Against the Grain (19 page)

•         •         •

The next morning by 9:00 a.m. the five charter buses the church rented for the Kings Dominion trip were packed. The driver of one of the buses had to call in for two more buses because people were still coming. Everyone was there. Shu-Shu, Kay, Lil ‘C’, Kaneeka, Mama Frost, Lyniece, Mike, T-Kie, Tramaine, Pooh Pooh, Kelli, Caleek, Tank, Quchelle and their kids, Gee, Sandra and their daughter Stacy, Lady and Scatter, Big Duke, his girl and son Lil Duke, Dre, Mina, and security. Everyone wore bright yellow and white T-shirts with Frost Family Day on the back. That was just in case someone got lost in Kings Dominion. The buses were lined up on Fremont Avenue between Harlem and Edmondson. Everyone was on the buses except Kay, Mike, and Big Duke.

Kay was on the corner of Harlem and Fremont, on the side of Romanos sub shop, talking on his cell phone. He was making last-minute arrangements to get all his guests to the airport on time, when he saw something in his peripheral vision on the roof across the street. He turned to get a good look. Agent White jumped back from the edge of the roof so that Kay couldn’t see him. Kay told whoever he was talking to that he would call them back. He put his phone in his pocket and stared at the roof for a long moment.

“What you looking at, Kay?” Big Duke asked.

“Nothing. C’mon, let’s go,” Kay told him. They got on the bus and headed for Virginia.

•         •         •

Later on that night Kay and Shu-Shu were home alone. Kay was lying across the bed naked with the remote in his hand trying to find something good on TV. Shu-Shu came in with a bottle of wine and two glasses. She was wearing one of Kay’s T-shirts with nothing underneath. She filled both glasses and handed one to Kay. Then she climbed on his back and with her free hand, began to massage his shoulders and neck.

“What’s wrong, baby? You seem stressed about something. You been like that all day. I noticed it at Kings Dominion. You want mama to make it better?” she said as she bent down and stuck her tongue in his ear.

“Chill for a minute, ma. Let me talk to you about something,” he told her as he pulled away from her. She sat straight up and took a sip of her wine.

“I got this vibe that something is about to go down. I don’t get a vibe often but when I do, I’m usually right. Baltimore is getting hot, so I’m going to move around and do my thing. I think I’m going to start with New York, then Atlanta. I want you to stay out of the city for a while. Just let Mama or whoever come out here to keep you company. Lil ‘C’ and Kaneeka will be here with you on the weekends anyway. I’ll be coming back and forth every other week to make sure shit is tight on this end. Plus, you know I get sick when I stay away from you too long,” he said as he smiled.

“Why can’t I just take some time off and come with you?”

“Nah, ma, I need you here to be my eyes and ears, take care of all the businesses and stay on point for anything out of the ordinary. Have you ever heard of a spooker, baby?” he asked her.

“No, what’s that?”

Kay turned over on his back so that he would be facing her. “I read this book a while back called
Spooker.
It was about some CIA shit. All CIA agents are taught to keep a spooker. A spooker is like a getaway kit. A car, a passport, and identification all in another name. And as much unmarked cash as you can carry. You keep your spooker where no one can link you to it and when the shit hits the fan, you run for your spooker as fast as you can, leaving everyone and everything behind and never look back,” he told her.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“I don’t know. Just in case, I guess.”

“Do you have a spooker?” she asked.

“No.”

“Well, I don’t need one either.” She bent down and kissed him. They both finished their wine and dropped the glasses to the carpet. Kay rolled over on top of her between her legs and they began to make love.

20

Gee and Tank were riding around smoking weed when Gee’s cell phone rang. He passed the blunt to Tank before answering the phone.

“Hello.”

“It’s me, man, Lowsy.”

“Wham my yoot? What ta gwon?”

“Yo, that nigga Punchy got bagged for driving with no L’s. He can’t get out because he got a fugitive warrant up top.”

“Where’s mi tings, bredren?”

“I just gave him both of them this morning, so they should be at his girl’s crib. I’m on my way over there now to pick that up. I’ll hit you back in a little while. Peace.”

“Alright, me ah check fi you later,” Gee said and hung up the phone. Twenty minutes later Gee’s phone rang and it was Lowsy again.

“Yo, Gee, I’m at Punchy’s house and it looks like a fucking tornado hit it. His girl said that she just came home and found it like this. She can’t find the food. She’s looked all over for it. She said it’s not where he usually puts it. She’s saying that someone must have broken in while she was at work.”

“So mi things not deyah? Yo sta, it’s not mi problem. I give you mi tings to sell it. You give it to your mon. Your mon get bag up over some foolishness, so you haf to deal wit it. You understand mi? Call mi bock when you haf mi money,” Gee told him and hung up.

He and Tank were parked across the street from Club 900, a strip club. Gee was rolling another blunt when Tank got off his phone. He knew somebody that worked at Central Booking. She confirmed that Punchy was there with no bond. He hadn’t seen the commissioner yet, but he had a detainer on him from New York. Tank looked over at Gee and said, “That nigga Lowsy is trying to play you. That shit don’t sound right. As soon as this nigga goes to jail, his crib gets robbed? C’mon, man, one of them niggaz is playing games. Either that nigga Punchy and his girl is in it together or that nigga Lowsy robbed the crib before shorty got there. You feel what I’m saying?”

Gee inhaled the smoke from the blunt and stared out the window. Then he spoke without his Jamaican accent, “I don’t care who got my two ki’s—that nigga Lowsy is going to pay me for my shit or die. That’s my word.”

“Yeah, that’s how it has to go down, nigga,” Tank yelled. He took the blunt from Gee and hit it again. Once it was done, they got out the car. Their bodyguards were in a black Yukon behind them. The four of them went in the club for a while. When they finally came out they had two strippers with them. Instead of going straight to the hotel they decided to go by Lowsy’s first. When Lowsy opened the door and let them in, he was wearing just a bathrobe. They had caught him while he was sleeping. As soon as they entered into the apartment and Lowsy had locked the door, the bodyguards began to beat him senseless as he screamed like a bitch for Gee to make them stop. Gee raised his hand and they stopped.

“Get up!” Gee yelled. Lowsy got up slowly.

“Have a seat,” Gee said as he pointed to the couch. Lowsy did as he was told. Gee told the bodyguards to search the apartment.

“I swear, Gee, man, I didn’t have anything to do with it. I’m not crazy enough to cross you and stay around. Please, Gee, don’t kill me. I’m going to get your money. Every penny of it.”

Gee didn’t say a word. The bodyguards came back with six guns and $8,000 they found in the bedroom.

“Looks like he was waiting on us with all this artillery, Gee,” Tank said.

“Nah, I just keep them around for the stickup boys,” Lowsy said.

“You should have had one in your hand when you came to the door, you stupid motherfucker!” Tank yelled, poking Lowsy in the face.

“Get this nigga dressed, he’s coming with us,” Gee told them.

“Please, Gee! No! I’ll get your money today!” Lowsy yelled.

They got him dressed and took him out to his MPV. Gee decided to take his van because if the cops found his van at home and his body somewhere else, they would come around asking questions. Gee made the strippers follow them in his car. They put Lowsy in the back of the MPV. On the way to the stash house, they stopped at a 7-Eleven for a box of phillies. Before Gee could get out, Lowsy snatched the sliding door open, jumped out, and ran in the 7-Eleven. They ran in behind him but he jumped over the counter.

“Help me! Help me! Call the police!” he yelled to the clerk who was already on the phone dialing 911. Gee and Tank stopped in their tracks. The bodyguards were on their way around the counter to get Lowsy.

“No!” Tank yelled. They froze and looked at him. He pointed to the security cameras.

“Let him go. We’ll get him later.” They got back in the vehicles and drove off.

•         •         •

Late one afternoon the crew was hanging out around the way when Kay and Dre rode up on their Ducati 995 SPS motorcycles. Kay’s was red and white, Dre’s was yellow and black. They both rocked the leather Ducati jackets to match their bikes. The Raheem family was also out there. The Raheem family grew up in this same neighborhood. The reason they were known as the Raheem family is because they were about thirty-strong and counting if you add brothers, sisters, cousins, nephews, and nieces. They all lived around the way and they were tight. Their family had been getting drug money in Baltimore for years. Now that the nephews were grown, they started doing their thing. One day a beef jumped off between some of the Raheems and some of Mike’s workers. Both sides were capable of bringing it but neither really wanted to, so everyone was out on the corner to talk shit out and show that there was no love lost. The fellaz greeted each other with handshakes and hugs. Big Duke drove up. Scatter was riding with him. Everyone started clowning Big Duke because Kay had finally showed them the videotape of Big Duke at the hotel in Virginia Beach.

A group of young girls came down the street laughing and giggling to themselves. They were seniors in high school and just getting out of school for the day. The prettiest one stood out amongst the rest of them because she was 5′7″, light-skinned, bow-legged, half Jamaican, half Chinese, with long black hair down her back. She looked like a model. Her name was Tralese. She and her family had just moved to the neighborhood from Canada over the summer. She was only seventeen years old and she had a crush on Tank. So every chance she got, she would get her girlfriends to walk to the store with her so that she could see if Tank was out there. When she and her friends came out the store, she said, “Hi, Tank,” then whispered something to her girls.

“What’s up, shorty?” Tank spoke back. Everyone admired Tralese’s beauty, but knew she was too young to touch.

“One day I’m going to bite her on her little ass,” Tank joked.

“And I hope they put yo ass under the jail, nigga,” Scatter said.

“Shut the fuck up, you old bastard. Ain’t nobody talking to your bitch ass anyway,” Tank told him. At first everyone thought they were joking until they saw Tank’s facial expression. Then Tank walked over to Scatter and took his right index finger and poked Scatter in the middle of his forehead. “I’ll fuck you up out here,” he warned.

Out of instinct, Scatter grabbed Tank’s finger and bent it back until everyone heard it snap. With his left hand, Tank punched Scatter in the mouth. Scatter punched him back in the mouth and the two of them locked up. Everyone rushed in to break them up. Because Kay didn’t want Tank to get the best of Scatter while they were breaking them apart, and Mike didn’t want Scatter getting the best of Tank, neither side wanted to let go. A crowd had begun to form. They watched a shoving match start between the fellaz. Somehow, Kay lost his balance and fell. Big Duke pulled out his burner and let off a round in the air. The crowd scattered. The rest of security pulled their burners. The shoving and push-ing stopped and they just stared at Big Duke.

“Everybody back da fuck up!” he yelled. Tank and Scatter let each other go. Big Duke helped Kay up, never taking his eyes off anyone.

“Ya’ll niggaz is fam and ya’ll out here buggin’ like this? C’mon, man, ya’ll know this shit ain’t right,” Big Duke said.

“Da mon right, you know?” Gee said out loud.

“Yo, Duke, you pulling guns and shit on me now, nigga? That’s for me and you?” Mike asked as he stared at Big Duke.

“Nah, Mike, don’t take it personal. I’m just watching my man’s back, that’s all.”

“Yo, let’s go,” Kay told Scatter, Dre, and Big Duke. No one said a word as Big Duke got in the truck. “Meet me around my mama’s house,” Kay told them. Big Duke drove off with Scatter on the passenger side. Tank gritted on Scatter until he was out of sight.

“You aiight?” Kay asked Tank.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m getting ready to go to the hospital for my finger though.”

“Ya’ll niggaz was trippin’. But I seen that shit coming a long time ago. Sometimes it’s good to let men get shit off their chest. That’s why I let ya’ll fight,” Mike said.

“It ain’t nothing. I’ll see his old ass again,” Tank responded.

“Yo, Gee, drive this nigga to the hospital,” Dre said as he looked at Tank’s finger.

“Yeah, mon, mi ah deal wit it.”

“I’ll catch you niggaz later,” Kay said as he and Dre got on their bikes and left.

Once they got around to his mom’s, they parked the bikes and got in the truck with Duke and Scatter. Scatter was smoking a blunt. He wasn’t even fazed by what had just happened. “Yo, let’s ride down on Pratt Street, stop at the Gallery,” Kay said. No one mentioned what had just happened. As Big Duke drove through the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and Martin Luther King Blvd., Kay saw a young woman walking who really looked familiar to him. He just couldn’t figure out where he knew her from and he never forgot a face.

•         •         •

A few nights later, Kay got a call in the middle of the night from Victor Ortiz telling him that the police were on their way to raid Mike’s house. He hung up and dialed Mike’s number. Lyniece answered the phone, “Hello.”

“Where’s Mike?”

“He’s sleep. What’s wrong?”

“Wake him up, it’s important.” Shu-Shu was wide awake now.

“Mike, here, it’s Kay,” Lyniece said as she passed him the phone. “He said it’s important.”

Mike turned over and took the phone. “Yo, what’s up, nigga?” Mike asked still half asleep.

“The cops are on their way to raid your house. If you dirty, nigga, get right. Call me back when they leave.” Kay hung up. Then he turned on the TV and waited.

Everything turned out fine. The only thing Mike had in the house was money and a few guns that he stashed behind the wall in the basement. Lyniece’s gun was registered to her so he didn’t have to hide it. Before they could call Kay back, Mama called them. Kay told her to check on them and let them know that he was on his way to Sonia’s because Lil ‘C’ called upset asking for a gun. Magic had punched Sonia in the face and blackened her eye. Lyniece got dressed and went to check on her nephew. By the time she got there she saw Mama, Tramaine, Caleek, Big Duke, Dre, and Mina standing in the living room. A few moments later, Kay came out of Lil ‘C’s bedroom and shut the door.

“Is my grandbaby alright?” Mama asked.

“Yeah, once I got him to calm down he went right to sleep.”

Lyniece and Mina went to the bathroom door and knocked. Sonia let them in. She was still crying and washing her face.

“Damn, girl, look at your fuckin’ eye!” Mina said.

“What happened?” Lyniece asked. Sonia put the toilet seat down and sat on it, then said, “You know Magic has been down North Carolina hustlin’. Well, he was suppose to be back here yesterday. He called me when I came home from work and said that he was in New York taking care of some business and that he would be here sometime today. That wasn’t unusual of him so I didn’t think anything of it. About an hour later, I was checking my caller ID and I noticed Magic’s call came from North Carolina. Usually when he calls me from down there, it just says out of area. Then I thought, why did he lie about being in New York. I called the number and a bitch answered, so I said, ‘Hello, may I speak to Magic?’ She told me, ‘Hold on,’ and she passed him the phone. When he came to the phone I said, ‘You busted, motherfucka!” and he hung up. I kept calling back, but the phone just kept ringing. Then a little while ago he comes up in here wanting to explain. I already had his shit packed, sitting by the door. I told that nigga to get the fuck out of my house or I was going to call Kay. That’s when he punched me in my face and said fuck me and Kay. Then he left. When Lil ‘C’ heard the front door slam, he woke up and came in my room. When he saw my face, he just started screaming and crying. He scared me worse than Magic did. That’s when he called his daddy. The cops got here before Kay and I told them what happened, so they’re looking for him now.”

The tears kept coming down her face. Mama knocked on the door and walked in. “The police called and said that they are arresting Magic, so relax. Here, put this on your eye for the swelling,” Mama said as she handed Sonia an ice pack.

•         •         •

A week later Lyniece and Lady were riding around with Shu-Shu in her 996 Porsche Carrera Coupe. It was girls’ day out and they had just treated themselves to full-body massages, manicures, pedicures—the works.

“Where’s that hardheaded-ass man of yours, ShuShawn? I told him to come take my car to get it washed yesterday and he told me he would. I haven’t seen him yet,” Lady said from the backseat.

“Them niggaz is somewhere fighting their pits.”

“I can’t stand to see that shit, girl. Mike took me one time. I got sick from watching them poor dogs kill each other,” Lyniece said. A slow song, “Let’s Get Married” by Jagged Edge, came on the radio.

“Ooh, I like this song,” Shu-Shu said as she turned it up.

“Yeah, I like that song, too,” Lyniece said.

“That’s what’s wrong with you bitches now, always got your mind on some love shit and wearing your heart on your sleeve,” Lady chastised the two younger ladies.

“Shiiit, not me. I never gave a fuck about a nigga until I got with Kay. When it comes to feelings, I put them shits under my feet and walk hard,” Shu-Shu said.

“And you can’t be talking about me,” Lyniece chimed in, “ ’cause I don’t even know if I love Mike anymore. I’ve just gotten used to him being there and he’s the only father my daughter has ever had. I think I’m just infatuated beyond reason.”