Larceny (22 page)

“The one on Connecticut Avenue,” she said, still laughing.

“Bye, Germain. You talk too much. Open the trunk so I can get my bags,” Sonya said as she tried to hide her embarrassment.

Sonya got her bags, and Germain and she said their good-byes.

“Bye, Jovan.”

“See you later, Germain. Sonya, let me get them bags for you.” Getting her bags out of Germain's truck, he joked, “Damn, girl, you got a lot of shit.”

“Wait 'til you see what I got.”

As they walked to Jovan's van, Sonya started looking at him funny.

“Jovan, you look different, boo,” she said.

“What you mean? I don't appeal to you no more?”

“No, silly, it's just something different about you. You're still fine, but I'm sure you know that already.”

“Naw, I only know what you tell me. Now, what's different about me?”

“You look younger.”

“Younger?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, I know what you're talking about.”

“What?”

“My goatee is gone.”

“Yeah, that's it. What you do, shave it off?”

“Naw, I went to a different barber shop this morning and they fucked my shit up, so I told him to shave it off. Don't worry. It'll grow back in two days.”

“I didn't say anything was wrong with it. You're still handsome, but—” Then she laughed.

“But what?”

“You look so young.”

“Okay, so now you calling me a youngin'?”

“No, baby, you still look nice. I'm just playin'. You ain't mad at me, are you?”

“Naw, I ain't mad.”

“'Cause if you were then I got something to cheer you up, but we gotta go to my house to get it,” she said with a sly grin on her face.

“Well, in that case, I'm mad as hell,” Jovan said, laughing.

“I bet you are, Jovan.”

Sonya kissed him once they got in the van. “I missed you all day.”

“Me too, but before we go over to your house, I gotta go down the street to my grandma's first.”

“Okay, baby.”

Jovan's grandma only lived a few blocks down the street from the gym. He still had the three million in the suitcases Bilal had told him to put up. When they got to his grandma's house, he pulled out the suitcases and began to take them in the house.

“What's up, Jovan? You packing up and moving out?”

“Naw, Sonya, this is just some old things I had in storage while I was in school,” Jovan said, lying.

Jovan went upstairs and put the suitcases in his room. When he came back downstairs, Sonya and Grandma were kicking it like old friends. Grandma liked Sonya, which was cool, because Grandma usually didn't bond with just anybody. Jovan kissed Grandma, told her he'd be back later, and they left.

On the way to Sonya's, they stopped at a 7-Eleven and Sonya went inside and got a few things. When they got to Sonya's condo, Jovan cooked dinner, which was baked fish and baked potatoes and a tossed salad. They ate, cuddled, and watched TV, but after a while, they went right back to what they were doing the night before.

This time Jovan was less aggressive and more gentle as they made love in the living room first, then the kitchen, the bathroom, and finally they found ourselves on the bedroom floor, dripping from sweat and lovemaking.

Jovan held Sonya against his chest as she gave him little kisses and rubbed her hands over his chest.

“Jovan, you're a king. You know that?” Sonya said.

“If I'm a king, then what that make you?” Jovan asked.

“I don't know if I want you to say it,” Sonya said as she playfully pulled the hairs on his chest.

“I rather not say it. I'll just show you.”

“You already have, baby. You already have. You treated me like a queen from day one.”

“Vice versa,” he said.

Sonya then got up, and Jovan loved watching her walk around in the nude with her ass jiggling and titties bouncing. She went into the living room and came back with her shopping bags. She gave Jovan one and said, “Here.”

“What's this?”

“It's yours. Open it.”

Jovan reached in the bag and pulled out a black-and-silver Giovanni Versace sports jacket. First thing he did was look at the tag, which was $2,750.

“Sonya, this is nice, but where you get the money to buy this?” Jovan asked her.

“Jovan, stop playin' with me.”

“Okay, then how you know I don't have this jacket already?”

“That jacket was just brought in today. They didn't even have it on the rack, and Arthur, the faggot that works in there, said that it wasn't going to be on sale until two weeks from now. You were at the gym all day. It would have been impossible for you to go all the way up Wisconsin Avenue and meet me back at the gym by two o'clock. Shit, Jovan, I damn near had to pitch a bitch for him to sell it to me.”

“Well, boo, thank you very much. I like it. Come here and give me a kiss,” Jovan said, pulling Sonya into his arms.

Sonya got back on the floor with Jovan and they kissed and made love all night long.

Bilal sent his carriers down to Mexico by plane, and he was to get a call from them as soon as they landed. At 8:30 p.m., Bilal's connect called and told him that no one had exited the plane with the briefcases. Bilal then called the airport to see if there was a delay in the flight. He was told there was no delay, but another flight was to land at 2:00 a.m. Bilal called his connect back and told them that another flight was to land at 2:00 a.m. and that his carriers, which were Meeka's and Carlos's female cousins, probably missed the flight. The connect said that he would call when they arrived.

Bilal was at home wondering what the hell had happened to the carriers, but he didn't panic even though he was going through a lot. Carlos had been killed, Meeka was pregnant, and his pager was blowing up from niggas who was try'na spend money. Bilal had to keep calling niggas, telling them to hold fast because that shit would be ready soon.

At twelve o'clock, Jovan called Bilal from Sonya's.

Ring, Ring, Ring
.

“Hello,” Bilal said.

“Damn, Lal, you picking shit up on the first ring.”

“Oh, hey, what's up, Jay?”

“I'm just trippin' right now,” Bilal said.

“What's up?” Jovan asked.

“You know my people ain't get there yet,” Bilal said, worried as shit.

“What time was they supposed to be there?”

“Around eight thirty,” he said.

“Well, they mighta had a delay. You call the airport?”

“Yeah, I called. There wasn't any delay, but another flight is due to land around two a.m.”

“Cool, then they're probably on that joint.”

“Jay, where you at?”

“Over Sonya's.”

“You over there again?”

“Yeah.”

“Damn, nigga, that pussy must be good. Don't let me find out you fallin' in love, nigga,” Bilal said, laughing.

“Go 'head wit' that shit, Lal.”

“Jay, did you handle that?” Bilal said, referring to Chicken Wing.

“Most definitely. Like a pro.”

“Yeah.”

“My smoothest one so far. I'll give it to you raw when I see you.”

“Okay, slim. You coming by in the morning?”

“Naw, tomorrow's Monday. You know I gotta work in the morning, man.”

“Oh, yeah. I forgot you a big-show lawyer,” Bilal said, once again jokingly.

“Not yet, Lal, but soon,” Jovan said.

“I see you later, Jay.”

“Okay, Lal,” Jovan said as he was about to hang up the phone.

“Oh, Jay.”

“What's up, Lal?”

“I love you, nigga”

“I love you too, Lal.”

It felt good talking to his best friend. Even though he had been through a lot lately, he sounded better, like everything was going as planned. Jovan would be glad when Bilal got that shit and dumped it off fast so they could get the fuck away from there and do their thing legally. He could finish school in Atlanta, start his own law firm, and have a few other businesses on the side.

While Sonya was still asleep, Jovan tried on his new jacket. This joint was tight as fuck. Jovan was going to wear it the next day with his black Versace slacks and white Versace mock neck shirt.

Jovan knew Cindy wanted a nigga to slam meat up in her, 'cause every time he came in, she was always looking at him, complimenting him and shit. Jovan wasn't gonna go at her, though. Shit, Sonya was enough, and right now she was all a nigga needed.

As Jovan went to get a glass of juice outta Sonya's refrigerator, he didn't hear her creep up on him.

“So you couldn't wait to try it on, huh?” Sonya said, smiling.

Jovan turned around fast, butt-ass naked with his jacket on, and said, “So how does it look on me, boo?”

She laughed and said, “It would look better if you had on a pair of pants to go with it.”

“Yeah, you're right, but right now since you're up, let me do something that'll make you smile.”

“What's that?”

Jovan took off his jacket, blindfolded Sonya, fed her some fruit, then smothered her body with chocolate and licked it all off, not missing a spot. He could tell Sonya loved every bit of his lovemaking, because no matter how he gave it to her, she accepted it with multiple orgasms.

 

 

Jovan woke up the next morning around 8:00 a.m. Shit, he had to go to work, and his pager was blowing up, but he was in too much of a rush to look at it. Sonya was taking the day off, so she cooked breakfast while he showered.

After Jovan got out of the shower and looked at his pager, he saw it was Bilal hitting him up with
911
. Jovan immediately called back.

“Hello,” Bilal said.

“Lal, it's me,” Jovan said.

“Yeah, Jay. Look, you gotta get over here fast.”

“What's up, Lal? You sound worried.”

“I can't talk on the phone. Shit's looking fucked up.”

“You a'ight?”

“Physically, yeah, but mentally I'm fucked up, Jay.”

“Look, I'm on my way, but first I gotta call the office.”

Jovan called the office and lied to Mark.

“Good morning. Law office of Rohon and Robinson,” Cindy said.

“Cindy, this Jovan. Is Mark in yet?”

“Yes, Jovan, he just came in.”

“Mark, Jovan on line one,” Cindy said to Mark.

“Jovan, what's up, buddy?” Mark said.

“Hey, Mark, I'ma be a little late today.”

“Okay, Jovan, what time will you be in? You know we have a new case.”

“Yeah, I know. I'm going to be working on that while I'm out anyway.”

“What are you going to do?” Mark asked Jovan.

“Well, you know the case we got where the guy was supposed to be selling drugs within a thousand feet of a school?”

“Yeah, Jovan, that's the new one.”

“Well, I don't think he was within that distance, so I'm going to go out and measure it and take a few pictures.”

“That's good, Jovan. Take your time.”

“Okay, Mark. I'll see you later.”

“All right, buddy.”

Jovan kissed Sonya and told her he was in a rush and that he wasn't gonna be able to stay and eat breakfast. She kissed him and told him how proud she was of him for taking such pride in his job. Little did she know Jovan's duty right now wasn't to the law firm; it was to and for his loyalty to his truest friend, Bilal, his nigga for life.

As Jovan drove to Bilal's house faster than normal speed, he got there around nine o'clock. As soon as Jovan came through the door, he knew something terrible had happened.

“C'mon downstairs, Jay,” Bilal said, heading downstairs. Bilal's eyes were bloodshot red, and Jovan could tell he didn't get any sleep.

“What's up, Lal?”

“Jay, shit done got twisted. I should have listened to you from the jump,” Bilal said, pacing.

“What happened?”

“Well, last night, you know my carriers missed the first flight, or at least that's what we thought.”

“Man, Lal, don't tell me them bitches rolled out with the money.”

“Naw, Jay, just listen, man. I stayed up all night, and at two a.m. the second plane landed, and my connect tells me ain't nobody get off the plane but some old people.”

“What?” Jovan said, still not understanding.

“So what I did was called around looking for my carriers, and nobody gave me any information, so I stayed up pacing the fucking floor all night, wondering what the fuck happened. I even called Customs to see if them bitches had gotten locked up. Then I get a call around seven thirty this morning from the precinct.

“Come to find out these bitches never made it to the airport. That bitch, mu'fuckin' Detective Tony Bridges, was following me when I gave them bitches the suitcases,” Bilal said.

“Man, Bilal, I told you that mu'fucka wasn't playing.”

“I know, Jay. That white cracker had it out for me ever since I took Orleans Place over.”

“Did the bitches tell?”

“Naw, not yet, but who knows what they'll do?”

“Lal, we gotta go.”

“I know, Jay, but now ain't the time.”

“The fuck you mean now ain't the time? Man, in the next twenty-four hours them people's gonna be swarming the streets looking for your ass. Nigga, fuck that. Pack your shit and let's go!” Jovan told Bilal.

“Jay, I gotta—I mean
we
gotta do something fast.”

“What? We already got three million, and I know you still got something stashed in the cut for hard times. Let's go, Lal. I know how these people play.”

“Yeah, I got like three hundred thousand over Meeka aunt's house, but that's around Orleans Place.”

“So fuck it. We'll send for it when we get to Atlanta.”

“Jay, I can't leave now. Meeka's pregnant, and I still gotta get that money, and—” Bilal started, but Jovan cut him off.

“And what? And what, Lal?”

Lal looked Jovan straight in the eyes with all the sincerity he had ever seen and said, “Jay, you gotta kill Detective Bridges.”

“What!” Jovan said, shocked by Bilal's request.

“Look, Jay, I ain't never ask you for nothing. I've never asked you to kill nobody for me. You killed them other niggas outta your love for me. Jay, I'm asking you outta love and loyalty. If you want me to do it with you, I'll do it, but you already know I ain't no killer, Jay. This mu'fucka stole our dream from us, and if we don't take care of him now, then he'll haunt us forever.”

“Lal, you trippin'. That's a fucking police officer. Do you know the feds will be on your ass for that?”

“Jay, I know we can get away with this. I know we can, man.”

When Jovan looked at Lal, he had tears in his eyes and he was looking at the tattoo on his arm which read:
In loving memory of Mal-Mal, my truest love.
At that moment, a sense of guilt came over Jovan.

After all these years, Jovan still felt responsible for Mal-Mal's death. Bilal showed his loyalty to Jovan at the tender age of fifteen, and Jovan had failed him when he let his little brother die. He had always wanted to do something in return; he had always wanted to fix that void in their relationship, because he knew that deep down in Bilal's heart, he held him responsible for Mal-Mal's death. Bilal just loved Jovan too much to show it.

Bilal and Jovan had never talked about what happened that night when Mal-Mal died, but Jovan knew Ms. Cookie went to visit Bilal before she died, and whatever was said on that visit, Jovan would never know. He owed this nigga. He stood on principles of loyalty and honor, and plus, he loved this nigga. He was his only friend. They were like brothers. They made a vow at a young age that would never be broken.

“Okay, Lal, listen good. I'll make a deal with you.”

“What, Jay?”

“After I handle this business, we're getting the fuck outta here. Fuck that waitin' around to see what happens shit. We're taking the three million plus the two hundred thousand I got, and we're going to Atlanta, you and me. We'll leave Meeka up here to sell the house and get the three hundred thousand from over her aunt's. Let the house go for three million to get an easy buy. Altogether that's six and a half million plus assets. We sell my BMW, and that's about fifty thousand, plus the jewelry that's about two hundred, and I know you got some jewelry too.”

“Yeah, Jay, I got about half a mil in jewelry.”

“Okay, altogether that's seven point two million. We take that shit to Atlanta, legalize all of it, and live comfortable and peaceful for the rest of our lives. Lal, that's a one-shot deal, and if you ain't try'na do that, then I'm gone,” Jovan told Bilal seriously.

“But, Jay, the feds don't even know who you are. Why you try'na leave?”

“That's good they don't know who I am, and I ain't try'na stick around so they can find out either. So, you in or what?”

“Nigga, you're my best friend and I love you. Jay, you my only family, and I got no choice but to be in,” Bilal said.

“Okay, and when we get to Atlanta, ain't no hustling,” Jovan said to him.

“It's a deal, Jay.”

“Okay, now I gotta put this shit together.”

“How you gonna do it, Jay?”

“I dunno yet. Where's that Desert Eagle?” Jovan asked Bilal.

“It's upstairs in the room.”

“Go get it.”

Bilal went upstairs to get Jovan the gun, and when he came down, Jovan was still in a daze, wondering why the fuck he had just commited himself to do this crime. Damn, Bilal was trippin' like shit, but Jovan laid the deal on the table, and Bilal had agreed with his plans. If everything went as planned, then they wouldn't have nothing to worry about, and plus, Bilal was right; if they left now, Detective Bridges would track them down. He had to be dealt with.

Bilal came downstairs with the biggest gun Jovan had ever seen, a silver .357 Desert Eagle—one shot, one kill.

“Jay, this here is my house gun. I keep it at home for protection.”

“How many bullets does it hold?”

“Ten.”

“This big-ass gun only holds ten bullets?” Jovan asked, amazed.

“Yeah, Jay, but that's the most powerful gun out there. One shot will send a mu'fucka straight to la-la land.”