by Roy Glenn
Wednesday July 15: 3:00 PM
The next day, I simply double parked across the street and waited for her, like I should have done in the first place. I would get the hang of this private eye thing sooner or later.
She came out around seven and I followed her across the George Washington Bridge into New Jersey. Once she cleared the bridge, she headed north on Palisades Parkway and stopped at a little store. Then she headed back into New York to Spring Valley. Lisa pulled into the driveway of a very nice house on Harriet Lane. The garage door opened and closed behind her. No chance of catching her getting out of the car, so I gave her a chance to get settled before I rang the doorbell.
“Yes,” she yelled from behind the closed door.
“Ms. Ellison, my name is Nick Simmons, I’m a friend of Jake’s.”
“He’s not here.”
“I know. That’s why I’m here. Can I talk to you for a minute? I assure you; I mean you no harm.” Reluctantly, Lisa opened the door. “Can I come in, Ms. Ellison?”
“Like I said, Jake isn’t here. So what can I do for you?”
“Well, that’s just it, I can’t find him.”
“What did you say your name was?”
“Nick Simmons.”
“I’ve never heard Jake mention you, Mr. Simmons.”
“Actually, Ms. Ellison, I’m not a friend of Jake’s. I’m a private investigator and I was hired to find him.”
“Jake’s missing?”
“Can I come in, Ms. Ellison? Really, I just want to ask you a few questions.”
“Can I see some type of ID?”
I handed her my ID. She looked me and the ID over carefully before stepping aside to let me in. Lisa led me into the living room.
“Have a seat, Mr. Simmons. Can I get you something?”
“Water would be fine, thank you.”
Lisa returned with my water and sat down on the couch. We sat on opposite sides of the coffee table. “When was the last time you saw him?”
“Is Jake in any trouble?”
“No, the person who hired me is just concerned about him, that’s all. When was the last time you saw him?”
“Two weeks ago, we had dinner together.”
“Did he seem upset or distracted about something?”
“No. Who hired you?”
“I’m not at liberty to say at this time. Have you heard from him lately?”
“I talked to him about a week ago.”
“Do you know Alvin Childers? Calls himself Chilly?”
“Yes, I know him. He’s Jake’s brother in-law. What does this have to do with Chilly?”
“As far as I know, nothing,” I said very quickly, and with my best fake smile to try to put her at ease. It was obvious that the mention of Chilly’s name had changed her mood. It was also obvious that Lisa, like everyone else involved in this thing, was afraid of Chilly. He was just that type of guy. These people hated Chilly. He had touched each of their lives and made it a living hell.
Mike Black used to always say, “Make people fear, but respect you. Fear and respect last longer than love. People will love you today and hate you tomorrow.”
I still had another Chilly question to ask. But I decided to save it for later.
Then I changed my mind. “Do you know if Jake had any business with Chilly?”
“I wouldn’t know.”
“Do you know a woman named Pamela Hendricks?”
“I…I…never heard of her.” Lisa said. Then she turned away and began to twirl the ends of her hair with her fingers. “Why do you ask?” Then she flipped it. “Who is she?”
“Just a friend of Jake’s.”
I thought about showing her the pictures. She was obviously shaken by the mention of her name. A picture of her on a slab in the morgue may push her to tell me the truth. And the truth was definitely in short supply with this bunch. The only one who was willing to speak freely was Chézaráy.
“I never met many of Jake’s friends.”
“What type of relationship did you have with Jake, Ms. Ellison?”
“We’ve been dating off and on for the last five years. We’re pretty close.”
“But you haven’t seen or heard from him in more than a week.”
“Like I said, Mr. Simmons, that’s just how Jake is.”
“Does he like to travel?”
“Not really.”
“So when he’s not around for a couple of days, where does he go?”
“I don’t know. With my job, sometimes I get very busy and I don’t have time to call him either. That’s just how we are. Two professional people trying to juggle a career and a relationship.”
“Do you know what Jake was working on?”
“No. Jake never involved me in what he was doing.”
There goes that twirling of the hair thing again. She’s lying and I’m getting tired of being lied to. “You know a guy named Rocky?”
“Yes, he and Jake are good friends.”
“You know where I can find him?”
“He hangs out at The Spot. It’s his club actually. You can always find him there.”
Finally, a straight answer. I decided to go for it. “You sure you don’t know Pamela Hendricks?”
“No.” I showed her the picture of Pamela and LaShawn from the party. “I said, no!” I dropped the picture of Pamela and Jake. She obviously recognized Jake. It hurt her to see it, but I had the feeling that she already knew about it. “I think you should go, Mr. Simmons.”
I stood up and gathered my pictures. “One more thing, Ms. Ellison. Did you know she was dead?” I dropped the slab shot on her. “Cocaine overdose.”
“Get out, Mr. Simmons.”
“Can I use your phone before I go? I promise it won’t take long.”
“Go ahead.”
I called Jett. “Jett, can you hear me?”
Jett had found a house with a basement for rent around the corner from the Childers house and had set up operations, complete with a Satellite Uplink. I knew she was shaken, and as soon as I left she would call somebody, and I wanted to know who.
“I’m on it. Give me two minutes and I’ll have it.”
“I promised I wouldn’t tie up this nice young lady’s line for that long, so make it quick.”
“I’m going just as fast as I can. Nice young lady, huh?”
“Yes.”
“What does she look like?”
“Nice piece of business.”
“Can I fuck her?” Jett asked.
“I’m not sure at this point, but I’d be glad to make an inquiry as to the feasibility of your request.”
“So does she have like big swinging titties?”
“No. They’re practically nonexistent.”
“Flat chested, huh,” Jett said. “Well, flat chested ain’t bad.”
“Maybe.”
“Probably skinny as a rail too.”
“Exactly. But there’s some form there.”
“Well, you know what they say about skinny girls?”
“What’s that, Jett?”
“They’re all pussy,” he said and laughed.
“You’re too much. How much longer?”
“Almost.”
“Heard from Monika?”
“No, but she’s on Chilly. He can’t fart without us knowing it.”
“She find out what’s on those papers?” I asked.
“Not yet. But I did ID the guy they had lunch with. His name is Diego Estabon. Peruvian, supplies Chilly.”
“Anything else going on that I should know about?”
“She’s at home in bed alone watching TV. She called her sister and they talked for an hour. Small talk. I’ll have film and tape at eleven. Got it!”
“You’re the man, Jett.”
I hung up the phone and I looked at Lisa, she had been doing a small pace back and forth. More like a controlled two-step, watching me the whole time I was on the phone.
“You made your call, now get out, Mr.
Simmons,” she said, as she walked toward the door. I smiled my best fake smile and followed her. “And I’ll thank you not to bother me anymore.”
“Good night, Miss Ellison.” I stepped outside, but I couldn’t resist sticking it to her one more time. “You sure you don’t know Pamela Hendricks?” She slammed the door in my face. I got in my car and headed back to the city to find Rocky. I called Jett.
“I don’t know what you said to her, Nick. But whatever it was, it must have been one major mind fuck.”
“She called somebody?”
“She’s on the phone with Rocky as we speak.”
“Can you hook me up so that I can hear it?”
“Is the Pope Catholic?”
The next voice I heard was Lisa’s. She was practically hysterical. Screaming at Rocky, insisting that he tell her what was going on. “Calm down, Lisa. I don’t know what’s going on!”
“You know. I know you know. He had pictures.”
“Pictures. What kind of pictures?”
“He had pictures of Jake with one of your girls.”
“One of my girls? Who?”
“Don’t play stupid with me, Rocky! You know who I’m talking about. The one that came with Pamela Hendricks to Jake’s 30th birthday party. The one he was all over.”
“Ooooh…LaShawn.”
“Yeah. LaShawn. He thought it was Pamela, but it was LaShawn.”
“Well what did he want?”
“He said Jake was missing and he was looking for him.”
“Wait a minute, wait a minute. Slow down. What do you mean Jake’s missing?”
“I don’t know. He just said he was trying to find Jake.”
“He! Who the fuck is he!”
“He said he was a private investigator; his name is Nick Simmons. He said they were both dead and that she died of an overdose.”
Then there was a long silence. Like the line had gone dead.
“What is it, Rocky? You know something. Tell me what it is.”
“Look, Lisa, I really don’t know what’s going on, but I know how to find out. I’ll call you back.”
“Where are you going? What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to see Chilly.”
This is working out better than I thought it would. He was going to use the direct approach and ask Chilly where Jake was. “Call Monika and find out where Chilly is,” I told Jett.
“No need. He’s at home and Monika just came through the door.”
“I’m on my way.”
I drove as fast as I could to the Childers’ house. All of a sudden, it occurred to me that Mrs. Childers was in the house and Rocky confronting Chilly about a private investigator asking questions about Jake wouldn’t go well for her. There was no telling what Rocky knew. Nor was there any way of telling what Chilly would do.
I got to the Childers house before Rocky, so I went to the house where Jett was set up.
“Didn’t take you long,” Jett said.
“What’s going on in there?”
“The usual. Chilly talking shit with his boys,” Monika said. “I don’t know if he knows anything about Jake, but I’ve got pictures and tape of him doing business. Enough that the police could arrest him in the morning for conspiracy to distribute cocaine.”
“Nah.” Jett threw in. “Any evidence we gave the cops would be inadmissible.”
“Where’s Mrs. Childers?”
“You can stop worrying, Nick,” Jett said. “She went out before he got there.”
“Where’d she go?”
“Gee, Nick, she didn’t stop by and tell me. She got a call from her sister and she left.”
All I could do was wait. Wait for Rocky to drive up and the drama to unfold. I was glad Mrs. Childers wasn’t there. If things went badly, I could always stop her before she went in the house. The wait wasn’t long. A convertible drove up and the driver got out and ran to the door. Another car pulled up behind him. Three men ran after him. I assume the first man was Rocky. And the men that ran behind him were his crew.
“Showtime,” Monika said and leaned forward in her chair.
I was anxious. If Chilly had killed Jake, he wouldn’t have any problem telling Rocky he did it and kill him if he didn’t like it or thought about doing something about it.
We watched as Rocky pushed his way past Chilly’s top lieutenant, Derrick Washington, when he answered the door. “Rocky? What you doing here?”
“Get the fuck out my way, asshole! Where the fuck is Chilly?”
Rocky made his way into the living room where Chilly’s crew had gathered. Jett scanned the room, but Chilly wasn’t in there.
“Chilly, where the fuck are you? Chilly! Chilly! I know you hear me, you ugly black bastard.”
“What the fuck are you hollering about, Rock? And who the fuck you calling ugly, you punk square head nigga?” Chilly said, calmly walking into the living room.
“What you do to Jake?”
Rocky pulled out his gun and pointed it at Chilly.
“So you gonna shoot me now, Rock? Is that what’s happening here?”
Everybody in the room pulled out a gun and pointed it at Rocky.
“Put the gun down, Rock. You don’t wanna die tonight. ’Cause if you flinch, everybody in this room is gonna shoot you, so they can swear to me that they were the one to hit you with the first shot. Now put the gun down before they shoot you and get blood all over Gee’s pretty white carpet. And you know Gee won’t like it if we make a mess.”
It was like watching a drama on TV. Rocky stood there and Chilly stared at him, smiling. Daring him to move. I knew by the look in his eyes that Rocky didn’t want to die, and Chilly knew it too. Rocky slowly moved the gun away from Chilly’s face.
“You’re a smart man, Rock, but you always was. That’s why I like you. You got heart, but you’re smart enough to know when to back down. Now let’s talk about this like you got some sense.”
Chilly led Rocky into another room. Jett punched it up on screen.
“Now what the fuck you want?”
“What did you do to Jake?”
“I ain’t do nothing to Jake. What you talking about?”
“Lisa just called me and said that Jake’s missing, and somebody came to her house asking questions.”
“Yeah. I’m looking for Jake.”
“Why you looking for him?”
“I wanna ask him something.”
“Like what?”
“That ain’t none of your business. All you need to know is that if you see Jake, you make sure he sees me.”
“It’s about that shit ain’t it? Told y’all that shit wasn’t gonna work.”
“Yeah, well. You just find Jake and bring him to me.”
“Why? So you can kill him?”
“I ain’t gonna kill him.”
Chilly got up and stood by the door. Rocky got up and walked toward him. Chilly put his finger in Rocky’s face.
“Don’t you mention anything about Jake being missing or me looking for him to Gee. You feel me?”
Even though Rocky didn’t answer him, I knew that he felt him. Rocky was scared of Chilly too. He walked out of the room quietly and headed for the door, signaling for his boys to follow him as he walked out.
“Stay with Chilly,” I said to Monika, as I hurried to my car to follow Rocky, and followed him on what turned out to be a slow roll down White Plains Road to Soundview.
Chapter Twelve
I looked at Wanda. Her head was back, and her eyes were closed. She had stopped taking notes a while ago.
“Wanda.”
“I’m still awake.” Wanda answered without opening her eyes. “Where did Rocky go in Soundview?”
“He stopped at a house on Buckner Boulevard. I don’t know what he went there for; he was only inside for two minutes.”
“Where’d he go then?”
“Back to his spot. I followed him there and talked to him.”
“Did you find out anything?” Wan
da yawned.
“You know, we can stop for a while if you want to, Wanda. I can tell you’re exhausted.”
“I’m all right, Nick, really. I just need a quick shower and a cup of coffee and I’ll be all right. So why don’t you make another pot of coffee while I take a shower.”
“Okay, Wanda.”
“And, Nick.”
“Yes, Wanda.”
“Please don’t leave.”
“Yes, Wanda.”
“All right now. I’m trusting you.”
While Wanda showered, I made a fresh pot of coffee. While it was brewing, I wandered around the house. It was fabulous. “I guess it ain’t just drug dealers who know how to live.” It was just a house in the old neighborhood that Wanda had restored in grand style.
Sometimes, I used to wonder what my life would have been like if I hadn’t cut out. Not that I regret the choice I made. The way things were, I didn’t want to live like that, but I wonder. Would I be in jail or dead? Or would I be as fortunate as my friends and grow old and respectable in the game?
I was starting to feel a little tired myself, so I poured a cup of coffee. I went back into the living room and stared out the large picture window. Wanda returned to the living room and stood next to me. She looked at me and put her arms around me. Maybe I had that, I need a hug look on my face.
“What are you thinking about?” she asked.
“Just thinking about the way things turned out.”
“What do you mean?”
“You, Wanda. All this. You’re a successful lawyer. You’re all so respectable now. Black and Bobby married. Shit, Bobby’s a father.”
“He’s a good father too. You should talk to him.”
I chose to ignore her comment.
“Freeze walking around in a suit like a legitimate businessman.”
“That one wasn’t easy.”
“I can imagine.”
“Cuisine is a nice place. I thought Mike was crazy when he told me that he wanted Freeze to run the restaurant. But Freeze stepped up,” Wanda continued.
“I don’t think he’s happy about it.”
“Maybe. He may not be happy, but what he is, is fiercely loyal to Black.”
“Unlike me, right?”