King

by Johnson, Tremayne

  Rahmeek yelled for me to come on and we ran out of Shareeka's house. We jumped in the rental car we had and drove away like nothing happened.

  It was all over the news the next morning. I couldn't stop Asia from crying and I felt like shit because I played a major part in the upsetting murder of her best friend. I sat back on the sofa and listened to the news report.

  ''Hello this is Catty Lee reporting live from Queens where a twenty-two year old woman, Shareeka Washington was shot and killed in her home early this morning. Sources say, Mrs. Washington was a key witness in an ongoing federal investigation against her husband, Mr. Jayson ''Jay-Roc'' Washington. Mr. Washington is being held at MDC in Brooklyn on conspiracy and drug charges. Authorities also have reason to believe that a shooting yesterday afternoon in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn may be linked to this homicide.”

  ‘‘On a busy Brooklyn street corner, Louis Rodriguez was shot several times and remains in critical condition. These two shootings are just a few in a rash of gun violence that has plagued the city over the last year. This is Catty Lee reporting live for channel one news.”

  I almost dropped my glass of water when I heard what the reporter said. A key witness? How the fuck did Lou survive? These questions and many more bounced around in my head. I was confused and the answers were not coming fast enough.

  I asked Asia when Jay-Roc and Shareeka had gotten married, and she told me a couple months ago, but the impression I got from Jay-Roc was that he wasn't ready to tie the knot. He used to tell me that Shareeka was always pressing the marriage issue and then she would get upset when he told her he wasn't ready. She must have badgered him so much that he finally gave in.

  I told Asia that I needed to go out for a minute. I snatched my coat from the closet and grabbed my keys off the table. I had to go see Reemo.

  As I drove on the highway my thoughts drifted back to all the things I had been through in the last ten years. How I evolved from the kid that everyone picked on to someone they all looked up too. I had been through a lot in a short amount of time. I had dominated the drug game and raised the bar a few notches.

  I wonder what my father would say if he could see me right now?

  All the love I showed this game throughout the years, I had yet to receive any back. This game didn't show love, this game is heartless.

  Chapter Fourteen

  I parked my Ferrari in front of the bodega on the 41st side of Queens Bridge projects. I had spoken to Reemo a few minutes earlier and he said that he would meet with me.

  I sat there for more than an hour waiting for him to come. I called both his cell phones, but never got an answer from him. This wasn't like Reemo. I waited another half an hour and then I left.

  When I got home Asia told me she had gotten a call from someone at the hospital that Lou was in and they wanted me to come by and see him.

  What did he want to see me for? I always thought the worst. I reached out to Rahmeek and the two of us went to see him.

  I never liked hospitals. Every time I saw one on television or passed by one driving, I was reminded of the night I got shot.

  When Rahmeek and I walked through the doors of the hospital, I got a shiver through my whole body. I told the receptionist the information Asia had given me. She directed us to the elevator and we went up to the third floor where Lou's room was. It was a crazy situation because Rahmeek was the one who shot him and here we were going to see what he had to say. I gently knocked on the door that had 309 on it.

  It was slightly ajar, so I pushed it open and we walked in.

  There was a short Spanish lady in a nurse’s outfit sitting in a chair next to Lou's bed.

  ''Deon?'' She asked in her heavy accent as she stood up from the chair.

  ''Yeah, that's me,'' I said.

  ''He's been asking for ju all day,'' she said. ''He's kind of weak, so he talks low. I'll leave ju guys to talk.''

  When she left the room I started asking questions.

  ''What do you want to talk to me for, Lou?''

  ''I thought we were a team?'' he said, struggling to get his words out. ''You left me out there to die, King...if I wasn't wearing that bullet proof vest I wouldn't even be here talkin' to you.''

  ''I thought we were a team too, Lou...what happened?''

  ''I'm sorry, King,'' he said.

  ''Sorry for what, Lou?'' I knew what he was trying to apologize for, I wasn't accepting it, but I sure did want to hear him say it.

  ''Shareeka and Jay-Roc...''

  ''Why Lou...why did you do that? After all the love Jay-Roc showed you, you betray him like this?''

  A tear slowly dripped down the side of Lou's face. ''I don't know what to say, King...I know I fucked up bad, but there's a lot of other shit going on that I can't even speak on right now.''

  ''Like what?''

  Lou closed his eyes and took a deep breath as Rahmeek and I stood waiting to hear what he had to say.

  ''King...Reemo is workin' with the feds.''

  I didn't believe him. Why should I? ''Are you positive?'' I asked.

  He nodded his head yes. Maybe that was part of the reason he stood me up earlier.

  We hurried out the hospital. I thought about sending Rahmeek after Reemo, but I came to the conclusion that it wasn't a good idea. If he was working with the feds the hit needed to come from outside of my circle.

  ''How you gon' handle this, King?'' Rahmeek asked as we drove down the highway.

  ''I think I got some people who can take care of this. I just need to figure out how I'm going to play it out.'' I answered.

  The following day I met with Prince and Zabu in Jersey. If I could convince them that Reemo is a threat to the business without them knowing that he may be a fed, I could have them get rid of him and then I can make my move. I sat in Prince's office with Zabu. It was a strange feeling in the air, but I couldn't figure out what it was.

  Prince came through the door with Malikah in tow. Zabu stood up from behind the desk.

  ''What does loyalty mean to you, King?'' He asked, approaching me.

  I stood up and stared him directly in his eyes. I didn't know where he was going with this question.

  ''Loyalty is never turning your back on your friends and the people who love you most.'' I said.

  Prince looked at me with an evil smirk. ''Someone in this room is not loyal!'' he yelled.

  His eyes scoured the room and locked on Malikah. Did he find out about us? Prince snatched her by the arm and swung her into the wall. I tried to hold back, but I couldn't.

  ''What the fuck is going on here, Prince?'' I asked with worry in my voice.

  ''Malikah here,'' he said pointing his finger at her, ''is not loyal, King...I want to show you how I deal with people who are not loyal!''

  He pulled a knife from his pocket and put it to Malikah's throat.

  I watched as a single tear fell down her cheek and she looked at me for help, but I didn't know what to do.

  ''I'm going to give you one more chance to come clean, Malikah.'' Prince said.

  ''Prince...wait, what is this about?'' I questioned, trying to buy some time.

  Zabu stood in front of me. ''Sit, King.''

  Maybe they hadn't found out about us.

  ''Prince, I'm sorry. I should have never lied to you, but I didn't want to upset you.'' Malikah said, crying hysterically.

  Prince released the knife from her throat, raised his hand, and slapped the side of her face, hard. It was extremely difficult for me to sit and watch this take place, but I had to suppress my anger.

  Prince picked Malikah up off the floor and sent her out the room. I was thankful he hadn't tried to kill her. I wouldn't have let it go down like that. I was going to step in and any repercussions that came later I would just have to handle. Whatever Prince was upset about wasn't just going away that easy.

  ''King,'' Prince said, putting his hand on my shoulder. ''I am very sorry that you had to witness a family dispute, but my wife has withheld a secret from
me for the last five years and I recently found out the truth.''

  ''It's ok, I understand,'' I assured, puzzled by him calling her his wife. Malikah never mentioned being married to him and I never saw a ring on her finger. I don't know every tradition in Africa, but I do know in America the wives usually wear a ring.

  I had some questions that needed answering and Malikah had some talking to do.

  Prince sat in his chair and lit a cigar. ''So, King what is this favor you speak of?'' he said.

  I told them about my problem with Reemo minus the fact that he may be working with the feds. I fabricated a story about him cutting into our business by buying a large shipment of dope from another supplier.

  They went for it. Anything pertaining to money caught their ear. Once I mentioned to them that Reemo's actions would cut their profits in half, they agreed to put an end to him.

  I gave them all the information they needed and Prince gave me his word that it would be taken care of.

  I was one more step closer to my goal. Now what I needed to do was get Malikah.

  Chapter Fifteen

  It was a sweltering, summer day in June 2003. I leaned up against my brand new Porsche 911 that I had just copped. The previous night Jay-Roc's lawyer, Bergorwitz called to inform me of the terrible news of Jay-Roc losing his trial and being sentenced to thirty-five years. Just the thought alone gave me migraine headaches.

  I inhaled the intoxicating vapors of the marijuana filled cigar as I tried to escape reality. The team fell apart and I was left to hold it down on my own.

  Asia hadn't been the same since Shareeka's death and every time she cried I wanted to do the same because I was at fault.

  I exhaled a thick, cloud of grey smoke into the air as I patiently waited on Jay-Roc's brother, Roger. Earlier he contacted me and said that he wanted to talk to me about something.

  I watched as his black, Lincoln town car came down the block. He parked next to a fire hydrant and stepped from the vehicle.

  ''Hello, Deon, how are you doing today?'' He asked, removing his hat, wiping sweat from his forehead.

  ''Doing the best I can, pastor...and you?''

  ''I'm holding up pretty well myself. The family is still a bit traumatized due to everything that has happened, but we pray everyday and I tell them that God is watching over us and he would never put more on us than we can handle.'' He answered.

  ''Yeah, I don't think I was ready for so much bad news at one time. Jay-Roc is like a brother to me, so it hurts to hear that they gave him all that time.''

  ''Yes, you're right Deon, but the only thing we can do now is move on and make sure we're there for him in his time of need.'' He said. ''That's part of the reason I wanted to come and talk to you today.''

  ''When Jayson was on these streets I used to stay on his case about the lifestyle he chose to live. We would always go at it about that. I tried plenty of times to get him to come to church, but he wasn't trying to hear it. When he found out Shareeka was pregnant with Tiana, we sat down and had a long talk about their future and he expressed to me that he wanted to do something to help the less fortunate children in the neighborhood. We discussed several things that we could try to do and one day he came up with an idea that wasn't too far fetched,'' Roger continued after a short pause, ''his idea was to renovate one of these old buildings and turn it into a community center. I told him that I would talk to some people and try to make things happen and I did. Unfortunately Jayson is now incarcerated. I'm just putting it out there for you to think about, Deon. You do know that you can't live this way forever.''

  Roger was absolutely right. Everything he was saying made perfect sense.

  ''Well, do you think we can still make that happen? I do understand this lifestyle doesn't last forever and whatever I can do to uplift the community, I'm all for.'' I said.

  ''I'll see what I can do and I'll be in touch with you. Deon, if a society, or even one person, is to progress, then one must abandon some of what is considered common sense and explore new things that have never been understood before. In short, one must pursue the strange and unknown. If we’re not making progress, then we're falling behind; there are no two ways about it. Remember Deon; the Lord has a plan for us all. God bless you.'' He said, getting back into his car and leaving.

  All the years Jay-Roc and I hung out I never once heard him mention anything about a community center. What Roger said surprised me. I thought about how we might have turned out if the community had more positive influences and activities to engage in. It's rough out here growing up. Most of us are raised by one parent, usually our mother, and now I realize how hard it is for a woman to teach a boy how to be a man.

  I thought long and hard about carrying out Jay-Roc's dream of building that center. Maybe I could even take it the next level and do a bit more. My thoughts were interrupted by the deafening sound of gunshots that came from down the block. I watched as people scattered and dashed for their lives.

  I jumped in my car and peeled off down the block.

  When I got home Asia was standing in the kitchen making something to eat.

  ''Baby, what's up?'' I said, grabbing her waist and kissing her neck.

  She turned around and looked at me with evil eyes. ''Deon, do you think I'm fuckin' stupid?'' she said, moving away from me.

  ''Asia, what are you talking about?'' I questioned. I really didn't know what she was getting at. I walked into the living room and turned the television on. Here we go again.

  ''I'm talking about you always being out and not spending any time with me. When was the last time we went out, Deon? You seem to find time for all ya' other bitches...what about me?''

  ''Asia, I haven't been around because you've been in here moping around ever since Shareeka's death. I was trying to let you morn your friend.''

  ''What the fuck do you mean, moping around? Muthafucka I lost my best friend, over what, some real stupid shit and you think I don't know that you had something to do with it?'' She screamed.

  I couldn't even look at her because she was right. How did she know I was involved?

  I got up from the sofa and walked to the kitchen to get something to drink.

  ''Look at you,'' she said. ''You can't even look me in my face because you know I'm right, Deon!'' Tears came pouring out of her eyes.

  ''Asia, I'm not going to sit here and lie to you, I did have something to do with it. Shareeka was working with the feds and she was trying to bring the whole operation down. It's a whole lot of shit going on that I haven't figured out yet, but I will. You see what they did to Jay-Roc, right? They gave him thirty-five years, Asia...thirty-five muthafuckin years!'' I yelled out.

  Her cries grew louder and she came running toward me swinging blows hitting me in my chest.

  I grabbed her and brought her close to me. ''Asia, stop crying, baby, I understand how you feel and I'm sorry you have to go through this, but what's done is done. We can't bring Shareeka back. She's gone baby.'' I said, trying to console her in every possible way, but it wasn't working.

  ''Fuck you, Deon! I hate you!'' she hollered. ''I fuckin' hate you!'' she screamed and ran into the bedroom and slammed the door.

  This whole situation with Shareeka, Jay-Roc, Reemo, and Lou was still a mystery to me. I couldn't figure out why Shareeka would cooperate with the feds to bring Jay-Roc down. It didn't make any sense to me, none of it. Maybe it was money? But Jay-Roc gave her everything she asked for. I couldn't understand why she would be messing with Lou behind his back either.

  My brain was overloaded with a bunch of questions that I had no answers to. What I did know was that I was about to go to war with the Africans and this shit was not going to be sweet.

  I rolled up some weed, sat back and contemplated on how I was going to achieve supreme royalty.

  The next day I finally got in touch with Reemo. I played it cool and didn't alert him to the fact that I may have known he was up to something. Honestly, I didn't know if what was said was true or not. Lou c
ould have been lying to me just to get the pressure off of him self.

  When I spoke with Reemo I told him that the Africans and I have problems. He said he would get his Young Bloods to handle anything I needed them to.

  My plan was to hit all of Prince and Zabu's spots and make it look like Reemo had done it. Then I was going to hit all of Reemo's spots and make it look like the Africans were involved. Then they would go at each others heads and I could sit back and watch it all go down.

  I recruited a few shooters that Rahmeek vouched for. They were from his hood in Brownsville. He introduced me to three dudes who he said he could trust and knew they could handle any task I sent their way.

  First there was Wisdom. Wisdom is a short, stocky, brown-skinned kid with a big head. He was affiliated with the Nation of the Gods and Earth. That's how he got his name. Wisdom was said to have at least three bodies in Brooklyn alone and he is only nineteen years old.

  The second kid I met is Hammers. Hammers is an average sized, light-skinned Jamaican with shoulder length dreadlocks. His body is covered in tattoos and he walks with a limp due to being shot in the leg with a large caliber gun. Hammers is a shooter for hire that has done jobs all throughout the east coast and the word is that he is very efficient.