shoot him,” Prince cried. “I swear that I'm going to get you back for this, one day.”
His experience on the streets told Roberts that the grieving ten-year-old boy meant what he'd just said. Though he didn't show it, Roberts took heed to the threat.
“Yeah, boy, whatever. We'll be arresting you soon enough. I'm sure you'll follow in Legend's path one day.” Roberts laughed.
“I'm going to get you for this,” Prince promised through clenched teeth and a tear-stained face. “You remember me, because I'm going to be coming for you one day.”