A Naked Singularity: A Novel (39 page)

Fat Felix was Escalera’s guy in the DR. They was pretty tight I guess and I knew Felix was giving him a good deal on his shit. I should mention that Fat Felix is the guy I went to see when I was exploring whether I could break away from E when our beef first started. He was this really fat guy. His hands looked like balloons with fingers drawn on them. Anyway when he said no to me then told Escalera about it I guess they got closer from that and everything was good for them. Freddy El Flaco was Fat Felix’s brother. He was
flaco
obviously. So skinny you could see the bones in his face as if the skin weren’t even there. Flaco and me were total boys. He was in the business too but not really. Only like a little involvement, not like his brother who was a big time guy. Flaco and I had been to each other’s houses millions of times. I knew his fat brother too but just to like say hi and shit.

The problem started when Fat Felix was killed outside the post office in Puerto Plata. After he died that whole operation was in disarray. Basically Flaco became the new boss and if you know Flaco you know that’s crazy because he don’t know much about what’s necessary in the biz and all that. To complicate things, it turns out that when Flaco took over he had a ton of some really special product on his hands. What do I mean by special? As it was explained to me, this is new stuff that cuts the edge as they say. Basically there was a guy over there, dead now, who was like a chemist with his own lab and whatnot. Well I don’t know if he was really a chemist or not but that’s what they called him and shit. Anyway it seems he genetically engineered some crazy mad scientist shit over there for Fat Felix just before they both died. Word is that it’s like ten times more potent than the most potent shit to the date. So you can cut this engineered shit a shitload more times than other shit and it’s still just as strong if not stronger than that shit, I’m not shitting you. This stuff was going to change everything. Unfortunately, no one knows how the scientist did it because he brung the secret to his grave so this is like the last stuff of its kind on Earth. Now usually a hundred kilos is worth like thirteen million on the street right? Well a hundred keys of this new stuff is worth like fifty million because of how much more street product you can get out of the same amount. Well Flaco has two hundred keys of the stuff meaning like a hundred million dollars worth. Problem is he has no idea how to pull off such a big deal. So he decided he’s just going to get rid of the stuff, get what he can for it, then close the whole operation down and hit the beach. This was no surprise to me because I knew Flaco didn’t have the stomach for this business. The problem is a lot of other people knew he didn’t have the stomach for it. Security became a big problem for him over there. With Fat Felix it was totally different because nobody fucked with or doubted him. I never heard of him doing anything violent actually but still he got the props. I guess it was like grammar school remember? Nobody was strong or anything so you were just afraid of the fat kid? Same thing with Felix. Flaco didn’t have that respect because it looked like the wind could break him in half and shit. The problem this caused is that a lot of guys here, when they heard Flaco was the boss, wouldn’t commit to a shipment from him. Okay, when you commit to a shipment you take some of the risk, usually half, if something goes wrong and the shit is seized or whatever. Flaco was having trouble unloading what was a lot of shit. I mean he could, and did, move some of it, little by little, but what he really wanted is to be rid of the whole shit all at once and get out of the racket before he got did like his brother.

That’s how E got involved. Flaco remembered I had gone to see his brother about that deal. He knew he could trust me. He decided he would offer me and E all the stuff he had at a ridiculously good price. How good a price? Well usually to buy 200 keys at our level in New York, not that E could ever afford to buy that much at once but still I know, would cost about five million dollars. Now because this stuff is so pure and revolutionary it should go for like thirty mil at least. Flaco decided to offer it to us, through me, at maybe half that which was a gift. Remember man the stuff is worth at least a hundred mil on the street. Of course not that E would be the one converting it into street money but still, even if he only gets a third of that, it’s still the kind of sweetheart deal that could set E up for years. Well Flaco reached out to me here with the offer. The problem is this was during the six months I was in. He was put in touch with Escalera who saw a chance to make a great score that could solve all his problems. It’s a little complicated, I’ll get into it later, but basically the deal was so good that after it was done E would be in the kind of position, fiscally and muscle-wise, that regardless of how the 127th Street situation turned out, he could dictate the terms of dealing in that area so that only his stuff would be sold there. He saw his opportunity, I give him credit for that, and he proceeded to try and deal with Flaco himself. The problem is that Flaco trusted only me and only involved E because he thought we was tight again. When he started to suspect that there was still little beef between us, he wanted assurances that I was going to be involved. This explained the ass-kissing. For Escalera everything was riding on this. If he could make this deal and get all that shit at that price then he was set. He would be richer and more powerful than ever and could move to another level. On the other hand, if it didn’t work out he could be finished. Remember, he had lost Fat Felix and that good price and he was in danger of 127th blowing up soon. That motherfucker was this close to spending the rest of his life selling weed to NYU geeks at Washington Square Park!

He was scared of me and what I might do. He knew I was pissed because he had knocked me down to street level and basically gotten me busted. He was afraid I might tell Flaco to forget him and deal with someone else. So he lied to Flaco and told him I was in jail but that I would be getting out soon and had been advised of everything and was onboard with the whole thing. All bullshit. That’s why he didn’t bail me out because he figured if I didn’t know about the whole Flaco deal I couldn’t fuck it up for him. I guess he thought I would eventually go upstate and by then the deal with Flaco would be so far along that it would go through. He didn’t count on my man here though and when I got out that threw a big monkey bone into the whole deal. He knew he had to kiss my ass and get me to work closely with him on the Flaco deal. I was pissed but money is the cure of all evil as they say and once I was caught up to speed I realized I was in a position to walk away from this in great shape too. I also realized that I couldn’t really do anything about this great offer by myself because I didn’t have the money to pull it off. I had this great connection because Flaco was now the man to know but I needed the money Escalera had. Actually, I shouldn’t say
the money Escalera had
. The amount and worth of the drugs involved was a lot more than we were used to. So much more that, even at the great price we were paying, E had nowhere near the money needed to make the buy. This is what I mean about Escalera having gotten smarter. He set about getting financing for the deal. It was a UPO I think he called it. An Unidentified Public Offering or something.

You see, the problem was where do you get the bills? You can’t exactly walk into the nearest bank and ask for a loan to buy a huge amount of genetically engineered coke. To cut to the chase, what Escalera eventually did is hook up with this guy Colon who I told you about at the precinct. Colon does the same thing as Escalera but on a bigger level. He moves a lot more shit and has a lot more bread. I don’t know much about Colon’s operation because E made sure I didn’t have too much contact with him, probably out of fear that I would try to squeeze him out of the deal, but basically Colon and Escalera became a partnership. Colon wants the access to this deal that E can give him and E needs the money that Colon can supply. Thank God they both need me because Flaco has said he won’t go through with the deal without me being involved.

Anyway we agreed with Flaco on a price of ten million dollars. Yeah, I know. Serious money but in this case a huge bargain. My guess is that like eighty percent of that money would come from Colon. Even so, at the end of the buy Colon and Flaco would merge the areas they were supplying, get a lot more muscle into their operation, and basically change the way business would be done there. After this deal they would be powerful enough to set it up so that, for example, no crack could be sold at say 128th Street that wasn’t bought from them. This way it wouldn’t matter which way the war between the Bloods and the Crips ended because either way the winner would have to get their shit from E if they wanted to sell in the area they were fighting over.

And that was basically the status of the whole thing when I got popped for this shit here. E kept saying I had to keep doing that street shit so Red Bags wouldn’t get all suspicious and shit and maybe fuck things up. It was a stupid thing to do. I should have just retired out of that shit. I don’t know why I listened to that idiot. Anyway, I must have the worst luck in the world cause I did this hand to hand and here I am. There’s more details of course. I don’t know how much you want to get into the specifics and whatnot.”

“So the deal is still on far as you know?” pleaded D’Alessio who looked like he was about to shine Ramon’s shoes.

“It was all set up when this shit happened. Supposably it was going to go down very soon but like I told you if I don’t get out soon that shit’s going to fall apart because Flaco will not deal if it’s not with me, I’m telling you that right now. Right now it’s been like seven days since I talked to Flaco and that’s not good because this shit was supposed to happen mad soon.”

“What has Escalera said since you were arrested?”

“What else? He freaked! He knows the whole thing is on jeopardy. He was going to bail me out the first day and get me a lawyer and shit but I already knew I was going to take his ass down and I don’t want to have to deal with one of his lawyers and shit. So I told him I was getting the same lawyer who beat my case before and that he said he was getting me out in a couple of days. If I don’t get out soon though I know he’ll get suspicious why I don’t want a lawyer and shit and he’s going to figure it out that I’m cooperating. Also by now I’m sure Flaco is wondering where my ass is and I need to get on that quick to smooth things under and shit. So I’m looking to get out today to make that happen.”

“We’re certainly going to explore that. We talked about this last time. We need to know exactly when and where this buy is going to happen.”

“Am I going to get out?”

“Well you’re certainly not going to get out if you don’t cooperate with us Ramon.”

“You have to tell us where this is going to go down Ramon. Then we can help you out,” Gans was back and in between sips of gold soda he’d decided to do some detecting.

“All right man but I better get out! It’s going down a week from Saturday at 368 Riverside Drive between 112th and 113th. At 4:00 a.m. the stuff will be there and so will the money. There. You happy? You putting my life in danger! I better be decompensated for it.”

“That’s not a spot Ramon.”

“Of course not man. That’s the whole point. That’s just like some guy’s private house and shit. You have to understand what’s going on in the DR with Flaco. That shit can’t even be called an operation any more. That’s just some free-floating drugs there. Flaco’s not a dealer man. He’s just some guy who’s got a lot of shit on his hands that he’s trying to get rid of. There’s no infrastructure man! He’s getting his shit in through Fatso’s old line then some girl, some dumb poor sap mule, is getting a buck fifty to drive the stuff in the trunk of a car into the garage at 368. At the same time E and I will arrive at the garage with the money. The guys at 368 will be under strict orders to only give the keys to the mule’s car to me and E personally and only after counting every last dollar. If we’re a dollar short, or if we’re a minute late, or if someone other than E and me goes to that house, then they are to give the keys right back to the girl, give her another hundred bucks, and tell her to drive it back to where she got it and the whole thing’s off. If everything is kosher, we get the keys and drive off with the stuff. The car’s a throw-in. That’s it man. It’s not complicated. If you storm in there at 4:00 a.m. you’ll walk out with ten million dollars and shit that’s worth ten times that on the street. You’ll also pop Escalera and maybe one or two big guys from Santo Domingo. But if I’m not out, none of that is going to happen. Flaco won’t even ship the shit from the DR if he hasn’t heard from me.”

“Are you sure about 368 Riverside?”

“Of course I’m sure. That’s one of the few places we have with a built-in garage like that so it’s perfect.”

“It doesn’t sound very secure. That’s not the way—”

“No kidding. Listen, with undue respect, have you been listening to me at all? Flaco’s only using people like me who he can trust. This way of doing things would never fly normally. That’s why it’s going to be so easy. You guys are going to seize a shitload of shit.”

“What about Red Bags?” said ADA Dacter who I had forgotten was in the room.

“What about him? He’s shit. He doesn’t know anything about this. If he did he’d probably go in there firing guns like the stupid fuck he is.”

“What can you tell us about him?”

“What did I just do?”

“Are you familiar with any violent acts by him that you personally observed and can give details about?”

“What the hell’s this guy talking about?” DeLeon took an aggrieved look around the room but everyone looked away until he came to my shrug. “Haven’t I given you guys enough? You know how much you’re going to seize? You’re all going to be famous! What does he want to talk about some small-time piece of shit like Red for D’Alessio?”

“I’ll tell you what,” D’Alessio soothed. “You’ve just given us a lot of information to think over. I know you want to get out and we want to make sure we don’t jeopardize this deal. Why don’t Roger and I and Detective Gans go meet with the DA supervisor and start exploring our options.”