Get It Girls (22 page)

“You ok? I been waiting all day for you. I was getting worried about you.”

Jessica nodded. “I’m ok. I was with my friends putting everything in motion.”

Cleveland smiled and asked, “You talking about the Get It Girls?”

She smiled back, “Yeah, the Get It Girls. We came up with this plan that I think may get us inside with Bosco.”

“Yeah, lay it on me.”

Jessica spent the next two hours going over the plan with Cleveland, explaining to him his role and where he and his men should be. Cleveland thought it was a perfect plan, but Jessica wasn’t sure of just one thing and decided to play things by ear.

“What do we do about your little friend from last night?” asked Cleveland.

Jessica had almost forgotten about him. “What did y’all do him?”

“Don’t worry, he’s not dead. We figured we keep him alive in case we can use him for something down the road.”

“That’s it!” Jessica said excitedly. “That was the one problem that I had.” She looked at Cleveland and explained, “Remember when I told you they don’t let just anybody in their drug spot and I was worried about how you and the other guys would get in without the least resistant?”

He nodded.

“Well, you bring Li’l man to the door and when they see his face they going to open it.”

Cleveland finished the rest. “And that’s when we bum rush the spot. I see where you going with this.”

Jessica nodded.

For the first time, Cleveland noticed how withdrawn and tired Jessica looked. “Listen, you look like you could use some rest.”

Jessica agreed.

He still saw something in Jessica that just wasn’t right and asked, “Jessica, I know what’s on your mind. Do you want me to tell you about it?”

Jessica wanted so badly to ask about her brother, but she couldn’t. All she wanted was for God to forgive her and have mercy on her soul. “No, I don’t want to know, ok?”

Cleveland understood. He looked around the room. “Well, if it means anything to you and you don’t want to be alone, you can stay down here for the rest of the night. I only got a couch for you to sleep on, but it’s comfortable.”

Jessica looked at Cleveland and smiled as she thought about how her brother used to ask her to sleep with him when he was afraid of monsters. Well, Jessica was afraid, and Bosco was the monster.

She nodded.“Thank you Cleveland, I would like to stay for the night.”

He smiled and said, “Good. When was the last time you had something to eat?”

Jessica thought about it and realized she hadn’t eaten in two days.

Cleveland read her face and said, “I can cook some mean fried chicken, and I’m gonna put some on right now.”

**********

After getting up early and leaving Cleveland’s house the next morning, Jessica went up to her apartment and immediately got into a long hot bath and a fresh change of clothing. She went to her closet and removed the money she promised Tiny, counted it out, and put the rest back into her stash. She found a notebook and took her time writing a letter to her mother. When she finished, she left it right on the kitchen table so that she couldn’t possibly miss it. It pained her to write the letter, because it was more or less a goodbye letter letting her know exactly what had happened to her and Jordan in case she didn’t make it back alive. Jessica stood up and exhaled deeply, looked around one last time, and knew that there was nothing left to be done but the mission at hand. She went to her room and cut off the light and headed toward the front door.

Since Jessica had to stay out of sight during the daylight hours, she called Vonda and had her come over to Cleveland’s apartment to pick up the money. When Vonda arrived at the door Jessica introduced her to Cleveland and went over some minor details that would be vital to pulling it all off.

Vonda was ready to leave when Jessica added, “Oh, yeah, Vonda. One more thing.”

Vonda turned to face her.

“You, Lynn, and Tiny may need these.” She walked over to the table and showed her the guns.

Vonda only stared at them then picked one of them up.

Jessica looked her in the eyes and said, “It’s better to be judged by twelve instead of carried by six.” It was the same thing Chubby had told her.

Jessica reiterated to Vonda not to give Tiny any of the money until after the job was done. She knew if they did, the likelihood of Tiny showing up for the job would be nil.

Vonda left and headed back home to meet with Lynn and Tiny and to change into something more appropriate for the role she and Lynn would play that night.

J
essica walked around Cleveland’s apartment aimlessly, waiting for Vonda to call and say that they had spotted Bosco. The past few weeks had been a nightmare come true, and now it was taking its toll on her mentally and physically. Jessica suddenly felt sick and dizzy and ran to the bathroom to throw up. She was on her knees in front of the toilet bowl panting rapidly when Cleveland came to check on her.

“Are you ok, Jessica?”

She looked up and used her sleeve to wipe the bile off her mouth, nodded, and tried to smile. “I guess I’m not used to outside food yet.”

He chuckled and left her alone.

When Jessica finally got to her feet and washed off, the phone rang and she rushed out of the bathroom to see who it was.

Cleveland picked up the phone and said, “Hello?” He listened intently, then looked at Jessica and handed her the phone.

She listened intently. “In an hour . . . ok . . . ok,” she repeated before she hung up the phone. She looked at Cleveland and said, “They located Bosco at the spot on 116th Street, and we gonna meet them in an hour right around the corner on 117th Street to follow them.”

Cleveland picked up the Polaroid picture of the building and examined it.

“Yes,” Cleveland said excitedly, “this building is perfect for our thing. Lots of empty surrounding buildings so we can enter the building from an adjacent roof without being seen.” He then flipped through his notes and said, “Jackpot! This is also his main location that he uses cook up and bag his drugs up. Now, let me make a couple of phone calls and then get on the road to pick up our package from the Bronx.”

**********

The sun had just gone down when the two cars filled with Jessica and the four men pulled up behind Vonda, Lynn, and Tiny. They were sure not to make any contact with each other, and when they saw them pull up in the car, that was the three girls’ cue to begin the mission and meet Bosco, who was standing in front of his building with several of his associates.

Jessica saw that Vonda and Lynn were dressed to kill in their tight fitting jeans and heels. The plan was to get the attention of Bosco so they could get not only get inside the building, but the apartment as well. The girls would use Tiny to introduce Vonda and Lynn to Bosco and tell him that they wanted to buy a large amount of cocaine to sell.

Normally, Bosco would have to have done business with you in the past to sell you that much weight, but he knew Tiny very well, and the two girls she was with would secure the deal. They were betting their lives that his sexual tendencies would cloud his judgment that night. Jessica and Cleveland were parked at an angle that they would not be seen, but in a good enough spot that they could also watch the girls’ every move.

The closer Vonda and Lynn got to the men in front of the building, the more they found it harder to breathe. Tiny showed no emotion as she coolly smoked on a Newport cigarette and swaggered with an air of confidence in every stride. Standing before all the men now, Tiny walked directly up to Bosco and balled her fist and gave him a pound. Bosco barely looked at Tiny, as his eyes were stuck on the two other girls standing no more than two feet in front of him.

“Yo, Bosco,” said Tiny. “Can I holla at you for a second?”

He finally took a gander at Tiny. “Yeah, mon, we talk in de building,” said Bosco in his thick Jamaican accent.

Tiny followed him inside the building and the stopped at the stairwell.

“Out there are my girls and they wanted to get a little something from you.”

He frowned and asked quickly, “Dem girls smoke?”

“Naw, man, do they look like they smoke? They sell it.”

He hesitated for a second then asked, “Why you come ta me? Why you don’t get from de other spot?”

“I did! I took them to the other spot and they told me they ain’t holding that much powder on them and that I had to see you if I wanted so much weight.”

Dollar signs flashed before Bosco’s eyes and Tiny knew it. “How much you talkin’ ’bout?”

Tiny shrugged her shoulders and said, “We was hoping you could give us a half of key for seven thousand.”

He frowned again then sucked his teeth. “Blood clot, me nay sell half o’ key for no seven. Me could get nine easy,” he complained.

“Come on, Bosco. You know me. I do a lot of business with you, and we all just starting out tryna get on our feet.”

“Where you know girls from?” he asked suspiciously

“They my homegirls I grew up with. I knew them my whole life.”

Bosco rubbed his chin and peered at the men trying to rap to the girls outside. “Ya, tink dem two want to have a party wit me upstairs for de two thousand dollars off de product?”

Tiny knew that she had him and shrugged her shoulders. “I, don’t know. You want me to ask them?”

He smiled. “Ya, you ask em for me, will ya?”

Tiny nodded and walked out the building and consulted with the girls. Moments later, Tiny walked up to Bosco and nodded.

Bosco didn’t hide his pleasure and whispered to Tiny, “Bring dem up.”

Tiny walked back over to where Vonda and Lynn stood and gestured for to them to follow her. They did.

“They on the move!” said Cleveland to Jessica as they watched their every move through a pair of binoculars. He waved to the car behind him to follow him as he drove around the corner on 115th Street so they could enter a building through the alleyway and get to the roof without being seen.

By the time the girls arrived to the apartment on the fifth floor, Vonda and Lynn had unzipped their purses to have easy access to their pistols. Bosco knocked twice on the door, then three more times. Vonda knew at that moment that it was their signal and cursed under her breath for not considering that into their plan. They heard the peephole latch slide and then multitude of locks being unlocked.

When the door finally opened up, a huge, grim-faced man was on the other side with a black pump-action shotgun dangling from his shoulder, held by a strap. The man was so large that they all had to squeeze past him to get the narrow door and hallway to get by.

As the girls walked into the living room they heard the door slam, then relock. Vonda surveyed the sparse living room, which had only one sofa, two chairs, and a plain kitchen table with a triple beam scale on it. She was at least happy that the two men were the only ones in the apartment.

Bosco stared at Lynn’s huge breasts and buttocks and then at Vonda’s long, lean body and wanted to put the carriage before the horse. “Let’s go in de bedroom.”

Lynn was the first to speak. “Slow down, baby. I like to take care of what we came here for before I fuck a nigga to death. You know what I mean?”

Bosco smiled knowingly at Lynn’s sexually charged comment and knew that he was in for a freaky night. “Ok, girl. We take care of business first. Show me de money.”

Vonda was about to reach in her purse, but she heard the huge man grumble, “Wait a minute!”

He walked over to Vonda and said, “Let me see inside your purse.”

Vonda went numb, but remained cool.

He walked over and snatched her purse and opened it and searched inside. He paused when he saw the gun and pulled it out and showed it to Bosco.

He stared at the small gun for a moment then asked suspiciously, “What do ya have de gun for? You planning to rob me or somet’ing?”

Vonda didn’t miss a beat. “Yeah, I’m trying to rob you with that big-ass gun.” She smirked.

He examined the weapon for a moment and asked, “Why you do carry a gun?”

She walked directly up to him, looked him right in the eye, and retorted, “Because I’m a gangster, and I do gangster shit.”

Bosco looked at the man with the shotgun and chuckled. “She say, she gangsta. Bwoy I like dat, I like de women who got heart.” He smiled at Vonda and repeated, “And you got heart.” He looked over at Lynn and asked, “You got heart too, you got weapon?”

Lynn stared at him coldly and reached into her purse and pulled out her gun.

The man with the shotgun walked over to her and collected her gun as well. He then looked at Tiny and asked menacingly, “Do you have a weapon?” he growled.

Tiny raised her hand and said, “Nope, I don’t carry a gun.” Tiny lifted up her shirt to prove it.

The grim-faced man turned his attention back at Vonda and Lynn and stated, “You’ll get this back when you leave!”

“Ok, let’s get down to business. Let me see de money.”

Vonda reached cautiously inside her purse, with the gunman eyeing her every move. She pulled out the thick white envelope and attempted to hand it to him.

“No, hand ’im de money.” He gestured toward his gunman.

Vonda followed his order.

The gunman placed his weapon against the wall and proceeded to count it out. While they waited for him to finish, Bosco questioned the girls. “What cha gon do wit so much drugs? Where you got such business? I know every spot in Harlem, I never saw ya.”

Vonda cleared her throat and knew he was growing suspicious. “We don’t clock in Harlem; we clock upstate.”

“Where?” he asked quickly, trying to catch her in a lie.

“Binghamton, New York. We get a lot more than what you get here. Ten dollar pieces here go for fifty dollars up there.”

He nodded. The gunman finally finished counting out all the money, and Vonda was thankful because it was only a matter of time before he caught her in a lie. The only way she knew about Binghamton was because she’d heard her brother Chubby talk about it all the time.

Bosco gestured to the gunman to come over to him and whispered something in his ear. He immediately walked back down the hall and inside the bedroom closest to the front door. Seconds later, the gunman came right back out empty-handed. All the girls grew perplexed as they stood around without a word being said as the gunman gripped his gun tighter.