Backstage: Street Chronicles (16 page)

Trapp opened a box. It was stacked to the top with hundreds. He didn’t say a word. He moved that box to the side.

Just then there was a loud knock on the door.

“Oh shit!” Dee said in a shouting whisper. Dee headed straight for the window in JJ’s room. It led to the backyard.

That was Trapp’s chance to stash the money he found. He started stuffing as much of it as he could into all his pockets.

Boom! Boom! Boom!
“Open up!” Then the door burst open. Two police officers slowly canvassed the area.

Someone saw Trapp break in and they called the cops.

Trapp headed for the window. He saw JJ’s golden rhyme book laying on the nightstand. He snatched the rhyme book up and fled out the window.

As Trapp fled through the backyard, he thought to himself,
Why did I snatch this fucking notebook?
Then the words of JJ ran through his mind.

I can’t forget my rhyme book, it’s worth millions
.

“I didn’t get all the money. Fuck it, I got a lot.”

Trapp separated from Dee and went to his house. He emptied all his pockets and counted the money. He had $12,360.

“It must have been at least eight thousand more left. Fuck it, twelve thousand is a come up.”

Trapp looked at JJ’s rhyme book. He picked it up and started reading some of JJ’s raps out loud as if he was performing them.

“JJ gunplay / my chick on the runway / slang yay / all day / cook cake like soufflé / wrap ‘em up / then ship ‘em out of town / man your boy outta bounds / we don’t ball with you clowns / we pop champagne until we spit it up / that new CL 600 / ‘bout to pick it up/ the whole rap game / Trapp about to stick it up / ‘cause ain’t no clique on this planet / spit as sick as us / Trapp is a don / hundred g’s on my arm / plus fifty on the charm / got your girl on my arm.”

“I think I can do this rap shit,” Trapp said after a quick session with JJ’s rhymes.

That night Trapp spent eight hours smoking kush and spitting JJ’s rhymes as if they were his. He started to envision himself on stage performing for hundreds of fly girls and thugs. He envisioned
all the money and fame, something that Trapp always wanted.

Trapp was always the low man on the totem pole. He was never known for anything other than being broke, instigating beef, and being a soldier under someone. No girls wanted to get with him because he was only fly one day out of the week, the rest of the week he was wearing the same outfit. Then he would buy a new outfit every week because the one he wore all week couldn’t be worn again.

People were always putting Trapp down whenever he spoke of doing something big. People treated him like a nobody so he acted like one. However, since he had been hanging with Dee and JJ, he got a taste of money, and the hunger for more settled in.

“Fuck that, Trapp is about to be that new nigga everybody talk about.”

Trapp fell asleep with visions of being a rap star dancing through his head.

“Twenty-three-year-old Jamal Jenkins is awaiting trial for attempted murder and possession of two ounces of crack cocaine.” They showed JJ entering the courtroom in cuffs. “He is facing twenty-five years in prison if convicted. Next up is Sal with your five-day weather report,” the newscaster reported.

“I know him!” Sasha shouted.

“You know who?” her best friend Mina asked.

“That’s the guy from New York that I met that I was telling you about, JJ.”

“Damn, he is in a messed up predicament.”

“I think I can help him,” Sasha said sincerely.

“How did I know you were going to say that?” Mina asked sarcastically.

“No, seriously, I’m going to take his case pro bono. The firm has been asking me to take on some major cases, so this will be my first one. Plus, the fact that homie put it on me!” Sasha and Mina gave each other a high five.

“I know that’s right, because I heard your freaky ass.”

“I’ll be at the courtroom first thing tomorrow morning. Jamal Jenkins.” Sasha scribbled the name on a legal notepad. “JJ, Jamal Jenkins, very clever.”

Sasha couldn’t get JJ off her mind. That night she had broken her golden rule for the first time; she gave up the goods on the first night. It may have been the way JJ spent a thousand dollars on drinks that had something to do with it. Nevertheless, she thought about JJ every day.

Sasha Cohen came from a privileged family. Her exotic features were due to a mixture of Jewish and Black heritage. Both of her parents were lawyers, so she was a second-generation lawyer in the family.

Sasha graduated with a law degree from the University of Colorado at the age of twenty-five by doubling up for four years. She landed a probationary job at a local law firm immediately, due to her father’s influence. Whether she stayed at the firm would depend on her skills as a lawyer.

“I’m going to look extra special for JJ tomorrow at court.” Sasha was going through her wardrobe in the closet. “This right here will do.”

She picked out a sexy but conservative teal-green skirt and matching blouse that hugged every curve of her voluptuous body.

“He will like this.” Sasha already had plans to save JJ from his plight, and to seduce him at the same time. “I can’t wait to see him again.”

Sasha dozed off thinking of JJ.

Incarceration quickly desensitized JJ; he was numb to his situation, and he accepted his current reality. JJ didn’t know anything
about the legal system, so he was confused in the courtroom. On his first court date the judge appointed him a legal aid.

“People recommend one million dollars bail,” the DA quickly announced.

“Bail set at the sum of one million U.S. dollars!” The judge slammed her gavel down.

JJ was escorted to the bullpen to wait for a bus to return to the Richmond County jail. While he was in the bullpen, he met a cool old-timer named Solomon.

“Young blood, let me school you on something.”

At first JJ was defensive, because in jail you have to be, but his instincts told him that Solomon meant no harm.

“Listen to me, get yourself a lawyer, because they are going to hang you.”

“What do you mean they’re going to hang me?” JJ was confused.

“When Black people were slaves, and afterward, White folk use to hang us from trees for their amusement. Now they found a different way to hang us, and that’s in the courtroom, by taking so much time from you, that you may as well be dead.”

Solomon’s words were so powerful that they automatically sparked JJ’s intuitive mind. He knew that Solomon was not like the rest of the old-timers he knew, like OG Rosco. Solomon displayed a genuine sense of caring and integrity that JJ respected.

“I can’t get to my money in Long Island. I don’t even know what the fuck these people are talking about. They’re trying to say that I blew Chopper’s arm off, and the drugs—” JJ stopped talking midsentence.

“Look, it don’t matter what you did, all I know is that your case is a high-profile case because I saw you on the news. That means the DA is going to try to fry you because the media is involved.”

“Damn, I didn’t look at it like that,” JJ said, bewildered by this epiphany.

“Don’t worry, young blood, things sometimes have a way of
turning around when you least expect them to.” Solomon rubbed his full beard as he spoke. “I’m Solomon.” He stuck his hand out for a handshake. “What’s your name, brother?”

“My name is Jamal, but everybody calls me JJ Gates or just JJ.” JJ firmly shook Solomon’s hand.

Solomon was facing life in prison for his third felony. His criminal history dated back to the seventies. The system was ready to lose him, but he was ready to save one young soul before they took him out.

“How old are you, JJ?”

“I’m twenty-three.”

“Man, you are a baby. You have a lot of life left in you. You can come out of this smelling like a rose, my man.”

The words of inspiration were working. JJ’s spirits started rising instantly.

“Look at the bright side, JJ, you still have your health, you seem pretty smart, you’re handsome. You have all the attributes to become something great in life. Don’t waste your time on the streets, because you can end up like me. I’m forty-seven years old with nothing but years in jail and a bunch of war stories to show for it. You can be something great, JJ.”

Their conversation was cut short by a CO. “Jamal Jenkins step up to the cage, your lawyer is here to see you,” the CO said to JJ.

JJ found that strange because he just saw his lawyer earlier. He stepped up and the CO led him to a private chamber.

When JJ saw Sasha’s beautiful smile it was like the sun shining in a dark universe.

“Sasha, what are you doing here?” JJ couldn’t believe his eyes.

“I’m a lawyer, remember, or did you forget?” She gave JJ her sexiest smile with enticing eye contact.

“I was kind of drunk, but I remember your name.”

She smiled, but then she quickly went into lawyer mode. This was no time for romance.

“First things first, I personally fired your legal aid for you and
appointed myself as your new counsel. Second thing is that you have to tell me what happened no matter what you think. I’m your lawyer and I can not discuss anything you tell me with anyone. Understood?”

“I understand.”

“If you didn’t do what they accused you of, we’re going to trial. If you did do it then I will get the lowest possible deal with the DA.”

“I didn’t shoot anyone, the drugs were mine but they didn’t catch them on me. So I’m innocent.”

“I can work with that,” Sasha said with confidence. “If we are going to fight it, you’re going to lay up in jail until we beat the case, unless you have the million-dollar bail they requested.”

“No, I don’t have a million.” JJ thought about all the bragging he used to do about being Hood Rich.

“I didn’t think you did. Well I can put in a motion for a bail reduction, but like I said, you will probably lay up for at least six months fighting this case.”

“Fuck it, as long as I don’t blow trial.”

“Don’t worry, I got you, JJ.” Sasha gave JJ the most serious look she could. “There is no guarantee whenever you go to trial, but I can guarantee that I will fight for you with the best of my ability.”

“I believe in you, Sasha. Just the simple fact that you’re here gives me confidence.” JJ gave her back a serious look.

It was obvious that Sasha was very interested in JJ. The fact that she came to his rescue made JJ like her more than he had ever liked a female before.

“I’m going to get you through this.”

She exited the meeting feeling more intimately connected to JJ than any man in her young life.

“One way or another, I’m going to save him,” she said to herself as she entered the judge’s chamber to defend JJ.

Trapp was in the same microphone booth that JJ was in not even a month ago, spitting JJ’s rhymes. Trapp was a natural at saying JJ’s rhymes, in fact Trapp’s delivery was better than JJ’s. Trapp had a smooth tone that held bass. The tone of his voice was almost hypnotizing.

The engineer was very impressed with the way Trapp sounded in the booth. “Yo, man, you sound awesome, dude. I think I can pass your music off to my friend that is an A&R at University Records. I’m sure they will sign you.”

“Word, I appreciate that, Sammy. You already know if I get a deal I’m going to hit you off for hooking me up,” Trapp said with excitement.

“Don’t worry about me, all I want is a shout-out on the album.”

“I got you, Sammy. Once again, thanks, man.”

Trapp left the studio feeling like a million dollars. He’d begun to record JJ’s songs two days after he stole his rhyme book; two weeks later he may have landed a record deal.

Trapp felt comfortable fronting because it was what he did best. It came natural for him to steal and lie, so this was something he was enjoying.

“If I get this record deal, it’s on and poppin.”

Trapp got a phone call; the caller ID revealed that it was Dee. Trapp pressed the ignore button, which directed Dee to Trapp’s voice mail. Trapp hadn’t answered any of Dee’s calls since that day he stole JJ’s rhyme book and the money.

Trapp also hadn’t seen Dee since they ran up in JJ’s apartment two weeks ago. Trapp started his own drug operation with the money he took from JJ. He didn’t even have the decency to look out for Dee, after all Dee had done for him. Trapp left Dee for dead.

Dee went into a deep depression after his cousin Cannon got murdered. He stopped hustling and starting drinking and smoking weed all day. He started hanging with a bunch of broke cats that did what he was doing, smoking and drinking all day.

Things were looking up for Trapp. He was making money and recording songs. He was seeing more money than he ever saw in his life. He bought himself a brand-new wardrobe and some nice jewelry. He wanted everybody to know that he was getting money.

Trapp was feeling himself so hard, girls were noticing him now. Word in the hood was that Trapp was the new boss in town.

“I think I’m going to cop me a BMW 540i after this next flip.” He looked at his iced-out Breitling watch.
Time to get with Shonda. I’ve been trying to get with her since fifth grade. Must be my watch, or maybe it’s my chain
, Trapp thought with cockiness.

Dee and JJ’s ego put together couldn’t match Trapp’s. Trapp would show up to a party in Gucci loafers with a matching shirt, then he would go home and come back in Dolce & Gabbana from head to toe.

Trapp never had anything his whole life, not even a family. All his life he had to fend for himself. Trapp grew up in the foster care system from the day he was born. He was one of the kids that never got chosen by a family. When he was eighteen he went out on his own and the gangs of the streets became his family.

Trapp was forced into a backstabbing and cutthroat way of life. He came up among hungry wolves that were just like him. There was no rules among wolves; that’s where he learned to snake everyone in his circumference.

Trapp did every possible type of sneaky act imaginable. Trapp set up his man to get robbed, he snitched on drug dealers for the Feds. He instigated beefs that caused murders. He did these things to satisfy an innate beast-like hunger. Trapp is the epitome of a grimy dude.