Dirty Music

by Shaun Sinclair

  “Yeah, look at me,” Flame repeated. “Why, Sash? Why did you do it? Why did you fuck up our lives?”

  Sasha looked down at the gray granite tile on the deck floor. For a while she said nothing. Then she broke down. “I did it for love; that’s why I did it.”

  Flame cocked his head, confused. “Love? So you fucked me, stole the tape, and uploaded it to show your love for Diamond? That doesn’t make any sense!”

  Sasha shook her head. “Not Diamond.”

  “Who then, ’cause you damn sure don’t love me.”

  “Qwess . . .”

  “Qwess? The fuck he got to do with this?”

  Sasha cupped her mouth with her good hand. “He’s my daughter’s father.”

  “Daughter? Since when do you have kids?”

  Sasha nodded vehemently. “It’s true. Qwess and I had a one-night stand years ago, here in Atlanta. We had unprotected sex in a restaurant.”

  “A restaurant? Damn, you just busting it down, Jezebel!”

  “We left and went our separate ways. He didn’t know he had impregnated me, and I didn’t tell him. I fell back off the scene before I started to show. That’s when I met Diamond.

  “I couldn’t hide my pregnancy for long, and I don’t believe in abortion, so when Diamond and I decided we would be together, I confided in him about my pregnancy. By then the paparazzi had already caught wind of our romance. The relationship rumors boosted both of our careers like crazy. Overnight we were on the covers of magazines: Beauty and the Beast. We both had albums on the horizon, and this new publicity put us in a different audience, so we decided it would be best to keep me out the spotlight until after I gave birth. We thought about giving her up for adoption, but when she was born and I took one look at her, I couldn’t do it. Of course, Diamond was heated. He thought I didn’t do it because I loved Qwess—and he was right. That is why he hates Qwess so much . . . and you.”

  “Me? I ain’t do shit to him.”

  “Yeah, but Qwess rode your talent to the next level. After he retired, you kept those lights on in that building. Your music was what enabled him to make all those investments and stay on the top of the game.”

  That statement stoked Flame’s ego. It was one thing for him to feel as if he was the shit. It was another thing for someone else to say it.

  “So why did you take the tape, Sasha? Why did you post it?”

  “To get back at Diamond and to torch my bridge to Qwess.”

  “What?”

  “See, me and Diamond had gotten into it again because I told him he was wrong for using you to get back at Qwess—Qwess hadn’t done anything to him for him to want to get back at him! So, yeah, he was mad. Accused me of wanting to sleep with you. I told him, I should. And he said that no one from your camp wanted me because I was ‘spoiled goods.’ He said, you wouldn’t sleep with me because you were afraid of him. So I felt like I had to show him, and the tape would be proof.”

  “And Qwess? What did he do?” Hearing Sasha confess her sins made Flame feel better in a weird way.

  “Qwess snubbed me at the last Gumball 3000. I saw him in Las Vegas, and this was the first time we’d been in the same room since Atlanta. I was feeling all giddy, because as I watched him, he looked just like my daughter. Well, she look like him. She walk like him, move her hands like him . . . She has his ears and his nose. I wanted to tell him about Aminah then, but he acted as if I didn’t exist. So, I figured what better way to make him pay for ignoring me than to sleep with you.”

  Flame shook his head in disgust. All this time he thought he was bagging her; she was bagging him. She had used him and everyone else as a guinea pig, all for what she thought was love.

  “So why has no one seen this daughter?” Flame asked.

  “You have. The media thinks she is my niece.”

  Flame recalled the little girl he’d seen Sasha with on Instagram. Come to think of it, she did resemble Qwess!

  Hearing Sasha’s story saddened Flame, but it didn’t absolve her for ruining his life.

  “What happened to you that night, after . . .” Flame gulped down the memories. “After he did this to me?”

  Sasha closed her eyes and fell silent. Tears cascaded down her cheeks. “Everything,” she whispered. “Everything mankind can do to hurt a woman was done to me. He crushed me physically, mentally, emotionally, and, for a time, spiritually.”

  While she spoke Flame examined her scars and tried to imagine what type of punishment inflicted the marks.

  “He turned me into a slave, a whore, a punching bag, a doormat, a Frisbee, and a . . . thing.”

  “How did you escape?”

  Sasha shook her head. “I didn’t. He let me go.”

  “Why would he do that?”

  “That’s the other reason I came here. Diamond let me go because he wanted me to see Qwess fall from grace.”

  Flame was confused. “Fall from grace how?”

  “Someone from Diamond’s old network in New York is supplying the Crescent Crew drugs while they work out a dispute with their old supplier.”

  “Okay, but Qwess isn’t active anymore, so what does that have to do with him?”

  “Apparently, someone in Qwess’s camp flipped and turned state on him, and Diamond knows all about it. Qwess is being sued for seventy-five million dollars from AMG, and he is being held on kingpin charges all behind this one person.”

  “Who is it?”

  “Diamond knows and his supplier in New York knows, but he isn’t telling anyone.”

  “Wow! So what now?” Flame asked.

  “Now she leaves!” Kim said from behind Flame. She had been standing just inside the house listening to everything for the past ten minutes. “She is responsible for all this, and she promised me she wouldn’t reach out to you again. Ever.”

  “I’m sorry, Kim, but he had to know everything!”

  “Well, now that he knows, you can get the hell out, Sasha. And don’t ever come around here again.”

  “But—”

  “But nothing. Get out!”

  Kim pointed to the door. Sasha lowered her head and limped toward the front door.

  * * *

  Qwess was roasting with anxiety as he followed the guard through the bowels of the jail. His heart was heavy, but his mind was clear.

  Shabazz had paid Qwess a visit earlier in the morning and dropped a bomb in his lap. He now knew the source of all of his troubles.

  The guard led Qwess down a long corridor that reeked of old food and suds. Qwess ducked beneath some pots dangling overhead and walked through a metal door. Through the door was another hallway.

  The guard stopped at a door in the hall and pointed at it. “He’s in there waiting on you. I’ll be back to get you in ten minutes.”

  Qwess opened the door and came face to face with Bone.

  “As-salaam alayka, OG!” Bone said. He hugged Qwess then kissed him on the forehead—a term of endearment in Islam.

  Qwess returned the greeting and peered around the supply closet to ensure they were alone.

  “I’m by myself. I came as soon as I got your message. What’s up?”

  “Maaaaaan, you not gonna believe this shit!” Qwess hissed. “Them niggas trying to take me out, bro. They both signed statements on me. Both of’em.”

  “Who?”

  “Man, I brought them country niggas up out the woods. I put some dough in their pockets and made ’em men again. And this the thanks I get?”

  “Who, OG?” Bone was heated just thinking about the betrayal.

  Qwess frowned and shook his head. “They made me kill my brothers, man. I should’ve known it was them, because they were the only two people that knew all the intimate details.”

  “Who, OG? Who the fuck is ‘they’?”

  Qwess calmed down. He placed both hands on Bone’s shoulders and spat out the names of the snakes that bit him.

  Chapter 25

  Bone sat at the table in his office at the strip club hour
s after Qwess had told him the news. From the moment the words tumbled from Qwess’s lips it all made sense to Bone. That’s why he was trying to plant seeds of doubt in Bone’s head, making him think that he was a defecting leader. That’s why he kept pulling rank. He was gauging Bone’s reaction to see if he was drunk with power—and thus, a threat, or if he would hand over the reins of the Crew without a power struggle. Bone suspected if he showed any hesitation, he would get rid of him also.

  Now Bone knew the purpose of the sit-down with the Jefe from Michoacán. He wanted Bone to reopen the pipeline to prove his allegiance so the Crew would be stronger than ever when he came home early. Bone also understood why he had Twin to ride up from the Port to attend the meeting also. Twin was his eyes and ears.

  Well, Bone couldn’t wait to get the meeting started.

  “Yo, is that them out there?” Bone asked Maleek. It was just after seven p.m. on a Monday, the only day the club was closed, and they were all alone as they awaited their party.

  “Yeah, I think so.”

  Maleek trotted downstairs and returned minutes later with Twin and three Mexican men trailing him upstairs. It was clear to see who Jefe was by the way the others deferred to him. Jefe occupied the middle of the line, and while the others’ eyes darted anxiously around the club, Jefe was cooler than the other side of the pillow. His huge iced-out belt buckle and gold chain flashed beneath the kaleidoscope of lights whirling around the club.

  Bone met the men at the top of the stairs. He issued his salaams to Twin then opened his arms wide to Jefe.

  “Jefe! Bienvenido a Los Carolinas!” Bone said. “Vente, vente.”

  Bone helped the men get settled at the table. He poured them liberal amounts of tequila and took his spot at the head of the table opposite Jefe. Bone saw Jefe’s beady eyes taking everything in, but he didn’t say a word. One of the minions mumbled something to the other, and Bone could’ve sworn he heard him call him a mayate, but he didn’t trip. He took it all in stride and got down to business.

  “Gentlemen, I appreciate you coming all this way so we can resolve this issue and get back to the money,” Bone began, but he noticed as he spoke that the men weren’t taking him seriously. He also noted the smug look on Twin’s face.

  “I would first like to extend my apology for what happened to Chabo; I’m sure he was very valuable to your organization, but he murdered our leader and founder, King Reece.”

  While Bone was speaking, showing respect, the minion leaned forward and spoke to his partner, “¿Por qué es este mayate hablando todavía?”

  Now Bone was sure he called him the equivalent of a nigger in Spanish. The respect left the room.

  “I see you men like to do things the fast way,” Bone said. He stood, poured himself a drink, and leaned against the wall beside Maleek. “So let me cut to the chase.”

  “No, let me cut to the chase,” Jefe interrupted in perfect English. “Monstruoso is a very big man in my country. He is very well respected, so on his word I come all this way to discuss business. He isn’t interested in doing business with my family when he is released, but I’m afraid I bring you bad news, my friend.”

  Bone narrowed his eyes. “What type of news?”

  Jefe leaned on the table and pointed at Twin. “I am told that this man is the new leader of your organization. I am told that I am to discuss business with him.”

  Bone smiled. He saw this move coming a mile away. “So why did you come here then?” he asked.

  “Out of respect. We wanted to tell you this face-to-face,” Jefe said. “From my understanding, you didn’t know?”

  Bone chuckled. “Yeah, this is news to me.”

  Twin piped up. “Basically, we will just be switching roles. You’ll be to the Ville what I was to the Port.”

  “Oh, yeah?”

  “Yeah, and with this line right here back open, we will be seeing more money than ever.”

  Bone nodded. “Ahh ha, I see.”

  No one expected the transition to be this easy. Bone appeared to be taking things in stride, though. He allowed the words to penetrate his skull in silence. The men at the table began conversing among themselves in Spanish while Twin caught up with the scores on the TV on the wall.

  Then the calm broke.

  “You must be out your fucking mind!” Bone roared.

  One of the minions jumped and yelled back at Bone. “¿Estás loco? ¿Tú no sabes quien es este?”

  “Tú no sabes quien soy yo!” Bone returned. “Y tú no sabes quien es Monstruoso. Él es un rato!”

  “Hey, hey, speak in English.” Twin panicked. “I don’t understand that shit!”

  Twin may not have understood, but the others in the room heard him clearly.

  Bone upped the ante on his claim and smacked a piece of paper on the desk in front of Jefe. “Read it.”

  It was a detailed statement that Samson had signed against Qwess, detailing him as the active leader and founder of the Crescent Crew.

  Jefe scanned the document, and his eyes opened as wide as a tire on a truck. His face went from a symbol of inner peace to a mask of confusion.

  Twin caught the change in the energy in the room. “Aye, what’s going on?” he asked.

  “You just overplayed your hand,” Bone replied.

  “Huh?”

  Bone gave Maleek the nod. Maleek raised the Eagle like Donovan McNabb and lobbed two .45 shells right in the center of Twin’s forehead. The impact flipped Twin’s body backward over the chair where he came to rest on the floor.

  Bone pointed at the minion on the left. “Call me a nigger one more time and you’ll be beside him.”

  Bone redirected his attention to Jefe. “Hopefully, now can we get back to the business arrangement we had before when things were good? Oh, and don’t worry, the Crescent Crew exterminate our own rats around here. You’ll see.”

  * * *

  Sasha Beaufont walked to her silver SLR Mercedes in the parking lot of the mall. After she’d bared her truth to Flame earlier in the afternoon, she felt like a ton had been lifted off her heart. She only had one more deed to do to cleanse her soul totally, and that was to inform Qwess about his daughter, Aminah, and reveal Diamond’s plot against him. Maybe when he was released on bond, he could go down to Texas and see her for the first time.

  Sasha was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t see the giant creeping up behind her until he was right behind her.

  The man called her name, “Sash.”

  Terror ripped down Sasha’s spine as she slowly turned around and came face-to-face with the devil himself.

  “Diamond—”

  Sasha never saw the blow coming as Diamond brought a slap all the way around from Africa and connected with her jaw.

  Sasha crumbled to the dirty, cold ground and lost consciousness. . .

  To Be Continued