by Tee Jae
“Fuck.” I cursed out loud thinking about that bitch Damere. I don’t think she knows who the fuck she playing with. The old nice and caring Brooklyn was long gone and if that bitch thought for one second she can come sit at my table in my house and tear my family apart and get away with it she had another thing coming.
Movement coming from the security monitor on Khadi’s side of the bed caught my attention. I watched as the local channel 10 news van found a spot to camp out on the road across from our gate. I rolled my eyes at the mere thought of media attention we were about to receive which was the last thing we needed.
The ringing of my phone could be heard in the distance “Hello” I answered without so much as looking at the caller id in hopes of it being Khadi.
“You sound frazzled, you ok?” The sound of Roselina’s voice made my skin crawl.
“Never let her see you sweat.” Khali’s words ran through my mind before I responded.
“Nice to hear from you, too, Roselina.” I sarcastically shot back, hoping that she could feel my vibe through the phone. “What do I owe the pleasure?”
“Oh darling, I’m sure you know my reason for reaching out to you, there’s nothing that goes on with my boys that I don’t know about. You would swear I didn’t teach them anything the way they are running around here letting women be their downfall. You know Khaza…” she paused… “the one everyone thinks is crazy? Yeah, him, he tried tell Khaddo that Damere was-…” The knocking on my door saved me from listening to her evil ass.
“Uhhhh, Roselina, I will have to call you back, someone’s at the door.” I quickly hung up the phone and pulled myself together before unlocking the massive double doors and swinging them open to find Biggs standing on the other side.
“Cooper’s here, we’re all waiting for you down in the basement.” I nodded my head closing the doors behind me and followed him downstairs.
The basement was the only place I felt safe talking about anything illegal. I trusted the bodies in the room but I didn’t trust the federal agents who occupied the upper level of our home earlier. The interior decorator hadn’t finished this part of the house yet so the only thing that sat in the center of the room was Khadi’s expensive ass pool table and a couple of chairs. Khali sat on top of the table dressed similar to me as she looked through the folder that Cooper had sitting in the middle of the table.
“Alright, is that everybody?” Cooper asked looking around the room at me, Biggs, Khali, and Terrance.
“Yes,” I said, nodding my head.
“This is bullshit!” Khali hollered before Cooper could even speak slamming the folder down in the middle of the pool table. “She had Khaddo’s place bugged the fuck out! Look at how many conversations were recorded. How could he be this fucking stupid?” she shouted visibly upset.
I grabbed the folder opening it up and glanced through the paperwork, amused at how many conversations were recorded. “So, what are we up against? Give us something.” I threw the folder back down nonchalantly, looking at Cooper for answers.
“Well…” he cleared his throat. “The wiretaps in Khaddo’s home won’t stick due to them being illegally placed inside without his consent.”
“Whew! Thank God.” Khali hopped off the table relieved. Everyone was all smiles but I wasn’t stupid, I’d been down this road before.
“So, then there’s something else, otherwise our men would be standing here with us right now.” I looked from Khali back to Cooper.
“You’re right, Mrs. Santana… The charges are first degree murder of Chris Issac, Kassidy Jones and Claude “Ragu” Issac.” Everyone looked around at each other in shock. “There’s a witness.” He sighed looking defeated before the damn case begin.
“Well, who is it so we can get rid of them?” I asked as everyone’s head whipped in my direction surprised at what I just said.
“Slow down, Mrs. Santana, it’s not that easy. They wanted to label Khadi as a kingpin so bad that any information on a witness pertaining to this high-profile case has been sealed; not even the undercover cops on Khadi’s payroll know who the witness is.” He grabbed the folder and flipped through some pages until he found the one he was looking for, placing it in the middle of the table. I grabbed the paper and scanned over it. “They are trying to freeze all assets tied to the Santana’s unless legal income is proven otherwise, even this house. I have a hearing to argue proof of income to afford the luxury that your family has been afforded.”
“Well you better do your damn job tomorrow, Cooper because if we have to be uprooted from any of our properties there will be hell to pay.” I looked him in the eyes challenging him. “Who’s the D.A. and judge on this case?”
“Mrs. Santana, I will handle it-
I slammed my hand on the table shocking the shit out of them, “Who is it?” I was tired of this shit already. I needed my husband home as soon as possible, I was determined to have my happily ever after. I grabbed my phone typing down the names as he rattled them off. “Ok Cooper, I will see you bright and early at the federal courthouse and please have the news van removed from outside, this is private property.” I walked up the stairs back to the main level of the house to prepare myself for a long sleepless night.
*****
Stepping out of the shower I was surprised to find Khali sitting on the chaise in my bedroom burping Karlie over her shoulder.
“Good morning sis.”
She smiled weakly at me and I could tell she had just as much of a rough night as I had. I tossed and turned thinking about different ways of killing Damere’s ass with my bare hands. My husband hadn’t been gone twenty-four hours yet and I was missing him terribly.
“So, over in the folder on your bed is all of the paperwork you will need to give to Cooper. Everything is accounted for; all of our businesses that were started from our father’s life insurance policy that we received once we all were of age. Between the four of us, we were given ten million in total that Khaddo took and poured into every legitimate business we have; they cannot touch it.”
I was relieved to know this it felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. “This is great Khali but why aren’t you getting dressed?”
“I’m not going. I don’t want the attention and I’m liable to fuck that bitch, Damere, up on sight if I see her.” She angrily spat tapping her leg up and down letting her nerves get the best of her.
“Yes, you are going Khali… We will stand together as a family and be the loving supportive wife and girlfriend. Bring Karlie, too, we need as much sympathy as we can get.” I dismissed her from the room, while slipping my legs into a pair of crème, wide leg slacks with a burgundy tank top, covering it up with a crème Balmain blazer with big gold buttons down the front and clasped a small shiny black Gucci belt around my waist. I applied a lite coat of make-up and let my hair hang curly after I washed it in the shower. I grabbed the folder off my bed and went downstairs to meet with Biggs and wait for Khali.
“Good morning.” Biggs looked up from the table while picking in his food. I could tell he was hurt by the whole situation; he was a big teddy bear but deadly when need be.
“Morning Biggs… Morning Mila.” She tried to slide my breakfast smoothie in my hands but I pushed it away. “I’m not hungry.” I told her as I looked around the kitchen, “Terrance never made it back yet?”
“Nah, he hit me and said he would meet us down at the courthouse.” Biggs stood up from the table dressed in a nice black, Italian suit with a pair of patent leather black dress shoes. He cleaned up nice and definitely looked the part of a driver. What I didn’t understand was why the Feds hadn’t arrested Biggs. I mean, surely as Khadi’s driver he would be aware of his illegal dealings but I’d find out soon enough.
“Alright, well bring the car around. Khali and Karlie should be down any minute.” I checked my cell phone to see if I had missed calls from Cooper or Terrance right before Khali walked into the kitchen holding Karlie in her carrier in one hand and grabbing a ba
nana off the island with her other. She looked very nice, dressed in a black and gold Versace knee length pleated skirt and a black silk blouse with a loose bow on the neck and her hair pulled back into a low ponytail.
“Let’s go get this over with.” She headed toward the foyer and out the door where Biggs had the all black bulletproof Tahoe waiting to take us downtown.
Pulling up to the courthouse my stomach churned at all the news reporters standing around in the front of the building.
“See what I’m saying, Brooklyn? We don’t need this kind of exposure, especially if we are going to continue to run the illegal operation.” She said never pulling her eyes away from the window.“The last thing we need is our faces on the news.” She sighed.
I thought this over all night last night and I thought it would be suspicious if we didn’t show up but maybe Khali was right, we didn’t need to be in the spotlight, but right now it would have to be her because it was showtime and my wrongly accused husband needed his upset wife to show up.
“Maybe you’re right Khali. You guys wait behind while I go in and meet with Cooper to protect our assets.” I had to figure out how to publicly support my husband during the day while becoming a Queen Pin and running his drug empire at night. I threw my Dolce and Gabanna shades on my face before stepping out of the truck while silently walking past the news reporters and cameras flashing in my face while Cooper and an officer paved a way for me through the crowd
Chapter 2
Khadi
I stood in the corner of the holding cell away from Zilla and Khaddo. Mainly because I needed time to think before I knocked Khaddo’s head off his shoulders. They wouldn’t let Cooper visit, trying to keep us isolated the first twenty-four hours, so we were sitting here blind as fuck! I really didn’t have time to play the guessing game right now I needed to get all the details of the case and hear exactly what Khaddo told that snake ass bitch. Zilla had been quiet the entire time we’d been sitting in here. I knew he had questions too but he was waiting for me to address the situation.
“So, what’s the plan Ock?” Zilla asked and I had to chuckle. Apparently, I was taking too long.
“Shiddddd, what’s the plan Khaddo?” I asked redirecting the question toward him but keeping my eyes on the ceiling; I didn’t even want to look at his weak ass. When he took too long to answer, I jumped up and damn near slid across the floor grabbing him up by the collar of his shirt, hemming him up against the wall, “TELL US WHAT’S THE MOTHERFUCKING PLAN NIGGA!” He tried jerking out of my grip but my hold was too tight for him.
“I fucked up, ight… I fucked up.” I could see the regret in his eyes but I didn’t give a fuck about that at the moment. His fuck up took us away from our family. “I’ll take the charges all of ‘em, I fucked up, so I’ll take ‘em.” He stared back at me.
I let go of his shirt walking away, “Damn right you will. I fucking warned you. I told you time and time again that bitch was a snake.”
“Khaddo, shut the fuck up. You not built for this street shit, so you for damn sure not built for this jail shit.” Zilla spoke up. “We gotta talk to Coop than we go from there, but right now we gotta keep it together before they think they can come in here and penetrate our bond.” He was the only one thinking rational right now.
“Santana!” the cocky federal agent banged on the railing with his baton, along with two guards walking behind him. I smirked at his pussy ass, knowing damn well I’d beat the shit out of him had my circumstances been different. I hated grown men who had childhood issues growing up and decided to hide behind a badge. “Visit.” I smiled knowing it had to be Cooper. I waited for them to unlock the door and cuff me before heading down the long corridor to the visitation room.
“Cooper, what the fuck man? Fucking pigs had us on lockdown since last night with no phone calls. You talk to my wife?” I bombarded him with questions soon as the guard uncuffed me.
“Have a seat.” He ushered toward the seat across the table from him. I waited for the guard to leave the room before I sat down. “I spoke with everyone last night and they are fine. Brooklyn met me downtown this a.m. for the hearing.”
“Hearing? Hearing for what?” I interlocked my hands on top of the table leaning in closer.
“They were trying to freeze your assets and they needed proof of income.”
“How these motherfuckers arrest me but don’t know shit about me?” I twisted my face up looking at him for answers. “All my businesses are legal.”
“Yes and we proved that today in court, Brooklyn showed up with all the paperwork today to prove that. They were trying to hit you on a kingpin charge but nothing will stick from the wiretaps that were placed in Khaddo’s home.”
I couldn’t believe this motherfucker Khaddo! Not only was he fucking the snake bitch, he was leaving this bitch alone in his crib while she did Lord knows what. I had to take part of the blame; I shouldn’t have brought him on the street shit to began with but damn, this was the dumbest move ever.
“Ok, so, what the fuck they holding us for?” I asked him seriously.
“First degree murder.”
“WHAT?” I stood up damn near sending my chair into the wall. “Murder?” I asked in disbelief.
“Yes. Does a Chris Issac, a Kassidy Jones, or Claude “Ragu” Issac ring a bell?” he asked looking up at me.
I was no longer focused on what he was saying. I was with people I trusted when those motherfuckers were put out of their misery. I know Ragu was dead, hell, I made sure someone watched him get put into the ground and ain’t no way Kassidy and Gator survived that burning building tied up. I looked around before quietly asking, “I got a snitch in my camp?”
“There’s definitely a witness. The FBI got that shit sealed so tight if it gets out who it is the entire bureau will go into a frenzy.”
“So what the fuck Khaddo and Zilla got to do with this?” I side eyed him. Pissed was an understatement.
“Well, they are charging them with accessory.”
“Nah, I’ll fight the case, Coop but you gotta get them out. I need someone home with my girls. I got other problems.” I looked at him, letting him know that my family may not be safe.
“There will be a bail hearing tomorrow morning at nine. I’ll be sure to speak with the D.A on the case and see what they are proposing. In the meantime, keep Khaddo’s head afloat and tell him do not speak to anyone without me.”
“Who’s the judge on the case?” I asked him.
He chuckled. “Your wife asked the same question. I’m going to shoot it straight with you, this judge Hardaway is a hard ass and isn’t easily persuaded but what’s your offer and I’ll see what I can do.” He begin to pack up his briefcase.
A sly smirk graced my face as I leaned closer toward Cooper, “Tell him to make an offer.”
See, what I knew about these crackers is that for the right dollar they would get greedy for that dirty money and risk their job. That shit has been proven time and time again. The only thing that had me slightly worried was that if they were trying to originally get me on a kingpin charge, they’d been watching me and my organization and the judge might not take the bait. That was just a chance a nigga was willing to take.
*****
“What happened?” Zilla damn near met me at the entry of the holding cell.
I rubbed my wrists from the cuffs and took a seat on the bench. “They can’t pin the kingpin charge so they going for first degree murder on Gator, Kassidy, and Ragu.” I looked at Khaddo with murder in my eyes. “What the fuck kinda shit you on my nigga? You that weak?”
“I fucked up, Khadi. I already said I’ll take the charges but kill the disrespect.”
“NIGGA YOU GETS NO RESPECT!” I stood up making my way toward him with Zilla hot on my heels. “This bitch had your house wired like a motherfucker and you walking around that bitch with loose lips.” I growled at him.
Zilla pushed his way between us pulling me away in a corner, “Listen, man, we will all fig
ht the case together. Hell, how bad could it be if the wiretaps won’t stand?”
“They have a witness.”
Chapter 3
Khaddo
“Santana!” the guard shouted bringing both Khadi and I to our feet. “Not you.” His face filled with disgust. “Him!” he pointed toward me taking his keys out to unlock the cell. I was confused as to who the fuck would be here to see me. “Turn around.” He barked, placing a pair of cuffs on my wrists. I stared at Zilla and Khadi posted up against the iron bench.
“Kenbebouchoufemen san yo pa Cooper.” Khadi spoke to me in Haitian creole, telling me to keep my mouth shut without Cooper. I nodded my head as the guard pulled me out of the cell and walked me down a small dimly lit hallway. The further they walked me, the further it felt like they were taking me somewhere I wasn’t supposed to be.
Ain’t no way I was supposed to be this far from population. We walked down a few steps into an even smaller hallway with a door at the very end.
“Yo man, where the fuck we going?” I tried to stop and turn around but he pushed me forward. The other guard walked ahead of us and opened the door before pulling me inside.
My nostrils flared the moment I laid eyes on her sitting down across from the table with a pale looking white guy next to her. “Take his cuffs off, we will handle it from here.” She couldn’t even look at me in my face.
“You sure about that?” Mr. Pale asked her.
“Yes, he’s harmless.” She replied with her eyes glued to the paperwork in front of her.
I took a seat across from the wooden table with my eyes trained on her.
“Mr. Santana, my name is Kyle Stovall. Agent Jackson is my partner.” He gestured his hand toward her, causing her to finally look up at me. “Amy and I…”
“Amy, huh?” I chuckled. “That name fits your corny wack ass.” I sneered across the table. “Let me ask you Amy… you enjoy sucking off your targets?” I asked laughing at the horrified look that appeared on her face.