Ghetto Girls IV

by Anthony Whyte

  By hanging with Coco, Deedee saw her mother. Eric wanted to help his niece. He glanced at her and she had her eyes closed. His musing was interrupted when Josephine started bawling, attracting everyone’s attention. Eric reached out and held her hand. Josephine hugged his shoulder. Deedee’s mind was on Coco as she quietly cried and prayed.

  “This is crazy, fucking crazy. Too fucking crazy. I told Coco not to hang out. I know what it is to hang out and not get shot. But she’s got to be tough…”

  They jumped when they heard Ms. Harvey’s voice. It trailed and they heard crying. Fifteen minutes later she came out the bedroom. Ms. Harvey was dressed in bright green jeans and red T-shirt. Tears rolled down her cheek as she laced up her multicolored Reeboks. She raced off into another room and returned with a light green jacket. Ms. Harvey grabbed her handbag and keys. She walked to the door.

  “Are y’all gonna wait here? I’m a go check on Coco,” she said.

  The visitors all looked at her with surprise.

  “Why the fuck, are y’all staring at me like that? Is everything alright for me to go see my daughter?” Ms. Harvey asked. “Y’all welcome to stay an all but don’t be like my friend, Gladys, always stealing sump’n. Y’all are Coco’s friend so y’all can stay but don’t steal nothing. I’m warning y’all right now,” Ms Harvey said and was about to head out.

  “No we’re not staying, we’re going with you,” Sophia said quickly. “As a matter of fact, I’ve got a car and we can give you a ride downtown.”

  “Woman, you mad as hell. One, two, three…” Ms. Harvey said, counting each person. “All these people in one car? And look at his size. He got some weight on,” she said pointing at Eric. He led the girls walked out the apartment. “And them two, they packing. Them young girls don’t stay young too long. It’s a conspiracy by the government. They control everything.” Ms. Harvey paused and locked the door.

  “It’s a big limousine,” Sophia said.

  “That’ll work. The elevator doesn’t,” she said, heading to the stairs. “They fix it one day and the next day it’s fucked up. I don’t know why they just don’t get a new one. I’m sure it could be replaced but the city don’t want to spend no money on the poor.”

  They went down the stairs and Ms. Harvey’s ranting went on pause, but she resumed outside.

  “Always in the streets, I tried to tell her about hanging out. You know at least five or six people have to be killed before Coco gets the message. She thinks she’s invincible. I been telling her it was gonna happen. Man there’s too many guns in the wrong hands.”

  Eric opened the door and everyone got inside. Ms. Harvey’s head swiveled, checking out the amenities of the luxury ride.

  “Oh shit, this is real big. But can it go fast?”

  The others looked at her and tried to hold their smile. Deedee closed her eyes and rested her head against her uncle’s shoulder. Josephine sat across, staring at them. Ms. Harvey and Sophia chitchatted like old friends as the car sped downtown.

  CHAPTER 5

  The unmarked police car with Kim, Roshawn and Tina in the backseat pulled to a stop outside Tina’s apartment building. Her mother lived on the second floor and Tina lived on the sixth floor. Tina and Kim got out of the car. Tina knew she would have to convince her mother and made an offer to Kim.

  “I’ll take Roshawn up to my mother’s. You could stay in the car,” Tina suggested.

  “I’m not staying in that car with that crazy-ass detective,” Kim whispered as she and Tina stared at each other.

  “Okay, get Roshawn and come on. I gotta put sump’n away,” Tina said.

  “Hey what’s taking you two so long? Let’s get things moving along already,” Kowalski shouted from inside the car. He was on the radio as Tina and Kim carried Roshawn went into the building.

  “I’ve got our bait,” he smiled, watching Kim and Tina’s backsides.

  They returned five minutes later without Roshawn. Kim and Tina jumped in the back seat and Kowalski sped away.

  The limousine carrying Ms. Harvey pulled to a stop outside the hospital. The driver was out the car, holding the door. Sophia, Deedee and Josephine exited the stretch. Eric waited for Ms. Harvey. She seemed to be stalling as she gathered herself.

  “After you,” Eric said.

  Ms. Harvey appeared to scowl and waited a few beats before finally getting out of the luxurious confines. Her steps were shaky and Sophia held her arm. Deedee rushed to her other side, preventing the distraught mother from falling.

  Ms. Harvey hobbled with panicky feet up to the entrance of the hospital. She paused at the door and went through a transformation as she entered the lobby.

  “Alright, alright,” Ms. Harvey said, sounding annoyed.

  She pushed Sophia away, who waved off Deedee.

  “Where’s my daughter?” she demanded.

  The receptionist was surprised by the visitor’s outburst. She stood with her mouth saying nothing, eyeing Ms. Harvey. Hospital security came rushing in from all directions.

  “There are such things as manners. You should—”

  Sophia jumped into the fray.

  “I’m sorry. This is Ms. Harvey and she’s under a tremendous amount of stress since finding out her daughter has been shot and—”

  “It doesn’t mean she should take her frustration out on everyone else,” the receptionist said.

  “Again, I apologize for Ms. Harvey. She’s been really shaken up by the news,” Sophia said, softening the cold, hard stare of a very heated receptionist. She counted to ten before continuing.

  “What’s your daughter’s name?”

  “Coco… Coco Harvey,” Ms. Harvey answered.

  She sheepishly watched the receptionist looking at all the records. After a while the receptionist found the name, picked up the phone and dialed.

  “Dr. Gluckmann, is on the third floor,” the receptionist said. She turned to Sophia and spoke. You may se the elevator to your left..”

  “Thank you,” Sophia said and turned to the group.

  She hugged Ms. Harvey and walked through the crowded lobby. As soon as they got off the elevator Dr. Gluckmann walked over to them.

  “Good morning, are you the mother of—”

  “Coco. Where is she, doctor?” Ms. Harvey said cutting the doctor off. “I told her not to be hanging late but she can’t listen. Where is she doctor?”

  “Well, she’s recovering. She’s been through a lot—”

  “I don’t care what she’s been through. I wanna see her now. I’m gonna be tightening up things with her…” Ms. Harvey’s tears came and her voice trailed.

  Sophia hugged her again. Eric addressed the doctor.

  “What can we do at this point?” Eric asked.

  “Are you her father?”

  “No, he ain’t my baby-daddy. I’m her mother and you need to be talking to me. Now I want to know, where’s my daughter?”

  “I’m her manager and these are friends of Coco. We were with her—”

  “Y’all were with her. Why none a y’all got bullet wounds? Only Coco, huh…?” Ms. Harvey shouted.

  “Her mother has not taken the news well and, ah, we just want to be there for Coco as much as possible. Don’t worry about the cost. Do everything you can,” Eric said.

  “Let’s go to my office,” the doctor suggested. “Of course there are some roadblocks, but I think her chances for a complete recovery is excellent.”

  “She’s always been living crazy. I knew her luck was gonna run out one day,” Ms. Harvey said while crying.

  “This was very close, another millimeter and there would’ve been untold damages to her—”

  “Can we see her, doctor? Please let me see my daughter,” Ms Harvey requested between tears.

  The doctor led them to his office and an assistant helped Ms. Harvey with the task of filling out paperwork. Coco was in intensive care recovering.

  “I’m sorry you can’t visit her right now but as soon as Dr. Gluckmann gives the
OK, we’ll move her someplace where you’ll be able to see her on a frequent basis,” the assistant said.

  “I want to see my daughter. Why can’t I see my daughter?” Ms. Harvey yelled.

  “I don’t know if you’re in any condition to see her. She’s just out of surgery and she’s still asleep. The doctor could authorize you…”

  “The doctor? The doctor only care about one thing—my insurance covering his expenses. I don’t give a damn! I just wanna see my daughter.”

  “There are hospital regulations to be followed, Ms. Harvey!” the nurse said and Ms. Harvey took off running down the hall.

  “Coco, Coco,” she shouted before she was apprehended by security. “Let me go. Y’all got my daughter locked up in here like she was a refugee!” she shouted, screaming and spitting, trying to shake the security.

  Soaking wet, she weighed eighty-five pounds. The security was big and muscular, about two-hundred and twenty pounds. It wasn’t fair. She was carted off like a rag-doll, arms flailing and legs kicking. The security took the wailing woman inside a room and held her there, awaiting further orders.

  The assistant went storming back to the office where Dr. Gluckmann and Eric sat discussing Coco’s medical condition.

  “She’s very adamant about seeing her daughter and refused to fill out the paperwork, Dr. Gluckmann.”

  “Okay. Don’t worry about anything. We can resolve the matter later. Have the nurse attend to her and I’ll discuss the situation with her manager,” the doctor said, smiling warmly at Eric. His assistant disappeared.

  “How much longer do you think she’ll need to stay in the hospital?” Eric asked.

  “It’s very hard to tell. We’re hoping as soon as another week, maybe two. It could be months before her sight returns completely.”

  “Months?” Sophia gasped.

  Eric looked at the doctor for any other clues. Deedee and Josephine had found seats in the office and jumped from their snooze.

  “Months? Why?” Deedee asked.

  “These matters are rather hard to predict. The trauma left from the bullet hitting her head has caused an increase in cerebrospinal fluid. This fluid surrounds the brain and spinal cord. The resulting hemorrhaging produced the condition of increased optic nerve pressure, thus her blindness.”

  It seemed the air was swept from the office by the doctor’s words. Eric, Sophia, Deedee and Josephine let out a sigh.

  The doctor looked over his charts and spoke in even tones.

  “We will keep her for about a week and administer a craniotomy,” the doctor said.

  “What’s that?” Josephine asked.

  “It’s a surgery performed to relieve the intra-cranial pressure,” Doctor Gluckmann said.

  “Is it dangerous?” Deedee asked.

  “It’s not a difficult thing and she’s already showing no other ill effect from the gunshot wound. The bullet may have ricocheted, causing less damage. We’ll need more specialists to examine her case but we’ll help her as much as we can. In the end, it will be up to Coco,” Dr. Gluckmann continued.

  “Spare no cost with her,” Eric said solemnly.

  Ms. Harvey was finally allowed to see her daughter, albeit from behind the glass wall of intensive care. She immediately fell on the floor and started crying. One of the hospital security persons tried to help her but she slapped his hand away and bounced up.

  “I wanna see her!” she shouted.

  “She’s right there,” the assistant said, pointing.

  Ms. Harvey stared at the assistant and then to where she was directed. Her face was strained and she grabbed her head, rocking. Coco was hooked to a configuration of machinery. There were tubes extending from her body to the machines. Standing there watching her daughter, Ms. Harvey was devastated.

  “Oh, Coco.” Ms. Harvey sobbed uncontrollably, holding her head and dropping to her knees. “Why Lord?” she screamed.

  CHAPTER 6

  Kim and Tina sat in the detective’s office staring at the decorations on the wall. They were led there and told to wait inside the chief’s office amidst wolf whistles of a male dominated staff.

  “They are really happy to see us, huh?” Kim asked.

  “Maybe they want to have us dance at the police ball or sump’n,” Tina suggested. “Mike… I mean Kowalski knows you and I…” Tina’s voice trailed when she saw the smirk on Kim’s face.

  “Mike?” Kim asked. “You discussing my business with Mike? He’s just crazy ass Kowalski to me. See, its bullshit like this I can’t really go for. Why you be out there with my name to a cop, bitch? How do you sound? It sounds like you setting up Kim, right? Doesn’t it sound that way, bitch? Are you snitching now?”

  “Nah, Kim. It wasn’t like anything he ain’t already know,” Tina said.

  “It doesn’t mean you should be telling him anything, confirming everything and all that. Think twice before opening your damn mouth once.”

  “Ahight already. It ain’t that serious. Kim, you always trying to blow up shit. It’s not that big of a deal.”

  “Everything’s a big deal since ‘em Chinese bitches bust in my place. I gotta look at the people who I hang out with,” Kim said. “I know it sounds blunt, but my son could‘ve been killed over sump’n I had no business with and that’s no good.”

  “So whatch you saying?”

  “I hang out with you, bitch, and now I’m down here because your man Nesto and Carlos done fucked-up and left everything on us. You gotta watch out and stop fucking around with bird-ass nig ”

  “Ah ladies,” a voice said as the door opened, interrupting Kim.

  “We’ll talk ‘bout this shit later,” she whispered to Tina and they turned around, directing their attention to the person walking in with Kowalski.

  “This is… ah, Tom Parker from the DA’s office,” Kowalski said and left the office.

  “Hello ladies. Beautiful weather,” Tom Parker said with a smile and walked closer to Kim and Tina.

  They watched him sit down in his blue off-the-rack lawyer suit. He tapped well manicured nails on the desk before speaking.

  “Did anyone tell you why you’re here?” he asked.

  Kim and Tina turned to each other, shook their heads and rolled their shoulders. They eyed Tom Parker, unsure of his motives.

  “I didn’t know shit about anything. Carlos was just staying with me occasionally. I ain’t got nothing to say,” Kim declared.

  “I didn’t know the real deal about anything until after the fact,” Tina lied.

  “I’ve got good news for both you ladies. Even though most of the jewelry has not been recovered, the district attorney is willing to stop all the investigation concerning both of your involvement in the sixty-million dollar jewelry heist. This action comes with your promise to cooperate in a current ongoing criminal investigation.”

  Kim and Tina held opened-mouthed stares at Tom parker. They sat up and looked at each other as if they didn’t believe what they were hearing. Tina’s expression of surprise was replaced by a confident smile. She had ice stashed big enough to sink a small island. She pinched Kim but Kim’s look was one of caution.

  “Exactly what we gotta do? I mean, I don’t think I should have to do anything since I didn’t know nothing,” Kim said, folding her arms and sitting back.

  “We know you were dating or seeing Carlos Mendez and he has been identified as an accomplice in armed robbery. You are a subject and, if not our office, perhaps the FBI will find a way to nail you as an accessory to the robbery,” Tom Parker said.

  “What she meant was what do we have to do?” Tina said, interrupting the stare-down between Tom Parker and Kim.

  “Why is everyone playing me like I was a criminal?” Kim asked. “I didn’t commit no crime. I didn’t go robbing anywhere. I didn’t know anything about it until them Chinese bitches shot up my place and—”

  “Ms. Kimberly James, your involvement will not be difficult to prove in a court of law. You will be sent to minimum six years an
d as much as nine. Can you afford to leave your son for up to nine years? You can avoid pressure by cooperating with this office and accepting the offer we’re giving to you at this time.”

  “My son? The FBI? Nine years?”

  “Stop being such a hardheaded, bitch. We can at least listen to what he says we have to do,” Tina said.

  “Okay bitch, you’ve already got me into enough shit for the year and now you trying to counsel me on some shit? You best fall back with your fucking ideas, okay?”

  “I hear ya,” Tina said.

  “Would you rather face criminal charges and prison time instead of helping the community rid itself of criminals? What am I hearing, Kim?” Tom Parker said, looking directly at Kim.

  She returned his stare while adjusting her weave. Kim scowled at Tina before looking at Tom Parker.

  “I don’t want to be involved in your schemes but this bitch and her man got me caught up, fuck it. What do we have to do?” Kim let out a reluctant sigh of defeat.

  “It’s very simple. We need corroborating evidence on a certain music producer, a big time player in the industry. He’s got dirty laundry. We want someone inside his bedroom, his office, his studio. His name is Eric Ascot.”

  “Doing what?” Kim asked and the office door opened.

  “Watching,” the chief of detectives answered. He walked to where Kim and Tina sat. Tom Parker stepped into the shadows as the chief continued to speak. “You may think this is fun and games but we’re trying to solve a case and fast. Mr. Ascot is our person of interest. He’s smart and has friends all over the city. We want to know who they are how they look and what they do when they’re with him. We wanna know everything,” the chief said.

  “Everything?” Kim and Tina echoed.

  “Every-damn-thing!”

  “How’re we gonna go about it?”

  “Leave it up to us. We just needed your cooperation. Detective Kowalski will bring you to my office tomorrow at eleven,” Tom Parker said, joining in.

  “Goodbye ladies,” the chief said. “Hey Kowalski. Give the ladies a ride uptown,” the chief shouted and gestured at the detective.