by K'wan
Two uniformed officers came in to escort Cutty to the holding tank. Even as they helped him up, he continued to taunt Stark. “Ah ha, bitch. Cutty don’t bend, ma fucka! That goes for all you fucking bitches. I’m a real fucking gangsta. Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you!” Cutty's little fuck-you segment lasted all the way down the hall. Brown waited until he and Stark were alone before he began speaking again.
“We’ve got a problem,” Brown said.
“And what's that?” Asked the red-faced detective.
“Some asshole snatched Trinity.”
“So, fuck is it to us? One less to worry about.”
“You don’t get it, do you? Rio is flipping the fuck out over it. The whole hood is saying that he's mad with grief and strapped.”
“So, maybe he’ll kill himself and save me the trouble.”
“Stark, would you stop being an asshole for one minute? Rio is on the rampage to find Trinity. I’m guessing that he's gonna step to everyone who's crossed him and he ain’t going to talk. Rio's got at least a hundred soldiers under him. All ready to kill and tear shit up on his command. What do you think is gonna happen if he decides to turn those cats loose?”
Finally the bigger picture started to register in Stark's head. An all-out war could erupt in the streets because of some lovesick kid. That wouldn’t help the detective in his quest for a promotion. “We gotta find Rio. Send some units out. Every one of his soldiers that we’ve got dirt on, bring em in. The less soldiers that he has available to him, the better.”
“What about Trinity? Should we call in the Feds?”
“Fuck her. She's on her own. But have Truck picked up. If Rio thinks that he had something to do with it, his life is way over.”
Joyce sat on her living room sofa, watching videos. She tried not to think about Trinity, but she couldn’t help it. Baron had said that his peoples were just gonna rough her up a bit to scare her, but the way those guys were acting, she figured he was lying. She didn’t care for Trinity, but she didn’t wish death on anybody. All she could do was hope that Baron kept true to his word and sent her home in one piece.
No sooner had Joyce finished her thought than the front door came crashing in. Rio came through the door followed by Shamel. Both of them were holding guns. Joyce tried to dive for the phone, but Rio had grabbed a handful of her ponytail. It wasn’t really hers, and it came lose in his hand. When Joyce made her second lunge, Shamel clocked her square in the jaw. The blow staggered her, but she managed to stay on her feet.
“Where is she?” Rio growled as he grabbed her by the throat.
“Where's who?” Joyce asked, playing dumb.
“Bitch,” Rio said, slapping her across the face. “Don’t make me ask you again, Joyce.”
“Rio, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Joyce,” he said, kneeling over her and putting his 9 to her temple.
“I know you were there. Where the fuck is Trinity?”
“Okay, okay. Just don’t shoot me,” she said, panicked.
“Joyce,” Shamel said. “Tell us where Trinity is and you’ll be okay.”
“I’m sorry,” she said crying. “He said that he just wanted to scare her to get back at you. I didn’t know that he was going to hurt her.”
“Who?” Rio asked, tightening his grip on her throat.
“Baron.”
“Baron? You let that ma fucka take my girl?” he asked, sounding almost deranged.
“I’m sorry, Rio. I don’t know what I was thinking. I was mad that you didn’t want me and he told me that I was special and — “
“Joyce, where did Baron take my wife?” Rio asked, trying to remain calm.
“I don’t know for sure, but I heard him talking to someone about an abandoned warehouse in the Bronx. Right off of Hunts Point.” “Are you sure?” “Yes, Rio. That's what I heard.”
“Okay,” he said, stroking her hair. “You did good, Joyce.” “I’m sorry, Rio. If I had known …”
“Shhh,” he said, putting his finger over her lips. “Don’t worry about it. You fucked up, but we’ll make it right.”
As soon as Joyce began to relax, Rio put three shots into her face. It happened so quick that even Shamel jumped. Rio got to his feet and emptied his clip into Joyce's body. At this stage of the game life meant nothing to Rio. The only thing that mattered to him was getting Trinity back. Shamel didn’t know that Rio planned to kill Joyce, but there wasn’t much he could’ve done about it. That was his dawg and however he decided to handle it, Shamel was with him.
J sat at his desk reading the transcript for the third time. Every time he read it, he got a little angrier. All this time the snake was in their own backyard. J was so hurt that he wanted to cry. But the hurt he was feeling at that moment wasn’t shit compared to what Truck was going to feel.
J grabbed his phone from the desk and punched in a number that he knew by heart. “Yeah, let me speak to Larry or Lester.” After a brief pause someone came to the phone. “Lester, this is J. I got something I need you and your brother to handle. Truck needs to take an extended vacation.” J hung up the phone and turned his attention to the New York City skyline that loomed beyond the picture window. It hurt him to order the murder of Prince's son, but it was necessary. The weak must die in order for the strong to prosper.
Truck made his way hurriedly across 125th to the Metro-North station. Agent Peterson had complicated the hell out of his plan by making him rat Cutty out. There was no way to know if the word had gotten out about it, but there was no sense in taking chances. He had to get low until it all blew over. Just as Truck was about to cross Park Avenue, an unmarked car cut him off.
“What the fuck is going on?” Truck asked.
“We’re taking you in, sir,” the first officer said.
“What the fuck for?”
“For your own safety. Please, come with us.”
“Am I under arrest?”
“No sir, but—”
“But my ass. If you ain’t locking me up, then get the fuck outta here.” Truck continued to the train station, but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw who was waiting at the station entrance. The Hound stood leaning against the stairs looking dead at Truck. “You know what,” Truck said, turning back to the officers. “Maybe I should come with you.”
As the officer placed Truck in the back of the car, he noticed Hound watching him. He winked his eye at the killer and they took Truck away.
28
School Boy and his girlfriend Sha came strolling through the projects. She had been harassing him about taking her out for some time now. With all that had been going on between Rio and Truck, he had to spend most of his time on the block. Sha wasn’t having it this night though. She insisted that if School Boy didn’t take the night off, she was cutting him lose. So School Boy decided to take the night off. The block wouldn’t collapse without him for a night. Or so he thought.
School Boy had planned a nice evening consisting of dinner and a movie for Sha. The only reason he came back through the hood was to pick up some extra money from the spot. “Wait for me out here,” he said, kissing Sha on the forehead. “I’m just gonna run up in there and get some paper from one of these niggaz.”
“School Boy, you better not have me out here waiting long,” she warned him.
“Yeah, yeah,” he said over his shoulder. Sha was his boo, but she could be a pain in the ass at times. School Boy began his hike up the stairwell to where he knew he could find either Mikey or his partner Jenkins. As School Boy got close, he heard Mikey and Jenkins having a heated discussion on the next floor.
“What do you mean the bust is going down today?” Mikey asked. “I don’t wanna get caught up in that shit.”
“Tough shit, kid,” Jenkins said. “You work for us, remember?”
“This is some bullshit. You fucking pigs are all the same, no matter what your skin color. All you give a fuck about is screwing niggaz.”
“Don’t give me that ‘I
-have-a-dream shit,’ kid. I came from the ghetto just like you. The difference is, I’m trying to rid the streets of ma fuckas like School Boy and Rio. You just do what the fuck you’re told to do. Now, you better head back to the front.”
School Boy couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Two men that he had brought into the organization had turned out to be rats. This didn’t look good for Jenkins or Mikey, but it looked even worse for School Boy. He was the one who put them on and trusted the men with his organization's secrets. Even after Rio had told him to, he still didn’t have the men checked out and now that mistake was costing him. School Boy knew that his only way to live through this was to take care of the problem on his own.
Mikey didn’t like what Jenkins was telling him. He thought that he would have time to make an escape before the shit hit the fan. It seemed that he wouldn’t. Jenkins had informed him that there were units on the way as they spoke. Mikey's only chance to get up outta this shit was to leave immediately. As he rounded the corner of the staircase, he found himself staring down the barrel of School Boy's .38.
“Bitch, nigga,” School Boy said. “I brought you in and you crossed me.”
“Hold up, man. I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about.” Mikey pleaded.
“Lying-ass snake,” School Boy said, cocking the hammer. “I heard you, nigga.”
“Wait…they made me. What do you expect me to do?” he asked in a pleading voice.
“Die with some fucking dignity.”
School Boy fired two shots into Mikey's chest, sending him crashing into the wall. Mikey clutched at his chest as if he’d be able to pull the bullets free. It was no use though. As Mikey's blood ran down the stairs, so did his chances of getting away.
Officer Jenkins had been listening to the whole thing from his spot around the corner. He had no idea that the young man was armed. Now it was too late for Mikey, but there might still be some hope for School Boy. Drawing his police special from his jacket pocket, Jenkins began the task of trying to reason with School Boy.
“School Boy,” Jenkins shouted from behind the wall. “This is Officer Jenkins. Throw down your weapon and put your hands up.”
“Fuck you,” barked School Boy, slowly backing down the stairs. “I trusted you niggaz.”
“School Boy, it's going to be okay as long as you cooperate with us. Just put your gun down and let's talk this out.” Officer Jenkins poked his head out and School Boy tried to put a bullet in it. He quickly regained his composure and went to return fire. He came from his hiding place just in time to see School Boy making a run for it.
School Boy fired two wild shots over his shoulder and scrambled for the exit. Jenkins was hot on his tail, leaping down the entire flight of steps. School Boy was moving with the speed of a runaway slave. Sha went to ask him what was wrong, but School Boy ran right past her. By the time he reached the avenue, there were squad cars coming from everywhere.
“Drop it!” shouted a brave young officer. School Boy raised his pistol and split the officer's wig. When he turned to fire on the other officer he realized that he had made the mistake of not keeping count of his bullets. It was a mistake that would prove fatal. The police riddled School Boy's body with bullets while his boo, Sha, looked on in horror.
Shamel gripped the wheel of the stolen Cutlass, weaving in and out of traffic on the Cross Bronx. He almost crashed twice, but that didn’t slow him down. They had to get to Trinity as soon as possible. Rio rode in silence with an AK47 on his lap. Shamel was beginning to worry about his friend. He had seen Rio angry before, but never like this. It was a sure bet that when Rio caught up with Baron he was going to air him the fuck out.
“You hear from Cutty yet?” Rio asked, speaking for the first time.
“Nothing yet,” Shamel said. “I’ve been calling him for the longest and I keep getting the voice mail. I left a message though.”
“Something is wrong, Mel. It ain’t like Cutty to just disappear like that. I don’t like this shit.”
“You think Truck's got something to do with it?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised. Mel, if that nigga touched Cutty, he's gonna die just like his little flunky.”
Shamel was about to make a comment when his phone vibrated on his hip. “Yeah?” he said into the receiver.
“Yo, Mel,” Knowledge said frantically. “Where you at, God?”
“I’m on my way to the Bronx with Rio. Fuck is going on?”
“Man, shit is going buck-fool out here. The police is snatching everybody in the hood. It's crazy out here.”
“Damn, these ma fuckas tripping. You seen Cutty?”
“Did I? Man, I was coming from my girl's house on 137th and the police had that nigga hemmed up.”
“What the fuck for?”
“Damned if I know. Him and Truck was together, but he was the only one wearing handcuffs. You know what time it is, don’t you?”
“Yeah,” Shamel said sadly. “Ma fucking snitch. I always knew that kid was funny style. Do me a favor. Get in touch with School Boy for me. Tell him—”
“That ain’t gonna happen,” Knowledge said, cutting him off. “Police laid that cat down about an hour ago. Shot him in cold blood.”
“Damn,” Shamel said, slamming his fist into the steering wheel. “This shit is happening too fast. Where you at?”
“I’m on my way to Port Authority. My black ass is on the next thing smoking out of town. I’ll call you and let you know where I land, God.”
“A’ight. Be safe, sun.”
“You do the same, yo. Peace.”
“Peace,” Shamel hung up the phone and tried to make heads or tails of what the hell was going on. It seemed like everything was moving the wrong way at the worst time. He took a deep breath and prepared to break the news to Rio. “Rio, I gotta tell you something.”
“I already know,” Rio said without bothering to face his friend. “I couldn’t hear what Knowledge was saying, but I pretty much got the gist of it. How bad is it?”
“Real bad. Cutty's in Jail, School Boy is dead, and Truck is a fucking snitch. Police are locking the hood down as we speak. Probably just a matter of time before they come for us.”
“Shit,” Rio said, stroking his machine gun. “This is bad. What the fuck went wrong with us, man?”
“Destiny, my man. Everything is going down hill cause of a fucking snitch. What are we gonna do, dawg?”
“We can’t go back to the hood at, least not yet. They’re probably tossing both of our houses trying to find us. You got access to any dough?”
“I got about two thousand on me and I can get up at least two or three more on the humble, but that's about it. What about you?”
“I got a few dollars on me, but nothing heavy. I do have another option though.”
“What's that?” Shamel asked.
“When I first came into the organization, still part-time clocking, Prince showed me how to set up dummy accounts over the net. I’ve been putting a few dollars in it here and there for a little while. With that and what I got in my regular account we should be okay for a little while.”
“Cool, but we’re gonna have to figure something out.”
“I know, Mel. What we gotta do is get Trinity back and get the fuck outta New York for a while. Once we’re safe, I’ll call J and he should know what to do.”
“Sounds like a plan, kid. Let's do it.” The two men continued to drive and make their escape plan. They were so engrossed in the problems that lay ahead of them that they never noticed the unmarked car following them.
Hound came barging into the little coffee shop on West Broadway. He bumped past a patron and didn’t bother to apologize. Seeing the look on Hound's face, the patron didn’t bother to press the issue. Hound made his way to where Kane was sitting with two young ladies and flopped down in the booth.
“Why the long face?” Kane asked, trying not to move too much. His shoulder blade had been broken in the gunfight and he’d walk with a cane for a
while, but Kane would live.
“I’m so mad that I could put my fist through a fucking wall.” Hound snarled.
“What's wrong?”
“I finally tracked that piece of shit Truck to the metro station on 125th Street. I almost had him when the police picked him up.”
“Oh, I thought something major had happened.”
“You don’t think that's major,” Hound snapped. “That bastard deserves to die. I want him, Kane.”
“Hound,” Kane said, handing him a glass of red wine. “Try and calm yourself. You’re starting to drool.”
“Kane, how can you be so calm about all of this?”
“Because Truck is still going to get his just rewards. We have many friends in many different fields. Trust me on this one. Truck is in for the shock of his life real soon.”
29
Rio and Shamel filed out of the car on a dark block in the Bronx. It wasn’t hard for them to find the warehouse that Joyce had mentioned. The Vine had pointed them in the general direction and the rest wasn’t hard. It was the only abandoned building with an entourage of luxury cars parked in front of it. Some people just didn’t exercise common sense.
“There it is,” Shamel said, clutching his 12-gauge. “I only see one cat at the door, but I don’t know how many are inside.”
“I don’t care, Mel,” Rio said. “Whoever's in there is gonna get it, too.”
“Well,” Shamel said, standing. “Let's go see if we can catch a felony.”
“Hold on, man,” Rio said, grabbing his arm. “You’ve already put yourself out there enough for me. I can’t ask you to go any further.”
“Check this out, Rio, we’ve been friends since I don’t know when. We’ve done a whole lot of dirt together and not a lot of good. This here is a good thing. I love Trinity too and I wanna help. For the first time in my life I get to do something right. Please, let me do this with you.”
The exchange almost brought tears to Rio's eyes. Shamel was a rare kinda dude. Friends like him didn’t come along often, but Rio was fortunate enough to have one. He wanted to believe that everything would go smoothly but the reality of it was that they might not all make it out. Rio decided that if he were going to die, he was glad it would be with people he cared for.