Against the Grain (18 page)

•         •         •

The next day by 1:00 p.m., Kay had paid to have the house cleaned. He even had the portions of the beach that they used cleaned. They were all packed and ready to go. They said their good-byes to the ladies. Kay kissed Alzina as she got in her car.

“Make sure you call me if you get bored on the highway or when you get home, you know, to let me know you made it safe,” she told Kay.

“I will, love. I’ll call you anyway, just to talk,” he said. They kissed again and she drove off. Kay and them drove to the hotel. The guys were loading up their bikes on the truck. That took about an hour. Everyone double-checked everything to make sure they hadn’t left anything. Lil ‘C’ came out the hotel with a pillow, he planned to go back to sleep. They still drew the attention of a few lingering spectators. Most of the crowd was gone. Kay told his man that drove the truck for them that he would meet him back in the city. The truck was too slow to keep up with them. They made one last stop to gas up, buy phillies and junk food, and to use the bathroom. Then they headed home. . . back to Baltimore.

18

The next day was another beautiful day, and the whole crew hung out around the way. They sat on the stoop of an abandoned house on Harlem Avenue, across the street from Romanos, eating sunflower seeds. Even Shu-Shu was there and sat between Kay’s legs. They were talking about all the fun they had on their trip. They didn’t say anything about the women though. Not as long as Shu-Shu was around. All the neighborhood kids were out playing. They all loved “Uncle Kay,” because he always bought them ice cream and candy. On really hot days he would turn the fire hydrant on for them and sometimes even get in the water with them. He also made sure they all had food in the house and clothes on their backs. Especially at schooltime. This was his way of giving back to the community, since most of these kids’ parents were either strung out on his or Mike’s drugs. Big Duke sat in his truck, talking to wifey, who was fussing at him about something. Three Muslim brothers dressed in all white with the turbans and full beards came around the corner.

Saadiq and Mahir grew up on this block. The third brother wore glasses. His name was L.A. He was from Durham, N.C., but he’d moved to B-More a few years ago. They walked over to the familiar crowd.

“As-Salaamu Alaikum, brothers and sister.”

“Wa Alaikum As-Salaam,” everyone responded. They always respected the brothers whenever they came around. They would also listen to the teachings that they would give. Today would be a little different though, because as soon as they started talking, suddenly the knockers bent the corner in an unmarked car and stopped. Big Duke saw them in his rearview mirror and passed his gun to his girl and told her to walk. She stuck the gun under her shirt and walked in the opposite direction. Officer Ayala and her partner lined everybody against the wall. They even made Big Duke get out of his truck and line up. They told the Muslim brothers that they could leave without searching them.

“How you doing today, Kay?” Officer Ayala asked.

Kay shrugged his shoulders and said, “Better than some, worse than others.”

“What about you, Big Bad Mike?” she asked, being sarcastic.

“What the fuck kinda question is that? I’m aiight, I’m always aiight,” he told her.

They took their time searching everyone thoroughly and talking shit to them. Officer Ayala was extra rough when it came time for her to search Shu-Shu. Officer Ayala walked over to Shu-Shu’s convertible Mercedes and started going through it when she didn’t find anything on her. “What do we have here?” Officer Ayala asked as she pulled a 9-mm Glock 17 from under the driver’s seat. Everyone was shocked except Kay, because he was the one who had taken Shu-Shu to the range and taught her how to shoot. No one else expected her to be packin’ a burner. They didn’t even know that she was the mastermind behind Kay’s wealth.

“Is this yours?” the officer asked Shu-Shu.

“Yeah, it’s registered, too,” Shu-Shu told her and rolled her eyes.

“Yeah? Is that right? Well, is this registered?” Officer Ayala asked as she showed her a half ounce of cocaine that appeared to have come from under the seat also.

“Bitch, that shit ain’t mine!” Shu-Shu said loudly.

“Yeah well, bitch, you going to jail for it.”

No one said a word. They all knew it was a setup. Ayala’s partner handcuffed Shu-Shu and called for the paddy wagon. He also had her car towed. The whole neighborhood watched as Shu-Shu was taken to jail. Kay was heated. No one dared say anything to him. Dre called Fred Frank, the bondsman they always used when someone got locked up, on his cell. He told Dre that since it was close to five o’clock, Shu-Shu probably wouldn’t see the commissioner for bail until in the morning. Kay called Shu-Shu’s lawyer, Warren Downs. He told Kay the same thing. He said that he would go talk to her later on that night and pull her first thing in the morning. Spending the night in Central Booking was rough for anybody, but Kay knew that Shu-Shu could handle herself if anything went down, so he calmed down and relaxed a little.

“Yo, Duke, take me to my mom’s,” Kay said as he got in on the passenger side of Duke’s truck. When he got there, he told his mom what happened and asked to borrow her car. She gave him the keys and told him to drop the kids off at Lyniece’s shop down-town because she was taking them to see WrestleMania at the Baltimore Arena.

After he dropped Lil ‘C’, T-Kie, Kaneeka, and Kelli off, he headed out to Cherry Hill. He drove to a house in a nice residential area and parked behind a Toyota Solara. He jumped out and started to put his key in the door. Agents White and Powell had stopped about a block away.

“I wonder who lives here,” Agent Powell said.

“I don’t know, let’s run a check on the Toyota,” Agent White said.

As Kay stepped inside, a woman met him at the door.

“Hi, baby,” she said. He locked the door, turned, and slapped her so hard that it spun her around. She looked at him. She couldn’t believe he hit her.

“What the fuck did you think you were doing?” he yelled at her. She didn’t say anything, so he slapped her again. This time she stumbled back a little. He stepped in and slapped her again. This time Officer Ayala pulled her gun and pointed it in his face just as he was about to slap her for the fourth time. Kay froze in his tracks.

“I’m sorry!” she yelled as the tears poured down her face. “I know that’s your woman, but when I saw her sitting between your legs, I just lost it. I’m sorry, baby. You know I can’t control myself around you,” she said as she handed Kay the gun. He threw it on the sofa and pulled her to him. They kissed. He picked her up and took her to the bedroom.

Agents White and Powell discovered that the car was registered to a Victor Ortiz of New York City. Now they waited while a check was run on him. They wanted to know what connections he had to Arkadian Frost. Could he be Kay’s supplier?

•         •         •

Two hours later Kay noticed the time. He got up to get dressed.

“Where you going?” Officer Ayala asked him as she lay there naked.

“Home,” he responded.

“Why can’t you stay tonight? It ain’t like you got somebody you got to run home to.” She had an attitude.

“Yeah, but I’ve got to be there when she calls.”

She didn’t say anything, she just watched him get dressed.

“What’s the word?” he asked her.

“Same ole, same ole. The Chief wants Mike bad, but no one will give any info on him. They’re all scared. They’ve got pictures of all of you, but they still know Mike calls the shots. Tell Mike he needs to disappear for a while and stop doing dumb shit. There’s rumors of him kidnapping, tying people up, and pistol-whipping them. If anyone ever comes forward, he’s done. The DA said that he’s going to make an example out of Mike,” she said as she got up and put on her old police uniform shirt. She wore nothing under it. Kay liked when she wore her uniform shirt like that. Sometimes he would make love to her with it on. It was his way of fucking the police for a change.

“After you get your call, will you come back? I missed you while you were in Virginia.”

Kay thought about it for a minute and said, “Yeah, I’ll be back in a few hours. I want those charges to go away. You hear me?” He walked out the front door and stopped. She stood in the doorway.

“Oh shit, look at that!” Agent Powell said to her partner, who had dozed off. He grabbed his camera and began taking pictures. Officer Ayala was in perfect view.

“I’ll take care of it in the morning. I’ll switch the coke with flour,” she told Kay as he kissed her and walked away. She stepped back inside and shut the door. Agent Powell looked at her partner.

“Did you get all that?” she asked.

“Sure did. Pictures and video.”

“This shit is getting juicer by the minute.” They followed Kay.

•         •         •

Officer Marisol Ayala had been a good cop right until Kay came back into her life when he got out of prison. For some strange reason she couldn’t get him off her mind. Anytime or anywhere she saw him, she would harass him by pulling him over and searching him. After a while it became obvious to Kay because she would expose her hand making flirtatious comments. One night, three years ago, they ran into each other and it was no turning back. Kay took care of all her needs physically, mentally, and financially, and she made sure he was always two steps ahead of the po-po by giving him info. They were real discreet about everything, too. They never called each other directly. They always went through her father in New York, Victor Ortiz. Kay almost never went to her house in the daytime. If he did, he drove someone else’s car. He bought her nice things, but nothing too extravagant that she couldn’t afford on a cop’s salary. They didn’t want to bring suspicion to her. But now she had been found out. Over the next few weeks the Feds and her police chief were watching her more closely. They even fed her info about a few of Kay’s dope houses being raided, just to see what would happen. And just as they figured, she was very much involved. The dope houses would be empty within a half hour after they told her.

19

Since shit was hot for everyone, they decided to shut almost all business down for a few weeks. Kay needed to branch out. Baltimore was getting too small for him. So he made a few phone calls to some of the niggaz he’d met in prison who were home. Then he made a trip out to Cali to see his friend Joey. He took Dre, Mike, and Tank with him. They landed at LAX and took a cab to the house that Kay now owned in West Hollywood. None of the other guys had been to Cali before, so they were pretty excited with the scenery, all except Dre, of course. The house in L.A. was huge; it wasn’t near the size of Kay’s house in Maryland, but it was nice. The house had two floors, five bedrooms, and a pool with pool house. As they got out the cab, they noticed a white 750iL BMW sitting on twenties and a white convertible Corvette. Kay’s neighbor, an elderly white man, was getting out of his car at the same time. He was a retired movie director and he and Kay always talked. He thought Kay played pro basketball overseas, since he only saw Kay once or twice a month.

“What’s the dealy, son?” the old man said to Kay in his best street slang accent. They all laughed.

“What’s the deal, Pops?” Kay said back to him. They always greeted each other like this. “Yo, Pops, these are my peeps, Mike, Dre, and Tank. They all play on the same team with me in Italy,” Kay said. Everyone caught on immediately.

“What’s up, fellaz? I see you chillin’ wit my man Arkadian. Is this ya’ll’s first time in Cali?”

They all laughed at him again and said, “Yeah.”

“Well, just call me Pops. And if you want, you can all come over later and smoke a blunt wit me and I’ll call up some of my freaks. Just bring some phillies wit you, cause I ran out.” They all laughed again.

“Nah, Pops, we can’t. They might give us a drug test when we get back. We got to bounce, Pops. We’ll hang out before I leave,” Kay told him.

“Aiight, aiight, that’s peace,” the old man said as he went into his house.

“That’s my man,” Kay told everybody as he unlocked the side door to his house.

They walked into the kitchen. Kay made everyone take their shoes off. The whole house was decorated in all white, from floor to ceiling. Kay looked in the fridge and got a bottle of juice. He drank half of it and put it on the counter.

“C’mon, let me show you to your rooms.” As they left the kitchen, Kay’s California girl ran and jumped in his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist.

“Hi, honey,” she said as she threw her arms around his neck and showered him with kisses all over his face. He kissed her back and put her down. She noticed the rest of the crew.

“Boo, these are my friends, Mike, Dre, and Tank. Fellaz, this is Jordan,” he said. The fellaz were shocked. Kay had never told them about her. Especially the part about her being white. She walked over and shook all of their hands.

“I feel like I know all you guys already, as much as Kay talks about you. Where’s Scatter, Gee, and Big Duke?” she said with a smile, not even caring that she was damn near naked. She had on a black Baby Phat mesh bra and thong with crystals on it. For a white girl, shorty had ass out of this world. She was built like a sister. “Baby, why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” she asked Kay as they all went up the steps to the second floor.

“I wanted to catch you in something,” he told her jokingly.

“I’m not crazy; I know better.”

Tank whispered to Mike, “Damn, shorty reminds me of that bitch from
Blossom.
You remember the TV show
Blossom
? What was that bitch name?”

Dre overheard the conversation and told them that the girl was called Six.

“Yeah, Six. That’s her name,” Tank said.

Mike smiled. “Yeah, Six was a bad motherfucker. Everybody wanted to fuck Six,” he said.

“Shit, that’s the only reason why we watched
Blossom,
” Dre said. They laughed. Kay showed each of them to their room. He told them that he would meet them by the pool once they changed clothes. Then he and Jordan disappeared into their room and shut the door.

An hour later, Kay came down to the pool house where the fellaz were shooting a game of pool, drinking beer, and smoking weed. He wore a pair of white Sean John jean shorts, a white wife-beater, and a brand-new pair of white Nike Air Force Ones with no socks. He even had on all his jewelry. He was in relax mode in Cali.

“What’s up, Kay? I was just getting ready to tell these niggaz about this broad I played out yesterday. Peep this,” Tank said as Kay walked in.

“Ya’ll know my little man Fats that hustles for me up on White-lock, right? His baby muhva be sweatin’ me. Well, I ran into the bitch the other day and she was like, ‘I know you want some of this pussy, just give me five hundred.’And I ain’t gonna front, that bitch gotta phat ass. Me, being the nigga that I am, I was like aiight, shorty, when? So the ho tells me to come to her house the next day, around ten in the morning because Fats had to be in court by then and he would probably be there all day. To make sure that didn’t no funny shit go down and I have to kill a nigga, I picked Fats up myself and dropped his ass off on Wabash and told him to page me when he was ready. So I double back and me and this bitch is fuckin’ and she’s suckin’ and eating my ass. I ain’t no fag or nothing, but that shit felt good when she made her tongue go around—” He caught himself and stopped when he saw how his friends were looking at him. He started his story with a smile on his face. “Then she let me bust off on her face and I had her calling me niggaz I don’t even know. She was like, ‘Oh Lord! Oh Jesus!’ Now here’s the good part. I pay the bitch and bounce. When Fats called, I told him that I couldn’t make it but the five hundred that I borrowed from him that morning, I dropped it off to his girl for him.” Tank fell out laughing thinking of the look she had on her face when Fats asks her for the five hundred dollars he left. They all laughed.

“You a stupid-ass nigga,” Mike told Tank. Once the laughter died down a little, Mike asked Kay, “What’s up with the white girl, playa?”

“I met her about two years ago. She’s an actress. Well, she’s trying to be one. We met in the airport and I’ve been fuckin’ wit her ever since.”

“Damn, why you move the bitch in with you? I know there has got to be some fine-ass black women out here,” Tank said.

“Yeah, it’s a lot of fine-ass black women out here, but I get enough black pussy at home. Besides, it ain’t a black and white thing with me. I just go for Jordan. She’s going to blow one day. After looking at all the white girls in the fuck books while in prison all those years, shit, I had to get me one. She’s the only white girl I’ve ever been with. Wait til you try it,” Kay told them.

“So what’s up with everything being white around this motherfucker?” Tank asked.

“I don’t know. That’s some ho shit. Jordan decorated everything around here. White is her favorite color.”

“See, that’s what I’m talking about. She’s trying to suck you into her little white world and turn you into one of them corny-ass white-boy niggaz,” Tank said, causing everyone to laugh.

“Nigga, you is buggin’. You need to stop smoking that shit,” Kay told him and they all laughed again.

“She got some white girlfriends?” Tank asked.

“Yeah, and they all like dark meat. She’s on the phone right now inviting them over for a pool party tonight. She’s telling them all about ya’ll. And her friends can party. Them bitches is models and actresses, but they’re freaks. So it’s on tonight.”

“Okay, that’s what I’m talking ’bout. Jordan is my nigga,” Tank said.

“Yo, take the balls off the table, I’m ready to gamble,” Kay said as he threw a pair of dice on the pool table. Everybody started pulling out wads of money.

They partied and played hard for the next two weeks. They did everything under the sun. Kay even met his man Joey at his apartment. Joey didn’t know about his other house or Jordan. No matter how much fun they were having, niggaz was beginning to miss wifey. Kay was missing Shu-Shu. Kay rented a limo to take them to the airport. Jordan rode along with them. When the guy’s flight was announced, Jordan kissed Kay. He turned and walked down the corridor to the plane. When he disappeared, she walked over to the big window and waited for the plane to take off, taking Kay back to Baltimore. She turned and walked away with tears in her eyes when the plane was out of sight.

•         •         •

A few weeks later the summer was almost over and it was time for the kids to go back to school. Shu-Shu gave Mama’s church the money to sponsor a free bus trip to Kings Dominion for all the mothers and their children in the neighborhood. Since the trip wasn’t until the next morning, and Shu-Shu wasn’t invited to Kay’s party at the club that night, she decided to pick up Lil ‘C’ and Kaneeka and go back to Mama’s house to get some rest.

•         •         •

Later that night, Kay’s party jumped off at The Raven. It was called the THOUSANDNAIRE PARTY. You didn’t have to have a million but you had to have ten thousand dollars or better in your pocket to get in the door. So this meant. . . . No Broke-Ass Niggaz Allowed! The club was set up like a casino that night. There was plenty of gambling, free food and alcohol, but the main course of the night was the women. Kay had imported fifty of the prettiest exotic dancers from up and down the east coast. Even a few porn stars were invited and showed up. Heather Hunter, Menage, Obsession, Xtacee, Janet Jacme, Lana Sands, Dynamite and her crew all came through to show some love. Kay and the fellaz were in VIP 1, alone. The music was turned down real low on the inside. They were playing the video game.

“Yo, this party is bangin’, Kay,” Gee said.

“Yeah, it’s like a coming-out party for a nigga,” Kay said.

“What the fuck is you talking about?” Scatter asked him.

“Okay, check it, ya’ll niggaz know I been thinking ’bout expanding my operation a little, right? Well, you see that little short nigga right there talking to that porno bitch, Heather Hunter? That’s JD, he’s from New Brunswick, N.J. The nigga in the wheelchair is my man Mingo, from Detroit. The bald-headed nigga with the gold teeth is C.E., he’s from Atlanta. That nigga right there is my man Pharaoh, from New York. The other dude with the dreads is my man Sweat, from Charlotte. That smooth nigga right there is Mr. Darryl Shully, representing Philly. That black-ass nigga right there is Cease. He and his little partner, Half, is from Ohio. See the white boy with the long hair? You’d have to kill him if he heard you call him white. He’s just as black as any of us in this room. That’s Romeo Capone. The nigga standing next to him is Chris, the Pimp God. Romeo is from Pittsburgh and the Pimp God is from Sacramento. Don’t leave your bitch around these two niggaz. That bald-headed red nigga is my man Caprise, from Mil-waukee. I met most of those niggaz while I was in prison. Through these niggaz, I plan to take shit over. I’m going to flood their cities with dope.”

“You know the locals might not like that,” Mike said.

“Fuck ’em! If I have a problem in Detroit, I send niggaz from Ohio. If I have a problem in New York, I send niggaz from Cali and they kill everything moving. Niggaz either get down or lay down,” Kay said as he gave Mike a pound.

“I feel you, nigga. I might want to spread some of this coke around with you. You know, expand my operation a little, too,” Mike said.

“Say no more, nigga—done,” Kay told him.

“Yo, who’s the Chinese kid in the corner?” Tank asked.

“That is the man behind the man. Shorty is my connect,” he bragged.

“You’re joking right? That little nigga looks like he’s no older than seventeen or eighteen,” Tank said.

“Nah, Joey’s older than that and he’s no doubt the most powerful man in the building tonight.” Then Kay continued, “Let’s go have a good time. Pussy on me tonight.”

All the top playaz in the city were there. Everyone was having a good time. Any- and everywhere you looked, someone was getting some head or fucking. All the women made plenty of money that night. That was the way Kay designed it.

•         •         •

Meanwhile, on the outside of the club, Agent White was undercover trying to get in. Dinky, the doorman wasn’t having it.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“I’m Reggie. I’m a friend of Kay’s,” Agent White answered.

“Where you be at?” Dinky asked him.

“I’m up on Laurens and McCollugh.”

“Yeah well, I know Big Reg, Vinny, and them. You ain’t part of they crew so I’m going to have to ask you to step aside.”

“C’mon, man, don’t play me like that. I’ve got the entry fee and I’ll piece you real good,” he told Dinky as he flashed ten grand.

“Nah, I don’t need your money. There’s a lot of important people in here tonight and you smell like a cop to me. I don’t want you fucking up nobody’s high, so if I have to tell yo punk ass one more time to step to the side, I’m going to call the rest of security and have you stomped the fuck out. Now beat it!”

Agent White didn’t want any trouble, especially since he didn’t have his gun on him. He walked away and said in his hidden microphone, “I’ve been made. Make sure you get a good picture of the guy on the door and remind me to find something to lock his black ass up for.”

When the party was finally over, Agents White and Powell were sitting close by, taking pictures of everyone coming out the club. Once the doors had been locked from the outside and the crowd had dispersed, Agents White and Powell realized that neither Kay nor his crew had been seen coming out of the club. That’s because immediately after Agent White walked away from the door of the club, Dinky told Kay what happened and he and his guests and the crew were rushed out the back door into the alley behind the club where he had two black passenger vans with tinted windows waiting to take everyone to the hotel. They even took most of the girls with them. Nobody but Kay knew why they left early. The vans rode right past the agents’ unmarked car. They were so busy looking at the entrance of the club, they didn’t even notice the vans. But as the vans went by, Kay noticed them. He was sitting up front in the passenger seat and looked right into Agent Powell’s face and it registered to him where he’d seen her before. She was the same broad that kissed him in the club the night of the grand opening. He didn’t worry about it though. He would just get Marisol to check it out tomorrow. Plus he was getting ready to move his operations out of B-More anyway.