“Don’t be. I just upgraded my phone yesterday, and I haven’t gotten around to transferring my contacts. Be grateful I decided that when I do, you are going to be one who is on the ‘keep ’em’ list. So what’s up, Cody? Why you call on ole Tee Tee? I hope it don’t have nothing to do with my former line of work. You know I been outta the game for a little while now.”
Toni Thompson, also known as Tee Tee, was the first cousin to Rhonda Weber, Shaun’s first baby mama and the woman Lindsay killed. She was also formerly employed by Shaun’s organization as one of their top lieutenants. After getting busted on a conspiracy and possession charge, her second, Tee Tee served three years in a federal prison. She came out of jail a new woman, however, walking away from the drug game and never looking back. Cody represented her in court and was able to get the original sentence reduced from ten to fifteen to three-and-a-half to seven years. She was actually in prison when Lindsay killed Shaun and Rhonda.
“Not about the game specifically, Tee. I just need to know if Shaun’s mother is still in the same hood or if she’s moved.” Cody went on to honestly explain his reason for wanting to find out where Patricia lived. “You see, Tee, I just think I would have a better chance at putting this little family reunion together. They would probably shoot my wife on sight if she set foot on their doorstep.”
“Could you blame them? I respect that she’s your wife and all, Cody. But chicky murdered the woman’s son, not to mention she took out Sha’Ron’s daddy and mama, my own cousin.”
When Cody decided to give Toni a call, he had not actually remembered she had a familial connection to one of Lindsay’s victims.
“Tee, I’m sorry. I have to admit I didn’t even think about Rhonda being your cousin. I offer my apologies on behalf of my wife as well. You may or may not believe me, but Lindsay is truly remorseful over what she did to both Shaun and Rhonda. If she could rewind her life and take it all back she would.”
A few moments of silence rested between the two former associates, each pondering their own thoughts. Cody truly regretted getting Toni involved considering that he now realized her cousin had been killed.
Toni mulled over whether she was willing to help a man who had once helped her and been part of her team. “Look, White Boy C.” Tee reverted back to the name the crew called Cody back in the day. “I’m gon’ tell you that Shaun’s people still in that same spot they been at all these years. Patricia ain’t going nowhere. She still is and forever will be a hood rat, no matter how old she get.” Tee chuckled at the end of her statement.
“Thanks for the information. I appreciate it because you really didn’t have to do that.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s really no biggie since I ain’t have to give up no new address or nothing. Oh and FYI, you might also be interested in knowing that Uncle Bobby is grooming Li’l man Sha’Ron to one day take over his daddy’s spot. So while y’all over their planning a reunion between the brothers and the sister, also know that Sha’Ron got his foot in the game.”
“Man, that’s rough. Like you said, Tee, it don’t seem like none of them Taylors have changed much at all over the years. Shoot! Sha’Ron can’t be any older than sixteen, right?”
“Exactly!”
“I will definitely let Lindsay know. Thanks again, Tee, for all your help.” Cody hung up the phone. He immediately began wondering how Lindsay would handle Sha’Ron being in the game and being around the kids....
Later that day after leaving work, Cody decided to pay the Taylor clan a visit. He didn’t tell Lindsay his intentions, deciding it best to just forge ahead and report back to her what he found out after his visit.
He pulled up to the house on Piedmont Street which looked exactly the same as it did the last time he was there, which was back before Shaun married Lindsay. He parked his car at the curb right in front of the house. Before getting out, though, he sat there staring at the house, but looking past it, through it, and trying to see into the souls of those who still inhabited it.
Patricia Taylor had been a knock-down, drag-out beauty. Cody’s first impression upon meeting her several years ago had been Dang! What a hottie! Even without an ounce of makeup, the fancy clothes most women who looked like her donned, or even having her hair done up in some trendy style, she was gorgeous. Her daughter, Francine, was her mirror image and possessed something that Patricia seemed to lack; remarkable intellect. Patricia’s oldest two children were both good-looking people with powerful brains. The third child, Tameeka, was not as pretty or as intellectually bright as her older siblings, but the girl wasn’t exactly a slouch in those departments either. And had Patricia, as a mother, pushed Shaun and Francine into doing something positive with their lives, Tameeka would have probably done her best to follow in their footsteps.
Instead, however, Patricia, opted to be a parent who, without a doubt, loved her children, but decided not to put forth the necessary effort, attention, and never-quit attitude toward raising her offspring. She allowed her kids to do as they pleased as long as they managed not to get on her nerves during the process.
Back in the day, the inner workings of a household like Shaun’s and other clients like him never bothered Cody. However, since becoming a Christian and actively crusading on the Lord’s side, he really began to pay attention to issues such as these. This is why he was a member of the Children, Youth, and Young Adult Ministry at his and Lindsay’s church. It is also why he volunteered and mentored young boys in their neighborhood YMCA.
Cody finally decided to emerge from his vehicle, realizing that crying over spilled milk was getting him no closer to completing his task. He walked up the sidewalk through the snow no one had bothered to shovel, continuing up the three steps that led to the porch, and right on to the front door. He rang the doorbell and waited in the cold for a response, not knowing whether anyone was home. But if he remembered correctly, Patricia Taylor hardly ever ventured out of the sanctity of her home.
After less than thirty seconds, Cody saw someone look out the window to spy out the uninvited intruder. A nanosecond later, Patricia snatched open the door.
“What the ... White Boy C! I just know you ain’t done showed up on my doorstep. Not the raggedy bastard that married the trick that shot and killed my son?” Patricia yelled.
Cody was stunned. Of course, it was not by the abrasive and rude manner by which Patricia greeted him at the door. He was expecting and ready for that. No. He was stunned by his host’s appearance. Patricia always looked as if she were at least fifteen years younger than her actual age. So to see the woman before him who claimed to be Shaun’s mother shocked him speechless. The frail little woman on the other side of the screen door, whose real age should have been about fifty, looked to be at least sixty. The youthful beauty he remembered just a few moments ago was gone and replaced with a haggard appearance worn down by life and perhaps sickness. If Patricia had not verbally announced that she was Shaun’s mother, Cody was not sure he would have recognized her on his own. He literally stood there with his hand covering his mouth, which hung wide opened.
Before he realized what happened, someone walked up behind Patricia. “Grandma, what’s going on? Who are you yelling at?”
Cody recognized Sha’Ron immediately. He was the mirror image of his dad, all the way down to the green eyes.
“Hello, Sha’Ron. Do you remember me?”
“Don’t you speak to that traitor, Sha’Ron. In fact, I’m thinking you should go and get a pistol and blow out his knees.” Patricia’s words did not surprise nor frighten Cody. His heart simply broke because she uttered the ugly desire to her sixteen-year-old grandson, not caring for a moment that such a decision, if Sha’Ron decided to carry it out, would land him in prison. Nope. Patricia Taylor had not changed a bit.
Seeing White Boy C gave Sha’Ron a quick moment of pause. He was very aware that he married the woman who murdered his parents. But the wheels in his head quickly began to turn again as he realized, somehow, Cody’s prese
nce would assist him in his own murder plot. He wasn’t exactly sure how yet, but his gut told him that Cody’s sudden arrival back on the scene would surely help his cause.
“Grandma, chill. Let’s at least hear what this fool has to say.” Sha’Ron put on a menacing face and injected a little attitude into his voice so as not to appear too friendly or overly eager to have Cody on their doorstep. It was all just a front, though. Sha’Ron was excited about the doors Cody’s arrival could possibly open.
“What? Hear him out? No! I want to knock him out!” Patricia yelled. She then began to cough violently.
“Hold up a minute, White Boy,” Sha’Ron asked of Cody, then left him standing on the porch while he tended to his grandmother. After escorting her to her bedroom and getting her settled, he returned to the front door to find Cody shivering from the cold, but still waiting.
He remembered he was supposed to be speaking to the enemy so he returned the attitude to his tone. “So what up, dude? Why you here?”
“Sha’Ron, man, it’s cold out here. Can I either come inside or you step outside and into my car so we can talk?”
Sha’Ron eyeballed Cody for a few brief moments as he seriously considered the options he presented. “Why don’t we talk in your car,” Sha’Ron stated as if the idea had been his to begin with. “I’ll grab my jacket and let my grandmother know what’s up.”
Cody left the porch and returned to his car. He started it and cranked the heat on full blast. January in Detroit was no punk.
Sha’Ron appeared at Cody’s passenger door less than five minutes later. Cody popped the lock and the young man made his entrance into the car.
“I see you still like rolling in style, White Boy,” Sha’Ron said as he admired the luxurious tan interior of Cody’s off-white BMW 750i.
Cody looked into Sha’Ron’s eyes and saw the same look he used to see in Shaun’s eyes. The same look he saw in all of his former clients from the game’s eye. Even the same look he used to have. The look that said money and material possessions are what determined your status in life.
“It’s just a car, Sha’Ron. Sure, it’s a nice car, but just a car nonetheless.”
“Yeah. Okay. Whatever. I know you didn’t come here to lecture me on what’s really important in life. So what’s up? What you want, White Boy?”
Since Sha’Ron came straight at him with the questions, Cody decided to give him answers in the same manner.
“I’m here because your little sister and brother, Shauntae and Li’l Shaun, want to see you. In fact, they want to see all of their family on their father’s side. Judging by the way your grandmother greeted me with threats instead of cookies, I’m sure she would have opened up on my wife with a sawed-off shotgun had she shown up. So I’m here on their behalf.”
“Still the mouthpiece, huh, White Boy?”
Cody studied Sha’Ron, observing his youthful swagger and unreadable demeanor. He was so much like his father. Cody was sure those fatherlike qualities were both a result of DNA and his great-uncle Bobby’s training. The same training his daddy had received.
Sha’Ron eyed Cody in return, seeing a change in him. From what he remembered, White Boy C had been the only white guy he had ever seen who actually even hung out with his father and Uncle Bobby’s crew. Yet, he seemed to fit right in with the rest of the thugs. Yes. White Boy was an educated attorney, but he had a very sharp street swagger of his own. Now, however, young Sha’Ron sensed that his edge was no longer as prevalent. Not completely gone, but merely rechanneled, so to speak.
“So my sibs want to see me, huh? How the woman who made me an orphan feel about that?”
“My wife’s main concern is what’s best for her children. If seeing you and the rest of your family makes them happy, then she’s cool with it.”
Sha’Ron sat quietly for a moment as he reminisced about Shauntae and Li’l Shaun. Yeah, they were his fam; his blood. They spent a lot of time together too before their mom killed his parents. Yeah, he missed them. Seeing them would actually be pretty cool. It would also be an opportunity for him to start working on his uncle’s plan to do to their mom what she had done to his.
“When she trying to put this li’l reunion together?”
“Lindsay was thinking perhaps the kids could come by here this Saturday. If you would be willing, do you think you could get your grandmother and aunts, Francine and Tameeka, along with their kids, together over here?”
Sha’Ron thought about it and realized that most likely his family would not object to seeing two of his dad’s other kids. Tawanda and her daughter Shauna were always around, even though Tawanda had married another dude from his father’s crew. However, that was not his main focus. He needed to start gathering information on his prey, Cody’s wife.
“How about I come to your house this Saturday by myself. I mean, I’ll work on getting the rest of the family on board with the reunion and all too. Maybe for a Sunday dinner or something over here. But I think we should start slow for now; with just me and my sister and brother first.”
Cody was a changed man, but his street instincts remained sharp. Something about Sha’Ron wanting to come to their home unnerved him. He was certain Sha’Ron had no love lost for Lindsay, which was understandable. So he knew he would have to carefully watch his wife’s back, no matter how this all worked out.
“Why don’t we start with this, Sha’Ron. You and I, along with the kids, could all go out to dinner somewhere together this Saturday. That way, you can start getting reacquainted with them. You name the place.”
Sha’Ron couldn’t even be mad at White Boy’s intuition and defense. Like he told himself, he still had the edge, just rechanneled. “Okay. That’ll work. Let’s exchange numbers. You go home and work it out with wifey and let me know what time we can hook up. Oh yeah, I love Red Lobster.”
Chapter Six
The following morning as Cody and Lindsay sat at the breakfast table, Cody thought about his visit to the Taylor household the previous night. When he came home late last night, Lindsay just assumed her husband had been held up at the office and never questioned his tardiness. Cody, still uncomfortable about his encounter with Sha’Ron, didn’t want to disturb her entire night with his uneasiness, so he kept quiet about the visit. Today, however, Lindsay could see the worry wearing heavily on his handsome face.
“Cody, is something wrong, baby?”
“We need to talk about something, Lindsay. But I think we should wait till the kids are off to school and out of the house.”
Lindsay could hear the seriousness in Cody’s voice so she offered him no argument. She, instead, would patiently wait until he could fully explain whatever the dilemma was that caused him to look so stressed.
Cody went to the home office and called to let his staff know he would be in later that morning while Lindsay helped the kids get ready to leave for the school bus. Once Shauntae and Li’l Shaun were gone, the two of them settled into the family room on the sofa to talk.
“I went to visit Sha’Ron last night,” Cody said directly.
“What! Why didn’t you tell me when you came in last night, Cody?”
“I didn’t want to disturb your rest last night, honey. I figured it would be best to discuss all the happenings with you while we were both fresh this morning.”
Since Cody was in no rush to share how his visit went with the Addam’s Family, Lindsay was almost reluctant to know the details. Curiosity won out, however, so she probed for information.
“Okay. So how did it go? What happened?”
“Patricia initially came to the door and went off when she saw that it was me standing on her porch. She practically threatened to shoot me.”
“Same ole Hate-tricia, I see.”
“Yes and no, baby. She definitely hasn’t change into a woman with a lovely personality, but physically, Lindsay, she looked horrible. The Patricia I remember was very beautiful and youthful looking. The woman I encountered looked old, sickly even.”
/> The last part of Cody’s statement triggered a remembrance in Lindsay. “Oh my. I wonder if her cancer has returned.”
“Cancer? I didn’t know Patricia ever had cancer.”
“Yes. When I first met Shaun he told my mother and me that he dropped out of college so he could help his mother, who, at the time, was suffering with breast cancer when he quit. You never noticed that she only had one breast while you were ogling her beauty?” Lindsay said a little sarcastically.
“I honestly never paid much attention. Wow! Maybe that’s it. So sad.”
Sad, indeed, Lindsay thought. While Patricia had never made the list of one of her all-time favorite people, she was still the grandmother to her children. And furthermore, a human being probably suffering with a horrible illness. Lindsay knew she would be adding Patricia to her prayer list.
“Let’s get back to our discussion. How did you end up talking to Sha’Ron since Patricia was against you even being there?”
“Sha’Ron was there, and he overheard Patricia yelling at me so he came to investigate. He somehow convinced his grandmother that he wanted to hear what I had to say. This, by the way, happened after she began having a violent coughing fit and he took her to her bedroom to settle down. Wow! Cancer!” Cody too decided that he would begin earnestly praying for Patricia.
“So what did you tell Sha’Ron?”
“I told him Shauntae and Li’l Shaun wanted to see their big brother. He says he’s up to it himself, but he’s not sure if everyone is ready for a big family reunion just yet. He’s going to see if he can work that out. In the meantime, he has agreed to meet me and the kids for dinner this Saturday at Red Lobster.”
Lindsay was pleased to hear Sha’Ron was open to seeing her kids, but a little puzzled as to why she had been excluded from the equation. She certainly understood Sha’Ron’s desire not to sup with her, but was confused as to why Cody would agree to such a thing.
“You and the kids? Not you, the kids, and I? What’s up with that, Cody? Do you think I’m letting them go without me?”
Lindsay's Legacy Page 5