A Sticky Situation (2 page)

Aside from that, I pretty much was low key and I minded my business because my job was pretty simple. Every day I came to work, saw my clients, took a couple of urine samples every now and again, made a few judgment calls, and then my day was over. Now, there were some days when I had to make a few home visits. And if I had to collect a urine sample from a male parolee, then I had to have one of my male colleagues accompany me on that visit. All we did was go in the home, check out the scenery, ask a few questions, and then we collected the sample. It was not complicated at all. In fact, I enjoyed working in the field moreso than I did at the office, so I tried to get out as much as I could. Today would not be one of those days, though, because I had clients scheduled to come see me all day long.

My first appointment for the day was Nicole Simpson. She was a very young and beautiful woman who had been released for some time now. According to my file, she got mixed up with her cousin Kira’s husband, a guy by the name of Ricky Walters, and started trafficking large quantities of crack cocaine to different drug houses in the city for large sums of cash. After making more than a handful of runs for this guy, she eventually got an assigned route. She was stripped of that when one of Norfolk’s narcotics detectives got a call and was tipped off by an informant. Not too long after her arrest, federal agents took over her case, and when that happened, she brought down everyone affiliated with her.

Her cousin Kira was given a chance to cooperate before the gavel went down on her. She turned, and when the ball dropped, a lot of people got some serious time, including her husband Ricky. Unfortunately for him, though, some very powerful and well-connected people put a hit out on his life, and he was murdered by a couple of hit men disguised as U.S. Marshals. Kira was put in protective custody while Nicole remained in the limelight, which in turn brought out the men who were the major drug suppliers for their entire organization and responsible for the attempted murder on Kira. So, when they resurfaced, more people were murdered, including their elderly grandmother. I knew that had to be devastating. And probably even more devastating because it was their lifestyle that brought on that tragedy. But now that– that chapter of her life was closed, Nicole requested to relocate to Houston, Texas so she could rebuild her life. After heavy consideration, my senior officer and I gave her the green light. The purpose of today’s visit was to give her a travel permit and bid her a farewell. I just hoped she didn’t get herself caught up in that same type of drama down there, because her new probation officer was nothing to play with. From what I’d heard, he was an Uncle Tom who was constantly looking for promotions. Nikki had better keep her nose clean, or else.

Earlier, when I walked into the office, I noticed that Nikki was sitting out there in the lobby. After I got situated and pulled her paperwork from my file cabinet, I brought her into my office.

“Have a seat,” I instructed her, admiring both her diamond necklace and the multi-colored, oversized Salvatore Ferragamo handbag she carried. “So, how are you doing?” I asked the moment I sat in my chair.

“I’m doing OK.”

“I am so sorry about the loss of your grandmother.”

“We all are,” she replied.

“How is your cousin taking it?”

“She wasn’t doing too well in the beginning. But as the days pass, she’s starting to come around.”

“So, how does she feel about you relocating?”

“She’s excited about it. That’s why she’s coming along.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yep.”

“Do you think that’ll be a good idea?”

“Yeah, I think we’ll be all right.”

“Have you thought about what kind of work you’re going to get into?”

“Well, since Kira is going to use the money she got from her husband’s life insurance to open up another salon, I’m going to help her run it.”

“What did she do with the other place you guys had on Newtown Road?”

“Well, you know her friend Rhonda got murdered too, so she felt there was no need to keep it open, which is why she shut it down and sold every piece of equipment she had in there.”

“What about your parents?”

“Whatchu mean?”

“What are they going to do now that your grandmother is gone?”

“Well, they just put her house on the market, so they said as soon as they sell it, they’re going to take the money and move down south to Florida.”

“What about their house?”

“They’re going to keep it and rent it out.”

“How are they taking the death of your grandmother?”

“They don’t talk about it. But I do know that they blame Kira and me for it.”

“Do you think that this will put a strain on y’all’s relationship?”

“I’m expecting my father to love me at a distance. But, I don’t think my mother is going to change at all.”

I sighed before I said, “Did you ever go to see that psychiatrist I referred you to?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because I thought it would be a waste of time.”

“But after all you’ve been through these past eight months, you don’t think you need to see someone?”

“I’ll be all right,” Nicole insisted.

“Well, if you say so,” I replied.

After I went over a few more routine questions, I wished her luck, and before she got up to leave, I looked her straight in the eyes and said, “Technically, I am not your P.O. anymore, so you can come clean with me and tell me exactly what happened the day you shot Syncere in your grandmother’s house.”

Caught completely off guard, Nicole said, “What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about the two firearms the police officers confiscated from the crime scene.”

“What about ’em?”

“Well, its been kind of hard for me to believe that he would bring two guns with him, just to kill one person.”

She became a little agitated. “So, what are you saying?”

“I’m saying cut the crap, Nicole. You and I both know that you had that other firearm in your possession way before your boyfriend got there.”

“No, I didn’t” she replied with sincerity. “Syncere had both of those guns on him when he entered into my grandmother’s house. I was just lucky that I was able to get to the smaller gun before he was able to pull the trigger on the other one.”

I laughed. “Sticking to your story, huh?”

“That’s what happened.”

“Yeah, all right. Get on out of here,” I told her.

Right when she was about to walk out of my door, she turned around and winked her eye at me. “Take care,” she said.

“I will. But I’m not the one you need to be worried about,” I replied nonchalantly.

“Oh, don’t worry about me. Trust me, I am going to be fine,” she assured me. I begged to differ. With that track record she had, trouble was bound to follow her. I guaranteed that as soon as she touched down in Houston, Nikki and Kira were going to hook up and become
wifey
to a new set of street thugs. And when that happened, all hell was going to break loose. For them, it was like a game of Russian roulette; the kind of lifestyle they wanted to live.

My next client, Todd Warner, was late. He was thirty minutes late, to be exact. Come to think of it, this was not his first time being late, so I was going to rip his ass apart and make an example out of him. The only thing that would save him was if he was laid up in somebody’s hospital bed. Other than that, I was going to violate him. I mean, it was not like he was trying to conform to the rules of his probation anyway. Like Seth, he couldn’t keep a damn job. At least Seth had never lied on job applications about never being convicted of a felony, like Todd had. What got me was that Todd knew I was going to find out about it. But, his simple ass didn’t care. He’d been back on the streets for about eight months now and had absolutely no clue at all how to readjust to society.

He knew how to embezzle millions of dollars, though. Todd’s pre-sentence report indicated that he was a pro at embezzlement. As an investment broker, he was able to steal over $15 million from clients at a brokerage firm. When FBI agents finally arrested him, they seized his million-dollar home in the Pungo area of Virginia Beach, a $250,000 Bentley coupe, an $80,000 Porsche Cayenne, and a half-million-dollar boat—only to auction them off. The rest he was going to have to pay in restitution. I didn’t know how Todd was going to get it, but if he didn’t figure out a legitimate way of doing it, he was going to have to suffer the consequences for that as well.

After waiting in my office for over an hour for Mr. Warner to show up for his appointment, my receptionist buzzed me through my intercom system. “Ms. Shaw, I have Todd Warner on line three, waiting to speak with you.”

“OK. Thank you.” I immediately picked up on line three. “This is Ms. Shaw.”

“Ms. Shaw, this is Todd. I just want to apologize for being late and to let you know that I am on my way to your office, as we speak.”

“Don’t bother,” I interjected.

“Why? I’m only five minutes away.”

“Mr. Warner, your appointment was over an hour ago, and I told you that if you were late again, I was going to make you regret it. So as far as I’m concerned, you’re a no-show.”

“Ms. Shaw, I have a legitimate explanation.”

“Save it, Mr. Warner, because if you weren’t in a life-or-death situation, then I don’t want to hear it.”

“Ms. Shaw, I got in a little fender bender off South Military Highway, so I had to wait on the police to take the report.”

“What time did the accident occur?”

“I’m not sure but the time on the police report says eight fifty-nine.”

“Your appointment was at nine o’clock.”

“I know. And I would’ve been there if this woman had not run into the back of me. Besides, it took the officer about twenty minutes to get to the location.”

“So the other driver was at fault?”

“Yes.”

“Well, why didn’t you call me sooner?”

“Because my phone wouldn’t get a signal.”

“Were you seriously injured?”

“No. I’m fine.”

“OK. Well, bring me that report, so I can stick it in your file.”

“Will do,” Todd assured me and we both hung up.

Seven minutes later, he arrived in my office with the police report he needed to back up his story. After I went over a few things with him, I sent him on his way since I had another client out in the lobby waiting on me.

That next appointment went smoothly, and before I knew it, it was time for me to go to lunch. I gathered my keys and purse and headed toward the elevator. En route I bumped into Marcus Finley, who was a federal marshal. He was escorting a man in handcuffs in the direction of the elevator. That man was none other than a parolee I used to monitor by the name of Dwayne Harris. That short, stubby-ass nigga used to give me so many problems, I had to trade his ass off to another one of my colleagues. By the looks of things, Mrs. Huggins was probably sick of his ass too, which was why Marcus had his ass hemmed up. It was no secret that he was on his way to jail. Judging from Marcus’s expression, I could tell that he wasn’t in the mood to take Dwayne, especially since it was going to be a long process. To put a smile on Marcus’s face I said, “Cheer up! Trust me; it can’t be all that bad.”

“Only one thing will put a smile on my face.”

“And what’s that?”

“If you tell me you’ll go out with me.”

“Marcus, you already know I don’t date men I work with.”

“Come on now, give me a chance,” he pressed.

“Sorry. You know the rule,” I told him and proceeded toward the stairway. I figured this would be my only escape from his constant badgering. Granted, Marcus was handsome with a nice body and made over $65,000 a year, but I was totally not interested. As I walked by them, Dwayne leaped toward me and headbutted the hell out of me. The impact from the blow sent me tumbling backward, and I lost my balance and fell down on my ass.

“Yeah, bitch! How does that feel?” Dwayne roared as if he hated my guts. I couldn’t respond. I was dazed.

Marcus quickly put Dwayne into a chokehold and wrestled him to the floor. “Stay down and don’t you move!” Marcus ordered him.

“Look at you now,” Dwayne managed to utter to me while his face was buried into the floor. “I don’t hear you running your motherfucking mouth now!”

Applying pressure to the back of Dwayne’s head with his knee, Marcus roared, “Shut up right now!”

Dwayne started laughing. “Oh yeah, dawg. She gon’ really give you some pussy now.”

“Say one more word and I’m gonna send you straight to the hospital!” Marcus warned him.

While all the commotion was going on, other colleagues of mine began to fill up the hallway. As soon as I regained full sight I allowed Karen Wheeler, my duty officer, to help me stand.

“Are you OK?” she asked me.

“I think so,” I replied, blinking.

“What happened?” she asked.

“That asshole headbutted me.” I felt my head for the growth of a lump while I watched Marcus drag Dwayne onto the elevator.

Karen looked in the direction of Marcus and said, “Where are you taking him?”

“I was getting ready to take him to jail, but now, I’m going to put him in one of the holding cells downstairs while I file my report.”

“OK. Well, Maxine and I will be coming behind you in a few minutes.”

“All right.” Marcus pressed the button to close the elevator door.

“Can you walk?” Karen asked me.

“Yes, I can walk,” I assured her.

“Well, follow me into my office.”

Once in her office, I took a seat and she grabbed an ice pack from her first aid kit and handed it to me. “Here put this on your head,” Karen said, taking a seat on the edge of her desk. “So, tell me what happened.”

Trying to gather my thoughts, I took a deep breath and said, “I really don’t know. I mean, he just charged right at me and headbutted me for nothing.”

“Wasn’t he one of your problem cases a while back?”

“Yeah, he was.”

“What was his name?

“Dwayne Harris.”

“Oh yeah, I remember him. He was the one you violated for making those harassing phone calls to you, and who threatened to assault you in your office over a year ago.”